Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa19035; 28 Jun 94 8:54 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11289; Tue, 28 Jun 94 04:35:10 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11280; Tue, 28 Jun 94 04:35:05 CDT Date: Tue, 28 Jun 94 04:35:05 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9406280935.AA11280@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #301 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Jun 94 04:35:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 301 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Bidding War For - Western Union ?! (James H. Haynes) MCI Used NEXTSTEP For "Friends and Family" Campaign (Robert La Ferla) AT&T, Paris and Freedom (Jean-Bernard Condat) NYNEX 1+10D; EasyReach 700 International (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Need New ESN For my Cellphone (Douglas Reuben) Trunk Switch Bypass Device Needed (Leroy Casterline) Africa Email via X.25? (Ed Moore) TELECOM 95 Space Available (Jerry Skene) Industry Numbering Committee to Meet (Greg Monti) International Calls to Taiwan; Sometimes System Says "Not Valid" (R. Casey) Looking For Cell Phone Parts (gleason@mwk.com) How to Put '*' in Phone Number (Modem) (Henry Alan Segal) Washington Post Article (Stephen Goodman) (Very) Sorry Wrong (800) Number (Dave Thompson) Re: O.J. Simpson Case (David G. Cantor) Re: O.J. Simpson Case (TELECOM Digest Editor) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (James H. Haynes) Subject: Bidding War For - Western Union ?! Date: 28 Jun 1994 05:20:22 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz Item in the Sunday paper says two companies, First Data Corp. and Forstmann Little & Co. are bidding for Western Union. First Data is described as an information-and-transaction-processing company that transfers money. Forstmann Little & Co. is a leveraged buyout firm. First Data bid $896 million, Forstmann Little bid $951 million, and First Data added $65 million to its bid. A bankruptcy court judge ruled friday that the company will be auctioned in September. (Get your bid in by Sept 2.) "Millions of people in the United States do not have bank accounts. Western Union, now 144 years old, wires money out of town for them and sells them money orders." Western Union Financial controls estimated 90% of the money-transfer business, took in about $400 million last year. (I guess that means the retail money-transfer business. First Data transfers money between bank accounts.) "Western Union created New Valley in 1991 and transferred all debt to it. [Some of us prefer to call it New Abyss.] New Valley, based in Paramus, N.J. went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in 1993." - haynes@cats.ucsc.edu ------------------------------ From: Robert La Ferla Subject: MCI Used NEXTSTEP For "Friends and Family" Campaign Reply-To: Robert La Ferla Organization: Hot Technologies Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 04:46:34 GMT I just got back from NEXTSTEP Expo where Steve Jobs mentioned in his keynote that MCI was able to steal tens of millions of customers away from it's competitors using a custom billing application developed under NEXTSTEP. He said that the object oriented NEXTSTEP gave MCI an 18 month jump on it's rivals. He also demonstrated an application (similar if not the MCI one) and I must say it was quite impressive. A marketing manager could send electronic mail with a "business object" (in this case a new marketing campaign) and the sales staff could simply drag it out of the mail application and drop it into the marketing application - the application would instantly have the "smarts" about "Friends and Family" or whatever the new campaign was. Incredible stuff. He said that "Enterprise Objects" is the most important innovation that NeXT has produced since they designed "NEXTSTEP" itself. Robert La Ferla Hot Technologies Registered NEXTSTEP Developer and Consultant Robert_La_Ferla@hot.com ------------------------------ From: JeanBernard_Condat@Email.FranceNet.FR (JeanBernard Condat) Organization: FranceNet Reply-To: JeanBernard_Condat@Email.FranceNet.FR Subject: AT&T, Paris and Freedom Date: 28 Jun 1994 07:22:36 GMT PARIS, France - June 27, 1994 18:30-22:00. AT&T salutes the one thing that brings people together better than we do. Freedom. Yesterday, I was invited to look at 'a sound sculpture for the Arc de Triomphe by Bill Fontana' in Paris. " This sound sculpture sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture, the City of Paris and AT&T includes three installations relating to the visual and aural experience of the Arc de Triomphe in the pedestrian access tunnels, at ground level, and on the observation level. In the pedestrian tunnels, the sound of the sea creates an acoustical passage for the traffic island as a sound island. On ground level, the same sound serves as a white sound to transform and hide the traffic noise occuring in the immense traffic circle. On the observation level where visitors have a panoramic view of Paris, an installation explores the idea of hearing as far as one can see, acoustically viewing Paris. " The Arc de Triomphe is part of one of the most dramatic visual perspective in Paris, being in the axis defined by the Pyramide at the Louvre and La Defense. Visitors standing on the upper observation level have dramatic panoramic views of Paris." -------------------- I invite all the reader of this message to appreciate during the next holidays in France, the Arc de Triomphe of Place de l'Etoile and to drink a beer on the Champs-Elysees without the poor Bill Fontana' sculpture and the English-written AT&T Direct Services publicity. Phone me directly with your "AT&T Calling Card" to +331 47874083, ok? Jean-Bernard Condat Chaos Computer Club France 47 rue des Rosiers, 93400 St-Ouen, France Phone: +331 47874083, Fax: +331 49450129 Email: JeanBernard_Condat@email.FranceNet.FR ------------------------------ From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: NYNEX 1+10D; EasyReach 700 International Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:36:02 -0400 Last Friday seems to have marked the end of the permissive dialing period in the 413 NPA. Since then, all intraLATA calls outside my local calling area must be dialed 1-413-NXX-XXXX. This includes calls that were formerly seven digits, which I hadn't expected from what I had read. One nice side-effect of this is that seven-digit calls are now entirely local (and included in my basic service fee), while all toll calls are now dialed via 1+. Having used a similar setup at UMass/Amherst, where local calls were 9 + 7D, and toll calls required use of a security code, I grew to like the reminder that the call I was dialing was in fact a toll call. Monday marked the beginning of International calls via AT&T EasyReach. When I entered the forwarding menu, I was told to enter AC + seven digits for a domestic number, and 011 + Number (it didn't specify Country Code, City Code, etc.) for international numbers. The help menu indicated that if I forwarded to an AT&T World Connect Country, all US and World Connect calls would be forwarded. If I forwarded to a non-World Connect country, only US calls would be forwarded. Jeffrey W. McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: Need New ESN For my Cellphone Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 00:59:49 PDT My old Audiovox CMT-450 is in the shop - after five years it stopped working and shows "NO SVC" even in excellent coverage areas. Audiovox is going to tell me how much it will cost to fix (I can't wait till they see the Novatel ESN in there and ask me why I have a 142/Novatel ESN instead of a 138/Audiovox one! ;) ) So I may need to get a new phone. However, in the past, I've sent my phones out to get them cloned, and although generally reliable, it takes a week and I have to lay out like $200 *each* for the process, so that I can have a variety of phones for differing situations, all with the same number(s). (But never on at the same time, of course ...) Is there any shop or service provider out there who will burn a chip for me if I give them the proper ESN? I can easily put the new chip in the phone myself, and thus save on the cost and time of not having my phone. I'd like to get all my phones onto one ESN, and if I do get a new phone I don't want to send all three (or four, depending on how much Audiovox wants to fix the old CMT-450) phones away and pay $800 to do the ESN changes. Obviously I'd like a reputable place, and I'd be glad to substantiate that I am the TRUE owner of the phone, ie, provide sales receipts, etc., so that no one suspects that I am trying to commit cell fraud by cloning other people's phones. (Although this would be a really dumb and slow way to do it, and most cell fraud criminals have phones which they can just put whatever ESN they want into ... Hey, actually, I'd like a phone like that, but for my own legitimate purposes...) So if anyone knows of a place where I can call in an ESN and a manufacturer's model, send some sales receipts or something, and have them mail me a new chip, PLEASE save me $800 and let me know! :) Thanks in advance, Doug CID Technologies (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ From: casterli@csn.org (Leroy Casterline) Subject: Trunk Switch Bypass Device Needed Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 21:06:54 -0600 Organization: Cahill Casterline Limited Reply-To: casterli@csn.org Hello once again, telecom experts! I am looking for a device that I can use on a multi-line PC-based switch to bypass the switch in the event of a malfunction. The PC goes between the CO and the PBX on several trunks, so bypass in the event of failure is important. I'd like the bypass to operate in a 'watchdog' mode, where I send it confirmation every few seconds that I am alive and working, presumably via an RS-232 port. In the event that I stopped 'tickling' the port, it would switch the CO line directly to the PBX, bypassing my PC-based system. Ideally, the bypass device would be intelligent enough to switch each line individually, and could be set to NOT switch a line while it carried loop current, waiting for loop current to cease before switching that particular line. Lines which carried no loop current would be switched immediately. I need to handle between 12 and 48 lines (on each side of the PC box) per installation. What I have now: ------------------- | | CO ---------| PC-based Switch |--------- PBX | | ------------------- What I'd like: ------------------- | | CO ---------|-| - - - - - - |-|--------- PBX --| | Bypass | | | ------------------- RS-232 | | | Control | | | Line | ------------------- | | | --| PC-based Switch | | | ------------------- Thank you for your kind assistance. Leroy Casterline Cahill Casterline Limited 303/484-2212 casterli@csn.org ------------------------------ From: edmoore@vcd.hp.com (Ed Moore) Subject: Africa Email via X.25? Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:32:17 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard VCD Friends of mine will soon move to Togo (West Africa). We are exploring possibilities for them to establish email service. In another forum I'm discussing the email services available locally in Africa. Togo also has international X.25/X.28 service. My extremely limited knowledge of X.25 comes from hearing people talk about TYMNET and SPRINTNet, plus one paragraph in the O'Reilly book "Connecting to the Internet." I have no idea what X.28 is. 1) What kinds of email service providers in the US could be reached via X.25/X.28? I saw something that said MCIMail is reachable. Probably CompuServe. One site in Togo runs UUCP over X.25. Should I expect to find US Internet service providers who provide UUCP accounts, who are reachable via X.25? 2) This is the scenario I believe to be true. My friend calls a phone number in Togo to connect to X.25. I presume he logs in with a user ID and password. Then it seems he must identify what remote system he wants to connect to. That system prompts for another login. So he uses a standard, voice grade phone line to get to the X.25 entry point. What is the advantage of using X.25 to reach outside the country rather than continuing the call through ordinary voice grade phone lines? Clarity, cost? Thanks for any help you can give me. Ed Moore Hewlett-Packard Vancouver, WA, USA edmoore@vcd.hp.com ------------------------------ From: Jerry Skene Subject: TELECOM 95 Space Available Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 16:49:03 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) ---------------Telecom 95 space available.-------------------- If your company would be interested in having access to a fully appointed presentation room in the USA pavilion of Telecom 95 in Geneva next year, read on. We have two conference rooms which will be available to other companies for daily presentations or meetings. These rooms seat 16 people, and have video/slide projector, etc. Connection to PC or videoconference lines would also be possible. If your company cannot provide sufficient meeting space on your own stand, or you are on the long waiting list for exhibit space, or cannot afford a dedicated booth at Telecom, this would be an ideal way to ensure your company of a presence at this large and prestigious international telecommunications exhibition. If you are interested, please send me an Email to discuss. jskene@delphi.com ------------------------------ From: Greg Monti Subject: Industry Numbering Committee to Meet Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 17:51:59 EDT The June 24, 1994 issue of {Communications Daily} notes that the Telephone Industry Numbering Committee will meet July 24-29. Among the topics to be considered: personal communications system (PCS) number portability, assignment of 800-555 numbers and assignment guidelines for interchangeable area codes that no longer use 1 or 0 as the second digit. The story shows the contact for TINC to be Ron Havens, 913-634-6881. The meeting will be held in Toronto. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: Int'l Calls to Taiwan; Sometimes System Says "Not Valid" Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 02:52:19 GMT Called a friend in Taiwan lately, in the middle of the call, the line cuts out. (Backround noise went to zero, nothing unusual, as this happens when he's not talking, but this pause was longer. When I got no response, then I knew the connection was lost), OK, no biggie, it happens. Called the number again, got an error message saying that I had dialed a non-valid international number. Tried again, same message. After trying several times in around 20 minutes, the call went thru, and had my friend back. He says the same thing would happen when he (when living in the USA) tried to call his family from USA to Taiwan. He'd end up waiting a day or so before the problem would clear. He says telephone service in Taiwan is not too reliable. But why did the telephone system say that I dialed a not valid international number, and not say "lines to Taiwan are down now, try later"? Also, do they still have analog lines from here to there? I would have thought everything's digital now? Or is the Taiwan phone system noisy? ------------------------------ From: Lee K. Gleason Subject: Looking For Cell Phone Parts Date: 27 Jun 94 23:06:53 CST Organization: M. W. Kellogg, Houston TX I'm looking for a mail order source for cell phone parts such as power cords and antennae, for my Panasonic TP-500. The local stores charge proces for parts that are beyond outrageous ... anyone know of a source for this stuff? Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR Control-G Consultants gleason@mwk.com ------------------------------ From: segalh@ecf.toronto.edu (SEGAL HENRY ALAN) Subject: How to Put '*' in Phone Number (Modem) Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 02:20:00 -0400 I have call waiting on my line, and if a call comes in when I am using the line for my modem, it causes a disruption, sometimes logging me out. The solution is to dial *67 (I may have that wrong, but I know what it is) before the phone number. Now, I am using Procomm, and it doesn't accept the '*' character. Is it just the software? Is there an alternative code I can use? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In most telecom jurisdictions, the asterisk can be replaced with '11', as in 'eleven' -- not 'one, one' (to the dismay of some puritans, although you accomplish dialing 'eleven' by pressing the digit '1' twice in a row, granted. That is to say, '1167' will generally be accepted in lieu of *67. In fact, 11-anything generally can be used in place of *-anything if you are using Procomm or have one of those very old *ten* button touchtone sets where there is nothing on either side of the zero key. Try it on your phone and see. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Stephen Goodman <0003945654@mcimail.com> Subject: Washington Post Article on Free Access Wanted Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 10:41:00 EST The {Washington Post} had a story on either the 6/22 or 6/23 edition on page 1 about how Maryland is offering Free Internet access. Is this article available online? Does anyone have a copy of it they can either post on the Digest or send to me? I'm curious to read it. Thanks! Stephen_Goodman@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ From: Thompson, Dave Subject: (Very) Sorry Wrong (800) Number Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 16:49:00 PDT {Network World} June 20 1994 page 2 has a "Correction" to an item June 6 page 2 about Bell Atlantic announcing new AIN features for 1-800 subscribers, with the subhead "Dial 1-800-OPTIONS". The correction says this "was believed to be a fictitious 800 number ... [but] is actually in service by another company and should not be used .... [For Bell Atlantic use] (703) 974-4507." Oops! I wonder if they actually tested it -- or maybe it's for an area that doesn't include their location (probably Framingham MA)? Come to think of it, is there a standard or convention for the intercept you get if you dial a 1-800 number from outside its subscribed area (or any of the areas for a geographically reused "local" number), as opposed to one not in service at all? I carefully follow the instructions given (sometimes approaching "from CONUS, PR/VI, and Ontario, except NYC and Ossining, dial ..." ;} so I've never paid attention to this behavior! Dave Thompson, davet@fpg.logica.com Logica North America, +1 617-890-7730 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: "I'm sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached from your calling area. This is a recording, ." PAT] ------------------------------ From: David G. Cantor Subject: Re: O.J. Simpson Case Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 21:25:57 -0700 In TELECOM Digest, Mon, 27 Jun 94, Volume 14, Issue 300, Robert L. McMillin, in an article full of opinion, makes a number of comments about the O. J. Simpson case. Frankly, I don't see what the O. J. Simpson case has to do with telecommunications (except, perhaps that it was reported over telecommunications media). Moreover, his posting has numerous minor, but significant, errors. For example, he refers, twice, to the "Los Angeles City District Attorney". TELECOM Digest readers should be aware that the City of Los Angeles doesn't have a District Attorney. Gil Garcetti, the person to whom he is referring, is the Los Angeles COUNTY District Attorney. The difference between Los Angeles County and Los Angeles City is not trivial. While the City is the largest of over 80 cities in the County, the population of the County is roughly three times that of the City. Los Angeles City does have an elected City Attorney who handles, among other things, misdemeanor matters in the City. As another example, McMillin refers to "the municipal courts building in Santa Monica (or Beverly Hills)" as if one of those places is where the case will be heard. The case is, in fact, being tried in the Van Nuys SUPERIOR Court, the same Court in which the Menendez case was, and continues to be, heard. David G. Cantor Department of Mathematics University of California at Los Angeles dgc@math.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 21:08:46 CDT Subject: Re: O.J. Simpson Case In article I noted: > Idiots are everywhere it seems; people were at the house the other day > trying to snatch up any bloody souveniers they could find; bits of the > carpet, etc. One fellow had a carpet-cutting tool with him to remove a bit > of the carpet. They in turn were arrested for trespassing; probably none of > them have any idea what they did wrong. Someone reading this mentioned to me that when the 'Los Angeles' crashed and burned in 193, souvenier hunters swarmed over the site snatching up anything they could, including the captain's Naval Academy ring (which was still attached to his cold dead finger). There seems to be nothing new under the sun, but sometimes I forget what all is under the sun to begin with. How's this one for exquisite taste and fine citizenship? A couple days ago a woman on the west side of Chicago was crossing the street pushing her shopping cart full of whatever she had purchased and leading her four year old daughter by the hand. A car swerves out of control and heads straight at her. She had the presence of mind to shove her daughter out of the way in the nick of time but she wound up getting hit by the car (with her daughter safely to the side) and her shopping cart overturned in the street. As she laid there unable to get up and unconscious, passers-by on the sidewalk came out into the street -- not to help her, mind you -- but to help themselves to the contents of her shopping cart and her purse which was laying nearby. All the while, the little girl was trying to protect her mother and telling people to 'leave us alone'. All of her groceries were stolen as well as whatever she had in her purse. The paramedics showed up within a couple minutes or less and hauled her off to the hospital along with the little girl who by now was totally terrified. Like one of my heroes Henry Ward Beecher, I've never believed in the concept of a place called Hell, but sometimes *I wish I did* because if anyone deserves to burn there it would be the nasty, greedy people who go to the site of disasters (either small personal ones or the more major type) and pick through the possessions of the helpless victims. That's life in Chicago and I guess its standard operating procedure for some in the City of Angeles as well. Truly, a nation of idiots. Thanks to David Cantor for his corrections to McMillin's article yester- day, but none the less, McMillin's comments are well-taken, at least by some of us. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #301 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23421; 28 Jun 94 17:51 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18564; Tue, 28 Jun 94 11:47:08 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18552; Tue, 28 Jun 94 11:47:05 CDT Date: Tue, 28 Jun 94 11:47:05 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9406281647.AA18552@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #302 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Jun 94 11:47:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 302 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ITU-TSS vs. ANSI (Stephen Williams) Bilingual Telephone Numbers? (Andrew C. Green) Satellite Phone Wanted (John Biederstedt) Who's That Voice? (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Information Wanted on `Set-Top Box' (Lim JaiJin) Motorola Digital Cellular Phone (Ian Daniel Plotkin) Cellular Phones and Lightning (Shawn Gordhamer) Cellular Phone and Tower Handshaking (Shawn Gordhamer) Pointers to Information on Cable Modem Details (Steve Cogorno) Information on Transponders and Cable Network Development (Kevin Apperson) Need 300 mSec Phone Line Delay For Modem Testing (Dave Mc Mahan) 17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service (Van Hefner) Info: Telephone Country/Area Codes: Anywhere:by Gopher|FTP (Monty Solomon) MS-Windows based Centrex Attendant Console (Robert J. Kinder) Testing Tool For Tele-Software Wanted (Filip Vertommen) SMR Licensees Wanted (Alex Cena) Hungarian Portables (Robert Scott) Modems for Kenya (Jason M. Githeko) Non-Tariffed Long Distance Telecommunications Carriers (Aaron Woolfson) GSM Coverage of Indonesia? (Ben Anderson) Sending Cross-Stitch by Telegraph: Did Anyone Ever do it? (Peter Rukavina) Phone Scrambler, Caller ID Information (John Lundgren) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stephenw@Newbridge.COM (Stephen Williams) Subject: ITU-TSS vs. ANSI Reply-To: stephenw@Newbridge.COM Organization: Newbridge Networks Corporation Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 10:08:43 -0400 I am having trouble getting any definitive answers on the differences between the ITU-TSS and ANSI specifications for Frame Relay, etc. ANSI T1.602 says that it is identical to ITU-T's Q.920/921 combined. Fine. ANSI T1.617 says that it is similar to Q.933 and an extension to Q.922. And ANSI T1.618 says that it is similar to Q.922 and an extension to Q.921. It's those words "similar" that I don't like. What ARE the similarities, and differences? Are there any? I have never been able to figure this out by looking at any documentation, the ATM-FAQ, RFC 1490, etc. IE: If I want to implement the data link layer for frame relay, do I need to even look at the ANSI specs? Thanks, Stephen Williams (Please respond by e-mail: stephenw@newbridge.com) ------------------------------ From: Andrew C. Green Subject: Bilingual Telephone Numbers? Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 10:40:07 CDT Was waiting in line at the downtown Walgreen's this morning, and noticed a Caller Name and Number ID box on prominent display. The big marketing triumph which warranted its $59.99 price was trumpeted in a large, bilingual (English and Spanish) sticker on the box: "BILINGUAL NAME AND NUMBER DISPLAY!" Now, perhaps I'm missing something here, but I must admit I don't know how I would translate "Green, Andrew C." and "(312) 266-xxxx" into Spanish without the assistance of this thing. Clearly a bargain at twice the price! Andrew C. Green Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@dlogics.com 441 W. Huron Chicago, IL 60610-3498 ------------------------------ From: John@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU Subject: Satellite Phone Wanted Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 16:52:57 -0600 Organization: Mankato State University Is there a phone on the market that can use a satellite (not a cell) to communicate? Some friends and I want to take a trip to where there are no phones (obviously) and no cells. We thought maybe we could rent a satellite phone, if possible. John Biederstedt John@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU Mankato State University Mankato, MN 56002 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't the ship to shore (or high seas) service work out in John's case? I am thinking of Marisat or Maristat? Can you get portable phones to carry around which use that service? PAT] ------------------------------ From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: Who's That Voice? Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 04:26:25 After reading an interesting discussion in the archives about Jane Barbe, the former voice of the Bell System, the voice of the time in several cities, and of many Octel systems (at least those that have not upgraded to a Marsha Graham software release), I was wondering if anyone has any information about yet another of those famous voices. The woman in question has done many recordings including the ubiquitous AT&T carrier identification chime and calling card auto attendant, the EasyReach voice prompts, RBOC recordings (including NYNEX's return call/repeat call prompts, and the new "You must dial 1+ the area code intercepts). I've always found it interesting to be able to put a name with a voice, so I thought I'd ask. Jeffrey W. McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu ------------------------------ From: jjin@olive.snu.ac.kr (Lim JaiJin) Subject: Information Wanted on 'Set-Top Box' Date: Tue, 28 Jun 94 09:09:07 GMT Hi, everyone ! Is there anyone or anysite from whom or where I can get in contact with some informations about set-top box used in VOD (Video-On-Demand) as a customer information appliance like VCR ? Currently I'm studying the OS of set-top box. I'd like to know `OS requirements' of set-top box. I'd like to know why `real-time OS' is requred for set-top box. Any hints and notices would be greatly appreciated. NAME: Lim, Jai-jin EMAIL: jjin@olive.snu.ac.kr ADDRESS: Department of Computer Science & Statistics, Seoul National University, Sinlim-Dong, Gwanak-Ku, Seoul, 151-742, Republic Of Korea PHONE: +82-02-880-6582 FAX: +82-02-871-4912 ------------------------------ From: idp3286@hertz.njit.edu (Ian Daniel Plotkin) Subject: Motorola Digital Cellular Phone Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 08:47:45 GMT Does anyone have any experience with Motorola's new Digital flip-fone? Is digital cellular as widespread as analog yet? The local carrier here in central NJ is Comcast/CellularOne. Does anyone know if NJ is covered by a digital network? While the other (analog) flipfones go for around $50 /w signon deal, is it worth it at this point in time to shell out the $300 or so (/w signon deal) for the digital phone? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks, Ian Daniel Plotkin idp3286@hertz.njit.edu (201)824-4701 (800)333-5729 x110 (908)246-3365 ------------------------------ From: shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) Subject: Cellular Phones and Lightning Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:04:33 GMT Someone told me that in a lightning storm, lightning can follow the radio waves given out by your cellular phone. I assume this is because the air is more ionized where the waves are strong. Is this true? Is it unsafe to use a handheld cellular phone in a lightning storm? I'm not talking about a mobile phone with a tall antenna. Shawn Gordhamer shawnlg@netcom.com Rochester, Minnesota USA ------------------------------ From: shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) Subject: Cellular Phone and Tower Handshaking Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:26:00 GMT I can tell when my cellular phone talks to the tower, because my tape player near it slows down and buzzes loudly whenever my phone transmits. Therefore, I know about how often my phone and the towers communicate when the phone is on but not being used. Sometimes when I turn my phone on, it doesn't bother talking to the tower at all. Sometimes, it transmits for a short period of time. But it usually does this once and not at set intervals. With this in mind, I have come up with the following theory about how a phone and tower keep track of each other. Someone please let me know if there is any truth in this. When you turn on a cellular phone, it knows what tower is nearest it. Each tower must have some unique ID so that your phone knows if it approaches a different tower. A tower does not ask a phone if it is there. Instead, the phone tells the tower it is there. Thus, if I turn on my phone for the first time and it is near tower A, it will tell tower A that it is near it. Tower A then assumes, until the cellular network tells it differently, that my phone is still near it. I can turn off my phone and turn it back on. It has in its memory the tower it last talked to. Thus, if I turn it off and back on, if it still picks up tower A as the strongest, it won't even tell tower A it is there again. It assumes that tower A still thinks it is there. There must be some timeout value. If I left my phone off for a year, it would probably tell tower A it was back when turned on. When the phone is on and not being used, it continually checks the different frequencies of the towers. If I move closer to tower B, my phone, and not the tower, realizes this. My phone then tells tower B it is there. Tower B is now the one that will deal with my phone, and the cellular network will tell tower A that I'm gone. When actually talking on my phone, the towers themselves must monitor my signal strength. I can hear my phone change frequencies quite often while I talk, even when I am just pasing around one room. The phone never transmits tower changes that often when it is not being used. Do I have this basically right? Also, why does my phone change frequencies so often? I can tell because the conversation cuts out for about 1/4 second and one or the other party usually misses a word in the conversation. Is this because I am between two towers and they can't decide who gets me? Or is this to thwart scanning by moving my conversation all over the frequency band? Either way, it's quite annoying, and I'd prefer the scan risk then always being cut off while my phone changes frequencies. Thanks for any info. Shawn Gordhamer shawnlg@netcom.com Rochester, Minnesota USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think what is happening is that the tower you were on has decided it is time to pass you on to the next tower, but the next tower has no channels available at that precise moment and it tells the first tower to continue holding you as long as possible. It is not so much a question of deciding who gets your call as it is finding a vacant channel on the tower you should be with. If it has nothing available for a few seconds or a minute even though logically you are in its range, then the earlier tower has to keep holding you, and when it can do so no longer then it has to give your call to some tower somewhere, even if the most likely one (nearest you, getting your signal the strongest) has no room for you. So, it then finds some tower someplace which can hear you at least a little better than it can and hands off your call if possible, otherwise you simply get dropped. PAT] ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Pointers to Information on Cable Modem Details Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 00:07:40 PDT Michael S. Pontecorvo said: > I am looking for information on cable modems. How the technology > works, baud rates, error recovery, etc. Any pointers would be helpful. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What is a 'cable modem'? PAT] A cable modem is a device that transmits/receives data over two-way cable lines (cable as in cable TV). Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: kap@netcom.com (Kevin D. Apperson) Subject: Information on Transponders and Cable Network Development Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:24:07 GMT When is it ever better to lease than purchase a transponder when starting a cable channel? I really appreciate any references on this, and related information. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: mcmahan@netcom.com (Dave Mc Mahan) Subject: Need 300 mSec phone line delay for modem testing Organization: Dave McMahan @ NetCom Services Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 06:16:00 GMT I need to test a product that contains a modem. One of the requirements is that it work over a satellite. This requirement can be tested if we use a delay line between modems that has up to 300 milliseconds of delay in each direction. 1) The quality of the delayed signal must be such that a 2400 baud modem is able to operate over it. 2) Ideally, the delay would be adjustable over the range of 200 milliseconds to 300 milliseconds. If it is fixed, I think we can live with it. 3) The delay equipment must have the necessary 2-to-4 wire conversion circuitry to convert from telco signal to whatever is required internally by the delay. Ideally, we would just plug in an RJ-11 jack to obtain the desired delay. 4) Dialing and ringing via standard telco methods is not required. All I'm looking for is the delay function that is accessible via RJ-11 jacks. We are not looking to purchase this piece of test gear. We would like to rent it instead. If you know of a company that makes this type of equipment or one that rents it, please let me know. In the interests of brevity, please respond via e-mail directly to the poster at: mcmahan@netcom.com Dave McMahan mcmahan@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: VANTEK@aol.com Date: Tue, 28 Jun 94 03:29:10 EDT Subject: 17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service > The article was quite brief, but it seemed to indicate that ATN was > offering a Calling Card service charging 17.5 cents per minute DAY > rate, which is pretty good compared to the 23 cents which I am paying > now. > There is no surcharge associated with this service, and they didn't > mention any monthly fees. (Although maybe there are - I'll see when I > get their literature.) ATN doesn't have any monthly fees for their calling card. And yes, the 17.5 cents per minute is accurate. As a matter of fact, they will also provide you with your own personal (800) number (residential, or business) for $.18/min., also with no minimums, and no monthly fees. They just recently added a 'message service' to their calling card, which will deliver a recorded voice message to any number you dial that is busy, or has no answer. The actual long-distance service is provided by LDDS/MetroMedia. > I don't know if they offer six-second billing as does ConTelCom Yes, all billing for the calling card and (800) service uses six second incriments (30 sec. minimum). ATN resells long distance services for LDDS, MCI, AT&T, etc. If you'd like any free applications, or further info on the company you can also e-mail me. ATN is based in Buffalo, NY and I'm currently contracted with them to market their commercial and residential services. Van Hefner VANTEK Communications vantek@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Monty Solomon Subject: Information: Telephone Country/Area Codes: Anywhere:by Gopher|FTP Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:12:51 GMT Passed along FYI: From: jayarama@chaph.usc.edu (Prakash Jayaraman) Newsgroups: comp.archives Subject: [soc.culture.tamil] INFO: telephone country/area codes:anywhere: by go pher|ftp. Followup-To: poster Date: 15 Jun 1994 15:53:27 +0200 Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Archive-Name: auto/soc.culture.tamil/INFO-telephone-country-area-codes-anywhere-by-gopher-ftp Hi, Telephone Country codes/area codes are available through gopher or ftp. The gopher path that I went through was, Gopher (USC, LA client) Other gophers Gopher by subject Gopher by subject from Rice university Geography Telephone country /area codes Telephone country/area codes from U.of.Oregon search for country code/area code U need to specify the place to get the country/area code. Spelling is a problem. (I searched for Trichy, Tiruchy, Tiruchirappalli and Tiruchirapalli in vain. Tiruchirappally is there. :) Even places like Somarasampettai, Tirupparaaiththurai have been listed. There are two 'Hyderabad's. One in India and another in Pakistan. Both Indian Salem and American Salem are reported when u search for 'salem') (README file has some more info.) If u can't find out the area code by searching (because of wrong spelling), use ftp. README file can be read through Gopher. Each zone has been given a number. For example South Asia has been given the number 9. Download the corresponding file by ftp in the following site. (You can do it through gopher again.) The ftp site is: lcs.mit.edu:/telecom-archives/country-codes There is a file for each zone. Each is a .Z file. 'uncompress' the file u downloaded and load it in emacs editor. Now do a search. It is easy now. :) Hope it helps. _J._Prakash [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I don't know *where* this fellow is getting the country code files (which started out in the Telecom Archives) but as I have them posted they are *not* .Z or compressed files. They are straight ASCII text as filed in the public directory he mentions above. Carl Moore and David Leibold maintain this part of the Archives, and have for a few years now. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rkinder@gate.net (Robert J. Kinder) Subject: MS-Windows based Centrex Attendant Console Date: 28 Jun 1994 13:00:49 GMT I am searching for an MS-Windows based Centrex Attendant Console. Especially one which uses ISDN as the interface to the switch. Does anyone know if this is available? Thanks! Robert Kinder rkinder@gate.net Software Engineer Siemens Stromberg-Carlson Boca Raton, Florida ------------------------------ From: filipv@arti.vub.ac.be (Filip Vertommen) Subject: Testing Tool For Tele-Software Wanted Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 13:11:15 GMT Organization: VUB AI-LAB We are a medium sized company in Belgium. We have developed tele-software for our customers. We are currently looking for a testing and monitoring tool: this tool should allow us to control this tele-service from a customer's point of view and to test new developments in this area before bringing them to our customers. The tool should be able to: 1. easily register test-flows and the wanted results: in fact to simulate a customer 2. make comparisons between expected and real results As the software should be able to make telephone-calls as well as connection through a LAN, we think that a PC-program (running in MS-Windows(?)) would be the best solution. Does anyone know of such a program or does anyone have other suggestions? We are willing to pay a reasonable price for such a package. You can contact us by phone (Belgium: +32.2.422.75.29, Mr. Vertommen) or by E-mail (filipv@arti.vub.ac.be). Thank you, it would help us a lot. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jun 94 07:27:09 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: SMRs Licensees Wanted Can anyone supply me with a good source to locate SMR licensees in foreign markets? Alex M. Cena, Lehman Brothers, acena@lehman.com ------------------------------ From: rbs@cs.city.ac.uk (Robert Scott) Subject: Hungarian Portables Date: 28 Jun 1994 16:59:05 GMT Organization: Computer Science Dept, City University, London Reply-To: rbs@cs.city.ac.uk I noticed that quite a lot of people in Hungary have portable phones, maybe even approaching the percentage per population as in the UK (pure speculation from watching posers with portables on the street). Apparantly people are turning to portables because it still takes 10 years to get a phoneline installed in Hungary (unless you are a new convertable currency earning company). I was thinking that it might be handy to be able to roam between Hungary and the UK. Does anyone know anything about such roaming? It looked to me like many of the phones were GSM900 type with the smart card. Rob Scott, City University, London ------------------------------ From: githeko@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu (Jason M. Githeko) Subject: Modems For Kenya Date: 28 Jun 1994 21:06:48 GMT Organization: University of Illinois I am part of an effort to promote the use of simple computer networks to overcome the great difficulties that people in Kenya (and Africa in general) have in acquiring information. A number of sel-help organizations are involved in the effort including the Kenya Association for the Advancement of Computer Technolgy (KAACT) to which I belong. We appeal to anyone interested to help with procurement of modems (2400 to 9600 baud external) which are badly needed but not affordable by the health and educational institutions we seek to help. Modems may be new or used. You may contact me for further info regarding this effort. Thanks. Jason M. Githeko University of Illinois 1310 S. 6th, #345 Champaign, IL 61820 e-mail: githeko@uiuc.edu ------------------------------ From: awoolfso@uop.edu (Aaron Woolfson) Subject: Non-Tariffed Long Distance Telecommunications Carriers Date: 28 Jun 1994 04:26:28 -0700 Organization: University of the Pacific I would like to discuss SLAMMING, and ask for your help to help us stop it. Long Distance Carriers, just like consumers, DO NOT like having subscribers SLAMMED to their networks. It is generally the work of UNTARIFFED resellers who work on Commission and Flat-Fee per account only, not the work of fully tariffed Long Distance Carriers. SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SLAMMED, IN FACT, that I thought I would address this problem and ask for your assistance in helping solve it. Delta Telecommunications, based in Stockton, California, has recently submitted all of the respective paperwork to become a fully tariffed long distance telephone carrier to handle calls within the State of California. A certain carrier based in Hawaii, which I will not mention for fear of being sued for slander, has boxes in almost every establishment here in Stockton, California, advertising "Win a new Car!" What people who enter don't realize is the small text on THE BACK and on the bottom which says that WilTel will become the primary carrier. I phoned the president of the company and asked them if they were tariffed. They said "no" and that they just get a percentage from WilTel on billings. This would appear to a lot of people as "slamming". I called the Public Utilities Commission and asked them. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE SIGNING UP SUBSCRIBERS WITHIN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND YOU ARE A SEPARATE ENTITY FROM THE RESPECTIVE CARRIER, THEN YOU MUST FILE A TARIFF. UNLESS, HOWEVER, YOU ARE JUST AN AGENT REPRESENTING THE RESPECTIVE TARIFFED CARRIER AND ARE OPERATING UNDER THEIR TARIFF. I.E. Phoenix Network D.B.A. Office Depot Communications. This is fine and legal. But ABC Resellers slamming subscribers to WilTel, Sprint, or AT&T is NOT fine. IF anyone has any questions regarding the technicalities of California Public Utilities Code or any of the procedures which Carriers must go through to become Tariffed, please call the California State Public Utilities Commission. IF anyone has a complaint, according to Joe McIlvane of the California Public Utilities Commission; the commission takes it very seriously. PLEASE complain if you get SLAMMED. ------------------------------ From: ben@pipkin.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Ben Anderson) Subject: GSM Coverage of Indonesia? Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 10:28:49 GMT Reply-To: B.Anderson@loughborough.ac.uk Organization: Loughborough University of Technology Hello, Does anyone know if GSM covers parts of Indonesia - specifically southern Sumatra. Or is it just a European service? Thanks, Ben Anderson LUTCHI Research Centre Department of Computer Studies Loughborough University Loughborough Leicestershire UK B.Anderson@lut.ac.uk ------------------------------ From: Peter Rukavina Subject: Sending cross-stitch by telegraph: did anyone ever do it? Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 09:48:52 +0100 As part of a "what is digital information, anyway?" spot for local radio I put together, I used the process of creating a cross-stitch pattern from a photograph -- essentially, you lay a grid on tracing paper over top and fill in the 'black' squares with an 'X' and leave the 'white' squares blank -- as an example of digitizing a picture. Earlier I had used the example of Morse Code as an example of the same sort of thing applied to text. It occured to me that "in the old days" it would have been possible to send a cross-stitch pattern (or any sort of similar "digitized picture") by telegraph just by using a 'dash' to represent an 'X' and a 'dot' to represent a 'blank.' Does anyone know whether anything like this was ever actually done? Peter ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@ohlone.kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Phone Scrambler, Caller ID Information Date: 28 Jun 94 09:40:01 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network I found a couple items of interest. Sorry about the blatant commercialism. TELEPHONE CALL SCRAMBLER from Vol 29 Supplement & Price List Manufacturer: TT Systems * Intercepts incoming calls with a synthesized voice message asking for secret code. * Auto disconnect when code is not entered * Three digit secret code is easily programmed by user between 000 and 999 * One button on/off control * LED allows user to see if incoming calls are being processed * Does not effect outgoing calls. * Simply plugs into telephone jack and AC outlet. Product No. TT-PS1000, Price: $79.83 Also many other catalog items available. Such as: Northern Telecom NT-XT Caller ID module $15.99, NT XT+ $18.97 Tele-Com Products, Inc. 1070 Hamilton Rd. Duarte, CA 91010 USA (800) 888-7466 / (818) 303-1183 Judi Lomas X413 FAX (818) 358-8485 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, don't worry about commercializing the net ... I do it all the time :) ... trouble is, the folks who complain about it had better hope -- they should be so lucky -- that my feeble little 'commercials' in the past are the worst it gets; but I don't think so. You should see all the stuff I am junking unused these days if you want to see what 'commercializing the net' is all about. It comes through heavily some days. Farewell to Usenet as we knew it ... :( PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #302 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa09699; 30 Jun 94 14:36 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08274; Thu, 30 Jun 94 10:54:12 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08265; Thu, 30 Jun 94 10:54:10 CDT Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 10:54:10 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9406301554.AA08265@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #303 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jun 94 10:54:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 303 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Dialing Plan in New York (Dave Niebuhr) Ameritech Playing Games? (Clifton T. Sharp) Caller ID and the FCC Ruling (Monty Solomon) Caller ID; the Argument Continues (John R. Levine) Calling Number ID For Cellular Users (Lynne Gregg) Cross-Country Caller ID (James Taranto) SOS For Online Telecom Consultants (tym%infoage%sdnpk@sdnhq.undp.org) Norstar Phone System for Sale (Brian Wicks) DECT Standards (Shree N. Murthy) ANSI and Bellcore Telecom Specs Wanted (Donald V. Johnson) KERMIT Through an Intermediate Telnet Node? How? (John Refling) Telex Information - Good Sources Wanted (Matthew B. Campbell) IEEE Infocom '95 Announcement (Brian McKeever) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: New Dialing Plan in New York Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 09:28:10 EDT My latest NYNEX (NYTel land) bill insert has instructions on how to dial until September 24, 1994, when the cutover to 1+ dialing will become mandatory. This is what is given for the Metropolitan New York LATA which is defined as New York City (ACs 212, 718, 917), Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk Counties - AC 516), Upstate NY (Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, Counties, and Greenwood Lake, Highland Falls and Tuxedo in Orange County). No mention of the tiny portion of Connecticut (AC 203) that is served by NYTel and is in the NY LATA. Current Dialing: Calls to Other Area Codes: AC + 7D or 1+ AC + 7D Calls Within Area Code: 7D New Dialing: Calls to Other Area Codes: 1+ AC + 7D Calls Within Area Code: 7D (no change) Credit Card and Operator-Assisted Calls (within your area code) Current Dialing: 0 + 7D New Dialing: 0 + AC + 7D I'm making the assumption that the rest of NY will change in this manner; however, I don't know about Rochester Tel, Fisher's Island Tel and any other independents that are in the state. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 1+(516) 282-3093 FAX 1+(516) 282-7688 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 19:50:54 CDT From: clifto@indep1.chi.il.us (Clifton T. Sharp) Subject: Ameritech Playing Games? AT&T's advertising in the Chicago area, saying that for a limited time tye would carry "C" and "D" band calls cheaper than Ameritech, has been talked about before in this newsgroup. I decided just now to try it for the first time. I dialed 10288 708 974 ... ... and an intercept told me, "When dialing a call outside your area code or an 800 number, dial 1 first. ..." Naturally, I tried 10288 1 708 974 ... got the same results. Ameritech's switch is grabbing my call! Well, let me try 1 800 222 0300 next ... ------------------------------ From: Monty Solomon Subject: Caller ID and the FCC Ruling Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 11:27:12 -0400 Excerpts from EPIC Alert 1.03 [3] FCC Caller ID Decision Appealed Several state utility commissions, including New York's and California's, have petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its controversial Caller ID decision. The petitions ask the FCC to reverse its decision mandating per-call blocking for interstate calls and its preemption of state regulations. The commissions are concerned that the federal regulation will limit consumer privacy protection for intra-state calls. It is uncertain if the FCC will take the unusual action of accepting the petitions. Since the Caller ID decision was released in April, two new commissioners have joined the FCC. A total of 48 parties, including telephone companies who are concerned about which party is charged the cost of transmitting the information, have filed petitions asking the FCC to reconsider its decision. Per-call blocking, which is favored by telephone companies, requires that a caller to enter a series of numbers into their telephone before each call to prevent their number from being distributed. Under per-line blocking, privacy blocking is the default and the caller may opt to release their number. The New York Public Utility Commission's petition notes that "there is no technological bar to enabling each state to designate per line or per call blocking and have that privacy notation affixed to that caller's phone calls both intra and interstate." The PUC calls on the FCC, which did not hold a single hearing on Caller ID, to review the decisions of the many states that did hold hearings. Professor Rohan Samarajiva of Ohio State University, who also filed for reconsideration, found that 46 states held hearings on Caller ID before the FCC issued their final decision. He found that as information became more available on Caller ID, the state utility commissioners increasingly required that per-line blocking be offered in addition to per-call. By 1994, 33 jurisdictions developed rules with stronger privacy protection than the FCC decision. 18 states require per-line blocking be offered to all consumers, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and New York. CPSR has also filed a petition asking the FCC to revise its decision. CPSR calls for free per-line blocking and note the additional burden of per call blocking will cost consumers who have unlisted telephone numbers $1.2 billion each year through the disclosure of unlisted numbers. They describe the FCCUs suggestion that consumers who wish to ensure that their numbers remain private purchase equipment as unreliable and discriminatory. In addition, the California PUC has filed suit in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to overturn the ruling and prevent its implementation. The FCC decision on Caller ID and the CPSR Petition for Reconsideration are available from cpsr.org. See below for details. [4] NY PUC Letter to FCC on Caller ID The following is a letter set by New York State Public Utility Committee Chairman Peter Bradford to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt on the FCC's Caller ID decision. For more information, contact Stacey Harwood at 518-473-0276. STATE OF NEW YORK PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ALBANY 12223 PETER A. BRADFORD THREE EMPIRE STATE PLAZA CHAIRMAN (518)474-2530 June 1, 1994 Reed Hundt, Chairman Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20554 Dear Chairman Hundt: I am writing to express My concern about the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision (Docket #91-281) limiting the range of privacy protections available to telephone callers in connection with Call ID service. The potential preemptive features of this decision undermine sensible allocation of responsibility between state and federal jurisdictions, namely that the federal government preempt only where issues of overriding national concern are clearly at stake and then only after strong proof that no alternative approach will protect the national concerns. All of these essential elements (clear national concern, strong proof, and the absence of other alternatives) are lacking here. Instead, the casual reasoning and the destructive remedy mock stated Clinton Administration eagerness to work with the states to assure that telecommunications decisions are sensitive to important consumer issues. The FCC's decision appears to ignore the states' considerable experience with Call ID. Prior to its authorization of Call ID, the New York Public Service Commission (like many other states) conducted extensive customer outreach and education programs to determine how best to balance the privacy interests of the calling and called parties. many witnesses, including psychiatrists, social workers, police, other public safety officials, as well as family violence crisis centers, saw danger and/or nuisance in Call ID without the option of per line blocking. These hearings established that privacy protection consisting only of per call blocking represents the worst of all worlds. The harassing caller is unlikely to forget to use per call blocking. It is the customer who does not realize the implications of the availability of Call ID to commercial number gatherers (or others who may abuse it) who is likely to make his or her telephone number inadvertently available. As a result, we concluded that in New York callers should have the option of both per call and per line blocking. Since Call ID service was approved with these options two years ago, no complaints have been received from either Call ID subscribers or callers on the issue of blocking. Furthermore, the market for Call ID does not seem to be hurt by the availability of per line blocking, for subscription rates are at least as high in states with per line blocking as elsewhere. Nevertheless, the FCC decision contemplates preemption of state requirements inconsistent with a federal per-call-blocking- only regime. Since per line blocking only for intrastate calls does not seem feasible, New York's standard (and those of some 40 other states) will be preempted. Protracted litigation over the FCC decision is certain and may impede the introduction of interstate Call ID service. Several states, including New York are seeking reconsideration of the FCC decision and California has challenged the FCC order in court. Customer confusion and disappointment with limitations on privacy options will spawn a host of complaints. Furthermore, it will be hard for state regulators, to justify the current surcharge for unpublished listings while telephone companies market a service that compromises the value of those listings. I have enclosed a recent New York notice raising this concern for parties in two major cases. Telephone companies are not likely to go forward with Call ID if they must forego tens of millions of dollars per year in charges for unpublished numbers. I hope that the FCC will think again about the impact of this decision. It is likely to damage the prospects for Call ID, and it is certain to damage federal-state relations in the communications area at a time when much depends on our mutual trust and cooperation. Sincerely, /sig Peter Bradford [6] Files Available for retrieval The CPSR Internet Library is a free service available via FTP/WAIS/Gopher/listserv from cpsr.org:/cpsr. Materials from Privacy International, the Taxpayers Assets Project and the Cypherpunks are also archived. For more information, contact ftp-admin@cpsr.org. Files on Caller ID: /privacy/communications/caller_id/ The FCC decision - fcc_caller_id_decision_94.txt. CPSR Petition for Reconsideration - CPSR_RFR_on_FCC_Caller-ID_Order.txt To subscribe to the EPIC Alert, send the message: SUBSCRIBE CPSR-ANNOUNCE Firstname Lastname to listserv@cpsr.org. You may also receive the Alert by reading the USENET newsgroup comp.org.cpsr.announce ---------------------- The Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest research center in Washington, DC. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging privacy issues relating to the National Information Infrastructure, such as the Clipper Chip, the Digital Telephony proposal, medical record privacy, and the sale of consumer data. EPIC is sponsored by the Fund for Constitutional Government and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. EPIC publishes the EPIC Alert and EPIC Reports, pursues Freedom of Information Act litigation, and conducts policy research on emerging privacy issues. For more information email info@epic.org, or write EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20003. +1 202 544 9240 (tel), +1 202 547 5482 (fax). The Fund for Constitutional Government is a non-profit organization established in 1974 to protect civil liberties and constitutional rights. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility is a national membership organization of people concerned about the impact of technology on society. For information contact: cpsr-info@cpsr.org ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Caller ID; The Argument Continues Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 9:34:12 EDT The New York Public Utility Committee Chairman Peter Bradford sent a letter dated June 1 to Reed Hunt at the FCC challenging the CLID decision. Major points: * Many states have had hearings on CLID, the FCC didn't, and the FCC didn't appear to take into account the states' experience with it. Claims that nobody will buy CLID if line blocking is available are not borne out by experience, subscription rates are similar in states with and without. * If unlisted subscribers can't get line blocking, state regulators are likely to reduce or eliminate the charge for an unlisted number, since the privacy it provides will have been considerably reduced. This last one could be interesting, since the amount of money telcos are likely to make from CLID is dwarfed by what they make from unlisted numbers. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, jlevine@delphi.com, 1037498@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Calling Number ID for Cellular Users Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 02:07:00 PDT johng@ecs.comm.mot.com wrote: > Caller ID service is among several services that have been available > to analog subscribers on narrow band AMPS (NAMPS) systems since 1991. > See the April 1991 issue of {Communications} magazine for more on NAMPS. Not so! Cellular services based on NAMPS do not deliver CPN. They rely upon the caller's willingness and inclination to key in their telephone number. These services can be a hassle for callers. Regards, Lynne ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Cross-Country Caller ID Date: 30 Jun 1994 01:04:26 GMT Organization: The Bad Taranto At 8:20 this evening, my phone in Brooklyn rang. I glanced at my Caller ID device and saw the number was unfamiliar, so I prepared myself for a surprise. I picked up the phone, and was indeed surprised -- it was my friend Rich from California. I looked more carefully at the Caller ID readout: 310-843-XXXX. It seems at least some numbers are being transmitted across LATA boundaries via Caller ID. I experimented a bit, calling through various long-distance carriers to my voice line. Sprint, MCI, AT&T, and ITT did not pass Caller ID data, even on an intra-LATA (intra-room, for that matter) call. I found one company that does, however. "Wiltel" (I don't know the spelling), whose access code is 10555. Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: tym%infoage%sdnpk@sdnhq.undp.org Date: 30 Jun 94 04:25:15 Subject: SOS For Online Telecom Consultants Dear Mr. Townson, My organization is attempting to introduce advanced telecom facilities in Pakistan for the first time. We desperately require online consultants to assist in ushering the Information Age into our country. You are requested to post this message onto the appropriate BBS/s because we have very limited connectivity for the time being. Thank you, Tayyab Yazdani. CEO, INFOAGE ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN FAX:92-51-212796 EMAIL:TYM%INFOAGE%SDNPK%SDNHQ@NYGATE.UNDP.ORG ------------------------------ From: bwgti16v@telerama.lm.com (Brian Wicks) Subject: Norstar Phone System for Sale Date: 29 Jun 1994 11:47:15 -0400 Organization: Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh, PA For Sale: Bell Atlantic Meridian Phone System Includes: 1 Norstar DR5 6 Line CPU/Software Unit 3 Black M7208 Programmable Multi-line Phones This is a full featured, user programmable, expandable phone system. It would be perfect for any small business or startup. Purchased new for $2660 4-19-94. Asking $1495. ------------------------------ From: shree@maple.cse.ucsc.edu (Shree N. Murthy) Subject: DECT Standards Date: 29 Jun 1994 15:52:10 GMT Organization: UC Santa Cruz CIS/CE I am looking for an on-line source for the DECT standards put out by the European Telecomm Standards Institute (ETSI). Any information on an FTP site or CD-ROM vendor for these would be very much appreciated. Thank you, Timothy A. Gonsalves, Associate Professor Department of Computer Science and Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Madras - 600 036, India (91) (44) 235-1365 x 3512 E-mail: tag@iitm.ernet.in FAX: (91) (44) 235-2120 ------------------------------ From: c32dvj@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com (Donald V Johnson) Subject: ANSI and Bellcore Telecom Specs Wanted Organization: Delco Electronics Corp. Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 17:51:06 GMT A friend of mine -- his name is Dave -- is looking for on line documentation for ANSI and Bellcore telecom specs. If anyone knows of any sites with such documentation please email him at: scheer@lts.sel.alcatel.de You may also e-mail to me and I will forward to him, but direct is obviously preferred. Since I do not regurlarly read this newsgroup, I will not see any followup postings, so please e-mail. Thank you, Donald V. Johnson Delco Electronics Corp. c32dvj@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com The REAL Don Johnson (not some actor who stole my name!) ------------------------------ From: jrefling@rosslare.ece.uci.edu (John Refling) Subject: KERMIT Through an Intermediate Telnet Node? How? Date: 29 Jun 1994 23:22:19 GMT Organization: University of California, Irvine Here's the situation: +-----+ +---------+ +-----------+ | PC | - phone----> | UNIX BOX| -- INTERNET-->| UNIX BOX | +-----+ +---------+ +-----------+ Now, after you dial the first unix box over the phone and are logged in, you telnet to the second unix box. On the second unix box, you start kermit to server mode. Then you escape back to the pc and try to transfer files and the whole thing dies. I can sort of see why things won't work -- maybe the boxes get confused over where thier input is coming from ... then again it's not a problem normally. Is there a way to get this to work? Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: mcampbe8@mason1.gmu.edu (Matthew B Campbell) Subject: Telex Information - Good Sources Wanted Date: 30 Jun 1994 13:08:39 GMT Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA Hello, I am working on a project that involves controlling Telex lines within a larger network control system. I know a little about Telex, but I really need to know what to listen for on each side ("marks", and "spaces", etc.), what these things look like psysically (80v burst = "mark"?), and possibly information on what type of devices would be ideal for listening to the Telex channels, as well as controlling the "make or break" for each call. Any help, or references would be great! Matt Campbell Senior Engineer Synergistic Technologies, Inc. ------------------------------ From: mckeever@vax2.cstp.umkc.edu (Brian McKeever) Subject: IEEE Infocom '95 Announcement Date: 29 Jun 1994 15:17:20 GMT Organization: University of Missouri - Kansas City, CSTP Reply-To: mckeever@vax2.cstp.umkc.edu IEEE INFOCOM'95 The Conference on Computer Communications Bringing Information to People April 2-6, 1995 Boston, MASS., USA CALL FOR PAPERS Fourteenth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies Sponsored by the Computer Communications Technical Committees of the Societies. Authors are invited to submit full papers on recent advances in computer communications. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: Gigabit Networks Congestion Control Internetworking (LAN/WAN) Switch Architectures ATM Wireless Networks Video Communications Protocols for High-Speed Networks Personal Communication Systems Network Management Protocol Design and Analysis Distributed Network Algorithms Network Design and Planning Computer Security and Privacy Photonic Switching Lightwave Networks Broadband ISDN Network Reliability Routing and Flow Control Multimedia Protocols Scheduling Testbeds and Measurements Network Standards Multimedia Terminals and Systems Traffic Management Multiple Access Signaling and Control Network Restoration SCHEDULE Full Paper (6 Copies, Double Sided Preferred) - August 1, 1994 Notification of Acceptance - November 1, 1994 Camera Ready Copy - January 13, 1995 Conference - April 4-6, 1995 Tutorials - April 2-3, 1995 General Chair: Jeffary M. Jaffe Technical Chairs: Aurel Lazar and Khosrow Sohraby Submit six double-spaced, double sided copies of the manuscript to: Prof. Khosrow Sohraby, Technical Program Co-Chair, IEEE INFOCOM '95 CSTP, University of Missouri-Kansas City 5100 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, MO 64110 Email: infocom@cstp.umkc.edu, Telephone: (816) 235-2361 Fax: (816) 235-5159 (FAXED SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED) PLEASE INCLUDE KEYWORDS AT THE END OF THE ABSTRACT ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #303 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10553; 30 Jun 94 16:04 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10082; Thu, 30 Jun 94 12:08:07 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10073; Thu, 30 Jun 94 12:08:06 CDT Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 12:08:06 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9406301708.AA10073@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #304 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jun 94 12:08:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 304 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Need to Hook a Unix Machine to a BBS on a PC (Michael Hauben) CONVERSANT Problem - Help!!! (crooksie@aol.com) Call For Participation: TeleStrategies' Internet '94 Conference (M. Lucas) Workshop: User Interfaces of Communications Systems (Ashok Gupta) Recent BCI/Jones Intercable Dealings (Dave Leibold) Tele-Direct Comes to Hong Kong (Dave Leibold) The Telco as Broadcaster? (Dave Leibold) SONET/SDH Comparision TR Available From Committee T1 (Jim Burkitt) Book Review: "NetWare Troubleshooting" by Hader (Rob Slade) Bell Atlantic Marketing (Neil Weisenfeld) Looking For 386DX 32bits Operating System (James L. Yan) Outgoing Call Lockout, But Enabling it For One Call (John Stewart Pinnow) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sonicnet@panix.com (Michael Hauben) Subject: Need to Hook a Unix machine to a BBS on a PC Date: 30 Jun 1994 12:27:38 -0400 Organization: SonicNet BBS We are in the process of renting a T1-Leased Line in order to connect our BBS, SonicNet, to the Internet. In order to do this we are in the process of purchasing a Unix machine in order to connet to the incoming T-1 line. What I do not know how to do is how to connect the Unix machine to my PC. SonicNet runs on a 486/66 PC using the TBBS software. We currently have 8 phone lines connected via modems to a multiport Digiboard serial board. At this point I am unsure how I will connct the unix machine, which will support multiple telnet sessions, to the serial ports on the PC Digiboard. Of course we will be expanding the number of serial lines on the PC once we solve this problem. What I need is to somehow convert the incoming telnet connections on the unix machine into an RS-232 line on the BBS PC. Ideally it would be like connecting two serial ports via null modem cables. Others have suggested that I install an ethernet card to the PC running the bbs, but then I would be unsure how to redirect the incoming IP packets to the TBBS software. Also someone else suggested hooking up the unix machine up to a terminal server and the serial lines to the lines from my digiboard. The problem is that I know very little about the terminal servers, and less who to purchase them from. Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to deal with my problem? I would also be interested in how other TBBS sysops have hooked their BBS's up to the Internet for telnet access. Thanks! Michael ------------------------------ From: crooksie@aol.com (CROOKSIE) Subject: CONVERSANT Problem - Help!!! Date: 28 Jun 1994 20:57:01 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Help Help Help!!! Relaying problem from TELECOM TECH SUPPORT (hope I got message right) - they cant seem to resolve - have ORACLE Server (Remote MAC Database) feeding a CONVERSANT (MAP100 V4.0) script - CONVERSANT accesses (queries) the ORACLE table - CONVERSANT needs to know what ORACLE table structure is to maintain integrity - during power surges, table structure dies as if ORACLE table was not defined - why is this happening? When power is restored, the structure should recover the table should recover the ORACLE table information. Any assistance would be appreciated from the net telecom "brain trust". ------------------------------ From: Matthew Lucas Subject: Call For Participation: TeleStrategies' Internet '94 Conference Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 08:13:13 +0000 TeleStrategies' is hosting "Internet: The New Way To Publish, Market and Advertise" on October 10-12, 1994 at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The program will have both a conference and workshop track. The conference track will focus on new opportunities for publishing, advertising and marketing in the commercialized Internet. The workshop track will feature tutorials and live demonstrations of Internet applications, products and services. We are soliciting those in the telecommunications industry who have interest in demonstrating their products and services live on the Internet to our attendees. Approximately 450 people attended our March, 1994 program and we expect attendance to be even higher in October. If you have an Internet-based service or product and are interested in leading a workshop/demonstration session or exhibiting, please call TeleStrategies at (703) 734-7050. For workshop and demonstrations, ask for Lynn Stern. For exhibit or further information, ask for Jackie McGuigan. Thank you, Matthew Lucas TeleStrategies, Inc. (703 734-7050 ------------------------------ From: gupta@prlhp1.prl.philips.co.uk (Ashok Gupta) Subject: Workshop: User Interfaces of Communications systems Date: 29 Jun 94 12:19:07 GMT Reply-To: gupta@prl.philips.co.uk Organization: Philips Research Laboratories, Redhill, UK Workshop Programme "User Interfaces of Communication Systems" Workshop of Special Interest Group 2.1.2 "Interactive Systems" German Computer Society (GI) to be held in Hamburg, Germany, during the Annual Conference of GI and IFIP-Congress'94 "Computer and Communications Evolution - The Driving Forces -" Wednesday, August 31, 1994, 14:00 - 17:30 pm On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Gesellschaft fuer Infor- matik, the German Computer Society GI, the 13th International IFIP World Congress will be held in Hamburg, Germany, together with the Annual Conference 1994 of the GI from August 28 through September 2, 1994. In the settings of the Congress/Conference the German Special Interest Group 2.1.2 of GI, "Interactive Systems", will organize in its 22nd year of work a workshop "User Interfaces of Communication Systems" covering topics related to the use of computer systems based on modern communication technologies. Modern communication technologies used in public digital networks or distributed computer systems demand new requirements in user interfaces of applications, both for network management organisations and for network users. Specifically there exist problems in the partly desired transparency of functional distribution, in explicit network management by the user, as well as in the manner in which users and system compo- nents cooperate in local and global networks. The workshop concentrates on aspects of the user interface, rather than the design, construction and running of networks themselves. The workshop addresses problems and issues in such areas as electronic mail and publication services, user interfaces to control and to access scientific and other information networks, user interfaces of communica-tion devices, and user interfaces in multi-user applications. Examples to be covered are new interaction techniques for operating telephones, user interfaces for wide-area networks, video-conferencing in its different forms, tools and techniques for designing and implementing multi-user applications, mobile computing, and knowledge- based communication systems. Relevant problems and vital issues of the computer and communication evolution are addressed in this workshop -- two fields which continue to grow together and influence each other in this decade and the next. The papers to be presented deal with the human-computer interaction of these existing and future computer-communication systems as seen from different angles, presenting various views of the field. Programme Committee: Coordinator: K. Froitzheim, Ulm, Germany Prof. Dr. Gerd Szwillus P. Gorny, Oldenburg, Germany Universitaet - GH - H.-J. Hoffmann, Darmstadt, Germany Paderborn, D. Jaepel, Zuerich, Switzerland FB Mathematik/Informatik P. Schulthess, Ulm, Germany D-33095 Paderborn G. Szwillus, Paderborn, Germany Phone intl+49+5251+60+2077 (Chairman) Fax intl+49+5251+60+3836 E-mail szwillus@uni-paderborn.de Programme Session 1 August 31, 14:00 - 15:30 pm Chair Prof. G. Szwillus On the way to Knowledge-based Human-Computer-Human-Communication R. Gunzenhaeuser, W. Dilly, M. Ressel University in Stuttgart, Dept. of Computer Science (in German) Usage of Communication Services with Drag-and-drop Techniques K. Froitzheim, P. Schulthess University in Ulm, Unit Distributed Systems (in German) Adaptive User Interfaces for Electronic Net Services H. Dieterich, M. Schneider-Hufschmidt, N. V. Carlsen Siemens AG, ZFE ST SN 51, Munich (in German) Session 2 August 31, 16:00 - 17:30 pm Chair Prof. P. Schulthess Interfaces for handling Multimedia Communication Systems M. Zajicek, X. Cao, D. Shrimpton, A. Tagg, J. Lehuby, D. Parish, P. Coventry, I. Phillips, J. Griffiths Oxford Brookes University & Loughborough University of Technology (in English) Aspects in User Interface Design for Mobile Multi-user Applications H.-W. Gellersen University in Karlsruhe, Telecooperation group (in German) The Virtual Office as a User Interface for Cooperative Working M. Sohlenkamp Gesellsch. f. Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung (GMD), Sankt Augustin (in German) Inquiries regarding the workshop to Prof. Szwillus, Univ. Paderborn, szwillus@uni-paderborn.de Inquiries regarding the IFIP Congress and the GI-Conference to Prof. Wolfinger, Univ. Hamburg, wolfinger@rz.informatik.uni-hamburg.d400.de ------------------------------ From: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: Recent BCI/Jones Intercable dealings Reply-To: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 00:41:00 -0500 [from Bell News, 27 June 1994; content is Bell Canada's] BCI, Jones Intercable fine-tune deal Bell Canada International Inc. (BCI), responsible for the international telecommunications investments and telecommunications consulting services for our parent company BCE, and Jones Intercable, Inc. of Colorado, have formally completed and signed a share purchase and shareholder agreement. Closing of the transaction is expected by late 1994, subject to certain conditions including the acquisition by Jones Intercable of the assets of Jones Spacelink, Ltd. The closing will include the following transactions: * BCI will purchase newly issued Class A shares of Jones Intercable for $206 million U.S., thereby increasing its total investment in Jones to $261 million U.S. for a 30 per cent interest. * BCI will purchase from Jones International, Ltd. and Glenn Jones an option worth $52 million U.S. for a controlling interest in Jones Intercable, exercisable in the future. * BCI will invest $35 million U.S. in other assets of Jones International, including Jones Lightwave, Ltd., a competitive access telecommunications service provider; Jones Education Networks, Inc., which operates the only distance network on basic cable television offering academic degree programs; and Jones Entertainment, Ltd., which acquires, produces and distributes original film and television entertainment programming. Jones Intercable, Inc. is one of the largest cable television operators in the United States. It is also the world's largest cable television management company, managing cable operations for publicly held entities. It manages operations in 20 states and three countries. ------------------------------ From: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: Tele-Direct Comes to Hong Kong Reply-To: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 00:41:00 -0500 [from Bell News, 27 June 1994; content is Bell Canada's] Hong Kong fingers will do the walking through BCE's pages Tele-Direct (Publications) Inc., our sister subsidiary in the BCE family, has formed a joint venture with Hongkong Telecom CSL to provide white pages and Yellow Pages directories for Hong Kong. Total revenue anticipated over the 10-year period of the agreement is US $1 billion. "The Hong Kong directories market is one of the fastest-growing in the world, and the association with Hongkong Telecom opens opportunities in southeast Asia and in the People's Republic of China," said Thomas Bourke, president and chief executive officer of Tele-Direct and group vice-president, Directories, of BCE. Tele-Direct will provide general management services and technical support to the joint-venture company, which will have a staff of some 200 employees. The Hongkong Telecom Group is currently the territory's sole provider of fixed telephone services, with some three million telephone exchange lines and a growing presence in the People's Republic of China. The company is 57.5 per cent owned by Cable and Wireless plc, the international telecommunications company. BCE and Cable & Wireless are also partners in two companies in the United Kingdom, Mercury Communications Limited and Bell Cablemedia Limited. ------------------------------ From: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: The Telco as Broadcaster? Reply-To: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 00:41:00 -0500 [from Bell News, 27 June 1994; content is Bell Canada's] Telcos to enter the broadcasting business? Canadian telephone companies would be able to hold broadcasting licences if the recommendations of a confidential report of the federal government are enacted. The report, prepared by the Industry Department, was obtained by the press under the Access to Information Act. Also recommended in the 12-page report entitled: The Cable and Telephone Networks: Proposals for a New Policy Approach is a revamping of the Bell Canada Act that presently prohibits us [Bell Canada] from holding a broadcasting licence. ------------------------------ From: Jim Burkitt Subject: SONET/SDH Comparision TR Available From Committee T1 Date: 29 Jun 1994 08:49:08 GMT From: Committee T1 Contact: Jim Burkitt, T1X1 Chair (914) 644-5075 ccmail.jburkitt@nynex.com (Internet) Subject: Technical Report on Comparison of SONET and SDH Committee T1 has just published a new technical report, "A Comparison of SONET (Synchronous Optical NETwork) and SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy)." This technical report, Report #36, documents the differences between SONET and SDH as described in the applicable standards pertaining to the two hierarchies. SONET and SDH are compatible but not identical digital hierarchies. Though both define similar sets of overheads and functions, there are differences in the usage of the two overhead structures. The purpose of this technical report is to identify the areas where SONET and SDH differ: - in overhead/format definition, and - in usage/interpretation of overheads. Once the differences are clearly identified, it is possible to assess the appropriate actions to be taken to insure smooth interworking between networks based on the two hierarchies. Committee T1 is sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Copies of Report #36 can be purchased from ATIS or a postscript version can be obtained by anonymous ftp from test.t1bbs.org (192.187.216.3) using the file name: /pub/techrpts/tr.0/tr-36.zip ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "NetWare Troubleshooting" by Hader Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 03:08:46 MDT BKNTWTRB.RVW 940414 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. Heather Rignanesi, Marketing, x340, 73171.657@Compuserve.com P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 or Tiffany Moore, Publicity tiffanym@aw.com Bob Donegon bobd@aw.com John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com Tom Stone, Editor, Higher Education Division tomsto@aw.com Philip Sutherland, Schulman Series 74640.2405@compuserve.com Keith Wollman, Trade Computer Group keithw@aw.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "Netware Troubleshooting", Hader, 1991, 0-201-57737-2, U$34.95/C$44.95 The format of the book is a combination of problem orientation, listing problems with explanations and solutions, and a general didactic approach. The format varies with the topic under discussion. In general, the problem outline method is most useful, and would be very helpful to those who are beginning to use or manage NetWare systems. The additional material can be used as reference as the new administrator grows into the task. The material covers a broad range of topics. File server optimization deals with memory, configuration, internal bridges and file attributes. Workstation topics discuss the shell configuration files, and logging in. Application software discussions are limited to Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect, unfortunately. There is also coverage of security, printing and management. Overall, the material is well written, but it does fall down in places. In particular, tables, figures and examples often are poorly chosen or designed for illustrating the points they are supposed to clarify. Another example is the treatment of effective rights: although the author states that this is a difficult subject and spends extra time here, the concept is not presented in a clear and accurate manner. A disk is included with a number of small, but potentially useful, utilities. You will, however, have to read the whole book to find out what is there and how to use it. There is no listing of the files collected anyplace in the book. The programs are described (very briefly) at points in the book where they address specific needs. The book, published in 1991, is slightly dated and covers only the ELS I, ELS II, Advanced NetWare, SFT and NetWare 386 versions. Many of the problem scenarios, however, are common to all NetWare versions, and address problems arising from the experienced DOS user unaware of some of the DOS/Netware interactions. A useful guide for the beginning sysadmin. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKNTWTRB.RVW 940414. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: weisen@alw.nih.gov (Neil Weisenfeld) Subject: Bell Atlantic Marketing Organization: NIH Div of Comp Rsrch and Technology Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 16:59:02 GMT Well, as many of you probably know, C&P Telephone in the Washington D.C. area has recently dropped the C&P name and is now using Bell Atlantic (Potomac?). Along with having Darth Vader welcome me to B.A. on those rare occasions when I call directory assistance, I'm also being assaulted by B.A. telemarketers who are trying to sell me extra services. Now, here's the interesting part. For three mornings in a row, they called me right after I called out to check my voice mail before leaving the house. Of course this could be coincidence and timing, but I'm wondering if the would (and if they could) set up a system so that my number popped up in front of one of their telemarketers shortly after I completed a call. This would practically ensure that I was home to take their call. Fortunately, three mornings of "late to work" as a response to "How are you today?" has sent them away, but just out of curiousity, I'm wondering: could they?, would they?, and do they? with regard to the scheme I proposed above. Regards, Neil ------------------------------ From: James L. Yan Subject: Looking For 386DX 32bits Operating System Organization: a2i network Date: Thu, 23 Jun 1994 21:37:57 GMT I need suggestions concerning 386DX 32 bits operating system for PBx. James L. Yan ------------------------------ From: jspinnow@netcom.com (John Stewart Pinnow) Subject: Outgoing Call Lockout, But Enabling it For One Call Organization: Tmoh Research, Milwaukee, WI Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 04:14:23 GMT Is there a feature on telephones which allows disabling outgoing calls, but allowing an authorized person to call out like with a PIN? We currently have a lock out on the phone and dial out via cell phone, but is there away to do the above authorization type feature, instead of racking up large cellular bills? Thank you, Tmoh Research Internet: jspinnow@netcom.com Phone: (414) 761-1537 John S. Pinnow jspinnow@world.std.com Disclaim: Opinions==Mine [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most telcos allow toll-restriction on long distance calls, where LD calls are denied entirely. There is a method such as you describe where a PIN is required, but I don't know which telcos have this and which do not. The best course of action would be for you to get one of the call restriction devices from Radio Shack and install it on your line. It can do exactly what you want in a variety of combinations where dialing is concerned. A PIN is used to override the restrictions. It can be mounted in a secure, obscure and out of easy reach place so that it becomes (almost) tamper-proof. Inquire at your local Radio Shack. Another vendor of similar equipment is Hello Direct at 1-800-HI-HELLO. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #304 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa11319; 30 Jun 94 17:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12934; Thu, 30 Jun 94 13:57:09 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12920; Thu, 30 Jun 94 13:57:06 CDT Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 13:57:06 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9406301857.AA12920@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #305 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jun 94 13:57:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 305 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cellphone Tracking and O.J. Simpson (Willis H. Ware) O.J. Simpson and Telecommunications (Steve Bunning) Calling Cards - IXC vs LEC (Aaron Woolfson) GSM Countries (Juha Veijalainen) 3Com MIB(s) Sought (Paul Ferguson) Call Back w/X25, Direct Dialers (Martin Varsavsky) Request Information: Distinctive Ring Phone Line Switches (grstone@delphi) Connecting a Sound Card to a Telephone Line (Paul L. Egges) Mobile Phone Cabling (was: "Re-readiating" Cellular Antennas) (J. Schiefer) Need KSUless Music On Hold Adaptor - Help! (Ms. Sandra M. Levy) Voice-to-Text Answering Board (Chris Norley) BAM's Digital Footprint (Alex Cena) Programming Help Needed With Tandy CT 1030 (Brandon Roy) TDMA Phones RF Interference (Thomas W. Christoffel) Digital Cellular Data Transmission (Laura McDevitt) 811 Used For Business Office (Carl Moore) Wanted: Comm System For Nursing Floor (Cyndi Cuppernell) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Don Jamer) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Kevin McConnaughey) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Donald R. Newcomb) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Patton M Turner) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Rob Janssen) Some Random Thoughts From a Reader (Adam Gruen) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Willis H. Ware Reply-To: willis@rand.org Subject: Re: CELLFONE TRACKING Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 10:32:44 PDT PAT: As requested ... The recent "Freeway Chase" of O.J.Simpson's white Ford Bronco has brought into public consciousness the issue of whether a cellular telephone network is technically able to track a subscriber's handset and report its physical location. The {Los Angeles Times} published an article stating that the cellphone system had been used to track the vehicle. On the other hand, local TV stations also interviewed the young couple who, on their way to the beach, had visually sighted the car and used a roadside emergency phone to report it to authorities. The role of the cellular provider or its technical ability to track is not wholly clear; but on the basis of all the facts that appeared in local media, it does seem clear that the vehicle tracking was largely visual, not electronic. In fact later in the chase, the driver reported where he was and when he intended to make turns off/on the freeway network. The first technical observation would appear to be that a handset is either handling a call, is on standby, or is switched off. If the last, it must be invisible to the network. In standby, there must be some periodic communication between handset and the network -- perhaps polling, perhaps challenge and response -- that allows the cellphone net to know in which cell an active or standby handset is presently located. Otherwise the network could not know to which cell to direct an incoming call, or to hand off an outgoing call from one cell to the next as the handset moves from cell to cell. Therefore, one readily concludes that the cellphone network can track a unit to its current cell location and from cell to cell. Presumably, such location information could be available to the system operators as a matter of routine oversight of the system, to the creation of operational records and audit trails, and to billing records. So the cellular operator, AirTouch in this case, could probably report to authorities which cell the Bronco currently occupied. Probably, the present-cell-location information is available within the network whether the handset is active or in standby. As a matter of legalities, the {Los Angeles Times} article did say that the provider -- AirTouch -- had been "subpoenaed to cooperate" and it did also say that a wiretap court order had been obtained. The subpoena was probably to cover what is known as "transaction records" which in a cellular system might include location information but certainly caller and callee numbers and billing information. The wiretap order would be required to monitor and record the content of the calls. Next, however, there is a point of technical uncertainty. At cell-phone frequencies, the antennas are usually made up of multiple elements in order to get the desired azimuthal coverage and to avoid wasting energy by confining the transmitted energy to the desired service area, which for cellphones transmitters probably is a roughly round flat saucer of radiation. There would be no point in wasting energy by squirting it straight overhead or to unusually high angles. It is well known that broadcast transmitters -- AM/FM/TV -- control the radiation pattern of their antennas to maximize the transmitted energy into the service area. But, does a cellular transmitter control and manipulate the individual antenna elements for each transmission in order to maximize the energy directed toward the handset of interest? Is the phasing among the many elements adjusted dynamically to point a given transmission toward a handset and to track its motion? Are there even multiple transmitters so that individual calls can be assigned to particular antenna beams? Or is there a single transmitter that is used for all calls concurrently in progress and that deals with the multiple elements of the antenna as a single composite entity that has a fixed radiation pattern adapted to its particular location? In the present state of electronics, multiple transmitters and dynamic electronic beam pointing would be easily achieved. But how has the system been designed? If angular adjustment is indeed utilized for each transmission, then two cell sites that can hear the transmission could, in principle, function as a form of triangulation, and tracking could be more precise than just "the handset is in cell xx". IF angular positioning of the transmitted beam for a given call-in-progress is indeed used, then it's a collateral question of whether such information can be extracted from the system by its operational personnel. The Times article quoted a security consultant from Houston TX as saying that triangulation had been used by the authorities and that it had also been used to track down a drug figure in Columbia. In the latter case, I can imagine the DEA and other authorities having high quality triangulation equipment, but it would seem unlikely that local law authorities would. So if the triangulation story is correct, then it must follow that the cell transmitters themselves are able to provide some level of triangulation. What are the technical facts about the cellphone network, its ability to track, and its ability to report location? Willis Ware Santa Monica, CA ------------------------------ From: Steve Bunning Subject: O.J. Simpson and Telecommunications Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 14:24:16 EDT In TELECOM Digest, Tue, 28 Jun 94, Volume 14, Issue 301, David Cantor comments "Frankly, I don't see what the O.J. Simpson case has to do with telecommunications ...". How about the use of scanners to monitor cellular phone calls? I caught a few minutes of coverage as Simpson was being driven down the expressway. As the TV screen showed the vehicle, a graphic on the screen said something about a "scanner" report. The person reporting proceeded to reveal who Simpson had just called and a summary of their phone conversation. At least they didn't patch it directly on air. As has been said in the Digest before, don't count on your cellular phone calls being private. ------------------------------ From: awoolfso@uop.edu (Aaron Woolfson) Subject: Calling Cards - IXC vs LEC Date: 30 Jun 1994 02:05:31 -0700 Organization: University of the Pacific I have a question ... it sort of is something I need to think about here at Delta Telecommunications, since we will be issuing calling cards. What happens if your 1) AT&T card, 2) Pacific Bell card, and 3) Sprint card all have the same number on them -- i.e. for instance, my pacific bell card may be 209 956 4765 1111 and AT&T may be 209 956 4765 2222 and my Sprint may be 209 956 4765 3333. However, what happens when they are all the same number, including PIN, and I make a call over AT&T or Sprint. Does the respective IXC card get charged to, or does the Pacific Bell LEC card get charged to, or what? Thanks. Any information would be extremily helpful. Aaron Woolfson (awoolfso@unix1.cc.uop.edu) ------------------------------ From: juha.veijalainen@compart.fi (Juha Veijalainen) Subject: GSM Countries Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 08:16:00 +0200 Organization: ComPart BBS - Helsinki, Finland - +358-0-506-3329 (V.32bis) Here's a list of some (if not all) countries and operators using GSM. It's interesting to note that all continents, except America, have GSM networks. When is USA, for example, going to catch up ;-) Information is from 'GSM 940 - Roaming guide for countries and networks serving Telecom Finland's GSM customers 1994'. AUSTRALIA MOBILNET AUSTRIA E-NETZ BELGIUM MOB-3 DENMARK TDK-MOBIL SONOFON ESTONIA TELE FIN (Telecom Finland) FINLAND TELE FIN (Telecom Finland) (RADIOLINJA) FRANCE FRANCE TELECOM SFR GERMANY TELEKOM D1 D2 PRIVAT GREAT BRITAIN AND N.IRELAND VODAFONE GREAT BRITAIN CELLNET GREECE PANAFON SET HELLAS HONGKONG TCSL GSM SMARTONE HUNGARY PANNON WESTEL 900 IRELAND EIRCELL-GSM ITALY SIP LATVIA LMT GSM LIECHTENSTEIN (Switzerland network) NATEL D GSM LUXEMBOURG LUXGSM MONACO (France network) FRANCE TELECOM SFR THE NETHERLANDS PTT TELECOM NEW ZEALAND NORWAY TELE-MOBIL NETCOM GSM PORTUGAL TELEMOVEL TELECEL SINGAPORE ST-GSM-SGP SOUTH AFRICA TELECOM SA SPAIN TELEFONICA SWEDEN TELIA MOBILTEL COMVIQ EUROPOLITAN SWITZERLAND NATEL D GSM TURKEY PTT/TURKCELL GSM PTT/TEKNOTELL Prices vary a lot. Cheapest prices are in Scandinavia (Finland and Sweden). Operators may charge 0 - 15 % roaming charge. Some operators charge by second, some by other 'units'. When roaming, you'll also pay a surcharge for received calls (from 0,75 FIM/min in Scandinavia to 9,75 FIM/min in Hongkong). New GSM networks are also planned for at least: Russia (St.Petersburg), second network for Estonia, Arab Emirates. Juha Veijalainen Helsinki, Finland tel. +358 40 500 4402 ------------------------------ From: paul@sprintlink.net (Paul Ferguson) Subject: 3Com MIB(s) Sought Date: 30 Jun 1994 14:15:45 GMT Organization: Sprint Managed Network Engineering Reply-To: paul@hawksbill.sprintmrn.com Does anyone know an FTP site where I can find the 3Com MIBs's for the following: <3Com NetBuider II> SW/NBII-FF,7.0 X25 - 3.2 Frame Relay - 2.0 CLNP - 2.0 nb2 REM: 1.0.5 Copyright 1985-1994, 3Com Corporation <3Com NetBuilder-Remote Office> SW/NBRO-BA,7.0 SPMON Version 1.0.2 Copyright 1985-1994, 3Com Corporation An archie search doesn't provide anything useful. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Please respond via e-mail to . Thanks, Paul Ferguson US Sprint Managed Network Engineering tel: 703.904.2437 Herndon, Virginia USA internet: paul@hawk.sprintmrn.com ------------------------------ From: martinvars@aol.com (MARTINVARS) Subject: Call Back w/X25, Direct Dialers Date: 30 Jun 1994 09:59:02 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Does anybody know of a platform to recommend to interface a call back system with X25 messaging? Does anybody have a platform to recommend that provides Call Back service with voice recognition, voice mail and fax mail interface, call back with greeting, ability to network different call back switches in different countries, multicurrency billing? Does anybody know what are the best dialers that can be installed at the clients premises so the client dials normally and these dialers request the call back and dial without the client being aware of it? These dialers should be able to be programmed from the switching center. Martin Varsavsky Viatel, NYC. ------------------------------ From: grstone@delphi.com Subject: Request Info: Distinctive Ring Phone Line Switches Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 02:03:48 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) I want a BBS to answer on distincitive ringing, and to no other incoming calls with standard ringing. COMSHARE 450 costs $89 but has other bells and whistles I don't need. Anyone know of a simpler, cheaper product that does this? Oh, yes, the BBS is MAC. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: pegges@teal.csn.org (Paul L. Egges) Subject: Connecting a Sound Card to a Telephone Line Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc. Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 16:44:45 GMT Has anyone ever connected a sound cards input to a telephone line (via the speaker wires on modem preferably)? Does anyone know of a device sold for doing this (I'm feeling lazy and would rather not design anything). Thanks, Paul L. Egges ------------------------------ From: jas@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Jan Schiefer) Subject: Mobile Phone Cabling (was: "Re-readiating" Car Cellular Antennas) Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 17:57:39 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, England John Gilbert (johng@ecs.comm.mot.com) wrote: > for by the 3 db of gain the outside antenna provides. > Use a cable between the radio and the outside antenna. You will have much > better results. Just wondering: What cables do the people fitting mobile phones normally use? When the phone operates at 900MHz or even 1.8GHz, you could have much more cable loss than 3dB, for a roof-mounted aerial. And how many people are prepared to shell out real money for high-quality cable? And then there is the toy-coax-connector-on-bottom-of-handset problem. I guess a lot of people experience that the built-in aerial works much better than the 'professionally fitted' car-mount one. Cheers, Jan Schiefer, g0trr, jas@hplb.hpl.hp.com, HP Labs Bristol, UK. +44 272 228344 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 14:46:34 EDT From: CTDN53B@prodigy.com (MS SANDRA M LEVY) Subject: Need KSUless Music On Hold Adaptor A prospective customer has a simple two-line telephone and no KSU. He'd like to have us custom-create an informational tape for his callers on hold. Last I heard Radio Shack had a dandy little Music On Hold adaptor for up to two lines for right around $50. They've discontinued the product. Does anyone know where I can find a device that will allow a KSUless phone with a hold button to deliver audio when the hold button is pushed? Please answer to CTDN53B@prodigy.com. Thank you, Sandra (call me Sam) Levy Ideas On Hold 4300 NW 23rd Ave., Suite 299 Gainesville (home of the student murders, and today a toxic chemical cloud due to an accident -- oh, what a city!;) FL 32614-7050 Vox 1-800-879-4332 Fax 1-904-367-8339. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There are a lot of Radio Shack people who read this Digest; maybe one or more will find the product you are seeking in their left-overs and discontinued products department in their stores. Regards Gainesville being such a bad place to live, all we here in Chicago should have to deal with are a few students murdered now and then plus toxic chemical clouds once in a while. We typically have three or four murders per day here; 1994 is running well ahead of previous years-to-date in that category. Violence is rampant all over the United States but it is worst in the large urban areas, with Chicago one of the leaders. You wanna move here and I will move there? Its all quite relative, you see. At least I was able to move out of Chicago permanently several months ago and it is a lot more peaceful here where I live now, albiet harder than ever to pay the bills living at the edge of Skokie/Wilmette. PAT] ------------------------------ From: norleyc@pwfl.com (Chris Norley) Subject: Voice-to-Text Answering Board Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 13:11:31 EDT I am looking for an answering machine that will provide voice-to-text capability. Is there such a beast available? I will summarize the answers that are sent to me. Thanks in advance, Chris Norley norleyc@pwfl.com Advanced Materials phone: 407-796-6561 Powdered Metal, Anyone? O/V (Profs) : norleyc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 09:35:26 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: BAM's Digital Footprint Does anyone know how widespread Bell Atlantic's digital cellular service is in its major markets such as Washington DC and Philadelphia? In addition to service quality and availability, I am also interested in finding out what percent of cell sites contain digital radios. Regards, Alex ------------------------------ From: broy@k12.ucs.umass.edu (Brandon Roy) Subject: Programming Help Needed With Tandy CT 1030 Reply-To: broy@k12.ucs.umass.edu Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 20:40:50 -0400 Can anybody out there give me any information about programming this cellular phone? I'm pretty sure it can be programmed through the handset. I have information about the equivilant Radio Shack model, but apparently there are some differences. Thank you. ------------------------------ From: twc0@gte.com (Thomas W. Christoffel) Subject: TDMA Phones RF Interference Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 15:06:15 GMT Organization: GTE Laboratories Incorporated Anyone heard about RF interference from TDMA cellular telephones causing problems with automotive or medical electronics? Please send replies to tchristoffel@gte.com. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: mcdevitt@pip.oci.utoronto.ca (Laura McDevitt) Subject: Digital Cellular Data Transmission Organization: Ontario Cancer Institute, University of Toronto Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 09:41:03 GMT Anyone familiar with digital cellular high-speed data transmission? Specifically, I would like to hear about anyone's knowledge or experience concerning its application for videoconferencing. Please send your response to my e-mail address: mcdevitt@oci.utoronto.ca Thank you. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 12:20:21 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: 811 Used For Business Office Front Royal, Virginia is served by (703)635,636, and newer 622. I was just down there, and found that it is served by Centel, and that 811 or an 800 number are used for the business office in Charlottesville. Is the new Virginia area code public yet? ------------------------------ From: ccuppern@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Cyndi Cuppernell) Subject: Wanted: Comm System For Nursing Floor Date: 30 Jun 1994 14:51:58 GMT Organization: UIUC Department of Psychology I work on a floor at a hospital. Currently we use an overhead page during the days and evenings to communicate with nurses and others, telling the person they have a phone call; need to come to the nurses' station; asking that the person turn on a bedside call light, etc. We're trying to find an alternative system. Other floors use vibrating pagers, but we've heard that the pagers often break down. What system can you recommend? What would be both the advantages and the drawbacks of your system? Please e-mail me if possible. Thanks for your help. Cyndi Cuppernell RN ccuppern@s.psych.uiuc.edu ------------------------------ From: jamerd@nbnet.nb.ca (Don Jamer) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 12:29:54 GMT Organization: NBTel In article John@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU writes: > Is there a phone on the market that can use a satellite (not a cell) > to communicate? Some friends and I want to take a trip to where there > are no phones (obviously) and no cells. We thought maybe we could > rent a satellite phone, if possible. Try "INMARSAT" (International Maritime Satellite), but boy! is it expensive ! You might be better off with an HF SSB (high frequency --3 - 30Mhz --, single sideband unit). They carry several thousand miles and are regularly used in remote areas including barges on the Mississippi (for long haul communications). ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted From: kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 18:30:48 EDT Organization: Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, VA. John@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU writes: > Is there a phone on the market that can use a satellite (not a cell) > to communicate? Some friends and I want to take a trip to where there > are no phones (obviously) and no cells. We thought maybe we could > rent a satellite phone, if possible. There are a number of companies that make briefcase size portable telephone earth stations. Scientific Atlanta comes to mind, I think I recently saw an advertisement in a trade journal. You will want to arrange for INMARSAT "M" or "B" service with a service provider. The only two that I am aware of in the US are: IDB Mobile and Comsat Mobile. Both have offices in Rockville, MD. COMSAT has a promotional plan going with an introductory rate of about $4.95/minute. The non-discounted rate is regularly $5.50. I always get the two service names mixed up -- but they are both digital services that compress voice and encode it on the digital carrier. I think that you might be able to arrange to rent or lease a terminal through either of these providers. It would probably be a good idea since the terminals retail from $10,000 to $20,000. In addition to voice service there is also the significantly less expensive INMARSAT C teminals for low speed data. I am not sure what sort of services besides TELEX are offered but I would assume that you could get e-mail access. These terminals and the rates would be less than the voice services but I don't know prices. Regards, kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, Virginia +1-703-758-9084 ------------------------------ From: dnewcomb@whale.st.usm.edu (Donald R. Newcomb) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Date: 29 Jun 1994 18:18:52 -0500 Organization: University of Southern Mississippi Yep! We have a couple of them in my office. About the size of a small suitcase. Has an umbrella-like dish antenna you set up and point at the satellite. For some strange reason, they call this an 'Ultra-light'. I guess the heavy-weight is van-mobile. I've been asking for training on how to use them but it hasn't happened yet. As I remember they said that the price was around $10K per unit (don't quote me on that.) OBTW, calls are $10 per minute. Donald R. Newcomb * University of Southern Mississippi dnewcomb@whale.st.usm.edu ------------------------------ From: pturner@netcom.com (Patton M Turner) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 01:53:15 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't the ship to shore (or high seas) > service work out in John's case? I am thinking of Marisat or Maristat? > Can you get portable phones to carry around which use that service? PAT] It's called INMARSAT and uses briefcase sized phones. Cost can be as low as $5/min for the newest phones. Ship to Shore is usually used to refer to the AT&T high seas HF service. Patton Turner KB4GRZ pturner@netcom.com FAA Telecommunications ------------------------------ From: robjan@rabo.nl (Rob Janssen) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Date: 29 Jun 1994 13:14:08 +0100 Organization: Rabobank Nederland There are "portable" phones that use Inmarsat. Not something you carry in your pocket, but at least they are transportable. They should work anywhere between ~ 75 degrees north and south. However, the cost of calls is huge. The rent probably just as well. So, this is only realistic for purposes like sponsored expeditions, not for your average holiday trip ... Rob ------------------------------ From: Adam Gruen <0006449096@mcimail.com> Subject: Some Random Thoughts From a Reader Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 14:47:00 EST TELECOM Digest is a terrific service. I've learned more reading through back issues than I could have ever hoped to glean from perusing telecomm journal articles. I'm a historian of technology, a refugee from the Space Station program, so moving from aerospace to telecommunications is a challenge and TD helps. I find, by the way, that both fields have the same problem: translation from technese into English. As an MCI employee, naturally I always notice any complaints about MCI. I don't know what to do about Bill Garfield's complaint, and I'm certainly not an influential corporate person, but I'll try to do something about it. Maybe drop a hint with the legal department. Sidenote on the Simpson case, PAT. In the U.S. today, it's not "innocent until proven guilty". It's not even "guilty until proven innocent." Now, it's just "Guilty -- hang him." No proof needed, none wanted. Even the prospect of a justice system with no justice pales before the spectre of a bored media industry desperate to sell advertising time. I read not too long ago that CNN's ratings numbers have been down ever since the Gulf War ended. The problem, CNN analysts decided, was that there simply was no interesting crisis to grab the attention of the populace. One wonders how long it will be before such crises are manufactured to boost ratings. And I don't mean penny-ante trumped-up incidents such as Gulf of Tonkin or U.S.S. Maine -- I mean BIG news, like a nuclear war somewhere. Oh well. Veritas Praevalet. Dr. Adam L. Gruen [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for your very kind comments about the Digest. The Digest is something I've worked on for several years because of my strong belief in the need to educate the public at large about the way telephones operate. I've believed for many years that people need to know more and better understand how telephones and the telecom networks function -- not just from a technical viewpoint, but in all sorts of ways. Someone commented elsewhere recently that they do not believe there is an archives, or ftp repository anywhere on the Internet as comprehensive and detailed as the one for telecom. I don't know if that is true or not, but I know that ours is quite large and contains almost every back issue of this Digest since its beginning in 1981 under the tenure (in those days) of Jon Solomon. If people read them all, they will learn a lot about telecom ... possibly more than they ever wanted to know. The Telecom Archives can be accessed using anonymous ftp at lcs.mit.edu, or by Archie, Gopher, etc ... if you prefer email, use the Telecom Archives Email Information Service at tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu. Ask me for a help file using this if one is needed. Even though I work on the Digest because of my sincere belief that a good working knowlege of telecom is vital to people everywhere, still there remain such mundane things from day to day as paying the bills, eating, and keeping the phone turned on. To this extent, one very big and important part of the Digest is the funding provided by the International Telecommun- ication Union in Geneva, Switzerland. Their monthly grant is a very important part of how the Digest survives, but they cannot do it all, and donations from readers along with corporate assistance is also needed. If *your company* can assist at all with either a one time grant or a monthly subscription to the Digest, I cannot stress enough the importance of doing it today. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit educational activity and publication registered as such in the State of Illinois, and the County of Cook, Illinois. Checks may be made payable to TELECOM Digest. Please help however you can, in ways you deem appropriate. And to those who have helped in the past, or to whom I have obligations at this time, **you have not been forgotten** and your help is greatly appreciated. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #305 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa11549; 30 Jun 94 18:08 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14206; Thu, 30 Jun 94 14:35:03 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14197; Thu, 30 Jun 94 14:35:01 CDT Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 14:35:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9406301935.AA14197@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #306 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jun 94 14:35:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 306 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Cellular Phones and Lightning (Steven King) Re: Cellular Phone and Tower Handshaking (Steven King) Re: Motorola Digital Cellular Phone (Donald J. Zanolla) Re: Motorola Digital Cellular Phone (Bernard Rupe) Re: Motorola Digital Cellular Phone (jskene@Delphi.com) Re: Satellite Telephone Wanted (Greg Monti) Re: Another National N11 Code Request (ssatchell@bix.com) Re: Help on Dial Line Protection From Storms (ssatchell@bix.com) Re: Who's That Voice? (Les Reeves) Her Voice Comes in Warm and Clear (Associated Press via Steve Bauer) Water Sensors For Equipment Rooms (Donald W. Filkins) Personal PBX Construction Article (Les Reeves) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: king@wildebeest.cig.mot.com (Steven King, Software Archaeologist) Subject: Re: Cellular Phones and Lightning Date: 29 Jun 1994 14:24:17 GMT Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group Reply-To: king@cig.mot.com shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) publicly declared: > Someone told me that in a lightning storm, lightning can follow the > radio waves given out by your cellular phone. I assume this is > because the air is more ionized where the waves are strong. Is this > true? Is it unsafe to use a handheld cellular phone in a lightning > storm? I'm not talking about a mobile phone with a tall antenna. Oh yes, it's absolutely true. In fact, this is where the real risk of brain cancer lies. The cellphones don't directly cause it, but getting hit by lighting is a *definite* cause of cancer. Even if you don't feel it, you've probably been hit by a "microspark" if you've ever used the phone during a lighting storm. Cordless phones aren't an issue. As we all know (based on legal rulings in the U.S.) cordless phones are broadcast emissions while cellular phones are point-to-point between the phone and base station. You can't get zapped while talking on a cordless phone for this reason. By the way, don't *ever* use a cellular phone in New Jersey. The Red Lectroids from the Eighth Dimension can slip along the radio waves and take over your brain. Ever see the movie "Buckaroo Banzai"? 'Nuff said! Okay, enough fun. No, lighting won't "follow the radio waves" back to your phone. At least, I've never heard of that effect. I really doubt that 600 mW of omnidirectional RF can ionize anything, let alone make a more conductive path between the clouds and ground. It does make a nice urban legend, though. Steven King -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group ------------------------------ From: king@wildebeest.cig.mot.com (Steven King, Software Archaeologist) Subject: Re: Cellular Phone and Tower Handshaking Date: 29 Jun 1994 18:18:29 GMT Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group Reply-To: king@cig.mot.com shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) publicly declared: > Sometimes when I turn my phone on, it doesn't bother talking to the > tower at all. Sometimes, it transmits for a short period of time. > But it usually does this once and not at set intervals. With this in > mind, I have come up with the following theory about how a phone and > tower keep track of each other. Someone please let me know if there > is any truth in this. Here's what goes on. This may be slightly inaccurate; I haven't needed to look at the air interface spec for a number of years. Some of the relevant brain cells have undoubtedly been recycled by now. When you turn on your phone, it checks its memory to see if you're on the "A" carrier or the "B" carrier. It then starts scanning the signalling channels for the appropriate carrier to see which has the strongest signal. (If it can't find a channel on the home carrier it'll scan the other carrier's signalling channels, and then turn on the "No Service" lamp if it still can't find anything.) The phone will continually rescan the signalling channels to stay tuned to the strongest one. Depending on how your cellular system is set up, your mobile may have to periodically register with the system. Keeping track of your mobile saves effort when you have an incoming call -- the system can direct the page instead of blasting it across all cells. Periodically the base sites will send out a "registration check" command. This command contains a time stamp. Your mobile remembers the last time it registered and will re-register if it's past the registration period. Typically systems will want the mobile to register once an hour or so, but that's configurable by the cellular operating company. If the mobile has been turned off for more than an hour, it will always notice that it's past its registration time and will re-register. If it has been turned off for less than an hour it will wait until the full hour has elapsed before re-registering. This explains why your mobile "sometimes" sends data to the cell on power-up. The phone does *not* re-register each time it moves into a new cell, just when the timer expires. The timers are set up on a per-system basis. If you're moving along a corridor serviced by several companies (say, a freeway between two cities) it will probably re-register when it moves into a different system. > When actually talking on my phone, the towers themselves must monitor > my signal strength. I can hear my phone change frequencies quite > often while I talk, even when I am just pasing around one room. The > phone never transmits tower changes that often when it is not being > used. While you're talking, the cell signals your phone by blanking the voice path and sending a burst of digital data on the same channel. You hear this as a momentary blank spot in conversation. However, the only things the cell should be telling your phone at this time are "go to another channel" or "change your power level". You shouldn't be handing off just walking around a room. There's some hysterisis in the signal strength determination to keep mobiles in the fringe between two cells from handing off back and forth rapidly. Ditto for changing power levels. I don't know why you're hearing frequent drop-outs while you're talking, but I suspect your phone (or the cell) shouldn't be doing that. Can you borrow someone else's phone and test it under the same conditions? Steven King -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group ------------------------------ From: zanolla@agouti.cig.mot.com (Donald J. Zanolla) Subject: Re: Motorola Digital Cellular Phone Date: 29 Jun 94 18:00:58 GMT Organization: Motorola Cellulsr Infrastructure Group idp3286@hertz.njit.edu (Ian Daniel Plotkin) writes: > Does anyone have any experience with Motorola's new Digital flip-fone? > Is digital cellular as widespread as analog yet? The local carrier > here in central NJ is Comcast/CellularOne. Does anyone know if NJ is > covered by a digital network? While the other (analog) flipfones go > for around $50 /w signon deal, is it worth it at this point in time to > shell out the $300 or so (/w signon deal) for the digital phone? Any > info would be appreciated! NO, digital is not vary widespread, as yet; my guess would be about 5% of the cellular services are digital. If you are considering a digital phone then: 1 - Make sure it is a dual-mode phone; dual-mode phones will operate as either digital or analog. When the phone powers-up in the default mode (either digital or analog) it will look for service in that mode; if there is no service available then it will search for service in the other mode. This is important when you are out of your home service area; the phone will be able to find you service in either mode. 2 - The default mode is controlable by the phone user NOT the service provider. This would be useful if you are not happy with the current mode and YOU can change to the other mode to see if the service is better there. The cellular provides are pushing digital because it gives better call security AND they can get more calls on the same piece of copper as with analog. Unless, the cellular provide is giving you much lower cost/minute as compared to analog then probably you should stay with a analog phone. Donald Zanolla zanolla@agouti.cig.mot.com ------------------------------ From: rupe@wombat.cig.mot.com (Bernard Rupe) Subject: Re: Motorola Digital Cellular Phone Date: 29 Jun 1994 15:31:29 GMT Organization: Cellular Infrastructure Group, Motorola In article idp3286@hertz.njit.edu (Ian Daniel Plotkin) writes: > Does anyone have any experience with Motorola's new Digital flip-fone? > Is digital cellular as widespread as analog yet? The local carrier > here in central NJ is Comcast/CellularOne. Does anyone know if NJ is > covered by a digital network? While the other (analog) flipfones go > for around $50 /w signon deal, is it worth it at this point in time to > shell out the $300 or so (/w signon deal) for the digital phone? Any > info would be appreciated! TDMA (digital cellular) is not as near wide spread as analog yet. In fact, Ameritech has decided that TDMA does not meet its needs and so will not deploy it. They are instead waiting for CDMA (a competing form of digital). The main user difference (ie. outside of the obvious operator benefits) between digital and analog is that digital will maintain a higher signal quality but will suddenly drop where analog would continue the call with degraded signal quality. With a strong signal, I don't think most people would notice much of a difference between the two. Motorola Cellular Infrastructure (I'm not offically speaking for the company, but am just relaying information as I understand it) has taken the position that CDMA is a superior technology to TDMA. We will be deploying CMDA systems (ie. non-trial, full commercial) at the beginning of next year. US West and AirTouch (formerly PacTel Cellular) will be deploying CDMA. I'm sure there are people around who would argue that TDMA meets all of our needs. We may very well end up with both technologies being widely deployed. One of them could also win out. In that case, either TDMA or CDMA phones might be worthless four or five years from now. Bernie Rupe 1501 W. Shure Drive Room 1315 Motorola, Inc. Arlington Heights, IL 60004 Cellular Infrastructure Group +1 708 632 2814 rupe@cig.mot.com ------------------------------ From: jskene@news.delphi.com Subject: Re: Motorola Digital Cellular Phone Date: 29 Jun 1994 21:28:11 -0000 Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Digital cellular has several advantages over the older analog systems. You will suffer much less congestion, typically have clearer voice, and will not be susceptible to illegal phone taps from someone with a Radio SHack scanner. The extra cost may well be worth it if these are important issues to you. ------------------------------ From: Greg Monti Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 15:57:26 EDT Subject: Re: Satellite Telephone Wanted Here are manufacturers I know of that sell phones that can be used to communicate on the worldwide Inmarsat system. In this business, "portable" is a relative term. Ask what they have; they are getting lighter and cheaper with time. A demo I saw last week was of a 40 or 50-pound aluminum suitcase with a phone and all transmit and receive electronics in it. To use it, you must asssemble and deploy a "parasol" antenna made of metal fabric and attach it to the RF electronics. The antenna is about 2 feet in diamter when deployed. You must then find one of the four Inmarsat satellites using approximate pointing instructions that are included. At the frequency used, about 1.5 GHz, the beam width of a 0.6 meter antenna is fairly wide so "finding" the spacecraft is not as hard as it sounds. The antenna must still be peaked for best signal. Once "commissioned" (given an account) with Inmarsat or a reseller, the phone is assigned a seven-digit number and can make incoming and outgoing calls. Outgoing calls are dialed 00 + country code + city code + local number. Incoming calls to the phone are dialed as if each Inmarsat satellite is its own "country". The country codes for Inmarsat for the Atlantic Ocean region are 871 and 874 (I forget which is east and which is west). The country codes for Pacific and Indian Ocean regions are 872 and 873, maybe not in that order. Sort of like old-fashioned "roaming" with cellular; you must know which market (in this case, spacecraft) the phone is "in" to reach it. The phones are in the $10,000 to $50,000 range each if bought new. I have no idea if any of these companies have leasing programs. The "air time" is between $8.00 and $10.00 per minute. But, hey, it will work atop the Himalayas or on Gilligan's Island. Inmaresat birds are geostanionary satellites and cannot be communicated with north of about 83 N nor south of about 83 S latitude. Battery not included. You either plug it in to 120 or 240 volts or you bring a battery pack or maybe a motorcycle battery -- and some way of charging it. I understand that climbers who did one of the big mountains in Asia hauled one of these things up there and called to report their success, as well as -- presumably -- to retrieve their messages from voice mail back home. Mobile TeleSystems, Inc., 300 Professional Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20879; 301 590-8500; fax 301 590-8558. Olivia Communications Group, 1 Park Place, 621 NW 53rd Street, Boca Raton, FL 33487-8211; 407 995-1422; fax 407 995-1499. Mackay Communications, 300 Columbus Circle, Edison, NJ 08837; 908 225-0909; fax 908 225-2848. Calian Communications Systems, Ltd., 300 Leggett Drive, Kanata, Ontario K2K 1Y5 Canada; 613 592-3020; fax 613 592-3378. Comsat Mobile Communications, 22300 Comsat Drive, Clarksburg, MD 20871; 301 428-2222; fax 301 601-5951. GTE Government Systems, don't have address. Suggest starting with 1700 Old Meadow Road, McLean, VA 22102; 703 848-1000; fax 703 848-0004. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org ------------------------------ From: ssatchell@BIX.com (ssatchell on BIX) Subject: Re: Another National N11 Code Request Date: 30 Jun 94 06:19:17 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Greg Monti writes: > With 011 and 111 unavailable, and with 411 and 911 in use in most > places, that leaves only six N11 codes unused (211, 311, 511, 611, > 711, 811). 611, 811 (and if applications from newspepers are > approved, 311 and 511) are already used in some places. The article > notes that the FCC has opened a pleading cycle on the subject. > Comments to the Commission are due Aug. 19. "Reply comments" are due > Sept. 23. There are some other common usages. 611 has been used extensively for "repair servie", while "811" is used to reach the telephone office. You find these in RBOCs as a rule. ------------------------------ From: ssatchell@BIX.com (ssatchell on BIX) Subject: Re: Help on Dial Line Protection From Storms Date: 30 Jun 94 06:24:38 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation mike_foltz@sgate.com writes: > I am experiancing problems on our BBS and Internet dial-in lines when > there is wicked lighting storms. We have a total of 30 lines both > local and 1800 numbers all feeding Multitech a rack mount card cage > with MT1432BR modems. On the RS-232 the modems feed a Shiva lan rover > for ARA or a cisco CS-516 for Internet access. We also have other > vendors modems such as Intel, ZyXel and Scout modems for testing, SLIP > and fax services. > I seems that the storms do most harm on the Multitech modems, but it > appears not to bother the other modems. The past 2 storms i have had > to reprogram the Multitechs most lost what they were originally setup > with. Some did not recover even with reprogramming. I am able to > connect but either get no data or just garbage. > Is there some type of pads, isolators etc that can be used on the > dialup lines to protect the modems from getting trashed and also let > 14.4K rates pass? Is there guides to BBS or Modem installations that > address this issue? I am a bit confused why the other modems didn't > have problems? They have phone lines that come in over the same > copper bundle that feeds the Multitechs. Here are some tips: you can get surge suppressors which mount on 66 blocks. Punch down the lines from the telco onto the 66 block. The surge suppressors then bridge the pair; connect the earth side to a really good ground. (Indee, locate the 66 block near a very good ground point to keep the ground wire short.) Here's the trick: make sure you have AT LEAST 50 feet of inside wire between your 66 block and the modems. 100 feet is better. If you decide to use 100 feet but the distance between the 66 block and modems is less, mount the wire on the wall in a serpentine manner, keeping each run at least 6 inches apart. The 66-block surge suppressors keeps the spikes down to a reasonable level. The extra wire added enough distributed series inductance and parallel capacitance that any spikes that *do* get through are attenuated nicely. The stuff to make this happen is available from Anixter and others. ------------------------------ From: lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) Subject: Re: Who's That Voice? Date: 30 Jun 1994 12:21:57 -0700 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] Jeffrey W. McKeough (jwm@student.umass.edu) wrote: > After reading an interesting discussion in the archives about Jane > Barbe, the former voice of the Bell System, the voice of the time in > several cities, and of many Octel systems (at least those that have > not upgraded to a Marsha Graham software release), I was wondering if > anyone has any information about yet another of those famous voices. > The woman in question has done many recordings including the > ubiquitous AT&T carrier identification chime and calling card auto > attendant, the EasyReach voice prompts, RBOC recordings (including > NYNEX's return call/repeat call prompts, and the new "You must dial 1+ > the area code intercepts). I've always found it interesting to be > able to put a name with a voice, so I thought I'd ask. Her name is Pat Fleet. Les lreeves@crl.com Atlanta,GA 404.874.7806 ------------------------------ From: steve.bauer@boardwatch.com Organization: Boardwatch Magazine Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 06:19:39 MST Subject: Her Voice Comes in Warm and Clear (was Re: Who's That Voice?) In TELECOM Digest 14, 302 the question was posed regarding who the female voice is on many telephone systems. Jeff, You asked about who the female voice on phone systems was, well, I think I have the answer. The following should answer any questions you may have. HER VOICE COMES IN WARM AND CLEAR Note: This article is reprinted with permission from the Associated Press. OAKLAND, Calif.--Joan Kenley sometimes talks to herself, but that's understandable. After all, millions of people listen to her. Among other things, Kenley is the ubiquitous voice of Voice Mail, Pacific Bell's computerized answering service that more businesses are turning to instead of human operators. When you pick up the phone at a hotel, Kenley could be on the other end. She's the voice of Guest Messenger, a Sheraton Hotel chain service similar to Voice Mail. Or you might hear her pear-shaped tones rattling off the prices at computerized grocery store checkout counters. "I'm even the English-speaking voice on pay phones in Japan," said Kenley, who is also the voice on software designer Northern Telecom's Meridian Mail and the interstate long distance voice for several companies, including Michigan and Ohio Bell. One reason her voice is so popular is that the melody "tends not to go away" and so allows sound technicians to mix old tapes with new ones. If there is a criticism of her voice, it's that "it's too real." "People can easily start talking to it, but that's a compliment as well." She even does it herself. Kenley said she was checking into a hotel recently "and when I picked up the house phone I ended up talking to myself. It's kind of spooky." Kenley has done price-voicing for 50 grocery store chains. The automated service sounds out the cost of an item when it is passed over the checkout machine. "My uncle in Cleveland was leaving a checkout where I say "thank you" and he answered, "You're welcome, Joan," she said. Kenley, who has a Ph.D. in psychology, said her big break came ten years ago when she was contacted by University of California professor Forrest Mozer, who developed a way to put the human voice on a computer chip. Mozer felt the best way for humans to "interface" with computers would be vocally. "He said he wanted a voice that was warm, but not too sexy," Kenley recalled. Kenley says her work is "a kind of immortality." "A hundred years from now, I'll be long gone. But my voice will still be going out into the stratosphere saying, "Two dollars and fifty cents, please." ------------------------------ From: dfilkins@iastate.edu (Donald W Filkins) Subject: Water Sensors For Equipment Rooms Date: 30 Jun 1994 18:40:28 GMT Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa (USA) I work for the Iowa State University Telecommunications Dept. We have several equipment rooms we would like to monitor for water intrusion. I have only one product in mind so far (Dorlen Products Water Alert) and would like to be able to evaluate a few more. So far none of our equipment vendors has come up with an alternate source so any additonal info would be helpful. We already have autodialers in place to monitor door alarms and other environmental parameters so all I require is a sensor with a contact closure ( or open ) and the approprate power supply if the unit is not battery powered. I would prefer some sort of ac or switch battery powered device to avoid the hassle of periodically changing batteries. Please post to this group or email me directly. Thanks in advance, Don Filkins ------------------------------ From: lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) Subject: Personal PBX Construction Article Date: 30 Jun 1994 12:11:17 -0700 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] The July issue of {The Computer Applications Journal} has a construction article for a build-it-yourself personal PBX. The article describes an eight-station PBX which uses standard 2500 type sets. The little PBX is designed around industry-standard IC's, and uses solid telephony design techniques. The controller is an 8031, and the switching matrix is a M093 IC. All the circuit elements of the PBX, such as the Ring Generator, Subscriber Line Interface Circuit (SLIC), DTMF receiver and tone generator, are described in detail. Even if you are not at all interested in building a PBX, this article is an excellent tutorial on how they are designed. Les lreeves@crl.com Atlanta,GA 404.874.7806 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #306 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa13672; 1 Jul 94 2:12 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA21917; Thu, 30 Jun 94 22:38:14 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA21902; Thu, 30 Jun 94 22:38:11 CDT Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 22:38:11 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407010338.AA21902@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #307 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jun 94 22:38:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 307 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson USACM Calls for Clipper Withdrawal (Association For Computing Machinery) ACM Releases Crypto Study (Association For Computing Machinery) BOC Name Changes (was Re: Bell Atlantic Marketing) (Garrett Wollman) Cheapest Cellular Carrier in NYC? (krazykev@panix.com) Information Wanted on TDD Devices (Arieh Cimet) Re: KERMIT Through an Intermediate Telnet Node? How? (James Carlson) Re: KERMIT Through an Intermediate Telnet Node? How? (Kenneth J. Morrill) Re: Bilingual Telephone Numbers? (Jeff Bamford) Re: Bilingual Telephone Numbers? (John Harris) Re: AT&T, Paris and Freedom (Stephen Melvin) Re: Bidding War For - Western Union ?! (Daryl Gibson) Re: Cellular Phones and Lightning (Tobin M. Creek) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 16:35:37 +0000 From: US ACM, DC Office Subject: USACM Calls for Clipper Withdrawal U S A C M Association for Computing Machinery, U.S. Public Policy Committee * PRESS RELEASE * Thursday, June 30, 1994 Contact: Barbara Simons (408) 463-5661, simons@acm.org (e-mail) Jim Horning (415) 853-2216, horning@src.dec.com (e-mail) Rob Kling (714) 856-5955, kling@ics.uci.edu (e-mail) COMPUTER POLICY COMMITTEE CALLS FOR WITHDRAWAL OF CLIPPER COMMUNICATIONS PRIVACY "TOO IMPORTANT" FOR SECRET DECISION-MAKING WASHINGTON, DC The public policy arm of the oldest and largest international computing society today urged the White House to withdraw the controversial "Clipper Chip" encryption proposal. Noting that the "security and privacy of electronic communications are vital to the development of national and international information infrastructures," the Association for Computing Machinery's U.S. Public Policy Committee (USACM) added its voice to the growing debate over encryption and privacy policy. In a position statement released at a press conference on Capitol Hill, the USACM said that "communications security is too important to be left to secret processes and classified algorithms." The Clipper technology was developed by the National Security Agency, which classified the cryptographic algorithm that underlies the encryption device. The USACM believes that Clipper "will put U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage in the global market and will adversely affect technological development within the United States." The technology has been championed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NSA, which claim that "non-escrowed" encryption technology threatens law enforcement and national security. "As a body concerned with the development of government technology policy, USACM is troubled by the process that gave rise to the Clipper initiative," said Dr. Barbara Simons, a computer scientist with IBM who chairs the USACM. "It is vitally important that privacy protections for our communications networks be developed openly and with full public participation." The USACM position statement was issued after completion of a comprehensive study of cryptography policy sponsored by the ACM (see companion release). The study, "Codes, Keys and Conflicts: Issues in U.S Crypto Policy," was prepared by a panel of experts representing various constituencies involved in the debate over encryption. The ACM, founded in 1947, is a 85,000 member non-profit educational and scientific society dedicated to the development and use of information technology, and to addressing the impact of that technology on the world's major social challenges. USACM was created by ACM to provide a means for presenting and discussing technological issues to and with U.S. policymakers and the general public. For further information on USACM, please call (202) 298- 0842. ============================================================= USACM Position on the Escrowed Encryption Standard The ACM study "Codes, Keys and Conflicts: Issues in U.S Crypto Policy" sets forth the complex technical and social issues underlying the current debate over widespread use of encryption. The importance of encryption, and the need for appropriate policies, will increase as networked communication grows. Security and privacy of electronic communications are vital to the development of national and international information infrastructures. The Clipper Chip, or "Escrowed Encryption Standard" (EES) Initiative, raises fundamental policy issues that must be fully addressed and publicly debated. After reviewing the ACM study, which provides a balanced discussion of the issues, the U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM (USACM) makes the following recommendations. 1. The USACM supports the development of public policies and technical standards for communications security in open forums in which all stakeholders -- government, industry, and the public -- participate. Because we are moving rapidly to open networks, a prerequisite for the success of those networks must be standards for which there is widespread consensus, including international acceptance. The USACM believes that communications security is too important to be left to secret processes and classified algorithms. We support the principles underlying the Computer Security Act of 1987, in which Congress expressed its preference for the development of open and unclassified security standards. 2. The USACM recommends that any encryption standard adopted by the U.S. government not place U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage in the global market or adversely affect technological development within the United States. Few other nations are likely to adopt a standard that includes a classified algorithm and keys escrowed with the U.S. government. 3. The USACM supports changes in the process of developing Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) employed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This process is currently predicated on the use of such standards solely to support Federal procurement. Increasingly, the standards set through the FIPS process directly affect non-federal organizations and the public at large. In the case of the EES, the vast majority of comments solicited by NIST opposed the standard, but were openly ignored. The USACM recommends that the standards process be placed under the Administrative Procedures Act so that citizens may have the same opportunity to challenge government actions in the area of information processing standards as they do in other important aspects of Federal agency policy making. 4. The USACM urges the Administration at this point to withdraw the Clipper Chip proposal and to begin an open and public review of encryption policy. The escrowed encryption initiative raises vital issues of privacy, law enforcement, competitiveness and scientific innovation that must be openly discussed. 5. The USACM reaffirms its support for privacy protection and urges the administration to encourage the development of technologies and institutional practices that will provide real privacy for future users of the National Information Infrastructure. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 16:34:47 +0000 From: "US ACM, DC Office" Subject: ACM Releases Crypto Study Association for Computing Machinery PRESS RELEASE Thursday, June 30, 1994 Contact: Joseph DeBlasi, ACM Executive Director (212) 869-7440 Dr. Stephen Kent, Panel Chair (617) 873-3988 Dr. Susan Landau, Panel Staff (413) 545-0263 COMPUTING SOCIETY RELEASES REPORT ON ENCRYPTION POLICY "CLIPPER CHIP" CONTROVERSY EXPLORED BY EXPERT PANEL WASHINGTON, DC A panel of experts convened by the nation's foremost computing society today released a comprehensive report on U.S. cryptography policy. The report, "Codes, Keys and Conflicts: Issues in U.S Crypto Policy," is the culmination of a ten-month review conducted by the panel of representatives of the computer industry and academia, government officials, and attorneys. The 50-page document explores the complex technical and social issues underlying the current debate over the Clipper Chip and the export control of information security technology. "With the development of the information superhighway, cryptography has become a hotly debated policy issue," according to Joseph DeBlasi, Executive Director of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), which convened the expert panel. "The ACM believes that this report is a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on the Clipper Chip and encryption policy. It cuts through the rhetoric and lays out the facts." Dr. Stephen Kent, Chief Scientist for Security Technology with the firm of Bolt Beranek and Newman, said that he was pleased with the final report. "It provides a very balanced discussion of many of the issues that surround the debate on crypto policy, and we hope that it will serve as a foundation for further public debate on this topic." The ACM report addresses the competing interests of the various stakeholders in the encryption debate -- law enforcement agencies, the intelligence community, industry and users of communications services. It reviews the recent history of U.S. cryptography policy and identifies key questions that policymakers must resolve as they grapple with this controversial issue. The ACM cryptography panel was chaired by Dr. Stephen Kent. Dr. Susan Landau, Research Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, co-ordinated the work of the panel and did most of the writing. Other panel members were Dr. Clinton Brooks, Advisor to the Director, National Security Agency; Scott Charney, Chief of the Computer Crime Unit, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Dr. Dorothy Denning, Computer Science Chair, Georgetown University; Dr. Whitfield Diffie, Distinguished Engineer, Sun Microsystems; Dr. Anthony Lauck, Corporate Consulting Engineer, Digital Equipment Corporation; Douglas Miller, Government Affairs Manager, Software Publishers Association; Dr. Peter Neumann, Principal Scientist, SRI International; and David Sobel, Legal Counsel, Electronic Privacy Information Center. Funding for the cryptography study was provided in part by the National Science Foundation. The ACM, founded in 1947, is a 85,000 member non-profit educational and scientific society dedicated to the development and use of information technology, and to addressing the impact of that technology on the world's major social challenges. For general information, contact ACM, 1515 Broadway, New York, NY 10036. (212) 869-7440 (tel), (212) 869-0481 (fax). Information on accessing the report electronically will be posted soon in this newsgroup. ------------------------------ From: wollman@ginger.lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: BOC Name Changes (was Re: Bell Atlantic Marketing) Date: 30 Jun 1994 21:56:15 GMT Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Neil Weisenfeld wrote: > Well, as many of you probably know, C&P Telephone in the Washington > D.C. area has recently dropped the C&P name and is now using Bell > Atlantic (Potomac?). I don't recall seeing this in the Digest, so ... a few weeks ago, the Rhode Island PUC announced that NYNEX would not be permitted to charge customers for the costs associated with their marketing campaign to get people to forget `New England Telephone'. (Now, of course, this is a complete sham, since ratepayers end up paying for everything anyway, but at least the RI PUC has got some independent-minded people on it ...) Garrett A. Wollman wollman@lcs.mit.edu ------------------------------ From: krazykev@panix.com Subject: Cheapest Cellular Carrier in NYC? Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 18:31:54 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Hi, Who has the cheapest rates for cellular calls in NYC? I am considering getting a cellular phone. I already have the phone, so it is just a question of who has the best deal. If you could email me at: krazykev@panix.com that would be great. ------------------------------ From: anl433!cimet@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com (Arieh Cimet) Subject: Info on TDD Devices Organization: Motorola Land Mobile Products Sector Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 02:18:57 GMT I need information on how TDDs (Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf) work. I have checked the Bellcore catalog and with the phone company but have come up with very little. In particular, I need to know the protocols, interfaces, speed, and modulation types that such devices use. Also, if these devices have been adapated for cellular use. I would appreciate any pointers to standards, documents or any books available on the subject. Thanks in advance for any response. I. Arieh Cimet e-mail: cimet@comm.mot.com Motorola ESMR Infrastructure phone: (708) 576-4565 1301 E. Algonquin Road fax: (708) 538-3472 Schaumburg, IL 60196 ------------------------------ From: carlson@xylogics.com (James Carlson) Subject: Re: KERMIT Through an Intermediate Telnet Node? How? Date: 30 Jun 1994 16:40:43 GMT Organization: Xylogics Incorporated Reply-To: carlson@xylogics.com In article , jrefling@rosslare.ece.uci. edu (John Refling) writes: > Here's the situation: > +-----+ +---------+ +-----------+ > | PC | - phone----> | UNIX BOX| -- INTERNET-->| UNIX BOX | > +-----+ +---------+ +-----------+ > Now, after you dial the first unix box over the phone and are logged > in, you telnet to the second unix box. On the second unix box, you > start kermit to server mode. Then you escape back to the pc and try > to transfer files and the whole thing dies. > I can sort of see why things won't work -- maybe the boxes get > confused over where thier input is coming from ... then again it's not > a problem normally. > Is there a way to get this to work? The problem is most likely that either (1) one of those links isn't transparent or (2) flow control is broken somewhere. Start by making sure that the telnet is transparent. Break to the telnet prompt and turn off the escape character: set escape off Then make sure that the rest of the line is transparent ... James Carlson Tel: +1 617 272 8140 Annex Software Support / Xylogics, Inc. +1 800 225 3317 53 Third Avenue / Burlington MA 01803-4491 Fax: +1 617 272 2618 ------------------------------ From: kmorrill@strauss.udel.edu (Kenneth J Morrill) Subject: Re: KERMIT Through an Intermediate Telnet Node? How? Date: 30 Jun 1994 14:58:00 -0400 Organization: University of Delaware In article , John Refling wrote: > Here's the situation: > +-----+ +---------+ +-----------+ > | PC | - phone----> | UNIX BOX| -- INTERNET-->| UNIX BOX | > +-----+ +---------+ +-----------+ > Now, after you dial the first unix box over the phone and are logged > in, you telnet to the second unix box. On the second unix box, you > start kermit to server mode. Then you escape back to the pc and try > to transfer files and the whole thing dies. I connect from home under the same circumstances. I found that the zmodem protocol works for one file, but not for a batch of files. I have been following the practice of uuencoding binary files and capturing them as text files, then uudecoding them back to binaries. I known that this is not the ultimate solution. Ken Morrill ------------------------------ From: jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) Subject: Re: Bilingual Telephone Numbers? Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 14:42:22 GMT In article , Andrew C. Green wrote: [Found a Caller I.D. box that was bilingual] > Now, perhaps I'm missing something here, but I must admit I don't know > how I would translate "Green, Andrew C." and "(312) 266-xxxx" into > Spanish without the assistance of this thing. Clearly a bargain at > twice the price! Well, Call Display boxes here are bilingual (at least they are from the telco). En francais the time is in 24 hour, the date is obviously French. The message that you have new callers is in French, albeit shortened (nouv appel) etc. However, if your box only displayed name and number there would be no difference. If I had Call Display I'd run the display in French just to get 24h times. Any boxes have that choice? Jeff Bamford jsbamford@uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 06:40:00 -0400 From: joharris@io.org (John Harris) Subject: Re: Bilingual Telephone Numbers? The customer is the person to decide if a product makes her/him feel good. If a person's native tongue is Spanish, s/he may prefer to see "Nueva Llamada" instead of "New Calls" on an alpha-capable display. How much can a few bytes of ROM cost? It's just good design/marketing to add low incremental cost features. John O. Harris BEL-Tronics Ltd. Mississauga, ON joharris@io.org (905) 828-1002 ------------------------------ From: melvin@netcom.com (Stephen Melvin) Subject: Re: AT&T, Paris and Freedom Organization: Zytek, Lda. - Paris Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 20:03:12 GMT In article JeanBernard_Condat@Email.France Net.FR writes: > Yesterday, I was invited to look at 'a sound sculpture for the Arc de > Triomphe by Bill Fontana' in Paris. I went down there today to check it out, actually I thought it was pretty neat. This was not obvious from the blurb, but the speakers at the observation level are transmitting *live* sounds picked up from microphones around the city. For example there is a speaker labeled "Cafe Les Deux Magots" through which you can hear dishes clattering and people talking as you are looking out in the general direction of that place. There are about 15 microphones in cafes, train stations, etc. I think it's an interesting idea. The street level speakers are transmitting ocean surf sounds. (NB: it costs FRF 31 (~USD 6) to go up to the top). > I invite all the reader of this message to appreciate during the next > holidays in France, the Arc de Triomphe of Place de l'Etoile and to > drink a beer on the Champs-Elysees without the poor Bill Fontana' > sculpture and the English-written AT&T Direct Services publicity. I don't understand your objection Jean-Bernard. I don't see this as an AT&T publicity thing. They just funded part of it and their name only appears in small letters at the bottom of the poster describing the exhibit, I had trouble even finding it. So what if they have both French and English descriptions, lots of exhibits in Paris do. Steve Melvin melvin@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Daryl Gibson Subject: Re: Bidding War For - Western Union ?! Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 19:36:09 MST > Item in the Sunday paper says two companies, First Data Corp. and > Forstmann Little & Co. are bidding for Western Union. First Data is > described as an information-and-transaction-processing company that > transfers money. Forstmann Little & Co. is a leveraged buyout firm. > First Data bid $896 million, Forstmann Little bid $951 million, and > First Data added $65 million to its bid. A bankruptcy court judge > ruled friday that the company will be auctioned in September. (Get > your bid in by Sept 2.) Just a note on First Data. First Data is a fairly major firm these days ... it was spun off of American Express a little over a year ago, I believe; at any rate, if you send American Express money transfers (as opposed to Western Union money transfers), you're dealing with First Data. I believe I read something that said they were also the company that was doing the 1-800-COLLECT operator work for MCI, but I could be wrong. They are a big transaction processing firm, a large telemarketing firm, and also do a huge amount of credit card transaction processing for smaller banks. They also do American Express' billing, and I believe have Amex Money Orders, as well. American Express spun off the company as an independent entity; I think it made First Data's bank customers rest easier, knowing that a competing credit card company wasn't taking care of their customers; Before the First Data spinoff, that put Amex in the unlikely position of being one of the biggest issuers of Visa and Mastercards in the United States. And while I'm blathering on about Amex, I remember reading that as one of the first ISDN sites, Amex wired their computers so that when an agent in their Phoenix office answered the phone, they already knew who it was on the other end, and had your account on their screen (assuming you were calling from a number they knew, of course) they had to ban their customer reps from picking up the phone and saying "American Express ... how can I help you, Mr. Jones," because it was bothering too many customers ... Daryl (801) 378-2950 (801) 489-6348 drg@du1.byu.edu 71171.2036@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu (Tobin M. Creek) Subject: Re: Cellular Phones and Lightning Date: 29 Jun 94 14:57:41 GMT Organization: North Carolina State University shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) writes: > Someone told me that in a lightning storm, lightning can follow the > radio waves given out by your cellular phone. I assume this is > because the air is more ionized where the waves are strong. Is this > true? Is it unsafe to use a handheld cellular phone in a lightning > storm? I'm not talking about a mobile phone with a tall antenna. I call "Urban Legend" on this one. I doubt that that statement has any scientific basis whatsoever. If it does, then one of these days, my Motorola will go ZOT! and so will I. :) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #307 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa20438; 1 Jul 94 19:05 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11008; Fri, 1 Jul 94 15:44:29 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10999; Fri, 1 Jul 94 15:44:27 CDT Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 15:44:27 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407012044.AA10999@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #308 TELECOM Digest Fri, 1 Jul 94 15:44:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 308 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Maryland, Free Internet Access (Richard Layman) Automatic HF Channel Allocation (S.A. Iskenderian) Underseas Cable Data (Pat McClure) Modem Test Equipment Wanted (Scott Platenberg) Reasonably Priced In-State Calls? (Ed Gehringer) Unitel Switched Ne a Little Early! (Jeff Bamford) AT&T Keep In Touch (William J. Rehm) 17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service: Details (Ed Gehringer) New FTP Site/Test (Nate Zelnick) Is There a Market For PC Voice Mail Developers Card? (Chris B. Sakkas) Calling Card Cancellation (Ted J. Jardine) Last Laugh! OJ/Telecom-Related Commercials (Michael P. Deignan) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Layman Subject: Maryland, Free Internet Access (fwd) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 12:14:06 EDT Forwarded FYI to the Digest. Richard Layman ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 18:03:28 LCL From: "Kaplan, Dan" Subject: Maryland, Free Internet Access For those of you who had not heard. The State of Maryland announced earlier this week, that it would offer free Internet access to its residents. Brian Reilly sent me the following Washington Post article on the subject. This public announcement should act as a catalyst to propel CCIA to the forefront of this issue in Chicago (Illinois), if we react appropriately. We need your input on how to best capitalize on this window of opportunity. Send comments to myself, Dan Kaplan at DKaplan@ChiReader.com or (312)-828-0350 or to Brian Reilly Reilly.21@nd.edu or (312) 868-4227. Looking forward to your input! Copyright 1994 The Washington Post The Washington Post June 23, 1994, Thursday, Final Edition SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A1 HEADLINE: Information Highway Without Tollbooths; Maryland Is the First State to Offer Free Access to the Internet BYLINE: Tabitha M. Powledge, Special to The Washington Post Maryland next month will become the first state in the nation to offer its residents direct connections to the Internet for free. The Internet is the massive network of networks that connects an estimated 20 million computer users by telephone lines to thousands of electronic information storehouses worldwide. At no cost except for a local phone call, state officials say, anyone in the area with a computer and a modem will eventually be able to connect with a state-run "gopher" site -- a computer that provides the most popular tool to link up with some of the Internet's vast resources. The mind-boggling array ranges from pictures of poultry from Texas A&M University to the bagpipe archives of Dartmouth to a definitive list of kosher restaurants in Sydney, to up-to-the-minute Commerce Department statistics on employment, energy or industrial productivity. The new noncommercial service, called "Sailor" in tribute to Maryland's maritime heritage, is a project of the state's library system. Maryland will place no time constraints on Sailor users at the outset. But Sailor's organizers expect the service to be so popular that strain on the system's 192-telephone-line capacity may eventually force limits. Free Internet connections are available in some cities such as Cleveland where community-based links to the giant network began. A similar service in the Washington area is called CapAccess, but it is supported by contributions. At least half the states are exploring hooking their library systems up to the Internet, and some have already done so. But their Internet resources are used chiefly by the librarians, not the patrons. A full complement of additional Internet services via Sailor (e-mail plus the ability to transfer files, the site-to-site connections known as telnet and the hundreds of special-interest electronic discourses called Usenet newsgroups) will cost $ 100 a year. Electronic mail service as a single option will cost $35 a year, library officials say. A commercial provider of full Internet connections such as Digital Express Group Inc. of Greenbelt charges $ 20 for setup, plus a $ 250 yearly fee and $1 an hour for use in excess of six hours per day. Of the major information services, America Online is arguably the most technically advanced, and it does not yet offer the full line of Internet services. Access to America Online costs $ 9.95 a month, plus $ 3.50 an hour after the first five hours in a month. Because its services will be free or low-cost, Maryland library officials hope Sailor will entice into the on-line universe people who have so far taken little part in the computerizing of American life. "Part of the function of the library is to keep the playing field level," says Maurice Travillian, assistant state superintendent for libraries. "That's becoming harder in our digitized world, where people with the power of machines can really bring in a lot more stuff" than can the poor. A random cruise through the layers of gopher menus accessible through Sailor is a short course in the allure and frustrations of the electronic meandering that has come to be known as cybersurfing. On the Internet, the opening menu of choices on the gopher leads to other menus of choices that lead to yet more menus in a fashion that ultimately guides a user to information. But resources mutate from moment to moment. Sources of information open and close, appear and disappear, for no discernible reason. There is no card catalogue. Authoritative, in-depth, highly reliable knowledge sits side-by-side with trivia and sometimes drivel. Select "Federal Government Resources" from Sailor's main menu, for example, and then the "National Institutes of Health" from the next menu, and you can retrieve information about NIH grants, search the NIH phone book -- and also get a weather forecast. The Library of Congress's MARVEL service offers, in addition to the library's incomparable catalogue, a database of pending federal legislation, information about Congress, and connections to the offices of Rep. Sam Coppersmith (D-Ariz.)and Rep. John Kyl (R-Ariz.), two congressmen who have established a formal presence on the Internet. But MARVEL is also a gateway to help-wanted ads all over the Internet, as well as to information about openings at the library. The library was looking outside its own ranks to fill four jobs as of Sunday. The King of Thailand was reportedly seeking 120 mechanical engineers, some to do robotics research. Although Sailor significantly undercuts the prices of commercial Internet access providers, neither they nor Maryland library officials see themselves as competitors. "Libraries have always been in competition with bookstores and video stores," says Travillian. "We stimulate interest. If people get on and like this and want more access, they'll switch over to a commercial vendor, who will probably get more customers than he would if we didn't exist at all." "I really do think they will complement one another," says Debra Young, spokeswoman for CompuServe Information Service. The largest of the commercial on-line services, CompuServe is not scheduled to offer a full Internet connection until later this year. Peaceful coexistence of both commercial and noncommercial conduits to the Internet is desirable to preserve free access to the information on it, said Daniel Weitzner of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Washington-based champion of computer users' civil rights. "I would be very concerned if all Americans' access to the Internet was controlled by government-funded institutions, because they already have a record of censoring controversial content," he said. Commercial providers, by contrast, have little motive to censor. "They just want more business," he said. "By the same token, I think libraries over time have been absolutely vehement about protecting the privacy rights of their users," Weitzner said. "I'm sure that's a value that they'll bring to this system." The price tag on Sailor's start-up and first year of operation is just under $ 2 million, all of it federal money. Spurred on by the administration's enthusiasm for building the National Research and Education Network -- often called the information superhighway -- the funds came from the Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), under the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). Sailor's LSCA money will run out by September 1995. The library system must then turn to Maryland taxpayers for continued support. When the state legislature returns to Annapolis next winter, it will be asked for $ 825,000 for fiscal 1996 to continue Sailor. Sailor is up and running in test mode now. However, phone numbers that the public can use will be made available on a county-by-county basis as lines are hooked up and librarians are trained. The city of Baltimore and Carroll County are scheduled to go public by the end of July. Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Charles counties plan to be on-line in August and Montgomery County in September. Most of the rest of the state will be connected by the end of the summer, according to Barbara G. Smith, chief of the State Library and Information Services Section, who heads the project. Phone numbers for reaching Sailor will be available from local public libraries. The exceptions are Calvert County and southern St. Mary's County in southern Maryland; the state's westernmost county, Garrett; and Kent County on the Eastern Shore. In those areas, access via a local phone number will not be possible until next year at the earliest. Their residents can use Sailor if they are willing to make a toll call to a nearby Sailor number. Connections to the Internet are two-way, which means that while Marylanders are using Sailor to depart the state on planet-wide electronic cruises, computer users anywhere else on Earth can enter Sailor to explore much that a Maryland librarian could access. Many of these unique databases house information about Maryland. But they also include, for example, what is believed to be the world's most complete bibliography on occupational diseases of musicians, maintained by the Music Medicine Clearinghouse at the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty Library, and a guide to the Jane Austen collection at Goucher College, Travillian is particularly enthusiastic about the impact Sailor is likely to have in schools -- especially schools where funds for books and other sources of information have been cut back. Maryland libraries are also being urged to add computers so that Sailor will be handy for people who lack the hardware at home. The organizers say they are even fantasizing about Sailor kiosks in malls and supermarkets. Travillian predicts what he calls "a flood in the modem pool." At the outset, the system will accommodate only 192 dial-in users at one time, in addition to those who arrive via direct connections from local libraries and from sites elsewhere on the Internet. Although library officials point out that it is impossible to estimate the likely demand for such a novel service, no one involved in the project really believes present capacity will be anything close to adequate. ------------------------------ From: saisk1@mdw074.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr SA Iskenderian) Subject: Automatic HF Channel Allocation Date: 1 Jul 1994 02:48:14 GMT Organization: Monash University As part of my final year Electrical Engineering thesis project at Monash University in Melbourne, Austrlia, I have undertaken to research into 'Self Tracking Automatic HF Optimisation of Voice and Data'. The project work is on behalf of Melbourne based company, BHP Petroleum that make great use of telecommunication equipment in remote locations both locally and overseas. The latest equipment I came across that handles automatic allocation of HF channels is the Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) 1045 controller. I managed to get a copy of a brochure on ALE 1045 detailing its possible arrangement in conjunction with a PC, high speed data modem and an HF radio. Having also read through the US Federal Standards 1045 on ALE titled 'Telecommunications: Radio Automatic Link Establishment', I would greatly appreciate further information on ALE or relevant equipment and about the possibility of transmitting voice as well as data using this system. Could someone please clarify the following points: AA) Is it viable to digitize and compress voice before transmitting it as data blocks but switching off the 'retransmission' mode to prevent echoes? What type of Codec might be suitable for voice digitisation? BB) Can an ALE system be used to allocate the optimum HF channel at regular intervals and switch over to normal analog voice communication? Any references to literature or technical articles would also be much appreciated. Thanking in advance, Shiraz Iskenderian, Monash University. saisk1@ccds.cc.monash.edu.au ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 20:19:27 -0700 From: pmcclure@netcom.com (Pat McClure) Subject: Underseas Cable Data To: Patrick Townson, TELECOM Digest Editor, telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Fm: Pat McClure, Consulting Engineer, pmcclure@netcom.com Mr. Townson: I got you name from an interesting history of underseas cables which I obtained from ftp.lcs.mit.edu. I'm doing a forecast of communications (private line) costs over the next ten years, particularly international costs. Do you know where I can find data on the underseas cables that have been installed in the last ten years, plus the capacity and cost of each? Any references or leads you could give me would surely be appreciated. Regards, Pat McClure, pmcclure@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps some readers will write to Pat McClure with the requested details. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ecci@nic.cerf.net (Scott Platenberg) Subject: Modem Test Equipment Date: 01 Jul 1994 01:41:05 GMT Organization: CERFnet Dial n' CERF Customer I am just starting to look for equipment that will help me test several (10 to 100) modem lines simultaneously. Does anyone have any good recommendations for telco eliminators? Any help is greatly appreciated. Please email response to "scottp@ecci.com". Scott scottp@ecci.com ------------------------------ From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Reasonably Priced In-State Calls? Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:42:29 -0400 Thanks to info gleaned from the TELECOM Digest, I now have services that provide reasonably priced interstate "calling-card" calls during the daytime (ATN: 17.5c/min. interstate, 23c/min.) and night/wknd. (AT&T Reach Out America with Calling-Card Option: $3.15/mo. + 10c/min.) calls. Does anyone have any ideas on how to-- - avoid a surcharge and get reasonable rates on intra-LATA "calling card" calls? - get lower rates on inter-LATA intrastate "calling card" calls? - beat the 17.5c/min. rate for long interstate "calling card" calls in the evening (low rates, minimal surcharge needed), - get lower 1+ rates for intrastate calls (within NC)? If you do not know where I can obtain cheaper service, can you at least give me some pointers to follow? Thanks, Ed ------------------------------ From: jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) Subject: Unitel Switched Me a Little Early! Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 08:05:03 GMT After only three hours of equal access in Canada I've been switched to Unitel from Bell Canada. The only strange thing is that, I never actually requested the change! I got in earlier and thought, well it's July 1st and equal access is here so I'll give it a try. I dialed 1-700-555-4141 and was extremely surprised to find that I was now with Unitel. I also tried 10323-1-700-555-4141 (323 is Bell Canada) and was even further surprised that this worked! At this point, I thought gotta call Unitel, gotta call Unitel. So, I called them up and informed the operator at Unitel that I called the 1-700 number to check your carrier and was surprised to be already switched to Unitel. I then added that I was even more surprised as I never actually requested the change. She then put me on hold. When she came back she said that they could switch me back to Bell if I wanted. I said that I wanted Unitel, I just wondered why they switched me without asking. She said it must've been an error. I hope they aren't just switching all their customers! In any case, I gave her my name and phone number to make it official. Since I had them on the phone, I asked her what Unitel's carrier number is. She didn't quite know what I meant at first. I said, "In the states you can use another carrier by dialing 10xxx-1-rest of number". She then knew what I meant but had to look up the number, turns out that it is: 869. Jeff Bamford jsbamford@uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome ------------------------------ From: wjrst1+@pitt.edu (William J Rehm) Subject: AT&T Keep In Touch Date: 1 Jul 1994 14:59:35 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh Reply-To: wjrst1+@pitt.edu Will the AT&T Keep In Touch PCMCIA modem work with an acoustic coupler? We have a group of salesmen who need to connect from phone booths. We have a call in to AT&T customer service, but we're in a bit of a jam, so I thought I'd try here. Obviously, if it is possible, we haven't managed to do it. If anyone could post/mail directions, I'd appreciate it. TIA, Bill Rehm wjrst1+@pitt.edu ------------------------------ From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: 17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service: details Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:18:48 -0400 Just phoned ATN's Buffalo office and got the details. I hope I have copied all of the intricacies correctly. Their "calling card" has rates of 17.5c/min. interstate at all times, no minimum. Intrastate charges are higher, e.g., 23c/min. at all times in NC. Their 1+ service has basic rate of 23c/min. peak (0800-1700 M-F only) and 12.5c/min. off-peak (all other times). There is a surcharge of $7.50/mo. However, if you make at least 60 min. of *interstate* calls per month with the service, the rate *for calls to your "top 5" area codes only* drops to 18.4c/min. peak and 10c/min. off-peak. ("Top 5" is determined by number of minutes. Hey, here's a company that realizes additional revenue on every NPA split! :-) Also, the $7.50 surcharge is waived. So, yes, Virginia, it is much cheaper to call for 60 min. in a month than for 40 min. Again, intrastate rates are higher, e.g., in NC, 25c/min. peak and 15.5c/min. off-peak. Ed ------------------------------ From: BRP Publications Subject: New FTP Site/Test Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 12:09:07 EDT FYI, Business Research Publications has made an initial move toward getting its 18 publications on the Net. BRP has set up an FTP site (ftp.digex.net /pub/access/brpinc) with newsletter issues, in both raw ASCII and Common Ground formats, as well as other research reports, a conference calendar and other related information. Topics cover information and online services, email, telecom regulation and legislation, interactive TV/cable TV, security technology, wireless and mobile technologies, data communications, and labor and human resources matters. Once we gauge the use and usefulness of the information, we'll consider posting more information to the Net in the future. My publishers tell me that they're still concerned about unauthorized distribution of copyrighted information, but for now they say the information at the FTP site can be copied and distributed as long as the full text of each newsletter is kept intact and the copyright notice is included. Any comments on whether this will work? Nate Zelnick Editor Information & Interactive Services Report ------------------------------ From: sakkascb@ucunix.san.uc.EDU (Chris B. Sakkas) Subject: Is There a Market For PC Voice Mail Developers Card? Organization: University of Cincinnati Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 12:11:58 -0400 I recently developed a PC-compatible voice mail card with the abilities to record and playback voice messages to the telephone, receive and transmit DTMF tones, and other general telephone control. My hardware also has a microphone input and an amplified output for a speaker. A volume control is provided to adjust playback level to the speaker. The interface to the telephone is through a pre-approved FCC Part 68 device. The single quantity price for the components used in this project are under $65. I have developed a software library to support the above functions, and have generated a limited voice mail application. Although my design was made to support only a single telephone line, I believe it would be possible to use multiple cards in a PC for several lines. The question that I have is this: With the advent of inexpensive PC-compatible voice mail cards, especially the new low-cost DSP based systems that incorporate modem/fax capabilites, is there a market for a reasonably priced card for developers like the one I described above? I believe that there may be many opportunites for interactive voice applications, and the software I have would make it easy for others to develop voice mail apps, fax-back systems, control of other systems via telephone, etc. So, do you think there is a market for what I have? Would it be reasonable to think that several hundred/year could be sold? I thank you for your opinions! Chris B. Sakkas (sakkascb@ucunix.san.uc.edu) ------------------------------ From: tjj@chinook.halcyon.com (T. J. Jardine (Ted)) Subject: Calling Card Cancellation Date: 1 Jul 1994 14:52:11 GMT Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. In January, 1994 we received a notice from GTE that allowed us to decline to have our name, address, and telephone number sent to other long distance carriers when we used our GTE Calling Card. This is for a telephone number which is unlisted. On May 1, 1994, GTE (without any notification, even in the January letter) cancelled our Calling Card. Has anyone else had a similar experience (with GTE or another carrier)? Is this something which would warrant a complaint to the FCC? Ted Jardine E-mail: tjj@halcyon.com Voice: 206 788 6305 (Voice mail/FAX) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They probably should have sent you notice of cancellation and will probably claim that they did sent it even it if was somehow lost in the mail, etc. The reason they cancelled your calling card was because they are obligated to provide your billing name and address to other telcos who extend you credit based on your GTE account. You can forbid them to exchange that information, but then the other telcos have no way to protect themselves against fraudulent usage which might be incurred on your PIN. Personally, I can't see why anyone would make such a prohibition since the other telcos are expressly forbidden by the same regulations (which require sharing of names and numbers for billing purposes) from using the information for anything other than their billing. I've had credit cards from Ameritech, Sprint, and AT&T for ages and never once have been improperly solicited. Numerous federal regulations pertaining to billing, credit and collection practices protect us quite well ... making that prohibition to telco on the exchange of names and numbers simply gums up the works and makes it more difficult to make calls from other locations where the use of telco credit cards is concerned. To each his own I guess, but it seems excessively paranoid to worry about it as a privacy issue. Yes, I know the idea that the phone may ring some evening with a telemarketer on the other end strikes fear in the hearts of many of you also, but its really a non-issue to me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan) Subject: Last Laugh! OJ/Telecom-Related Commercials Date: 1 Jul 1994 16:51:13 GMT Organization: Brown University How long before we see OJ/Telecom-related commercials, ie: "Ever smell OJ burn... You will. And the company that will bring it to you? California Power and Light Co." or footage of White Bronco driving down Rt. 405, w/ voiceover: "Cellular-One 'Follow-Me Roaming'. No matter where you run, we'll be right there with you..." Michael P. Deignan Amalgamated Baby Seal Poachers Union, Local 101 "Get 'The Club'... Endorsed by Baby Seal poachers everywhere..." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Poor OJ ... he's gotten part of his anatomy in the wringer, that's for sure. According to this week's issue of {The Globe} -- a truthful newspaper sold at better newstands everywhere -- OJ Was Framed! Yes, that's the headline in this week's issue of the supermarket tabloid. The story says that someone else committed the murders most foul and then left as OJS was getting there (the first time) to make it look like he was responsible. As we prepare for a three-day holiday in the United States, I wish all our USA readers a happy Independence Day; do take care when playing with your firecracker over the weekend; no messy explosions or anyone getting hurt if you please; and do drive safely and all that. I'll see if its possible to get an issue or two of this rag out to you over the weekend, otherwise Tuesday for sure! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #308 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02638; 7 Jul 94 3:17 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03765; Wed, 6 Jul 94 23:51:50 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03755; Wed, 6 Jul 94 23:51:49 CDT Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 23:51:49 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407070451.AA03755@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #309 TELECOM Digest Wed, 6 Jul 94 23:51:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 309 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Telephone Numbers in the Netherlands (Dik T. Winter) Book Review: "TCP/IP Network Administration" by Hunt (Rob Slade) Big SS7 Problems (was Re: Int'l Calls to Taiwan) (Jim Gottlieb) IP to X.121 Translation? (Tudor Jebelean) Automatic Machines on a Network (Guillope Emmanuel) Telecommunications Developments at Western (Judy Noordermeer) COCOTs Lose Again (was Re: AT&T Keep In Touch) (Jim Gottlieb) NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering (Jeffrey W. McKeough) RFD: comp.dcom.cdpd (Bob Smith) Film to Video Transfer Unit (Alan Sieben) Info Highway - Virtual Factories (Lars Kalsen) Last Laugh! Dial 999 For Trouble! (Van Hefner) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dik.Winter@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter) Subject: New Telephone Numbers in the Netherlands Organization: CWI, Amsterdam Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 00:23:04 GMT In October 1996 most telephone numbers in the Netherlands will change (approximately 75% of all current telephone numbers). The changes occur for a number of reasons: 1. To make all telephonenumbers equally long (when counting area code plus local number). 2. To make most area codes shorter. 3. To remove local numbers starting with the digit 1 (and also 7 to 9). This is due to a directive by the European Union where emergency numbers and other general numbers will start with 1 (digits 7 to 9 will be reserved for competitors of the now monopolistic PTT). 4. To remove area codes starting with 8. Also due to an EU directive where area code 0800 will be used for toll-free numbers. The changes do not apply for mobile telephones, free numbers and premium numbers; although I suspect they will all change later. Some history. (Note: when I talk about n-digit area codes I include the access digit, 0, because that is common practise overhere). When automatic non-local dialing was introduced the country was split in a hierarchical system of area codes. All codes were five digits, the first the access digit, the next two the code for the district exchange, and the following two were used for further refinement. So Muiden (in the neighborhood of Amsterdam) had area code 02942; a subsection of sector Weesp (02940) which in turn was in the district of Amsterdam (with area code 02900). There were in total nearly 2000 area codes in use, distributed amongst about 15 districts. Even before the automization was complete changes had taken place, the area codes of the largest cities were reduced to three digits; since that time Amsterdam has area code 020. After completion a lot more sectors have gotten three digit area codes, so currently there is a mixture of three and five digit area codes. Also since old times local numbers were not equally long. When a sector grew out of numbers some numbers would get an additional digit prefixed freeing up a lot of initial digits. That is how the Amsterdam number 53121 was changed to 953121 and later to 6953121. Previously it probably was 3121. This was not done for all numbers in an area code at once, so it was very usual to have different length numbers within a single area code. Currently numbers are six or seven digits when the area code is three digits, or three to five digits when the area code is five digits. This will change to universally a three digit area code with a seven digit local number or a four digit area code with a six digit local number. This means that *all* numbers that do not fit this pattern will change next year. And that is all of the country except the three big cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague), the (probably for you unknown) entity of Almere and the small township of Almelo which will change already this year. There is no simple rule for number changes. PTT has issued a 44 page booklet describing the changes, and you need all those pages; it will be distributed country wide next year. A feature of the change is that all old numbers will go through for six months after the change (unlike when Belgium changed all numbers overnight, quite some years ago.) But this permissive dialing has its problems (i.e. more changes are made than would otherwise be needed). How does it change (a global overview): If the old area code was three digits (except 080 and 085) the area code remains unchanged, and if the old number was six digits, a single digit is prepended. The digit prepended depends on the area code and in some cases also on the initial digit of the old local number. Area codes 080 and 085 will additionally be changed to 024 and 026 respectively. Otherwise the old area code was five digits. There are two possibilities: 1. The area is incorporated in a neighboring three digit area code area. In that case the local number will be prefixed by a number of digits to make the local number seven digits. 2. The last digit of the area code is dropped. The local number is prefixed to make the number six digits. In all cases the prefix must be found in the conversion table and may also depend on the initial digit of the original local number; and in most cases the first digit of the prefix has no relation to the dropped digit from the area code. In addition, area codes in the range 083xx will move to the range 031x and area codes in the range 088xx will move to the range 048x. Moreover, Almelo (which changes this year) will go from 0549x to 0546. And finally, rule two is not totally general, there are cases where two or more new four digit area codes are combined, so that also the final digit of the new area code is not totally predictable. I think we will have some fun over here. dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924098 home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: dik@cwi.nl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 12:52:14 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "TCP/IP Network Administration" by Hunt BKTCPADM.RVW 940328 O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 103 Morris Street, Suite A Sebastopol, CA 95472 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 info@ora.com or nuts@ora.com "TCP/IP Network Administration", Hunt, 1992, 0-937175-82-X The growth of the Internet, in terms of the number of computers connected, has been doubling each year for at least the last ten. This means that in this coming year about three million computers will get connected, and in the year following, approximately six million. This growth cannot continue indefinitely. One constraint is the number of computers in the world, and another is the limit on the number of numeric Internet IP addresses available. One of the most important limiting factors, however, is the availability of knowledge about the connection and configuration of computers to the Internet. This book addresses this latter problem. If you are a UNIX system manager, this book is a thorough guide to configuring an Internet connection. (Even if you are not on the Internet, it is an excellent overview of the requirements for using TCP/IP to network your own machines.) For some, the guide may be on the technical side -- but then, network administration is a formidably technical task. The first three chapters discuss the concepts behind TCP/IP, routing, and the domain name and name service. The next four cover the basics of connections and configuration. Chapters eight to ten give details on the primary network services. There are also chapters on troubleshooting, security and appendices, including Internet service contacts, and the various application forms for registration. If you are not working in UNIX, many of the low level specifics will not be of much use. Many of the items, however, can either be used as rough outlines, or adapted to non-UNIX systems. Many programs may be different, but a lot of the structure, data and concepts will be the same. For those charged with the practical details of bringing a system into the Internet, this book is uniquely helpful. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKTCPADM.RVW 940328, Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: jimmy@tokyo07.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) Subject: Big SS7 Problems (was Re: Int'l Calls to Taiwan) Reply-To: jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) Organization: Info Connections, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 06:22:36 GMT A recent article talked about problems calling Taiwan. I would like to propose that the carriers are all having severe problems with regard to SS7 connectivity with foreign carriers. Although I have almost no problems when calling to the U.S. from Japan, I have had many problems calling Japan from the U.S. recently. For example, I find that when trying to call a number in Japan that is busy, instead of a busy signal I often get "The call you have made can not be completed in the country you have dialed" from AT&T while Sprint just gives a reorder. A few weeks ago, I kept getting a "not valid" recording when trying to call a Tokyo mobile number. I got it to work only by adding a '0' after the country code, something you're not supposed to have to do. A few days later, it was working again, with or without the '0'. The carriers need to take a serious look at these problems. Jim Gottlieb Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan Chuo 1-27-8, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Fax: +81 3 5389 0188 Voice Mail: +81 3 5389 1099 ------------------------------ From: tjebelea@risc.uni-linz.ac.at (Tudor Jebelean) Subject: IP to X.121 Translation? Organization: RISC, J.K. University of Linz, Austria Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 16:20:26 GMT Dear colleagues, This is a request for help. Do you know how to translate IP address into X.121 address? More specifically (since I no nothing on the matter): I address computers (for instance by telnet or ftp) with something like "melmac.risc.uni-linz.ac.at", which is equivalent to a number, for instance 193.170.36.100. Apparently this is called IP address. However some computers are connected to the world in a way which does not recognize this addresses. I know somebody in Romania who receives mail through Sprint, and can also do telnet or ftp, however the addresses he has to use look different: he told me this is called X.121 format, and there should be a translation scheme -- but we do not know it. So the question is: does this make sense? Is there such a translation scheme? How does it work? Thank you very much for any help. Please send it directly by e-mail since I do not read this group. Dr. Tudor Jebelean phone:(Austria)7236-3231-50 RISC-Linz, A-4040, Austria fax: (Austria)7236-3231-30 ------------------------------ From: News@goliath.france.NCR.COM Subject: Automatic Machines on a Network Date: 6 Jul 94 14:19:31 GMT Organization: ATT GIS France I want to connect automatic can dispenser machines on a network. I need advices to help us to investigate extraordinary solutions like: wireless network transmissions on 110 volts wires spread spectrum, etc. The rules of the "game" are simple: There is NO telephone line near the machine. Data collection is triggerred by a jam, empty state, etc or by a visit of technician for cleaning and filling. It's a one way communication from a machine to a server. If anybody has an idea even special feel free to contact me GUILLOPE EMMANUEL / CSSD SUPPORT OCC / ATT-GIS France BP101 98 RUE DE PARIS / 91301 MASSY CEDEX / FRANCE PHONE #: (33)1 69-93-36-51 VOICEPLUS 3253651 FAX #: (33)1 69-93-36-01 VOICEPLUS 3253601 EMAIL #:Emanuel.Guillope@France.NCR.COM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jul 94 16:04:04 -0400 From: jnoorder@julian.uwo.ca (Judy Noordermeer) Subject: Telecommunications Developments at Western LEADING-EDGE MEDICAL NETWORK TO RECEIVE $2.2 MILLION IN PROVINCIAL FUNDING June 13/94 An innovative fibre optic network linking London's leading medical institutions will receive $2.2 million from the provincial government, Frances Lankin, minister of economic development and trade, announced at Western today. LARG*net -- London and Region Global Network -- will connect The University of Western Ontario, Robarts Research Institute, University Hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre, Victoria Hospital, the London Regional Cancer Centre and Fanshawe College. The high technology network will allow the seven health care delivery, education and research institutions shared access to medical imaging databases, research data, information resources, video training and teaching cases. By sharing information, they will save invaluable time and money and learn from each others' expertise. "The network represents the collective excellence that London possesses in terms of telecommunications, health care delivery and education," says Dr. Trevor Cradduck, professor and chair of the division of nuclear medicine at Western and general manager of LARG*net. "Quite distinct from the developmental and research aspects of the network, I believe the infrastructure will also be crucial to helping the health care and educational institutions collaborate more effectively and efficiently," he says. The LARG*net experience will be watched carefully across North America. "LARG*net will benefit not only Western, but the entire community," says Michael Gourley, vice-president of administration at the University. "The network brings London to the forefront of the information and telecommunications revolution. The implementation of this initiative leads to the type of high technology investment and jobs which the new economy demands," he says. The provincial government contribution to LARG*net represents 40 per cent of the total cost of the project. The funds were made available through the Ontario Network Infrastructure Program, a jobsONTARIO initiative. For more information, contact Dr. Trevor Cradduck, LARG*net general manager, at (519) 667-6574, or Judy Noordermeer, Public Affairs Officer, at (519) 661-2046. Judy Noordermeer Public Affairs Officer University Relations and Information (519) 661-2046 Fax: (519) 661-3921 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 15:02 JST From: jimmy@denwa.linc.or.jp (Jim Gottlieb) Subject: COCOTs Lose Again (was Re: AT&T Keep In Touch) Organization: Info Connections, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan In article is written: > Will the AT&T Keep In Touch PCMCIA modem work with an acoustic > coupler? We have a group of salesmen who need to connect from phone > booths. Here in Japan, NTT is rapidly replacing all public telephones with a new model containing both digital (ISDN) and analog data jacks. I would say that about 80% of the public phones near where I live have already been upgraded. Companies like Sharp and Casio are introducing products to take advantage of this ubiquitous data connectivity. Under current conditions this will never happen in the U.S. The telcos can't afford to do this when they are competing against sleazy private pay phone operators who would never make this kind of investment. So while the Japanese will be able to plug in anywhere, U.S. residents are still stuck with acoustic couplers. Yuck! Jim Gottlieb Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan Chuo 1-27-8, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Fax: +81 3 5389 0188 Voice Mail: +81 3 5389 1099 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 07:15:28 -0400 From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst While I had intended to read replies to the post I sent in regarding Ringmate before ordering, I decided yesterday to call NYNEX to verify that the service is indeed available in my area. I was told by two individuals that Ringmate is incompatible with Call Answering on the 5ESS. I remember reading in the archives that at least one person (was it you, PAT?) in fact had both features and was served by a 5E. I am assuming that the interaction is between Ringmate and the Busy/Don't Answer forward that is installed along with Call Answering. (Since the switch really shouldn't care what the Octel system does.) My aunt at SNET said that this feature combination works fine on the 5ESS switches that she oversees. She speculates that it could be a tariff issue, i.e. NYNEX never got approval to offer B/DA forwarding in combination with Ringmate. So, does anybody out there have these two features on a 5ESS? And if it isn't a technical problem, is there anything I can do to try and get the service that I would like? Jeffrey W. McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu P.S. Responses to my other questions would still be appreciated! ------------------------------ From: Bob Smith Subject: RFD: comp.dcom.cdpd Organization: a2i network Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 16:48:31 GMT REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD) comp.dcom.cdpd (This is **NOT** a Call For Votes. A Call For Votes will be issued in the groups to which this message is posted 21 to 30 days from the date that this message first appears. Voting is to be recorded by a neutral third party.) Group Name: comp.dcom.cdpd Status: Unmoderated Summary: Discussion of all aspects of Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), including discussions of carriers, services, applications, specifications, and noteworthy events. Distribution: World CHARTER CDPD is wireless protocol which offers low cost and ubiquitous radio coverage to TCP-IP networks. The technology uses the idle voice channels available in the existing cellular telephone system for packet data transmission. Application interface to CDPD can be via telnet, SLIP, UDP, or TCP. A CDPD modem uses the AT command set and has an IP address which is assigned by the local cellular company (just as your cellular carrier assigned the phone number to your cellular phone). CDPD may be the preferred remote/mobile WAN since the time and cost overhead of a cellular call establishment is not present. The aim of comp.dcom.CDPD would be to provide an informal electronic conference for anyone curious about, or involved with CDPD. It is hoped that the group may further the understanding and awareness of CDPD. CDPD's success requires the cooperation and coordination of many diverse players: application developers, system integrators, cellular carriers, infrastructure manufacturers, and modem manufactures. A newsgroup where ideas, suggestions, and questions can be freely exchanged is needed to help tie these players into an industry. The FAQs would be an important part of the newsgroup and would include as a minimum: FAQs about the nature and scope of CDPD a list of CDPD carriers and services offered a list of CDPD modem manufacturers a list of other CDPD products available This newsgroup would allow the rapid and timely discussion of CDPD related issues and events which might otherwise never be fully disseminated. Topics for discussion would include :- Product announcements Press releases of interest to the CDPD community Innovative CDPD applications CDPD deployment issues and plans Interpretation of the CDPD specification Infrastructure hardware: NMS, MDBS, MD-IS, ... Infrastructure software: NMS, MDBS, MD-IS, ... Modems - specifications, opinions, etc. New product ideas Databases, lists of... CDPD security, encryption, and firewalls Announcements/reviews of papers/conferences Comparisons to alternatives such as RAM, Ardis General discussion/opinions/questions. Positions vacant Professional news Economic issues We hope that you will support this group, and look forward to your comments and participation in the discussions in news.groups. Please distribute this proposal to your friends and colleagues. This RFD has been posted to: alt.digital.radio comp.dcom.lans.misc comp.dcom.modems comp.dcom.telecom comp.os.ms-windows.networking.tcp-ip comp.os.ms-windows.programming.networks comp.protocols.misc comp.protocols.tcp-ip comp.std.wireless news.announce.newgroups sci.geo.satellite-nav Thank you. The Process of Creating a Newsgroup (a) RFD: Request for Discussion, i.e.., public hearing to take place in the newsgroup news.groups on Internet for approximately one month (b) CFV: Call for votes (the voting period will be about 25 days) (c) Counting of votes and public display of votes (d) Announcement of new newsgroup (a)-->(b) assumes no major disagreements about this newsgroup during discussion. (c)-->(d) assumes that the vote is favorable, i.e., Y > N+100 .and. Y > (2/3)(Y+N) Y being the number of YES votes, N being the number of NO votes for the creation of the proposed newsgroup. Bob Smith ------------------------------ From: Alan_Sieben@mindlink.bc.ca (Alan Sieben) Subject: Film to Video Transfer Unit Date: Wed, 06 Jul 94 16:38:05 PDT Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada I'm looking to purchase an ELMO TRV S8 film to video transfer unit. This unit is no longer made by ELMO. It transfers Super 8 film to a video signal thatu can be recorded on tape. Also interested in anything else that transfers home movie film to video. Post here or reply to alan_sieben@mindlink.bc.ca. ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dkuug.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: Info Highway - Virtual Factories Date: 6 Jul 94 21:12:43 GMT Organization: DKnet Hi - out there, I have a question concering what is called the The National Information Infrastructure in US - the Information Superhighway. I have a feeling that with such an infrastructure you could have a more decentralized production. You could link factories together and production could be where the workers and raw materials are. In fact you could think of VIRTUEL FACTORIES where many production facilities were linked together acting as one ordinary factory. The different production facilities could of course have different owners. Have you heard about similar ideas or seen articles about this subject? Please email me with any peace of information -- or send an articles to this newsgroup with your thoughts. Greerting from Denmark, Lars Kalsen dalk@login.dkuug.dk ------------------------------ From: VANTEK@aol.com Date: Mon, 04 Jul 94 18:57:52 EDT Subject: Last Laugh! Dial 999 For Trouble! WIRES CROSS AS LOVERS DIAL M FOR MOTHER LONDON, July 2 (Reuter) - A terrified British mother put police on red alert after mistaking the sound of lovemaking for a cry for help from her daughter. The Independent newspaper said on Saturday that two accidental phone calls woke the woman in Devizes, southern England, in the small hours of the morning. Hearing moaning, groaning and shouting, she dismissed the first as an obscene call, but in the second she recognised her daughter crying: "Oh my God," and heard a man's voice. Convinced her daughter was being attacked in her bedroom 100 miles (160 km) away, she dialled the emergency number 999 and a police squad sped to the daughter's home to investigate. "Officers rushed round and found she wasn't being attacked -- in fact she was quite willing," a police spokesman said. "They explained that during the moments of passion one of the couple accidentally pushed the last-number redial button on the bedside telephone with a toe. Unfortunately on both occasions it was the girl's mother's phone number," he said. "This is a warning for other people -- if you're going to indulge in this sort of thing, move the phone." The mother and daughter have apologized to police for the confusion. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #309 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03509; 7 Jul 94 4:06 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05033; Thu, 7 Jul 94 00:42:16 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05023; Thu, 7 Jul 94 00:42:14 CDT Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 00:42:14 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407070542.AA05023@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #310 TELECOM Digest Thu, 7 Jul 94 00:42:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 310 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NYTimes, err, FBI, Looking For Telco Hacker (Danny Burstein) AT&T Calls Between 312/708 Area Codes (Jayne C. McGrath) Theoretical Maximum Limits of Packets Per Second (Rachana D. Patel) Bell Atlantic Cuts Long Distance Rates (Phillip Dampier) Two Antennas For One Car Phone (Ben Wright) LAN Certification Process (John Ray) Ridgeley, W.Va. - No Dialing Changes Found (Carl Moore) Wanted: Voice Mail System (Masakazu Nakano) ISDN Residential Use? (Keith Knipschild) Dial 114 For Dial-A-Verse Service (Van Hefner) Washington Post Article on Free Access Wanted (Doug Granzow) Looking for US Radio Pager Information (Julian Edwards) AlphaNumeric Paging via Email (Patrick Larkin, Jr) Are Any Bellcore or ITU Docs Available via FTP? (John Morey) Looking For a TMN Compatable Object Builder But Having no Luck (John Morey) Royal Dutch PTT Telecom Wins Unisys Customerize Award (Randy Gellens) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: NYTimes, err, FBI, Looking For Telco Hacker Date: 6 Jul 1994 03:10:11 -0400 The following article is based on a {New York Times} story of Monday, July 4th, 1994 and was distributed over the SCIFRAUD list. It has quite a bit of telco (and computer) relevance. Check out my comments after the main body ... From: ACHiggins Subject: A Darkside Hacker A Darkside Hacker Here is a report in the Times concerning a notorious darkside hacker, Kevin Mitnick. This is the young man who, among other things, was the model behind the 1983 movie, "War Games." He's been in touble with authorities since high school where, for example, he broke into the school's computer. Since then, he has served time in prison and in treatment programs designed to "cure" his "addiction" to computer hacking. Mitnick is not reported to be after money. Rather, his rewards seem to derive from his "being in charge" of computers, mainframes, and phone companies. He has not sold anything he's stolen, just used what he has stolen to best the authorities and to escape detection. He's very good at what he does. With access to the mainframes the authorities are using to track him, he manages to avoid detection. With access to motor vehicle mainframes, he is able to create new identities for himself and to follow his enemies. Finding him has not been easy nor will it get easier. It is reported that he delights in making his pursuers look bad. ++++++++++ \Markoff, John "Cyberspace's Most Wanted: Hacker Eludes F.B.I. Pursuit," {New York Times}, 4 July 1994, pp. 1, 36.\ Here on the front page of the Times is the news that long-time darkside hacker Kevin Mitnick is again in trouble with the law and the federal authorities can't seem to catch up with him. Authorities are looking for him for violating probation and, perhaps, stealing software and data from more than a half dozen leading cellular telephone manufacturers. Kevin Mitnick was a major figure in Hefner and Markoff's book, Cyperpunk (Touchstone, 1992) where Mitnick is described as a kid on a power trip and described as "...an obese, nearsighted twenty-five-year- old dropout from L.A. whose diet consisted of greasy cheeseburgers and Big Gulp colas from the nearby 7- Eleven..." (p. 132-133) Mitnick has eluded capture now for nearly a year and a half and "'he has created a lot of frustration inside the bureau.'" (p. 36) "It is not clear if Mr. Mitnick has computing skills that are unusual in the world or programming, but he is clearly adept at what is known in the computer underground as 'social engineering.' "By masquerading as a company executive in a telephone call, he frequently talks an unsuspecting company employee into giving him passwords and other information that makes it possible for him to gain entry to computers illegally. Using a personal computer and a modem, he then connects to a company's computer and, with his knowledge of how operation system work, commands it to copy software illegally, display confidential electronic messages of alter a telephone switch so he can silently monitor a call. "There is no evidence that Mr. Mitnick has used his computer skills illegally to make money, although the cellular phone companies say the person who stole their software could sell it to competing manufacturers in Asia or to criminals who want to offer free phone calls. F.B.I. and Justice Department officials said they were still uncertain of his motives and did not have absolute proof that he was behind the attacks on cellular phone companies..." (p. 36) Mitnick's been arrested time and time again, since his high schools days for various computer crimes. "After Mr. Mitnick's 1988 arrest, his lawyer convinced the judge that Mr. Mitnick's problem was similar to a drug or gambling addiction. He served a year in prison at the low-security prison in Lompoc, Calif. He then spent six months in a small residential treatment program that emphasizes the 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous. "During his treatment program, Mr. Mitnick was prohibited from touching a computer or a modem. He began exercising regularly and lost more than 100 pounds. Later he briefly obtained a job as a programmer for a health care provider." "The California Department of Motor Vehicles has also issued a warrant for his arrest. The warrant, issued in September, states that Mr. Mitnick wiretapped F.B.I. agents' calls to the state agency. He then used law-enforcement access codes he had obtained by eavesdropping on the agents to make illegal requests for drivers' licenses, state investigators say. "The information from such drivers' licenses could help him gain a false identity and help him find out where his enemies live. It is just such tactics that will make Mr. Mitnick very hard to find." (p. 36) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + A. C. Higgins + + SS 359 SUNYA Albany, New York 12222 + + E-mail: ACH13@ALBNYVMS; ACH13@UACSC1.Albany.edu + + Phone: (518) 442 - 4678; FAX: (518) 442 - 4936 + + SCIFRAUD@ALBNYVM1 + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ to which Dannyb adds: Haven't the telcos (and the federales) been claiming for years that there is no way for the central office switches/computers to 'dupe out' the audio portion of a phone call? And, of course, even if they could do this, there's no way you could remotely program the CO to send the talk path to you in your office, could you? Amazing what undocumented features can be found in these systems... dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ From: jcm8@midway.uchicago.edu (jayne c mcgrath) Subject: AT&T Calls Between 312/708 Area Codes Reply-To: jcm8@midway.uchicago.edu Organization: University of Chicago Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 18:47:04 GMT Pat, It does seem that AT&T will save you approximately 10% on calls between the 708/312 area codes over the local Ameritech rates when the mileage is greater than fifteen miles (excluding local volume discounts). I recently received a phone bill for two "local" calls routed through AT&T using 10288+ dialing. My calculations using rates provided by AT&T over the phone also indicate that they overbilled me by approximately 6% on one call for an overcharge of 5 cents (my rates or method of calculation may be incorrect). It appears that I was charged for two initial minutes, one in each rate period for a multiple rate period call. I thought the initial minute charge was a one time per call charge. Anyone for requiring the Bells to provide rate tariffs to any person requesting them (instead of going through FCC copies in Washington or local Public Utility Commissions)? If anyone can verify or correct my calculations, please let me know (via post or e-mail). Below is the relevant bill information, rates, and my calculations. Did I make an error? Should there only be one initial minute (or first minute) charge per call? Thanks. AT&T billed vs Ameritech Calculated: Ameritech Code AT&T Billed Calculated Call 1 6-9-94 (Thur) AEM 8:58P 21 minutes $ .46 $ .505 Call 2 6-22-94 (Wed) AEM 1:51P 30 minutes $ .95 $ 1.056 Ameritech Rates: (from front of local phone book) Miles Mon-Fri 9am-11am Mon-Fri 8am-9am Other hrs 2pm-8pm 11am-2pm & 8pm-9pm Sat-Sun-Hol 15-40 First Minute $ .104 $ .094 $ .062 Additional Min. $ .034 $ .031 $ .020 Day Evening Nights AT&T rates: First Minute $ .094 $ .085 $ .055 23 miles Additional Min. $ .030 $ .023 $ .0186 (Note: approximate rates from 1-800-222-0300 operator.) How AT&T may have over billed me for Call 2. My calculation of the charges amounts to $ .899 or $.90 -- but I think they truncate instead of round so it might even be $.89 My calculated break down of Call 2: 151P Initial minute $ .085 (1) * (.085) 152-200P 8 addl mins $ .184 (8) * (.023) 200-221 21 addl min $ .63 (21) * (.030) ======= $ .899 What I think happened is that AT&T charged me for two Initial Minutes. One when the call was started and one when the rate period changed. How it might have been billed by AT&T: 151P Initial minute $ .085 (1) * (085) 152-200P 8 addl mins $ .184 (8) * (.023) 200-201P Initial minute $ .094 (1) * (.094) 201-221P 20 addl min $ .60 (20) * (.030) ======= $ .963 (Well, they were approximate rates) (or maybe they truncate for each calculation) 151P Initial minute $ .08 (1) * (085) 152-200P 8 addl mins $ .18 (8) * (.023) 200-201P Initial minute $ .09 (1) * (.094) 201-221P 20 addl min $ .60 (20) * (.030) ======= $ .95 (the actual amount billed) ------------------------------ From: rpatel@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Rachana D Patel) Subject: Theoretical Maximum Limits of Packets per Second Date: 6 Jul 1994 13:57:14 GMT Organization: University of Pennsylvania I was wondering if anyone knew how theoretical maximum packets per seconds are computed given a certain size packet. For example, 64 Byte packets have a limit of 14,880 pps in ethernet. If one computes this by hand even with an overhead of 14 or 18 bytes, one cannot reach the given number. The limit for ethernet is 10Mbps: 10,000 bits per sec / [ (64 Bytes + Overhead Bytes) * (8bits per byte) ] The numbers I get are much larger than 14,880. Am I missing something? Thanks in advance, Rachana D. Patel University of Pennsylvania rpatel@eniac.seas.upenn.edu Telecommunication Systems & Management and Technology Program Strategic Management ------------------------------ From: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org (Phillip Dampier) Reply-To: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 10:41:02 -0500 Subject: Bell Atlantic Cuts Long Distance Rates BELL ATLANTIC CUSTOMERS BENEFIT FROM REDUCED TOLL RATES BETWEEN 302 AND 215/610 AREA CODES - July 5, 1994 Wilmington, DE -- Bell Atlantic customers in Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania can now make toll calls between the 302 and 215/610 area codes at significantly reduced rates. Customers will save $3.7 million annually as the result of the lower toll rates. The reductions are the sixth by Bell Atlantic in the last four years for toll calls between the 302 and 215/610 area codes. The new rates were implemented July 2, 1994 following FCC approval. "We believe our customers will benefit from the new lower toll rates," said Carolyn S. Burger, president and CEO of Bell Atlantic - Delaware. "The fact is that Bell Atlantic's standard toll rates for calls between 215 and 610 area codes and Delaware are lower, on balance, than our competitors' standard rates." For example, the new day rate for a four minute call between Newark, Delaware and Philadelphia is 92 cents, a 12.4% reduction. The new day rate for a five minute call between Valley Forge and Dover is $1.15, a 15.4% reduction. Burger said Bell Atlantic's night and weekend toll rates have been reduced as well. "Our goal is to delight our customers by providing the highest quality service at competitive prices. We are pleased that the FCC has approved our rate reduction proposal." ------------------------------ From: benwright@lsupoz.apana.org.au (Ben Wright) Subject: Two Antennas For One Car Phone Date: 6 Jul 1994 22:12:59 +1000 Organization: Linux Support OZ +61-2-418-8750 I've seen some cars with two antenna for their one phone. Apparently one antenna transmits while both antenna receive. The guy at the service centre said that with this antenna system you can get up to four times the distance over a normal antenna, plus, you get less static on the line when the car is moving slow. Is there anything in this, should I go out and get it installed? Ben ------------------------------ From: johnr@meaddata.com (John Ray) Subject: LAN Certification Process Date: 6 Jul 1994 19:41:30 GMT Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH Hello LAN Gurus, I am in need of help. I have been tasked with the effort of developing a certification process for introducing new components/technology (i.e. new hubs, routers, LAN attached printers, NIC's etc). If anyone has some documentation on such a process, or an outline, or anything I would be very grateful. Any help or information would be very much appreciated -- Thanks !! John Ray (513) 865-1077 Mead Data Central Distributed Net. Eng. P.O. Box 933 johnr@meaddata.com Dayton,Ohio 45401 ...!uunet!meaddata!johnr ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 12:51:26 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Ridgeley, W.Va. - No Dialing Changes Found Ridgeley, W. Va. is served by 726 and 738 in area code 304. I have found the old instructions (1+7D for long distance within 304 and 7D for local to other area) still in use, with the new instructions (7D for long distance within 304 and 1+NPA+7D for local to other area) not even useable. Ridgeley is local to Cumberland (Md.). In addition, a pay phone 738-xxxx had area code 301 on it! (In an unrelated item: a store window showed a poster for someone running for sheriff of Allegany County, MARYLAND; perhaps many people going down to Ridgeley from Maryland?) ------------------------------ From: mack@win.or.jp (Masakazu Nakano) Subject: Wanted: Voice Mail System Date: 6 Jul 1994 03:58:46 GMT Organization: Internet provider WIN (World-wide Information Network),JAPAN [wanted] Telephone line module for PC/AT. Now I'm looking for any boards, dealers and more development information. Dialogic Model DMX Digital Multiline Mixer ? LSI-C Line amplifier ? D/121B 12 line interface ? D/41B 4 line interface ? Vocalnet ATI-24 , AG-24 Make offer , If you sell for me. Please e-mail. Masakazu Nakano e-mail: mack@yokohama.win.or.jp pxh03521@niftyserve.or.jp ------------------------------ From: keith.knipschild@asb.com Organization: America's Suggestion Box - BBS (516) 471-8625 Date: Wed, 06 Jul 94 23:33:29 Subject: ISDN Residential Use? I am interested in ISDN, and was wondering could it be used in residential use? From what I read I understand that there are 2 64k lines and a 16k. What is a standard analog line? Also, do you have one phone number with three lines for incomming and outgoing? Would it be possible to be having a VOICE conversation,and be online with your local BBS and beable to recieve a FAX all at the same time with only one pair of wires coming into your house? If I am asking to many DUMB questions, please refer me to a file that I should DOWNLOAD. Thanks, Keith.knipschild@asb.com <<<<<<<<<<< Internet 70302,2701 <<<<<<<<<<< Compuserve (516) 979 5348 <<<<<<<<<<< Voice ------------------------------ From: VANTEK@aol.com Date: Wed, 06 Jul 94 03:56:40 EDT Subject: Dial 114 For Dial-A-Verse Service DIAL-A-VERSE SERVICE FOR TEHRAN KORAN LOVERS NICOSIA, June 29 (Reuter) - Sex-phone lines offering erotic conversations may be the rage in other countries, but in Iran the latest telephone service features recitations from the Moslem holy book, the Koran. Tehran residents can now dial 114, then punch the chapter and verse number to listen to one of the best Iranian Koran reciters go through their favourite part of the Moslem holy book, Iranian television said on Wednesday. The number was chosen because there are 114 chapters in the Koran. There are plans to expand the computerised service to 28 telephone lines from the current 12. The report did not say if the service was accessible to subscribers outside the Iranian capital or overseas. ------------------------------ From: doug.granzow@cynosure.clark.net (Doug Granzow) Subject: Washington Post Article on Free Access Wanted Date: Thu, 07 Jul 1994 00:00:57 GMT Organization: Cynosure Online - 410-781-6271 -> The Washington Post had a story on either the 6/22 or 6/23 edition on -> page 1 about how Maryland is offering Free Internet access. Is this -> article available online? Does anyone have a copy of it they can eit -> post on the Digest or send to me? I'm curious to read it. Sorry, I don't have the article, but I did read it. Maryland is *not* offering Free Internet access. Maryland is offering free Gopher access, with slightly under 200 dialup lines for the entire state. Full internet accounts will be available for a price. (Gopher + email only costs $35/year, which is more than the $20 I charge my users for email and Usenet.) Doug Granzow - Ask me about Cynosure Online - 410-781-6271 Access to email and Usenet in Baltimore, MD - $20/year dig@cynosure.clark.net - granzow@midget.towson.edu - dig@clark.net ------------------------------ From: wjedwd@wmaster.isl.com (Julian Edwards) Subject: Looking For US Radio Pager Info Date: 06 Jul 1994 16:39:10 GMT Organization: Internet Systems Ltd I'm posting this on behalf of Martin Pitwood (s0tmp@exnet.com), who is looking for any information he can get on US radio pagers. If there's anyone out there that can help, he'd appreciate a mail, and explain in more detail as to what he wants. Reply set to s0tmp@exnet.com. Thanks, Julian Edwards, Internet Systems Ltd. Woking, Surrey, UK. Internet: wjedwd@isl.com (preferred) or julian.edwards@isl.com (MSMAIL, aagh) ------------------------------ From: plarkin@iphase.com (Patrick Larkin Jr) Subject: AlphaNumeric Paging via Email Date: 06 Jul 1994 10:50:41 -0500 Organization: Interphase Corporation - Dallas Texas We are looking into a system supplied but SWB "MobileComm" that provides alpha-numeric pagers and some software you install on a MS-Windows system with a modem. The "operator" runs this program and fills in the blanks, then the PC dials up some system and transmits the page info. What I WANT to do is put some program/script on my SMTP hub (a Sparc system) and setup some email aliases so that anyone can mail to 'user-pager@domain' and it will send the Subject: and From: headers to the pager as if it were a person keying in this info on that PC. This seems like it would be much more useful for after hours paging than physically using this 'magical' PC. Has anyone done this? I am interested in ALL possibilities be they freeware, commercial ($$) or just specs on what these systems expect when you connect to them. Thanks, PATRICK LARKIN - System Administrator #include /* Interphase Corporation #include "clever_quote_de_jour.h" /* Dallas TX - USA ------------------------------ From: jmorey@crl.com (John Morey) Subject: Are Any Bellcore or ITU Docs Available via FTP? Date: 6 Jul 1994 06:59:28 -0700 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access I was wondering if Bellcore or ITU documents are available via FTP? Thanks for any info. John Morey - jmorey@crl.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes there are, and this question is asked very frequently. Users can respond to you directly with the information if they wish. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jmorey@crl.com (John Morey) Subject: Looking For a TMN Compatable Object Builder But Having no Luck Date: 6 Jul 1994 07:02:38 -0700 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access I have been told to find a TMN (?) compatable object builder. Not sure what it is except that it has something to do with SONET. I have not had any luck so far. Anyone have any pointers? Thanks for any info. John Morey - jmorey@crl.com ------------------------------ From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 06 JUL 1994 15:01:00 GMT Subject: Royal Dutch PTT Telecom Wins Unisys Customerize Award For Excellence THREE CLIENTS NAMED WINNERS OF CUSTOMERIZE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE Signet Banking Corporation of Richmond, Virginia, the Social Security System of the Republic of the Philippines and the Royal Dutch PTT Telecom B.V. of the Netherlands have been recognized as winners of the 1994 Unisys Customerize Award for Excellence, recognizing the leading customer-oriented organizations from entries submitted from among Unisys 60,000 worldwide customer base. Two years ago, Unisys embarked on a global program designed to assist its clients in providing better service to their customers. As part of this initiative, the 1994 Customerize Award winners were selected because of their exemplary commitment to customer requirements, the operation and efficiency of their customer service organizations, the aligning of their information strategy to better meet customer needs and their overall understanding and dedication to helping the customer work closer with their customers. Unisys Customerize program is more than just selecting award recipients. The Customerize concept is based on the premise that customers deserve, and today demand, that companies and government agencies treat them for what they are -- the source of revenue for the organization and the reason for the organization's existence. "Without clients, there is no business, no service industry, no justification for running an operation," says Victor Millar, president, Unisys Worldwide Information Services, which sponsors the international competition. "We have taken the original idea that our client is number one and added additional components, believing that if our client is important, then our clients' clients are just as important." Unisys has implemented customer-oriented activities around the world, including extensive training programs, special events and an ongoing series of symposia and workshops designed to help organizations learn more about what it takes to put customers' needs first and to be successful at it. The selection of the three winners for the 1994 Customerize awards is a key element in this program. Top executives in each winning organization are being honored at special events in their country or area. The winners will be presented with a unique Steuben Crystal Customerize Award and invited to participate in or send an executive to a special one week customer- centered course co-sponsored by Unisys, on "Managing Service: Reengineering for Customer Satisfaction" at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #310 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03730; 7 Jul 94 4:43 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05701; Thu, 7 Jul 94 01:17:09 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05692; Thu, 7 Jul 94 01:17:07 CDT Date: Thu, 7 Jul 94 01:17:07 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407070617.AA05692@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #311 TELECOM Digest Thu, 7 Jul 94 01:17:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 311 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC Callback Ruling (Leroy Casterline) Book Review: "Using C-Kermit" by ds Cruz/Gianone (Rob Slade) Recommendations For Lightning Protection (Bert Roseberry) Questions About NYNEX Ringmate (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Workshop - User Interfaces for Communications Systems (Ashok Gupta) Looking For a Phone-Number: Country-Wide Instead of Area-Code (Wayne Smith) Seeking Info on TAPI/TSAPI SDK (Ed Pimentel) Looking For Source Code (Dong-Jun Wang) 1-800-COLLECT vs. 1-800-OPERATOR/CALL-ATT (Jeffrey W. McKeough) China-HK Telecom Development (Cedric Hui) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: casterli@csn.org (Leroy Casterline) Subject: FCC Callback Ruling Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 13:18:48 -0600 Organization: Cahill Casterline Limited Reply-To: casterli@csn.org Pat, Sorry it took me so long to post this. I was hoping to OCR it from a fax, but no such luck. I typed it in, so any errors are mine ... Leroy Report No. CC-572 Common Carrier Action April 22, 1994 FCC AUTHORIZES THREE APPLICANTS TO PROVIDE RESOLD INTERNATIONAL SWITCHED VOICE SERVICE The Commission has granted the applications of VIA USA, Ltd. (Viatel), Telegroup, Inc., and Discount Call International Co. (DCI), to resell the public switched services of other U.S. carriers, over the objection of AT&T. Viatel is a Colorado corporation that sought authority to offer resold, tariffed international switched voice and facsimile service between the United States and various international points. Telegroup, an Iowa corporation, sought authority to offer resold international switched voice and data service between the United States and various international points. DCI, a Florida corporation, sought authority to operate a "typical telephone dialback operation" between points in the United States and various South American and Central American countries. AT&T, in its petition to deny, alleged that the applicants intended to engage in a "call turn-around" or "call-back" service. AT&T opposed the applications to the extent that the applicants proposed to use the resold services to provide call-back services using a "code-calling" configuration. AT&T stated that a reseller using "code-calling" instructs its customers in foreign locations to dial a U.S. telephone number, hang up after a pre-arranged number of rings, but before the call is completed, and wait for the reseller (usually through a conferencing unit) to return a call to the predesignated foreign telephone number, providing U.S. dial tone to the foreign customer. The connection between the calling and the called party is established via a U.S-originated switched service call to the called location. The customer does not pay the foreign carrier for the initial uncompleted call. After reviewing the applications and pleadings, the Commission found that the public convenience and necessity will be served by granting the applications to resell the international switched voice services of various U.S. common carriers. Moreover, the Commission could not find, based on the record, that uncompleted call signalling ("code-calling") constituted an unreasonable practice under Section 201(b) of the Communications Act. The Commission has long recognized that increased competition in the international marketplace benefits U.S. ratepayers, and has routinely granted applications for Section 214 authorizations for the resale of international switched voice services to further that goal. The Commission believes the proposed services would provide similar benefits associated with increased competition, in line with its statutory mandate to establish a rapid, efficient, nation- wide, and worldwide wire and radio communications service. The Commission noted that use of the resold services for international call-back activity could place significant downward pressure on foreign collection rates, to the ultimate benefit of U.S. ratepayers and industry. The commission disagreed with AT&T that uncompleted call signalling constituted an unreasonable practice under Section 201 of the Act, or otherwise was not in the public interest. The Commission reemphasized, however, that resellers of U.S. switched voice services are common carriers and continue to be subject to obligations of common carriers, including those in Sections 201(b) and 214. AT&T alleged that this activity imposed costs on its ratepayers through use of its facilities without compensation. However, the Commission agreed with the applicants that AT&T had presented no evidence that uncompleted call signalling occurred often enough or made sufficient us of the network to impede revenue-producing use of the network by AT&T or to otherwise impose costs on AT&T or its ratepayers. The Commission noted that AT&T and its foreign correspondents have the ability to address uncompleted call signalling practices that are imposing costs on them. In response to concerns expressed by AT&T and by certain foreign carriers about the effect of uncompleted call signalling on principles of international comity, the Commission required that the applicants provide service in a manner that is consistent with the laws of countries in which they operate. However, the Commission recognized that the legality of the proposed activities under foreign law is a matter for foreign authorities and courts to decide. Action by the Commission April 12, 1994, by Order, Authorization and Certificate (FCC 94-96). Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello and Barrett. -FCC- News Media contact: Patricia A. Chew at (202) 632-5050. Common Carrier Bureau contact: Adam L. Kupetsky at (202) 632-1305. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 12:47:48 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Using C-Kermit" by ds Cruz/Gianone BKUSCKMT.RVW 940404 Digital Press / Butterworth-Heinemann 225 Wildwood Street Woburn, MA 01801 Voice: 1-800-366-BOOK Fax: 1-617-933-6333 or Kermit Distribution Columbia University 612 West 115th Street New York, NY 10025 Voice: 1-212-854-3703 Fax: 1-212-663-8202 Email: kermit@columbia.edu "Using C-Kermit", da Cruz/Gianone, 1993, 1-55558-108-0 fdc@columbia.edu cmg@columbia.edu Kermit is the most widely available communications software in the world. Versions on some platforms, however, may lack features available on others. Also, there may be a few computers to which Kermit has not been ported. This is where C-Kermit comes in. C-Kermit is the C language source code for a very feature-rich version of Kermit, very similar in function to the highly mature MS-DOS version of Kermit. This is the native version for at least four of the Kermit versions on major platforms, and there is no longer any reason not to have a Kermit for *your* machine. This is the user level manual for C-Kermit. (General advice on porting, configuration and compiling is included with the source, available from the Kermit distribution centre at Columbia University. Extensive documentation and back issues of the Info-Kermit digest are also available.) Well thought out, well presented, well written, the book is an excellent addition to the previous "Kermit: a file transfer protocol" (BKKERMIT.RVW) and "Using MS-DOS Kermit" (BKUMSKMT.RVW). The structure and order of the book is logically organized for users, new and old. Chapter three states that it assumes you are familiar with the basic data communications parameters. If you are not, it directs you to a comprehensive tutorial in appendix two. The only minor oddity in the arrangement is that scripting, possibly of most use to non-programming users, comes after the chapters on macros and programming. This is intended to give some basic programming concepts prior to introducing scripts, since the book assumes no programming background. It is, however, possible to write simple scripts without much in the way of conditional structures, controls or variables, and it would be a pity if non-programmers gave up too early to find this out. C-Kermit will likely become, as far as possible, the standard for the Kermit interface and functions. This, therefore, will be the standard Kermit user guide. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKUSCKMT.RVW 940404. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver p1@arkham.wimsey.bc.ca "If a train station Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca is where a train Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca stops, what happens User p1@CyberStore.ca at a workstation?" Security Canada V7K 2G6 Frederick Wheeler ------------------------------ From: Bert Roseberry Subject: Recommendations For Lightning Protection Organization: Digital Equipment Computer Users Society Date: 6 Jul 94 14:52:04 -0400 Any recommendations on in-line lightning protection for the typical residential phone? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 04:01:12 -0400 From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: Questions About NYNEX Ringmate Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst I'm considering getting Ringmate from NYNEX to help me screen calls. I have caller ID, but for the time being it only works on intra-LATA calls. I also get a large number of local calls (both business and personal) from UMass/Amherst's MD-110 PBX, all of which show up as "out of area." I would like to give one Ringmate number to my family and distant friends, one to my friends locally, and use my main number for all other callers. I have a number of questions about the way the Ringmate feature is handled in NYNEXville (and elsewhere): 1) Does NYNEX charge to have the Ringmate numbers nonpublished, or can they be set up as "special non-listed" as with a second line? 2) If I choose to have all three numbers assigned to Call Forwarding Variable, will the distinctive ringing pattern be preserved through the forward? (If it helps, my line is on a 5ESS.) 3) I have been considering getting collect/third party blocking on my main number. (This after an incident last summer when my housemate's friend called several 900 and 800 callback-collect phone numbers. 900 blocking is already in place.) I have been reluctant, since there are certain people from whom I would accept collect calls in an emergency. Would it be possible to block only my main published number, while still allowing collect calls to the Ringmate numbers? This would eliminate any further housemate/friend incidents, since the callback would be to the ANI of the main number, but it would allow those in possession of my Ringmate numbers to call collect if necessary. 4) I have Call Answering with busy/no answer forwarding. Can I have the Ringmate numbers programmed to forward to call answering even if I decide not to have them assigned to variable forwarding? 5) There has been discussion in the Digest about selecting vanity numbers. Every company seems to have a different policy about what numbers they will offer the customer and what fee, if any, they charge. Does anybody have any experience with NYNEX (MA) in this area? (I guess I could call my aunt, who's an area operations manager in Eastern MA, and see if she could do anything, but I'd rather not bother her if it's a simple matter.) 6) An AT&T EasyReach question: Will AT&T allow me to assign one of the Ringmate numbers as my default number? It would make sense since I give that number out to the same people who I would give my Ringmate number to, and they might call via EasyReach if they thought I wasn't at home. I could also forward PIN calls to the non-default Ringmate number, which would allow me to tell if, say, my brother had called with or without his PIN. (I know that the calls are EasyReach because the "gee whiz" factor always causes people to mention that they used the 700 number.) Thanks in advance for any information. Jeffrey W. McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu ------------------------------ From: gupta@prlhp1.prl.philips.co.uk (Ashok Gupta) Subject: Workshop - User Interfaces for Communications Systems Date: 6 Jul 94 09:14:55 GMT Reply-To: gupta@prl.philips.co.uk Organization: Philips Research Laboratories, Redhill, UK Workshop Programme "User Interfaces of Communication Systems" Workshop of Special Interest Group 2.1.2 "Interactive Systems" German Computer Society (GI) to be held in Hamburg, Germany, during the Annual Conference of GI and IFIP-Congress'94 "Computer and Communications Evolution - The Driving Forces -" Wednesday, August 31, 1994, 14:00 - 17:30 pm On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Gesellschaft fuer Infor- matik, the German Computer Society GI, the 13th International IFIP World Congress will be held in Hamburg, Germany, together with the Annual Con- ference 1994 of the GI from August 28 through September 2, 1994. In the settings of the Congress/Conference the German Special Interest Group 2.1.2 of GI, "Interactive Systems", will organize in its 22nd year of work a workshop "User Interfaces of Communication Systems" covering topics related to the use of computer systems based on modern communication technologies. Modern communication technologies used in public digital networks or distributed computer systems demand new requirements in user interfaces of applications, both for network management organisations and for net- work users. Specifically there exist problems in the partly desired transparency of functional distribution, in explicit network management by the user, as well as in the manner in which users and system compo- nents cooperate in local and global networks. The workshop concentrates on aspects of the user interface, rather than the design, construction and running of networks themselves. The workshop addresses problems and issues in such areas as electronic mail and publication services, user interfaces to control and to access scientific and other information networks, user interfaces of communica- tion devices, and user interfaces in multi-user applications. Examples to be covered are new interaction techniques for operating telephones, user interfaces for wide-area networks, video-conferencing in its diffe- rent forms, tools and techniques for designing and implementing multi- user applications, mobile computing, and knowledge-based communication systems. Relevant problems and vital issues of the computer and communication evolution are addressed in this workshop -- two fields which continue to grow together and influence each other in this decade and the next. The papers to be presented deal with the human-computer interaction of these existing and future computer-communication systems as seen from diffe- rent angles, presenting various views of the field. Programme Committee: Coordinator: K. Froitzheim, Ulm, Germany Prof. Dr. Gerd Szwillus P. Gorny, Oldenburg, Germany Universitaet - GH - H.-J. Hoffmann, Darmstadt, Germany Paderborn, D. Jaepel, Zuerich, Switzerland FB Mathematik/Informatik P. Schulthess, Ulm, Germany D-33095 Paderborn G. Szwillus, Paderborn, Germany Phone intl+49+5251+60+2077 (Chairman) Fax intl+49+5251+60+3836 E-mail szwillus@uni-paderborn.de Programme Session 1 August 31, 14:00 - 15:30 pm Chair Prof. G. Szwillus On the way to Knowledge-based Human-Computer-Human-Communication R. Gunzenhaeuser, W. Dilly, M. Ressel University in Stuttgart, Dept. of Computer Science (in German) Usage of Communication Services with Drag-and-drop Techniques K. Froitzheim, P. Schulthess University in Ulm, Unit Distributed Systems (in German) Adaptive User Interfaces for Electronic Net Services H. Dieterich, M. Schneider-Hufschmidt, N. V. Carlsen Siemens AG, ZFE ST SN 51, Munich (in German) Session 2 August 31, 16:00 - 17:30 pm Chair Prof. P. Schulthess Interfaces for handling Multimedia Communication Systems M. Zajicek, X. Cao, D. Shrimpton, A. Tagg, J. Lehuby, D. Parish, P. Coventry, I. Phillips, J. Griffiths Oxford Brookes University & Loughborough University of Technology (in English) Aspects in User Interface Design for Mobile Multi-user Applications H.-W. Gellersen University in Karlsruhe, Telecooperation group (in German) The Virtual Office as a User Interface for Cooperative Working M. Sohlenkamp Gesellsch. f. Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung (GMD), Sankt Augustin (in German) Inquiries regarding the workshop to Prof. Szwillus, Univ. Paderborn, szwillus@uni-paderborn.de Inquiries regarding the IFIP Congress and the GI-Conference to Prof. Wolfinger, Univ. Hamburg, wolfinger@rz.informatik.uni-hamburg.d400.de ------------------------------ From: wlsmith@valve.heart.rri.uwo.ca (Wayne Smith) Subject: Looking For a Phone Number: Country-Wide Instead of Area-Code Date: 5 Jul 1994 02:51:46 GMT Reply-To: wlsmith@heartlab.rri.uwo.ca I'm trying to locate a particular company (Periscoptics) but all I have to go on is the name. I have no clue as to where they might be located. I've tried 1-800-555-1212, but, since I'm in Canada, all I can verify is that this company has no 1-800 number that works up here. So, instead of going through all the possible combinations of 1-xxx-555-1212, is there any way I can find out where this company is, or what their phone number is? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Possibly some reader familiar with the company will write and give you their address and/or phone number. PAT] ------------------------------ From: epimntl@netcom.com (Ed Pimentel) Subject: Seeking Info on TAPI/TSAPI SDK Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 01:11:34 GMT I am seeking information on pc based voice/fax/data software toolkits. Who is supporting MS TAPi and or AT&T/ Novell TSAPI? Who supports Vbasic vbx? or Powerbuilder, Novell App Ware? What are there licensing arrangements? Are there any who provides drivers/vbx that supports the AT+ V options for modems? Who has low cost PC based dsp boards that support fax/voice/v.fast and or the latest voice view standard? Thanks in advance, Ed Pimentel p.o. box 95901 epimntl@netcom.com Atlanta, Ga. 30347-0901 epimntl@cybmondo.atl.ga.us 404-985-1763 voice 70611,3703@compuserve 404-985-1198 Fax/Data/CMC ------------------------------ From: wangdo@ecf.toronto.edu (WANG DONG-JUN) Subject: Looking For Source Code ... Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 22:20:20 -0400 Hi, folks: I am looking for C library functions which provide interrupt driven RS-232 communications up to 115k baud for up to 34 COM ports, and support: hardware handshaking and Xon/Xoff;NS 16550 UART; ANSI and VT52/100 terminal emulation; Kermit, ZModem and YModem and YModem protocols. Does any one have the above source code or know the ftp site? Thank you for your time. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Jul 1994 05:34:44 GMT From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: 1-800-COLLECT vs. 1-800-OPERATOR/CALL-ATT Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst After seeing the 8934th ad touting the benefits of COLLECT vs. CALL-ATT, I decided to call the respective carriers and find out who really has the lowest collect surcharge. The result: it's a tie. Both MCI and AT&T charge $1.50/call (plus the appropriate per-minute rate) for parties receiving collect calls through these services. AT&T charges $.55 more for a "live" operator ($2.05), and I forgot to ask what MCI charges. An interesting note: AT&T said that they will discount 1-800-CALL-ATT collect calls for True USA customers, while MCI said that 1-800-COLLECT calls are charged at the full rate to their customers, since the collect calls do not come from a calling circle member. MCI calls accepted by AT&T customers will not receive any discount. So I guess that if you are an AT&T True USA subscriber (which I am), 1-800-CALL-ATT offers you a better deal. Of course the ads try to persuade the caller, and not the recipient, so I guess I only get a discount if AT&T's ads work. It's interesting that here you have a case in which the billed party has no control over the carrier selection. (Other than to refuse the call, but depending on the circumstances that might not be a good idea.) Jeffrey W. McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu ------------------------------ From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: China-HK Telecom Development Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 06:38:39 GMT Last month Motorola announced that it is investing US$40 million in Hong Kong to develop a high speed wireless computing network based on the latest microcellular packet switched technology. In the meantime Northern Telecom introduced the Proximity family of wireless access equipment for telephone networks at the Pan-Asia Wireless Local Loop Summit Conference in Hong Kong. Since China and HK are tied closely both politically and economically, these recent telecommunications developments are significant that it shows the readiness of the China-HK telecom market in deployment of new technology and the growth potential of the market. The June 94 issue of the LAN magazine cited that "Both (Chinese) gov't and private enterprise are including computer and telecommunications businesses among the industries to receive top priority in financial backing." and "the International Data Corp studies project a growth rate in China's information technology market of between 14.5% and 18.5% per year between 1991-1995%". Amidst the growth potential of the vast market and the absent of telecommunications infrastructure in some area, China will enjoy the advantage of transfering advance technologies from the West, avoid pitfalls and obsolete technologies. By the way, the Computer Network Center of Chinese Academy of Science has recently established direct connected to the Internet to the US. The people's Republic of China's top level domain is CN-DOM. Initially, the CAS, Tsinghua & Beijing University' campus networks will be connected to Internet via Stockton(US). China has also decided to construct nation wide education computer networks which connect six universities by the end of this year thru X.25 network. Perhaps, not too far off, we will see a China offramp sign on the Information superhighway. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #311 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa19656; 8 Jul 94 17:20 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08349; Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:11 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08340; Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:09 CDT Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:09 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407081844.AA08340@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #312 TELECOM Digest Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 312 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson China's Telecom Structure (Cedric Hui) Telco's Records - Do They Include CNID? (Danny Burstein) Exchanges Local to Entire LATA (Steve Arlow) Sprint to Face the Wrath Of Ernie!! (Jack Winslade) Forwarded Mail From Russia (Lars Poulsen) Help on Research (Fausto Zambrano) USA Area Code Databases w/Zip (Cory Krell) Long Distance Telemarketers (David A. Moe) DECT - Datacommunications ? (Lars Kalsen) Strange CNID Name Text (Clifton T. Sharp) AT&T Response to Sprint (DeFantom@aol.com) Comparisons of U.S. and Canadian Telecommuinication Costs (Mitch Dawson) Cheapest Way to Call Israel and South Africa From the USA? (krazykev@panix) Billing Software for LD Company (Hindra Irawan) SL-1 PBX Information Needed (login_name@hookup.net) Cyber Sabre Giveaway - Enter and Win NOW! (Earl Christy) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: China's Telecom Structure Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 07:33:18 GMT In responding to some enquiries on China telecommunications infrastructure, I found an excellent reference published in the September 1993 issue of the "Electronics News for China". This is my first attempt in Chinese to English translation. Please let me know if I have used the wrong technical term in the translation (I am sure the experienced will spot the error by context). This part of the article covers the structure of the telecommunications network of China and an overview of China's telecommunications policy. Cedric --------- The critical moment as China entering the booming era of telecommuni- cations development. Economic reform, the opening of the market economy and the top pripority placed in telecommunications as strategic economic policy, provides the favorable conditions for improvement and expansion in China's telecommunications industry, as well as foreign investment opportunity in China. written by Tan, Shu Cheng Deputy Chief Engineer Technology Intelligent Center Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications of PRC ------------------ As the modern world is entering the Information Age, the development of the society become more relying on the support of information. Economic activities, like manufacturing, distributing, trading and comsumer spending, generate enormous information. They are manipulated, processed and transported through the communication networks which in turn connect societies into an unified virtual entity. Telecommunication as the society's infrastructure and the essentail element in supporting the economic development has received top priority in the national development policy in China. Since the reform and the opening of the Chinese market, Chinese economy has achieved prominent improvemnets. The increase of economic activities incite the growth of information exchange. In fact, the growth rate of the telecommunications industry has exceeded the national economic growth and is the major factor in the high growth of the Chinese economy. Currently, China's reform is entering another new era of development. As new demands for telecommunications services come to light, China's telecommunications industry is once again facing the challenge of new demands and requiremnets. This is the critical moment as China entering the booming era of telecommunications development. The Structure of the Telecommunications Network and its Management System China's telecommunication network consist of the national public network and the departmental proprietary networks (Rail, Power, Oil etc). The public Network is the backbone of the national telecommunications network. Propeitary networks are supplemental to the public network. The public network is based on the long distance telephone network and is organised into 5 levels of hierarchical network structure. The first levels exchange centers are directly connected to form the network in the highest hierarchy and each lower level exchange centers connect directly to the higher level exchange centers. Lower level connection within the same hierarchy are mainly handled by switching with supplemented some number of direct circuits. Level 1 exchange centers serve between and among capital and provinces (Wide-Area Center). They are the communication hub for provinces(including Autonomy) within a Wide-Area. There are also supplemental inter-provincial exchange center in some geophically larger or economically more developed area. Level 2 are provincial centers. Being the communication hub for the province or autonomy, a level 2 exchange center serves regional areas and cities within the province. Supplemetal provincial center may be established if needed. Level 3 center is regional exchange center serves between and among counties. It's location is usually confined to its services area. The main function of the level 1 to level 3 exchange center is to facilitate long distance telephone service within its service area. Level 4 is the terminating point for long distance telephone services. Its service area includes the towns and villeges within the same county. Level 5 is the local central office switches. In recent years, digital electronic systems are more widely used in China and the expansion of the regional economies lead to the increase of local telephone networks. The telephone network structure will gradually be simplified and the levels in the hierarchy be reduced. Local telephone network as opposed to the national long distance telephone network is confined to a regional area. Its service area may include a certain number of central offices and exchange centers which forms a dialing zone. There is a long distance telephone network access point in the local telephone network and its level is defined by its hierarchy in the long distance telephone network. Thus, based on the concept of local and long distance telephone network, the long distance telephone access point is not part of the local telephone network structure. The local telephone network model may seems to resemble the traditional municipal telephone system. However, the local telephone network has a much wider service area compare to the municipal telephone system. For instance, the Beijing municipal telephone system includes Beijing city and the near suburban area while the Beijing local telephone network also includes the surround 10 counties. With China's telecommunications development as a national policy and the long term interest of the national telecommunications infrastructure in mind, knowing that the telecommunications infrastructure is relatively backward, the management and development of the national public telephone network will be the responsibility of the government. In order to accelerate telecommunications development and centralized limited resouces, the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China will centralize the regulating, development and the management of the most of the telecommunications services for the public telephone network with some services open to the private sector. The Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications will seek a cooperative relations with the proprietary networks in network development and integration based on the priciple of mutual benefit and acess compensation. ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Telco's Records - Do They Include CNID? Date: 8 Jul 1994 04:13:06 -0400 As all folk who read TELECOM Digest know, the majority of United States telco central office switches now have full detail records of all calls made from your phone (i.e. time it was made and the number you called), and also keeps track of calls made -to- you. This is, of course, something which has been phased in over the past few decades as the switches have become more and more advamced. (In the old days, as far too many of us recall, billing was done by mechanical counters which were photographed each month, but I digress ...) Which brings to mind a question about what data fields are actually kept. Specifically, what I'd like to know (and hopefully someone out in digest land may know the answer) is if these records, now that CNID is phasing in nationwide, store the number calling you. We've had a couple of high profile cases involving telecom in NYC, i.e. the World Trade Center bombing, and telco records were one of the things used in the investigation and prosecution. For example, they got the records from the suspects' home telephones which showed, let's say, a call coming in at 16:45. Given this specific case, I'm sure the gendarmes had the people and computer access to have every CO in the tristate area queried with a 'what calls were made between 16:44 and 16:46 and were any of tehm made to this phone number?" type of check, but what about a more routine and less public investigation? (One of the results of this was that the federales tracked calls back to a coin phone in a convenience store, which was fortuitously videotaped - and they then got photos of teh suspects. Of course there are lots of other things that were done which have never been disclosed, but that's another story) So if anyone knows if a) current CO programming keeps the CNID in one of the fields, or b) this is an available "feature" which hasn't been implemented or c) while not yet implemented it will be, etc., etc., could you advise? Thanks muchly, Danny dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ From: sea@umcc.umcc.umich.edu (Steve Arlow) Subject: Exchanges Local to Entire LATA Date: 7 Jul 1994 12:16:54 -0400 Organization: UMCC, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Somehow, some providers of cellular, pager, and voice-mail services get phone numbers in exchanges which are a *local* call from anywhere within the LATA. And some of these companies are charging a flat rate for their service, which seems to imply that these numbers can be had for a flat monthly (or annual?) rate, regardless of usage. How can one go about getting such a number? (My RBOC is Ameritech). I suspect that this arrangement is only available to companies which are willing to purchase an entire exchange. Does anyone know the details of how this works? I can think of quite a number of other profitable ways such an exchange could be used. Steve Arlow, Yorick Software \ sea@umcc.umich.edu 39336 Polo Club Dr. #103, \ (810) 473-0920 Farmington Hills, MI 48335-5634 \ FAX select box 3 ------------------------------ From: jsw@gonix.gonix.com (Jack Winslade) Subject: Sprint to Face the Wrath Of Ernie!! Date: Fri, 8 Jul 1994 00:53:37 CDT (For those of you not familiar with Omaha politics, State Senator Ernie Chambers has represented Omaha's second district for as long as I am aware. Ernie (he does not like to be addressed as 'Senator') has developed a reputation as a gloves-off and very outspoken guy who is very effective in representing his constituents. As far as I know, he has never had a serious challenger for his office. Ernie is originally a barber, and he holds a law degree from Creighton University, but has never sought to be admitted to the Bar.) State Senator Ernie Chambers invites his constituents to phone him directly at his office in Lincoln, collect, if they ever have any need to get in touch with him. (State offices in Lincoln are a toll call from Omaha, and such a call will often cost more than a similar-length call from Omaha to either coast. Such 50-mile calls are intrastate, but inter-LATA, so they are handled by any of several carriers.) He's had this policy for years, and receives many collect calls from constituents, other taxpayers, and other elected officials. Beginning June 22, for reasons that are still not clear, those trying to phone Ernie collect using Sprint received an intercept stating that collect calls were not permitted to that number. Users of other carriers had no difficulty making collect calls to Chambers' office. Ernie was made aware of this block on Wednesday, when a constituent reported the intercept. He then asked a fellow Senator to try a collect call from outstate, confirming the fact that Sprint was indeed blocking those calls. Ernie immediately contacted Sprint and demanded an explanation. He also filed a complaint with the Public Service Commission. Sprint's initial response (according to television station KETV) was that Sprint had some trouble with a previous holder of Ernie's office phone number. Ernie was enraged at the response, since Ernie has had that number for more than ten years. He told a reporter "I will show them (Sprint) what it is like to have their corporate throats attacked by an enraged legislative pit-bull." Historically, Ernie is well known for NOT letting things drop, and carrying things through to the end when he believed he is right. The department that oversees the state telephone system was not aware that Sprint placed a block on the line. Chambers stated that he would file a formal complaint with the PSC and explore the possibility of legal action against Sprint. Good day JSW (Information above included material presented by the {Omaha World-Herald} and television stations KETV and WOWT.) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 03:27:02 PDT From: lars@reggae.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Forwarded Mail From Russia Date: 01 Jul 94 03:39:27 EDT From: Ivan Bobrovnikov <75020.337@compuserve.com> To: Lars Subject: ISDN providers. please help Lars, I got your e-mail address in one of the telecom groups. Can ask you for a favor to post an article on my behalf in comp.dcom.isdn or in telecom digest (is Pat still around?)? I wish I could do that myself, but do not know how to use the damn newsreader. Thanks. I'm trying to establish basic ISDN link between our office in Seattle, WA and Moscow, Russia. Which companies should I go to for the service? Is it all possible? Please respond via e-mail: 75020.337@compuserve.com Thanks, Ivan Bobrovnikov ----- End Included Message ----- ------------------------------ Date: 08 Jul 94 10:37:54 EDT From: Fausto Zambrano Subject: Help on Research Hello everyone! I am helping a friend doing a research paper on the affects on personnel productivity when the corporation decides to go multisite; i.e. R&D is located in California and Headquarters in Michigan. How telecommunications are affected in order to keep the sense of unity. I have some books about this topic, but we need more input so If you have any titles or articles that could help us, please send me an E-Mail note. Thanks again!! Fausto Zambrano Amway Telecommunications Voice: 616-676-7039 ccMail: fzambran E-Mail: fzambran@amwayusa.mhs.compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: cory@akix.cts.com (Cory Krell) Subject: USA Area Code Databases w/Zip Organization: BOI Inc. Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 01:12:29 GMT Hi, I'm looking for a database of USA areacodes and prefixes that also includes Zip code and if needed, more address info. For example: 619-471-xxxx = 92069, San Marcos, CA Does anyone know where I can find this? Thanks in advance, - Cory (p.s. please e-mail me - my net connection is marginal.) Cory Krell cory@akix.cts.com - or - {nosc,ucsd,hplabs!hp-sdd}!crash!akix!cory [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The answers you want are right here with long time Digest reader Carl Moore. I'm sure Carl will see this and be in touch with you soon. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 11:48:37 CDT From: dmoe@ted.cray.com (David A. Moe) Subject: Long Distance Telemarketers I'm tired of being called by AT&T, MCI and Sprint asking to switch my long distance phone service. I've (politely) asked to have my name removed from their telemarketing list, but that doesn't seem to work. My question is: Is there a list - similar to the "take my name off the junkmail mailing list" - I can get my phone number added to to avoid/stop these telemarketers (ALL telemarketers would be even better, but I'm not greedy). Any and all responses would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Dave ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dkuug.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: DECT - Datacommunications? Date: 8 Jul 94 14:34:17 GMT Organization: DKnet Hi - outthere, Can DECT systems be used for datatransmission - for example for setting up a wireless LAN. Plaese E-mail if you have any information. Greetings, Lars Kalsen dalk@login.dkuug.dk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 01:43:14 CDT From: clifto@indep1.chi.il.us (Clifton T. Sharp) Subject: Strange CNID Name Text The past couple of days, the name information that comes along with CNID has been ending (sometimes) with " 0R", i.e. "Doe,John 0R". It's intermittent and even calls from the same person might or might not have it. Does this ring a bell with anyone? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sure it does. Someone programming the output at the central offices in question has one or more misplaced or mismatched quote marks in a print statement. Maybe a semi-colon is there instead of the correct terminator for a print statement. So when it is sent out to your box, the text gets printed but the junk on the end is some value; maybe the value of some string; they did not close the quote correctly. Instead of the instruction being 'Print "name"; then do something' they screwed it up to be 'Print "name; do something".' Well you get the idea. Is 0R possibly the value of a carriage return or something like that in the language being used? Instead of taking whatever action is accomplished by the opcode 0R (I assume it is an operand to whatever comes before it or after it) its getting printed out instead because of the way the quote was incorrectly closed. It is intermittent because CNID comes from various servers or locations and over various circuits, etc. Only one (hopefully) is screwed up. Get handled by that equipment and you get the bug. Ummm ... call 611 and tell 'em, will ya. ... If ya wanna send information about your central office and the calling numbers, etc it maybe some tech from the area will see it and try to help. PAT] ------------------------------ From: DeFantom@aol.com Date: Fri, 08 Jul 94 22:09:15 EDT Subject: AT&T Response to Sprint Thought everyone would be interested in what AT&T had to say about the Sprint deal. (From AT&T Online) AT&T COMMENTS ON SPRINT DEAL WITH FRENCH AND GERMAN CARRIERS NEW YORK -- AT&T issued the following statement following an announcement this morning by Sprint that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom "to offer seamless global telecommunications services to business, consumer and carrier markets worldwide." "There's something very wrong when telephone companies like the France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom monopolies can buy into the U.S. telecom market while keeping their home markets closed tighter than a drum. "French and German businesses and consumers will be denied lower prices and service innovations until there is fair and open competition in their countries. "We urge the United States government to condition approval of the proposed equity investment in Sprint on the French and German governments opening their telecommunications markets on the same terms as the United States market is open to France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom." ------------------------------ From: Dawson, Mitch Subject: Comparisons of U.S. and Canadian Telecommunication Costs Date: Fri, 08 Jul 94 16:29:00 EST Hello ... just a shot in the dark. I am looking for any studies(or data) which compares the cost of telecommunications in Canada and the U.S. Anything available on the NET would be great! Thanks for your time, Mitch Dawson dawsonm@i7e.istc.ca ------------------------------ From: krazykev@panix.com Subject: Cheapest Way to Call Israel and South Africa From the USA? Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 02:08:54 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Hi, I make a lot of calls to Israel and South Africa. Currently the only really cheap time for me to call is on the weekends with Sprint's Most Worldwide Plan. Normally weekends cost $.76/minute to Israel and $.75/minute to South Africa. Right now, until the end of 7/94 or so I can call for $.38/minute to Israel and $.375/minute to South Africa, but only on the weekends. I have seen rates dropping like crazy internationally and flat rate plans seem to be popping up all over the place with calls to Europe as low as 35 cents per minute, with six second billing and thirty seconds minimum. Has anyone seen low rates to Israel and South Africa for calling during the week during our business day (9-5 EST)? ------------------------------ From: irawan@netcom.com (Hindra Irawan) Subject: Billing Software for LD Company Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 16:33:20 GMT I am researching for my company looking for billing software, not call accounting software for PBX. I need to find out if there publishers out there that deals with billing software. Does anybody have a recommendation or experience to share? Thanks in advance, Hindra MIS Manager Bittel Telecommunications, inc. ------------------------------ From: login_name@hookup.net Subject: SL-1 PBX Information Needed Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 18:43:30 GMT Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Oakville, Ontario, CANADA I am looking for tests to determine proper installation for Sl-1 PBX specifications in areas where PBX security can be compromised and what can be done to compensate. Lists of any publications that are available on this topic would be appreciated. This information is required for a PBX Audit. ------------------------------ From: bladerunner@ping (Earl Christy) Subject: Cyber Sabre Giveaway - Enter and Win NOW! Date: 7 Jul 1994 20:19:10 GMT Organization: Amateur Radio Gateway WA4MEI, Chamblee, GA There's an old saying about contests- "if you can't give away really cool prizes don't even bother." So before starting this Internet contest a group of Ohioans in pursuit of excellence invented the only prize that would be totally new, extremely cyber, and absolutely cutting edge. And now you can win it! Introducing the Cyber Sabre -- the only cutting edge product ever designed to be given away in cyberspace. Cyber Sabres are beautiful limited-edition versions of the world famous Christy sliding-blade pocket knife. Like all Christy knives, Cyber Sabres are handmade at the 104 year-old Christy Co. in Fremont, Ohio USA. Even with hundreds of Cyber Sabres up for grabs there's still no time to waste. Quickly turn the page and enter now by filling in all the fields including the number of knives [from one to one million] that you'd like to see the Christy Company sell during 1994. Then send your entry to: bladerunner@ping.com. Good luck and remember, Barnum Lives! To get a picture of the Cyber Sabre, do an anonymous FTP to ftp.netcom.com (/pub/contest). You can also find it in alt.binaries. pictures.misc. --- Official Cyber Sabre Contest Entry Form --- name: address: city: state: zip code: country: phone: e-mail: # of knives: This is a contest not a commercial. It is void where prohibited, taxed, or otherwise restricted. The decision of the judges is final. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #312 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa19656; 8 Jul 94 17:20 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08349; Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:11 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08340; Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:09 CDT Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:09 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407081844.AA08340@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #312 TELECOM Digest Fri, 8 Jul 94 13:44:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 312 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson China's Telecom Structure (Cedric Hui) Telco's Records - Do They Include CNID? (Danny Burstein) Exchanges Local to Entire LATA (Steve Arlow) Sprint to Face the Wrath Of Ernie!! (Jack Winslade) Forwarded Mail From Russia (Lars Poulsen) Help on Research (Fausto Zambrano) USA Area Code Databases w/Zip (Cory Krell) Long Distance Telemarketers (David A. Moe) DECT - Datacommunications ? (Lars Kalsen) Strange CNID Name Text (Clifton T. Sharp) AT&T Response to Sprint (DeFantom@aol.com) Comparisons of U.S. and Canadian Telecommuinication Costs (Mitch Dawson) Cheapest Way to Call Israel and South Africa From the USA? (krazykev@panix) Billing Software for LD Company (Hindra Irawan) SL-1 PBX Information Needed (login_name@hookup.net) Cyber Sabre Giveaway - Enter and Win NOW! (Earl Christy) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: China's Telecom Structure Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 07:33:18 GMT In responding to some enquiries on China telecommunications infrastructure, I found an excellent reference published in the September 1993 issue of the "Electronics News for China". This is my first attempt in Chinese to English translation. Please let me know if I have used the wrong technical term in the translation (I am sure the experienced will spot the error by context). This part of the article covers the structure of the telecommunications network of China and an overview of China's telecommunications policy. Cedric --------- The critical moment as China entering the booming era of telecommuni- cations development. Economic reform, the opening of the market economy and the top pripority placed in telecommunications as strategic economic policy, provides the favorable conditions for improvement and expansion in China's telecommunications industry, as well as foreign investment opportunity in China. written by Tan, Shu Cheng Deputy Chief Engineer Technology Intelligent Center Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications of PRC ------------------ As the modern world is entering the Information Age, the development of the society become more relying on the support of information. Economic activities, like manufacturing, distributing, trading and comsumer spending, generate enormous information. They are manipulated, processed and transported through the communication networks which in turn connect societies into an unified virtual entity. Telecommunication as the society's infrastructure and the essentail element in supporting the economic development has received top priority in the national development policy in China. Since the reform and the opening of the Chinese market, Chinese economy has achieved prominent improvemnets. The increase of economic activities incite the growth of information exchange. In fact, the growth rate of the telecommunications industry has exceeded the national economic growth and is the major factor in the high growth of the Chinese economy. Currently, China's reform is entering another new era of development. As new demands for telecommunications services come to light, China's telecommunications industry is once again facing the challenge of new demands and requiremnets. This is the critical moment as China entering the booming era of telecommunications development. The Structure of the Telecommunications Network and its Management System China's telecommunication network consist of the national public network and the departmental proprietary networks (Rail, Power, Oil etc). The public Network is the backbone of the national telecommunications network. Propeitary networks are supplemental to the public network. The public network is based on the long distance telephone network and is organised into 5 levels of hierarchical network structure. The first levels exchange centers are directly connected to form the network in the highest hierarchy and each lower level exchange centers connect directly to the higher level exchange centers. Lower level connection within the same hierarchy are mainly handled by switching with supplemented some number of direct circuits. Level 1 exchange centers serve between and among capital and provinces (Wide-Area Center). They are the communication hub for provinces(including Autonomy) within a Wide-Area. There are also supplemental inter-provincial exchange center in some geophically larger or economically more developed area. Level 2 are provincial centers. Being the communication hub for the province or autonomy, a level 2 exchange center serves regional areas and cities within the province. Supplemetal provincial center may be established if needed. Level 3 center is regional exchange center serves between and among counties. It's location is usually confined to its services area. The main function of the level 1 to level 3 exchange center is to facilitate long distance telephone service within its service area. Level 4 is the terminating point for long distance telephone services. Its service area includes the towns and villeges within the same county. Level 5 is the local central office switches. In recent years, digital electronic systems are more widely used in China and the expansion of the regional economies lead to the increase of local telephone networks. The telephone network structure will gradually be simplified and the levels in the hierarchy be reduced. Local telephone network as opposed to the national long distance telephone network is confined to a regional area. Its service area may include a certain number of central offices and exchange centers which forms a dialing zone. There is a long distance telephone network access point in the local telephone network and its level is defined by its hierarchy in the long distance telephone network. Thus, based on the concept of local and long distance telephone network, the long distance telephone access point is not part of the local telephone network structure. The local telephone network model may seems to resemble the traditional municipal telephone system. However, the local telephone network has a much wider service area compare to the municipal telephone system. For instance, the Beijing municipal telephone system includes Beijing city and the near suburban area while the Beijing local telephone network also includes the surround 10 counties. With China's telecommunications development as a national policy and the long term interest of the national telecommunications infrastructure in mind, knowing that the telecommunications infrastructure is relatively backward, the management and development of the national public telephone network will be the responsibility of the government. In order to accelerate telecommunications development and centralized limited resouces, the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China will centralize the regulating, development and the management of the most of the telecommunications services for the public telephone network with some services open to the private sector. The Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications will seek a cooperative relations with the proprietary networks in network development and integration based on the priciple of mutual benefit and acess compensation. ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Telco's Records - Do They Include CNID? Date: 8 Jul 1994 04:13:06 -0400 As all folk who read TELECOM Digest know, the majority of United States telco central office switches now have full detail records of all calls made from your phone (i.e. time it was made and the number you called), and also keeps track of calls made -to- you. This is, of course, something which has been phased in over the past few decades as the switches have become more and more advamced. (In the old days, as far too many of us recall, billing was done by mechanical counters which were photographed each month, but I digress ...) Which brings to mind a question about what data fields are actually kept. Specifically, what I'd like to know (and hopefully someone out in digest land may know the answer) is if these records, now that CNID is phasing in nationwide, store the number calling you. We've had a couple of high profile cases involving telecom in NYC, i.e. the World Trade Center bombing, and telco records were one of the things used in the investigation and prosecution. For example, they got the records from the suspects' home telephones which showed, let's say, a call coming in at 16:45. Given this specific case, I'm sure the gendarmes had the people and computer access to have every CO in the tristate area queried with a 'what calls were made between 16:44 and 16:46 and were any of tehm made to this phone number?" type of check, but what about a more routine and less public investigation? (One of the results of this was that the federales tracked calls back to a coin phone in a convenience store, which was fortuitously videotaped - and they then got photos of teh suspects. Of course there are lots of other things that were done which have never been disclosed, but that's another story) So if anyone knows if a) current CO programming keeps the CNID in one of the fields, or b) this is an available "feature" which hasn't been implemented or c) while not yet implemented it will be, etc., etc., could you advise? Thanks muchly, Danny dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ From: sea@umcc.umcc.umich.edu (Steve Arlow) Subject: Exchanges Local to Entire LATA Date: 7 Jul 1994 12:16:54 -0400 Organization: UMCC, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Somehow, some providers of cellular, pager, and voice-mail services get phone numbers in exchanges which are a *local* call from anywhere within the LATA. And some of these companies are charging a flat rate for their service, which seems to imply that these numbers can be had for a flat monthly (or annual?) rate, regardless of usage. How can one go about getting such a number? (My RBOC is Ameritech). I suspect that this arrangement is only available to companies which are willing to purchase an entire exchange. Does anyone know the details of how this works? I can think of quite a number of other profitable ways such an exchange could be used. Steve Arlow, Yorick Software \ sea@umcc.umich.edu 39336 Polo Club Dr. #103, \ (810) 473-0920 Farmington Hills, MI 48335-5634 \ FAX select box 3 ------------------------------ From: jsw@gonix.gonix.com (Jack Winslade) Subject: Sprint to Face the Wrath Of Ernie!! Date: Fri, 8 Jul 1994 00:53:37 CDT (For those of you not familiar with Omaha politics, State Senator Ernie Chambers has represented Omaha's second district for as long as I am aware. Ernie (he does not like to be addressed as 'Senator') has developed a reputation as a gloves-off and very outspoken guy who is very effective in representing his constituents. As far as I know, he has never had a serious challenger for his office. Ernie is originally a barber, and he holds a law degree from Creighton University, but has never sought to be admitted to the Bar.) State Senator Ernie Chambers invites his constituents to phone him directly at his office in Lincoln, collect, if they ever have any need to get in touch with him. (State offices in Lincoln are a toll call from Omaha, and such a call will often cost more than a similar-length call from Omaha to either coast. Such 50-mile calls are intrastate, but inter-LATA, so they are handled by any of several carriers.) He's had this policy for years, and receives many collect calls from constituents, other taxpayers, and other elected officials. Beginning June 22, for reasons that are still not clear, those trying to phone Ernie collect using Sprint received an intercept stating that collect calls were not permitted to that number. Users of other carriers had no difficulty making collect calls to Chambers' office. Ernie was made aware of this block on Wednesday, when a constituent reported the intercept. He then asked a fellow Senator to try a collect call from outstate, confirming the fact that Sprint was indeed blocking those calls. Ernie immediately contacted Sprint and demanded an explanation. He also filed a complaint with the Public Service Commission. Sprint's initial response (according to television station KETV) was that Sprint had some trouble with a previous holder of Ernie's office phone number. Ernie was enraged at the response, since Ernie has had that number for more than ten years. He told a reporter "I will show them (Sprint) what it is like to have their corporate throats attacked by an enraged legislative pit-bull." Historically, Ernie is well known for NOT letting things drop, and carrying things through to the end when he believed he is right. The department that oversees the state telephone system was not aware that Sprint placed a block on the line. Chambers stated that he would file a formal complaint with the PSC and explore the possibility of legal action against Sprint. Good day JSW (Information above included material presented by the {Omaha World-Herald} and television stations KETV and WOWT.) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 03:27:02 PDT From: lars@reggae.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Forwarded Mail From Russia Date: 01 Jul 94 03:39:27 EDT From: Ivan Bobrovnikov <75020.337@compuserve.com> To: Lars Subject: ISDN providers. please help Lars, I got your e-mail address in one of the telecom groups. Can ask you for a favor to post an article on my behalf in comp.dcom.isdn or in telecom digest (is Pat still around?)? I wish I could do that myself, but do not know how to use the damn newsreader. Thanks. I'm trying to establish basic ISDN link between our office in Seattle, WA and Moscow, Russia. Which companies should I go to for the service? Is it all possible? Please respond via e-mail: 75020.337@compuserve.com Thanks, Ivan Bobrovnikov ----- End Included Message ----- ------------------------------ Date: 08 Jul 94 10:37:54 EDT From: Fausto Zambrano Subject: Help on Research Hello everyone! I am helping a friend doing a research paper on the affects on personnel productivity when the corporation decides to go multisite; i.e. R&D is located in California and Headquarters in Michigan. How telecommunications are affected in order to keep the sense of unity. I have some books about this topic, but we need more input so If you have any titles or articles that could help us, please send me an E-Mail note. Thanks again!! Fausto Zambrano Amway Telecommunications Voice: 616-676-7039 ccMail: fzambran E-Mail: fzambran@amwayusa.mhs.compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: cory@akix.cts.com (Cory Krell) Subject: USA Area Code Databases w/Zip Organization: BOI Inc. Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 01:12:29 GMT Hi, I'm looking for a database of USA areacodes and prefixes that also includes Zip code and if needed, more address info. For example: 619-471-xxxx = 92069, San Marcos, CA Does anyone know where I can find this? Thanks in advance, - Cory (p.s. please e-mail me - my net connection is marginal.) Cory Krell cory@akix.cts.com - or - {nosc,ucsd,hplabs!hp-sdd}!crash!akix!cory [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The answers you want are right here with long time Digest reader Carl Moore. I'm sure Carl will see this and be in touch with you soon. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 11:48:37 CDT From: dmoe@ted.cray.com (David A. Moe) Subject: Long Distance Telemarketers I'm tired of being called by AT&T, MCI and Sprint asking to switch my long distance phone service. I've (politely) asked to have my name removed from their telemarketing list, but that doesn't seem to work. My question is: Is there a list - similar to the "take my name off the junkmail mailing list" - I can get my phone number added to to avoid/stop these telemarketers (ALL telemarketers would be even better, but I'm not greedy). Any and all responses would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Dave ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dkuug.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: DECT - Datacommunications? Date: 8 Jul 94 14:34:17 GMT Organization: DKnet Hi - outthere, Can DECT systems be used for datatransmission - for example for setting up a wireless LAN. Plaese E-mail if you have any information. Greetings, Lars Kalsen dalk@login.dkuug.dk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 01:43:14 CDT From: clifto@indep1.chi.il.us (Clifton T. Sharp) Subject: Strange CNID Name Text The past couple of days, the name information that comes along with CNID has been ending (sometimes) with " 0R", i.e. "Doe,John 0R". It's intermittent and even calls from the same person might or might not have it. Does this ring a bell with anyone? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sure it does. Someone programming the output at the central offices in question has one or more misplaced or mismatched quote marks in a print statement. Maybe a semi-colon is there instead of the correct terminator for a print statement. So when it is sent out to your box, the text gets printed but the junk on the end is some value; maybe the value of some string; they did not close the quote correctly. Instead of the instruction being 'Print "name"; then do something' they screwed it up to be 'Print "name; do something".' Well you get the idea. Is 0R possibly the value of a carriage return or something like that in the language being used? Instead of taking whatever action is accomplished by the opcode 0R (I assume it is an operand to whatever comes before it or after it) its getting printed out instead because of the way the quote was incorrectly closed. It is intermittent because CNID comes from various servers or locations and over various circuits, etc. Only one (hopefully) is screwed up. Get handled by that equipment and you get the bug. Ummm ... call 611 and tell 'em, will ya. ... If ya wanna send information about your central office and the calling numbers, etc it maybe some tech from the area will see it and try to help. PAT] ------------------------------ From: DeFantom@aol.com Date: Fri, 08 Jul 94 22:09:15 EDT Subject: AT&T Response to Sprint Thought everyone would be interested in what AT&T had to say about the Sprint deal. (From AT&T Online) AT&T COMMENTS ON SPRINT DEAL WITH FRENCH AND GERMAN CARRIERS NEW YORK -- AT&T issued the following statement following an announcement this morning by Sprint that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom "to offer seamless global telecommunications services to business, consumer and carrier markets worldwide." "There's something very wrong when telephone companies like the France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom monopolies can buy into the U.S. telecom market while keeping their home markets closed tighter than a drum. "French and German businesses and consumers will be denied lower prices and service innovations until there is fair and open competition in their countries. "We urge the United States government to condition approval of the proposed equity investment in Sprint on the French and German governments opening their telecommunications markets on the same terms as the United States market is open to France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom." ------------------------------ From: Dawson, Mitch Subject: Comparisons of U.S. and Canadian Telecommunication Costs Date: Fri, 08 Jul 94 16:29:00 EST Hello ... just a shot in the dark. I am looking for any studies(or data) which compares the cost of telecommunications in Canada and the U.S. Anything available on the NET would be great! Thanks for your time, Mitch Dawson dawsonm@i7e.istc.ca ------------------------------ From: krazykev@panix.com Subject: Cheapest Way to Call Israel and South Africa From the USA? Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 02:08:54 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Hi, I make a lot of calls to Israel and South Africa. Currently the only really cheap time for me to call is on the weekends with Sprint's Most Worldwide Plan. Normally weekends cost $.76/minute to Israel and $.75/minute to South Africa. Right now, until the end of 7/94 or so I can call for $.38/minute to Israel and $.375/minute to South Africa, but only on the weekends. I have seen rates dropping like crazy internationally and flat rate plans seem to be popping up all over the place with calls to Europe as low as 35 cents per minute, with six second billing and thirty seconds minimum. Has anyone seen low rates to Israel and South Africa for calling during the week during our business day (9-5 EST)? ------------------------------ From: irawan@netcom.com (Hindra Irawan) Subject: Billing Software for LD Company Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 16:33:20 GMT I am researching for my company looking for billing software, not call accounting software for PBX. I need to find out if there publishers out there that deals with billing software. Does anybody have a recommendation or experience to share? Thanks in advance, Hindra MIS Manager Bittel Telecommunications, inc. ------------------------------ From: login_name@hookup.net Subject: SL-1 PBX Information Needed Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 18:43:30 GMT Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Oakville, Ontario, CANADA I am looking for tests to determine proper installation for Sl-1 PBX specifications in areas where PBX security can be compromised and what can be done to compensate. Lists of any publications that are available on this topic would be appreciated. This information is required for a PBX Audit. ------------------------------ From: bladerunner@ping (Earl Christy) Subject: Cyber Sabre Giveaway - Enter and Win NOW! Date: 7 Jul 1994 20:19:10 GMT Organization: Amateur Radio Gateway WA4MEI, Chamblee, GA There's an old saying about contests- "if you can't give away really cool prizes don't even bother." So before starting this Internet contest a group of Ohioans in pursuit of excellence invented the only prize that would be totally new, extremely cyber, and absolutely cutting edge. And now you can win it! Introducing the Cyber Sabre -- the only cutting edge product ever designed to be given away in cyberspace. Cyber Sabres are beautiful limited-edition versions of the world famous Christy sliding-blade pocket knife. Like all Christy knives, Cyber Sabres are handmade at the 104 year-old Christy Co. in Fremont, Ohio USA. Even with hundreds of Cyber Sabres up for grabs there's still no time to waste. Quickly turn the page and enter now by filling in all the fields including the number of knives [from one to one million] that you'd like to see the Christy Company sell during 1994. Then send your entry to: bladerunner@ping.com. Good luck and remember, Barnum Lives! To get a picture of the Cyber Sabre, do an anonymous FTP to ftp.netcom.com (/pub/contest). You can also find it in alt.binaries. pictures.misc. --- Official Cyber Sabre Contest Entry Form --- name: address: city: state: zip code: country: phone: e-mail: # of knives: This is a contest not a commercial. It is void where prohibited, taxed, or otherwise restricted. The decision of the judges is final. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #312 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21068; 8 Jul 94 18:34 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11254; Fri, 8 Jul 94 14:59:03 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11244; Fri, 8 Jul 94 14:59:01 CDT Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 14:59:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407081959.AA11244@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #313 TELECOM Digest Fri, 8 Jul 94 14:59:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 313 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CellOne/NY Problem (Stan Schwartz) Older Siemens PBX Numbering Plan Question (swc!bruce@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov) Calling All Calling Card/800 Number Resellers (Seng-Poh Lee) Wanted: VoiceMail for Meridian System (Stephen Sayer) Digital Spread-Spectrum Cordless Phone -- Experience? (Marion Hakanson) Panasonic KX T2346 Phones (Larry Broat) AT&T New 1-500 Service (AT&T True Connections) (dquist@ben3b01.attmail.com) Virginia's New Area Code: 540 (Greg Monti) Book Review: "TCP/IP Illlustrated" by Stevens (Rob Slade) March 95 Conference in Nashville (Jane Fraser) Re: Cyber Sabre Giveaway - Enter and Win NOW! (Tom Gillman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: CellOne/NY Problem Date: 7 Jul 1994 20:26:53 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Last month, I posted about a problem I had while roaming in Montreal. I am a Cell One NY/NJ customer, and I couldn't make any calls in Montreal, although I was able to receive calls there through NACN delivery. The CellOne rep's answer at the time was that I was roaming on the wrong carrier. While it seemed impossible, I didn't pursue it. *** UNTIL THE BILL CAME, THAT IS *** I was charged almost $12.00 for calls I attempted to make in Montreal, and the only preson I ended up talking to was a CanTel rep. At the time, he said that there was an indicator on my account that he'd never seen before that was not allowing me to make calls. When I called for credit for the incomplete calls, a more-knowledgeable CellOne rep figured out the problem. The stupid "Fraud Prevention" feature indicator, which is not supposed to be passed to other systems, was passed to CanTel and they didn't know how to handle it. Cell One's solution is that if you know you're going to be roaming and you have the feature, call and have them verify that it's not a city that they're having a problem with or they'll have to temporarily de-activate the fraud prevention service for the duration of your trip. Stan ------------------------------ From: swc!bruce@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov Subject: Older Siemens PBX Numbering Plan Question Date: 8 Jul 94 12:00:19 GMT Organization: Standard Wire & Cable, Inc. We have a Siemens SD-192MX PBX which has been working fine for years. The software diskette is labeled: SIEMENS 192MX S30809-B1298- D500-*-B900 GS1 We are concerned about the change to the new North American Numbering Plan next year. The software will not allow us to add the new style area codes to the LCR database, giving the following error: CONFIGURATION MAIN LCR D500-GS1 ENTER C OR M: C WAIT - DISK OPERATION ENTER KEY WAIT - DISK OPERATION HARD COPY REQUIRED? YES-1,NO-0 1 2 07/05/94 13:42:31 424 WAIT - DISK OPERATION ENTER NEW AREA CODE: 324 ENTER PRIMARY ROUTE LIST FOR AREA CODE = 001 ERR-FLD 1 ANY KEY I assume that Siemens will not itself be upgrading the software for this system. Does anybody know if there is anybody out there who may be producing an upgrade to offer the new necessary features? Our repair vendor cannot seem to find any. Their solution was either to disable all LCR features and restrictions, thereby allowing any number to be dialed, or selling us a new system. If the software is not available, any suggestions for a system with similar capabilities but with the ability to handle the new numbering plan? System has 27 trunks, 64 stations, DID, LCR, 1 attendant console, speed dialing, night answer plus other standard features. We hate to have to buy a new systems since this one has been so reliable, but we have some fairly large customers in some of the new area codes. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How many outgoing trunk lines do you have on the switchboard? A temporary fix which will hold things together for the time being has been suggested to me recently. Unless the number of ougoing trunks is so outrageously large as to make it financially out of the question, get a bunch of toll restrictors -- one for each line and maybe a couple of spares -- from a place like Radio Shack or similar company. Put these on the line *before* the switchboard, at the place where the telco lines first come into your premises. Program them one by one to challenge/deny outgoing calls not of your liking such as 900 and 976, etc. Then disable all toll restrictions on the PBX itself, letting the PBX pass everything it gets. That will of course enable the new area codes while allowing the peripheral devices to stomp on and kill whatever displeases them ... when the PBX seizes a trunk for an outgoing call the toll restrictor on that line is gonna see it and deal with it. Beware of some possibly flaky interaction between the two; especially at first in getting the wiring correct. This will prevent you from being totally unprotected while still allowing calls to the new codes. Where you draw the line of course is the cost of the devices times the number of lines to be protected versus the cost of software replacement (you should be so lucky) or god forbid, having to pull the board and replace it entirely ... you'll want to get an overview of fraud as it occurs through your PBX as well; how much protection do you need now that you are gonna have to *pay someone dearly* to cure it for you? (that's the same as but with the word 'bitter' in front of it) ... only you know your traffic and your exchange, but throwing together some externals to make life more difficult for the abusers can't hurt. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Seng-Poh Lee Subject: Calling All Calling Card/800 Number Resellers Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 22:40:57 EDT Ok, I'm soliciting information on as many calling card and 800 numbers service as possible. If you are a reseller or service provider and meet the criteria below, please send me information on your service; Criteria: 1) Per minute rate less than 20 cents a minute. 2) Setup charge less than $20 3) No minimum usage, or month charge. Thanks! Seng-Poh Lee finger splee@noel.pd.org for PGP public key [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Jeeze, these collectors of information on resellers, et al along with their distant cousins the folks who need help with research papers are becoming as common around here as the age/gender checks on Compuserve CB. If I get one person a day writing to ask for help collecting information on resellers, etc. I must get a dozen. I wonder if any of them read through the archives, or otherwise check back issues, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ssayer@garnet.msen.com (Stephen Sayer) Subject: Wanted: VoiceMail for Meridian System Date: 8 Jul 1994 04:10:07 GMT Organization: Hijinx Meridian phone system. We have line and station expansion units and are using three digit DNs, which evidently eliminates one of the only systems that would have otherwise been acceptable. Please respond or request summary via email (either address in SIG below). Later, { ssayer@mail.msen.com | ssayer@umcc.umich.edu } ------------------------------ Subject: Digital Spread-Spectrum Cordless Phone - Experience? Date: Thu, 07 Jul 1994 18:08:17 -0700 From: Marion Hakanson Folks, I've recently seen an advertisement for the Escort model 9020 (and companion 9010 with internal handset antenna) cordless telephone, which uses digital spread-spectrum technology to do its magic. It also claims to provide encryption between handset and base. If I understand correctly the meaning of "digital spread-spectrum" and "encryption", this phone should provide exceptionally noise-free and private operation, and may entice me into overcoming my hesitance regarding the privacy issues involved in taking advantage of the convenience afforded by using cordless telephones. A colleague is also interested in it for use in a EM-noisy machine room environment. Since the price is rather steep for a personal experiment, by my reckoning ($299 for the 9020, and $279 for the 9010, if memory serves correctly), I'm hoping someone out there has some experience which they can relate, regarding either this particular phone, or with one using similar technology. A product review by someone knowledgeable in the field (or pointer to same) would be especially appreciated, and comments regarding range, noise, convenience, etc. are welcome. If folks prefer to reply directly to myself, I will be happy to collect and summarize here any responses I may receive. Thanks. Marion Hakanson Information Highway Maintenance -- OGI CS&E Division ------------------------------ From: larry broat Subject: Panasonic KX T2346 Phones Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 8:12:07 PDT Organization: ICNet The Innovative Concepts Network Your Link to the Internet Does anyone know where I can buy Panasonic KX T2346 phones? My present distributor says that the phones have been discontinued and are no longer available. The Panasonic phones with their message waiting indicators work very well with our Tadiran switch. I also am looking for a good distributor that will sell to end users. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: dquist@ben3b01.attmail.com (dquist) Date: 7 Jul 94 23:07:47 GMT Subject: AT&T NEW 1-500 SERVICE (AT&T True Connections) ADVISORY: New Consumer 500 Service Introduced ANNOUNCEMENT: AT&T today announced a new service that will give consumers personal long-distance numbers in the new "500 area code" beginning July 12. Called AT&T True Connections(sm), the worldwide 500-number service will give customers flexible, advanced, personal numbers that travel with them. Because callers to AT&T 500 numbers will dial the same number for one person every time, they won't need to know the location of the person. But AT&T True Connections customers will be able to decide when and if they want to be reached. BACKGROUND: AT&T True Connections customers will have access to a family of useful services currently unavailable from any long-distance company. These services range from call forwarding to call sequencing, which allows the owner to program his or her 500 number to ring in several locations in sequence. For instance, a person could have calls made to his or her AT&T 500 number routed first to the office, then to a cellular phone, then to home or even to a hotel. The person could change the sequence as often as desired. AT&T True Connections customers also will be able to place calls and have their unanswered incoming calls go to voice mailboxes in the AT&T Worldwide Intelligent Network. This new service builds on AT&T EasyReach(R) 700 Service, which allows customers to forward their calls to almost any location in the world. AT&T True Connections will have the added benefits of call sequencing, voice mail, customized feature selection and more. The service will be available in the fall, pending tariff filing and regulatory approval, and dialing availability of 500 numbers from local telephone company networks. With 500 service, customers will have more flexibility in managing their personal communications. For example, with 500 numbers, consumers will be able to have their calls follow them to more than one location: subscribers will be able to program their numbers to ring twice at home, twice at the office, twice in the car--and finally go to their voice mailbox. A 500 number gives customers the ability to be reached virtually anywhere they are -- and they can choose to pay for those calls. Customers will be able to keep the same 500 number if their local telephone number changes. Prices for the various personal number services will vary. In general, there will be a low monthly fee, and the normal long- distance rates associated with calls made to the number to which the calls are forwarded. ... Will I be able to forward my 500 number to international locations? Yes. Calls may be forwarded to any country where AT&T provides AT&T USA Direct Service. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, this all sounds very nice, but what about the existing Easy Reach 700 service? Wouldn't it have made enhancements to that service instead? Such things as making it non- network specific (so that 1+700 would work from any network without the annoying 10288 that must be prepended each time); such things as adding the sequence hunting and international calling ... why is AT&T coming up with this whole new service instead of installing some badly needed fixes in the existing Easy Reach? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 7:27:44 EDT From: Greg Monti Subject: Virginia's New Area code: 540 It's apparently official. In a story on page A1 of the July 7, 1994, {Washington Post}, the tale is told of Virginia's 703 area being split. The new code will be 540. The dividing line will be very close to Washington DC. Judging by the map published in the {Post}, the portion of Virginia which lies within the Washington LATA (Local Access and Transport Area) will remain 703. This will include Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William Counties, an eastern slice of Loudoun County, a northern slice of Stafford County and a tiny slice of Fauquier County -- plus Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas and Manassas Park cities. This area is served partly by Bell Atlantic Virginia and partly by GTE Virginia. The entire remainder of what is now 703, about 40 cities and counties, will become 540. This area is served by numerous phone companies including Bell Atlantic, GTE and Sprint (Centel). The story spends quite a bit of copy explaining how this is among the first area codes not to use a zero or a one as the second digit. The writer even interviewed Ron Conners of Bellcore's numbering plan administration who noted that Bellcore employees are hitting the hotel seminar circuit to explain the new area code system to telephone technicans who may need to modify hundreds of thousands of central office and privately owned switches. The {Post} reporter notes that Alabama's new area code, 334, duplicates the prefix within the 202 area that is used by the {Post}. If someone in DC forgets to dial the 1 in the string 1-334-555-1212 to reach southern Alabama directory assitance, they will be connected to Post production employee Gary H. Lucke, whose number is presumably 202 334-5551. The split takes effect July 15, 1995. The end date of permissive dialing was not noted. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Jul 1994 12:34:15 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "TCP/IP Illlustrated" by Stevens BKTCPIPI.RVW 940325 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 Heather Rignanesi, Marketing, x340, 73171.657@Compuserve.com or Tiffany Moore, Publicity tiffanym@aw.com Bob Donegon bobd@aw.com John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com Tom Stone, Editor, Higher Education Division tomsto@aw.com Philip Sutherland, Schulman Series 74640.2405@compuserve.com Keith Wollman, Trade Computer Group keithw@aw.com Lisa Roth Blackman, Trade Computer Group lisaro@aw.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1", Stevens, 1994, 0-201-63346-9, U$47.50 rstevens@noao.edu A clear, readable, well-organized, thorough, and detailed explanation of the Internet Protocol Suite. The author has carefully constructed his chapters on the layered model of the protocol, itself. Starting with the data link layer, each chapter adds to what has gone before, and relies solely on what has gone before. For system managers, this gives a practical account of the operations of the network and major applications. The "illustrated" part of the title seems to refer to the fact that examples are given from a real network. The network is given in the book, and is complex enough that the network traffic analyzed can be indicative of real world situations rather than idealized theory. For instructors considering course texts, a very strong plus in the book are the chapter exercises. The answers are not simply a check on whether the student has read the text. They are well thought out questions which will need a thorough understanding of the concepts--plus a bit of work. For anyone looking for the details of the TCP/IP protocols, an excellent choice. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKTCPIPI.RVW 940325 Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Jul 1994 12:47:10 EDT From: fraser@ccl2.eng.ohio-state.edu Subject: March 95 Conference in Nashville Forwarded from BEZALEL GAVISH : C A L L for P A P E R S 3rd International Conference on Telecommunication Systems Modelling and Analysis March 16-19, 1995 Nashville, TN The 3rd International Conference on Telecommunication Systems Modelling and Analysis will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on March 16-19, 1995. With a few changes, the same basic format as the 1994 conference will be used. The general idea is to build on the success of earlier conferences by limiting the number of participants, concentrate on a few topics, present new problems and problem areas, encouraging informal interaction and exchanges of ideas. The objective is to advance the state of the modelling and analysis in telecommunications by stimulating research activity on new and important problems. The conference will be divided into segments with each segment devoted to a specific topic. This will allow for little conflict between segments. All papers will be screened rigorously to ensure the quality of presentations. The number of participants will be limited in order to encourage interaction during and after the formal presentations. In response to suggestions made by last year's participants, social and cultural activities will be included in the 1995 agenda. The Program Committee includes: Anant Balakrishnan - MIT, Jerome Chifflet - CNET, Suk-Gwon Chang - Hanyang U., Imrich Chlamtac - University of Massachusetts at Amherst, John Daigle - MITRE, Robert Doverspike - Bellcore, Bezalel Gavish - Vanderbilt University (Chairman), Andre Girard - INRS-Telecom, Richard Harris - Royal Melborn Institute of Technology, Konosuke Kawashima - NTT, Raj Jain - DEC, Jeff Mackie-Mason - U. of Michigan, Benjamin Melamed - NEC, USA, Michelle Minoux - U. of Paris, June Park - U. of Iowa, Miguel A. Perez - Katolique U. of Chile, Scott Rogers - Toronto U., William W. Sharkey - Bellcore, David Simchi-Levi - Columbia University, Edward A. Sykes - University of Virginia, Yutaka Takahashi - Kyoto University, Nicos Van Dijk - U. of Amsterdam. Listed below are some of the potential segments: -- Topological Design and Network Configuration Problems -- Design and Analysis of Local Access Networks and Outside Plant Problems -- Low Earth Orbit Satellite communication systems -- Time Dependent Expansion of Telecommunication Systems -- Designing Networks for Reliability and Availability -- Network Design Problems in Gigabit and Terabit Networks -- LAN, WAN Global Network Interconnection -- Quantitative Methods in Network Management -- Pricing and Economic Analysis of Telecommunications -- Impact of Telecommunications on Industrial Organization -- Performance Evaluation of Telecommunication Systems -- Distributed Computing and Distributed Data Bases -- Cellular Systems and PCS Modelling and Configuration The Program Committee is open to any ideas you might have regarding additional topics or format of the conference. The intention is to limit the number of parallel sessions to two. The conference is scheduled over a weekend so as to reduce teaching conflicts for academic participants and to take advantage of weekend hotel airfare rates. This message is sent to a select group of participants which the Program Committee feels will benefit from and will contribute to the conference success. Due to the limited number of participants early registration is recommended. To ensure your participation, please use the following steps: 1. Send to Bezalel Gavish (address below) by August 1, 1994, a paper (preferable), or titles and abstracts for potential presentations to be considered for the conference. Sending more than one abstract is encouraged, enabling the Program Committee to have a wider choice in terms of assigning talks to segments. Use E-mail to expedite the submission of titles and abstracts. 2. Use the form at the end of this message to preregister for the conference. Some institutions require participants to have formal duties in a conference in order to be reimburesed for expensses, let us also know if you would like to have a formal duty during the conference as: Session chair, or discussant. 3. You will be notified by October 15, 1994, which abstract/s have been selected for the conference. December 1, 1994, is the deadline for sending a complete paper. The paper will go through a quick review process and feedback will be sent back by January 1, 1995. A final version of the paper is expected by January 30, 1995. Participants will receive copies of the collection of papers to be presented. All papers submitted to the conference will be considered for publication in the "Telecommunication Systems" Journal. The Program Committee looks forward to receiving your feedback/ideas. Feel free to volunteer any help you can offer. If you have suggestions for Segment Leaders (i.e., individuals who will have a longer time to give an overview/state of the art talk on their segment subject) please E-mail them to me. Also, if there are individuals whose participation you view as important, please send their names and E-mail addresses to the Program Committee Chairman, or forward to them a copy of this message. I look forward to a very successful conference. Sincerely yours, Bezalel Gavish Third International Conference on Telecommunication Systems Modelling and Analysis REGISTRATION FORM Date: __________________ Location: Nashville, TN Dates: March 16, 1995 (afternoon) to March 19, 1995 Name: ________________________________________ Title: __________________ Affiliation: __________________________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Phone: ____________________________ FAX: _______________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________________ Potential Title of Paper(s): __________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ I would like to Volunteer as Comments A Session Chair : Yes No ________________________________________________ A Discussant : Yes No ________________________________________________ Organize a Session: Yes No ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ REGISTRATION RATES and DEADLINES Last Applicable Participant Type Date Academic Industry ---------------- -------- -------- 1. Registration 1 Sept 15, 1994 $ 350 $ 495 2. Registration 2 Jan. 1, 1995 $ 495 $ 595 3. On Site Registration* (or when full) $ 595 $ 795 * We reserve the right to invoke this rate after November 1, 1994 or when the capacity limit has been reached. Mail your registration form and check to: Professor Bezalel Gavish Owen Graduate School of Management Vanderbilt University 401 21st Avenue, South Nashville, TN 37203, USA The check should be addressed to: 3-rd Int. Telecomm Systems Conference Refund Policy: Half refund, for requests received by January 15, 1995. No refund after January 15, 1995. Bezalel Gavish Owen Graduate School of Management Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, 37203 Bitnet: GAVISHB@VUCTRVAX Tel: (615) 322-3659 FAX: (615) 343-7177 ------------------------------ From: syshtg@gsusgi2.gsu.edu (Tom Gillman) Subject: Re: Cyber Sabre Giveaway - Enter and Win NOW! Date: 8 Jul 1994 15:29:16 -0400 Organization: Georgia State University Isn't this the same guy that lost his account over at netcom.com for posting this exact same article to half the newsgroups on the planet? l8r! Tom Gillman, Unix/AIX Systems Weenie Wells Computer Center-Ga. State Univ. (404) 651-4503 syshtg@gsusgi2.gsu.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'm not sure if he is or not. I did not follow that earlier episode. But you know, your name seems familiar to me: aren't you the dude who writes all the time to various newsgroups complaining about 'blatant commercial crap'? I was going to say something about the contest when I published the earlier message today but then I figured, hey iof they are going to give away a free knife to the winner(s) of the contest then that's fine with me. Anyway, haven't you heard? The Acceptable Use regulations are all but gone. Hardly anyone bothers with them any longer, even in spirit if not in practice. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #313 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21701; 11 Jul 94 16:40 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA13427; Mon, 11 Jul 94 11:46:05 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA13411; Mon, 11 Jul 94 11:46:02 CDT Date: Mon, 11 Jul 94 11:46:02 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407111646.AA13411@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #314 TELECOM Digest Mon, 11 Jul 94 11:46:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 314 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson China Telephone Service (Cedric Hui) Virginia to Get Area Code 540 (Paul Robinson) Internet Underground Music Archive (Robert L. McMillin) Intelligent Buildings (Pablo del Amor Saavedra) Call Accounting vs Service Bureau (Ann Genovese) Televirtuality -- Looking For Labs Working in This Area (Robert Jacobson) Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering (Steve Forrette) Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering (Steve Waddell) Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering (Dave Ptasnik) An Answer From NYNEX (Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate) (Jeffrey W. McKeough) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: China Telephone Service Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 03:07:22 GMT This second part of the series covers the development of basic telephone services in China for the last 8 years. (note that the article was published in 1993). Some of the recent development might sound like a late comer in telecommunications services, but yet, it is never too late. Looking closely on various expansion basic telephone services in China, international services represents the most important and impressive development. It is understandable that international trade is vital to the national economic growth, thus, receives a higher priority than the resential needs. Moreover, it probably will take some time before China could provide universal access to telephone services to every citizen in every corner of the nation. Cedric ------------ The critical moment as China entering the booming era of telecommunications development. Economic reform, the opening of the market economy and the top pripority placed in telecommunications as strategic economic policy, provides the favorable conditions for improvement and expansion in China's telecommunications industry, as well as foreign investment opportunity in China. written by Tan, Shu Cheng Deputy Chief Engineer Technology Intelligent Center Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications of PRC ------------ The 8 years of accelerated expansion. Since 1985, following the successful completion of the 7th national economic development plan, telecommunications development surpassed the target goals of the "7-5" plan and reached the first stage of strategic plan of the tele- communications development. For the last 8 years, China's telecommunications has expanded at unprecedented rate. In integrated communications capacity, service volume, or dollar sales volume, the annual growth rate has exceeded 20%. Especially in 1992, with the expansion of the market economy, telecommunications has achieved the highest growth rate in China's history. The national income improved by 12% and the number of telephone has increased by 32%(1.9 million in 1992). From urban cities to rural area, from the coastal market economy in the East and the South, to the western inland China, telecommunications was undergoing revolutary changes. The explosive growth in telephone services Telephone is the most basic telecommunications service. In the past 8 years, the primary goal of China's tele- communications policy was to satisfy the demand for telephone services. As of 1992, there were 1.9 million installed tele- phone, a 64 times increased compared to 1950. The average annual growth rate was 10.4% with an impressive growth rate of 32% from 1991-1992. Obviously, the expansion of telephone services was accelerated and China is now among the nations with the highest public telephone network capacity. (see table 1) Table 1: The first 10 nations in number of telephone trunks Country # of trunks US 127,178,122 Japan 52,453,493 Germany 32,000,000 France 28,000,000 Gr. Britain 25,000,000 Italy 22,350,000 S. Korea 13,513,523 Canada 13,206,233 Brazil 9,081,649 China 6,850,303 Source: Yearbook of Common Carrier Telecommunications Statistics(1981-1991) In 1992, there was 1.63 telephone per a hundred persons in China. Up by 3.8 times from 1980 with 11.7% annual growth rate. Compared to 1991, 1992 has seen a 26.3% increase. In the contrary, the world's average annual growth in telephone service was 4-5%. Thus, it is unusual for a nation with 1.2 billion population in maintaining a continuous high rate of growth. In 1992, long distance telephone calls via the public switch telephone network increased from 25% in 1985 to 86.4% of the total telephone services (1991 was 76%). International direct dial has reached 876 cities (571 in 1991). National direct dial service is available to 1,476 cities, an increase of 330 cities from 1991). With the advent of the network digitization, the capacity and capability of the public telephone network has greatly improved. Valued-added services like conference-call, call forwarding, call waiting, card pay phone are now avaliable. China has also established 64kbps satellite international link with US, Japan and Hong Kong in order to meet the high bandwidth application requirement used by the international organisations and foreign corporations in Beijing. To remedy the lack of public pay phone, the Ministry has expedited the installation of public pay phone. At the end of 1992, public phones are available in transit terminals, piers, airports, long distance bus terminals, hospitals, shopping malls and tourists area in major urban areas. There are one public phone in every 200 meters along the main road in those areas. Card phone is recently introduced into China. Guangdong province is the pioneer in using card phones. They are now available in more than 30 cities. For instance, in the province of Kiangsu, universial card phone are installed in 9 major cities. Development of other telecommunications services In the past 8 years, besides the traditional telephone services, other telecommunications services are also benefited by utilizing advanced communication technologies. Various new services like data communication, facimile, mobile communication, video phone, electronic mail and other information services are also introduced into China. Medium to low speed data communication and divisional exchage network are established nation wide. Transmission services under 300bps are handled by telegram network; 2400bps data transmission service is provided by the PSTN. Currently, Shanghai, Beijing ,Guangchow and other major cities have established a divisional data exchange network. The national In 1993, the backbone of the national divisional data exchage network will be completed and the service will be available to all provincial capitals, major cities, and perphaps to some counties. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 07:17:31 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Virginia to Get Area Code 540 Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA This article summarizes two articles, one from the {Washington Post} and one from the {Washington Times}. Summary, "Reach out and Touch...540?" Front Page, {Washington Post}, July 7 Mike Mills front page article in Thursday's {Washington Post} explaining that because of exhaustion of prefixes, the 703 area code will be split into a new 540 area code, effective July 15, 1995, was the first major-media article to be surprisingly comprehensive on the entire story of the new area code, new format and why it is happening. The article mentions about the new area code system - how 0 or 1 originally meant an area code - and that Alabama, Arizona, Illinois and Washington state will also be getting new-style area codes. It mentions how all software in telephone switches will have to be modified to handle the new area code format, and mentions that Great Britain had it worse because next year they have to add another digit to their telephone system to handle the overflow. It also mentions stop-gaps phone companies would use to delay issuing an area code, such as the use of area-code style telephone prefixes that have 0 or 1 in them. The District first started this in 1987 when the Library of Congress was issued numbers beginning with 202-707. The use of this feature in Virginia has allowed Bell Atlantic to postpone adding an area code until next year. It also discusses the issue of using "1" before a 7-digit short-haul long distance number in the same area code, and that feature will no longer be possible once the new area codes come into effect. DC does not have toll calls within the 202 area code, and Virginia and Maryland have already set up this feature of requiring 1 plus area code on all toll calls. The article has a personal slant to it: the phone numbers for the Washington Post in area code 202 all start with 334, the same number as the new area code in Alabama. If you want directory assistance there, you have to dial 1-334-555-1212, but if you were in the District and forget to dial 1 first, 334-5551 will ring through to the desk "of Gary Locke, a nice guy who works in the Post's Production Department." It mentions Bellcore originally expected (in the 1940s, when the area code system was created) to run out of area codes by 2000, and was off by only five years. -------------- Summary, "Region's on-the-go-phone fetish gives Virginia its third area code", {Washington Times}, July 7, Page B7. Doug Abrams' article has a more personal slant to it, explaining that essentially every exchange in the 703 area outside of Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William Counties in Virginia will be assigned to area code 540. This article also mentions that even with this split, the "new" area code 703 will have to be split again in about 13 years. Area code 804 (the current area code in Southern Virginia) will need to be split about 2002. It mentions that the 803 area code was created in 1973 with Richmond and the Tidewater areas being included and the rest of the state staying in 703. It also contains a list of prefixes being moved into the new 540 area code. ------------------------------ From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Internet Underground Music Archive Organization: Surf City Software/TBFW Project Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 07:02:16 GMT (Author's Note: the following is an edited version of an article recently appearing on the la-radio mailing list. I forwarded this, sparked by the "101 best things you can do with an NII" post.) In yet another random act of net.cluelessness by the mass media, {Newsweek} ran a story on a band called the Whistle Pigs in their June 27, 1994 issue. Unless you know about the Internet Underground Music Archive, you probably haven't heard about these guys. Of course, {Newsweek} didn't give out the following helpful info that came to me from Frederick Smythe, Esq., who responded to my query on rec.music.misc: > Date: Fri, 8 Jul 94 17:28:30 PDT > From: jonl@hal.com (frederick smythe, esquire) > To: rlm@helen.surfcty.com > Subject: Whistle Pigs > the whistle pigs are a local band out of santa cruz, and one of > the first set of bands uploaded to IUMA (the internet underground music > archive). you can access it through the following methods: > ftp: ftp.iuma.com > gopher: www.iuma.com > web: http://www.iuma.com/index.html > if you want to jump directly to the Whistle Pigs' info, you can get to it: > ftp: ftp.iuma.com:/music/The_Whistle_Pigs/ > gopher: www.iuma.com -> music -> The_Whistle_Pigs > web: http://www.iuma.com/band_html/The_Whistle_Pigs.html The Pigs have done so well for themselves on the rotating magnetic storage at iuma.com, rather than the spinning CDs at a radio station, that an unnamed independent label signed them. Stories like this one make record execs nervous. According to {Newsweek}, Sony Music CEO Michael Schulhof posed the question in March, "Is retail dead?". {Newsweek}: "He said no, but it took five minutes to explain why." It should also make anyone owning a broadcast license jittery. Elsewhere on the Net: In related (old) news, ex-MTV VJ Adam Curry's old site, mtv.com, has moved to metaverse.com. (You can write Adam, or his right hand, Ken, at adam@metaverse.com or ken@metaverse.com, but don't expect a reply any time soon.) Apparently Viacom/MTV Networks didn't like the idea of Curry using the mtv.com domain, and are suing him to get it back. I checked into mtv.com yesterday; aside from a URL pointer to the new site, it's an empty shell. Curry these days is busying himself with his company On Ramp, which tries to help record labels get on the Net "without getting ripped off". To join la-radio: send a single-line e-mail message to la-radio-request@helen.surfcty.com, containing the word "subscribe". Robert L. McMillin | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Netcom: rlm@netcom.com Surf City Software | Purveying superior SCSI backup/utilities for the Mac Contact chris@surfcty.com for sales info. ------------------------------ From: plas@sait01.plc.um.es (Pablo del Amor Saavedra) Subject: Intelligent Buildings Organization: Universidad de Murcia Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 09:43:59 GMT A project on the integration of structured networks and the distribution of technical services. Background: In recent years, we have seen the birth and development of a new concept which is revolutionising the construction and telecommunication sectors. This is known as Intelligent Buildings. In this field, technical communication of the different data which is involved in the control process of these so called buildings has progressed in different ways. Today it has resulted firstly in a communication network for the technical services and secondly it is responsible for voice transmission, data and images under a structured cable system. Object of the project: The project attemps to unite, under the same format, the two communication philosophies that have been developed so far to give the solution a universality and compatibility aspect that has been inexistant so far. In order to do this market research will inicially be carried out in two ways. Firstly, the aim is to obtain the specialized opinions and suggestions of the key companies in this field. Secondly, it is hope to compile all the existing preferences in the present market which has been asked for by the buying companies of the product, focusing on both the impact and the welcome that the product would receive. Message: In this market research, we would be grateful for any opinion, suggestion or information that you could contribuite to this project based on its aims and which would be useful to obtain the best solution. Please send any suggestion to plas@plc.um.es, Thanks. Direction: D. Nicolas Hernandez Robles. CEEIC. Aulas de Formacion. Polgono Industrial Cabezo Beaza. C/ Berln, Parcela 3-F. 30395 Cartagena ( Murcia ). SPAIN. Telf. : ( 968 ) 52 77 56 FAX: ( 968 ) 50 08 39 EMAIL: plas@plc.um.es ------------------------------ From: AGENOVES@wpsco.gmu.edu (ANN GENOVESE ) Subject: Call Accounting vs Service Bureau Date: Mon, Jul 11 08:44:58 1994 Hello to all: I am working on a comparison of call accounting systems and telecom service bureaus and would like your input on the "pros" and "cons" of each. We are a medium sized University with a resident student population of about 2,000 and a faculty/staff population of about 3,000. We are interested in student re-sale of telephone service and want the flexibility to adjust rates charged to students "on demand". Faculty/staff telephone charges are billed back on a department (budget code) basis. We presently have Centrex service. I am most interested in those that have call accounting and/or service bureaus sharing with me what they like least and best about their systems/services. You can respond to me directly through EMail at AGENOVES@GMU.EDU Thanks! ------------------------------ From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Subject: Televirtuality - Looking For Labs Working in This Area Date: 11 Jul 1994 09:22:16 GMT Organization: WORLDESIGN, Seattle Televirtuality is the use of telecommunications networks to link virtual worlds generators, creating shared virtual worlds "in" the net. I am looking for labs in the U.S. and elsewhere working in this area for possible inclusion on a major conference panel. Thanks. Bob Jacobson ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering Date: 11 Jul 1994 00:47:58 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In , jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) writes: > I was told by two individuals [at NYNEX] that Ringmate is incompatible > with Call Answering on the 5ESS. > I am assuming that the interaction is between Ringmate and the > Busy/Don't Answer forward that is installed along with Call Answering. > My aunt at SNET said that this feature combination works fine on the > 5ESS switches that she oversees. She speculates that it could be a > tariff issue, i.e. NYNEX never got approval to offer B/DA forwarding > in combination with Ringmate. I had a similar problem with Pacific Bell a few years back. In my case, I wanted to have busy/no-answer transfer and call waiting on the same line. They told me "can't be done." They said that the switch could not do it. At the time, I was served by a 1AESS, and I had just had service terminated in US West territory on a 1A that had exactly that combination of services. So, I persisted with the knowledge that the switch can do it just fine. As is often the case, it came down to a tariff issue. Once I got to the right person, I was quoted chapter and verse from the tariff. There was a clause which specifically stated that "busy/no-answer transfer cannot be used on any line that has call waiting." As is unfortunately the case with many of these issues, the reason for the tariff restriction is not stated in the tariff. Someone must have had a reason for putting in a specific clause that forbids this combination, but nobody seems to know why. Since my only solution to the problem was to get another line, perhaps the motivation was to make sure that heavy users who need a lot of features get mutiple lines (at a higher cost of course). I know a couple of long-time Bell engineers, and explained the situation to them. They told me that this is not an unusual case. What happens is that there is some good reason (such as many switches at the time the tariff was written not supporting this combination) that the restriction was put in. Since that time, the switches have advanced to the point where it is no longer a problem, but nobody at Bell notices this and so no proactive action to update the tariff is taken. What usually causes a change is some big customer needing the service and who has the clout to get in touch with a person with the power to initiate a tariff change. With my specific situation, I'm sure that the busy/no-answer tranfser and call waiting restriction has been removed now that Pacific Bell has their Message Center voicemail. After all, they would lose a lot of business if they told customers that they had to cancel call waiting in order to get telco voice mail. This is an excellent example of how the telco's unregulated service division competes unfairly with non-telco companies. Any outside vendor wishing to provide voice mail had a hard time in doing so because none of their customers could have call waiting because of the tariff specific tariff provision. However, now that the telco wants to sell voice mail, all of a sudden the tariff gets updated. Sure, "everybody" has to abide by the same tariff, but it is quite possible for the telco to engineer the tariff in order to prevent any competitor from getting a head start in the market before the telco is good and ready to offer their "unregulated" product. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sure they can modify the tariff when the need arises, but some telcos have a tariff filed which allows for various and sundry things not covered in other tariffs. Case in point: Back about 1973-75 when I was operating my telephone recorded message service I had a huge number of lines all wired in a rotary hunt group with answering machines rented from Illinois Bell on each line. I had a bunch of things done on the lines such as having the machines all slaved to each other so I could make my daily recording on just the first machine and the others would all capture it. I had a provision to 'busy-out' all the lines during the five minutes or so daily required to install the new three minute message each day. Curious, but not wanting to press my luck I inquired of the service rep handling my account what tariff(s) allowed for the chaining together of the machines in the way they did it -- they said I was the first customer in their history who had a configuration exactly the way I had it set up with so many lines -- and the next day a man called me back to say that IBT had Tariff on file which was intended to cover any circumstances not included in other tariffs ... sort of a 'just in case we accidentally forgot to include something else,' tariff. NYNEX may have the same thing, so that if something technically violates one tariff they can handle it through a catch-all tariff elsewhere. PAT] ------------------------------ From: waddell@iglou.iglou.com (Steve Waddell) Subject: Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering Organization: The Internet Gateway of Louisville, KY Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 15:43:44 GMT If that is the question ... According to BellSouth technical documents, it is available, but only the main number will be carried on the forwarded call, so only the main number's Voice Mailbox can answer no matter which of the RingMaster numbers were dialed/forwarded. On other switches (1A) only main number is forwarded, or all numbers are forwarded with appropriate numbers carried (DMS). It may be that AmericaTech's "Methods and Procedures" do not address the situation, and for the tech it is then "technically" impossible, since he has never been told that he can do it. Creativity is not allowed. Steve :^> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - waddell@iglou.com 10307 St. Rene Rd. voice 502-266-5695 Louisville, KY 40299-4040 "It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for" Will Rogers [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hey, Will Rogers was a third cousin of mine, via the Rogers family which married the Martins and produced my grandmother Susie Martin about 1890. Will Rogers was her cousin removed, I think. Any quotes of his in .signature files are good enough to leave intact here in the Digest. PAT] ------------------------------ From: davep@u.washington.edu (Dave Ptasnik) Subject: Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering Date: 11 Jul 1994 15:54:14 GMT Organization: University of Washington jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) writes: > While I had intended to read replies to the post I sent in regarding > Ringmate before ordering, I decided yesterday to call NYNEX to verify > that the service is indeed available in my area. I was told by two > individuals that Ringmate is incompatible with Call Answering on the > 5ESS. I remember reading in the archives that at least one person > (was it you, PAT?) in fact had both features and was served by a 5E. The University of Washington has Centrex/Centron from a 5ESS, with an Octel Voice Mail. Custom ringing (ringmate) does work well with this configuration. When the caller reaches the Octel, the Octel answers with the voice mail box for the number dialed. In other words, one line, three phone numbers, three voice mail boxes. Everyone gets their own messages, and only their own messages. Dave Ptasnik davep@u.washington.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Might have been me when I used to live in Chicago. One thing to say about Chicago, they have modern phone service even if everything else there stinks to high heaven. Here in Skokie we are not so fortunate. I heard we are gonna get dial service sometime in a year or so. ... our little village does not rank as high in importance as Chicago where telecommunications and Illinois Bell is concerned. Is it true some people can dial calls direct all the way to Milwaukee without having to go through an operator? In the example you cited, remember telco is dealing with a large institutional subscriber. They can have whatever they want, when they want it. Not so the average subscriber. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 05:55:03 -0400 From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: An Answer From NYNEX (Re: NYNEX Says No Ringmate With Call Answering) Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst I spoke last week with a NYNEX rep who, after taking my Ringmate order discovered that, in fact, I could not combine Ringmate with Call Answering. She did a quick bit of research, though, and came up with an explanation. It seems that the first rep with whom I spoke was wrong when she said that I could order the feature, but that it wouldn't work with Busy/Don't Answer forwarding. The second rep, who said that the two features would only work in offices served by switches other than the #5ESS, was also wrong. Apparently, the problem is that the CO in Amherst is running an older version of the 5E generic (I don't know which one) that supports both Ringmate and the setup needed for Call Answering, but not in combination. So now all I have to do is get NYNEX to upgrade the generic. %-) (Actually, is that even remotely possible?) BTW, there was no setup fee for Ringmate. The monthly fee was $3 for one number and $5 for two numbers. Call Forwarding Variable could be set in the CO to forward any combination of the directory numbers. Thereafter, *72 would forward the preprogrammed number(s) to whichever number I selected. I couldn't get the numbers I wanted (NXX-9595 and NXX-2525) because they were reserved by a company. I was given about 15 numbers to choose from, though, and I was fairly happy with the ones I wound up with. The Ringmate numbers could be non-published with no extra fee, as long as I had one published number. (One of the earlier reps was from Rhode Island, and said that there was a fee. It turns out that that is true--in Rhode Island. Well, looks like no Ringmate for me just yet. :-( Jeffrey W. McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #314 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa22183; 11 Jul 94 17:24 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14553; Mon, 11 Jul 94 12:26:49 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14543; Mon, 11 Jul 94 12:26:47 CDT Date: Mon, 11 Jul 94 12:26:47 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407111726.AA14543@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #315 TELECOM Digest Mon, 11 Jul 94 12:26:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 315 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: ISDN Residential Use? (John Canning) Re: ISDN Residential Use? (William H. Sohl) Re: ISDN Residential Use? (Jayne C. McGrath) Re: ISDN Residential Use? (Lars Poulsen) Re: ISDN Residential Use? (Chris Garrigues) Re: Calling Cards - IXC vs LEC (Paul Robinson) Re: Cell One/NY Problem (Doug Reuben) Re: NYTimes, err, FBI, Looking For Telco Hacker (Steve Waddell) NEA-On Line Update (brerdier@access.digex.net) Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company (Chad Jones) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: john@banzai.PCC.COM (John Canning) Subject: Re: ISDN Residential Use? Date: Sun, 10 Jul 1994 20:40:36 GMT Organization: The People's Computer Company, Essex Junction, VT keith.knipschild@asb.com writes: > I am interested in ISDN, and was wondering could it be used in > residential use? > From what I read I understand that there are 2 64k lines and a 16k. > What is a standard analog line? > Also, do you have one phone number with three lines for incomming and > outgoing? Would it be possible to be having a VOICE conversation,and > be online with your local BBS and beable to recieve a FAX all at the > same time with only one pair of wires coming into your house? > If I am asking to many DUMB questions, please refer me to a file that > I should DOWNLOAD. Keith - Let me answer your questions backwards: 1. Your questions are quite reasonable. I do not know of a file that can be downloaded that contains ISDN answers. However, Codex publishes a very complete and easy to read overview of ISDN. The book is called: The Basics Book of ISDN. It is from the Motorola University Press (Codex is a division of Motorola), and is published by Addison-Wesley. I purchased my copy at a Barnes and Nobles book store in Vermont. 2. ISDN at home is called BRI for Basic Rate Interface. I use the two wires that come into your house to provide three channels for data. The first two are 64K bands and can be used for data or voice. The third channel is 8K wide and is used for switching information. In other words, when you are on the phone with your office and your Mom calls you, the 8K channel is used to signal you, rather than those annoying call-waiting clicks that we have now. Of course, the signal includes the caller's phone number so that you know "wow - that's Mom, I bet it's important..." You can have two active calls, not three. The calls can also be data calls. In other words, you could have a 64K BPS connection to your office's network and be on the phone with a friend. Or, if you want to get into video conferencing, you can use both 64K BPS channels to create one 128K BPS channel, which is what's needed to send video back and forth. My understanding is that you'll have one phone number unless you specifically request one phone number for you, a different one for your computer, and a third one for your roommate. The other type of ISDN is PRI or Primary Rate Interface. This uses a T1 connection to provide 23 64K BPS data channels and one 64K BPS channel for signalling. Of course, the signalling channel can be broken down into an 8K channel for signalling, and a 56K BPS channel for something else. T1's use 2 twisted pairs (maybe it's just one twisted pair, I apologize for having a cloudy memory). The coolest part about ISDN is that you can use the channels for data or voice or video. You get to decide what's going over the system each time you pick up the phone (or turn on the computer, etc.). 3. Finally, here's an attempt at answering your question as to what is a standard analog line... With a standard analog line, you can, at best, have 2,400 baud. In other words, you can transfer, at best, 2,400 BPS. Of course, we all have modems that run at 14.4K BPS now, but that's because they've figured out additional ways of encoding data into those 2,400 cycles per second. At some point, your analog phone line is converted into digital data and is attached to a T1 that takes it into the "Central Office." From there, it travels over other T1's to whomever you are calling. At some point, of course, it gets tranferred back into an analog conversation again. It is interesting to note that ISDN can be added to your existing phone line at home. All you need to do is purchase a $600-$900 ISDN compatible telephone and convince your local phone representative that ISDN is available in your town. Tarrifs and line amplifiers are the biggest delay in making ISDN available to everyone in the US at this time. According to a posting on the net earlier in the week, Japan is pretty much ISDN ready to the point that payphones offer ISDN data jacks for people's laptops. Well, there's an attempt at putting ISDN into a nutshell. Best of luck! John Canning The People's Computer Company Essex Junction, VT 05452 ------------------------------ From: whs70@cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Re: ISDN Residential Use? Date: 11 Jul 1994 04:13:35 -0400 Organization: Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) In article , wrote: > I am interested in ISDN, and was wondering could it be used in > residential use? > From what I read I understand that there are 2 64k lines and a 16k. > What is a standard analog line? Today's analog line can support up to 14.4Kb well (and there are also 28.8Kb modems also). > Also, do you have one phone number with three lines for incomming and > outgoing? You can have one number or many. > Would it be possible to be having a VOICE conversation,and > be online with your local BBS and beable to recieve a FAX all at the > same time with only one pair of wires coming into your house? Yes, you could have one voice conversation on one B channel, you could receive a FAX on the other B channel and the D channel could be connected via packet data (X.25) to your BBS (if the BBS had a packet capability). To receive an ISDN information package, call us at our toll free number (1-800-992-ISDN) or send an email request to: isdn@cc.bellcore.com Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.) Morristown, NJ email via UUCP bcr!cc!whs70 201-829-2879 Weekdays email via Internet whs70@cc.bellcore.com ------------------------------ From: jcm8@midway.uchicago.edu (jayne c mcgrath) Subject: Re: ISDN Residential Use? Reply-To: jcm8@midway.uchicago.edu Organization: University of Chicago Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 15:26:07 GMT > I am interested in ISDN, and was wondering could it be used in > residential use? Yes, I nearly ordered ISDN for my residence so that I could experiment and have certain calls forwarded/deflected under computer control to other numbers based on incoming number or time of day. The inital cost was $1000 to $2000+ depending on the ISDN equipment you purchase, I expect these costs still hold today. > From what I read I understand that there are 2 64k lines and a 16k. > What is a standard analog line? A standard analog line is between 32k and 64k, depending on how the phone company wants to provide you with voice service. The human ear can't detect the loss of analog signal from 64k to 32k, so this technique allows the Bell to get double the Plain Old Telephone Set capacity on its lines. Sometimes the phone company will detect when you have data on the line requiring more than 32k will switch you to a 64k line, other times you need to have the line set up as a 64k line only. And the 64k line may really only be a 56k line if the phone company robs you of every 8th bit for such things as error checking and signalling (sort of their own "D" channel). > Also, do you have one phone number with three lines for incomming and > outgoing? Would it be possible to be having a VOICE conversation,and > be online with your local BBS and beable to recieve a FAX all at the > same time with only one pair of wires coming into your house? Well maybe. The 16k "D" line is usually used as a signalling channel to make and break calls on the other two 64k "B" channels. I think it is possible to send data over the 16k line in and X.25 mode, but I don't know what happens to your signalling capabilities (are incoming and outcoming calls frozen until the 16k is free for signalling or can you time slice a signal in with the other X.25 traffic). Yes, you get two wires into your house. ISDN will work on the residential cable to your house. You will need the NT-1 interface which splits to two wire signal into a four wire signal to the ISDN set. You can put a Terminal Adapter (TA) in the line to allow the use of analog equipment. And you also need to decide how you want the lines provisioned (Voice-Voice, Voice-Data), I think you can have at least one of the lines as a dynamic line (Voice or Data, you decide in your call set-up). > If I am asking to many DUMB questions, please refer me to a file that > I should DOWNLOAD. For Ameritech ISDN info, try 1-800-TEAM-DATA. You can talk to a person, or have documents faxed back to you via touch-tone prompts. I think document 9999 is a list of the other documents. They even give you the rates for the service. ------------------------------ From: lars@Eskimo.CPH.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: ISDN Residential Use? Organization: Rockwell Network Systems, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Mon, 11 Jul 94 14:07:27 GMT To begin with the simplest: A standard analog line is a pair of wires from your house to the central office. With appropriate modems, you can get up to 28800 bps of data traffic across it. An ISDN circuit allows you to have TWO phone calls at a time. Each of these can carry a normal phone call or 64 Kbps of data. It also has a slow (16kbps) data circuit used for setting up calls. This allows you (or rather your telephone gear) to talk to the exchange without disturbing the active connections. This side traffic could be things like the central office telling you there's another call coming in, and would you like to put one of the current ones on hold while you answer the new one? In some central offices, you could also use this to talk to an X.25 network. It is unlikely that a BBS would want to be connected to that packet network, though. Where this is used, it is more for really low-volume applications like credit card authorizations. If there are ISDN fax machines available yet, they are very expensive. To just connect a telephone and an answering machine to an ISDN line will cost you something like: Network Termination unit, with power supply ... $250 ISDN Telephone (nice model with speakerphone) . $280 Analog terminal adapter (to connect std asw m). $400 This stuff is still quite expensive. But once you are over the price hump, it is also quite nice. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@RNS.COM Rockwell Network Systems Internets: designed and built while you wait Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 ------------------------------ From: cwg@mcc.com Subject: Re: ISDN Residential Use? Organization: Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 14:41:50 GMT > I am interested in ISDN, and was wondering could it be used in > residential use? > From what I read I understand that there are 2 64k lines and a 16k. This is what's referred to as 2B+D. > What is a standard analog line? A standard analog line is something short of 64K. > Also, do you have one phone number with three lines for incomming and > outgoing? Would it be possible to be having a VOICE conversation,and > be online with your local BBS and beable to recieve a FAX all at the > same time with only one pair of wires coming into your house? The D channel is generally used for switching information. It doesn't have enough bandwidth for voice data. Basically, you can think of it as two phone lines although it's possible for a data connection to use both B channels at the same time. Conceptually, you might have a situation something like this: You're using Mosaic to browse on the net and you see something you like, so you start a download. The download takes both B channels, so it's cooking pretty fast. While this is happening, a ring for a FAX comes in on the D channel, so the download falls back to using only one B channel and the fax starts arriving. At this point, a ring for a voice connection comes in on the D channel. Now you're kinda stuck because both B channels are in use, but you can see what the number is, and you know that it's important, so you drop the data connection and take the phone call. The download hangs. The fax then completes and frees up the other B channel, so the download can reestablish the connection on that B channel. Fortunately, this happened before the download timed out. Note that I was *not* talking about a BBS, but instead was talking about a real network connection over your ISDN circuit. Most local BBSes will continue to be analog connections for a while and will therefore appear to the ISDN equipment just like a voice line, and even those which do bring up a ISDN circuit, will probably simulate a modem line rather than really implementing a network style connection, so they'll be hard to "pause" like this. Chris Garrigues (MIME capable) cwg@mcc.com Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation +1 512 338 3328 3500 West Balcones Center Fax +1 512 338 3838 Austin, TX 78759-5398 USA ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 08:41:46 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Re: Calling Cards - IXC vs LEC Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA > What happens if your 1) AT&T card, 2) Pacific Bell card, and > 3) Sprint card all have the same number on them Won't happen unless you ask for it that way, and maybe not with Sprint, I'm not sure. Local telephone companies still issue calling cards where the number is the subscriber's telephone number. AT&T's standard cards are a random set of 10 digits plus PIN starting with "85", and don't match the number. Local telephone companies will accept AT&T's card, as will AT&T. Nobody else will accept an AT&T Card number. If you want, you can ask for one of the requested number cards where they issue you a card with the specified number on it. In which case you can ask for the PIN to be anything you want. > However, what happens when they are all the same number, including PIN, > and I make a call over AT&T or Sprint. Does the respective IXC card get > charged to, or does the Pacific Bell LEC card get charged to, or what? If your Long Distance Company card is identical with your local telephone company card including PIN, (and since each company has its own checking system for valid PINs, you would have had to request the specific number) what's going to happen is the match will be based on whichever database the long distance company looks up first, the national one of local telephone company cards, or their own list of their own cards. My guess is that if you requested a long distance company card with the same number and PIN as your local telephone company's credit card, then the long distance company's computer probably will, when you dial a number, assume it's the local company's card since they probably check that database first. Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: Re: Cell One/NY Problem Date: Sun, 10 Jul 1994 13:31:50 PDT On Thu Jul 7 17:26:53 1994, stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) wrote: > I am a Cell One NY/NJ customer, and I couldn't make any calls in > Montreal, although I was able to receive calls there through NACN > delivery. The CellOne rep's answer at the time was that I was roaming > on the wrong carrier. While it seemed impossible, I didn't pursue it. ... which is too bad -- the "wrong carrier" is a typical response you get from poorly-trained customer service reps who simply want to dismiss you and get on to the next call. Had they actually listened to you, and noted that you WERE able to receive NACN calls, the "wrong carrier" item on their "things which the customer can mess up" list would be eliminated from consideration. I am a bit surprised that this happened/ with CO/NY -- they usually have better than average customer service reps, who will pass the issue on to the right people if they can not answer it. It's a shame that customers almost need to insist that they know what they are doing before anyone pays attention to them. It just reflects poorly upon customer service training and how the reps are updated with new features to the local and NACN systems. There needs to be a mechanism in place where cust. svc. reps. are mandated to keep up to date, ie, reading service bulletins and being tested on what they read, and even going so far as to mandate that they actually USE their (usually free) carphones and roam with them "X" hours per month so they can see for themselves what real customers are experiencing on a daily basis. This isn't AS much a problem with CO/NY, but some other carriers even have switch techs and customer service managers who have absolutely no idea what is going on outside their offices! Bell Atlantic's B side *troubleshooting* people (one rep called Anne in particular) had NO IDEA that call-forwarding outside your home market was legal -- she gave me that old standby "Oh, the FCC prohibits this ...", which made me absolutely furious that I had to sit there and argue with someone who supposedly was there to help! And many times when a customer calls customer service, especially with a roaming issue such as the above, the call concerns a problem which is easily rectified, as long as the customer service representative *understands* the nature of the problem. In the instant case, however, this did not happen, and Stan Schwartz could have simply got fed up and said "I'm switching to NYNEX, since my friend's NYNEX/B-Side service works fine in Montreal, with no problems at all." If cell cos. wish to remain competitive with each other as well as with newly emerging alternate wireless services, it is incumbent upon them to improve the degree of service rendered by cust svc., which in most cases that I've been involved in is well below any reasonable standard of customer satisfaction when dealing with even the most simple of technical issues. > *** UNTIL THE BILL CAME, THAT IS *** > I was charged almost $12.00 for calls I attempted to make in Montreal, > and the only preson I ended up talking to was a CanTel rep. At the > time, he said that there was an indicator on my account that he'd > never seen before that was not allowing me to make calls. Hmmm ... weird ... the fraud prevention feature should have just disallowed all calls and hit you with a re-order or "The telephone you are calling from is restricted from calling the number dialed" or something to that effect. If you were indeed billed for blocked calls, it is either a CanTel billing problem or something weird on the NACN in Canada where you are still billed for blocked calls. The same thing happened to me and I was not billed, but maybe something new is going on ... > When I called for credit for the incomplete calls, a more-knowledgeable > CellOne rep figured out the problem. The stupid "Fraud Prevention" > feature indicator, which is not supposed to be passed to other > systems, was passed to CanTel and they didn't know how to handle it. The "feature" is in the NY switch -- when you make a call from the NY market or from a system that gets a copy of your home user profile (ie, what features you have) as do most (all?) NACN systems, the Fraud Prevention indicator is sent with it (I think). Actually, I'm not sure if the Fraud Prevention feature is actually part of the subscriber profile in the visited market on the temporary assigned number, or if the visited switch looks back to NY/00025 and says "Hey, can this guy make this type of call?", or maybe both? I say this because you are both blocked placing calls from Montreal, thus your temp. number (TDN) in the Montreal switch is not allowing you to make calls, while at the same time you can not access your forwarding features in NY, which I *THINK* is based on the NY switch's refusal to allow CF modifications rather than Cantel's TDN refusing feature act/deact codes as a result of the presence of the fraud protection feature in the profile sent up from NYC when you first registered in Montreal and were assigned a TDN. Basically, the *56/*560 codes should work ANYWHERE where you get auto-call delivery and can use you other features. The only place where this will not work is Connecticut and Western Mass, since BA/Metro Mobile is NOT on the NACN, and will not accept the *56/*560 feature codes (or at least they didn't a few months ago). So you could roam there, get calls just fine, but if you wanted to place any, or to force calls back to voicemail (remember they just die in most areas if you don't answer the phone as a result of DOJ rules :( ) then you will get a re-order tone and the attempt will fail. I spend a good deal of time in CT and this was unacceptable, so I told CO/NY to take the fraud protection feature off of my account. > Cell One's solution is that if you know you're going to be roaming and > you have the feature, call and have them verify that it's not a city > that they're having a problem with or they'll have to temporarily > de-activate the fraud prevention service for the duration of your > trip. Ummm ... OK ... seems like a bit of a pain. It *should* work in any NACN market, and not make a difference anywhere else, except CT for CO/NY customers. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone on the NACN with the fraud prevention feature who finds that they can not use it in another NACN market. Doug CID Technologies (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ From: waddell@iglou.iglou.com (Steve Waddell) Subject: Re: NYTimes, err, FBI, Looking For Telco Hacker Organization: The Internet Gateway of Louisville, KY Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 15:58:13 GMT Concerning the "Darkside Hacker": Don't take the NYT's, or for that matter the FBI's, description of technical matters too seriously. NYT employs reporters and editors of all levels of technical ability. The chances of having an article written _and_ edited by a knowledgable person is slim. ANd the reporter's sources are unknown or suspect. The FBI wants to catch this guy and cover their own ineptness, not give good information to the press. Frontal assualt to CO's and administrative computers is unlikely to be at all effective, but this guy's methods seem to be much more elegant and crude. The "Social Engineering" that is described is a huge threat, to the Phone Companies, and *many* others. You do not need to be technically adept to use it, just smooth. Have you ever seen "The Sting"? ... Steve waddell@iglou.com 10307 St. Rene Rd. voice 502-266-5695 Louisville, KY 40299-4040 ------------------------------ From: brerdier@access.digex.net (NEA) Subject: NEA-On Line Update Date: 11 Jul 1994 07:18:01 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA Cyberspace Beckons Educators The Future is Now NEW ORLEANS -- Until the annual meeting of the National Education Association began July 1 MrECH, LindaTeach, Wee Moose, and scores of other NEA activists around the country knew each other only by their colorful "screen names." After six days at the NEA meeting, these cyberspace pioneers have met face-to-face and helped their 2.2 million-member Association take a giant step into the Information Age. NEA's 1994 Annual Meeting was the first to link -- via cyberspace -- the convention's over 9,000 elected delegates to NEA members around the country. NEA is believed to be the largest national association that offers its member colleagues their own access ramp to the Information Superhighway. NEA Online was launched last September as a special forum for NEA members within America Online, the nation's fastest growing electronic network. During the convention, NEA members around the country were able to access NEA Online to discuss the issues debated by delegates in New Orleans. Articles from the daily convention newspaper distributed to every delegate were also placed online each evening -- as were the complete texts of addresses delivered to the RA by First Lady Hillary Clinton and other convention speakers. For many convention delegates -- and NEA members around the country -- access to the Information Superhighway is an important new issue that deserves considerable attention. Teachers and other school staff who live in non-metropolitan areas must currently make a toll call to access America Online or any other electronic national data service. To help remedy this gaping pothole on the Information Superhighway, delegates at the NEA convention signed and mailed thousands of postcards urging state public utility commissions and telecommunications agencies to give educators an affordable "on ramp" onto the information superhighway. In other cyberspace-related action, delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly also voted to have their Association begin placing Internet addresses on all materials the Association circulates. Throughout the NEA Annual Meeting, which ended July 6, delegates had a chance to test-drive the Information Superhighway in a special, computer-equipped demonstration area. By the end of the meeting, the convention hall was peppered with delegates wearing flashy lapel buttons -- "Hi. My screen name is ..." -- that asked fellow delegates to meet them online. If you have any questions or comments about the NEA's attempts to make the internet more accessible to its members via NEA On-Line, please direct them to: NEATECH@aol.com (or) NEACOMM1@aol.com (or) NEAHELP@aol.com ------------------------------ From: cjones@gse.ucla.edu (Chad Jones) Subject: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 05:10:46 -0700 Organization: University of California, Los Angeles I just moved into a large apartment complex (maybe 400 units) in Culver City, CA. I got a note on the door yesterday from the management that they are thinking of contracting out the telephone service to a private company called ResCom, Inc. Apparently a survey will be conducted next week among tenants. Currently our service is provided by Pacific Bell. I have a few questions about this service and maybe someone familiar with this kind of service can answer them: I have two phone lines. Can I keep both? Will I have to change my phone numbers? We were told we would get more services for less money. IS this true? What about local long distance rates? Can I get the kinds of calling plans offered by Pac Bell? Will I have a choice of long distance companies? Can I choose to stay with Pac Bell while everyone else is with ResCom? Will ResCom offer ISDN- or ATM-capbable connections? What about services such as call waiting? I just bought new phones. Will they work with the new system? Is ResCom regulated by the Public Utilities Commission? I plan on asking these questions and more to ResCom when they call. Chad Jones Network Manager UCLA Graduate School of Education cjones@gse.ucla.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would say most of those questions are going to be difficult to answer until you see information provided by the proposed vendor. When it arrives, please do share it here. One thing is certain, they *all* say you will get more for less. MCI was giving its very first customers back in 1973 that very same rap; they all lie -- there is no such thing as more for less, just different ways of figuring out the bill each month and various sneaky ways of hiding certain charges which are bundled in with others, etc. So it won't be more for less; it will be the apartment management gettipiece of the action at the expense of the tenants by sticking them with this new scheme which may or may not be mutally beneficial for the tenants involved. Wait and see, and please keep us advised. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #315 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01582; 12 Jul 94 20:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17068; Tue, 12 Jul 94 16:49:14 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17059; Tue, 12 Jul 94 16:49:12 CDT Date: Tue, 12 Jul 94 16:49:12 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407122149.AA17059@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #316 TELECOM Digest Tue, 12 Jul 94 16:49:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 316 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Global Networks" ed. Harasim (Rob Slade) Broadband Networking News (enews@access.digex.net) AlphaNumeric Paging via Email (Follow-Up) (Patrick Larkin. Jr.) Cellular Towers and Frequencies (Shawn Gordhamer) New Bellcore Book on New Technologies and Services (Van Hefner) Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company (Danny Burstein) Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company (Jim Gottlieb) Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company (bailbutton@aol.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 12:48:47 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Global Networks" ed. Harasim BKGLBLNT.RVW 940330 The MIT Press 55 Hayward Street Cambridge, MA 02142-1399 Robert V. Prior, Editor - Computer Science prior@mitvma.mit.edu Maureen Curtin, Int'l Promo. - curtin@mit.edu "Global Networks", Harasim, 1993, 0-262-08222-5, U$29.95 linda_harasim@sfu.ca A few days before I got this book, I noted a news story which talked about the slow growth of the Internet in Japan. A local pundit was explaining that the Internet culture and mindset was inappropriate in Japan, leaving the impression that the American mindset was different. Well, not to worry, Japan. The Americans, by and large, don't understand the Internet any better than you do. This was also interesting in view of the article in the book by a Japanese author. At one point he states that email is unsuitable for the Japanese, because Japanese communication relies so much on context. (Whose doesn't?) In the very next paragraph, he states that email is most suitable for Japanese because email addressees can't interrupt the sender. The preface doesn't give a clear picture of the purpose of the book. The book is interdisciplinary in nature and written by "experts in their fields", but the nature of those fields is remarkably hard to pin down. Chapter one is really an extension of the preface, and does give us a description of four parts to the book, but, aside from "Applications" (more properly very limited case studies), any article could be said to fit the designations of "From Technology to Community", "Issues in Globalizing Networks", or "Visions for the Future". I read the articles in the book with a growing sense of disbelief. It seemed to be an almost deliberate parody on the uselessness of academic research. Papers without premises, conclusions that don't conclude, and articles by people all of whom presumably have Internet access, but almost none of whom seemed to have used it to explore a wider world. The preface states this is a multi-disciplinary study: it seems to be a remarkably undisciplined one. (I must excuse certain parties from this indictment. Quarterman is as cogent as ever; Kapor and Weitzner, while prosletizing for the IPN, at least know whereof they speak. Jacobson does, as well, and while his piece has a decided "new age" flavour, it contains about the only passion in the book.) One possible indicator of the lack of network familiarity is the continual use of analogies to other forms of "community". Computer communications is a new medium, and a new type of community. The articles are therefore bolstered by literature surveys and ten-year-old studies. The only recent experiment cited is the Global Authoring Network, which can't be said to be an overwhelming success: it produced this book. Or perhaps it was the participants. Two note (citing a prior study of some sort) that email is not suitable for collaborative work. Having spent seven years in one particular collaborative research project, I have some trouble with a statement like that. (The design of the collaboration over the Global Authoring Network may also be at fault here. Network activity is much more suitable to concurrent, multi-threaded tasks and discussions than the arbitrary, sequential activity described in the book.) The range of topics covered is broad. The representations of specialty and culture by the various authors is likewise impressive and potentially useful. The papers, however, all seem to be the work of network neophytes, or, if they have some experience, it is with a single specialty system or topic. About half the articles must bring us the surprising news that on the net, no one knows your height or skin colour. All of this stuff would have been interesting--fifteen years ago. This book has a possible place as a text for a course in computer mediated communications, preferably as a springboard to further research or a discussion starter. I would have trouble recommending it even to a newcomer to the online world. I may be judging it too harshly out of a sense of deep personal disappointment. I have an abiding interest in the social, as opposed to purely technical, aspects of the net. I have been looking for a book of this type for a long time. I wish it had been done better. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKGLBLNT.RVW 940330. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated mailing lists/newsgroups. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: enews@access.digex.net (enews) Subject: Broadband Networking News Date: 12 Jul 1994 12:28:38 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA The featured article from the June 28 issue of {Broadband Networking News} looks at the use of ATM to provide video and audio clips of the World Cup. Here is an excerpt from "WORLD CUP '94 GETS A KICK OUT OF ATM." _____ World Cup '94 is using ATM to link sites across the United States to make real-time video and audio clips of soccer match highlights available to fans. This represents the most sophisticated implementation of communications technology at a sporting event ever. At the games in Italy four years ago, daily updates of scores and game statistics were transferred to diskettes and physically transported to game headquarters in Rome. This year, ATM is being used by the World Cup News Services as part of the World Cup Multimedia Project. Four SynOptics' LattisCell ATM switches will be linked to as many as 32 multimedia Sun workstations or kiosks at World Cup venues in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Games and high-lights are being videotaped at each site. The analog video is being sent over high-capacity networks to Dallas where the information is digitized, compressed and distributed to each of the remote video servers. Dallas plays the role of host for the central news bureau. Each Sun server is connected to Dallas via multiple Sprint- supplied T1 connections operating at 1.544 Mbps. World Cup attenders will be able to retrieve real-time, full-motion color video clips from matches being held at the participating venues at kiosks set up at press rooms, hospitality areas and VIP tents. ...Technology at Your Finger Tips Also available are video clips of individual player highlights, interviews with coaches, and other information. Typical clips will be 30 seconds to one minute long consuming anywhere from 15-20 megabytes worth of electronic storage. Additionally, more than 150 minutes of prepared video, representing approximately 9 gigabytes, will be resident on each video server. "Because highlights and video information viewed on each kiosk requires full-motion (30 frames per second), and full-sized NTSC (640x480) 24-bit color video, ATM technology is essential in pulling this off," said John Jaeger, SynOptics ATM product manager. "Another key advantage with using ATM over other network technologies to link the multimedia kiosks is the low latency required to support audio and video." Sun SPARCstation 10 workstations will serve as the kiosks for users linked via high-speed fiber optic connections operating at 155 Mbps to SynOptics LattisCell ATM switches. Also connected to each ATM switch will be a Sun video server containing the digitized information available for viewing at each of the kiosks. _____________________ So begins this issue's featured article from {Broadband Networking News}. This article and others from Broadband Networking News and additional publications can be viewed at no charge on The Electronic Newsstand, a service which collects articles, editorials, and table of contents from over 120 magazines and provides them to the Global Internet community. Access to The Electronic Newsstand is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via Gopher, an information navigation and retrieval technology from the University of Minnesota. For those without a local Gopher client program, The Electronic Newsstand provides a telnet account which will allow you to use a text based Gopher client to access our service. To access The Electronic Newsstand, via Local Gopher Client: Hostname: gopher.internet.com Port: 2100 via the Gopher Home Menu at U of Minn: Other Gopher and Information Servers/ North America/ USA/ General/ The Electronic Newsstand (tm) via Gopher Link Information: Name=The Electronic Newsstand Type=1 Port=2100 Path=1/ Host=gopher.internet.com via Telnet: Hostname: gopher.internet.com Loginname: enews Password: via World Wide Web: URL: gopher://gopher.internet.com/ If you have any suggestions on how we might improve this service, or need more information, please email staff@enews.com. --The Electronic Newsstand Staff ------------------------------ From: plarkin@iphase.com (Patrick Larkin Jr) Subject: AlphaNumeric Paging via Email (Follow-Up) Date: 12 Jul 1994 09:00:26 -0500 Organization: Interphase Corporation - Dallas Texas Previously I posted to these groups: > We are looking into a system supplied but SWB "MobileComm" that > provides alpha-numeric pagers and some software you install on a > MS-Windows system with a modem. The "operator" runs this program and > fills in the blanks, then the PC dials up some system and transmits > the page info. > What I WANT to do is put some program/script on my SMTP hub (a Sparc > system) and setup some email aliases so that anyone can mail to > 'user-pager@domain' and it will send the Subject: and From: headers to > the pager as if it were a person keying in this info on that PC. Well, I wish to thank all of those who replied (I won't publish the list of people because I will certainly leave someone out!). Anyway, here's what I've found. Most Alpha-Numeric pagers' "Pager Central" talk 'ixo' via a modem line. The first thing you want to do is see if YOUR pager uses IXO. Dial up the computer that the PC dials up (try 300, 1200, ... 19200 if you get garbage) and press . If it speaks 'ixo' protocal, the system will return 'ID=' after several C/Rs. Once you've confirmed that your pager company uses IXO, find 'tpage' or 'ixobeeper' in archie. (They are the same program). These are a collection of Perl Scripts and a C-Program to do the actual conversation. You may have to mess around with it a bit to make it work (I had to do some minor tweaks for our modems and add a sleep so that Pager Central would have time to respond before I gave up. Here's a few lines from the INSTALL notes: [quotes on] If you run SunOS you won't have to edit ixocico.c. If you don't run SunOS you're going to have the fun of porting this program. I put in a couple of #defines to get you started. Anyway, compile it with a simple "make ixocico" and you're done with it. Do you run SCO Unix? Have you gotten ixocico to compile? Nobody else has! Please join the ixo mailing list (ixo-request@warren.mentorg.com) and tell us what you did! [quotes off] I wish to thank Tom Limoncelli, tal@warren.mentorg.com for writing this program! Keep Up the good work, Tom! PATRICK LARKIN - System Administrator #include /* Interphase Corporation #include "clever_quote_de_jour.h" /* Dallas TX - USA ------------------------------ From: shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) Subject: Cellular Towers and Frequencies Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 15:16:23 GMT I understand that cellular towers with small cell radius allow the cellular frequencies to be used over and over, allowing thousands of simultanious cellular conversations. I also understand that no two adjacent towers can use the same frequencies because there will be interference. Where I live, there are lots of small towns that have only one cellular tower. Since there are 333 frequencies per carrier, this is probably plenty of frequencies for now. However, as cellular (hopefully) becomes cheaper, and more and more people get the phones, even 333 channels for a small town may not be enough. A one-tower town cannot just put up another tower, because the towers will be adjacent, and they cannot use the same frequencies. Therefore, they would get no benefit from two towers splitting the same frequencies. Even three or four towers wouldn't help, because they would all still be adjacent and would have to share the same 333 frequencies. I would think that there needs to be at least five towers before any frequency reuse is possible. In fact, for a large town with dozens of towers, each tower would have to use at most 1/4 of the channels, making a grid pattern like the following: A B A B A B A B C D C D C D C D A B A B A B A B C D C D C D C D Am I correct in this assumption? Shawn Gordhamer shawnlg@netcom.com Rochester, Minnesota USA ------------------------------ From: VANTEK@aol.com Date: Tue, 12 Jul 94 02:16:04 EDT Subject: New Bellcore Book on New Technologies and Services New Bellcore guidebook gives inside track on what's new in telecommunications; insights on technologies and services LIVINGSTON, N.J. (JULY 6) BUSINESS WIRE - July 6, 1994 -- People who need to know about the latest advances in telecommunications will find Bellcore's A Guide to New Technologies and Services a "must-have" for their reference libraries. The Guide, previously available to Bellcore's owner/clients only, is now being offered to the public for the first time. "We tried to take complex technical material and broad public policy issues, and make them easier to understand," notes Bob Whitefleet, Bellcore Vice President, Business Analysis Services. "It was a real challenge, but we think the result was well worth the effort." The Guide is intended to provide people -- from network engineers to public policy professionals -- with a quick and basic knowledge of many new technologies and services currently being developed and/or deployed by telephone companies, along with the accompanying regulatory and public policy issues. The 330-page, 14-section Guide is organized into three major parts: Technologies, Services and Public Policy Initiatives. Descriptions of the major technologies and services, and related public policy issues are included in Parts 1 and 2, Technologies and Services, respectively (Sections 1-9). Technologies covered include Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN), ATM/Broadband Networks, and Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN). Services discussed include Fast Packet Services, Video Dial Tone, and Personal Communications Services. Part 3, Public Policy Initiatives (Sections 10-14), discusses current and emerging public policies which affect the implementation of new technologies and services. Among those policies addressed are Open Network Architecture, Price Cap Regulation, and the National Information Infrastructure/Research Education Network. "The telecommunications industry is changing fast," notes Whitefleet, "and staying informed is getting harder and harder. This new Guide is one easy way to make sure you're aware of what's happening." To order A Guide to New Technologies and Services, contact Bellcore Customer Services, 1-800-521-CORE (within the USA) and (908) 699-5800 everywhere else. The price is $150. Bellcore provides research and technical support to the telecommunications companies of Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southwestern Bell Corporation, and U S WEST, as well as Cincinnati Bell Inc., The Southern New England Telephone Company, and other leaders in industry and government. CONTACT: Bellcore, Livingston Ken Branson, 201/740-6111 Barbara Kaufman, 201/740-4324 ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company Date: 12 Jul 1994 00:39:37 -0400 Actually, back in 1973(?) when MCI first went public with its execunet service, they -were- quite a bit cheapr than AT&T. So was Sprint, which I started with back when it was a division of Southern Pacific Railway. I remember the booklet they sent me giving the area codes -and exchanges!- that I could dial before they went nationwide. (I used it for calling my gilfriend who lived in New Haven. MCI did not cover the area.) So yes, they -used- to have rates that were much lower (in my case about 40% less, and even better when using a coin phone). Of course today they've been matched (if you know how to shop.) dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nope, you are wrong. They were not any cheaper back then unless you play games with the phone bill and juggle the bill's components around. See my furthern comments below. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jimmy@tokyo07.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) Subject: Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company Reply-To: jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) Organization: Info Connections, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 05:33:09 GMT In article cjones@gse.ucla.edu (Chad Jones) writes: > I got a note on the door yesterday from the management that they are > thinking of contracting out the telephone service to a private company > called ResCom, Inc. I would be _very_ wary of such a move. Typically, they will come in and offer service at lower cost and with a kickback to the apartment owner. Like GTE, it may be just fine for POTS, but forget about anything remotely advanced. I bet ResCom has no plans to offer ISDN or digital entrance facilities. Ask them what kind of switch they are using. And what about CLASS features? And and and ... My apartment complex in West Los Angeles made a similar move. They threw out the local cable TV company and brought in some fly-by-night (and without asking us!). Sure, the rate was a few dollars cheaper, but we went from having 70 channels to having 35 channels, and we lost our local public access, educational access, L.A. City Council meetings, UCLA campus radio station, and other specialized channels. This company only came on-site once a week, so any problems had to wait until their weekly Tuesday visit. > Can I choose to stay with Pac Bell while everyone else is with ResCom? This is crucial. I would insist that any tenant have the right to have Pacific Bell service if they so choose. ResCom won't want to do this, because they will only achieve their required volume if all tenants are forced to switch. They will probably provide a list of the features they offer and it will look rather complete; Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, etc. But what happens after you switch and you find that they are using ADPCM compression to squeeze more voice channels in and you can't get data through on your line reliably. Competition in the local loop may be a good thing. But only if there truly is competition such that the end user can choose. Jim Gottlieb Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan Chuo 1-27-8, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Fax: +81 3 5389 0188 Voice Mail: +81 3 5389 1099 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are right on the mark, Jim. All those fly-by-night outfits which talk about equal access and local competition don't really want that ... those are the words that make it look good. They rely heavily on unsophisticated telephone subscribers anxious to get service 'cheaper' than local telco can provide it. Yes indeed, you were quite right in advising correspondent to be very wary. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bailbutton@aol.com Date: Mon, 11 Jul 94 23:47:01 EDT Subject: Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company Today I received my first editions of the TELECOM Digest. I was somewhat puzzled by Pat Townsend's response to the query about alternative residential service. The comment "they all lie" seems a bit harsh. In 1973 I was responsible for a small data network at Westinghouse which polled a number of remoted sites and collected information for central processing (God am I old!). We were among the first to use MCI for our carrier. While we had some technical problems, our experience was that MCI provided quality service for significantly less money. I no longer recall the amounts, but my recollection was that when we used AT&T Long Distance during system problems our bills went up by a factor of ten. It will be interesting to hear about the experience of the questioner. Jim Lawson [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Welcome to the growing readership base of the Digest Jim. Yours was one of about a dozen new additions to the list on a daily basis ... a list which I'm hoping will exceed ten thousand names by the end of the year. Yes Jim, they were all liars. Here is the catch: Although they *did* charge less per minute on long distance calls, they neglected to tell you -- until at least in MCI's case they got sued -- that *local call charges would apply when calling their switch*. Remember now, in those days twenty years ago, calls via outhern

acific ailroad nternal etwork elecomm- unications (hey, that's SPRINT !!) or icrowave ommunications (I>ncorp- orated were dialed as seven digit local numbers to their switch, *then* outbound through the switch with tone dialers, etc. There was no one plus or 950 or 800 access. Here in Chicago we dialed 876-0001 for the SPRINT switch, listened for new dial tone then dialed the ten digit long distance number. What this meant was we paid for a local call *whether or not the long distance end completed (it might have been DA/BY) the call*. MCI went after large companies knowing full well that Corporation X went through a hundred thousand local call units per month, and a mere ten thousand more would go unnoticed for all intents and purposes. If you tried five times to get through on a long distance call via MCI/Sprint, you paid for five local calls to the carrier's switch -- again, remember they did not have local or equal access as now. So when the bill came each month, they could point to the long distance portion of the bill where all the *coin-rated* calls appeared and say, "see, we told you it would be less by using MCI ..." but they glossed over the fact that the *local part of the bill* -- the part known as 'monthly service' with the charges for units or local calls if you lived in a place where such applied -- went up by fifteen or twenty percent. Whether customers paid it all to the local telco or paid some to local telco and some to MCI, the fact was the same amount of money more or less was paid every month; it was just divvied up differently. Yes, there were certain calling patterns or configurations where there was some slight decrease in the *overall monthly costs for telecom (regardless of who got paid how much in total)* but generally this was not the case. MCI knew that telecom managers 'knew' a lower long distance bill would appeal to corporate executives and that the same executives would be largely ignorant of the increase in local traffic, or would tend to blame it on 'employees making more personal calls than ever on the company phones during lunch hour ...' etc. MCI glossed over the fact that the higher charges of AT&T in those days included a *free ride* from your local exchange to the toll switch; or at least transparently so to the users. In other words, when you (using local telco/ATT conventional dialing of the day) pulled that 1 plus ten more, your local exchange sent you right to the toll switch; it could be across town, it could be in the next county ... wherever. The charge for that portion of the call was built into the AT&T rate. In 1974 I filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Comm- ission, asking that MCI be required in its advertising to plainly state that 'in many instances, local call charges will be applied to your local telephone company bill for connection to the MCI toll switch.' MCI resisted that mightily, but eventually they had to start doing it, as there were others climbing on them with the same complaint. I used Execunet in those days also; I know of what I speak. And have you forgotten about the 'local access fee' MCI used to charge when your call dropped off their network in the local community you were calling? Real bald-faced, they announced one day there would be a five cent fee added to each completed call 'because we have to pay the telco in the town your call is terminating in ...' and yet ... and yet despite that they still were busy claiming there would be great savings using them. MCI/Sprint in those early days in the middle 1970s got as far as they did through two things only: they built on the anger many people had with AT&T; people who wanted to 'get something over on the Phone Company', and with unsophisticated users who believed whatever they read, many of whom also had no love lost for Mother and her children. Like the fly-by-nights of today who express amazement when asking prospects, 'but wouldn't you like to pay less on your phone bill', MCI was banking on the fact that most users were unsophisticated enough about telephone service that they would not know the difference between chicken salad and chicken shit ... and y'all got what ya paid for. Yeah Jim, they were liars. MCI's first petition for service, filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission in 1968 was fraudulent on its face; but no amount of appealing by Illinois Bell could convince the Commissioners here of that fact. Today, twenty years later, they've changed their tunes to sing a more sophisticated version of the same thing they used to sing back then, but the fact still remains you can't beat Genuine Bell when it comes to quality of service. Again my best wishes to you and the dozens of new readers on board in the past month or so. Enjoy the Digest. I'll be back tomorrow! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #316 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08162; 13 Jul 94 18:28 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06597; Wed, 13 Jul 94 14:48:37 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06588; Wed, 13 Jul 94 14:48:35 CDT Date: Wed, 13 Jul 94 14:48:35 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407131948.AA06588@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #317 TELECOM Digest Wed, 13 Jul 94 14:48:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 317 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Bridge vs. Router Performance (Scott D. Thomas) Book Review: "The Network Nation" by Hiltz/Turoff (Rob Slade) FAQ - Panel Type (Wes Leatherock) 500 vs. 700 Numbers, Not the Same (Wesley Kaplow) 800 ANI Number Changed? (Charles Buckley) *78/*780 Added to BAMS/DC (Douglas Reuben) Globalcom 2000 -- Are They Still Alive? (Rosemary Warren) History of Internet (Adam Gruen) SW Florida Area Code 941 (James Taranto) Pacific Bell Saves its Backside (Alan Millar) Central and Eastern European Telecom (Jane Fraser) What is Autodin (Thomas Hinders) Cellular Network Systems Design Software (George Emeka) Security Systems (Stewart Fist) Information Wanted on USA 'Dial-It' Numbers (John Hacking) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 14:38:12 GMT From: sthomas@mitchell.hac.com (Scott D. Thomas) Subject: Bridge vs. Router Performance Organization: Hughes Aircraft Company I have a puzzeling (at least to me) situation. We have a simple network with a satellite link included. Orginally, we bridged three ethernet segments as shown below: ( ---- ) host bridge----sat. ---- /\ /\ ----sat.---bridge bridge---DSU | | modem modem | | | ------------ --------- | | T1 | | | host bridge---DSU | | ------------- (BTW, for those of you wondering, we could not connect the DSU directly to the satellite modem because of signalling issues.) We tested the above configuration, and got poorer that expected results. We decided to replace the bridges with routers, one per segment. The throughput was tripled! I was under the impression that bridges were more efficient because of lower overhead, less complexity, etc. and therefore would offer the better performance. Does anyone have thoughts on the matter? Scott Thomas Hughes Information Technology Corp. e-mail: sthomas@mitchell.hitc.com phone: (703) 759-1382 fax: (703) 438-8430 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 12:17:30 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Network Nation" by Hiltz/Turoff BKNTNATN.RVW 940331 The MIT Press 55 Hayward Street Cambridge, MA 02142-1399 Robert V. Prior, Editor - Computer Science prior@mitvma.mit.edu Maureen Curtin, Int'l Promo. - curtin@mit.edu "The Network Nation", Hiltz/Turoff, 1978/1993, 0-262-58120-5, U$24.95 This book was originally published in 1978. It was intended as an interdisciplinary study of this new communications medium known as computer conferencing (CC) or computer mediated communications (CMC). Fifteen years later, the authors decided to reissue the book -- with almost no changes! Turns out to have been a sound decision. The authors have made a remarkably timeless work in an area of tremendous technological change. If not for the warnings in the preface to the second edition, it would probably be some time before even the astute reader realized the anachronisms of terminals as opposed to personal computers or workstations, 300 bps modems, and mainframes supporting thousands as opposed to networks supporting millions. Part of the value is the breath of topic. Basic concepts, social processes, cultural impacts, public access, research to be done, human interface studies, economics, politics and the human experience of communications are all brought together here. The scholarship is thorough. The writing is lucid. The analysis is prescient and insightful. (Each chapter starts with an excerpt from the mythical and futuristic "Boswash Times": some of the articles are startling in their accuracy. All are amusing and thought-provoking.) The original book was visionary. I appreciated the irony of the ending of the preface to the first edition. This foresaw that by the mid-1990s the home terminal would be as prevalent, and as commonly used, as the telephone. The original book entreated you to imagine that you were at breakfast with a cup of coffee-substitute (shades of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"!) heated on your solar stove and beginning to read your computer-generated daily news--in 1994! Well, solar stoves are a rarity (especially around Vancouver) and it was afternoon, but I had already read "news" for the day, plus all my email and digests. I am, however, a rarity, myself. Even though Vancouver is a fairly well "connected" community, only two others in my townhouse complex have modems, and neither has access to the Internet. The authors recognize this as their major mistake. If they had to make one, that is undoubtedly the preferred one. As they note in the preface to the new edition, everything they foresaw originally will probably come to pass -- it may just take a little longer. They also note, in discussion of the fact that CMC is taking longer than expected, the social inertia which resists changes to power and authority at all levels of society. It is instructive that the illustration they use comes from a corporate boardroom. Corporations have embraced the new data bases, financial modelling and record keeping capabilities of the computer. They have been less pleased with the active, slightly anarchic and socially powerful tools of computer mediated communications. A word of warning to boardrooms -- those who fail to master the new technologies for fear of losing place will likely lose all to those who master the technologies because of having nothing to lose. An excellent book; a classic in the field, yet it points to the future of a society as shaped by computer communications. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKNTNATN.RVW 940331. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu Date: Wed, 13 Jul 94 13:03:52 Subject: FAQ - Panel Type Thank you for adding me to the TELECOM Digest list. And now I have read the FAQ and I have a comment about what seems to be an omission on it. I have quoted below the section from the FAQ on the historical development of switching. This jumps from step-by-step to crossbar, and it seems to me there is an important omission where I have entered "************************". Step-by-step was limited in its routing flexibility and the fact that the routing was directly tied to the subscriber number. This made it particularly difficult to use in large metropolitan areas where many different routes might be required and became almost impossible to use the subscriber number for routing from many different locations in the area. Western Electric and IT&T devoted their attention to this issue. (In fact, for a long time Western Electric ignored step-by-step entirely and regarded it as something for towns too small to merit its attention. So all early dial systems, even in the Bell System, were step-by-step made by independent companies.) These two companies came up with systems that were conceptually similar although mechanically quite different. The subscriber number was dialed into a "sender," which made necessary translations to route the number, then signalled a distant power driven switch. The distant switch signalled back its location, and the "sender" gave it instructions where to slow down, then to stop and progress to another switch or connect to the subscriber line and apply ringing current. Both of these switches were motor-driven, with clutches, and were controlled by a distant sender. The Western Electric version, called "Panel Type," had wipers rising vertically through panels of contacts. The IT&T version, called "Rotary," had wipers moving in a circle through contacts arranged in a circle before them. These systems were conceptually so similar that a sender of one type could control a switch of the other type, and there were a few places where this actually occurred. However, provision need to be made for the fact that a Rotary switch could be arranged to hunt indefinitely in its circle, while a Panel Type switch would reach the top and have to stop. While a Rotary switch could be arranged to hunt indefinitely, this was probably not a common arrangement. These switches were widely applied. Most large cities in the United States, such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Kansas City, San Francisco and many, many more had almost all Panel Type dial equipment. (The Los Angeles metropolitan area was a notable exception, which because of the way the area grew had almost all step-by-step equipment at one time.) Paris, France, was noted as a great Rotary switch location. No doubt there were many others. These were, of course, the first common control switches and preceded crossbar by several decades. In fact, Panel Type was so pervasive in large cities in the United States that the first crossbar switches, No. 1 crossbar, designed for use in large cities, originally signalled exclusively by emulating Panel Type revertive pulsing. For a while that was true even when one No. 1 office was signalling another. It seems to me that leaving out these motor-driven mechanical switches with a type of common control leaves out a significant milestone in the development of later dial equipment. This is particularly the case since this was the predominant dial equipment in the nation's largest cities for several decades. - - - Q: How many different types of switches are there, how do they differ, and what switches are most commonly found in use? A: The original telephone switches were manual, operator-run switchboards. Today, these are generally found in developing countries or in certain remote locations as newer types of switches allow for connection to automatic telephone service. Step-by-step was the first widely-used automatic switching method. This was an electro-mechanical system which made use of rotating blades and mechanical selection of various levels. Dial pulses would be used to cause the switches to select switch groups until the whole number was dialed. Some step-by-step facilities still exist today, but will eventually be replaced by more modern forms of switching (typically a digital facility). Step-by-step, with its mechanical nature, can be difficult to troubleshoot and maintain, and does not inherently support touch tones or special calling features without special addition of equipment. ************************ Crossbar was the next step in electro-mechanical switching. Rather than the rotary/level switches used in step-by-step, connections were completed by means of a matrix of connectors. The configuration of crossbar matrix elements was under "common control" which could route the call along a variety crossbar elements. Step-by-step's "progressive control" could not be rerouted to avoid points of congestion in the switches but was rather at the mercy of which numbers would be dialed by the telephone users. Electronic switches were developed in the 1960's. These were often reed ..... etc. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much for your additional comments for the FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions file for this mailing list. The FAQ editor is David Leibold, a long-time participant in the Digest, and I imagine he will be quite happy to include some or all of your comments in the next revision of the FAQ, which is done more or less once a year as his time and resources permit. David, I know you are reading this, so please touch bases with Wes. And welcome to the Digest, Mr. Leatherock. You and several others this week. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kaploww@cs.rpi.edu (Wesley Kaplow) Subject: 500 vs. 700 Numbers, Not the Same Date: 12 Jul 1994 23:08:39 GMT Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY, USA I believe that there is a significant difference between 700 numbers and 500 numbers. Each IXC has the full range of 700 numbers to allocate any way they please. This means that if you are trying to reach a person with an AT&T 700 number you must use 10+ATT, for example, to reach the correct person. The 700 namespace is therefore not unique, and this would probably cause confusion as the default IXC for any phone may not be the one you want if you simply 1+ dial. The 500 area codes are being distributed by Bellcore. This means that each 500 number is unique, and any IXC will be able to handle it. Wesley K. Kaplow Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute AT&T Bell Laboratories kaploww@cs.rpi.edu w.kaplow@att.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well yes, you are correct in your explanation of the difference. My original comments were more of a question about the duplication of service between AT&T's new program and the established Easy Reach service. I wonder if the two will continue to run parallel of if they will eventually be merged into the new 500 service, or what? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 03:45:11 -0700 From: ceb@netcom.com (Ch. Buckley) Subject: 800 ANI Number Changed? 1 800 852 9932 used to provide ANI service in the US, but now I get "your call cannot be completed as dialed" (which is strange, because usually with bogus or out-of-area 800 numbers, the message is different). Does anyone know the new number (if any)? Or is my local exchange (a PacBell 5ESS) doing something funny, and the original number still valid but kept at arms length? Replies per mail preferred, but digest postings read too. Thank you. ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: *78/*780 Added to BAMS/DC Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 23:57:32 PDT I just got a call from Bell Atlantic Mobile, who recently assumed my NYNEX/NY account since I have a Jersey number. After months of trying to get the B-Side version of Do Not Disturb to work in DC/Baltimore, they finally put the codes in this morning. Previously, it you had a NYNEX/NY account and used voicemail or No-Answer-Transfer, you could not turn Automatic Call Delivery "ON" or "OFF" in the DC market (00018), and if you registered (had your phone on) there, unanswered calls would not go back to voicemail or your NAT destination for over 4 hours! When I was a NYNEX customer, NYNEX maintained that they were having a bit of a dispute as to which codes should be used: BAMS likes to use the FMR *18/*19 codes for BOTH automatic call delivery and Follow Me Roaming, while NYNEX wanted to use *78/*780 for automatic call delivery, and *18/*19 for FMR (although *780 will deactivate ALL remote call delivery, even FMR, which is an odd and awkward implementation). This back-and-forth buck-passing went on for four months or so, and since the A side now has automatic call delivery to DC and apparently no problem with their Do Not Disturb feature, I put NYNEX on my "things to do list" and figured it wasn't worth the aggravation of dealing with them. Since I became a BAMS customer, however, I figured it was all one company now (BAMS services Jersey and DC), so I gave them a call about this, and after some "Oh, the FCC prevents this ... It's illegal ... its not in our tariffs" (you can tell they are owned by a Bell Co! :)) I got the right person and apparently the *78/*780 codes are in place as of now. Hopefully they can now get their other features to work, such as Call Forwarding in most of NYNEX's upstate area (unlikely -- NYNEX says this can result if fraud...oooooh! I think NYNEX calling itself a cellular carrier constitutes some sort of fraud ;( ), CF in SNET territory (more likely), and Call Waiting in sections of the Boston system. We'll see ... Doug CID Technologies (203) 499 - 5221 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Doug, I honestly beleive many or most of the bugs in the cellular phone networks of the USA and the improvements in service have been due in large part to your very tenacious stance. You attack them like a bulldog and just keep on barking and snapping at them until you get your way ... and that's good. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ra_warr@pavo.concordia.ca (Rosemary Warren, Logically Yours) Subject: Globalcom 2000 -- Are They Still Alive? Organization: Concordia University Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 03:25:00 GMT Earlier this year, there was a notice from a gentleman who represented the above-mentioned company. He was looking for representatives to assist in marketing prepaid long-distance calling cards, particularly with advertising. I signed up to receive more information and a sample card. Eventually I received the sample card, which I had some difficulty actually getting to use. Anytime I phoned the number on the back, it was "temporarily suspended". Calls to customer service were helpful, although usually a tad vague, and I actually did get to place a call -- bad reception, but placed nonetheless. Then one day in May, I could get thru to the access number! But wait a minute -- how come when I type in the pin number it says I have an invalid card? Puzzled, I phone the customer service 800 number ... no longer functioning from Canada. So I try the alternate number (area code 310) collect ... accepted. It seems that there was a card theft and they would like all their cards back so that new pin numbers could be issued. Being a phone card collector, I balked at the idea, explaining I'd like to retain my card for my collection. Fine, I was told: I should send a fax with the pin number and other information to get a new card. I did so -- adding some comments about how the system could be enhanced to serve Quebec, where I had been approached to sell these cards. No word, no card. Weeks scrolled by slowly. The numbers I had for Globalcom all quietly ceased to be in service, despite the insistence of directory assistance (and having the nerve to CHARGE me d.a. for non-servicing numbers). The salesrep who first introduced me to Globalcom no longer returns my e-mail (from either account). Is Globalcom 2000 still in business? The snail-mail address I have is in West Los Angeles (area code 310). Even though the rates on their cards are more expensive than Bell Canada and card caller debit cards, they did have a very good idea -- with some small modifications, it could compete well in Quebec. According to the sales rep, they had a dozen "satisfied" Canadian reps, including one in Vancouver. (Names were promised upon recipt of my sales app, which I hadn't mailed in because I wanted to test the system first.) Any details most appreciated. Any used phonecards appreciated too. :) Rosemary Warren ra_warr@pavo.concordia.ca *please limit quoteback* ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Jul 94 14:39 EST From: Adam Gruen <0006449096@mcimail.com> Subject: History of Internet How do I find out more about the history of the creation and construction of the internet? If you have any source information you can share, please send it to me. Especially useful would be citations on secondary source materials including books, journal articles, or media articles. Less useful would be personal anecdotes. If you had direct working experience with Bob Kahn, Vint Cerf, or the construction of ARPANET or NSFNET, however, I'd like to hear the story. Thanks! Adam Gruen MCI Corporate Archives ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: SW Florida Area Code 941 Date: 12 Jul 1994 23:09:45 GMT Organization: The Bad Taranto The 813 area code is being split, according to a July 1 article in the {Orlando Sentinel}. Customers in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties (the northwest corner of 813, including Tampa and St. Petersburg) will remain 813; the remainder of the area will become 941. Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: Alan Millar Subject: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1994 03:19:08 PDT Reply-To: Alan Millar My local phone company, Pacific Bell, started printing phone bills on both sides of the paper this month. A handy helpful paragraph was included in the phone bill, stating how much paper and money this would save. It also reminded everyone to check the back side of each page so they don't miss anything. This reminder, of course, was printed on the back side of the page. Alan Millar E-Mail: amillar@bolis.SF-Bay.org ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 14:02:11 EDT From: fraser@ccl2.eng.ohio-state.edu Subject: Central and Eastern European Telecom Does anyone know anything about: - the Alliance of Universities for Democracy, - TeleCommerce Development Centers in Central and Eastern Europe, or - an April 93 conference, financed by the World Bank, held at Christian Brothers University, on telecommunications marketing issues in Central and Eastern Europe? Thanks for any leads. Jane Fraser, Ohio State University, fraser.1@osu.edu, 614-292-4129 ------------------------------ Date: 13 Jul 1994 12:30:12 EDT From: Hinders, Thomas Subject: What is Autodin? The subject says it all ... what is Autodin? I'm familar with Autovon (voice) ... but not Autodin. Thanks ... please reply directly and I'll summarize and re-post. Tom Hinders/Soft-Switch +1 610 640 7487 (v/vm) +1 610 640 7511 (f) Internet: thinder@SSW.COM X.400: C=US A=Telemail P=Softswitch S=Hinders G=Thomas ------------------------------ From: uezechuk@mlsma.att.com Date: 13 Jul 94 10:52:00 GMT Subject: Cellular Network Systems Design Software Hi, I am looking for "THE CELLULAR ENGINEER" a software package by Neil J. Boucher, which is claimed to be a comprehensive software package for cellular systems design. Neil Boucher is also the author of "The Cellular Radio Handbook" which I found very useful. Any ideas as to who seels this package and for how much. Additionally, are there any other similar packages which address design problems for cellular network infrastructure. All help very deeply appreciated. George Emeka Appollo Com UK. ------------------------------ From: Stewart Fist <100033.2145@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Finger Print and Retinal Image Security Systems Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 12:55:00 GMT Can someone give me contacts for companies who are producing, or well advanced in the development of finger-print or retinal-image (or other high-tech) security systems. Has anyone had any experience of how reliable and effective these are? Has there been further development of home-bus or small-business intelligent wiring standards which incorporate security features? The last information I have is of the Philips D2B standard, and that's at least two years old. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 14:19:00 +1000 From: JOHN.HACKING@telecom.telememo.au Subject: Seeking Information on USA Dial-It Services [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Some mail I got recently. Anyone care to answer Mr. Hacking? PAT] Hi there. My name is John Hacking and I got your Internet address from TELECOM Digest. I wonder if you can help me? I work for Telecom Australia as Product Manager for Premium Rate Calls. The products I look after include Dial-it Information services (eg. time, weather, sport results - 25 cents per call), 0055 services (recorded voice announcements - competitions, horoscopes, up to 75 cents per minute), and InfoCall 190 (live advice, fax on demand, data access - up to $5 per minute or $30 per call). I am trying to find a list of Canadian and American Dial-it type services if such things exist up there. Any ideas? If you like, I can send you a list of Australian Dial-it services in return. The sort of thing I'm looking for might be the talking clock, weather info, local news etc, but anything would be appreciated. If you want to try out Australian dial-it services you could try calling: +61 7 1194 Time (East Coast) +61 7 1196 Weather (Brisbane) +61 7 11661 Dial-a-hit +61 7 11634 Your stars These calls cost 25 cents (local call charge), in Australia, so it should only cost you normal international call rates. It costs us $1.35 per minute to call USA peak, so I assume your costs would be similar. I am particularly interested in Canadian services as the Commonwealth Games is coming up in April and I want Australians to call Canada!!! If you can't help me could you please forward this message to a user group or person who could. My details: John Hacking Product Manager Premium Calls Telecom Australia 11th floor 131 Barry Parade Fortitude Valley Queensland 4120 AUSTRALIA Voice: +61 7 8386426 Fax: +61 7 832 0891 Thank you. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well John, let's see what the readers have to say. I bet this time tomorrow you know more about the Information Provider by Telephone business in the USA than you ever cared to know. It is indeed a big business here and one that's made at least a few people wealthy. Unfortunatly, publishing electronic Digests does not get one very rich unless you have a very respected long time business (such as one of the major news services) and charge a fortune of your readers. Neither applies in my case. Corporate and individual sponsors of TELECOM Digest continue to be welcomed and very appreciated. The International Telecomm- unication Union in Geneva, Switzerland provides a monthly grant which helps out tremendously here, but they cannot go it alone. If your company would like to help with the cost of this Digest and be listed in the masthead as a corporate sponsor, please contact me. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #317 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa24303; 15 Jul 94 15:51 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11386; Fri, 15 Jul 94 11:20:03 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11377; Fri, 15 Jul 94 11:20:01 CDT Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 11:20:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407151620.AA11377@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #318 TELECOM Digest Fri, 15 Jul 94 11:20:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 318 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson China Eyes Cellular Market (Cedric Hui) A New Obnoxious Telecommunications Patent (Patents List via Monty Solomon) Has Anyone Tried the New Voice Mail Modems? (Andrew S. Gelina) IP Over Cable TV (Lubos Elias) An Australian Modem in Germany? (Justin Bessell) Mobile Communications (Lars Kalsen) Long Distance Telemarketers (Ed Gehringer) External Modems That Talk FAX (Dan J. Declerck) Public Payphones (Bruce Maltz) Wanted: Internet Access from a Rural Exchange (Tom Olin) "Interactive Telecommunications"? (at5021s@acad.drake.edu) Networld/Interop'94 in Atlanta (Atiwan Prakobsantisukh) Wanted: Names of ISDN/ATM/FDDI Books (G.A. Grigoryants) Sale: Northern Telecom Norstar Phone System (Christopher George) Pager and Pager Network (Curtis E. Reid) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: China Eyes Cellular Market Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 06:30:03 GMT While Baby Bells eye the wireless market by join forces to create new ventures here, companies on the other side of the globe follow suit: BEIJING (AP) -- Eight Chinese makers of cellular phones plan to set up a joint company next month to compete with foreign manufacturers, an official newspaper said Sunday. The China Daily's Business Weekly said the new Jinfeng Telecommunications Co. will seek to seize market share from Motorola Inc. of the United States and Ericsson Telecom AB. Those two companies dominate China's market in hardware and switching equipment respectively, the newspaper said. Portable phones and pagers have become a status symbol among the new class of well-to-do Chinese created by the country's market-style reforms. China will have around 1.2 million cellular phone owners and ten million pager users by the end of this year, the China Daily said. The report didn't say how the products planned by Jinfeng would differ from those currently manufactured separately by the eight companies. It quoted Guo Youlu, an official at the Ministry of the Electronics Industry, as saying the new company expects annual revenues of ten billion yuan ($1.15 billion) by the year 2000. China's government has sought to build up domestic high-technology industries, sometimes with a coordinated strategy to limit the penetration of foreign producers. Last week, the government called for China to produce more than 90 percent of its automotive needs by 2000. The government already limits car imports with tariffs and licenses. In another news ... BONN, July 4 (Reuter) - Germany agreed on Monday to help China modernise its transport and telecommunications networks in a deal that could eventually produce billions of dollars in orders for Western companies. At the start of a five-day visit by a Chinese delegation, Prime Minister Li Peng and Chancellor Helmut Kohl set up a coordinating committee of government and business representatives to examine specific projects. "The chancellor confirmed that the German government was prepared to support the modernisation of the Chinese economy and the safeguarding of the policy of reform by increasing cooperation, encouraging direct German investment and expanding companies' cooperation with the People's Republic of China," Kohl's spokesman Dieter Vogel said in a statement. Horst Teltschik, a board member of luxury carmaker BMW and Kohl's former top former foreign policy adviser, will chair the committee along with China's deputy planning chief Ye Qing. Teltschik said four projects would be considered over the next 18 months: -- a 2,000-km (1,240 mile) rail and ferry link between the port of Dalian in northern China to Shanghai, which would later be extended to the southern province of Hainan; -- a 600 km (330 mile) rail link from the coalfields south of Peking to Huanghua; -- a new transport and communications infrastructure in the Huangshan region; -- a new international airport in the Pudong special economic zone near Shanghai. China estimates that if the projects are implemented as part of its economic planning up to 2010, they would have a value of around $5 billion, but German officials said the figure would be much higher. "An initiative like this has never been known until today, either nationally or internationally," Teltschik said. If the projects went ahead, they could also serve as a model for Germany. "We have so far not succeeded in Germany in organising, let alone implementing, the sensible integration of different forms of transport," he said in a statement. German electronics giant Siemens AG signed a contract on Monday setting up a joint venture in China to build and operate a coal-fired power station in Hanfeng at a total cost of around $1 billion. Siemens will have a 40 percent stake. The company said it also expected to agree other lucrative Chinese deals involving equipment for steel mills, telephone exchanges and other manufacturing joint ventures, but hailed the power station agreement as a milestone. "After operating successfully in the country's telecommunications, medical technology, plant construction and railway technology for years, the breakthrough in power plant technology that we have now achieved is a particularly important step," management board chairman Heinrich von Pierer said. Nine German companies are on the new coordinating committee: -- BMW, Siemens, ASEA Brown Boveri, Daimler Benz, Lufthansa, Deutsche Bundespost Telekom and Thyssen. Teltschik said the firms hoped they would be well placed to win Chinese orders if the projects go ahead. The two governments also set up a railways working group which will concentrate on building a high-speed rail link between Peking and Shanghai and signed a financial cooperation agreement worth 192 million marks ($120 million). ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 03:59:07 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A New Obnoxious Telecommunications Patent Begin forwarded message: Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 08:58:04 -0400 From: srctran@world.std.com (Gregory Aharonian) To: patents@world.std.com Subject: NEWS: A new obnoxious telecommunications patent OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just when you thought that telephone calling couldn't get any worse (due to annoying phone mail systems, and other such "breakthroughs"), along comes some technology that automatically switches your phone call, when it encounters a busy signal, to a node that provides advertising to listen to until the person you are calling is through, when it completes the connection. Having to listen to phone Muzak is bad enough while waiting, but now we have to listen to advertising? OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service (for subscription info, send 'help' to patents@world.std.com) (for prior art search services info, send 'prior' to patents@world.std.com) US PAT NO: 5,321,740 [IMAGE AVAILABLE] ANS: 1 DATE ISSUED: Jun. 14, 1994 TITLE: Telephone marketing system INVENTOR: Mark R. Gregorek, Mahwah, NJ Jeffrey C. Dillow, Sparta, NJ ASSIGNEE: Quantum Systems, Inc., Mahwah, NJ (U.S. corp.) APPL-NO: 07/718,080 DATE FILED: Jun. 20, 1991 ART-UNIT: 261 PRIM-EXMR: Thomas W. Brown LEGAL-REP: Panitch, Schwarze, Jacobs & Nadel ABSTRACT: A marketing system selectively modifies an existing telephone network by modifying a portion of the call processing software of the existing telephone network and by replacing at least a portion of an audible call progress signal generated by the telephone network by a prerecorded announcement. A calling party places a telephone call at a first telephone to a second telephone having a particular calling status. Once the call is made, a switch or an associated network signaling system determines the busy/idle status of the second telephone. In place of the usual ringback or busy signal, an announcement indicates to the calling party the status of the second telephone and a series of announcements are played for a predetermined period of time. During the announcements, the system continues to determine the status of the telephone line of the second telephone. The announcements are played until the call is completed or abandoned. We claim: 1. A marketing system for selectively modifying an existing telephone network by modifying a portion of the call processing software of the existing telephone network and by replacing at least a portion of an audible call progress signal including either a busy signal or a ringback signal generated by the telephone network by a generally continuous prerecorded announcement, the system comprising: means for placing a telephone call by a calling party at a first telephone; means for connecting the telephone call to an identified called station at a second telephone having a particular calling status; means for initially determining the busy/idle status of the second telephone, said determining means thereafter checking the busy/idle status of the second telephone at predetermined intervals prior to completion of the call; means for playing at least one generally continuous announcement to the calling party for a predetermined period of time during a time period when an audible call progress signal would have been provided to the calling party, said playing means determining the announcement to play based upon criteria established exclusively by the marketing system and independently of the identity of the called station; and means for terminating the playing of the announcement and completing the call to the called station, in the case of the second telephone having an initial idle status, said announcement terminating and call completing means completing the call when the second telephone is answered and, in the case of the second telephone having an initial busy status, said announcement terminating and call completing means completing the call when the status of the second telephone changes to an idle status and the second telephone is thereafter answered. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Too bad the folks reading the Patents mailing list are just finding out about this. We discussed it briefly here in TELECOM Digest about two or three years ago. I believe some long distance carriers may have already experimented with it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: GRIDE@UCSVAX.UCS.UMASS.EDU (ANDREW S GELINA) Subject: Has Anyone Tried the New Voice Mail Modems? Date: 14 Jul 1994 00:48:38 GMT Organization: University of Massachusetts at Amherst Does anyone, with a Macintosh particuliarly, have any experience with Voice Mail modems and software? How well do they perform? Are they a comparable personal version of commercial services? If anyone has any feedback, especially on FaxMac (?) VM software by Prometheus, please reply. I would also be curious to see how well the IBM versions worked. Can you have two modems running different versions of the same application, using two different COM ports, but the same messaging database? In other words, a two line version of the Voice Mail system? I asked some of the techs at Prometheus if they had ever tried this and they said they had never thought of it. Have any of you? Andrew ------------------------------ From: Lubos.Elias@uakom.sk (Lubos Elias) Subject: IP Over Cable TV Date: 14 Jul 1994 10:37:50 GMT Organization: UAKOM Banska Bystrica Hi, I am looking for information about possibility to provide IP service over cable TV wires. Are there any products? Thanks, Lubos Elias elias@uakom.sk ------------------------------ From: jbessell@mad.adelaide.edu.au (Justin Bessell) Subject: An Australian Modem in Germany? Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 17:30:50 GMT Organization: Department of Surgery, University of Adelaide Hi, I have a Hayes compatible 14.4 fax/modem which I use on the Australian phone system. Can anyone tell me if, and how I might get this to work on the European phone network. I am planning to visit Germany for three to six months next year and will be powerless without communications ability. Justin Bessell jbessell@medicine.adelaide.edu.au ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dkuug.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: Mobile Communications Date: 14 Jul 94 08:50:11 GMT Organization: DKnet Hi - outthere, I am writing on a book (in Danish) about Mobile Communications. For this I need a lot of inspiration and a good feeling of what is going on in the area. The book will include the following subjects: - Analog mobile telephony (PMR, Cellular) - Digital Mobile Telephony (PMR, cellular) especially GSM. - Paging including ERMES. - Cordless Telephones including DECT. - Mobile Satellite Communications - Mobile Datatransmission - Wireless LAN's - Future Trends If you have any informations about: - articles, overviews or documents of interest - ongoing projects using mobile communications - technologies in the area - Internet sites with information. then please send a copy of the information to me -- either by ordinary mail or by E-mail. (You can also fax them to me -- my fax number is the same as my telephone number, so just call me and tell me that a fax is on the way -- then I will switch on my fax machine -- or if it fails first time because I pick up the telephone -- just send it again and I will know that it is a fax). Thank you very much. Greeting from Denmark, Lars Kalsen Kingosvej 5 D 9490 Pandrup Denmark Tel. (and fax) : +45 98 24 65 02 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 19:04:38 -0400 From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Long Distance Telemarketers To get rid of junk calls ... -- --- --- -- ---- ----- You can join an organization called Private Citizen, Inc., P. O. Box 233, Naperville, IL 60566, (708) 393-1555. It costs $20 to join. They send a directory "twice a year to every firm that we believe to be involved in the Junk Call Industry [sic] (including firms that sell private information about you to telemarketers). The communication basically says that you demand a $100 fee for each junk call you get. Their brochure quotes the {Wall Street Journal} (among others), as saying, "Their [Private Citizen's] strategy is michievous, ruthless, and surprisingly effective." Since I joined about two years ago, I've received only about three telemarketing calls. However, during that time, I've received dozens of phone calls asking for donations to this and that cause, so apparently it only works for organizations who give you back something for the money you send them. Ed Gehringer, Dept. ECE & CSC, North Carolina State Univ. efg@ncsu.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We've discussed 'Private Citizen' here in the past. The fellow operating the organization started it several years ago, and among other times, a couple years ago here in the Digest we had a rather detailed account of how it operates. The reason his plan cannot be of assistance where calls from political and charitable organizations is concerned (it only is effective with commercial sales pitches) has to do in part -- maybe mostly -- with court rulings regarding the freedom of speech issues involved where politicians are concerned. Take for example the laws in some states which prohibit the use of autodialers to make sales pitches: charitable, religious and political organizations are specifically exempt from compliance. *They* can use such devices. I think also newspaper solicitors may be exempt from the ban on autodialers where such bans exist. Again, the exceptions are based on First Amendment issues where the callers and called parties are concerned. The distinction is made where 'commercial speech' is concerned. I think when 'Private Citizen' attempted to collect money on behalf of its subscribers where a political action group was concerned (making phone calls to everyone they could), they lost the case for the above reasons. Generally though, as the {Wall Street Journal} pointed out, it is an effective outfit. PAT] ------------------------------ From: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com (Dan J. Declerck) Subject: External Modems That Talk FAX Date: 13 Jul 1994 23:21:15 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group I need the address (e-mail or snail-mail) or phone numbers for companies that manufacture or sell external modems that can recieve and send Group 3 Facsimilies (FAX). Can anyone help me out?? Dan DeClerck EMAIL: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com Motorola Cellular APD Phone: (708) 632-4596 ------------------------------ From: bmaltz@euclid.com (Bruce Maltz) Subject: Public Payphones Organization: CNS On-line Services (800-592-1240 customer service) Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 05:32:06 GMT Anyone know where I can get a list of Public Payphones in the US? Bruce [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Huh??? You want a list of all the payphones everywhere, such as their phone number, the street corner they are located on, etc? I don't think there is any such list unless I am somehow misunderstanding what you are seeking. Maybe you can explain further or better describe what it is you are seeking to find. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 12:25:01 +0500 From: tro@partech.com (Tom Olin) Subject: Wanted: Internet Access from a Rural Exchange If the subject line looks familiar, it's because I made essentially the same query last fall. My previous Internet service provider, Speedway, appears to be MIA and shows no signs of reappearing any time soon. So, here I am again. I want to find a reliable, relatively low-cost Internet service provider that provides PPP or SLIP access. Unfortunately, my home is located in a small exchange (315-861) that is long distance to everywhere that's anywhere. Thus, I don't have local access to all the usual major providers. Since I will have to pay long distance, I'd prefer not to have to pay for a host account on top of that. I realize that Freenets and similar systems generally don't provide PPP or SLIP, so my choices are few. That's why Speedway was perfect for me. They were free, but they could be reached only by AT&T long distance. They made their money by getting a cut of the LD charges. I've heard rumors of providers with similar set-ups, but I've never been able to find any. Any leads or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'll be glad to summarize if there is sufficient interest. Tom Olin PAR Technology Corporation Voice: +1 315 738 0600 Ext 638 tro@partech.com New Hartford, NY Fax: +1 315 738 8304 ------------------------------ From: at5021s@acad.drake.edu Subject: Interactive Telecommunications? Date: 14 Jul 94 23:47:37 CST Organization: Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa I'm looking for info on where I can get a grad degree in the field of "Interactive Telecommunications" or related (such as Multimedia). Does any anyone out here have any ideas as to where I can go to find such information or even schools that offer such programs? Can anyone tell me what "interactive telecommunications" really is? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! (Please reply directly via e-mail if possile.) Al. (AWT001@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU) ------------------------------ From: atiwan@nwg.nectec.or.th (Atiwan Prakobsantisukh) Subject: Networld/Interop'94 in Atlanta Date: 15 Jul 1994 16:09:08 -0700 Organization: Academic and research support host at NECTEC, Bangkok, THAILAND Does anyone have any details about the program they could share with me? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 02:46:16 EDT From: Grigoryants G.A. Reply-To: Grigoryants G.A. Subject: Wanted names of ISDN/ATM/FDDI Books Hello! We are students from Moscow State University. Could you be so kind to advise some books about ISDN, ATM, with detailed information about Virtual Circuits and books about FDDI. Please be so kind as to mail us information; we do not have means to subscribe to newsgroup. Thank you. ------------------------------ From: cgeorge@netcom.com (Christopher George) Subject: SALE: Northern Telecom Norstar Phone System Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 13:55:20 GMT FOR SALE: Northern Telecom Norstar Digital Phone System Includes: 1 Norstar DR5 6 Line Expandable CPU/Software Unit. 3 Black M7208 Programmable Multi-line Phones. 1 Analog Convertor (for answering machine or fax modem). Complete User and Programming Documentation. The CPU/Software Unit has built in expandablity for additional lines and phones. It is perfect for any small business or startup. Features include: conference calling inter-office paging call forwarding caller ID speed dial call log recording voice mail compatable plus many many more... Purchased New for $2,660.00 on 4-19-93. Price $1,495 or best offer. Please email direct. Thank you, Chris George ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 00:21:08 EDT From: Curtis E. Reid Subject: Pager and Pager Network PageNew York, a pager network company and is a division of Arch Communications Group, offers TDD paging service for deaf and hard of hearing customers. The TDD pager service is a dedicated TDD number that you call on a TDD. The service automatically answers in TDD and asks you for the pager number then asks you to type a text message and hang up. Then, it is sent to an alphanumeric pager such as Advisor or Memo Express. PageNew York believes they are the only pager network company to offer TDD service. I tried to call MobilComm but they would not accept a voice relay call from me (says its their office procedure not to accept third-party calls). Do you, TELECOM Digest readers, know of any other pager network companies in the U.S.A. that also offer TDD paging? If so, can you give me their name, address, contact, and phone number (TDD if possible)? On another track, PageNew York says that a pager can only be used with a single page network company you subscribe to. Their rationale is that the pager frequency is specific to the company and is not transportable to another pager network company. Not like the way cellular phone company do. I told them I find it hard to believe because I'm sure there are a lot of people who travel frequently and would need to be paged wherever they are. Can anyone explain what exactly is the restriction on the pager for certain coverage? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide on paging and pagers. Curtis E. Reid CER2520@ritvax.isc.rit.edu Rochester Institute of Technology/NTID REID@DECUS.org (DECUS) 52 Lomb Memorial Drive 716.475.6089 TTY 475.5049 Voice Rochester, NY 14623-5604 U.S.A. 716.475.6500 Fax ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #318 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa24799; 15 Jul 94 16:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12444; Fri, 15 Jul 94 12:01:03 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12435; Fri, 15 Jul 94 12:01:01 CDT Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 12:01:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407151701.AA12435@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #319 TELECOM Digest Fri, 15 Jul 94 12:01:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 319 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh" by Engst (Rob Slade) Update to Country Codes Introduction in Archives (David Leibold) Updated Canada Direct Listing (David Leibold) IBM & HK Embark on Video-on-Demand Service (Cedric Hui) Call For Participation: BOFs at NetWorld+Interop (Ole J. Jacobsen) Is NYNEX (NYC) Expecting Competition? (Danny Burstein) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 09:44:04 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh" by Engst BKINTSKM.RVW 940425 Hayden Books 11711 N. College Ave., Suite 140 Carmel, IN 46032-5634 USA 317-573-2500 317-581-3535 800-428-5331 800-428-3804 hayden@hayden.com "Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh", Engst, 1993, 1-56830-064-6, U$29.95 / C$37.995 ace@tidbits.com This is a very good introduction to the Internet; what it is, how it works, and how to behave in relation to it. Regardless of your system, you will find valuable information and resources. Part one, comprising chapters one to four, is a fairly standard introduction to the net. Engst, however, writes in a very friendly and open style. He also gives a lot of coverage to the personal aspects of the Internet, and doesn't limit himself to technologies and applications. Part two starts to get into the major applications, such as email, Usenet news, and others. (A minor, but very useful feature, is "subdirectory" style headers at the top of each page, which make it very easy to find a topic when quickly flipping through the book.) Unfortunately, particularly given the later chapter devoted to email gateways as access to the net, he does not give a lot of coverage of email access to resources, although his coverage of distribution and mailing lists is good. Other areas fall short as well: archie is mentioned only to say that it will be covered later in the book. The reference doesn't say where, and the index is no help. It finally shows up in chapter nine, which is a tutorial on access through UNIX systems. (The promised coverage of email access to archie never does show up.) Part three, ostensibly on making a connection to the Internet, contains some very valuable material. Chapter eight gives a great comparison of Internet access via America Online, Applelink, BIX, Compuserve, Delphi, GEnie, MCI Mail, Prodigy and First Class. Chapter nine, as mentioned, gives details of the UNIX Internet application clients, but also the detailed workings of the applications. Chapters ten and eleven are Mac specific, dealing with particular Mac connection and client software. The only concern I have, is that I suspect Engst minimizes the difficulty of connection setup, particularly over a modem. The appendices are very useful material, collected and well organized. The Internet Resources is perhaps not as large as some other lists, but includes WAIS, ftp, mailing lists, telnet, gopher, and miscellaneous sites. There is also Gene Spafford's annotated newsgroup list, and two lists of Internet service providers. Thoroughly readable, and with analysis which does not flinch from mentioning problems, this book could still use some additional details and a touch more organization. The included Mac software would be a boon to anyone wanting to set up a direct Internet connection for a Mac. The book itself, however, is well worth consideration as a general Internet introduction. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKINTSKM.RVW 940425. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 02:50:00 -0500 From: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: Update to Country Codes Introduction in Archives Patrick: You may update the Archives' "read me" file for the country code listings as follows: [-----------8< cut here 8<-----------] Detailed Country Code Listings for the TELECOM Digest Archives July 1994 Detailed country code listings are available via the Internet courtesy of the TELECOM Digest Archives. These may be found at site lcs.mit.edu in the subdirectory telecom-archives/country.codes. Not only are the country codes listed, but also area codes within each country where applicable. The list is designed to list the nationally significant area codes. Local information such as exchanges within a country's area code are not listed except in special instances. Some nations do not use area codes, but rather the local number represents the complete national number. In a few cases, these lists may show the initial digits of the phone number that determine the particular city or region. Format The lists are broken up into files representing each world numbering zone (i.e. country codes beginning with 2 are in one file, country codes beginning with 3 are in another, etc). The zones are as follows: 1 - North America (Canada, USA, most Caribbean nations) 2 - Africa 3 and 4 - Europe 5 - South/Latin America 6 - Oceana including South Pacific 7 - Russia, Ukraine, most other ex-Soviet nations 8 - East Asia 9 - Middle East, western and southern portions of Asia Note that some exceptions exist to the world numbering zones. Greenland has country code 299, in the Africa country code series. This is due to the lack of available country codes in the European and North America zones, thus a country code was assigned from the nearest available zone. In the country.codes subdirectory on lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Archives) the lists will appear as separate files for each zone. Some zones are subdivided into separate files due to the amount of information involved in some cases. The UK (country code 44) has its own file, for instance. File names in the Archives directory listing will reflect the zones, and indicate ranges of country codes where the zones had to be subdivided. The lists are ordered first by country code, then by area code within the country (for international dialing purposes, without any long distance access prefixes for domestic use), then ordered by place names. In some cases, more than one place name is represented per line for given area codes. This is done to conserve space, especially where a country has many area codes and places represented. In such cases, the place names are generally listed alphabetically, and can be found on a text search or through such utilities as (in Unix) "grep". Limitations, Disclaimers and Conditions The listings are incomplete in certain areas; conversely, it may seem to be very complete for some nations. This reflects the availability of detailed telephone information for particular countries. In some cases, time constraints did not permit complete listings at this time, especially when an abundance of detailed information was available. Assistance in filling in such gaps or correcting outdated information would be appreciated; please use one of the contact e-mail addresses listed below. Not everything was treated consistently in the list, either, owing much to the aforementioned discrepancies and time constraints in compiling the lists. ********************************* NOTE ********************************** * This listing is subject to changes or errors in source or compilation * * and is particularly subject to the numbering plan overhauls which are * * taking place in many nations. * * * * This is a volunteer effort, and not an official list, the authors * * assume no liability for errors or omissions; use at your own risk. * ************************************************************************* These lists were compiled for the benefit of the Internet community, the computer community at large, and especially for TELECOM Digest readers. These lists may be freely distributed for non-commercial or individual use. For-profit use or commercial reproduction will require permission from the list compilers. Features and Notes on the Lists Some countries do not have area codes, but rather the local number is the unique national number. A * designator appears with such country codes, indicating that no area code precedes the given (local) number (i.e. dial international access code, then country code, then number only). In few cases (France, Cuba) a main area code such as 1 needs to be dialed before a number in the main metropolitan area (Paris, Havana) but no area code would be needed for points elsewhere in the country. (Note that France is expected to change its numbering plan to assign area codes to areas outside of Paris.) The area/city codes listed are provided as they would be used in international dialing to the points concerned. That is, any domestic leading access codes are not listed (e.g. 071 STD code in the UK would be listed under country code 44 as 71, rather than 071, with the common '0' STD access code removed). Some countries have completely revised their domestic dialing systems, or are about to, thus many STD codes available in previous years have changed or are no longer available. Notes are included in the listings where appropriate. Spellings of place names is complicated by various spellings for given places, often due to spelling within the language group of that place, or due to varying renderings of place names when translated. The place names listed were ones that would be deemed most familiar or plausible. In some cases, a listing in an English-language directory was accepted as a suitable spelling, especially if that directory came from the nation concerned. In a few cases, the Encyclopaedia Britannica or the Times Atlas was used to resolve a few place names. There are a few entries such as "Lisbon (Lisboa)" or "Prague (Praha)" where the common spellings are different domestically and internationally. Meanwhile, there are often changes to community names; while these are updated whenever possible, it is possible that some listings may use former place names. Credits Much of the information was distilled from various telephone and classified directories and information posted on TELECOM Digest. Telephone directories from such places as Toronto, the UK and other international points were helpful. Sometimes an English-language business classified directory was available that could list the various STD codes for a country. The Hotel & Travel Index and OAG Travel Planner also provided some leads for area/STD codes. Some international calling listings from AT&T and Stentor (Telecom Canada), Teleglobe and BT were also helpful in verifying area codes. Thanks to the following for their contributions: Nigel Allen (ndallen@io.org) Andreas Birgerson (Andreas.Birgerson@p1.f407.n200.z2.fidonet.org) Serdar Boztas (serdar@fawlty8.eng.monash.edu.au) Richard Budd Warren Burstein (reviewed Israel codes) Dr. Aivars Celmins (celms@brl.mil) Jason Childers (childeja@UDAVXB.oca.udayton.edu) John Covert (previous work done on country code listings) Thomas Diessel (diessel@informatik.unibw-muenchen.de) David Esan (de@moscom.com) J. Gao (an extra China STD code) Paul Gillingwater (paul@hp4at.eunet.co.at) Bob Goudreau (some general corrections, observations) Gymnazium Praha-9 Class 4I (PROSEK@cspgas11.bitnet) Gert Jervan (gert@elis.va.ttu.ee) Ben Kinchant (New Zealand information) David Lemson (lemson@uiuc.edu) Manuel Moguilevsky (Argentina; South American help) Erik Thomas Mueller (etm@email.teaser.com) A. Satish Pai (Pai-Satish@cs.yale.edu) Valdo Praust (valdo@berta.ioc.ee) Werenfried Spit (SPIT@vm.ci.uv.es) David Wilson (david@cs.uow.edu.au, Australian information) Frank Vance (fvance@wg.wail.com) Gerben P Vos (gpvos@cs.vu.nl, Netherlands comments) There are likely others who have contributed directly or indirectly to the list. Anyone who was omitted from the credits is encouraged to contact one of the e-mail addresses below so that such omissions may be rectified. Credits also appear in the lists themselves for those who submitted information on particular countries. Correspondence For any correspondence regarding these country code listings including updates to information, corrections or suggestions, please send e-mail directly to Carl Moore (cmoore@BRL.MIL) or David Leibold (Fidonet 1:250/730 (david.leibold@f730.n250.z1.fidonet.org) or djcl@io.org). Occasional updates are expected to appear in the TELECOM Digest archives as new or improved information can be compiled. As this is a voluntary undertaking, updates cannot be provided on any fixed schedule, and are often for one world zone at a time. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This message from David will shortly be placed in the Telecom Archives country.codes sub-directory, replacing the exisiting 'read.me' file which is there now. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Jul 94 22:52:00 -0500 From: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: Updated Canada Direct Listing Reply-To: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org Here's another file offered for the Archives and/or Digest, a recent listing of the "Canada Direct" numbers as they are dialed internationally. [-----------8< cut here 8<-----------] Canada Direct The international access numbers to Canadian operators, as of May 1994: Canada Direct information within Canada - 1 800 561 8868 Legend: w - wait for 2nd dial tone [D] - service on dedicated phones displaying Canada Direct symbol [P] - only available at public payphones [K] - public phones require coin deposit or use of card [%] - service only available in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjian, Hangzhou, Shenzhen Country Access Number ======= ====== ====== Anguilla [P] 1 800 744 2580 Antigua [P] 1 800 744 2580 Australia 1 800 881 150 Austria [K] 022 903 013 Bahamas 1 800 463 0501 Bahrain 80 01 00 Barbados [P] 1 800 744 2580 Belgium [K] 0800 1 0019 Belize 558 (Hotels) or #6 (payphones) Bermuda [P] 1 800 744 2580 Bolivia [K] 0 800 0101 Brazil 000 8014 Cayman Islands [P] 1 800 744 2580 Chile 00 w 0318 China [%] 108 186 Colombia 980 19 0057 Costa Rica [K] 161 Cyprus [K] 080 900 12 Czech Republic 00 42 000151 Denmark [K] 80 01 00 11 Dominica [P] 1 800 744 2580 Dominican Republic 1 800 333 0111 Egypt [D] Finland [K] 9800 1 0011 France [K] 19 w 0016 Germany [K] 01 3000 14 Greece [K] 00 800 1611 Grenada [P] 1 800 744 2580 Guadeloupe 19 w 0016 Guam 950 1604 Guatemala [K] 198 Guyana 0161 (in Georgetown, 161) Haiti 001 800 522 1055 Hong Kong 800 1100 Hungary [K] 00 800 01211 Iceland [K] 999 010 India 000167 Indonesia [K] 00 801 16 Iran [D] Ireland 1 800 555001 Israel 177 105 2727 Italy [K] 172 1001 Jamaica 800 222 0016 Japan [K] 0039 w 161 Korea (south) [K] 009 0015 Liechtenstein [K] 155 8330 Luxembourg 0 800 0119 Macau 0800 100 Malaysia [K] 800 0017 Martinique 19 w 0016 Mauritius 73110 Mexico 95 800 010 1990 Monaco [K] 19 w 0016 Montserrat [P] 1 800 744 2580 Morocco 00 211 0010 Netherlands [K] 06 w 0229116 New Zealand 000919 Nicaragua 168 Norway [K] 800 19 111 Paraguay 008 13 800 Philippines [K] 105 10 Poland 00 104 800 118 Portugal 05 017 1 226 Puerto Rico 1 800 496 7123 Qatar [D] Romania 01 800 5000 Russia 8 10 800 497 7233 Saint Kitts & Nevis [P] 1 800 744 2580 Saint Lucia [P] 1 800 744 2580 Saint Vincent [P] 1 800 744 2580 Saint-Barthelemy 19 w 0016 Saint-Martin 19 w 0016 Singapore 8000 100 100 Slovakia 00 42 000151 South Africa 0 800 99 0014 Spain [K] 900 99 00 15 Sri Lanka 01 430077 (in Metro Colombo, 430077) Sweden [K] 020 799015 Switzerland [K] 155 8330 Taiwan [K] 00 801 20012 Thailand 001 999 15 1000 Trinidad & Tobago [D] Turkey 00 800 16677 Turks & Caicos [P] 01 800 744 2580 United Kingdom 0800 89 0016 (British Telecom) Uruguay 000 419 Vatican City [K] 172 1001 Venezuela [K] 800 11100 Virgin Islands (British) [P] 1 800 744 2580 Zambia 00883 Zimbabwe 110897 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This file will soon be an addition to the TELECOM Archives country.codes section. PAT] ------------------------------ From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: IBM & HK Embark on Video-on-Demand Service Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 06:19:19 GMT SOMERS, N.Y. (Reuter) - International Business Machines Corp. and Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd. said Thursday they agreed to test video-on-demand systems in Hong Kong this fall. Financial terms were not disclosed. The test will initially involve 50 homes and be expanded to 400 subscribers by the end of the year. The service will provide movies, popular television hits and children's programmes at the users' convenience. During the test period, Hongkong Telecom said it will conduct market research in November to determine which programmes most interest Hong Kong consumers. IBM said it will provide the video server system, including the hardware and software, system architecture, specifications and training programme. Hong Kong Telecom and IBM said they will work together on systems integration. Hong Kong Telecom is 57.5 percent owned by Cable and Wireless Plc. IBM stock ended up $1.625 at $58.25 on the New York Stock Exchange. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Jul 94 16:38:33 PDT From: Ole J. Jacobsen Subject: Call For Participation: BOFs at NetWorld+Interop Following a long tradition, we will once again offer the opportunity for interested parties to meet and discuss topics of mutual interest in Birds of a Feather (BOF) sessions. The venue is NetWorld+Interop 94 Atlanta. This time, BOFs will be held Monday and Tuesday nights, September 12th an 13th, from 7:30pm until 9:30pm. All BOFs will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. BOFs provide attendees with an opportunity to discuss networking issues in an informal, after hours, atmosphere. BOFs have become a forum for users to meet with other users and with implementation experts. These sessions are not intended for formal presentations, and certainly NOT for vendor product presentations, but rather as a forum for discussions of "unsolved problems." BOFs are open to all Networld+Interop attendees, including Exhibition attendees, and no special registration is necessary. Examples of some BOF topics from previous Interop events include: o Network Device Performance Testing o Internet information tools (WWW, Gopher, WAIS, Archie....) o Internet Firewalls and Hackers o SNMP Testing o Fast Ethernet Standards o Networked multimedia systems o Resource Reservations Protocols o Using Facsimile Devices around the World as Remote Printers o The Internet and K-12 schools To suggest a topic for a BOF at NetWorld+Interop 94 Atlanta please send a 50 word abstract to Ole Jacobsen (ole@interop.com) as soon as possible. Space is limited, first come, first served. For your information, the following is a sample BOF description: Internet Firewalls and Hackers In the wake of recent well-publicized hacking attacks, interest has grown in the hacker's methods and the tools used to exclude them. The use of firewalls and one-time password schemes can foil most common hacking schemes. This BOF will be an informal interactive discussion of hacking techniques, and the various tools and approaches commonly used to implement a denial-of-hacker service. It will undoubtedly include war stories and firewall designs and philosophy. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report, Interop Company, a division of ZD Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive, Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Phone: +1 (415) 578-6988 Fax: +1 (415) 525-0194. ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Is NYNEX (NYC) Expecting Competition? Date: 15 Jul 1994 00:09:17 -0400 from an advertisement/legal notice by NYNEX appearing on July 14, 1994: (typos are probably mine) Note: From my reading of this material it -looks- like Nynex is asking for the authority to reduce rates in service areas (central office by central office) where they're facing competition. Am I reading this correctly? If so, then what about the rest of us? Could one of our legal/tech eagles out there make head or tails out of this? Text follows: Title: Notice of proposed tariff filing for the introduction of residence individual case billing (ICB) arrangements, switched voice grade analog link service and changes to flexible pricing regulations. Tiny text: Notice is hereby given that a proposed tariff has been filed with the public service commission, to be effective July 1, 1994 (sic, even though this ad was posted July 14 /db) for the introduction of Residence Individual Call Billing (ICB) arrangements, Switched Voice Grade Analog Link Service, and changes to flexible pricing regulations. The proposed revisions provide for the following: * Unbundling of Residence Equivalent Link Rates for Flat Rate Service. * Introduction of ICB arrangements for residence equivalent links. * Introduction of Switched Grade Coice Analog Link Service as a new class of service. Switchde Grade Voice Analog Link Service provides a channel for the transmission of analog signals with an approximate bandwidth of 300-300 Hz from a customer's premises to a point of interconnection on the point of termination at the customer's collocation node in a Company central office. Switched Coice Grade Analog Link Service will be offered on a month to month basis and, where appropriate, under ICB Arrangements. * Revision of the Flexible Pricing provisions to permit changes in rates for the following services on a wire center by wire center basis in any wire center where a certified local exchange carrier has established a presence. Individual Message Business Individual Trunk business Public Access Line Centrex III Service Intellipath (tm) Digital Centrex Service Intellipath (tm) Digital Centrex Service 5-99 lines Direct Inward Dial Loops Digital Automatic Call Distribution II Service Switchway (tm) Service Centrex III Airport Service Airport Service Rates and Charges The rates and charges (are available at the telco offices or at the PSC). ------------- dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #319 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa25393; 15 Jul 94 17:19 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14483; Fri, 15 Jul 94 13:34:02 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14474; Fri, 15 Jul 94 13:34:01 CDT Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 13:34:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407151834.AA14474@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #320 TELECOM Digest Fri, 15 Jul 94 13:34:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 320 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Total SNMP" by Harnedy (Rob Slade) Caller Pays Cellular Number? (Ken Jongsma) International Settlement Agreements (John Cadeddu) WilTel's New Ad Campaign (David Cordeiro) Announcing New FCC BBS (FCC World) Help and Information Wanted About Republic of Korea (Xiaofeng Wu) Boston to Israel Services (Dean Mancini) USA Direct Question (David G. Cantor) Odd Announcement After Dialing *70 (Jack Hamilton) Ringer Equivalence: How to Tell What's Too Much? (John Sullivan) Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? (Jody Kravitz) Baud vs. bps (Hugh Pritchard) Write Congress For Public Lane on Info Highway (fwd) (Robert L. McMillin) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 12:16:39 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Total SNMP" by Harnedy BKTLSNMP.RVW 940420 CBM Books 101 Witmer Road Horsham, PA 19044 215-957-4265 215-957-4287 Fax: 215-957-1050 76702.1565@compuserve.com books@propress.com "Total SNMP", Harnedy, 1994, 1-878956-33-7, U$45.00 For all the people who talk very knowledgeably about RISC these days, few even know what the acronym means, much less the concepts behind it. The Reduced Instruction Set Computer is founded upon the principle that developers, in real life, will never be either comfortable or fully familiar with enormously complex systems, and will, therefore, never utilize those systems to full advantage. In practice, RISC processors attempt to apply the Pareto principle, that 80 percent of the result comes from 20 percent of the resources, to code. Find those operations which are really used in processing, and then make sure your chip performs them exceedingly well. By and large, this is the idea behind the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). First outlined in 1988 as a short-term stop-gap measure, it saw initial implementations in 1989. In spite of established products already on the market, and an international standard in the wings, it has become a major factor in network development. This growth is partly due to the elegance of the concept, partly due to the ties with TCP/IP, and, possibly largely, due to the fact that it works. Simple, of course, is hardly the term that most people would use to describe network management. As this book shows, five simple and basic operations can result in a total complexity exceeding six hundred pages. Harnedy has brought together a wealth of resources discussing the basics of network management, the background to SNMP, the information structure and base, the protocol, practice and tools. The largest single item is actually one of the appendices which gives details of the Management Information Base Groups. For those developing network management systems, this is a necessary reference. BKTLSNMP.RVW 940420. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: Jongsma, Ken Subject: Caller Pays Cellular Number? Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 09:18:00 PDT In the Albuquerque area, US West and Bell Atlantic Cellular both offer plans where the caller pays for the call. This is enforced by making the caller dial 1-505 in front of the regular cellular number. When a call is placed from a local phone, I can see how the local phone company can rate the call more expensively than an in-state call based on the exchange. What I don't understand is how this works when you use a long distance company such as Sprint to make the call, either from in state or out of state. Sprint *does* complete the call, but it is at the normal distance rate for that time period. Do the cellular companies take the four or five cents a minute for the terminating end of the call, similar to how the local operating companies collect for any other long distance call? Or do the cellular companies just eat the calls that come in via IXC? Thanks, Ken kjongsma@p06.dasd.honeywell.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I doubt that anyone at the cellular end eats anything. What probably happens is when Sprint gets the call they complete it via the local telco at the terminating end in the same way as all other calls. The local telco then hands it to the cellular carrier and bills the additional charge to *Sprint*, presumably to be passed along to Sprint's customer. Most likely no one at Sprint has yet caught on to this, but when they do, the same thing will result as when you try to dial a long distance 976 number: the carrier will tell you the call cannot be completed. For example, try dialing 415-976-anything via MCI. Force it with 10222 if necessary. The response you will get back is that 'MCI does not complete calls to 976 at this time ...'. You'll get the same generic recording if you try to dial 212-540-anything (that MCI does not complete calls to 976 ...). Once the long distance carriers find out that they are the ones eating the charges -- and the bureaucracy is slow and sluggish, but they will find out eventually -- then most likely they will disallow the call or find some way to adjust their rates to include the additional charges. If nothing else, the cellular carriers will try to force the issue, the way the 976 Information Providers did. The IP's were tired of having all their trunks tied up with (to them) non-revenue calls tossed to them by long distance carriers. Finally the local telcos and the IXC's mutually agreed to quit handling them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jcadeddu@netcom.com (John Cadeddu) Subject: International Settlement Agreements Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 04:20:45 GMT I am looking for sources outlining the structure of international telephone calling settlement agreements. I understand this information is available to the public and was hoping someone could point me to an on-line source/ftp site or any other electronic or hard copy source detailing how international calling fees are allocated between the various parties involved in completing the call. Thanks very much, jcadeddu@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: David_Cordeiro@WilTel.com (David Cordeiro) Subject: WilTel's New Ad Campaign Date: 15 Jul 1994 14:06:24 GMT Organization: WilTel This is a sneak-peek at the new Wiltel television ad campaign. Rita Rudner, WilTel's new corporate spokesperson, will be appearing in national television spots starting this weekend. Here is a sample of some of the unique one-liners you'll hear in the commericials: ------------ "If you don't think it's important to have a specialist, try having a vasectomy by your accountant." "I grew up in a low-tech home. We had to actually get up to change the TV channel. I suspect that's the main reason my parents had me." "Good thing I killed him. Now I can go with WilTel and everyone will think it's my idea." ------------------------------ From: avb@cais.com (FCC World) Subject: Announcing New FCC BBS Date: 15 Jul 1994 15:12:44 GMT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service The Washington, DC telecommunications law firm of Smithwick & Belendiuk proudly announces the launch of a new BBS - FCC WORLD - featuring information on the Federal Communications Commission. We feature FCC documents on-line (many you cannot find on Internet), texts of important FCC Reports and decisions (IVDS, PCS Auction info - on-line now!), Forums on hot FCC issues, free Classified ads and more! The best thing -- its free and without a daily time limit. Give it a try at 202-887-5718 (14.4 baud - two lines)! ------------------------------ From: Xiaofeng.Wu@fernuni-hagen.de (Xiaofeng Wu) Subject: Help and Information Wanted About Republic of Korea Date: 15 Jul 1994 09:09:36 GMT Organization: FernUniversitt Hagen Reply-To: wu@fernuni-hagen.de Hallo everyone, I am looking for Information about the Telecom Infrastructure and Industrie in South-Korea. Any help would be appreciated. Xiaofeng Wu Please send your mail to: wu@fernuni-hagen.de ------------------------------ From: dman@bu.edu (Dean Mancini) Subject: Boston to Israel Services Date: 15 Jul 1994 16:46:07 GMT Organization: Boston University Could someone recommend the best way to go to send voice, data and video between Boston and Israel. Data rates would not need more than a 56kbps line. I am not sure if I should go via the Internet or use fully commercial alternative like Sprint. ------------------------------ Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Subject: USA Direct Question Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 11:27:53 -0700 From: David G. Cantor I was recently in England making calls to the US using the AT&T service "USA Direct". AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in it s directories and on London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) says that the number is "0800-89-0011". When I dialed AT&T's USA Direct using the latter (BT) number, the AT&T operator asked me where I obtained the number, and then told me to use the first number instead. What is going on? David G. Cantor Department of Mathematics dgc@math.ucla.edu University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024 ------------------------------ From: jfh@netcom.com (Jack Hamilton) Subject: Odd announcement After Dialing *70 Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 03:46:47 GMT I just ordered Call Waiting using Pacific Bell's automated ordering system (I called the business office and went through a series of prompts which included entering my Calling Card PIN number). The announcement said that the service would be turned on within two hours. I thought "I wonder what will happen if I try it now?", so I dialed *70, the code to turn off call waiting for a particular call. To my surprise, I got a message saying "Due to telephone equipment problems, you call to the 713 exchange cannot be completed at this time." Any idea what's going on? There's not even a 713 exchange in my area code (916). Jack Hamilton jfh@netcom.com packet: kd6ttl@n0ary.#nocal.ca.us.na ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 20:54:37 -0500 From: sullivan@geom.umn.edu Subject: Ringer Equivalence: How to Tell What's Too Much? I got Caller ID last week; don't have any interesting stories about that yet. But adding my (rented for now) unit to my phone line seems to be causing problems with things not ringing. A couple of times, I've seen a new call registered on the Caller ID unit, without having heard the phone ring, or having the answering machine go on. This morning, one such call was from a friend, who I called back. She had called twice, once getting a busy signal (which since I have call waiting, and wasn't on the phone anyway, must mean another call came in at the same time). We tested my line a few more times, and usually no phones would ring, and the Caller ID box wouldn't even register the call, but I could pick up a phone and answer the call. Other times, Caller ID would come through, but no rings or answering machine. I figured I now have too much stuff connected to my phone line. I looked at the bottom of all the equipment for ringer equivalence numbers. Two phones at 0.4A, 0.9A; a cordless phone at 0.2B; an ATT UnixPC at 0.5A and an external modem at 1.0B; the new caller ID box at 0.1B; and the answering machine, marked "0.2A, 0.5B". I called US West. They asked what number I was calling from. I said "Isn't your caller ID working". They said they have five lines, and thus had to check with me. Oh well, they don't even know how to use their own services. I explained the problem, without going into all the details about the various phones. They said they'd test my line and call me back. I asked what the "ringer equivalence" numbers meant, and how much I could have, but they didn't know anything about that. Just said I should be able to have up to five phones. An hour later, they called. By then, my phones were ringing when calls came in. The woman on the line this time said she had tested my line and it was fine, but suggested maybe I had faulty equipment. I asked her what the "A" and "B" numbers meant, but she had no idea. Just told me to try unplugging different things and see what helped. Not much help when the problem is intermittent, and requires incoming calls to be tested. OK, so enough story telling. My questions are: What is the difference between "A" and "B". Are they different units? (Amps and Bells??) How do I add up those numbers, and how much should I be able to have on my line? Is it possible that at different times of day (under different loads) the phone line will actually provide different amounts of power for the ring, thus explaining the intermittency of the problem? Thanks for any help, John Sullivan ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 01:33:29 PDT From: kravitz@foxtail.com (Jody Kravitz) Subject: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? A couple of nights ago, while channel surfing, I caught a commercial for what appears to be a $3.99/minute phone sex number. The phone number looked REALLY STRANGE. We get some Mexican ads up here from time to time, but it wasn't in an international format. Actually, it wasn't (appearantly) in NANP format either. The number was displayed on the screen (with one field xx'd out for the obvious reason) as: 1065-804-xxxx-A-VAMP After thinking about it, it does parse into NANP format: 10658-0-4xx-xxA-VAMP Here's a number that avoids 976 and 900 number blocking, probably nets the vendor a higher percentage, and may even benefit from differrent rules if the caller disputes the charges. Does the vendor have to have Feature Group D trunks? How does the cost of doing this compare to establishing a 900 number? Does this violate any rules (it seems slimey to me). Is this the wave of the future ? Jody [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, here is a guy who has cut a deal with long distance carrier 10658 -- whoever that is -- to intercept his calls and deliver them at the agreed upon price. His true number is 4xx-xxA-VAMP, but try one plus dialing it via the carrier of your choice and see what happens: he'll answer it with an answering machine telling you he does not accept calls which have not been routed via 10658, and to please hang up and dial according to instructions given. When you then dial it again zero-plus via 10658 that carrier sees the call and intercepts it. They then route it over T-1 or something similar and deliver it to the customer bypassing the local telco in area code 4xx. *He accepts those calls*, but not the ones that come on his regular 4xx-xxA-VAMP line via local telco. AT&T has a few similar arrangements going with 'information' providers -- well they provide something, anyway -- where the call is forced via AT&T and the IP gets a piece of the action. When mother and dad complain to the local telco about the call their son made in the middle of the night to that number and the charge on their bill for a hundred dollars, telco will refer them to the customer service number for the carrier ... "they are the only ones who can issue credit ...". Mom and dad will call, the rep will twist their arm and make them pay, possibly by agreeing to a 'one time goodwill credit of half the bill'. It may very well be that the folks at Integratel act as billing/collection agents for carrier 10658, in which case if mom and dad want, they can have their number(s) added to Integratel's negative listing database so it won't happen again. Lots of IPs are switching to this method of receiving calls instead of 900/976 with the comsumer protection rules which go along with them. Then too, what's a PBX administrator supposed to do? He can block 900/976, but blocking 10xxx is supposed to be illegal these days. ... Luv the way they diddle with the parsing to make the number appear to be some mysterious international point, don't you? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Hugh Pritchard Subject: Baud vs. bps Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 9:27:50 EDT Reading the recent flurry of submissions on home ISDN, I noticed several people referring to the telephone "limit" of 2400 "bps," while acknowledging that higher rates are now standard. How can this be? Everyone here seems to understand perfectly well the situation, but some people write loosely enough so as to lose the following distinction: Baud: Rate of STATE CHANGES per second. In a channel with 8 possible states, each state means 3 bits (000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111). So, the bits per second would be three times the baud rate. bps: Bits per second. Now, I'm willing to accept that the copper phone wires will only handle 2400 baud, and that the modem makers have come up with ways to signify 6 bits (14,400 is 6 times 2400) for each different state change. The modem makers have come up with 2 to the 6th = 64 different states (some combination of frequencies, phases, and phase changes) to fit into the 2400 baud limit. Hugh Pritchard, Smoke N' Mirrors hugh@snm.com ------------------------------ From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Write Congress for Public Lane on Info Highway (fwd) Organization: Surf City Software/TBFW Project Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 13:24:22 GMT Recently, the following appeared on gnu.announce. I am forwarding this article as a service to TELECOM Digest readers. I will make a rebuttal argument in a separate article. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 21 Jun 1994 15:25:01 -0400 (EDT) From: email list server To: cpsr-announce@sunnyside.com Subject: WRITE CONGRESS for Public Lane on Info Highway *** ACTION ALERT! *** *** WRITE TO YOUR SENATORS TO SUPPORT S. 2195! *** Help create public space in cyberspace. Prevent the NII from becoming simply an electronic shopping mall. An unprecendented coalition of nonprofit, educational, arts, service, labor, civil rights, consumer, public broadcasting, religious, community, public interest, civic, and cultural organizations are working to get Congress to designate a public lane on the information highway. Toward this goal, an important new bill has just been released that would open up media and communications networks to a wide range of information and service providers. S. 2195 would ensure that television and other media will have democratic and diverse offerings for the public in the next decade. But in the face of tough odds, the coalition needs _your_ help. * Please write to your Senators ASAP in support of S. 2195: The National Public Telecommunications Infrastructure Act of 1994. Included in this post: * Fact Sheet on S. 2195 * Sample Letter to Your Senators Please distribute this information widely. PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY LEGISLATION (S. 2195) Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Chairman of the Communications Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Transportation and Science Committee, has introduced important legislation to require the reservation of capacity on advanced telecommunications networks for non-commercial educational and informational services and civic discourse. Telecommunications infrastructure legislation is generally believed to have the potential to transform education, self-governance, civic discourse and artistic expression. However, this promise will not be fulfilled unless there is a guaranteed right-of-way for the public to share non-commercial educational, cultural, civic and informational services. Senator Inouye's legislation seeks to address this problem by reserving up to twenty percent of the capacity on advanced telecommunications networks for use by state and local governments, educational institutions, public broadcasters, libraries and nonprofit organizations organized for the purpose of providing public access to noncommercial, educational, informational, cultural civic and charitable services. The legislation is not, however, intended to cover the Internet. Nor is it intended to cover point to point telephone communications that are not intended for the public. While many people contemplate that at some point in the future there will be ample capacity on these "switched" networks so that technological and economic barriers to access would disappear, this bill would insure such uses in the interim. If and when adequate capacity is available, the legislative requirement to reserve space would be phased out or terminated. The legislation also includes a funding mechanism to give those entities for which the capacity is being reserved sufficient economic support to use the capacity. Absent legislation, the telecommunications industry is unlikely to provide adequate, affordable, non-discriminatory access to communications networks, and could potentially control the ideas and information we all now receive and send over computer networks. Information technologies are already having a profound impact on the way we communicate with each other, keep abreast of and disseminate important information, educate ourselves, receive health care, expand our cultural horizons, and engage in political and civic discourse. Politicians and members of the telecommunications industry have all recognized the potential of the "information superhighway" expand the delivery of noncommercial educational services and contribute to a new era of democratic self-governance and to enrich the lives of those people that have traditionally been left out. Senator Inouye's legislation will provide the mechanism for the information superhighway to realize these goals. We need to support public right-of-way legislation. We encourage you to begin lobbying efforts by writing letters to your Senators immediately. ---------------- SAMPLE LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY BILL (S. 2195) * Please write your Senators as soon as possible on this urgent matter. If you can, also write Senator Inouye and Senator Hollings. The Honorable [your senator] ___ Senate ________ Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator ____________: We are writing to encourage you to support the legislation (S.2195) introduced by Senator Inouye to provide space for non-commercial uses on the "information superhighway." We hope that you will recognize the importance of this legislation and consider becoming a co-sponsor. Congress must ensure that as the legal landscape for the provision of telecommunications services changes dramatically, those organizations committed to providing informational, educational, cultural and charitable services to the public are not left out. Congress has an historic opportunity to shape the nation's communications system for the future. But the promise of economic development, educational reform and enhanced democracy will not happen if the new technologies are utilized principally for home shopping and movies on demand. It is crucial that any such legislation provides for the reservation of capacity for open, non-discriminatory use by state and local governments, libraries, schools, public broadcasters, and other nonprofit entities. [If applicable, please state potential uses for your organization.] Sincerely, -------------- The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye Chairman, Subcommittee on Communications, Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation 722 Senate Hart Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Mr. Chairman: We are writing to commend your efforts to ensure that space is provided for non-commercial uses on the "information superhighway." We support your proposal (S.2195) regarding the reservation of capacity and hope that your proposal will be considered simultaneously with the Senate's debate on the broader telecommunications reform bill, S. 1822. Congress has an historic opportunity to shape the nation's communications system for the future. But the promise of economic development, educational reform and enhanced democracy will not happen if the new technologies are utilized principally for home shopping and movies on demand. It is crucial that any telecommunications reform legislation provides for the reservation of capacity for open, non- discriminatory use by state and local governments, libraries, schools, public broadcasters, and other nonprofit entities. [If applicable, please state potential uses for your organization.] Sincerely, ----------------- The Honorable Ernest F. Hollings Chairman Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation 125 Senate Russell Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Mr. Chairman: We are writing in support of legislation (S.2195) introduced by Senator Daniel Inouye to ensure that space is provided for non-commercial uses on the "information superhighway." You have been a leader in telecommunications reform efforts. Senator Inouye's important legislation would advance your objectives by insuring that the information superhighway provides more than home shopping and movies on demand. We hope that you will help ensure that S.2195 is included in the current debate on telecommunications reform and considered contemporaneously with S. 1822. Congress has an historic opportunity to shape the nation's communications system for the future. But the promise of economic development, educational reform and enhanced democracy will not happen if the new technologies are utilized principally for home shopping and movies on demand. It is crucial that any such legislation provides for the reservation of capacity for open, non-discriminatory use by state and local governments, libraries, schools, public broadcasters, and other nonprofit entities. [If applicable, please state potential uses for your organization.] Sincerely, A copy of the "public space" bill (S. 2195), and other supporting materials will be placed online shortly. Please distribute this post widely. Thank you for your support. Anthony E. Wright cme@access.digex.net Coordinator, Future of Media Project Center for Media Education -------------------------- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility is a national membership organization of people concerned about the impact of technology on society. For automatic or live info email to cpsr-info@cpsr.org; you may also contact CPSR, P.O. Box 717, Palo Alto, CA 94302, (415) 322-3778. Your membership, participation, and support is welcome. -- END -- -------------------------- Robert L. McMillin | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Netcom: rlm@netcom.com Surf City Software | Purveying superior SCSI backup/utilities for the Mac [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Robert, I think I'll be far more interested in seeing your rebuttal than I was in reading the same tired old story from CPSR and their allies/cronies in Our Nation's Capitol. I've an idea you'll set things straight on the topic, as you usually do. Please send your rebuttal soon. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #320 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26284; 15 Jul 94 19:21 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17829; Fri, 15 Jul 94 15:49:12 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17820; Fri, 15 Jul 94 15:49:09 CDT Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 15:49:09 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407152049.AA17820@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #321 TELECOM Digest Fri, 15 Jul 94 15:49:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 321 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Networks Course in Berkeley (Richard Tsina) Wireless Communications Course in Berkeley (Richard Tsina) Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (Kevin W. Reed) T1 CSU/DSU Needed (Javier Henderson - VMS System Mangler) Information Sought on SMR (Mobile Radio) and PCP (Pager) (M. L. Huang) Write Congress for Public Lane on Info Highway: a Rebuttal (Robt McMillin) CRC and AT&T Provide BBS Network Access (Kristine Loosley) Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance (Jim Burks) Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance (Steve Daggett) Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company (Alan Dahl) Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company (Arthur Rubin) Re: Forwarding 5-ESS to 1A-ESS to 5-ESS to Hunt Group - Broken (R. Gellens) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: course@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: Networks Course in Berkeley Date: 15 Jul 1994 19:29:01 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. BERKELEY Continuing Education in Engineering Announces a short course on Communication Networks: COMMUNICATION NETWORKS: FROM FDDI TO ATM (August 9-10, 1994) This course provides an overview of the operating principles and design guidelines for communication networks, and includes a description of the popular current networks and a discussion of major industry trends. Topics include: History and Operating Principles, Open System Interconnection, Overview of High-Speed Networks, Physical Layer, Switching, Trends in Data Networks (FDDI, DQDB, Frame Relay, SMDS), Trends in Telecommunication Networks (SONET, Fiber to the home, ISDN, Intelligent Networks, ATM) , Topological Design of Networks, Control of ATM Networks. Comprehensive course notes will be provided. Lecturers: PRAVIN VARAIYA, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley he works on stochastic systems, communication networks, power systems and urban economics. He is the author of "Stochastic Systems: Estimation, Identification, and Adaptive Control" (Prentice-Hall, 1986) and coeditor of "Discrete Event Systems: Models and Applications" (Springer, 1988). He is a fellow of the IEEE. JEAN WALRAND, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of "An Introduction to Queuing Networks" (Prentice-Hall, 1988) and "Communication Networks: A First Course" (Irwin/Aksen, 1991). For more information (brochure with complete course descriptions, outlines,instructor bios, etc.,) send your postal address to: Richard Tsina U.C. Berkeley Extension Continuing Education in Engineering 2223 Fulton St. Berkeley, CA 94720 Tel: (510) 642-4151 Fax: (510) 643-8683 email: course@garnet.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: course@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: Wireless Communications Course in Berkeley Date: 15 Jul 1994 19:33:59 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. BERKELEY Continuing Education in Engineering Announces a short course on Wireless Technology: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (July 26-27, 1994) There are technical bottlenecks to developing a ubiquitous wireless multimedia environment: the capacity of the radio link, its unreliability due to the adverse multipath propagation channel, and severe interference from other channels. This course covers the principles and fundamental concepts engineers need to tackle these limitations (e.g., a thorough treatment of channel impairments such as fading and multipath dispersion and their effect on link and network performance). Topics include: Introduction to Wireless Channels, Cellular Telephone Networks, Analog and Digital Transmission and Wireless Data Networks. Comprehensive course notes will be provided. Lecturer: JEAN-PAUL M.G. LINNARTZ, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley. His work on traffic analysis in mobile radio networks received the Veder Prize, an innovative research in telecommunications award in the Netherlands. At Berkeley he works on communications for intelligent vehicle highway systems and multimedia communications. Professor Linnartz is the author of numerous publications and the book "Narrow Land-Mobile Radio Networks" (Artech House, 1993), the text for the course. For more information (brochure with complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor bios, etc.,) send your postal address to: Richard Tsina U.C. Berkeley Extension Continuing Education in Engineering 2223 Fulton St. Berkeley, CA 94720 Tel: (510) 642-4151 Fax: (510) 643-8683 email: course@garnet.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: kreed@libre.com (Kevin W. Reed) Subject: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Date: 15 Jul 1994 12:37:11 -0700 Organization: Evergreen Communications We are covered by US West here in Phoenix and recently, I hooked up two lines for Caller-ID. One voice line and and one of my data lines. I noticed pretty quickly that the only Caller-ID information that we were getting was from the Metropolitan Phoenix area only with everything else coming in as "OUT-OF-AREA". I thought this was a bit strange as others (in other States) have mentioned that they obtain Caller-ID information from other areas of the country on their units. So, I called US West to ask why we don't get Caller-ID information from other areas like users in other states do. First I was told it was because they were un-tarriffed to get such information, then they said it was up to the long distance carrier to provide such information and the reason why we don't get it is because the callers are using a carrier that doesn't provide that information. This is seems a bit weird because I get close to 60-70 calls a day from all parts of the country and have never gotten a single out of state number on the Caller-ID unit. I'm sure that there are many different carriers being used and the callers are calling from all over the US. Anyone have an idea as to what is really going on here? Further attempts at clarification of this with US West has ended up going nowhere. Kevin W. Reed (kreed) TELESYS DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS (TNET.COM) kreed@libre.com | kreed@TNET.COM 2359 W De Palma Ave, Mesa AZ 85202 System Administrator / Unix BBS Developer BBS/UUCP/DATA 602-649-9099 ------------------------------ From: Javier Henderson - VMS System Mangler Subject: T1 CSU/DSU Needed Date: 14 Jul 94 09:47:12 PDT Organization: Medical Laboratory Network; Ventura, CA Hello, I need to rent, borrow, lease, temporarily steal, or otherwise get the use of a couple of T1 capable CSU/DSU's for about two months. Any ideas? I haven't found any equipment rental houses that carry such equipment (there seem to be a lot of laptops and fax machines available for rent, though). Pac Bell has some that they'll gladly let me lease for a price higher than two brand new units. Thanks. Javier Henderson (JH21) henderson@mln.com ------------------------------ From: M. L. Huang Subject: Information Sought on SMR (Mobile Radio) and PCP (Pager) Reply-To: Organization: National Institutes of Health Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 18:50:15 GMT Hi, all: I'm looking into the industries of SMR (specialized mobile radio) and PCP (personal carrier paging) for investment purposes. I'd appreciate any information on the following: 1) How do they work? tower setup, transmission, user subscription, etc. 2) Potential applications of SMR and PCP in information superhighway? Future of the market? Thanks in advance! Mark L. Huang, Ph.D. E-mail: rin0mxw@bumed30.med.navy.mil Naval Medical Research Institute Code 61, 8901 Wisconsin Ave. Bethesda, MD 20889-5607 U. S. A. Voice: (301) 295-1122 Fax: -6857 Immune Cell Biology Program ------------------------------ From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Write Congress for Public Lane on Info Highway: a Rebuttal Organization: Surf City Software/TBFW Project Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 10:00:36 GMT In the prior article, the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility issue a request to write your senator and vote in favor of S. 2195, which "would ensure that television and other media will have democratic and diverse offerings for the public in the next decade." It is not certain *what* this S. 2195 actually contains, but it is certain that the CPSR believes that "adequate, affordable, non-discriminatory access to communications networks" cannot happen without federal legislation. This position seems to flow from the idea that broadband digital networks will function in the same way that cable and broadcast networks operate today: a firehose of useless information shot into your home daily. But such is not the case. What surprises me is CPSR's fundamental mis- reading of the technology. Cable and broadcast outlets are sedentary, one-way mediums. High speed many-to-many data networks -- of which, the Internet is the forerunner -- will be interactive and two-way, and will demand a very different view of content. On the Internet, everyone may be a provider of text, audio, graphics, and even (currently, in a limited way) motion pictures. Therefore, the necessity of dictating content of the medium is irrelevant. In fact, if the struggle to get California's legislative site (leginfo.public.ca.gov) online is any indicator, getting substantive government content on the *Internet* will prove a significant challenge: sunlight and politics don't mix. It would be a welcome change to see bills pending before the Congress available for gophering, anonymous FTP, or Web access. (As it currently stands, this information is all available -- on reel tape -- offline -- for a price.) So why, then, the demand for "up to twenty percent of capacity" of future broadband networks? Should we pass a law demanding that the various *.politics groups published on Usenet constitute 20% of Internet traffic? No? Why not? But if this bill were simply absurd without ill side effects, it *would* be laughable. However, this proposal spawns some rather dark and contrary side effects. For one thing, it's likely to scare off the large capital formation needed to build an infobahn. Futurist George Gilder has observed that the government does not want people to make money with the Infobahn. Unfortunately, if people do not get rich building it, it won't get built -- it's that simple. And the government hasn't the money to spend, a fact for which we can be grateful. Another thing: this will drive up prices. Do we demand that the airlines reserve 20% of their seats for flights by non-paying government functionaries? If we did, what would happen to the price of YOUR ticket? Would there be a Southwest Airlines? Or would the clubby-with-the-government-regulators, full-service airlines dominate? There is enough in this bill to damn its passage. It seems founded in ignorance, well-meaning though it may be. But if you care about whether you get that high-speed pipe into your house before the year 2000, I'd recommend you write your Senator and have him vote no on S. 2195. Robert L. McMillin | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Netcom: rlm@netcom.com Surf City Software | Purveying superior SCSI backup/utilities for the Mac [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Indeed Robert, my feelings are much the same as yours. Like yourself, I strongly recommend a NO vote on S.2195 and urge TELECOM Digest readers to let their representatives in Congress know their feelings. You said it as well as myself or better perhaps, so no further editorial comment from me needed. In addition to letting your representative in Congress know how you feel, and why a NO vote is very important, readers may want to correspond with the CPSR and let them know the same thing. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 16:31:02 EDT From: kris@cris.com (Kristine Loosley) Subject: CRC and AT&T Provide BBS Network Access CONTACTS: CONCENTRIC RESEARCH KRISTINE LOOSLEY (517) 895-0500 E-MAIL: KLOOSLEY@CRIS.COM AT&T CAROLYN TOMMIE (908) 221-8541 CRC AND AT&T TEAM UP TO PROVIDE EASY ACCESS TO NATIONWIDE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD NETWORK JULY 11, 1994. BAY CITY, MICH. - Concentric Research Corp. (CRC) and AT&T are combining the attributes of two services that will enable subscribers to gain access to hundreds of electronic bulletin boards (BBSs) through the convenience of a nationwide seven-digit toll-free number. The new service is called BBS Direct. It combines the innovative dial-up data access of AT&T's InterSpan Information Access Service with CRC's high-speed CRIS network. CRIS is an on-line information and entertainment wide-area network of commercial information providers and BBSs throughout the country. CRIS also has full Internet connectivity. "BBS Direct gives information providers a way to make their service more accessible and valuable to subscribers," said Marc Collins-Rector, chief executive officer for CRC. "Subscribers will prefer the cost savings and ease of reaching their favorite BBS from their laptop or personal computer via AT&T's nationwide toll-free number. Therefore, both the information providers and the subscribers will benefit from BBS Direct." The leading-edge service also gives reciprocal access between the 13.5 million subscribers of more than 60,000 BBSs and more than 20 million users of the Internet. "Until now, subscribers have not had low-cost, local dial-up access to their special interest computer bulletin boards," said Kent Mathy, AT&T National Sales Director, Data Communications Services. "We are pleased to be involved with CRC in providing BBS Direct because it strongly supports our desire to provide customers the best communication service anytime, anywhere." BBS Direct will reside on a dial-up frame relay network with more than 350 points of presence throughout the United States. Initially, BBS Direct will run at data rates up to 14.4 kilobits per second, increasing to 28.8 Kbps in the third quarter of 1994. Concentric Research Corp. headquarters is at 400 41st Street, Bay City, Mich., 48708. For customer information please call 1-800-745-2747. AT&T InterSpan Information Access is an enhanced public-switched data service accessible to customers via a nationwide seven-digit toll-free number. For customer information please call 1-800-248-3632. ------------------------------ From: Jim Burks Subject: Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance Date: 15 Jul 1994 14:33:50 GMT Organization: The Promus Companies, Inc. In article , sthomas@mitchell.hac.com (Scott D. Thomas) says: > I have a puzzeling (at least to me) situation. We have a simple > network with a satellite link included. Orginally, we bridged three > ethernet segments as shown below: > ( ---- ) > host bridge----sat. ---- /\ /\ ----sat.---bridge bridge---DSU > | | modem modem | | | > ------------ --------- | > | > T1 | > | > | > host bridge---DSU > | | > ------------- > (BTW, for those of you wondering, we could not connect the DSU > directly to the satellite modem because of signalling issues.) > We tested the above configuration, and got poorer that expected > results. We decided to replace the bridges with routers, one per > segment. The throughput was tripled! > I was under the impression that bridges were more efficient because of > lower overhead, less complexity, etc. and therefore would offer the > better performance. If you're using the link for LAN-type stuff, you'll find that performace suffers, while total utilization on the satellite link is low. The problem is that LAN activity (file sharing, MS Mail, etc.) sends a request for a relatively small packet to be returned (~1kb), and waits for a response before sending the next request. This is the opposite of a streaming protocol (such as TCP/IP FTP) that streams data without waiting for an acknoledgement until a specified window is reached. Depending on the configuration of the bridges, and software and network use of them, they can be more efficient on a point-to-point link, but may pass more broadcast packets between the networks than necessary. Jim Burks jburks@promus.com Database Administrator / Systems Engineer The Promus Companies, Inc. Memphis, TN USA http://stargate.promus.com/public/jbb.html ------------------------------ From: sdaggett@netrix.com (Steve Daggett) Subject: Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance Organization: NETRIX Corporation Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 16:47:35 GMT In article sthomas@mitchell.hac.com (Scott D. Thomas) saids: > I have a puzzeling (at least to me) situation. We have a simple > network with a satellite link included. Orginally, we bridged three > ethernet segments as shown below: Actually this is not a "simple network". Depending on the protocol running on the LAN & WAN segments, the type of data, and the total usage of each segment of the network things could get pretty strange. > ( ---- ) > host bridge---sat.---/\ /\ ---sat.---bridge bridge--DSU > | | modem modem | | | > ------------ ---------- | > *Segment #1* *Segment #2* | > T1 | > | > host bridge---DSU > | | > ------------- > *Segment #2* > > (BTW, for those of you wondering, we could not connect the DSU > directly to the satellite modem because of signalling issues.) > We tested the above configuration, and got poorer that expected > results. We decided to replace the bridges with routers, one per > segment. The throughput was tripled! You didn't include the speeds for each of the WAN segments but I'll assume that the big bottleneck is the satellite hop. You will pick up about 750 ms delay for every hop over a satellite shot. The delay does nasty things to protocols like X.25 & TCP that are expecting a acknowledgment from the far end that the data was transmitted without error. You may also have exceeded the capacity of your WAN segments to carry data. When you exceed the capacity of the WAN your data will begin to buffer up and increase the delay in the network. You can also experience a condition called "thrash" were your data buffering up causes retransmit timers to pop. The datagrams caught up in the congestions are retransmitted causing even more congestion in the network. There are techniques for setting timers, frame sizes, and window size to combat the delay and increase throughput on the WAN. When the entire network was being bridged all datagrams on all segments were transmitted to every segment in the network. Therefore heavy usage between workstations on segment #3 could cause network congestion between segment #1 and #2. When you reconfigured to a routed network only those datagrams that are addressed to a workstation on another segment are actually passed on the WAN segments. Your traffic is now probably within the capacity of the WAN segments to carry data and therefore you don't experience the buffer or network delay. > I was under the impression that bridges were more efficient because > of lower overhead, less complexity, etc. and therefore would offer > the better performance. In some cases bridges offer better performance. Sometimes they are murder on the network. If segment #1 was an engineering office running high power workstations and passing gigabytes of data between stations then a bridged configuration won't work. If the entire network is an IPX network with light traffic between users and NOVELL mail servers then a bridged configuration might work. As with most things in communications today the official answer is " well, maybe yes ... maybe no ...". > Does anyone have thoughts on the matter? My personal opinion is that bridging in a WAN environment is probally a bad idea. It's better to go with the routed configuration. I be out of the office next week so I won't be able to respond to any follow up posts. I hope this helps to clear things up a little. Steve Daggett sdaggett@netrix.com Herndon, VA ------------------------------ From: alan.dahl@mccaw.com (Alan Dahl) Subject: Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company Date: 14 Jul 1994 20:37:10 GMT Organization: McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. In article Bailbutton@aol.com writes: > Today I received my first editions of the TELECOM Digest. I was > somewhat puzzled by Pat Townsend's response to the query about > alternative residential service. The comment "they all lie" seems a > bit harsh. PAT replies: > Yes Jim, they were all liars. Here is the catch: Although they *did* charge > less per minute on long distance calls, they neglected to tell you -- until > at least in MCI's case they got sued -- that *local call charges would > apply when calling their switch*. Remember now, in those days twenty years > ago, calls via outhern

acific ailroad nternal etwork eleco > unications (hey, that's SPRINT !!) or icrowave ommunications (I>ncorp- > orated were dialed as seven digit local numbers to their switch, *then* > outbound through the switch with tone dialers, etc. There was no one plus > or 950 or 800 access. Here in Chicago we dialed 876-0001 for the SPRINT > switch, listened for new dial tone then dialed the ten digit long distance > number. What this meant was we paid for a local call *whether or not the > long distance end completed (it might have been DA/BY) the call*. Perhaps this was a big deal in Chicago, where I gather from PAT's reply that measured service is the norm but here in the Seattle area where we enjoy a very large free calling area (I can call for free from the south boarder of King County to past the north city limit of Seattle, which is over 35 miles) Sprint was definately cheaper. I subscribed to Sprint back in the tone-dialer days (this was 1980 or so) and it saved me big bucks vs AT&T. Even the argument that local phone rates would be higher for everyone (because of increased number local calls) doesn't hold water since that just ment that Sprint and MCI were getting the same "free ride" that AT&T got. It should also be noted that local telephone rates were highly regulated at the time and that there were no $3.50 "Federal Access Charge" fees either. So Sprint definately saved *me* money even if it didn't do so for everyone. Alan Dahl | alan.dahl@mccaw.com Analysts International Co. | (NeXTMail OK) -or- 10655 N.E. 4th St. Suite 804 | adahl@eskimo.com Bellevue, WA 98004 | PH: (206) 803-4496 | FAX: (206) 803-7406 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company From: a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) Date: 14 Jul 94 16:07:18 GMT Reply-To: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com In The Editor writes: > Yes Jim, they were all liars. Here is the catch: Although they *did* charge > less per minute on long distance calls, they neglected to tell you -- until > at least in MCI's case they got sued -- that *local call charges would > apply when calling their switch*. Well, I don't know about you, but I had unlimited local calls at the time (1973-7?), and the call to the US SPRINT switch was local, so ... Even that doesn't account for the fact that then, it was cheaper to call the switch in Las Vegas, NV, to call back to San Francisco, then it was to call directly from Pasadena, CA (near Los Angeles) to San Francisco. But that was a regulatory bypass, and they couldn't SAY that you could do that. (It may have been technically illegal, but, suppose you used Sprint to call MCI's switch in Las Vegas ...) Arthur L. Rubin: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea 216-5888@mcimail.com 70707.453@compuserve.com arubin@pro-sol.cts.com (personal) ^---- new address ------------------------------ From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 15 JUL 1994 17:33:00 GMT Subject: Re: Forwarding 5-ESS to 1A-ESS to 5-ESS to Hunt Group - Broken birchall@pilot.njin.net (Shag Aristotelis) writes: [ much text deleted ] > At this point, it became apparent that due to some strange > mutation in the switching last week, only one call was being > allowed to forward through the number at a time .... > He [ the level two expert ] told me that multiple-forwards (such > as mine) wouldn't work between two identical switches .... I suspect the real problem is that the call forward queue depth for the line which is restricting forwarded calls became set to one. This is an adjustable per-line switch parameter. A few years ago, I went round and round with GTE over the same problem. Finally, a switch tech called me and reset the queue limit to two (which is all I needed). Randall Gellens randy@mv-oc.unisys.com (714) 380-6350 fax (714) 380-5912 Mail Stop MV 237 Net**2 656-6350 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #321 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08539; 17 Jul 94 14:42 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA04890; Sun, 17 Jul 94 11:12:30 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA04881; Sun, 17 Jul 94 11:12:28 CDT Date: Sun, 17 Jul 94 11:12:28 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407171612.AA04881@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #322 TELECOM Digest Sun, 17 Jul 94 11:12:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 322 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Camelot on the Moon (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Camelot on the Moon (A. Padgett Peterson) Re: Camelot on the Moon (David Kirsch) Re: Ringer Equivalence: How to Tell What's Too Much? (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? (H. Peter Anvin) Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? (Brett Frankenberger) Book Review: "FDDI Handbook" by Jain (Rob Slade) Number of Cross-Connects Permissible in EIA/TIA 568? (Joseph H. Meier) Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company (Steve Waddell) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 9:42:15 EDT From: Dave Niebuhr Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon I would like to add to the excellent article recently posted about the 25th anniversary of the Moon Landing on July 20, 1969. I, being a resident of Long Island, home of the Grumman Corporation (now Nothrup Grumman) noticed that no mention of the the lander itself and its origin. The lander, as a reminder, was built right here on Long Island by Grumman and is a part of our heritage. One can even see a real shuttle module as one drives by the Grumman Calverton Naval Test Facility in Calverton, New York. A later lander proved to be an extremely crucial part of space missions a few years later when major problems were experienced by the main module. The lander, again, came through and brought the three astronauts safely back to earth. Just a small note about the space vehicle. Remember the rocks collected on the moon? Once they were made available to the scientific community, a scientist working for my employer was sent to retrieve our allotment. After his plane had landed at Kennedy Airport in New York City, he was met with a contingent of security personnel (including BNL's) and escorted to the Lab where they were put on display for a period of time. I didn't get to see them since I happened to be on duty when the display hours were made available. However, my wife, two-year-old daughter, and a lot of nieces and nephews did. Jut a few reminisces. I do not work for Grumman (now Northrup Grumman), nor have I ever been employed by them at any time in the past. I am just a simple citizen who appreciates the efforts put forward by a local company from the Hellcats of WW2 to the present day F-14 fighter; but most important, putting the "Man on the Moon." BTW: Niel Armstrong, the first person to step on the moon, is now the President (or Chairman) of AIL, Corp., a major Long Island defense electronics company. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov niebuhr@bnlcl6.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 1+(516) 282-3093 FAX 1+(516) 282-7688 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Jul 94 10:27:21 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon Though our era will probably be just a footnote in history, we have lived in a time of momentuous change -- or are we in a rut? Every American of our era will remember two things: the day President Kennedy was murdered (to call it assassination is IMHO mincing words) and the day we walked on the moon. I was fortunate enough to see it from an NCO club in SEA, with the hours we were on duty then it would have been easy enough to miss and it did mark a peak of sorts. Then most Americans still believed in things like "sound as a dollar" and "ad aspra ad astra", we literally did not believe we had any limits and next year would be bigger, better, faster. Then, as the human experience tends to do, we found that we had reached the top of a National pyramid scheme and were brought back to reality. Our return from SEA was less than noble (possibly our presence there in the first place was also but we had a mass notion of the "divine right" of the USA despite the people who said it t'wasn't so. Denied outside expansion, we turned inwards and began consuming ourselves in a frenzy of magic money that culminated in the late 1980's with a massive recession. I am optomistic though. We have gone through this before -- three times just since 1850 so we may be on a natural cycle (will leave the exact duration to those who have nothing else to do). Many things go in natural cycles such as the weather and ozone depletion, where we get into trouble is when we think we can change the cycles. Personally, I think (and hope) that we are in the middle of another dislocation that will lead to explosive growth like that which put us on the moon. I suspect that it will be universal communications that will do it and will change every aspect of our lives. The fact that I am writing this while having a cup of coffee (from the in-room dispenser) on holiday in Illinois is just one example. Thirty five years ago we had a challenge, exhausted ourselves in meeting it, consumed ourselves exploiting it, and performed natural selection on the residue. The next challenge is here. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 17:06:40 +0500 From: dkirsch@fedeast.East.Sun.COM (David Kirsch - SunNetworks Manager) Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon! That was really beautiful. I really want to thank you for that ... Cheers, David K. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your note is being selected from several dozen which have arrived over the weekend regards the Camelot article. Don Kimberlin is the person to be thanked; it was his article -- and his offer to have it printed here -- which sparked the special mailing. How ironic and interesting it is that today -- the 25th anniversary -- also marks another notable event in space history: the comet which crashed into Jupiter over the weekend, and which we are told will continue to break up with bits of it hitting Jupiter over the next several days. Did anyone get to watch the explosion? It was too cloudy here to get a very good picture of it but I understand the people at the South Pole got *excellent* views of the whole thing, namely because Jupiter is always within their viewing range. Interesting timing isn't it ... exactly a quarter-century later. How long have we known about the Jupiter incident? Seems to me at least a few years ago they had the date for it established. PAT] ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Ringer Equivalence: How to Tell What's Too Much? Date: 16 Jul 1994 16:02:58 -0400 Organization: Oppedahl & Larson In sullivan@geom.umn.edu writes: [stuff omitted] > I figured I now have too much stuff connected to my phone line. I > looked at the bottom of all the equipment for ringer equivalence > numbers. Two phones at 0.4A, 0.9A; a cordless phone at 0.2B; an ATT > UnixPC at 0.5A and an external modem at 1.0B; the new caller ID box at > 0.1B; and the answering machine, marked "0.2A, 0.5B". > I called US West. [report of US West being clueless as to what RENs are, how many you can have, what the A and B mean] > OK, so enough story telling. My questions are: > What is the difference between "A" and "B". Are they different units? > (Amps and Bells??) How do I add up those numbers, and how much should > I be able to have on my line? Is it possible that at different times > of day (under different loads) the phone line will actually provide > different amounts of power for the ring, thus explaining the intermittency > of the problem? All your answers are in The Phone Book, ISBN 0-89043-364-X, Consumer Reports Books. At pages 270-272, it says (summarizing) that you add them up, and see how it compares with what the telco will support. Your numbers seem to add up to about 3.7 or so. Most central offices support about 5. Thus you should be okay. If you were provided your dial tone by pair-gain equipment such as SLICs, you might get less than 5. Or, if you have an exceedingly long loop to the central office. Then again, some central office equipment does not provide the usual 5. Yet another problem could be an intermittent bad connection between you and the central office, which might act up most severely when the phone is ringing. Or in your inside telephone wiring. Then again your problem could be a defective telephone instrument that uses up more ringing current than it should. The A means that at two specified frequencies (20 and 30 Hz) the telephone draws no more than the specified amount of ringing current. The B means that over an entire range (15.3 to 68 Hz) the telephone draws no more than the specified current level. The B number is thus generally the same as or higher than the A number. If your ringing frequency is 20 or 30 Hz (ask your telco) then you can add up the A numbers to see if you exceed the permitted total. Otherwise you would have to add up the B numbers. On many phones, if you switch off the ringer then it draws no ringing current; it is thus a 0A 0B REN device. Part 68 of the FCC rules obligates telcos to give straight answers to people who want to know the maximum permitted REN on their line. (The book is at your local bookstore, or call 1-800-272-0722.) Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY oppedahl@patents.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well , there goes Carl again with another blantant attempt to commercialize the net with a mention of his book! . Seriously John (and others), get it and read it. Its excellent. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hpa@eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin) Subject: Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? Reply-To: hpa@nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin) Organization: United Federation of Planets Date: Sat, 16 Jul 1994 17:42:05 GMT kravitz@foxtail.com (Jody Kravitz) wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, here is a guy who has cut a deal > with long distance carrier 10658 -- whoever that is -- to intercept his > calls and deliver them at the agreed upon price. His true number is > 4xx-xxA-VAMP, but try one plus dialing it via the carrier of your choice > and see what happens: he'll answer it with an answering machine telling > you he does not accept calls which have not been routed via 10658, and > to please hang up and dial according to instructions given. When you then > dial it again zero-plus via 10658 that carrier sees the call and intercepts > it. They then route it over T-1 or something similar and deliver it to the > customer bypassing the local telco in area code 4xx. *He accepts those > calls*, but not the ones that come on his regular 4xx-xxA-VAMP line via > local telco. Uuuuh, Pat ... if that xxxx is what the initial poster seems to imply (presumably 3825 or something similar) then there is no area code 4xx. If xxxx spells *anything* there is no area code 4xx (yet). It looks like the 10658 carrier makes up numbers. Maybe the initial poster would like to clarify if xxxx did start with 0/1 or if it was indeed a four-letter word. hpa INTERNET: hpa@nwu.edu FINGER/TALK: hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu IBM MAIL: I0050052 at IBMMAIL HAM RADIO: N9ITP or SM4TKN FIDONET: 1:115/511 or 1:115/512 STORMNET: 181:294/101 Allah-u-abha #include [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think he said he was putting the 'x' there only to avoid promoting the service, not that it necessarily spelled anything. The only spelled out word was the last one. PAT] ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Sat, 16 Jul 1994 20:52:05 GMT > with long distance carrier 10658 -- whoever that is -- to intercept his > calls and deliver them at the agreed upon price. His true number is > 4xx-xxA-VAMP, but try one plus dialing it via the carrier of your choice > and see what happens: he'll answer it with an answering machine telling > you he does not accept calls which have not been routed via 10658, and > to please hang up and dial according to instructions given. When you then > dial it again zero-plus via 10658 that carrier sees the call and intercepts > it. They then route it over T-1 or something similar and deliver it to the > customer bypassing the local telco in area code 4xx. *He accepts those > calls*, but not the ones that come on his regular 4xx-xxA-VAMP line via > local telco. AT&T has a few similar arrangements going with 'information' > providers -- well they provide something, anyway -- where the call is > forced via AT&T and the IP gets a piece of the action. When mother and > dad complain to the local telco about the call their son made in the middle > of the night to that number and the charge on their bill for a hundred > dollars, telco will refer them to the customer service number for the > carrier ... "they are the only ones who can issue credit ...". Mom and dad > will call, the rep will twist their arm and make them pay, possibly by > agreeing to a 'one time goodwill credit of half the bill'. Although in the case of AT&T, they don't charge extra for the call. That is, if the info provider has a 801-555-xxxx number and you call it, you get charged the same as you would for any call to 801-555-xxxx that was handled by AT&T ... whatever discount plans you have still apply, etc. (Note that 10658 does charge extra ... but who knows ...) > It may very well be that the folks at Integratel act as billing/collection > agents for carrier 10658, in which case if mom and dad want, they can > have their number(s) added to Integratel's negative listing database > so it won't happen again. Would it work? Would Integratel's database apply to standard direct-dialed LD calls placed through a carrier that Integratel bills for? > Lots of IPs are switching to this method of receiving calls > instead of 900/976 with the comsumer protection rules which go along > with them. Then too, what's a PBX administrator supposed to do? He can > block 900/976, but blocking 10xxx is supposed to be illegal these days. Well a private PBX administrator (at a place of business) cal block and route calls as he pleases ... Does a motel have to allow 10XXX-1-XXX-XXX-XXXX? I thought the only thing they had to allow was 10XXX-0-XXX-XXX-XXXX. > ... Luv the way they diddle with the parsing to make the number > appear to be some mysterious international point, don't you? PAT] I wonder how often that works ... obviously it had no effect on you or I or the poster of the original message ... most TELECOM Digest readers probably would figure it out ... nad many people who can't figure it out would probably still not get it even if the hyphens were placed at the traditional places ... Brett (brettf@netcom.com) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Jul 1994 18:11:29 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "FDDI Handbook" by Jain BKFDDIHB.RVW 940422 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 Heather Rignanesi, Marketing, x340, 73171.657@Compuserve.com or Tiffany Moore, Publicity tiffanym@aw.com Bob Donegon bobd@aw.com John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com Tom Stone, Editor, Higher Education Division tomsto@aw.com Philip Sutherland, Schulman Series 74640.2405@compuserve.com Keith Wollman, Trade Computer Group keithw@aw.com Lisa Roth Blackman, Trade Computer Group lisaro@aw.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "FDDI Handbook", Jain, 1994, 0-201-56376-2, U$49.50 jain@acm.org "Radio waves" are electromagnetic distortions travelling through the "ether" (basically, nothing) or wires. Radio can be modulated or encoded to carry information. Light is electromagnetic radiation as well, but of a higher frequency. Because of the higher frequency, light can be used to carry much more information than radio. There are only two problems: light is unsuitable for broadcasts because of very high power requirements; and, light can't travel over wires. Light travels in straight lines. At least, that is what everyone knew until the nineteenth century, when it was observed that light would follow the path of a curving stream of water. When light passes from one medium to another, there is always some reflection. However, when light comes from a medium with a high index of refraction (like water) to a boundary with a lower index of refraction (like air) there can be what is known as total internal reflection. (Try looking through the side of an aquarium and out the top. Can't be done.) This means that a "wire" of glass with a high refractive index running through a thicker "wire" of lower refractive index will carry light from end to end, in spite of curves in the fibre. Now you know something about fibre optics. There is still an awful lot to know about how it works in practice, what the protocols are, how to control access to the media, how to interconnect it with copper cables, how to manage it, how to buy and install it, and how well to expect it to perform. Which is what this book is about. Fibre Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) is the standard for local fibre optic communications circuits. Jain gives a wide-ranging coverage of related topics. The book is said to be suitable for users, buyers, managers and designers of computer networking products. This would be true of users, buyers and managers who were engineers. The book is primarily technical in nature, although there are some sections dealing with evaluation and purchasing guidelines. Jain tries to lighten the tone with cartoons and humorous sidebars. While cute, these do not add to explanations in the book. In common with most technical books, there is an attempt to promote its use as a text by the inclusion of "exercises". These are, as usual, extremely simplistic. Fibre has many advantages over copper. Silica is much more abundant than copper. Fibre is lighter and can carry more data farther, with less power expenditure. Fibre has potentially much greater bandwidth than copper (although the recent 100 megabit per second - Mbps - ethernet is equal to the FDDI standard). Jain is clearly on the fibre bandwagon. He goes a little overboard at times. He repeats the refrain that fibre is more secure since it can't be read or modified without breaking the cable. (It can. It's hard, but it can be done. It's interesting that this statement comes immediately after a discussion of reliability functions which tend to make detection of a break less certain--and opposite a sidebar on network "religious" beliefs.) Jain also states that fibre is lighter and more flexible, and, therefore, easier to install. This is later (much later) contradicted by the fact that fibre cannot be fit into tight corners (it must have a large radius of curvature to function properly) and that fibre cable should be run through conduit inside stiff innerducts -- thus eliminating the advantages of flexibility. (Some of Jain's sidebars give fascinating if not quite accurate information. Carrier Sense Multiple Access - CSMA - media access, the access method for Ethernet, is said to have been derived from the "Aloha" or "hello" access method. Ethernet owes some development, including CSMA, to Alohanet, the satellite link used from the University of Hawaii to the mainland.) A lot of valuable technical information, but the audience scope is not as broad as stated. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKFDDIHB.RVW 940422. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: jmeier@cit.hmc.psu.edu (Joseph H. Meier) Subject: Number of Cross-Connects Permissible in EIA/TIA 568? Date: 16 Jul 1994 21:05:52 GMT Organization: Penn State College of Medicine Reply-To: jmeier@cit.hmc.psu.edu Could someone please help clarify whether the following wiring structure falls within the *permissible* alternatives for cabling cross connects within the EIA/TIA 568 standard? Assume the entire cable plant uses category 5 components and cable from end-to-end and focus just on the *method* of installation. Specific documentation or references would be most helpful, rather than impressions or recollections from past readings about the standard. I understand that the wiring structure as defined below is NOT the *preferred* way of doing things for data. We have obtained a copy of the 568 standard but this does not seem to clearly indicate guidelines between optimal and minimal installations that still satisfy the 568 specification. The diagram below indicates (2) punchdown blocks. Both voice and data cables from the user work area are punched down to the BLOCK#1 in the wiring closet. Data cables are cross-connected from BLOCK#1 to BLOCK#2, while voice cables are cross-connected to other voice-only punchdown blocks (not of concern in this question). At BLOCK#2, data cables are cross-connected to a RJ45 patch panel. Permissible Wiring Structure ???? ......Wiring Closet......................... ...User Work Area... [HUB]<===>[PANEL]+==+[BLOCK#2]+===+[BLOCK#1]+===+[WALL]<===>[STATION] Where ... HUB = concentrator PANEL = RJ-45 Modular Patch Panel, wired to 568A BLOCK#1 = Telco Punch Block (Voice + Data) BLOCK#2 = Telco Punch Block (Data) WALL = User area wall face plate STATION = User workstation network adapter =====> = RJ-45 connector =====+ = Punch down termination connection NOTE: Entire cable plant uses Category 5 Cable (for both Voice & Data applications) Any leads are welcome. Please respond directly to me at the email address below. Thanks again, Joe Meier Penn State College of Medicine Hershey Medical Center jmeier@cit.hmc.psu.edu ------------------------------ From: waddell@iglou.iglou.com (Steve Waddell) Subject: Re: Apartment Complex is Getting its Own Phone Company Organization: The Internet Gateway of Louisville, KY Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 01:47:01 GMT I found Pat's response about MCI rather harsh. Although regretfully true in his case. [How do you tell if a salesman is lying? Is his mouth moving?] Keep in mind that those of us in "the boonies" never have, and still do not pay anything for local calls. Not to say that MCI didn't lie in Chicago or Louisville. They probably lied about something else here. I second the words of caution about third party telcos (RelCom did they say?). But I have has a good experience with one. They were providing service through Centrex, and saved money by shared trunking. After some pain and adjustment at first, there was very little problem. Trunking was a problem only one time when there was spectactular accident right out front at dinnertime, and *everyone* tried to call 911. Several got through, rest were blocked. Each user had carrier choice, but they had a sweetheart deal with a reseller that was pretty good. 10XXX dialing did work. And presumably ISDN would be available if it had been available at all. It is now available for Centrex here. So check it out *very* carefully, but keep an open mind. If you are forced to use RelCom, and you don't want to, I would think that you would have valid grounds to break a lease. "Arbitrary Changes to the Leasehold" or something like that. But who wants to move. Steve :^> waddell@iglou.com 10307 St. Rene Rd. voice 502-266-5695 Louisville, KY 40299-4040 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #322 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa19112; 18 Jul 94 20:31 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA28930; Mon, 18 Jul 94 15:41:27 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA28921; Mon, 18 Jul 94 15:41:25 CDT Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 15:41:25 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407182041.AA28921@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #323 TELECOM Digest Mon, 18 Jul 94 15:41:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 323 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Camelot on the Moon (William M. Eldridge) Re: Camelot on the Moon (Rob Janssen) Re: Camelot on the Moon (David Devereaux-Weber) Re: Camelot on the Moon (Alan Dahl) Re: Camelot on the Moon (Author's Response) (Donald E. Kimberlin) Book Review: "Firewalls and Internet Security" (Rob Slade) Calling 555-1212 From Outside the USA (Dimitris Dervenis) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bill@LIFESCI.UCLA.EDU (William M. Eldridge) Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon Date: 17 Jul 1994 11:35:04 -0700 Organization: UCLA Cognitive Science Research Program I find the moon landing interesting for several reasons. On the personal level, it came when I had just turned eight years old in the middle of a family tour of the west - my grandfather, my mom and all my aunts, my two brothers, and about seven or eight cousins, riding in trains and buses from Chicago out through Denver to San Francisco, down to LA and over to Las Vegas and up through the canyonlands. The landing came while we were in Vegas, an extremely hot summer's day, and we were packed in a hotel lobby with a mob of other people watching the landing. I was from Huntsville, Alabama, a town that had grown from 13,000 in the early 50's to about 130,000 in the mid-60's, mostly because the Redstone missile range there had been deemed a good spot for one of NASA's main centers, so engineers from around the country had steadily been relocated there, creating an odd technical Yankee oasis in the middle of a fairly backwards and rural area, as well as holding a large German population from Werner von Braun's V-2 rocket group that had been whisked out of Germany by the Allies after the war. I knew nothing of this at the time. I just knew that Peter von Braun and Martin Dahm and other kids were in my kindergarten class, and all their fathers spoke with funny accents. Our toys were a large percentage model rockets and jet fighters and miniature scale Saturn V's and lunar modules. I had met Michael Collins a few years before when he dropped by the house for something. Our schools were named after the three astronauts who had burned up. If I had grown up in Hollywood or New York or D.C., I would have images of actors or financiers or politicians, but instead I was growing up in the NASA bubble. I don't know that I remember the image on TV. I remember the hotel room, and the feeling of "the event". It was something important not just to me, but to the world, and I understood it. The year before had been Robert Kennedy's assassination and the elections, and I knew those were important, and also there was the war, but these things were too complicated. Men walking on the moon was something basic, something that could cut through an eight-year-old's foggy conception of the world and say "this is real, this is obvious, this is important." It was a breakpoint for my childhood. ------------------------------ On another level, I think the landing was another event that spoiled us -- something that was so easy to define as "good", just as defeating the Nazis was "good". It's so refreshing to have an unqualified victory, some untainted goal achieved. There aren't a lot of these. Sure, we make technical progress, and we invent the lightbulb and the semiconductor and the computer, but they're not the same kinds of time-stamped events, moments of history and breakthrough and relief. For two of these, the mobilization and victory in WWII and the landing on the moon, to take place within 25 years of each other, is incredible. The fall of the Eastern Bloc was a little too undefined and left too many uncertainties -- like the loss of American jobs and the recession and the lingering confusion and slow movement towards democracy in Eastern Europe and Russia and then the wars in Iraq and Yugoslavia to kill any image of a new era of peace -- to be an unqualified breakpoint. And that's probably something that unsettles us, both Americans and possibly other countries and cultures as well. Pure victories are so much more satisfying. The progress in telecommunications is astounding. The potential to change our lives is as great as the spread of electricity, and the forces massing behind this movement are amazing. But it's complicated, not just in the ways the moon launch was complicated -- logistics problems in combining millions of different technologies to work together in just the right way at just the right time - but also as a goal. Are we linking up the third world? Are we bringing video into the home? Are we setting up pocket telephone service around the globe? Are we doing home shopping, or automating the office, or perfecting video games for kids? We're doing all of these, and other things as well, and they're all good stuff, but they don't tend to bring the unmitigated pleasure that we got knowing "we threw some poor schmoe in a little tin can, slung him across space to dance on that shiny rock over there, and brought him back." It's the simple goals that pool our strengths, while the more complicated ones disperse our energies. Like the revolutionaries who cooperate well in overthrowing the government, but fall apart when they have to cooperate to build a new one. I read an interview with Ken Kesey one time, in which he asked the rhetorical question, "What does Superman do between phone booths?" The question has stuck with me ever since. We can't go out and rescue Lois Lane every day, so we do something worthwhile in the meantime, something that builds to its own level of success. It feels easy to look back nostalgically at the 60's and say, "My, we had it together back then, why are we doing so poorly now?" The answer is, we're not. We just have a new set of problems to deal with, and we don't have any huge obvious goals ahead of us, though we certainly have a whole lot of good smaller ones. We can make up new ones, like going to Mars, but it's not the same thing, and it would be more contrived, more of an "Honorable Mention" than a Gold Medal. Maybe we'll get lucky and something wonderfully satisfying will pop up soon to spark the human psyche for another 25 years. But if not, we'll just have to keep ourselves going enjoying the normal sedentary pleasures on planet earth. Bill Eldridge bill@lifesci.ucla.edu 310-206-3960 310-206-3987 (fax) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your foggy recollections are like those of mine from the early 1950's during the ruckus with Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin and the infamous "Army/McCarthy Hearings". The Army/McCarthy thing went on for six weeks or so in the summer of, I guess 1950 or 1951 and that's all they had on television all day long on all the channels for the whole summer. No matter what station you turned on you got that congressional investigation from about 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM or so, and sometimes later in the evening. Odd man, that Senator McCarthy. I only have vague recollections of it all from what I saw on television when I was eight years old, but I recall how excited and interested all the grownup people were about what was going on. So I empathize with you and other readers in their early to middle thirties where the moon walk is concerned. You sort of remember it, yet not really very well. Like you point out, I too remember the 1950-63 period with great fondness and often times have wondered how things could have been so good back then and gone so sour by now. Maybe they haven't gone sour. Maybe as you point out its just a whole new set of problems. I know for myself I often times feel I am stuck in an earlier generation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: robjan@rabo.nl (Rob Janssen) Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon Date: 18 Jul 1994 12:36:48 +0100 Organization: Rabobank Nederland In <94.07.15.4339gh@eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Moderator writes: [very nice story about the datacomm involved with the trip to the moon] > Early in the lunar project, the decision was taken to combine > all communications between the lunar module and earth into one 48 > kilobit multiplexed digital signal of video, speech communications, > spacecraft telemetry and biomedical data using 2 gigahertz radio. How did they get all that into one 48 kilobit stream? I would think even without the video it requires compression to do so, and even with the poor-quality video that was sent with the first mission one would require more bandwidth than that unless the video was compressed as well. Does this mean that technology comparable to MPEG was already available for use in such a project in 1969? How about the later missions, which had better picture quality. Was the datarate increased by that time? Rob ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 12:26:00 CDT From: David Devereaux-Weber Reply-To: weberdd@doit.wisc.edu Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon What a fantistic look behind the scenes! Thanks to TELECOM Digest and Mr. Kimberlin. That night, I was working at radio station WCLO in Janesville, Wisconsin. WCLO was an AM station with 1000 watts day, 250 watts night. I was a "student engineer"; I played records and taped announcements and commercials. I had just graduated from high school the previous month. We didn't have a television at the station. At that time, the station had recently subscribed to United Press International, and our contract with the Associated Press had not expired, so we had working teletypes from both services. That was the only time I ever saw the wire services type their stories onto the network live -- you could tell because the keys were not clicking by at the maximum 66 baud, but with the stop-and start cadence of someone composing and typing at the same time. There were bulletins for many of the events, such as the seperation of the LEM from the Command Module, the descent, landing, the hatch is open, Aldrin's foot is on the ladder, Aldrin is on the last step, Aldrin's foot is on the moon, and so on. On the air, we carried coverage live from the Mutual Radio Network. As usual, there was no local news after 6:00 or so. After the live coverage ended, we went back to easy listening music and taped announcements until sign off at around 11:00 PM. That Sunday night at midnight, the drive home was unusual, because the town was as quiet as usual. There was no evidence of the events that had taken place, or the changes which were happening to the world around us. David Devereaux-Weber, P.E. weberdd@doit.wisc.edu (Internet) The University of Wisconsin - Madison (608)262-3584 (voice) Division of Information Technology (608)262-4679 (FAX) Network Engineering ------------------------------ From: alan.dahl@mccaw.com (Alan Dahl) Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon Date: 18 Jul 1994 17:52:40 GMT Organization: McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. In article <94.07.15.4339gh@eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Moderator writes: > A quarter century ago this weekend ... Sunday night, July 20, 1969 -- > A whole bunch you were not even born then; others of you were but little > tykes who would not remember the occassion. But to those of us over about > thirty years of age ... wow! The image is burned in our minds forever. Indeed it is. "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> writes: > Standing there in my bathrobe, I recognized the familiar face > and sonorous tones of Walter Cronkite coming from the TV set at some > time around 3 AM in Madrid. He was padding for time and filling in > between messages from NASA about the astronauts preparing to open the > hatch and climb down the ladder. Then he said some words that cut > into me a bit. > He talked about the heroic effort of satellite engineers to > get video for broadcast in Europe. They had uplinked from Australia, > which had normal connectivity from the U.S., onto the Indian Ocean > satellite. From there, the video was downlinked into the > Bundespostes earth station at Raisting, Germany. Raisting had swung > an 85 foot dish around to receive from the Indian Ocean satellite. He > went on at length about how Raisting was feeding the whole of Europe's > terrestrial television networks, instead of the usual routes via the > failed Atlantic satellite. Someone else had been busy getting video > channels rerouted, too. > But it seemed nobody, not even Cronkite, knew what a fragile, > last-minute thread was carrying the NASA color video and sound we were > all observing from the moon back down through Robledo, splitting it > into a dozen submarine cable channels across the Atlantic to > Greenbelt, Houston and ultimately back to him at CBS before it got out > to the world! In July, 1969 I was ten years old and in the middle of a six-week trip to Europe with my parents and brother. July 20th found us in the Hotel Dubrovnik in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. I remember staying up late on the night of the 20th and into the early morning of the 21st watching the moon landing on Yugoslavian TV. I hardly heard a word the astronauts were saying because of the Yugoslavian announcer's Serbo-Croatian translations but I sat transfixed anyhow. At the time I never thought it remarkable that live pictures could be sent from the moon and relayed to every television set on Earth. Now I know that, like the rest of the moon landing, that it was not easy as it seemed. Only the cooperation of many people around the globe enabled it to come about. Now that I know what heroic efforts Mr. Kimberlin and his associates went through to assure that people around the world (and a ten-year-old boy from America half a globe away from home) could watch such a historic moment on live TV I'd like to send him my heartfelt thanks. It was a moment that I'll never forget. P.S. I wonder what we could accomplish nowadays if we put in an effort like Apollo again? Alan Dahl | alan.dahl@mccaw.com Analysts International Co. | (NeXTMail OK) -or- 10655 N.E. 4th St. Suite 804 | adahl@eskimo.com Bellevue, WA 98004 | PH: (206) 803-4496 | FAX: (206) 803-7406 ------------------------------ From: Donald E. Kimberlin <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon (Author's Response) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 1405 UTC Thanks, PAT, for posting some of the responses to the personal story I was privileged to be able to tell about how the world's telecomm people pitched in to remove one of the final last-minute barriers to placing Americans on the moon. Too many of us only understand telecommunications as the one service rep we talk to, or the wireman who shows up at our premises, or only as "deep inside" as the switchman in the local dial network. That story for once exposes a part of the thousands who work deep down in the bowels of the global telecommunications network, in places most people never see -- or even know about. And, of course, it gets to show yet another aspect of how the entire world really wanted "America" to succeed. As the broadcast and print news stories now begin to appear this week, we are brought to recall that many other events occurred in the years running up to "Camelot on the Moon;" events we didn't want to face at the time, and events that are ugly or even repugnant in retrospect. (I'll not name them here, as most can do so.) Some posit we used sending men to the moon as an "escape mechanism," but I suspect those comments largely come from the one-third of the population who weren't there at the time. Had they been here to really feel the daily omnipresence of the "Cold War" and nuclear run-up of "Mutually Assured Destruction" as an international negotiating method, they'd understand that the Free World *needed* to accomplish the feat. Few probably even know or recall that the Russians darned near beat us -- that a Russian cosmonaut died when his capsule parachute failed after an aborted mission just shortly before the American launch. Had the Russians not suffered that setback, they might have been first instead. The "space race" was a very close contest, indeed. The whole world stayed focused on that "space race," and it wanted "America" to succeed. I believe it still wants "America" to succeed. Padgett Peterson said it well in his published response in Digest 322: "Denied outside expansion, we turned inwards and began consuming ourselves in a frenzy of magic money that culminated in the late 1980's with a massive recession. "... We have gone through this before -- three times just since 1850 ..." "... I think ... we are in the middle of another dislocation that will lead to explosive growth ... like that which put us on the moon. I suspect that it will be universal communications that will do it and will change every aspect of our lives. The fact that I am writing this while having a cup of coffee (from the in-room dispenser) on holiday in Illinois is just one example." How true! We can see in the Gilder Series published here and elsewhere the momentous moves toward "universal telecommunication" that are shaping the future. True, money lies at the bottom of most of it, and Gilder has already shown the ways change in handling money is occurring. Considering that the dictionary definition of "telecommun- ications" is not limited to electrical or electronic technology, nor the "phone" as many commercial histories want us to focus on, one can see that commerce and politics have benefited from innovations that date at least to the Picts of Britain using smoke signals, with the first momentous modern event becoming the forming of the Rothschild dynasty by using carrier pigeons to signal Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Those who did not know or would not use the Rothschilds' "unproved technology" suffered considerable economic loss that day. The world today still has its naysayers that lose by resisting change. Now, a few centuries later, we see Padgett Peterson reading and responding to electronic news in his hotel room on vacation -- something that wasn't possible even 25 years ago, even though we put humans on the moon by then. That tells us something about the relation between computers and telecommunications. Bell Labs had a great deal to do with the earliest merger of the two. History records that Stibitz accomplished a bit of "remote computing" by having some relay logic on his kitchen table perform a simple add function controlled over a teletype circuit in 1939 -- just more than 50 years ago, and that only about a half century after automatic coded transmission was developed by Baudot. Now, look how far we've moved in 25 years to Padgett's laptop in a hotel room! Dave Niebuhr raised the point of collateral advances tied to telecommunications as it appeared in the "space race," raising the points of returning moon rock samples back to Earth for study, and the contributions of Grumman to the carriage of humans and their life support on that first Space Odyssey. It's almost impossible to list all the items we all enjoy today as a result of that $24 billion "experiment," from non-stick cookware to elastomeric fibers that glamorize the human form. It bears value to compare what we got for that $24 billion compared to the similar and larger heaps of billions we drop into "government programs" these days. When will we ever again get so much long-term improvement for an amount like that? And, David Kirsch showed his appreciation for the underlying "spirit of telecommunications" with a succinct line: "That was really beautiful. I really want to thank you for that ..." Without verbalizing it, David showed his understanding of the really dedicated people populating the "underworld of telecommunications," the "moles" as it were of that global phenomenon arising around us as we all ply our own life cycles here. Still, that network reaches in volume to only portions of the globe. Connectivity to numerous nations is still a very "slender thread." And, even in those where the international thread has been reinforced, connectivity to locations within the country are limited - in many cases, to the copper threads we largely relied upon just 25 years ago. Making progress in those places is still a thrilling "art form," and, resources willing, I'll try to bring more stories of it to the TELECOM Digest. Regrettably, the Internet address from this rutted side road of the Information Highway was not on the original story. I hope, PAT, you'll post it now, and that you might be able to do the favor of forwarding those responses you weren't able to use to it: 0004133373@mcimail.com as I do want to acknowledge and respond to all I am able to. (Hopefully they haven't wound up in the Digest Bit Bucket already.) Meantime, thanks to all who did respond with their expansions and explanations on the theme of how telecommunications has been and continues to be so intrinsic to our forward movement, both on this sphere and throughout uncharted space. You have flattered me with the privilege of being able to share a portion of the story with others around the globe. However, we have to always press forward on every front. Consider today the pictures we are seeing of Shoemaker-Levy crashing into Jupiter -- information we would not have been able to retrieve so rapidly and in such detail even 25 years ago. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'll continue to post some of the responses here for a few more days. Isn't it absolutely ironic that Jupiter and the comet are in the news now exactly 25 years after the moon walk ... if my understanding is correct, bits of the comet are still banging into Jupiter and will continue to do so for the next several days. This probably sounds terribly ignorant of me, but I wonder if there are any forms of life on Jupiter we would recognize as such, and if so, what they must be thinking and pain they are enduring during this catastrophic event on their planet. We've had a couple of close calls here on Earth in recent years with comets coming within a few million miles of us. How far in advance did we know of the Jupiter collision? I wonder when its time for it to happen here on Earth -- and I think it will, its just a matter of time, but perhaps not in our immediate lifetimes -- if the persons with knowledge of it will tell us and deal with the insuing panic, or just let it happen? Somehow, I feel I would prefer *not* to know. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 01:37:32 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Firewalls and Internet Security" by Cheswick/Bellovin BKFRINSC.RVW 940502 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 Heather Rignanesi, Marketing, x340, 73171.657@Compuserve.com or Tiffany Moore, Publicity tiffanym@aw.com Bob Donegon bobd@aw.com John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com Tom Stone, Editor, Higher Education Division tomsto@aw.com Philip Sutherland, Schulman Series 74640.2405@compuserve.com Keith Wollman, Trade Computer Group keithw@aw.com Lisa Roth Blackman, Trade Computer Group lisaro@aw.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "Firewalls and Internet Security", Cheswick/Bellovin, 1994, 0-201-63357-4, U$26.95. firewall-book@research.att.com ches@research.att.com smb@research.att.com The Internet has a reputation for a lack of security. Those books which mention security on the Internet generally suggest setting up a firewall machine in order to protect yourself, but stop short of giving anything resembling details of how to do such a thing. Cheswick and Bellovin not only give practical suggestions for firewall construction, they also address other aspects of Internet security, as well. Part one gives a basic background, both of security, and of TCP/IP. If you didn't think you needed security before, you will after reading chapter two. Part two details the construction of firewall gateways, as well as authentication, tools, traps, and cracking tools for use in testing the integrity of your system. Part three discusses attacks, and the logging and analysis, thereof. The book also looks at legal aspects, secure communication over insecure links, resources and various helpful information. Although the book deals specifically with TCP/IP, the concepts, which are the parts stressed, are applicable to any network-connected systems. This is probably destined to become one of the security classics within its specialized field. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKFRINSC.RVW 940502. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: dder@@intranet.gr (Dimitris Dervenis) Subject: Calling 555-1212 From Outside the USA Date: 18 Jul 1994 08:42:03 GMT Organization: Intracom sa, GREECE I tried to find a phone number in NYC, while calling from abroad: country code - area code - 5551212 (this has worked in the past), but now this service has been disabled. Now instead I need to call the AT&T international operator who in turn asks me for my AT&T card!!! Does this mean I have to pay AT&T for their card to get a phone number? Is there any other way for a person living abroad to find the telephone number of another person in the States? Dimitris [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are going about it the wrong way. 555-1212 should *never* have worked from outside the USA. It is an internal-only number, much like our 800 numbers. Granted, it did work in the way you described for quite awhile, but I think that was an oversite on the part of the telecom administration in your country, and not an authorized method of access to directory assistance here. Try calling *your* international operator in *your* country. Don't concern yourself with the AT&T operator. Tell *your* operator that you want to make an international call to the USA and that you need to get the number. She will handle the details. If you wish to call via the USA direct operators of AT&T, then yes, you will pay for a call to directory assistance. We all do over here; I think it is fifty cents per call. The same thing happens in reverse you see when we here in the USA try to call direct into the directory databases in other countries. It can be done; we can dial the same numbers (usually) that the international operators of AT&T dial. Trouble is, by doing so we pay for an international call in the process. If we go through *our* operator (which is the authorized way, as I am suggesting you do on your end) and then place the resulting call through our operator -- or even if we dial it direct -- there is no charge for the information call itself. Your ability to get into 555-1212 was just a fluke I suspect, and one that apparently has been corrected. By the way, has anyone in the USA noticed that when you dial 011 plus the country/city code somewhere, followed by 555-1212 you *do* frequently get the local directory assistance operator in that country? Trouble is, it shows up on your bill the next month like any other international call. It won't work for all countries, but does in quite a few. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #323 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa19331; 18 Jul 94 20:48 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA00483; Mon, 18 Jul 94 16:14:08 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA00475; Mon, 18 Jul 94 16:14:06 CDT Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 16:14:06 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407182114.AA00475@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #324 TELECOM Digest Mon, 18 Jul 94 16:14:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 324 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson HR 3937 Coming to House Floor For Vote; Amendment Coming! (Robert McMillin) Book Review: "UNIX Network Programming" by Stevens (Rob Slade) Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance (David Devereaux-Weber) Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? (Brett Frankenberger) Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? (bkron@netcom.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 08:36:44 -0700 From: rlm@netcom.com (Robert McMillin) Subject: URGENT: HR 3937 Coming to House Floor For Vote; Amendment Coming! Reply-To: rlm@helen.surfcty.com The following is an alert message about the status of the Cantwell bill, HR3937 these days, which would relax the restrictions on crypto exports. Make sure you tell your representative you *only* support the amended version. ------- Start of forwarded message ------- From: shabbir@panix.com (Shabbir J. Safdar) Subject: URGENT: HR 3937 coming to House floor for vote; amendment coming! Date: 17 Jul 1994 22:23:04 PDT Organization: Voters Telecomm Watch (vtw@panix.com) Reply-To: vtw@panix.com (Voters Telecomm Watch) [updated July 18, 1994 shabbir] [HR 3937 COMES TO THE FLOOR WEDNESDAY JULY 20TH; YOUR ACTION NEEDED] [PLEASE CHECK THE "WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW" SECTION!] DISTRIBUTE WIDELY Table of contents: Introduction & Alert Status of the bill What you can do right now List of legislators supporting HR 3937 (formerly HR 3627) List of legislators wavering on HR 3937 (formerly HR 3627) List of legislators opposing HR 3937 (formerly HR 3627) What is the Cantwell bill? INTRODUCTION Voters Telecomm Watch keeps scorecards on legislators' positions on legislation that affects telecommunications and civil liberties. If you have updates to a legislator's positions, from either: -public testimony, -reply letters from the legislator, -stated positions from their office, please contact vtw@panix.com so they can be added to this list. General questions: vtw@panix.com Mailing List Requests: vtw-list-request@panix.com Press Contact: stc@panix.com Gopher URL: gopher://gopher.panix.com:70/1/1/vtw WWW URL: Be patient; we're working on it. :-) STATUS OF THE BILL (updated 7/18/94) The Cantwell bill HR3627, that allows for fewer restrictions on exports of cryptography, was rolled into the General Export Administration Act HR 3937. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the full strength version out of committee after open, public hearings. The House Intelligence Committee took the bill and gutted it after a day of closed, secret hearings. The gutted version will come to the House floor on Wednesday July 20th. A amendment that reinstates Rep. Maria Cantwell's cryptography export provisions WILL be offered. It is crucial that you ensure that your representative knows that you support ONLY the amended version of this bill. This may be the last thing you can do for the cryptographic export legislation. Take the time to make a call! Schedule/Chronology of the bill Jul 20, 94 HR3937 comes to House floor; a "good" amendement will be offered [YOUR ACTION IS NEEDED TO PASS THIS] Jul 11, 94 House Rules Committee marks HR3937 "open"; allowing amendments Jun 30, 94 [*** vote postponed, perhaps till the week of 7/11/94] House Rules Comm. decides whether to allow amendments on the bill when it reaches the House floor Jun 14, 94 Gutted by the House Select Committee on Intelligence May 20, 94 Referred to the House Select Committee on Intelligence May 18, 94 Passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 18 attached to HR 3937, the General Export Administration Act Dec 6, 93 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Trade and Nov 22, 93 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW Estimated time to do this good deed: Six minutes Your legislator needs to know that you want them to support HR3937 but only with an amendment including Rep. Maria Cantwell's cryptography export provisions. If you wish to fax a letter instead of calling, that's fine too. If you don't know who your representative is, call: -The League of Women Voters in your area, or -Any representative from your state. They will tell you which is yours. You can obtain a complete copy of all representatives by: -checking the VTW gopher site: URL:gopher://gopher.panix.com:70/1/1/vtw (check under Congress) -or by dropping a note to vtw@panix.com [Our directory is a bit out of date. Please check all fax numbers before sending. People volunteering to obtain a new directory for us are welcome to help out.] Feel free to use the following sample communique: The Honorable ____________ address Washington DC, 20515 Dear Congressman or Congresswoman, On Wed. July 20th, HR 3937 (General Export Administration Act) comes to the floor. Please support HR3937 but only with an amendment including Rep. Maria Cantwell's cryptography export provisions. These provisions are crucial to the development of privacy-enhancing technology as the competitiveness of the American cryptographic industry. Sincerely, _________________________________ A shorter telephone sample communique might be: Dear Congressman or Congresswoman, Please support HR3937 but only with an amendment including Rep. Maria Cantwell's cryptography export provisions. Thank you. LIST OF LEGISLATORS SUPPORTING CRYPTOGRAPHY EXPORT LEGISLATION The following legislators have formally registered support for cryptography export legislation. Call them with your cheers. All addresses are Washington, D.C. 20515 Dist ST Name, Address, and Party Phone Fax ==== == ======================== ============== ============== 1 WA Cantwell, Maria (D) 1-202-225-6311 1-202-225-2286 1520 LHOB HR 3627's sponsor; thank her for her work! 16 IL Manzullo, Donald (R) 1-202-225-5676 1-202-225-5284 506 Cannon Cosponsored HR 3627 on 11/22/93 3 UT Orton, William H. (D) 1-202-225-7751 1-202-226-1223 1122 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 3 OR Wyden, Ronald (D) 1-202-225-4811 1-202-225-8941 1111 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 16 CA Edwards, Donald (D) 1-202-225-3072 1-202-225-9460 2307 RHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 19 OH Fingerhut, Eric D. (D) 1-202-225-5731 1-202-225-9114 431 Cannon Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 4 MA Frank, Barney (D) 1-202-225-5931 1-202-225-0182 2404 RHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 2 UT Shepherd, Karen (D) 1-202-225-3011 1-202-226-0354 414 Cannon Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 3 WA Unsoeld, Jolene (D) 1-202-225-3536 1-202-225-9095 1527 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 19 FL Johnston II, Harry (D) 1-202-225-3001 1-202-225-8791 204 Cannon Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 9 WA Kreidler, Mike (D) 1-202-225-8901 1-202-226-2361 1535 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 4 WA Inslee, Jay (D) 1-202-225-5816 1-202-226-1137 1431 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 7 WA McDermott, James A. (D) 1-202-225-3106 1-202-225-9212 1707 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 8 IN McCloskey, Frank (D) 1-202-225-4636 1-202-225-4688 306 Cannon Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 14 CA Eshoo, Anna G. (D) 1-202-225-8104 1-202-225-8890 1505 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 03/22/94 10 NC Ballenger, Thomas C. (R) 1-202-225-2576 1-202-225-0316 2238 RHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 05/04/94 2 WA Swift, Al (D) 1-202-225-2605 1-202-225-2608 1502 LHOB Cosponsored HR 3627 on 05/04/94 LIST OF LEGISLATORS WAVERING ON CRYPTOGRAPHY EXPORT LEGISLATION [Feel free to use the sample communique at the end of the FAQ when calling or writing a legislator.] 26 NY Hinchey, Maurice D. (D) 1-202-225-6335 1-202-226-0774 1313 LHOB Recently told a constituent that he is taking the Cantwell bill under consideration, but has "national security concerns" about allowing encryption to be exported outside the United States. 1 IA Leach, James (R) 1-202-225-6576 1-202-226-1278 2186 RHOB Has yet to answer a constituent letter with a stated position. 13 NY Molinari, Susan (D) 1-202-225-3371 1-202-226-1272 123 Cannon Has yet to answer a constituent letter with a stated position. (has taken inordinately long) 8 NY Nadler, Jerrold (D) 1-202-225-5635 1-202-225-6923 424 Cannon Met with lobbying constituent in April '94; no position taken yet 25 CA McKeon, Howard P. (R) 1-202-225-1956 1-202-226-0683 307 Cannon Responded to a constituent with a "non-position", May '94 Had a favorable meeting with a constituent and a VTW volunteer in May '94. LIST OF LEGISLATORS OPPOSING CRYPTOGRAPHY EXPORT LEGISLATION [Feel free to use the sample communique at the end of the FAQ when calling or writing a legislator.] Dist ST Name, Address, and Party Phone Fax ==== == ======================== ============== ============== 5 AL Cramer Jr, Robert E. (D) 1-202-225-4801 1-202-225-4392 1318 LHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 8 CA Pelosi, Nancy (D) 1-202-225-4965 1-202-225-8259 240 Cannon FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 32 CA Dixon, Julian C. (D) 1-202-225-7084 1-202-225-4091 2400 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 40 CA Lewis, Jerry (R) 1-202-225-5861 1-202-225-6498 2312 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 46 CA Dornan, Robert K. (R) 1-202-225-2965 no reliable fax 2402 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 2 CO Skaggs, David E. (D) 1-202-225-2161 1-202-225-9127 1124 LHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 10 FL Young, C. W. (R) 1-202-225-5961 1-202-225-9764 2407 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 4 KS Glickman, Daniel (D) 1-202-225-6216 1-202-225-5398 2371 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 1 NE Bereuter, Douglas (R) 1-202-225-4806 1-202-226-1148 2348 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 9 NJ Torricelli, Robert (D) 1-202-224-5061 1-202-225-0843 2159 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 3 NM Richardson, William (D) 1-202-225-6190 no reliable fax 2349 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 1 NV Bilbray, James H. (D) 1-202-225-5965 1-202-225-8808 2431 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 17 PA Gekas, George W. (R) 1-202-225-4315 1-202-225-8440 2410 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 2 RI Reed, John F. (D) 1-202-225-2735 1-202-225-9580 1510 LHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 14 TX Laughlin, Gregory H. (D) 1-202-225-2831 1-202-225-1108 236 Cannon FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 16 TX Coleman, Ronald D. (D) 1-202-225-4831 None 440 Cannon FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 19 TX Combest, Larry (R) 1-202-225-4005 1-202-225-9615 1511 LHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 1 UT Hansen, James V. (R) 1-202-225-0453 1-202-225-5857 2466 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. 6 WA Dicks, Norman D. (D) 1-202-225-5916 1-202-226-1176 2467 RHOB FAILED Cryptography exports: Voted to kill Rep. Cantwell's export provisions in the House Intelligence Committee on 6/15/94. What is the Cantwell bill? The Cantwell bill would permit companies to export products with encryption technology in them. US companies are currently not permitted to export products (hardware or software) with this technology in them. What is encryption technology? Encryption technology, or cryptography, is the art of scrambling a conversation so that only the people communicating can decode it. Other people (such as eavesdroppers) cannot learn about the conversation. Where is cryptography being used? Cryptography is used to encrypt electronic mail to protect its confidentiality in transit. It's used by bank automatic teller machines to protect sensitive data (such as your account number, your Personal Identification Number, and your bank balance). It can be implemented into software (such as electronic mail programs and word processors) as well as hardware (such as telephones and "walkie-talkies") to ensure your privacy. Why is there a restriction on exporting products with technology in them? For many years the United States poured vast sums of money into cryptography. The US government thought that if they did not let this technology be exported, foreign individuals would not be able to obtain it and use it against us (by keeping US intelligence agencies from eavesdropping on their communications) Today, many companies selling cryptographic technology are producing their products for the global market. A recent Software Publishers' Association Report (available from the VTW gopher) identified over 200 non-US companies producing cryptographic technology in the global marketplace. You can buy the same, high-quality cryptographic technology from many international firms despite the US export regulations. Although the marketplace has changed, the regulations have not. Why should the regulations be changed? US companies compete in a global marketplace. Because of the export regulations, they often compete alongside products with superior cryptographic capabilities built into them. The result is that US companies build their products with an inferior encryption technology. The result of this is that you, as an American consumer, have great difficulty obtaining products with strong encryption in them. Because US products cannot compete against products with better privacy features, and because the laws are outdated, the regulations should be changed. The Cantwell bill fixes these regulations to more accurately resemble the current situation of the world marketplace. How can I help encourage more privacy-enhanced products and pass the Cantwell bill? Call or write your representative and ask them to support or cosponsor Rep. Cantwell's export provisions (formerly HR 3627) in the General Export Administration Act, HR 3937. You can base your letter on the sample communication below. SAMPLE LETTER OR PHONE CALL The Honorable ____________ address Washington DC, 20515 Dear Congressman or Congresswoman, As a citizen concerned for my privacy, as well as a supporter of American business, I urge you to cosponsor the Rep. Cantwell's cryptographic export provisions (formerly HR 3627) in the General Export Administration Act, HR 3937. The bill would allow US companies to produce and export products with cryptographic privacy-enhancing technology in them. These products are already available from firms throughout the world. US companies lose nearly $100 million per year in exports to them. By encouraging this industry, ordinary citizens like you and me would be able to purchase products with better privacy features. Please support or co-sponsor HR 3937. Sincerely, ------- End of forwarded message ------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 11:35:32 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "UNIX Network Programming" by Stevens BKUNXNTP.RVW 940429 PTR Prentice Hall 113 Sylvan Avenue Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 or 11711 N. College Ave. Carmel, IN 46032-9903 or 201 W. 103rd Street Indianapolis, IN 46290 or 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10023 800-428-5331 or Market Cross House Cooper Street Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1EB England phyllis@prenhall.com - Phyllis Eve Bregman 70621.2737@CompuServe.COM Alan Apt mfranz@prenhall.com Mary Franz Beth Mullen-Hespe beth_hespe@prenhall.com "UNIX Network Programming", Stevens, 1990, 0-13-949876-1 rstevens@noao.edu This is a very solid textbook for the programming of network functions and applications in the UNIX environment. Starting with the basics of network models, the book then moves through UNIX specific net concepts and interprocess communications. The details of TCP/IP are evidently the preferred model in the examples, but XNS, SNA, NetBIOS, OSI and UUCP also get coverage. Berkeley sockets and the System V transport interface are outlined, as well as Berkeley library routines. There is discussion of applications in security, time and date, ping, trivial file transfer protocol, print spoolers, remote execution, login and drive access, performance and remote procedure calls. The excellence of the text is also evident in the care taken with the chapter exercises. They are not mere reading checks, but real tests of understanding of the concepts covered. The bibliography, as well, is thorough and helpfully annotated. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKUNXNTP.RVW 940429. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca | "My son, beware ... of the Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | making of books there is Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca | no end, and much study is User p1@CyberStore.ca | a weariness of the flesh." Security Canada V7K 2G6 | Ecclesiastes 12:12 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 09:45:56 CDT From: David Devereaux-Weber Reply-To: weberdd@doit.wisc.edu Subject: Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance Scott Thomas said: [diagram omitted] > We tested the above configuration, and got poorer that expected > results. We decided to replace the bridges with routers, one per > segment. The throughput was tripled! > I was under the impression that bridges were more efficient because > of lower overhead, less complexity, etc. and therefore would offer > the better performance. > Does anyone have thoughts on the matter? It depends on what protocols the network is carying. Routers can improve performance on several protocols by reducing unnecessary broadcast traffic -- for example, in an IPX network, if there are many servers, the servers periodically advertise their resources to the network in broadcast messages. Routers can suppress redundant messages like that and then regenerate them on the other end of a link. Furthermore, plain old IPX (without packet burst) sends a packet at a time and then waits for an acknowledgement that the packet arrived at the far end. A satellite circuit has a significant delay, which severely limits throughput. Routers can "spoof" the IPX protocol by sending an acknowledgement (an electronic white lie) from the local router before the packet is recieved by the far end. The far router blocks the acknowledgement, because it knows the near router has already simulated it. Because of the magnitude of the delay of the satellite link, several packets can be in the pipeline during the time required to send just one and wait for the ack. If your network is IP, much of the broadcast traffic (like ARP packets) can be kept off narrow bandwidth long delay circuits like the satellite link. So, in a purely local, wide bandwidth network, a bridge has less latency than a router, but in a narrow, long delay network like one with a satellite link, a router can reduce broadcast traffic and improve performance on many protocols. David Devereaux-Weber, P.E. weberdd@doit.wisc.edu (Internet) The University of Wisconsin - Madison (608)262-3584 (voice) Division of Information Technology (608)262-4679 (FAX) Network Engineering ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 02:59:54 GMT hpa@eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin) writes: >> [ SUMMARY by brettf: Call 10658-1-4xx-xxA-VAMP for 900-style content >> calling 4xx-xxA-VAMP with another carrier (other than whoever >> 10658 is) won't work. ] > Uuuuh, Pat ... if that xxxx is what the initial poster seems to imply > (presumably 3825 or something similar) then there is no area code 4xx. > If xxxx spells *anything* there is no area code 4xx (yet). It looks > like the 10658 carrier makes up numbers. Maybe the initial poster > would like to clarify if xxxx did start with 0/1 or if it was indeed a > four-letter word. It would not be possible for a carrier to make up numbers (unless the carrier were accessed by 950-XXXX or 1-800). Calls dialed via 10XXX are still parsed initially by the originating CO. In some cases, if you dial a local or Intra-LATA toll call with 10XXX in front, it will either be rejected, or the 10XXX will be ingored and the LEC will handle the call. (Some LEC's allow you to make Intra-LATA calls via an IXC, though). In most, if not all, CO switches, 10658-1-438-25A-VAMP would be parsed as 10658-1-438-25AV (and the AMP would be discarded), and the call would be treated an an intra-NPA (calling to the same area code) call ... if it turned out to be Inter-LATA, it would definitely be passed to the 10658 carrier ... if it was Intra-LATA (toll or local) it would depend on the policy. (In some areas, use of NXX prefixes mandates that 1 always be followed by an area code. In that case, 10658-1-438-25A-VAMP would be parsed with 438 as an area code, and the call would be rejected (possibly as soon as you had completed dialing the 438) for having an invalid area code). In other words, only in very rare (if any) cases would the full 438-25A-VAMP number be passed to the 10658 carrier. (The point here being general information ... it doesn't deal directly with the case at hand, because, as Pat pointed out, XXXX probably doesn't spell anything and is definitely a valid NPA (N0N)). Even after NXX area codes are implemented (Jan 1995), it still would likey not work, as most LECs will probably maintain lists of valid area codes in their switches and reject calls to invalid ones, even if they are prefixed with 10XXX. Brett (brettf@netcom.com) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, see what I think some people do not understand is that the local telco doesn't give calls prefaced with 10XXX out at all **until after they have looked it over first**. Then, if the local telco finds it is not something within the LATA which it can handle itself (assuming agreements such as that currently between AT&T and IBT are not in existence); that the area code and exchange, or country code or whatever are found in the 'tables' and are correct; and that the call is otherwise allowed *then* it says okay, you want carrier 10XXX to handle the call? Great! ... and it hands it off to XXX. Until/unless local telco has examined the number, found it to be something they themselves do not reserve the right to handle and the number otherwise in order, it will bounce. Makes no difference what XXX you stick on there. So 10658 cannot just make up numbers; no one else will have it in their tables and no one else will pass their traffic. Therefore in the example given in the original article, 4xx has to be some valid area code as we know them today; the 'x-ed out number' was that way to avoid publicizing it, but it is a dialable number ... just that the Information Provider owning it refuses to service it unless your call comes on his T-1 via 10658. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (Kronos) Subject: Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 20:27:25 GMT >> 10658 -- whoever that is 658 is ONCOR aka "Cellular Long Distance" [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah, good heavens! Of course ... ONCOR. How could I have forgotten about them? So they are running an electronic house of ill-repute now also, just like Madam Bell and all the others. Well good, I am happy for them. Parents of eleven year old boys should beware however: ONCOR is a tiger to deal with when it comes to getting refunds or adjustments. One of their friggin' payphones was used to call my phone collect a few months ago. Ooh la la ... twenty dollars and some change for a five minute collect call. I can't imagine how much they charge for taking care of dudes in college dorms at night who use their (ahem!) services in lieu of taking a cold shower. . That's enough for today. See ya tomorrow. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #324 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10951; 19 Jul 94 7:33 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07836; Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:30 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07822; Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:28 CDT Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:28 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407190714.AA07822@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #326 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 326 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: USA Direct Question (John R Levine) Re: USA Direct Question (Stefek Zaba) Re: USA Direct Question (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: USA Direct Question (Mike King) Re: USA Direct Question (Richard Cox) Re: USA Direct Question (Ole J. Jacobsen) Re: Pager and Pager Network (Rob Lockhart) Re: Pager and Pager Network (Dave Held) Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (James Taranto) Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (Larry Long) Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside (Dave Held) Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: NetWorld+Interop'94 Atlanta (Ole J. Jacobsen) Re: Networld+Interop'94 Atlanta (Richard James) Simple T1 WAN Networking (Aaron Jones) CFP: Satellite Conference in Russia (mchenry@misvms.bpa.arizona.edu) Last Laugh! Telephone Connections, as Explained on Usenet (John Lundgren) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 23:25 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass. > AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in its directories and on > London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) says that the number is > "0800-89-0011". [and AT&T says to use the 0500 number] I believe that 0800 is toll free via BT, while 0500 is toll free via Mercury. Considering BT's recent deal with MCI, I'm not surprised that AT&T would switch to their less expensive competitor. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, jlevine@delphi.com, 1037498@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: sjmz@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Stefek Zaba) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 08:19:19 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, England David G. Cantor (dgc@ccrwest.org) wrote: > What is going on? when telling about USA Direct being either an 0500 or an 0800 number. The 0800 numbers are run by BT (British Telecom); the 0500 numbers came in maybe a year ago, and are provided by BT's rival, Mercury. Presumably AT&T used to used BT and switched to Mercury. Cheers, Stefek ------------------------------ Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 13:19:14 +0100 (BST) From: Clive D.W. Feather Quoth David Cantor: > I was recently in England making calls to the US using the AT&T > service "USA Direct". AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in > its directories and on London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) > says that the number is "0800-89-0011". > When I dialed AT&T's USA Direct using the latter (BT) number, the AT&T > operator asked me where I obtained the number, and then told me to use > the first number instead. 0800 numbers are "free-to-caller" numbers provided by British Telecom. 0500 numbers are "free-to-caller" numbers provided by Mercury Telecommunications. It would appear that AT&T are getting a better deal from Hg than BT, and so have switched carriers. "800 portability - what's that ?" :-( Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 923 816 344 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 923 210 352 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom ------------------------------ From: mk@TFS.COM (Mike King) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 23:42:38 PDT In TELECOM Digest, V14 #320, David G. Cantor asked: > I was recently in England making calls to the US using the AT&T > service "USA Direct". AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in > it s directories and on London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) > says that the number is "0800-89-0011". The second number is older, using the BT network free number. The former number uses the Mercury network free number. I understand it has a lower per-minute charge when using USA Direct. Mercury is the first competitive long distance service to enter the British market. They have their own STD codes ("area codes") for each service where they compete against BT. Mike King mk@tfs.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 09:50:20 -0400 From: richard@mandarin.com Subject: Re: USA Direct Question We have LD competition over in England, too. But BT's 0800 numbers arrived first, and AT&T got themselves one for USA direct. Then Mercury came along with their equivalent (which used the 0500 code) and AT&T got one of those numbers, too! Of course BT promote the 0800 number as it's their service and they get the revenue. AT&T prefer you to call the 0500 number as AT&T have to pay for the inbound call in order to connect you to the number you want -- and Mercury charge them less than BT does! Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG Voice: 0956 700111; Fax: 0956 700110; VoiceMail: 0941 151515 e-mail address: richard@mandarin.com; PGP2.6 public key on request ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 10:05:05 PDT From: Ole J. Jacobsen Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Yes, they are changing from 0800 to 0500. The reason is that the 0800 numbers belong to British Telecom which owns (part of?) MCI a direct competitor to AT&T. The 0500 numbers are owned by the other carrier in the UK, Mercury Communications hence the switch. Last I was there I found that both numbers worked, but I guess they are phasing out the 0800 number. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report, Interop Company, a division of ZD Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive, Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Phone: +1 (415) 578-6988 Fax: +1 (415) 525-0194. ------------------------------ From: rlockhart@aol.com (RLockhart) Subject: Re: Pager and Pager Network Date: 18 Jul 1994 14:10:04 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) In article , Curtis E. Reid writes: > Do you, TELECOM Digest readers, know of any other pager network > companies in the U.S.A. that also offer TDD paging? If so, can you > give me their name, address, contact, and phone number (TDD if > possible)? Probably one of the fastest ways to find such paging service providers is by calling one of the manufacturers of such translating equipment. One such manufacturer is TekNow in Phoenix, Arizona .. 602.266.7800. TekNow makes a front end processor that, among other things, translates from TDD to TAP, the alpha page entry protocol. Perhaps they would be able to provide you with some background on the paging service providers that use their equipment. Another method would be to contact our Subscriber/Pan Am marketing group. They have a marketer who specializes in such alpha services. > On another track, Page New York says that a pager can only be used with > a single page network company you subscribe to. Their rationale is > that the pager frequency is specific to the company and is not > transportable to another pager network company. Not like the way > cellular phone company do. I told them I find it hard to believe > because I'm sure there are a lot of people who travel frequently and > would need to be paged wherever they are. Can anyone explain what > exactly is the restriction on the pager for certain coverage? Right constraint, wrong reason ... most pagers are limited to a specific operating frequency because they are crystal-controlled. The operating frequency is assigned to a specific carrier in a region and they purchase pagers to operate on that frequency. Frequencies, though, are reused by other carriers in different geographic areas based on some rather specific FCC rules. Some times, these geographically-separate carriers will band together to offer a 'roaming' service, but this doesn't happen very often. If you travel frequently, perhaps you should consider one of the regional or nationwide services. Rob Lockhart, Resource Manager, Interactive Data Systems Paging Products Group, Motorola, Inc. Desktop I'net: lockhart-epag06_rob@email.mot.com Wireless I'net (<32K characters): rob_lockhart-erl003e@email.mot.com ------------------------------ From: daveheld@delphi.com Subject: Re: Pager and Pager Network Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 21:42:38 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) For the most part, a pager can be used only with the pager company that issued it. There are nationwide paging services that offer service in nearly all major cities, so you can use your pager in any of those cities; but my first statement is still true. Dave ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Date: 18 Jul 1994 01:07:10 GMT Organization: The Bad Taranto In article , kreed@libre.com (Kevin W. Reed) wrote: > We are covered by US West here in Phoenix and recently, I hooked up > two lines for Caller-ID. One voice line and and one of my data lines. > I noticed pretty quickly that the only Caller-ID information that we > were getting was from the Metropolitan Phoenix area only with everything > else coming in as "OUT-OF-AREA". > I thought this was a bit strange as others (in other States) have > mentioned that they obtain Caller-ID information from other areas of > the country on their units. Most long-distance carriers do not carry Caller ID information. Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: llong@wiltel.com (Larry Long) Subject: Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Date: 18 Jul 1994 17:50:55 GMT Organization: Network Development In article , kreed@libre.com (Kevin W. Reed) says: > ... they said it was up to the long distance carrier to > provide such information and the reason why we don't get it is because > the callers are using a carrier that doesn't provide that information. US West is telling you correctly. WilTel DOES provide caller ID information. If you want to see it, for yourself provide me your voice number and I will call you. My voice number is 918-588-5056. ------------------------------ From: daveheld@delphi.com Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 02:25:12 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) One of my telephone companies also changed its bill format, and, similar to the above, printed a notice about how the new format would save paper and trees. This notice was printed alone on its own sheet of paper. Dave ------------------------------ From: paul@senex.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside Date: 18 Jul 1994 11:03:06 GMT Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services In article Alan Millar writes: > My local phone company, Pacific Bell, started printing phone bills on > both sides of the paper this month. Ditto NYNEX, for a few months now. (Bicoastal fad?) Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - Paul.Sawyer@UNH.Edu Telecommunications and Network Services VOX: +1 603 862 3262 50 College Road FAX: +1 603 862 4545 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 10:02:08 PDT From: Ole J. Jacobsen Subject: Re: NetWorld+Interop'94 Atlanta The show is September 12-16. Send your postal address to info@interop.com for a program brochure, or check out http://programs.interop.com for online information. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report, Interop Company, a division of ZD Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive, Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Phone: +1 (415) 578-6988 Fax: +1 (415) 525-0194. ------------------------------ From: rjames@netcom.com (Richard James) Subject: Re: Networld+Interop'94 Atlanta Organization: Kia Ora Associates Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 22:14:43 GMT In article , atiwan@nwg.nectec.or.th (Atiwan Prakobsantisukh) wrote: > Does anyone have any details about the program they could share with me? Try their WWW server which I think is at www.zdexpos.com. The URL should be http://www.zdexpos.com. rj ------------------------------ From: aoj@access2.digex.net (aaronjones) Subject: Simple T1 WAN Networking Date: 19 Jul 1994 00:24:01 GMT Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA Greetings Y'all, I have a client who has a T1 running between two points seperated by approximately 1700 miles. They have a LAN at each one of the two locations. The machines on the LANS are an assortment of Macs, Windows PCs, and UNIX boxes (SCO, Solaris 2.3, Motorola 88/Open(yechh), and an RS-6000 thrown in for good measure. The machines on the LANs at both ends are running a mixture of TCP/IP, The LANs are running a mixture of TCP/IP,IPX/SPX, and Ethertalk. What they would like to do is (strangely enough) connect their LANs together over the T1 circuit. They would like to do so at the cheapest possible cost. BTW, the T1 is currently sitting idle awaiting installation of a Frame Relay network, but they need something _now_. I will not be receiving any renumeration for this, but I would like to help out a friend. Any advise as to how they might accomplish this would be greatly appreciated. Aaron Jones Ph: (416) 213-2040 InterAccess Consulting Fax:(416) 213-5760 Toronto, Ontario Email: aoj@digex.net ------------------------------ From: mchenry@misvms.bpa.arizona.edu Subject: CFP: Satellite Conference in Russia Date: 18 Jul 1994 09:47 MST Organization: University of Arizona (BPA) International Conference on Satellite Communications ICSC'94 October 18-21, 1994 Moscow, Russia Organizers - Russian Popov Society for Radioengineering, Electronics and Communications - Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences - International Center for Scientific and Technical Information - IEEE Russia Section - IEEE Communications Society - IEEE Region 8 - CSELT (Italy) - TELESPAZIO (Italy) In cooperation with: * Ministry of Communications of Russia * Russia Space Agency * Regional Communication Administration of C.I.S. * Russian-American Magazine "Networks" * Research Radio Institute (Russia) * Intergovernment International Organization On Space Communication "Intersputnik" * Joint Stock Company "Telecom" (Russia) * Joint Stock Company "Maraphon-Earth" (Russia) * Joint Stock Company "Informkosmos" (Russia) * Research & Production Enterprise "Prikladnaya Mekhanika" (Russia) * Research & Production Enterprise "Energia" (Russia) * Space Research Institute, Russian Academy Of Sciences * State Enterprise "Space Communication" (Russia) * State Enterprise "Morsvyazsputnik" (Russia) * Fund for Development of Telecommunication Systems Of Russia * Moscow Research Radioengineering Institute (Russia) * Moscow Research Institute For Radio Communications (Russia) * International Academy Of Informatization (Department On Satellite And Earth Communication Systems And Broadcasting) SESSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE : Session 1 -Satellite communication systems and broadcasting Session 2- Platform launchers and space complex Session 3- Technology and equipment for satellite communications Session 4- Satellite based systems with high elliptical and low Earth orbits Session 5- Satellite based systems for ecological monitoring and navigation Session 6- VSAT networking and data transmission Session 7- Signal processing for satellite communications PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME : October 18,1994 Tuesday 10.00-14.00 Opening ceremony Plenary session 14.00-15.00-Lunch 15.00-18.00-Sessions 1,5. 19.00 Cocktail-party October 19,1994 Wednesday 9.00-13.00 Sessions 1,5 11.00-13.00 Sessions 4,7 13.00-15.00 Lunch Discussion of poster papers (Sessions 1,4,5,7) 15.00-17.00 Sessions 4,7 17.00-18.00 Round table discussion Session 6 October 20,1994 Thursday 9.00-13.00 Sessions 2,4. 11.00-13.00 Session 3 11.00-13.00 Round table discussion "Satellites with low Earth orbits" 13.00-15.00 Lunch Discussion of poster papers (Sessions 2,3,6) 15.00-17.00 Closing ceremony October 21,1994 Friday 10.00-17.00 Visits to research and space centers. Visit to International Exhibition "NetCom94". The International Technical Programme Committee has approved Your paper............................................... ............................................... for presenting at: Plenary session Session........................................... poster paper discussion The registration fee (300 $US) should be sent by October 1,1994 to Bank Account: ICSTI acc.# 00107001147 Beneficiary's Bank: BANK "CREDIT-MOSCOW" 16, Gospitalnaya Sq., 111250 Moscow, Russia Intermediary Bank: The Bank of New York 48, Wall Street, NY NY 10286 acc. # 890-0057-033 The registration fee includes: visa support, hotel reservation, local transport, sightseeing of Moscow with a guide, cocktail party, coffee breaks, program and proceedings of the conference, business visits, translation services, arrival and departure service. The registration fee for accompanying persons (85 $US) includes visa support, local transport, hotel reservation, cocktail party, sightseeing of Moscow, arrival and departure services. Deadline for Your paper in camera-ready format is August 15,1994. The paper and abstract (2 copies) should be sent to Dr. Juri Gornostaev, ICSC'94 Orgcom, 21-B, Kuusinen St., ICSTI, Moscow, 125252 Russia by express mail (DHL, Federal Express, TNT, etc.). Fax:(7-095)943-0089, e-mail:enir@ccic.icsti.msk.su For obtaining an official invitation and visa please fill and send the following form to the above given address. 1. Name ........................................................ 2. Citizenship .................................................. 3. Date of birth ................................................ 4. Passport No .................................................. 5. Address ...................................................... 6. Cities for visits ............................................ 7. Date of arrival and departure ................................ 8. Fax number ................................................... ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@ohlone.kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet Date: 15 Jul 94 03:31:22 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Lundgren found this gem of wisdom on some Usenet group somewhere and passed it along, adding some comments of his own. I suppose it was one of the telecom newsgroups, but who knows. The amount of misinformation circulating in the cesspool these days is nothing short of astounding. Read it yourself and see how wild things have gotten there. The ignorance of the two correspondents would be funny if it were not so typical there. PAT] Robert Macy (robert.macy@engineers.com) wrote: : GT>I know there are two wires from the exchange to my house but there are : GT>4 on a standard BT phone plug. Why the extra two? and how is the : GT>ringer inside the phone activated? how does the exchange know when you : GT>lift up the phone? : Some say the four wires were used to confuse people and discourage them : from attempting to wire their own telephones (in the old days) WRONG. See below. BTW, You should be reading TELECOM Digest to get the real info. : Now just use the extra wires to add a second line. : Note: the voltage from the telco should be polarized. The red and green : wires are the main ones with red being negative with respect to the grn. You better check that with a voltmeter. I think it's minus on the tip or green wire. : Old AT&T telephones with touch-tone need to have that voltage supplied : to them properly, or the touch-tone pad won't work. New phones use a : bridge rectifier and the polarity of the line doesn't matter. : When your phone is ON-HOOK, the phone company supplies around 45 to 65 : Volts to it (looking for you to take some current). When you lift the : handset, the current you pull is detected at the local telco switch : station and a new power supply is connected to your line to power your : phone. Yes, there is a short time you have no power to your phone. The : "ON-LINE" power supply is something like 12 V in series with some : resistance. That resistance is a function of the line distance out to : your home. THAT'S MISINFORMATION. The phone is powered from the same battery, which is about 48VDC, when off hook. Part of the voltage drop is across the relay coil, with the voltage across the phone depending on how much current it draws. And it is supposed to be a current loop. There is NO 'on-line power supply' other than the 48V battery. : But the AC impedance is supposed to be 600 Ohms. The 600 Ohms is : standard audio impedance which reduces echoes and allows for the : creation of line amplifiers. : Line amplifiers are a miraculous device that amplifies signals going : along a two wire system. You can set the gain for a different level : each direction. In other words, between your phone and mine (out in : the middle of no where) it is possible to make a little amplifier that : amplifies your signal, or my signal. All powered off the two lines : themselves. Neat, huh? BUT WRONG. The phone company used to put loading coils, which are a 88 millihenry inductor, in the line. This compensated for the capacitance. In the U.S. they never put an amplifier on the line. Why? Because if it drew any current, it would cause the CO to think the phone was off the hook! And what kind of amplifier? Tubes? Transistors? NO! This phone system was invented long before either of them. Today's subscriber lines may go into 'pair gain' equipment that multiplexes the line along with 23 others onto a T1 carrier. It's commonly called a SLIC. From there it goes back to the CO as a digital bit stream. This equipment may be located in the neighborhood, in an underground bunker like we have around here where I live. : GT>If anyone can enlighten me I'd be very grateful, (I've looked around : GT>for books etc but didn't find anything with real tech details). : OLD books in the library have *all* the details. At least basic : details, the actual techniques now used were implemented about 20 years : ago when Captain Crunch and his followers got into everything and people : were making "blue boxes" to call around the world for free. : GT>If you could email info (as well as posting) that would be even better : GT>as my news feed doesn't keep news for long. : I swear this is true. Certain details of the telephone industry, if I And I swear that you're WRONG if you're in the U.S. : tell you how they work, I would be committing a felony (that's right, a : felony). And *you* would be committing a felony for listening! How do : you like them apples? So I suppose it's against the law to read the Bell System Technical Journal? You've got to be kidding!!! What do you think we are, a bunch of chumps? NO WAY?! : - Robert - John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And there you have it, straight from the source of all true gospel, the Usenet. I'll bet you did not know my publication of the Digest and your reading of it was illegal, did you? And John, when you responded by telling him to read this Digest, did you know you were encouraging him to commit a felony? ... Now I'll grant you, AT&T in years past never made any effort to explain themselves to the general public, nor do they now. The most infamous case of all was in the middle 1960's when {Ramparts Magazine} announced their intention to publish the (then) formula used by Mother to construct calling card check digits or 'proof of legitimacy key letters' in the next issue of their magazine. Mother just about went crazy; she got a restraining order in court at the last minute (the press run was complete and the magazine was in distribution to newstands everywhere) preventing {Ramparts} from giving out the information. All the copies in circulation had to be recalled and handed over to The Telephone Company for shredding. For those not familiar with it, {Ramparts} was an odd little magazine published in Berkeley, California by a bunch of odd little people. They were against the War, and all that, and devoted their magazine to things designed to upset and embarass the establishment, not the least of which was Ma Bell and her children. There is no such modern word as 'rampart' by the way. It is an archaism last used in middle French/English dating from about 1583 or so and it roughly translates in modern English to 'a hole dug in the ground behind a large pile of dirt or behind a hill where one can hide (in the hole) to watch one's enemies without being seen ...'. The magazine took its name from the first stanza of {The Star Spangled Banner} written by Francis Scott Key with its words, 'whose broad stripes and bright stars / through the perilous night / from the ramparts we watched / were so gallantly streaming ..'. The odd little soldiers waged war against the War in their own way, and Ma Bell squashed them when they offended her, sort of as one would swat a fly or step on a cockroach. Does anyone know if {Ramparts} is still around? John, maybe the writer of that snippet you sent from Usenet was thinking about {Ramparts} when he said it is illegal to talk about Phone Company Secrets. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #326 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10951; 19 Jul 94 7:33 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07836; Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:30 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07822; Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:28 CDT Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:28 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407190714.AA07822@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #326 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 326 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: USA Direct Question (John R Levine) Re: USA Direct Question (Stefek Zaba) Re: USA Direct Question (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: USA Direct Question (Mike King) Re: USA Direct Question (Richard Cox) Re: USA Direct Question (Ole J. Jacobsen) Re: Pager and Pager Network (Rob Lockhart) Re: Pager and Pager Network (Dave Held) Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (James Taranto) Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (Larry Long) Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside (Dave Held) Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: NetWorld+Interop'94 Atlanta (Ole J. Jacobsen) Re: Networld+Interop'94 Atlanta (Richard James) Simple T1 WAN Networking (Aaron Jones) CFP: Satellite Conference in Russia (mchenry@misvms.bpa.arizona.edu) Last Laugh! Telephone Connections, as Explained on Usenet (John Lundgren) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 23:25 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass. > AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in its directories and on > London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) says that the number is > "0800-89-0011". [and AT&T says to use the 0500 number] I believe that 0800 is toll free via BT, while 0500 is toll free via Mercury. Considering BT's recent deal with MCI, I'm not surprised that AT&T would switch to their less expensive competitor. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, jlevine@delphi.com, 1037498@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: sjmz@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Stefek Zaba) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 08:19:19 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, England David G. Cantor (dgc@ccrwest.org) wrote: > What is going on? when telling about USA Direct being either an 0500 or an 0800 number. The 0800 numbers are run by BT (British Telecom); the 0500 numbers came in maybe a year ago, and are provided by BT's rival, Mercury. Presumably AT&T used to used BT and switched to Mercury. Cheers, Stefek ------------------------------ Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 13:19:14 +0100 (BST) From: Clive D.W. Feather Quoth David Cantor: > I was recently in England making calls to the US using the AT&T > service "USA Direct". AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in > its directories and on London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) > says that the number is "0800-89-0011". > When I dialed AT&T's USA Direct using the latter (BT) number, the AT&T > operator asked me where I obtained the number, and then told me to use > the first number instead. 0800 numbers are "free-to-caller" numbers provided by British Telecom. 0500 numbers are "free-to-caller" numbers provided by Mercury Telecommunications. It would appear that AT&T are getting a better deal from Hg than BT, and so have switched carriers. "800 portability - what's that ?" :-( Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 923 816 344 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 923 210 352 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom ------------------------------ From: mk@TFS.COM (Mike King) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 23:42:38 PDT In TELECOM Digest, V14 #320, David G. Cantor asked: > I was recently in England making calls to the US using the AT&T > service "USA Direct". AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in > it s directories and on London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) > says that the number is "0800-89-0011". The second number is older, using the BT network free number. The former number uses the Mercury network free number. I understand it has a lower per-minute charge when using USA Direct. Mercury is the first competitive long distance service to enter the British market. They have their own STD codes ("area codes") for each service where they compete against BT. Mike King mk@tfs.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 09:50:20 -0400 From: richard@mandarin.com Subject: Re: USA Direct Question We have LD competition over in England, too. But BT's 0800 numbers arrived first, and AT&T got themselves one for USA direct. Then Mercury came along with their equivalent (which used the 0500 code) and AT&T got one of those numbers, too! Of course BT promote the 0800 number as it's their service and they get the revenue. AT&T prefer you to call the 0500 number as AT&T have to pay for the inbound call in order to connect you to the number you want -- and Mercury charge them less than BT does! Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG Voice: 0956 700111; Fax: 0956 700110; VoiceMail: 0941 151515 e-mail address: richard@mandarin.com; PGP2.6 public key on request ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 10:05:05 PDT From: Ole J. Jacobsen Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Yes, they are changing from 0800 to 0500. The reason is that the 0800 numbers belong to British Telecom which owns (part of?) MCI a direct competitor to AT&T. The 0500 numbers are owned by the other carrier in the UK, Mercury Communications hence the switch. Last I was there I found that both numbers worked, but I guess they are phasing out the 0800 number. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report, Interop Company, a division of ZD Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive, Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Phone: +1 (415) 578-6988 Fax: +1 (415) 525-0194. ------------------------------ From: rlockhart@aol.com (RLockhart) Subject: Re: Pager and Pager Network Date: 18 Jul 1994 14:10:04 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) In article , Curtis E. Reid writes: > Do you, TELECOM Digest readers, know of any other pager network > companies in the U.S.A. that also offer TDD paging? If so, can you > give me their name, address, contact, and phone number (TDD if > possible)? Probably one of the fastest ways to find such paging service providers is by calling one of the manufacturers of such translating equipment. One such manufacturer is TekNow in Phoenix, Arizona .. 602.266.7800. TekNow makes a front end processor that, among other things, translates from TDD to TAP, the alpha page entry protocol. Perhaps they would be able to provide you with some background on the paging service providers that use their equipment. Another method would be to contact our Subscriber/Pan Am marketing group. They have a marketer who specializes in such alpha services. > On another track, Page New York says that a pager can only be used with > a single page network company you subscribe to. Their rationale is > that the pager frequency is specific to the company and is not > transportable to another pager network company. Not like the way > cellular phone company do. I told them I find it hard to believe > because I'm sure there are a lot of people who travel frequently and > would need to be paged wherever they are. Can anyone explain what > exactly is the restriction on the pager for certain coverage? Right constraint, wrong reason ... most pagers are limited to a specific operating frequency because they are crystal-controlled. The operating frequency is assigned to a specific carrier in a region and they purchase pagers to operate on that frequency. Frequencies, though, are reused by other carriers in different geographic areas based on some rather specific FCC rules. Some times, these geographically-separate carriers will band together to offer a 'roaming' service, but this doesn't happen very often. If you travel frequently, perhaps you should consider one of the regional or nationwide services. Rob Lockhart, Resource Manager, Interactive Data Systems Paging Products Group, Motorola, Inc. Desktop I'net: lockhart-epag06_rob@email.mot.com Wireless I'net (<32K characters): rob_lockhart-erl003e@email.mot.com ------------------------------ From: daveheld@delphi.com Subject: Re: Pager and Pager Network Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 21:42:38 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) For the most part, a pager can be used only with the pager company that issued it. There are nationwide paging services that offer service in nearly all major cities, so you can use your pager in any of those cities; but my first statement is still true. Dave ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Date: 18 Jul 1994 01:07:10 GMT Organization: The Bad Taranto In article , kreed@libre.com (Kevin W. Reed) wrote: > We are covered by US West here in Phoenix and recently, I hooked up > two lines for Caller-ID. One voice line and and one of my data lines. > I noticed pretty quickly that the only Caller-ID information that we > were getting was from the Metropolitan Phoenix area only with everything > else coming in as "OUT-OF-AREA". > I thought this was a bit strange as others (in other States) have > mentioned that they obtain Caller-ID information from other areas of > the country on their units. Most long-distance carriers do not carry Caller ID information. Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: llong@wiltel.com (Larry Long) Subject: Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Date: 18 Jul 1994 17:50:55 GMT Organization: Network Development In article , kreed@libre.com (Kevin W. Reed) says: > ... they said it was up to the long distance carrier to > provide such information and the reason why we don't get it is because > the callers are using a carrier that doesn't provide that information. US West is telling you correctly. WilTel DOES provide caller ID information. If you want to see it, for yourself provide me your voice number and I will call you. My voice number is 918-588-5056. ------------------------------ From: daveheld@delphi.com Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 02:25:12 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) One of my telephone companies also changed its bill format, and, similar to the above, printed a notice about how the new format would save paper and trees. This notice was printed alone on its own sheet of paper. Dave ------------------------------ From: paul@senex.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside Date: 18 Jul 1994 11:03:06 GMT Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services In article Alan Millar writes: > My local phone company, Pacific Bell, started printing phone bills on > both sides of the paper this month. Ditto NYNEX, for a few months now. (Bicoastal fad?) Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - Paul.Sawyer@UNH.Edu Telecommunications and Network Services VOX: +1 603 862 3262 50 College Road FAX: +1 603 862 4545 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 10:02:08 PDT From: Ole J. Jacobsen Subject: Re: NetWorld+Interop'94 Atlanta The show is September 12-16. Send your postal address to info@interop.com for a program brochure, or check out http://programs.interop.com for online information. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report, Interop Company, a division of ZD Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive, Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Phone: +1 (415) 578-6988 Fax: +1 (415) 525-0194. ------------------------------ From: rjames@netcom.com (Richard James) Subject: Re: Networld+Interop'94 Atlanta Organization: Kia Ora Associates Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 22:14:43 GMT In article , atiwan@nwg.nectec.or.th (Atiwan Prakobsantisukh) wrote: > Does anyone have any details about the program they could share with me? Try their WWW server which I think is at www.zdexpos.com. The URL should be http://www.zdexpos.com. rj ------------------------------ From: aoj@access2.digex.net (aaronjones) Subject: Simple T1 WAN Networking Date: 19 Jul 1994 00:24:01 GMT Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA Greetings Y'all, I have a client who has a T1 running between two points seperated by approximately 1700 miles. They have a LAN at each one of the two locations. The machines on the LANS are an assortment of Macs, Windows PCs, and UNIX boxes (SCO, Solaris 2.3, Motorola 88/Open(yechh), and an RS-6000 thrown in for good measure. The machines on the LANs at both ends are running a mixture of TCP/IP, The LANs are running a mixture of TCP/IP,IPX/SPX, and Ethertalk. What they would like to do is (strangely enough) connect their LANs together over the T1 circuit. They would like to do so at the cheapest possible cost. BTW, the T1 is currently sitting idle awaiting installation of a Frame Relay network, but they need something _now_. I will not be receiving any renumeration for this, but I would like to help out a friend. Any advise as to how they might accomplish this would be greatly appreciated. Aaron Jones Ph: (416) 213-2040 InterAccess Consulting Fax:(416) 213-5760 Toronto, Ontario Email: aoj@digex.net ------------------------------ From: mchenry@misvms.bpa.arizona.edu Subject: CFP: Satellite Conference in Russia Date: 18 Jul 1994 09:47 MST Organization: University of Arizona (BPA) International Conference on Satellite Communications ICSC'94 October 18-21, 1994 Moscow, Russia Organizers - Russian Popov Society for Radioengineering, Electronics and Communications - Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences - International Center for Scientific and Technical Information - IEEE Russia Section - IEEE Communications Society - IEEE Region 8 - CSELT (Italy) - TELESPAZIO (Italy) In cooperation with: * Ministry of Communications of Russia * Russia Space Agency * Regional Communication Administration of C.I.S. * Russian-American Magazine "Networks" * Research Radio Institute (Russia) * Intergovernment International Organization On Space Communication "Intersputnik" * Joint Stock Company "Telecom" (Russia) * Joint Stock Company "Maraphon-Earth" (Russia) * Joint Stock Company "Informkosmos" (Russia) * Research & Production Enterprise "Prikladnaya Mekhanika" (Russia) * Research & Production Enterprise "Energia" (Russia) * Space Research Institute, Russian Academy Of Sciences * State Enterprise "Space Communication" (Russia) * State Enterprise "Morsvyazsputnik" (Russia) * Fund for Development of Telecommunication Systems Of Russia * Moscow Research Radioengineering Institute (Russia) * Moscow Research Institute For Radio Communications (Russia) * International Academy Of Informatization (Department On Satellite And Earth Communication Systems And Broadcasting) SESSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE : Session 1 -Satellite communication systems and broadcasting Session 2- Platform launchers and space complex Session 3- Technology and equipment for satellite communications Session 4- Satellite based systems with high elliptical and low Earth orbits Session 5- Satellite based systems for ecological monitoring and navigation Session 6- VSAT networking and data transmission Session 7- Signal processing for satellite communications PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME : October 18,1994 Tuesday 10.00-14.00 Opening ceremony Plenary session 14.00-15.00-Lunch 15.00-18.00-Sessions 1,5. 19.00 Cocktail-party October 19,1994 Wednesday 9.00-13.00 Sessions 1,5 11.00-13.00 Sessions 4,7 13.00-15.00 Lunch Discussion of poster papers (Sessions 1,4,5,7) 15.00-17.00 Sessions 4,7 17.00-18.00 Round table discussion Session 6 October 20,1994 Thursday 9.00-13.00 Sessions 2,4. 11.00-13.00 Session 3 11.00-13.00 Round table discussion "Satellites with low Earth orbits" 13.00-15.00 Lunch Discussion of poster papers (Sessions 2,3,6) 15.00-17.00 Closing ceremony October 21,1994 Friday 10.00-17.00 Visits to research and space centers. Visit to International Exhibition "NetCom94". The International Technical Programme Committee has approved Your paper............................................... ............................................... for presenting at: Plenary session Session........................................... poster paper discussion The registration fee (300 $US) should be sent by October 1,1994 to Bank Account: ICSTI acc.# 00107001147 Beneficiary's Bank: BANK "CREDIT-MOSCOW" 16, Gospitalnaya Sq., 111250 Moscow, Russia Intermediary Bank: The Bank of New York 48, Wall Street, NY NY 10286 acc. # 890-0057-033 The registration fee includes: visa support, hotel reservation, local transport, sightseeing of Moscow with a guide, cocktail party, coffee breaks, program and proceedings of the conference, business visits, translation services, arrival and departure service. The registration fee for accompanying persons (85 $US) includes visa support, local transport, hotel reservation, cocktail party, sightseeing of Moscow, arrival and departure services. Deadline for Your paper in camera-ready format is August 15,1994. The paper and abstract (2 copies) should be sent to Dr. Juri Gornostaev, ICSC'94 Orgcom, 21-B, Kuusinen St., ICSTI, Moscow, 125252 Russia by express mail (DHL, Federal Express, TNT, etc.). Fax:(7-095)943-0089, e-mail:enir@ccic.icsti.msk.su For obtaining an official invitation and visa please fill and send the following form to the above given address. 1. Name ........................................................ 2. Citizenship .................................................. 3. Date of birth ................................................ 4. Passport No .................................................. 5. Address ...................................................... 6. Cities for visits ............................................ 7. Date of arrival and departure ................................ 8. Fax number ................................................... ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@ohlone.kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet Date: 15 Jul 94 03:31:22 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Lundgren found this gem of wisdom on some Usenet group somewhere and passed it along, adding some comments of his own. I suppose it was one of the telecom newsgroups, but who knows. The amount of misinformation circulating in the cesspool these days is nothing short of astounding. Read it yourself and see how wild things have gotten there. The ignorance of the two correspondents would be funny if it were not so typical there. PAT] Robert Macy (robert.macy@engineers.com) wrote: : GT>I know there are two wires from the exchange to my house but there are : GT>4 on a standard BT phone plug. Why the extra two? and how is the : GT>ringer inside the phone activated? how does the exchange know when you : GT>lift up the phone? : Some say the four wires were used to confuse people and discourage them : from attempting to wire their own telephones (in the old days) WRONG. See below. BTW, You should be reading TELECOM Digest to get the real info. : Now just use the extra wires to add a second line. : Note: the voltage from the telco should be polarized. The red and green : wires are the main ones with red being negative with respect to the grn. You better check that with a voltmeter. I think it's minus on the tip or green wire. : Old AT&T telephones with touch-tone need to have that voltage supplied : to them properly, or the touch-tone pad won't work. New phones use a : bridge rectifier and the polarity of the line doesn't matter. : When your phone is ON-HOOK, the phone company supplies around 45 to 65 : Volts to it (looking for you to take some current). When you lift the : handset, the current you pull is detected at the local telco switch : station and a new power supply is connected to your line to power your : phone. Yes, there is a short time you have no power to your phone. The : "ON-LINE" power supply is something like 12 V in series with some : resistance. That resistance is a function of the line distance out to : your home. THAT'S MISINFORMATION. The phone is powered from the same battery, which is about 48VDC, when off hook. Part of the voltage drop is across the relay coil, with the voltage across the phone depending on how much current it draws. And it is supposed to be a current loop. There is NO 'on-line power supply' other than the 48V battery. : But the AC impedance is supposed to be 600 Ohms. The 600 Ohms is : standard audio impedance which reduces echoes and allows for the : creation of line amplifiers. : Line amplifiers are a miraculous device that amplifies signals going : along a two wire system. You can set the gain for a different level : each direction. In other words, between your phone and mine (out in : the middle of no where) it is possible to make a little amplifier that : amplifies your signal, or my signal. All powered off the two lines : themselves. Neat, huh? BUT WRONG. The phone company used to put loading coils, which are a 88 millihenry inductor, in the line. This compensated for the capacitance. In the U.S. they never put an amplifier on the line. Why? Because if it drew any current, it would cause the CO to think the phone was off the hook! And what kind of amplifier? Tubes? Transistors? NO! This phone system was invented long before either of them. Today's subscriber lines may go into 'pair gain' equipment that multiplexes the line along with 23 others onto a T1 carrier. It's commonly called a SLIC. From there it goes back to the CO as a digital bit stream. This equipment may be located in the neighborhood, in an underground bunker like we have around here where I live. : GT>If anyone can enlighten me I'd be very grateful, (I've looked around : GT>for books etc but didn't find anything with real tech details). : OLD books in the library have *all* the details. At least basic : details, the actual techniques now used were implemented about 20 years : ago when Captain Crunch and his followers got into everything and people : were making "blue boxes" to call around the world for free. : GT>If you could email info (as well as posting) that would be even better : GT>as my news feed doesn't keep news for long. : I swear this is true. Certain details of the telephone industry, if I And I swear that you're WRONG if you're in the U.S. : tell you how they work, I would be committing a felony (that's right, a : felony). And *you* would be committing a felony for listening! How do : you like them apples? So I suppose it's against the law to read the Bell System Technical Journal? You've got to be kidding!!! What do you think we are, a bunch of chumps? NO WAY?! : - Robert - John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And there you have it, straight from the source of all true gospel, the Usenet. I'll bet you did not know my publication of the Digest and your reading of it was illegal, did you? And John, when you responded by telling him to read this Digest, did you know you were encouraging him to commit a felony? ... Now I'll grant you, AT&T in years past never made any effort to explain themselves to the general public, nor do they now. The most infamous case of all was in the middle 1960's when {Ramparts Magazine} announced their intention to publish the (then) formula used by Mother to construct calling card check digits or 'proof of legitimacy key letters' in the next issue of their magazine. Mother just about went crazy; she got a restraining order in court at the last minute (the press run was complete and the magazine was in distribution to newstands everywhere) preventing {Ramparts} from giving out the information. All the copies in circulation had to be recalled and handed over to The Telephone Company for shredding. For those not familiar with it, {Ramparts} was an odd little magazine published in Berkeley, California by a bunch of odd little people. They were against the War, and all that, and devoted their magazine to things designed to upset and embarass the establishment, not the least of which was Ma Bell and her children. There is no such modern word as 'rampart' by the way. It is an archaism last used in middle French/English dating from about 1583 or so and it roughly translates in modern English to 'a hole dug in the ground behind a large pile of dirt or behind a hill where one can hide (in the hole) to watch one's enemies without being seen ...'. The magazine took its name from the first stanza of {The Star Spangled Banner} written by Francis Scott Key with its words, 'whose broad stripes and bright stars / through the perilous night / from the ramparts we watched / were so gallantly streaming ..'. The odd little soldiers waged war against the War in their own way, and Ma Bell squashed them when they offended her, sort of as one would swat a fly or step on a cockroach. Does anyone know if {Ramparts} is still around? John, maybe the writer of that snippet you sent from Usenet was thinking about {Ramparts} when he said it is illegal to talk about Phone Company Secrets. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #326 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa13404; 19 Jul 94 11:14 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07009; Tue, 19 Jul 94 00:26:12 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07000; Tue, 19 Jul 94 00:26:11 CDT Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 00:26:11 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407190526.AA07000@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #325 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Jul 94 00:26:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 325 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson East TN to Get New Area Code (David Marks) Remote Network Access? (Seth B. Rothenberg) ISLIP 94 -- Second CFP (R. Jagannathan) List of 703 -> 540 Exchanges (Paul Robinson) Tricks That LD Companies Play (Dave Ptasnik) Headline "800 Purveyor Faces Obscenity Charge" (Jim Haynes) Anyone Use NT Magellan Switches? (Peter Eisch) AT&T's New Overseas Transmitting Facility - An Update (Dave Niebuhr) Looking for Fractional T1/Full T1 CSU/DSU's (Suresh Rajagopalan) Area Code Splits (David Esan) SONET Chip Sets (lever@ada.com) Come to Work For AirTouch (Michael Caniglia) Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Joe Kukulka) Help and Information Wanted About Republic of Korea (Xiaoweng Fu) Technical Information Wanted on Caller ID (csa@bones.et.byu.edu) More Blatent Commercialism - Hello Direct on WWW (Mark W. Earle) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tijc02!djm408@uunet.uu.net (David Marks) Subject: East TN to Get New Area Code Organization: Siemens Industrial Automation, Johnson City TN Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 19:28:01 GMT East TN, that area of the world that includes Chattanooga, Knoxville, and the Tri-Cities (Kingsport, Bristol, and Johnson City), will be getting a new area code as of Jan. 1st, 1996. This was reported in the Johnson City Press, Thursday, July 14, 1994. The actual code has not been determined yet: they are leaning towards 249, but 931 is also possible. They would rather use 249 than 931, as 931 might be confused with 901 currently used for West TN: the area containing Memphis. Middle TN would still use 615 (it contains Nashville). When the new area code becomes dialable, and how long permissive dialing will be allowed was not reported. The exact boundaries were also not reported. The article stated that they are doing this as faxes, modems, etc. will soon use up all available numbers in the 615 area code. This has happened pretty quickly, as last year they went from 1+7 dialing of long distance within 615 to 1+3+7 for all inter-lata long distance inside 615 for the very same reason and are soon run out of the numbers that were freed up by that. David J. Marks | UUCP: ...!uunet!tijc02!djm408 Siemens Industrial Automation, Inc. | Internet: djm408%tijc02@uunet.uu.net P.O. Drawer 1255 | Phone: 615-461-2074 Johnson City, TN 37605-1255 | ------------------------------ From: rothen+@pitt.edu (Seth B Rothenberg) Subject: Remote Network Access? Date: 18 Jul 1994 22:03:40 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh My Telecommunications Applications class (in the Master of Telecomm program here) is charged with helping the University determine how students, faculty, and staff will access the net from home. We have determined thus far that high-speed modem pools of POTS lines will continue to be the principle access method. (Ie, we will continue to have racks of modems and lots of copper coming in). SLIP is or will be available in the modem pool. We are also interested in ISDN and any other access method. We have not heard of any such 'production' use. We would likely use a UNIX machine as a security gate for the network, direct from the ISDN. Any advice/stories are welcome/appreciated. Thanks, Seth Rothenberg ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 13:53:05 PDT From: R. Jagannathan Reply-To: Subject: ISLIP 94 -- Second CFP CALL FOR EXTENDED ABSTRACTS ISLIP '94 Seventh International Symposium on Lucid and Intensional Programming September 26-27, 1994 SRI International, Menlo Park, California (in the San Francisco Bay Area) We invite you to submit BY E-MAIL an extended abstract describing your research contribution. The topics include but are not limited to: * Intensional logic in Computing Science * Semantics (non-determinism, extended Kahn principle) * Program Verification and Transformation * Programming paradigms (dataflow, connectionism, and logic programming) * Software Engineering (version control, visual user interfaces) * Sequential and parallel computing models and their implementations * Real-time and Fault-tolerant Systems * User Applications (signal and image processing, graphics, software tools) SUBMISSION PROCESS: Please submit your extended abstract (1500--2500 words) in PostScript form via electronic mail to the address given below. Please be sure to include your email address, phone number, and fax number. SUBMISSION ADDRESS: ed.ashcroft@asu.edu in this way it will reach Ed Ashcroft Computer Science and Engineering Department Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 84287 telephone: (602) 965-7544 (965-3190 to leave a message) FAX: (602) 965-2751 DATES: August 1, 1994 Extended Abstracts due August 15, 1994 Notice of acceptance September 26, 1994 Final versions of extended abstracts or papers brought to Symposium SYMPOSIUM FORMAT AND OUTCOME At the Symposium, the research will be presented and also evaluated, in the sense that selection will be made of final papers that we hope will together make up a special issue of a journal or a book. For further information, contact Ed Ashcroft (address above), or R. Jagannathan at: email: jaggan@csl.sri.com tel: (415) 859-2717 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 21:26:34 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: List of 703 -> 540 Exchanges Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Based on some requests I have received, here is a list of the prefixes that will change from area code 703 to 540, effective July 15, 1995: 220 223 224 225 226 228 230 231 232 234 236 238 245 248 249 251 253 254 258 259 261 262 265 268 269 270 279 286 289 291 297 298 320 322 326 328 332 333 334 336 337 338 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 362 363 364 365 366 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 380 381 382 383 384 386 387 388 389 390 395 396 398 399 420 423 427 429 432 432 433 434 436 439 443 445 452 456 459 495 496 498 499 520 523 529 530 531 542 543 544 546 547 552 554 559 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 570 574 576 579 580 582 586 587 592 593 597 599 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 645 646 647 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 662 663 665 666 667 668 669 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 682 686 687 688 694 699 721 722 723 726 727 728 729 731 732 738 740 743 744 745 747 752 755 762 763 766 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 782 783 785 786 788 789 794 796 822 825 828 829 831 832 833 835 837 839 840 852 853 854 856 857 858 859 861 862 863 864 865 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 877 879 880 881 882 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 894 895 896 897 898 899 921 923 925 926 928 929 930 932 933 935 937 939 940 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 951 952 953 955 956 957 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 969 972 973 977 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 991 992 994 995 996 997 999 Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM ------------------------------ From: davep@u.washington.edu (Dave Ptasnik) Subject: Tricks That LD Companies Play Date: 17 Jul 1994 22:10:00 GMT Organization: University of Washington The recent thread about some of the early sins of long distance companies brought two of my favorite to mind. It was not uncommon (might still be common now, but I am out of the biz) for alternate (non-AT&T) companies to charge for the rings. They would hide this by always having six second billing AFTER the first minute. Here's how it worked. Lets assume ten rings per minute, one every six seconds. You have signed up with a new long distance carrier, No-Tell. You call grandma. Grandma takes a long time to answer, so you let it ring fifteen times. With AT&T and No-Tell, if Grandma doesn't answer you don't get billed. Both have answer supervision. Let's say Grandma does answer, talks to you for 20 seconds, then forgets she is on the phone and hangs up. With AT&T you would be billed for a one minute call. With No-Tell you would expect a one minute call, but instead you get a 1.8 minute call. 1.5 minutes of rings, and a third of a minute of talk. Voila, you are retroactively billed for all rings as soon as a call supervises. You have to keep pretty close track of your bill to catch that one. Trick number two: In a former life I worked for an LD company that found itself in financial trouble. We'll call it No-Tell, again. Some hotshot fixers were hired, and the first thing they did was raise every rate in the switch by two cents per minute. From one side of the country to the other, not that big an impact. From one side of the county to the other (what a difference a letter makes), a night weekend rate of two cents per minute shot up to four cents a minute, making it one cent a minute higher than AT&T. All No-Tell bills showed clients how much they saved vs. AT&T. Residential bills were saying things like, By Using No-Tell You Saved -3.25. That's right, our bills were showing how much more they spent with No-Tell than they would have spent with AT&T. How did the hotshots deal with this? They raised the AT&T rates by two cents per minute. That's right, our bills just plain lied about the AT&T rates. That was when I quit that job, and started selling yellow page ads. But that is a different story ;). Dave Ptasnik davep@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ From: haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Sat, 16 Jul 1994 12:34:54 -0700 Subject: Headline "800 Purveyor Faces Obscenity Charge" A severely truncated article datelined Montgomery, Ala. was in today's paper. Says Mark Carriere of Los Angeles, operator of Mark III Entertainment, an 800[sic] sex-talk "service" is going on trial in Alabama. Identifies the prosecutor as Asst. Attorney General Bruce Lieberman, who works for someone named Evans, otherwise unidentified. Says other 1-800 services "may soon be dialing up a court date." I'm wondering about parallels between this case and one that is being talked about a lot lately on the net. In the latter a San Jose computer BBS operator is being tried in Tennessee on porn charges. Now in this case it seems that a federal court in California has held that what the BBS operator is doing is not illegal; but the federal court in Tennessee is claiming that it is illegal there, and since some Tennessee citizens accessed his BBS he can be prosecuted there. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 17:24:48 -0500 From: Peter Eisch Subject: Anyone Use NT Magellan Switches? Reply-To: peisch@cfa.org I'm about to 'take off ' to Ottawa for Magellan training for the MAS and Passport/DPN-100 products. Our implementation is for an IP data network and we're pretty disappointed with the throughput of the MAS product (can't handle a DS1 circuit) though it has an embedded Cisco 2501 router. Where we're going to put the MAS products, wouldn't it be better to put in just the Cisco router with a frame relay interface and use the full DS1 (the cost difference between DS0 and DS1 is negligible in our market)? The NT sales got all huffy when this was suggested as he saw his comission drift away. The NT engineers we've been talking with don't seem to have a clue about IP networks and I'm learning about trunking and things. Are we asking for trouble? Anyone using such devices, please comfort me that the NT sales folks aren't just selling hardware to line their pocket book. peter peter@tahiti.umhc.umn.edu (Peter Eisch) peisch@cfa.org ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 13:55:58 EDT From: Dave Niebuhr Subject: AT&T's New Overseas Transmitting Facility - An Update Last year, I reported that AT&T had filed a tariff to build an overseas cable plant going from Shirley, Long Island, New York, to France. I went by there a little while ago while taking my son and some of his friends to the ocean beach and am offering this update. The building is up and has been for several months; cable, inside conduit, is laid from there to almost where it will have to go underwater to cross the Great South Bay, thence across Fire Island between or near the border of Smith Point County Park and the Fire Island National Seashore. Near the northern edge of the bay, the conduit is above ground and is on what looks to be temporary supports although the currently southern end dips back into the ground. The contractors, some local, some from other areas in New York and some from other states are all involved. A former campground for the County Park has been turned into a staging area for various types of equipment, most notably tankers containing thousands of gallons of potable water. The place is a beehive of activity. It should be noted that New York, Long Island in general and Suffolk County in particular has not even begun to recover from the devistating effects of the last recession. Unemployment is at its still record high and this work is a major boost to our, meaning my hamlet's and two other adjacent one's economies. Yes some of the money will leave the local area; however, we are willing to take any jobs-producing work that we can get. Hat's off to AT&T for selecting the site for its new overseas cable plant in an area that will indirectly benefit many in the future through the taxes that will be paid on the building and its equipment. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov niebuhr@bnlcl6.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 1+(516) 282-3093 FAX 1+(516) 282-7688 ------------------------------ From: sraja@hollywood.cinenet.net (Suresh Rajagopalan) Subject: Looking for Fractional T1/Full T1 CSU/DSU's Date: 18 Jul 1994 15:32:38 -0700 Organization: Cinenet Communications, Internet Access, Santa Monica I am looking for csu/dsu's that can handle sppeds from fractional t1 (128k) to full t1. I guess this is referred to as a multirate CSU/DSU Thanks, Suresh Rajagopalan CineNet Communications -- Internet Connectivity in Los Angeles Shell, SLIP/PPP, 56k. info@cinenet.net / 310-399-4421 ------------------------------ From: de@moscom.com (David Esan) Subject: Area Code Splits Date: 18 Jul 94 19:18:42 GMT Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY I know of the following seven area codes splits: Existing New 205 334 206 360 602 520 713 281 XXX 562 708 630 703 540 I have recently heard a rumor that 813 is going to split in May 1995. Did I miss an article? Are there any others that I may have missed? Thanks, David Esan de@moscom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you are going to find that when the change becomes official next year, there will be a huge rush of new area codes coming up all over the place, making it difficult or impossible for most people to keep track of them. Carl Moore regularly prepares a history of area code splits and I suspect next year will be a very busy one indeed for him. I post them as I get them, and I suspect by next year this time there will be places that have split even after their original split. Take for example our split to 708 from 312 here a few years ago. Now we are going to have 630 as well. Its going to get crazy. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ada@nic.cerf.net Subject: SONET Chip Sets Date: 18 Jul 1994 21:40:43 GMT Organization: CERFnet Net friends: Do any of you net folk know of any off-the-shelf SONET interface chips? I am looking for transport and path overhead terminators and in particular, a DS3 mapper. Any help would be appreciated. I have already found PMC-Sierra and Transwitch. Any others? Thanks in advance, Mark (lever@ada.com) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 16:33:28 PDT From: caniglia@la.AirTouch.COM (Michael Caniglia) Subject: Come to Work For AirTouch THE FUTURE IS CALLING. If cellular communications is the industry of the future, then AirTouch Cellular should be the company in your future. Our rapid expansion is creating more and more opportunities throughout Southern California, and 1994 promises to be our biggest year ever. We invite you to celebrate a new career with one of the nation's premier providers of cellular service. Consider the following opportunities: ENGINEERING ASSISTANTS Provide technical support to the Radio Frequency Engineering department and perform engineering design, analysis and research functions. One year electronics experience and AS degree in Electronics/related field or equivalent experience. BSEE and cellular design and operation exposure preferred. RADIO FREQUENCY ENGINEERS Radio Frequency design and operation of AirTouch Cellular's cellular system. Determines network and subsystem enhancements and modifications necessary to accommodate the forecasted subscriber growth and maintain interference within acceptable levels. Also determine tolerances and operational parameters for cell sites, and growth provisioning for existing sites. Requires BSEE, Physics, related or equivalent and one year electronic communications experience including familiarity with cellular system design and operation. FOR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION, PLEASE SEND/FAX YOUR RESUME AND SALARY HISTORY TO: AIRTOUCH CELLULAR, SUSAN KLOEPFER, FAX 714-222-8014 / PHONE 714-222-8392. FOR OTHER CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AT AIRTOUCH CELLULAR CALL OUR JOB LINE AT 714-222-8888 OR CONTACT SUSAN KLOEPFER 714-222-8392. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. PRINCIPALS ONLY PLEASE. WE WELCOME PHONE INQUIRIES AND PREFER DIRECT CONTACT WITH INTERESTED CANDIDATES. AIRTOUCH CELLULAR. THE NEW NAME FOR PACTEL CELLULAR. NO OUTSIDE SEARCH FIRMS PLEASE. ------------------------------ From: jzk@crl.com (Joe Kukulka) Subject: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 22:35:20 -0800 Organization: CRL on San Francisco Bay A buddy of mine called a supposedly free sex line. After an initial preamble, he was told to enter a code on his phone that would give him free time. He entered the number, and the other end shortly hung up without providing him with anything. A month later, he gets a charge on his Pacific Bell phone bill for $30 for two minutes connect time to "Network Information Services" or some such. He tried the 800 number from a pay phone, and instead of giving him an access code, it instructed him to dial a number beginning with 011. Today, on the NBC nightly news, they ran an item concerning this very problem. They explained that, because it was an 800 number, that the called party is able to get your phone number (this I already knew). What they did not explain is why a telephone company will bill a customer on the basis of a request from some called party with an 800 number. Is this some new service? Apparently, Nynex has discontinued such charges. The item said that even if Congress enacts lecgislation to outlaw this sort of fraud, that the companies will just move off shore. Any clues? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Telephone Information Providers can contract with telco to do thier billing for them; they usually do it however through a firm such as Integratel which is already set up for that purpose and which has the billing equipment and procedures already in place. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wu@uni1.fernuni-hagen.de (WUXIAO) Subject: Help and Information Wanted About Republic of Korea Date: 18 Jul 1994 13:15:32 GMT Organization: FernUniversitt Hagen Hello everyone, I am looking for Information about the Telecom Infrastructure and Industry in South Korea. Any help would be appreciated. Xiaofeng Wu Please send your mail to: wu@uni1.fernuni-hagen.de ------------------------------ From: csa@bones.et.byu.edu (CSA) Subject: Technical Information Wanted on Caller ID Date: 18 Jul 94 16:58:26 Organization: Brigham Young University, Provo UT USA I have a caller ID module that outputs serial data. Does anybody know the format of the data? Is it ASCII or mixed? Thanks, Scott ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 11:00:00 -0700 From: mwearle@netcom.com (Mark W. Earle) Subject: More Blatent Commercialism - Hello Direct on WWW Pat, If you'd like another example of blatent commercialism of the net :-) :-) Hello Direct's catalog is available to mosaic users at: url http://www.hello-direct.com/hd/ Also, they have an email account on Compuserve, which would be 74577.425@compuserve.com from the Internet. In their catalog, they have a new 900 Mhz cordless headset. No mention if it's spread spectrum, digital, or analog. Mark Earle mwearle@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hello Direct is a great company with some good deals where telecom stuff is concerned, although I sometimes think their prices are a little high. USA readers can call them to get on their mailing list by dialing 1-800-HI-HELLO. Regards their blatant commercialisation of the net, I hope they do better at it than I did with the Orange Cards and Telepassport stuff. I still get a tiny check every month or so from Orange on the commissions from people I signed up who use the card. A couple of the telecom firms I sold stuff for did not ever pay anything at all; it seems they are as good at ripping off thier sales reps as they are at lying to their customers. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #325 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15049; 19 Jul 94 13:48 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11564; Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:10:25 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11554; Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:10:24 CDT Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:10:24 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407191410.AA11554@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #327 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:10:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 327 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Call for Papers ICCC95 (yonsei@usenet.hana.nm.kr) Australian InfoCall Service Launched (John Hacking) Re: Recommendations For Lightning Protection (Fernando Lagrana) Re: Baud vs. bps (William H. Sohl) Re: Baud vs. bps (H. Peter Anvin) Re: Cellular Towers and Frequencies (Paul Robinson) Re: Cellular Towers and Frequencies (Bill Walker) Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance (Lars Poulsen) Re: IP Over Cable TV (Supak Lailert) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: yonsei@usenet.hana.nm.kr (Yonsei News Adm) Subject: Call For Papers ICCC95 Date: 19 Jul 1994 19:08:49 +1000 Organization: HANAnet Operating Centre(KTRC) Following is the FIRST CALL FOR PAPER for ICCC'95 to be held in Seoul Korea 1995. CALL FOR PAPERS ICCC '95 "Information Highways for a Smaller World & Better Living" Seoul, Korea August 21 - 24, 1995 The ICCC, the International Council for Computer Communication (ICCC), founded in 1972, is an Affiliate Member of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). Its purposes are to foster: scientific research and the development of computer communication; progress in the evaluation of applications of computer communication to educational, scientific, medical, economic, legal, cultural and other peaceful purposes; study of the potential social and economic impacts of computer communcation and of policies which influence those impacts. This 12th conference aims at providing a forum to exchange ideas, discuss key issues and to present the late research results for "Information Highways for a Smaller World & Better Living." The main program includes technical presentations, invited talks, tutorials, and technical visits. TOPICS : Areas of interest include but are not limited to Strategies, Policies, and User Wireless Communications Perspectives of Information Intelligent Networks Superhighways Personal Communications Systems Social and Economical Impacts Broadband Communication of Information Superhighways ATM Switching Computer Communication for International Emergencies Developing Countries Distance Learning Network Planning Optical Communications Security and Privacy in Computer Multimedia Communication and its Communications Applications Evolution towards the High-Speed High-Speed Protocols Networks including Frame Relay Network Management and SMDS Protocol Engineering Packet Radio Technologies Satellite Communications SUBMISSION OF PAPERS Prospective authors should send five copies of a full paper to the following address: ICCC'95 Dr. Seon Jong Chung ICCC'95 Technical Program Chairman ETRI, Yusong P.O.Box 106, Taejon, Korea, 305-606 Tel: +82-42-860-8630 Fax: +82-42-860-6465 E-mail: iccc95@giant.etri.re.kr The manuscript should not exceed 4000 words in length and should include author's name, affiliation, and addresses(telephone, e-mail, fax), and 150-200 words abstracts in the title page. Also, authors are encouraged to send a Postscript version of their full paper to the Technical Program Committee Chairman by e-mail iccc95@giant.etri.re.kr |-------------------------------| | Important Dates | | Submission of Paper | | February 1st, 1995 | | Notification of Acceptance | | May 1st, 1995 | | Camera-ready Papers | | June 15th, 1995 | |-------------------------------| Sponsored by The International Council for Computer Communication Hosted by Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute Korea Information Science Society Under the Patronage of Ministry of Communication, The Republic of Korea Conference Governor Ronald P.Uhlig, Northern Telecom, U.S.A. Conference Organizing Committee Chair : Chongsun Hwang, KISS, Korea Co-Chair : Seungtaik Yang, ETRI, Korea Local Arrangement Dongho Lee, Kwangwoon Unvi., Korea Publication Keosang Lee, Dacom, Korea Publicity Jaiyong Lee, Yon-Sei Univ., Korea Registration Samyoung Suh, NCA, Korea Treasurer Seungkyu Park, Ajou Univ., Korea Tutorial Sunshin An, Korea Univ., Korea Social Program Nosik Kim, KTRC, Korea Secretariate Yanghee Choi, SNU, Korea Jinpyo Hong, ETRI, Korea Technical Program Chair : Seonjong Chung, ETRI, Korea Co-Chairs : Serge Fdida, MASI, France Nicholas Georganas, Univ. of Otawa, Canada Roger Needham, Univ. of Cambridge, U.K. Otto Spaniol, Aachen Tech. Univ., Germany Hideyoshi Tominaga, Waseda Univ., Japan Pramode Verma, AT&T, U.S.A. Members : Byungchul Shin, KAIST, Korea Yongjin Park, Hanyang Univ., Korea Donggyoo Kim, Ajou Univ., Korea Kwangsue Chung, Kwangwoon Univ., Korea Daeyoung Kim, Cheoungnam National Univ., Korea Ilyoung Chung, ETRI, Korea Chimoon Han, ETRI, Korea Woojik Chon, ETRI, Korea Hoon Choi, ETRI, Korea Tadao Saito, Tokyo Univ., Japan Tahahiko Kamae, HP Lab., Japan Reigo Yatsuboshi, Fujitsu Lab., Japan Kinji Ono, NCIS, Japan Michael Diaz, LAAS, France Christophie Diot, INRIA, France Georgio Ventre, Univ. di Napoli, France David Hutchison, Lonchaster Univ., U.K. Augusto Casaca, IST-INESC, Spain Martina Zitterbart, Univ. of Karlsiuhe, Germany Ulf Koerner, Lund Univ., Sweden Albert Kuendig, Swiss Federal Inst. of Tech., Swiss ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 12:29:00 +1000 From: JOHN.HACKING@telecom.telememo.au Subject: Australian InfoCall Service Launched People seeking fast, expert advice on subjects ranging from the state of their health to the state of the nation now have access to it over the telephone. InfoCall is a telephone information service featuring "live" advice. InfoCall, which uses a 190 prefix, is available to all customers in Australia who currently receive itemised bills from Telecom for STD and international calls. Callers will be able to speak to an increasing number of experts including doctors, lawyers, gardening gurus, veterinarians and various tradespeople. They can also access recorded voice information services, receive information via a fax or have information downloaded to a desktop computer. InfoCall was today launched nationally following a pilot program in Victoria which confirmed the service's technical functionality and its acceptability in the marketplace. "This is the sort of service which only an advanced telecommunications network can provide," said Martin Turner, Telecom National Portfolio Manager for Telemedia. "Telecom's network enables service providers to tailor services more and more to meet individual needs and the clear message from our customer research is that customers want access to information on their own terms. "The telephone allows them that access, and the InfoCall service brings it to them in the privacy of their homes and offices." Telecom has provided over 150 InfoCall lines and service providers have indicated their strong intention to provide a wide range of services over the coming weeks. These services will include information on the stock market, weather reports, study tips, computer software support, ticket bookings, state industrial awards, average real estate prices, racing, gardening and wedding and legal advice. Service providers' charges will range from a flat rate of 35cents to $30 or at a timed rate, ranging from an average of 35 cents to $5 per minute. Telecom has worked with consumer groups and service providers to ensure that customer safeguards are in place. At the start of every service, customers receive an introductory message explaining exactly what the service is and the charge rate. The message introduction costs 15 cents and no further charges can be applied until the caller dials a number to activate the chosen InfoCall service. Callers hear a pip tone every five minutes on timed-fee live advice services and are asked to dial a number if they want to proceed beyond ten minutes on timed-fee recorded voice services. The caller can terminate the service at any time by hanging up. Households and businesses can have InfoCall barred so access cannot be gained from their telephone. Details about barring the service can be obtained by calling the InfoCall Helpline on Freecall 1800 035 055. A test call to 1900 909 000 will indicate to customers whether they can access InfoCall. They can also obtain more information on the InfoCall Helpline. MELBOURNE Australia ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 08:39:51 CET Subject: Re: Recommendations For Lightning Protection From: lagrana@itu.ch (Fernando Lagrana) Organization: International Telecommunication Union The Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the ITU (ITU-T) developed a whole set of Recommendations relative to Protection against interference (K-Series). The following Recommendations are of particular relevance for lightning protection: K.1 Connection to earth of an audio-frequency line in cable K.11 Principles of protection against overvoltages and overcurrents K.21 Resistibility of subscribers' terminals to overvoltages and overcurrents K.22 Overvoltage resistibility of equipment connected to an ISDN T/S bus K.25 Lightning protection of optical fibre cables K.31 Bonding configurations and earthing of telecommunication installations inside a subscriber's building Fernando Lagrana International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Bureau Editor, Catalogue of Recommmendations Internet: lagrana@itu.ch Voice: + 41 22 730 58 94 Fax: + 41 22 730 58 53 X.400: SURNAME=3Dlagrana, PRIVATE_DOMAIN=3Ditu, ADMIN_DOMAIN=3Darc= om,=20 COUNTRY=3Dch ------------------------------ From: whs70@cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Re: Baud vs. bps Date: 19 Jul 1994 01:01:14 -0400 Organization: Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) In article , Hugh Pritchard wrote: > Now, I'm willing to accept that the copper phone wires will only > handle 2400 baud, and that the modem makers have come up with ways to > signify 6 bits (14,400 is 6 times 2400) for each different state > change. The modem makers have come up with 2 to the 6th = 64 > different states (some combination of frequencies, phases, and phase > changes) to fit into the 2400 baud limit. Actually the copper wires will pass much higher rates. The limitation is the design of the network facilities (especially the inter-office trunking) which will only pass an analog signal within the 300 to 3000 KHz range. Modem makers must design their analog modems to operate within that 300-3000KHz range. So, with those analog limitations, modem manufacturers have been able to develope modems that go up to 28.8KHz while still having the entire signal within the 300-3000KHz range. Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.) Morristown, NJ email via UUCP bcr!cc!whs70 201-829-2879 Weekdays email via Internet whs70@cc.bellcore.com ------------------------------ From: hpa@eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin) Subject: Re: Baud vs. bps Reply-To: hpa@nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin) Organization: United Federation of Planets Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 17:35:03 GMT In , Hugh Pritchard wrote: > Now, I'm willing to accept that the copper phone wires will only > handle 2400 baud, and that the modem makers have come up with ways to > signify 6 bits (14,400 is 6 times 2400) for each different state > change. The modem makers have come up with 2 to the 6th = 64 > different states (some combination of frequencies, phases, and phase > changes) to fit into the 2400 baud limit. That's basically the idea. However, in order to obtain even further noise resistance, they actually use 128 states, only 64 of which are valid at any one time. This is called "trellis coding", because the amplitude/phase plots(*) of the valid states look somewhat like a flower trellis. I would presume that V.34 (28,800 bps) would use 8192 states at the minimum, 4096 of which would be valid at any one time (whew!). The Nyquist limit of an analog phone line is somewhere in the vincinity of 32 kbps. If not otherwise it would be dictated by the fact that it will be digitized to 64 kbps in the switch, and I would presume trying to obtain more than 50% of that data rate would depend on some pretty strange factors such as the (in)ability to synchronize with the ADC clock, as well as on any intermediate D-A-D conversions that may be done. Not to mention bit robbing... (*) = The standard state diagram are amplitude/phase plots when read as a polar diagram. They can also be read as an XY plot of the 0-degree and 90-degree components that make up the signal. INTERNET: hpa@nwu.edu FINGER/TALK: hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu IBM MAIL: I0050052 at IBMMAIL HAM RADIO: N9ITP or SM4TKN FIDONET: 1:115/511 or 1:115/512 STORMNET: 181:294/101 Allah-u-abha ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 21:15:56 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Re: Cellular Towers and Frequencies Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Shawn Gordhamer , writes: > I understand that cellular towers with small cell radius allow the > cellular frequencies to be used over and over ... [and] no two > adjacent towers can use the same frequencies because there will be > interference... However, as cellular (hopefully) becomes cheaper > even 333 channels for a small town may not be enough. At which point, they ramp down the power level on the tower and add another one some distance away. With the way things are going, cellular towers are getting cheaper, enough so that if a place gets more volume of calls, the amount of usage means that it becomes economically viable to add more cells, since if people can't get through they will stop their service or switch carriers. Or move to PCS which isn't going to be too far away. > A one-tower town cannot just put up another tower, because the towers > will be adjacent, and they cannot use the same frequencies. I'm not a cellular engineer, but I do know something about the way the system works. It's not quite as bad as you see it. Let's say that in a particular area, the tower handles a ten-square mile area, five miles in each direction. If a small town, let's say two miles away, is getting so much calls that it is overloading the cell, then what you do is that you do a traffic analysis to see where most of the calls are being taken at; perhaps most of the calls are in the central business district. So you have a pattern like this: Tower1-----!-----Tower2-----!-----Tower3--x---!-----Tower4-----!-----Tower5 When a call gets to a ! it's going to hand off to the next tower because that one is giving a stronger signal. The 'x' is where the small town is that is overloading Tower 3. So you put in another tower, perhaps near the break point, like this !-----Tower3--x--Tower3a---!---Tower4 Tower3a will pick up about 1/2 of the calls in the Tower3 area, and part of Tower4's service. By making it an equal distance from the town, you can thus split about 1/2 the traffic to each tower, since at some point one of them is a stronger signal than the other, or is available because one of them is overloaded. Thus each tower only has to handle 1/2 of the area of the prior one. Or you go even further: you put one very small, inexpensive lower powered cell right in the center of town where most of the calls originate from (many people in vehicles passing through a congested area, perhaps because it's the only gas station for several miles). This cell would be the strongest one for perhaps 1/2 mile or so, then as they move on they revert back to one of the towers handling the much sparser traffic areas. > In fact, for a large town with dozens of towers, each tower would have to > use at most 1/4 of the channels, making a grid pattern > A B A B A > C D C D C > A B A B A > C D C D C Actually, the term "cells" as used in cellular is more similar to a honeycomb or hexogonal pattern, which each cell using a block frequencies not used by any of the cells that is next to it, so we more often have something similar to the following: _ _ _ _/A\_/C\_/A\_ A cell frequency cannot be used by a cell that is /D\_/B\_/D\_/B\ touching any other, so they break up the available \_/C\_/A\_/C\_/ cells such that in each area only some of the /B\_/D\_/B\_/ frequencies can be used. But in each area, each cell \_/ \_/ \_/ in group "A" can use all of the available group "a" frequencies. In short, if a cell gets too many calls, the cell can be made to cover a smaller area and another cell inserted into the matrix to change the size of the coverage area. Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM ------------------------------ From: wwalker@qualcomm.com (Bill Walker) Subject: Re: Cellular Towers and Frequencies Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 06:04:51 -0700 Organization: Qualcomm, Inc. In article , shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) wrote: > I understand that cellular towers with small cell radius allow the > cellular frequencies to be used over and over, allowing thousands of > simultanious cellular conversations. I also understand that no two > adjacent towers can use the same frequencies because there will be > interference. > Where I live, there are lots of small towns that have only one > cellular tower. [which is plenty for now, but may not be in the future when everybody in town has a wireless phone. And you can't just put up more towers because the population is not geographically dispersed] > In fact, for a large town with dozens of towers, each tower would > have to use at most 1/4 of the channels, making a grid pattern like > the following: [...] > Am I correct in this assumption? Yes. The most common reuse pattern, to my knowledge, is called K=7, which basically means that you have to get seven cells away before you can reuse the same frequency. To some extent, you _can_ put in more cells (probably not "towers") even in a small town. You just have to limit the coverage and interference of each cell, by doing things like using lower antennae, lower power, directional antennae (all of which come under the general label of "microcells"). Or [WARNING! BIASED STATEMENT COMING!] you could replace your analog cellular system with a CDMA digital cellular system, which will provide about 10 times as many calls in the same frequency allocation [QUALCOMM, my employer, is the chief proponent of CDMA digital cellular]. No new towers, no new antennae, but everybody who wants to use the new system has to get a new phone (but the new and old systems can coexist). Disclaimer: I'm a software guy with a rusty, old digital-oriented EE degree, so I've probably over-generalized the RF stuff about propagation and microcells. Bill Walker - WWalker@qualcomm.com - QUALCOMM, Inc., San Diego, CA USA ------------------------------ From: lars@Eskimo.CPH.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Bridge vs. Router Performance Organization: Rockwell Network Systems, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:05:09 GMT In article sthomas@mitchell.hac.com (Scott D. Thomas) writes: > I have a puzzling (at least to me) situation. We have a simple > network with a satellite link included. Orginally, we bridged three > ethernet segments ... ... ... ... ... ... and got poorer that expected > results. We decided to replace the bridges with routers, one per > segment. The throughput was tripled! > I was under the impression that bridges were more efficient because of > lower overhead, less complexity, etc. and therefore would offer the > better performance. The most likely reason for your poor performance, is that one of the sites in question is a LARGE network (maybe several hundred stations or more ?) and the amount of broadcast/multicast traffic floating around in the network is eating up all the bandwidth of the DS-1 link. When connecting multiple LANs into one extended network, the connection can be implemented with different logical models. Bridging is the lowest level model; it takes to similar networks (such as two Ethernets or two Token-Rings) and joins them intpo one logical network. A bridge device on each end of the link: - goes into promiscuous mode (snooping on all traffic) - keeps track of which devices (identified by their Ethernet addresses) are on each end, and - forwards traffic for any device not know to be on the same LAN as the sender, as well as all broadcast/multicast messages across the link. Because this is done at Media Attachment Control (MAC) level, it is protocol independent, and requires very little setup. The downside is that all broadcast/multicast traffic is forwarded, as well as traffic from protocols that are entirely unsuited for wide area traffic. The larger the combined network, the larger the amount of background "slosh" og broadcasts, even as a percentage of total traffic. (For instance, every ARP request will be sent everywhere, theough almost all of them are for stations local to the sender.) When you have a couple hundred workstations, you are likely to have about 32 Kbps worth of "slosh". (Meaning you need a T1 to get any WORK done.) To overcome the deficiencies of bridging, you need a router. Routers must understand each protocol and must be configured appropriately for each protocol. This means that somewhere in the organization there has to be a person who understands each protocol that is being routed, and who can set up an addressing plan and troubleshoot when problems arise. For a good textbook in this area, I recommend Radia Perlman's book "Interconnections: Bridges and Routers". Addison-Wesley, 1992. ISBN 0-201-56332-0. I think I paid $53.26 (incl CA tax). Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@RNS.COM Rockwell Network Systems Internets: designed and built while you wait Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 ------------------------------ From: lailert@ucssun1.sdsu.edu (Supak Lailert "spk") Subject: Re: IP Over Cable TV Date: 18 Jul 1994 18:15:14 GMT Organization: San Diego State University Computing Services Lubos Elias (Lubos.Elias@uakom.sk) wrote: > I am looking for information about possibility to provide IP service > over cable TV wires. Are there any products? In San Diego, our local cable company, Cox Cable, has successfully tested the system that allow access to Prodigy via the cable TV network. I think it acts like a very fast modem so I think we could use SLIP or PPP over it, too. Regarding their TV commercial, Cox claims over 50 times higher throughput over modem access. Is it 9600BPS times 50? (I don't know what the highest modem speed at Prodigy.) As I heard from local computer magazine, the service has not been ready yet. Regards, Supak Lailert -- MBA (Information System) Program, San Diego State University lailert@ucssun1.sdsu.edu lailert@aol.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #327 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15840; 19 Jul 94 14:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12740; Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:57:14 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12731; Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:57:12 CDT Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:57:12 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407191457.AA12731@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #328 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Jul 94 09:57:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 328 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: ISDN Residential Use? (Jan Hinnerk Haul) Re: ISDN Residential Use? (William H. Sohl) Re: Are Any Bellcore or ITU Docs Available via FTP? (Larry Svec) Re: Are Any Bellcore or ITU Docs Available via FTP? (Fieldhouse Dirk) Re: Some D-Day Telecom History (Jim Haynes) Re: NYTimes, err, FBI, Looking For Telco Hacker (Thomas Neudecker) Re: What is Autodin? (Jim Haynes) Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? (Damon Brownd) Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? (Kenneth R. Teleis) Intra-Lata Competition in NJ (Dave Levenson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jan Hinnerk Haul Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 00:05:56 +0200 Subject: Re: ISDN Residential Use? lars@Eskimo.CPH.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) writes: > If there are ISDN fax machines available yet, they are very expensive. And not compatible with ITU-T Group III (the standard fax) generally. They are ITU-T (nee CCITT) Group IV but veeeery uncommon, so you could use them almost exclusively to fax bug reports to the maker, if the @#$%^ things would work at all :-) > To just connect a telephone and an answering machine to an ISDN line > will cost you something like: > Network Termination unit, with power supply ... $250 > ISDN Telephone (nice model with speakerphone) . $280 > Analog terminal adapter (to connect std asw m). $400 In my setup, I connected a DEM 1,000 (abt. $600) phone system to the ISDN line, as well as a PC ISDN card (running a packet driver and PCROUTE as a dedicated Internet router for my LAN, consisting of one Sparcstation clone :-) Cost: Network termination unit, with power supply.... $free supplied by the telco ("ISDN phone socket") converts the 2-wire telco to 4-wire S0 bus Telephone system............................... $600 provides 8 extensions with DID (direct inbound dialling, e.g., +49 40 89962067 is my modem) Analog terminal adapter: built into phone system ISDN card...................................... $ 60 (really!) Installation charge DEM 130.................... $ 84 Monthly charge DEM 76.......................... $ 48 Usage fees: Just as analog 'phone (metered) But ISDN is considered to be fairly cheap and highly available in Germany. > This stuff is still quite expensive. But once you are over the price > hump, it is also quite nice. Yours, Jan ------------------------------ From: whs70@cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Re: ISDN Residential Use? Date: 19 Jul 1994 08:34:19 -0400 Organization: Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) In article , > The 16k "D" line is usually used as a signalling channel > to make and break calls on the other two 64k "B" channels. I think it > is possible to send data over the 16k line in and X.25 mode, but I > don't know what happens to your signalling capabilities (are incoming > and outcoming calls frozen until the 16k is free for signalling or can > you time slice a signal in with the other X.25 traffic). The signaling packets are just sent in the data stream along with the regular X.25 packet information. There is a SAPI code in each packet to distinguish signaling packets from other customer originated X.25 packets. Bottom line, the ability to receive and originate calls during an X.25 file transfer is not "frozen" because on any BRI, the volume of signalinging packets (versus customer X.25 packets) is very low. > Yes, you get two wires into your house. ISDN will work on the > residential cable to your house. Nominal maximum loop length is about 18Kft, but there are range extenders which allow service beyond that distance. Depending on the local tariff, use of a range extender may result in additional monthly charges. > You will need the NT-1 interface which splits to two wire signal > into a four wire signal to the ISDN set. The technical identity of the two wire (network) side of the NT-1 is the U Interface. The four wire customer side of the NT-1 is the T Interface. > You can put a Terminal Adapter (TA) in the line to allow the use > of analog equipment. Many PC ISDN card adapters include such an analog jack (RJ-11) for a "plain old telephone." > And you also need to decide how you want the > lines provisioned (Voice-Voice, Voice-Data), I think you can have at > least one of the lines as a dynamic line (Voice or Data, you decide in > your call set-up). Actually, both B channels can be set up as Voice/Data. Bellcore's ISDN Information Hotline 1-800-992-ISDN Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.) Morristown, NJ email via UUCP bcr!cc!whs70 201-829-2879 Weekdays email via Internet whs70@cc.bellcore.com ------------------------------ From: svec@rtsg.mot.com (Larry Svec) Subject: Re: Are Any Bellcore or ITU Docs Available via FTP? Date: 18 Jul 94 18:43:17 GMT Organization: Motorola Cellulsr Infrastructure Group jmorey@crl.com (John Morey) writes: > I was wondering if Bellcore or ITU documents are available via FTP? For ITU info, try sending an email to: alias ITU ITUDOC@ITU.CH with "help" in the body; It doesn't matter what the subject says. I just discovred this and don't know fully what is available to non-official members but it is a start for you. Please let me know if you find a similar one regarding Bellcore. I learned of the ITU address at a recent conference on wireless local loop held in Hong Kong in June. 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: Fieldhouse Dirk Subject: Re: Are Any Bellcore or ITU Docs Available via FTP? Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 12:17:00 BST In article is written: > I was wondering if Bellcore or ITU documents are available via FTP? See the FAQ for comp.std.internat for ITU documents (short answer: gopher.itu.ch - OK I know that's not FTP, but the access is simpler). I'd be interested myself if there is a Bellcore repository. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would like to remind all readers that the ITU -- International Telecommunication Union -- is a major sponsor of this Digest. A monthly grant from ITU helps pay the bills here. The grant comes from their Information Exchange Project. PAT] ------------------------------ From: haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 22:45:32 -0700 Subject: Re: Some D-Day Telecom History I passed a copy of that article (by Donald E. Kimberlin, 30 May 94) to F. A. "Bart" Bartlett, W6OWP who wrote me back a long letter, which I'll excerpt below. "It would seem from some of the statements made that there is not much documentation of the Press Wireless war zone operations. As a Press Wireless employee during this period, I can clarify a few points. "Press Wireless had two mobile units in Europe and a unit flown to General MacArthur's headquarters in New Guinea for the forthcoming Philippines campaign. I was a member of the latter unit. It was outfitted the same as the European units with mobile capability but the strategy of General MacArthur's advance dictated the unit operate as a land-based point-to-point facility. "The units were known as projects PX, PV and PZ respectively. Each unit had a 400-watt FSK/CW/AM transmitter which had been designed for rugged field service. Keying was via high speed Morse (commonly known as Boehme) apparatus and suitable equipment was included for handling the voice transmissions of network and broadcast station correspondents. "Obviously, the reference to 50KW rigs in trucks is wrong. What may have caused confusion was the policy of Press Wireless to dedicate at least a 20KW transmitter in New York and the same in Los Angeles to the PX, PV and PZ operations for control, outgoing dispatches and voicecast cues. "From all the information I've been able to glean from old Press Wireless publications, all these units were basically the same. Personnel included a project manager, technical personnel and operators skilled in the special technique of handling high speed Morse equipment. The units were sometimes called "The Fighting 400," the 400 referring to the transmitter around which each unit was organized. "The major part of each operation was the handling of message traffic generated by war correspondents of news agencies and publications. Use of facilities for voicecasts varied, depending on what other circuits might be available. Project Z in the Philippines, for example, handled no voice transmissions. A communications ship, the APACHE, had voice facilities which during the early phases of the Philippines campaign the network and broadcast correspondents used. On the other hand, Project PX (the Normandy invasion unit) was credited with over 400 voicecasts. "... I noted the reference to a Gene Rider as a "civilian war correspondent on loan to Prewi." I couldn't find him listed among personnel that served with either Project PX or PV, although in one account of wartime activity, there was mention of a Gene but no last name was given. "I might speculate that someone skilled in handling voicecasts might have been needed and Gene became part of the crew. Actual handling of voice service was on a "first come, first served" basis, the only exception being military needs. In other words, press Wireless was firm in their resolve to grant no special "air time" accomodation to any correspondent. An example of this attitude was the time one of the networks wanted me to read their broadcasts from Manila. They were familiar with my voice on the control circuit and liked it better than their man. you can seee the obvious conflict of interest involved, and of course, Press Wireless was firm in saying "NO." "To clarify my position mentioned above, Project PZ covered the Leyte phase of the Philippines campaign. Another Press Wireless group, Project PY, carried with it a 10KW land-based station which moved up as our troops advanced on Manila. This was not a mobile unit. On arrival at the outskirts of Manila, the station was installed for fixed point-to-point operation. It went on the air Feb 25, 1944. The higher power of this station allowed it to augment the voice facilities of the APACHE and hundreds of voicecasts were handled from the latter part of February, 1945, to war's end. I had transferred as Associate Engineer to the PY group with the closing of the station on Leyte. "My association with Press Wireless was from March 1942 through 1968. By the time I went to work for them, all the hassels over transmitting tubes, etc., were over. Our big transmitters used various makes, Eimac being common in the less powerful sets and Amperex, RCA and Westinghouse being in the bigger rigs. "Press Wireless was leading the way in FSK technology in 1942. The extremely successful exploits of the "Fighting 400" outfits can be attributed in no small measure to the advantage of FSK over straight CW. Long distance RTTY was still in its infancy and while proving itself on short-haul circuits wasn't doing very well on long haul routes. "Another Press Wireless operation of which little is heard today was their manufacturing division. They built high power transmitters for the military and their O5-B/FR FSK exciter was the standard for this developing communications technology." ------------------------------ From: Thomas Neudecker Subject: Re: NYTimes, err, FBI, Looking For Telco Hacker Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 05:59:59 -0400 Organization: Sponsored account, Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Excerpts from netnews.comp.dcom.telecom: 11-Jul-94 Re: NYTimes, err, FBI, Look.. by Steve Waddell@iglou.iglo > Don't take the NYT's, or for that matter the FBI's, description of > technical matters too seriously. NYT employs reporters and editors of > all levels of technical ability. The chances of having an article > written _and_ edited by a knowledgable person is slim. I suggest that you a do bit of background research regarding technical background and the body of published works by John Markoff of the {New York Times}. I have followed John's writting for the past 12 years. During this time I have held his work in great esteem. Read the record and go back to the time he was writing for {InfoWorld} as well. Tom Neudecker TN07+@Andrew.cmu.edu Voice: 412 828-7621 Local Data System: 412 828-8011 ------------------------------ From: haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 22:20:15 -0700 Subject: Re: What is Autodin? Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz AUTODIN is the acronym for Automatic Digital Network. I can give some of its earlier history, maybe others will tell us about its current status. Around 1960 each of the three military services had a worldwide Teletype message network. The Navy had a system leased from the Bell System, called, uh, 82B1 or something like that. The Air Force had a system from Western Union called Plan 55. I'm not sure whether the hardware was purchased or leased, but I believe they did at least some of the maintenance in-house. The Army had a military-nomenclature system AN/GGC-something built for them by Automatic Electric Co. (of Strowger switch fame) and Kleinschmidt for the teleprinter equipment. All these were store-and-forward systems using punched paper for the storage function; all were based on Baudot code. There was some way to get messages from one service system to another; but I don't know what it was. There were also a lot of other communication systems used in the services to meet needs that were not met by the main message systems. One of these was operated by the Air Force for control of material inventories. It consisted of a bunch of IBM card transceivers at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma, and wires to all the other AF bases around the country. It was the punched-card equivalent of a torn-tape message relay system, in that decks of cards were punched on the transceivers and then had to be carried to the sending machines appropriate for the destination. So the original idea was that this system needed improving. Western Union won the competition to supply a modern data switching system, using computer technology for storage and switching. The project was first called COMLOGNET (Combat Logistics Network - that might also have been the name of the card transceiver network too). Then as the elaborateness and cost of the system started to grow the Air Force decided to make it the basis of all message communication and changed the name to AF DATACOM. Then some higher-ups decided it was time to have a common system for all the armed services and changed the name to AUTODIN. The idea was that terminal stations could handle punched cards or Teletype messages or both. There was also provision for magnetic tape terminals. Transmission in the system was synchronous using a 6-bit (?) code based on Fieldata. A box made by IBM was part of the terminal and converted between the transmission code and Baudot or punched card code and drove the Teletype machine and the card transceiver. The magnetic tape terminal was a hard problem because in those days the IBM tape format had not quite driven all others from the marketplace (and IBM had several different tape codes and formats of its own). So there had to be a tape drive appropriate to the kind of tape to be sent and received; and conversion between the transmission code and whatever code was to be written to the tape. There was provision for both store-and-forward message switching and circuit switching (a la TWX, establish a real-time end-to-end two-way connection). All transmission was encrypted. The switching centers used computers developed by RCA; and this was of course discrete-component circuitry. There were six or eight switching centers at AF bases around the US. Initial operation was in 1963, as I recall. Sometime later (early 70s ?) the switching center hardware was replaced by more modern hardware, also supplied by RCA. Although this was contemporary with Spectra 70 it was a special-purpose architecture. I believe the original trunk circuits between switching centers operated at 1200 baud. I believe circuit switching was intended for two situations: (1) people in different locations might want to hold a secure conference via Teletype, and (2) magnetic tape transmissions could use a real-time connection to avoid having to store the whole contents of a tape in the store-and-forward center. The doctrine at the time was always that a message had to be received in its entirety before it could be forwarded. This pretty much ends what I know about AUTODIN; so I hope somebody who knows the rest of the story will tell it to us. I remember one of the problems was that the supply people were pretty unhappy with it; all they wanted was an improved way to ship their punched cards around, and with AUTODIN they lost their card transceivers altogether (because of the encryption the equipment was all located in secure communication centers). I know there were some new terminals developed; one of these used the Univac 1050 computer as a high speed card and printer station. There continued to be some special-purpose networks; e.g. the Air Force and Navy had networks devoted to weather data. ------------------------------ From: dbrownd@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (Damon Brownd) Subject: Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? Date: 18 Jul 1994 17:49:21 -0500 Organization: NeoSoft Internet Services +1 713 684 5969 In article , Kronos wrote: >>> 10658 -- whoever that is > 658 is ONCOR aka "Cellular Long Distance" When I dialed 10658-1-700-555-4151 the carrier was identified as WilTel. Damon Brownd Houston Eye Associates Houston, Texas 713-668-6828 dbrownd@NeoSoft.com or brownd@eisner.decus.org ------------------------------ From: ken@marconi.w8upd.uakron.edu (Kenneth R. Teleis) Subject: Re: Call Blocking Bypass Scheme? Date: 19 Jul 1994 04:26:34 GMT Organization: University of Akron Amateur Radio Club I have been reading the chatter about the call blocking bypass schemes and potential problems about billing adjustments if these calls appear on your bill. I recently had a problem with a long distance company who wrongfully billed me via my local company (Ameritech). The company refused to issue an adjustment and Ameritech refused to adjust it claiming that only that LD company could issue the credit. I found an easy solution that quickly got me a credit: I told the lady at Ameritech I would pay my bill to prevent disconnection of my local service, however, I would immediately file a lawsuit naming Ameritech as a party claiming they had wrongfully charged me, and had wrongfully converted my funds. She didn't seem to be affected by that until I demanded she get an opinion from their legal department to se if they were willing to be sued for merely serving as a collection agent for the other company. Suddenly she had a quick change of heart and credited my account in full. If you have 900/976 blocking and get hit with one of these calls which bypasses the blocking, this same tactic might just work for you. If the carrier decides to pursue collection, you can always claim fraud, etc in your defense and they will probably go away. I should add, that I do have a small advantage (I am an attorney), which sometimes can help. These opinions are in no way my legal opinion, or to be contrued as legal advice. I am simply relating what has worked for me personally, and if you are having similar problems, perhaps it will work for you. Regards, Ken Teleis, Administrative Liaison (for lack of a better title) University of Akron Amateur Radio Club. teleis@uakron.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think counsel, that what you experienced was not so much their fear of you as an attorney or that you might sue them as it was their decision to cut their losses in your case and move on to other things. As you well know, anyone can sue anybody for anything. If they were executing their contract with the other company in good faith, I don't think they'd be affected by your suit. I doubt very much they charged it back to the other company with a stern note that 'Mr. Teleis refuses to pay this fraudulent billing ...'. Probably at some point in your conversation with them it reached the place where they decided their profit in the matter had been absorbed by your quarreling and it was starting to cost them money to process it further. Someone at Ameritech once commented to me that "the concept of good customer relations is all well and good, but you have to know when to bail out, and when you reach that point, do it quickly to mitigate still further losses caused by the customer on that transaction ..." Several years ago, Illinois Bell sued a judge -- of all people -- when he was playing games getting frivilous adjustments from them month after month. To stomp on him further, once they won the suit, they then filed a complaint with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (an organization in Illinois which watchdogs lawyer/judges) trying to get him disbarred, and they came close to it. Not merely content to win, sometimes they like to rub your nose in it later. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Intra-Lata Competition in NJ Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 11:13:36 GMT As of July 1, telephone subscribers in the Garden State may prefix intra-LATA calls with 10xxx codes to select a carrier other then Bell Atlantic. It appears that Caller*ID is not carried on intra-LATA calls carried by AT&T or US Sprint -- I haven't tried any others yet. We are being deluged with mail and telephone calls from lots of long distance carriers I've never heard of, pushing their intra-LATA toll service in New Jersey. Most offer rates slightly lower than Bell Atlantic's. Dave ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #328 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa07707; 21 Jul 94 3:54 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24710; Thu, 21 Jul 94 00:13:44 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24701; Thu, 21 Jul 94 00:13:42 CDT Date: Thu, 21 Jul 94 00:13:42 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407210513.AA24701@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #329 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Jul 94 00:13:30 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 329 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Reading the TELECOM Digest May be a Crime (Steve Bunning) CWA Charges Sprint With Illegal Action (Phillip Dampier) Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations Sought (P. Rukavina) Information on FiberOptics Requested (Matthew Scott Weisberg) Telephony Cards Other Than Dialogic - Recommendations? (Karyn German) LDDS Metromedia Calling Card Confusion (Dan Srebnick) Digital Telephone Systems (Robert Ambrose) Book Review: "Internet Public Access Guide" by Hughes (Rob Slade) Correction to 703 -> 540 Prefix List (Paul Robinson) International Math Olympiad Result (Cedric Hui) Conference Call Circuit? (Todd McLaughlin) Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet (bkron@netcom) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 01:42:14 EDT From: Steve Bunning Subject: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This time around dear readers, I decided to save the best for first. Let's all have a good laugh to start this issue at the expense of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company Security Department. They must really think they are hot stuff. PAT] ----------- In a recent issue of the TELECOM Digest, there was some joking about it being a felony to read information about telecommunications. This reminded me of something that happened to me in the mid-70s. At the time, I had subscribed to a newsletter out of California called TEL or the Telephone Electronics Line published by the Teletronics Company of America. It was similar to 2600 magazine and the TAP newletter having articles on telecommuncations topics, but with a phone phreak flavor. After receiving the publication for over a year, it suddenly stopped coming. Sometime thereafter I received a notice from the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company Security Office. The text of their notice read as follows: "On March 25, 1976, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, entered an injunction in favor of The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company and against Teletronics Company of America, and others. Your name appeared on a list (provided under Court order) of subscribers, or potential subscribers, to material previously published and distributed by Teletronics Company of America. Accordingly, for your protection and benefit, you are hereby given the following notice: IT IS A VIOLATION OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAW TO USE ANY INSTRUMENT, DEVICE OR SCHEME TO OBTAIN ANY TELEPHONE SERVICE WITHOUT PAYMENT OF THE LAWFUL CHARGES THEREFOR. IT IS ALSO A CRIME TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ANY PERSON WHICH IS USEFUL FOR SUCH PURPOSE. IN MANY STATES, THE POSSESSION OF OR DISSEMINATION OF PLANS OR INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUCH DEVICES IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE. VIOLATIONS OF THESE LAWS ARE VIGOROUSLY INVESTIGATED AND PROSECUTED. ACCORDINGLY, YOU ARE URGED TO DESTROY ANY AND ALL WRITTEN MATERIAL OR DEVICE YOU MAY HAVE WHICH MAY VIOLATE ANY OF THESE LAWS. THIS STATEMENT IS BEING SENT TO YOU BY ORDER OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES." End of notice. So you see, subscribing to telecom publications may be riskier than you imagined. I wonder, does this mean I should burn any back issues of the TELECOM Digest that I have? Perhaps reading the Digest is only a misdemeanor and not a felony :-) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Isn't that precious! They want to fight, maybe somone or more people should give them one. This reminds me of a similar case here in the late 1970's when Channel 44 was operating in many parts of the USA as 'pay television' with a scrambled signal. You could watch their movies, but to do so you had to have one of their decoding boxes, and of course you got one of those when you signed up for the service. Purchase of a decoding box got to be a joke however, as more and more pirates began building them and selling them out of the back of their car. Everytime Channel 44 would change the system slightly then the pirates would soon change their product to meet the new specs. The answer from the pay-tv people was to stage raids at the homes of the pirates and seize all the equipment, arrest them, etc. One aquaint- ence of mine was 'in the business' (the pirate business that is) and he got busted for selling decoders out of the back of his van in the parking lot at 7/Eleven. They had several answers: if you claimed your product was 'genuine' they got you on fraud charges; it obviously was not the real thing. If you claimed it was type accepted by the FCC then that was also fraud; in subscription television systems type acceptance does not issue on decoders alone, only on entire systems including the transmitter, etc. If you sold 'educational kits you assemble on your own' with the circuit board already put together and maybe a single knob or two which had to be screwed on in order to make it a 'kit you built yourself' then you were an accomplice to the theft of services done by the persons who purchased your 'kit'. They had it made, or so they thought; they had an answer to every angle the pirates tried to use. Thinking back to the days of Prohibition in the United States in the 1920's, I recalled how Anheiser-Busch (the makers of Budweiser Beer) had survived during those lean years: They sold kits by mail order which people could use at home to brew their own 'near beer', a con- coction which *was* legal during prohibition. Anheiser-Busch sent the nearly completed distillery (you had to screw in a couple of pieces) along with 'brewing instructions for near-beer'. Every page of the very detailed instruction book cautioned against using certain ingred- ients in certain quantities, i.e. 'do not use (ingredient x) and only use the amount we tell you of (ingredient y), because if you put 'x' in there in quantity 'y' you will manufacture beer, and that is not legal!' Of course you know the purchasers of the little distillery and brewing kits put in plenty of 'x' and 'y', but they had been warned by Budweiser against doing it, so as not to violate Prohibition. With that in mind, the 'Radio Hobbyists Guild' was started. The Guild had one project, and one project only in mind: to educate people in the ways to *avoid breaking the law* where subscription television decoder boxes were concerned. The Guild published a very detailed instruction book complete with schematics showing how Channel 44 boxes worked, so that whatever the reader happened to be building in the way of electronic devices he could be sure to *not configure the components in the way shown here* to avoid breaking any laws, etc. Every page of the schematics was plainly noted "Caution, do not put electronic components together in the way shown in these diagrams becase by doing so you might be breaking the law." The reader was frequently warned that 'in the event you are building some kind of electronic device and *accidentally* (my emphasis) construct a decoder box then you must be certain not to actually use it for that purpose until you have (1) obtained type acceptance from the FCC, (2) notified Channel 44 that you are in possession of it and agreed to pay their monthly fees, and (3) gotten their permission in writing to do so.' The little book published by the Radio Hobbyists Guild was given away to anyone who sent a dollar or four postage stamps with a self addressed large envelope to a certain post office box in downtown Chicago. I think a couple thousand copies were sent out in all. Channel 44 knew it was just a ploy -- thinly veiled BS -- but how do you go about making someone quit urging others to obey the law? PAT] ------------------------------ From: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org (Phillip Dampier) Reply-To: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 13:30:05 -0500 Subject: CWA Charges Sprint With Illegal Action CWA CHARGES SPRINT WITH ILLEGALLY SHUTTING LATINO SUBSIDIARY A WEEK BEFORE UNION VOTE Sprint Long Distance illegally shut down a San Francisco subsidiary that markets services to the Spanish-speaking community just one week before the 177 workers were set to vote on unionizing in a National Labor Relations Board election, the Communications Workers of America declared in charges filed with the NLRB. CWA is requesting that the NLRB seek an injunction to re-open the office under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act, and also is calling for the labor board to proceed with a representative election. The unfair practice charges were formally filed against Sprint late yesterday in San Francisco. The union charged that Sprint abruptly closed the office on July 14 to retaliate against the workers for seeking to organize -- approximately 70% had petitioned for an election -- and to block what portended to be the first successful unionization campaign so far at the aggressively anti-union long distance company. CWA also charged that the action was intended to intimidate employees at other Sprint facilities who have been seeking to organize despite fierce management opposition as laid out in Sprint's "Union-Free Management Guide." Sprint bought La Conexion Familiar ("The Family Connection") in 1992 after contracting with the company for several years to sell Sprint long distance service and provide Spanish language customer service to the Latino community throughout the west and mid-west. La Conexion's total workforce numbers 235, mostly women of Latin American origin. La Conexion's business represents about seven percent of the Latino market niche in long distance nationwide, which is growing 2 1/2 times the rate of the market overall. In what CWA President Morton Bahr described as "a brutal mass execution," Sprint management suddenly secured the La Conexion offices the afternoon of July 14, and told the workers to collect their belongings and leave the facility after first submitting to body searches by the security force. "Workers burst into tears, at least one woman fainted, and paramedics were summoned," the San Francisco Examiner reported of the scene. Captain Philip Harvey, who led the paramedic team, said: "There was a point where we were going to offer the services of a psychological counseling team because we feared they might start calling 911 and overwhelm the system." One female worker was taken to the hospital for further treatment for what was described as a "psycho-social crisis." Shortly after the closing took place on July 14, a top Sprint official who was briefing several CWA officials on the action disparaged La Conexion workers as mainly "illegal immigrants" who spoke "Hispanic" and who had "bought" their $7 an hour jobs with bribes. While Sprint claimed that it closed the operation for economic reasons, in fact this past March the company general manager told the {San Francisco Chronicle} that La Conexion had been growing as much as 20% a month for the past two years and that he projected a tripling of annual revenues by 1996. As recently as last month, a Sprint national newsletter featured La Conexion as a unique and "very successful" marketing enterprise. "They told us that the reason they're closing is they were losing money but that's a lie," said one of the fired workers Argelia Ardon. "They closed us because we were organizing." Threats that Sprint would pull the plug on La Conexion if the workers voted to unionize had been widely rumored, drawing letters of concern from telecommunication union leaders in Germany and France, where Sprint is seeking a partnership with the national phone companies. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 15:33:58 +0100 From: Peter Rukavina Subject: Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations Sought I'm looking for simple technical explanations of how bank machines and bank machine networks work for a radio series on "everyday technology" I'm working on. Specifically: (1) How is my "PIN Number" kept secret from everyone but me? Is it stored on the magnetic stripe on my "bank card" or in some form in the bank's "central computer?" Or somewhere else? (2) How is the security of tranmissions between bank machines and the "central computers" ensured? I have an old "Discover" magazine article which talks about a 64-bit digital key generated by "white noise" which is placed in both bank machine and central computer and used to DES encrypt everything that passes between the two... is this accurate? (3) How is the traffic between different banks' networks (and different "networks of networks" like Cirrus and Plus and, here in Canada, Interac) handled? Do all banks' computer speak "the same language" in the same way that all Internet computers speak TCP/IP? (4) I'm assuming the process of, say, withdrawing $20 from a machine goes something like this: - I stick my card in, card reader gets my "client number" from the magnetic stripe, asks me for my PIN Number, somehow verifies that I entered the right one (or not) - the local computer in the bank machine presents me with a menu of possible transactions (perhaps based on information it got about my various accounts from the "central computer"?) and takes me through a series of questions... Withdraw... Savings... $20.00 - the bank machine computer the packages up the request and sends it off to "central" which verifies (a) that I have enough money in my account and (b) that I haven't gone over my "daily limit" and, if everything's okay, sends a signal to this effect back to the bank machine, - the bank machine, having received an "okay to dispense" signal, spits out $20 and sends back a "debit $20 from his account" message to "central." (5) How do bank machines "count money?" This would seem like a hard sort of thing to pull off, especially given that you have to be right pretty near well 100% of the time. (6) Besides the recent "Chemical Bank computer error results in double withdrawls from 100,000 accounts" problem in February, are there other large-scale problems which have occured with banking machine networks? (7) A 1992 New Scientist article talks about how the process of "shouldering" people when they're entering their PIN, then collecting their carelessly discarded receipt and, using the card number printed on the receipt, using "readily available equipment which costs less that $1600" to crank out a duplicate card using "published documents" as a guide. Is such equipment still "readily available" and what would the "published documents" be? Is this a widespread problem in the U.S.? Many thanks for any and all information. Peter ------------------------------ From: moodyblu@umcc.umcc.umich.edu (Matthew Scott Weisberg) Subject: Information on FiberOptics Requested Date: 20 Jul 1994 08:15:31 -0400 Organization: UMCC, Ann Arbor, MI Recently, I posted a request for information on WANs for a project I was researching for the City of Novi, Michigan. Well, it turns out that the cable company here, MetroVision, is under an agreement to the city to provide Fiberoptics cable to every single municipal building! MetroVision is wiring the entire Oakland County with FiberOptics, expected to be completed by the end of 95. They have a very impressive network already it seems. Many of the schools here have something called INET, basically, the schools are using MetroVisions "B" cable to "share" classes on video and such. Supposedly, the original agreement was that Metrovisoin was to run two cables of 56 channels each to provide 112 channels to subscribers, however, they only run one cable, the "A" cable, to subscribers. I saw some maps of their current network, and they apparently have 750Mhz(?) of bandwith available in the Novi area. Anyway, what I need to know is what equipment would I need to attach to their fiber to our 10BASET ethernet networks in each building? How many strands would we need? They are running at least 12 strands to each building I think ... it could be more. I also need to know some places to order the equipment from, as I need to get pricing ideas. The engineer from Metrovision that came said it is not cost effective to run fiber between "campus" buildings. They said there is already a "shadow" cable (coax) running between the buildings and we could use that and get like 1.54Mbps of bandwith. I disagree and don't feel this is enough bandwith, especially with IPX/SPX being the bandwith hog it is. I also thought that costs were coming way down on fiber. Am I mistaken? As usual, any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated! Matt Weisberg, CNE MILLIWAYS - Computer and Network Consulting PP-ASEL 21650 West Eleven Mile Road #202 Amateur Radio: KF8OH Southfield, MI 48076 Internet: moodyblu@umcc.umich.edu (810)350-0503 x11 Fax:(810)350-0504 ------------------------------ From: kmgerman@netcom.com (Karyn German) Subject: Telephony Cards Other Than Dialogic - Recommendations? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 21:14:12 GMT Could someone recommend telephony cards other than those by Dialogic? I know that Dialogic is the defacto industry standard for call processing applications, but we need an option that has drivers for BSDI Unix. I would be interested in any alternatives, even if you don't know about the BSDI support -- I'll research this myself. Please email me at kgerman@marketplace.com. Thanks ever so much! Karyn German Cyberspace Development, Inc. kgerman@marketplace.com Specialists in Internet Commerce 303-759-1289 http://marketplace.com ------------------------------ From: dan@islenet.com Date: Wed, 20 Jul 94 11:10:54 EDST Subject: LDDS Metromedia Calling Card Confusion Organization: Isle-Net Telecommunications (BBS +1 908 495 6996) I use an LDDS/Metromedia calling card to call New Jersey from my workplace in NYC by dialing their 800 274 1234 number. The reason I normally use them is that they offer a no surchage calling card. Anyway, for the last couple of days, after I enter my calling card number, I get an "MCI Operator" who asks me what number I am calling from and what my calling card number is. It appears that Metromedia is having some kind of switch problem in the NY area and is routing calls via MCI. I declined to complete the calls without knowing who would bill me and for how much. No one at LDDS/Metromedia or MCI could provide an explanation for this rerouting of calls via an alternate carrier. When I tried to report the problem to LDDS/Metromedia, I was place on hold for about fifteen minutes and gave up. Does anyone know what and where the problem is? Dan Srebnick ------------------------------ From: ambrose1@netcom.com (Robert Ambrose) Subject: Digital Telephone Systems Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 22:07:37 GMT I am acting as a non-paid volunteer in an attempt to put a well known disability service organization on line. The problem I am facing has to do with their present telephone system in relation to the fact that they do not have an overabundance of spare cash on hand at the moment. They had an SRX digital phone network installed three or four years ago and as I am sure all of you well know modems operate on analogue systems. On each desk in this organization there sits a phone with three incoming digital lines which we can't access. Somehow we have to be able to grab one of those lines to use with the modem. Installing new dedicated lines is cost prohibitive. SRX has offered the solution of an analog station cards for the box in the basement which will service six people each, at a cost of $1800 per card. There are over 90 people within this agency that could use communications, so forget the cards. What would Thomas Edison have said? "Damn the torpedoes, Let's find a solution", maybe. I need a solution, they need a solution. robert ambrose 508-362-3456 or email either your solution or number ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 12:44:03 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Internet Public Access Guide" by Hughes BKINTPAG.RVW 940427 SSC P.O. Box 55549 Seattle, WA 94155 206/527-3385 FAX: 206/527-2806 sales@ssc.com "Internet Public Access Guide", Hughes, 1994, 0-916151-70-0, U$2.95 This book (pamphlet) is a quick, and very cheap, introduction to the Internet. On the other hand, it doesn't explain much, and a lot of it is not about the Internet. It can't be considered a reference guide since it isn't easy to find the information, and there isn't a lot there. The book mentions that the best place to get information about the Internet is on the Internet, but very few sources are mentioned. Given the brevity of the book, it is surprising that two pages are spent selling other SSC books, and twelve more in a brief introduction to UNIX. However, the basics are here, particulary if the user is either working from, or dialling into, a UNIX service. In that case, sysadmins may find this a very handy "first step" for users. Service providers running strictly UNIX systems may find it much cheaper to buy these starter pamphlets (available in boxes of 240, apparently) rather than build documentation from scratch. For those providing Internet access from a UNIX platform, this would be a handy and inexpensive first guide to users. For those on other platforms, or with proprietary interfaces, it would be less useful. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKINTPAG.RVW 940427. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 15:17:24 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Correction to 703 -> 540 Prefix List Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA In a prior message I posted the list of prefixes changing from Area Code 703 to area code 540 effective July 15, 1995. In transcribing that list from the list in the paper, I missed a line by typing in the first three or four entries, then accidentally moving down to the next line and starting at entry number four or five there. My apologies for this error. The corrected list, which I have checked, is as follows: The following prefixes in the 703 area code will change to area code 540, effective July 15, 1995: 220 223 224 225 226 228 230 231 232 234 236 238 245 248 249 251 253 254 258 259 261 262 265 268 269 270 279 286 289 291 297 298 320 322 326 328 332 333 334 336 337 338 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 362 363 364 365 366 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 380 381 382 383 384 386 387 388 389 390 395 396 398 399 420 423 427 429 432 432 433 434 436 439 443 445 452 456 459 460 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 470 472 472 474 475 477 479 480 483 489 495 496 498 499 520 523 529 530 531 542 543 544 546 547 552 554 559 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 570 574 576 579 580 582 586 587 592 593 597 599 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 645 646 647 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 662 663 665 666 667 668 669 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 682 686 687 688 694 699 721 722 723 726 727 728 729 731 732 738 740 743 744 745 747 752 755 762 763 766 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 782 783 785 786 788 789 794 796 822 825 828 829 831 832 833 835 837 839 840 852 853 854 856 857 858 859 861 862 863 864 865 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 877 879 880 881 882 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 894 895 896 897 898 899 921 923 925 926 928 929 930 932 933 935 937 939 940 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 951 952 953 955 956 957 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 969 972 973 977 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 991 992 994 995 996 997 999 ------------------------------ From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: International Math Olympiad Result Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 05:47:51 GMT Not a telecom news from Hong Kong, but I think some people may like to know. Subject: USA Kids Score In Math Race Date: Tue, 19 Jul 94 6:20:12 PDT HONG KONG (AP) -- Six high school students from the United States achieved a historic first at the 35th International Mathematical Olympiad in Hong Kong today -- they all had perfect scores. Officials said never in the history of the competition have all members of a team managed to score the maximum 42-point score in geometry and other mathematical tests. "I am very proud of the performance of our team," said Professor Walter Mientka of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, leader of the U.S. team. "Each member demonstrated great mathematical creativity and was an outstanding representative of the United States." More than 600 students from 70 countries and territories competed in the contest, organized by London's International Mathematical Olympiad Advisory Committee and the Hong Kong Mathematical Society. A total of 192 medals were awarded with golds going to students who scored at least 40 points, silver to those who had at least 30 points and bronze for those with at least 20 points. China finished second with three golds and three silvers, and Russia was third with three golds, two silvers and one bronze. The American team members were: Jeremy Bem of Ithaca High School in New York, Aleksandr Khazanov of Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Jacob Lurie of Montgomery Blair High School in Maryland, Noam Shazeer of Swampscott High School in Massachusetts, Stephen Wang of Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, and Jonathan Weinstein of Lexington High School in Massachusetts. ------------------------------ From: Todd McLaughlin Subject: Conference Call Circuit? Organization: a2i network Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 06:08:32 GMT I've made a simple circuit between my two phone lines so I can host a conference call. The sound quality is rather disappointing, though. The second call that is made sounds very distant. I'm guessing a simple amplifier would fix the problem. A friend said I needed to get a phone transformer, but he didn't seem to know much about it. Has anyone else done this with promising results? Or if someone can tell me a bit about the phone transformer ... Thanks! Todd McLaughlin ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (Kronos) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 05:55:14 GMT jlundgre@ohlone.kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Lundgren found this gem of wisdom > on some Usenet group somewhere and passed it along ... Aw, come on. Based on the grammar and spelling, I'd say its just some young kids. But, maybe not! I'm hearing "Dueling Banjos!" I remember picking up the phone on our old Western SXS when I was a kid (or was it my friend's Automatic GTE SXS?) and noticing that there would appear to be no voltage for just a moment because there was no sidetone. Immediately upon going off hook, there was sidetone, then no sidetone, then dialtone. I never thought this was because they were "switching batteries." (That was pretty funny) I just assumed that the line was momentarily open while the line finder worked. But maybe the guy authoring the posted opinions drew the wrong conclusion. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #329 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29723; 22 Jul 94 19:42 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06357; Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:05:51 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06348; Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:05:49 CDT Date: Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:05:49 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407222005.AA06348@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #330 TELECOM Digest Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:05:30 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 330 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Announcement of Free Software: NAS Network Management System (Jude George) Book Review: "Broadband Networking ABCs for Managers" (Rob Slade) True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments (Dr. John Berryhill) Re: Camelot on the Moon (Charles Hoequist) Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime (John Higdon) Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime (Andrew C. Green) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jude@nas.nasa.gov (Jude A. George) Subject: Announcement of Free Software: NAS Network Management System Organization: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation, NASA Ames Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 10:01:33 GMT A free package called HNMS, the NAS Hierarchical Network Management System, is now available. The software may be ftp'd from ftp.netcom.com in the directory /ftp/pub/heyjude. (We're looking for other sites to pick this up, as netcom is pretty bogged down). Please read this full announcement before getting the software. Note: This software has not yet been ported to the Sparc, or tested on platforms other than the Iris. Although the code is written to be portable there are some minor System V dependencies and changes that would need to be made to the makefiles. A Sparc port will be available soon, courtesy of Jason Thorpe at Oregon State University. In it's current incarnation, HNMS also requires that you link with Motif libraries, which are not free software. We may remedy this at a later date with Motif-free GUIs (although we're hoping that someone beats us to it). HNMS v2.0g2 This is the first public release of HNMS, the NAS Hierarchical Network Management System. HNMS may be used to monitor status and generate traffic statistics for a large, routed IP network. Graphical displays are provided for the X11 Window System and make use of the Motif widget set. HNMS is unique is that it can be used to graphically display routing information. The GUI provides compact representations of LANs, in which the status of every subnet, host, and IP address can be displayed in a small area. Netmask misconfigurations can be picked out immediately. It also correctly displays various WAN architectures, such as those which include multiple IP addresses per interface (or vice versa), or subnets which spread across multiple links. A custom version of HNMS was used to generate the live, three-dimensional representation of the cross-country ATM network at Supercomputing '93 in Portland, Oregon. Data collection is handled via SNMP, ICMP, and direct layer 2 monitoring. Distribution of network management information is done via HNMP, a new protocol which builds upon the simple, stateless client-server model used by SNMP. HNMP defines network objects, binds SNMP variables to them, and facilitates higher level management operations on them. The ASN.1 specification of HNMP is included in this package. Please note that there is also a release of HNMS that we are distributing through COSMIC, NASA's software technology transfer organization. COSMIC may (or may not) provide support for that distribution, but please do not ask them for any kind of support concerning this one. They will not be able to help you. This version of HNMS has been made available to you, by special dispensation, as FREE SOFTWARE under the GNU public licence ("copyleft"). It is distributed as is, with NO WARRANTY for its fitness for any purpose, and is NON-PRODUCTION software. If it is redistributed, you may not charge for it or any derivative work. Please see the file "COPYING" for details about all this. Full source code is provided. We encourage the Internet community to experiment with, build upon, use, port, learn from, add modules to, write scripts for, and expand this software package. There are some areas in which it can be improved, especially in the areas of generality and efficiency. We would like to see standardized displays for various types of networks and monitored objects, as well as customized displays for specific network hardware, and have them be freely available to everyone. The authors do not have the resources to maintain this software outside of NAS. Although we may continue to add enhancements, we are hoping that other(s) will take on the role of incorporating bug fixes and extensions to the code, and sending out new releases. We do welcome any suggestions or bug reports that you may have -- but there's no guarantee that we will be able to help you, or even have time to respond. We are working full time (and then some) on other projects. To reach us via email, mail to hnmsdev@nas.nasa.gov. This software has not been extensively tested. Consider it to be NON-PRODUCTION code. There have been (and may still be) bugs which cause it to crash systems, run rampant on networks, or just annoy people. Neither the authors, nor NASA, nor anybody at all takes any responsibility for any damage that HNMS may cause, directly or indirectly, to your network, your users, or anything. That said, it works pretty well for us. Jude George Leslie Schlecht jude@nas.nasa.gov schlecht@nas.nasa.gov Any opinions expressed above are a figment of your imagination, and should not be taken to reflect the views of NAS, NASA, CSC, or anybody else. ----------- TO BUILD, follow the instructions in the top-level Makefile. ------> Be forewarned that you will need to obtain the Motif libraries, ------> ISODE-7.0 (not 8.0) and tcpdump if they do not already exist on your system. FOR COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS on installing and using HNMS, please read the file docs.ps. Here are some quick-start instructions for the HNMS daemon, the graphical user interface, and the textual user interface. The binaries are called hnmsd, hnms, and hnmstool. INSTALLATION 1. Untar and build the HNMS distribution. Sources, docs, and auxiliary files are included. This version of HNMS has only been tested on the Silicon Graphics Iris under IRIX 4.0.5. It should work with little modification on SparcStations running SunOS 4.x. 1. Choose a directory to be the hnms "home", and copy the binaries and the background/ directory to that directory. 2. Set the $HNMS_HOME environment variable to be that directory. You may want to put this in your .login. 3. Make sure tcpdump is in your path. It's usually located in /usr/local/etc. The HNMS IO module uses tcpdump to discover new IP addresses. 4. Make the hnmsd (and tcpdump, if necessary) setuid root. The HNMS IO module, contained within hnmsd, needs root to access the ICMP socket. 5. Set the HNMS_PROMISCUOUS environment variable. We are just using this as a flag to tell the IO module that it's okay use promiscuous Ethernet monitoring. 6. Start hnmsd. RUNTIME -- GUI The GUI binary is called "hnms". If you are running it on a machine different from the server, set the HNMS_SERVER environment variable to have the server machine's name. Start the hnms program. Once the GUI's main window appears, choose "Open" from the "HNMP" menu at the top center of the window. A new window titled "Server" will pop up. In this window, type "public" in the Community field, and the hostname of the server machine in the Selection field. Then click the Connect button. At this point, you can start building diagrams. Choose "New --> Custom Status View" from the HNMS menu on the main window. An "EDIT" window will pop up. Type an asterisk in the Selection field, then click Add, then click the check mark at the top. You will see a display of all the hosts that the server currently knows about ("Processor" objects), along with their IP addresses ("Ipaddr" objects") and the subnets they are connected to ("Subnet objects). If you have just recently started up hnmsd, the objects will appear magenta while hnmsd is ramping up. This process takes three minutes. Afterwards they will change to green. When a reachable object becomes unreachable, it changes to yellow, then red. Feel free to experiment with the rest of the menu items. "Site" and "WAN" diagrams may be built in a manner similar to the "Custom". For WAN diagrams to be displayed properly, the sysLocation field of your hosts should be in the format . For example, "NASA Ames Research Center -122.5 37.1". RUNTIME -- PLAINTEXT You may also run hnmstool. This program takes commands on stdin and outputs results on stdout, so it can be used effectively from within shell scripts. For a demonstration, we will run it interactively. The hnmstool does not give a prompt. After starting it, wait a minute or two for it to get the list of HNMS objects from the server. for the HNMS daemon to pick up a good assortment of objects from the network. Then type list. You should see a list of objects scroll down the screen. Only hosts with SNMP agents responding to "public" will be shown. To pick up other hosts, type hint . For example: hint snafu.nas.nasa.gov foobar The next time you type list, you should see processor:snafu among the objects. To get data about an object, type subscribe "" @. For example: subscribe "processor:snafu" sysUpTime.0@15 This will give you a report of the value of the sysUpTime.0 variable every 15 seconds, if the variable changes. Since sysUpTime.0 constantly changes, you will get an update on stdout every 15 seconds. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 06:40:49 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: "Broadband Networking ABCs for Managers" by Davidson BKBNABCM.RVW 940426 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H8 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 or 22 Worchester Road Rexdale, Ontario M9W 9Z9 800-263-1590 800-567-4797 fax: 800-565-6802 or 605 Third Avenue New York, NY 10158-0012 USA 800-CALL-WILEY 212-850-6630 Fax: 212-850-6799 Fax: 908-302-2300 jdemarra@jwiley.com aponnamm@jwiley.com "Broadband Networking ABCs for Managers", Davidson, 1994, 0-471-61954-X, U$29.95 With the continuing development of new computer and communications technologies, and the increasing rate of such development, it is difficult for professionals in the field to keep up, let alone managers and executives who must make the final decisions. This book is a welcome resume of some of the "hot" new data communications methods and standards. Chapters one to three are primarily concerned with the factors driving increased communications needs; more desktop power, group work, multimedia, mobile computing, and telecommuting of various types; and the benefits of improved networking. Chapters four and five give basic background information on LAN technologies, dealing, respectively, with local and internetworking functions. It is chapters six to eight that give hard information on the new technologies, such as frame relays, call relay, ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), and SONET (Synchronous Optical NETwork). Data professionals will grasp explanations readily, seeing ATM, for example, as a form of "slotted ring" networking. Unfortunately, the material of the first five chapters is not a sufficient background to understand the technical implications of this central text. Managers and executives, unless former techies themselves, are not likely to understand the concepts without further help. The book continues with a more conceptual discussion of the internetworking of the technologies, in chapter nine, and a fairly terse glance at planning, in chapter ten. For those charged with communications planning for medium- to large-sized organizations, this book is a valuable reference to have on the technical planning bookshelf. Even if you cannot give it to the denizens of executive country, it will give you a clearer picture when you are called in to help them decide on these bright new communications technologies. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKBNABCM.RVW 940426. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: Dr. John Berryhill Subject: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments Date: 22 Jul 1994 03:41:37 GMT Organization: little scraps of paper, mostly During the earlier discussion about True Voice, someone said, quite pointedly, that it is "not as simple as playing graphic equalizer with the telephone line." In fact, the ONLY specific pieces of equipment mentioned in the Bowker patent are a Yamaha DEQ-7 equalizer and a 4ESS toll switch. Go figure. To me, it sounds an awful lot like "playing graphic equalizer with the telephone line." Getting a Yamaha DEQ-7 equalizer to operate on time-division multiplexed companded PCM signals in a toll switch is left as an exercise for the reader. According to the folks at Yamaha, the DEQ-7 requires linear-encoded digital signals in a proprietary Yamaha format. As far as the "sophisticated digital signal processing techniques" that someone had mentioned in the earlier discussion, the Bowker patent says the following: "[C]oefficients of the digital filter are selected in a conventional manner to increase the level of speech signals occurring within a particular range of frequencies..." [column 3, lines 30-33] "Specifically, as is well-known, an echo canceler performs a number of signal processing functions." [column 4, line 62] "Digital filter 110-22 implements the inventive method in echo canceler 110-2. A similar circuit implements the invention in echo canceler 105-2. The way in which a digital filter is implemented is well-known and will not be discussed herein." [column 5, lines 29-33] Pretty sophisticated stuff. In the Reexamination Request, this is what is called "admitted prior art." Of course, if you had seen "Voice Frequency Transmission Treatment for Special Service Telephone Circuits" in Bell Syst. Tech. J., v60 n7, Sept. 1981, you would have already known that the well-known "number of signal processing functions" performed by an echo canceler include: "...(i) an equalizer for the transmit direction of transmission, (ii) an equalizer for the receive direction of transmission, and (iii) a canceler." [page 1590] The Bowker patent suggests using such an equalizer to compensate for the low-frequency roll-off of a standard telephone. As any EE knows, graphs of frequency response are often called Bode plots. In the classic Bell Labs paper on variable equalizers published by H.W. Bode in 1938, (Bell Syst. Tech. J., vol. 17, no. 2), Dr. Bode had this to say on the subject: "The use of equalizing structures to compensate for the variation in the phase and attenuation characteristics of transmission lines and other pieces of apparatus is well known in the communication art." [page 229] "The network should then behave much like a radio 'tone control.'" [page 230] Quick quiz for the technically-impaired: Name one "other piece of apparatus", aside from a transmission line, that one might find in a telephone system? If you guessed "a telephone" then you qualify for the bonus round. If you didn't, then you need a quick refresher from Mr. G.J. Barnes, from the record of the 1979 National Telecommunications Conference: "The telephone is an integral part of the network and satisfactory conversational quality is usually only achieved when due account is taken of the characteristics of each of the communication links." [page 51.1.5] Among the five items of prior art that AT&T cited to the examiner during prosecution of the patent, in accordance with their duty to disclose relevant information known to them, was an anonymous article from _Hobby Electronics_ on how to build your own stereo bass booster. Another item related to car stereos. Only two of the five had anything to do with telephony. I understand that things may have been tough since divestiture, but they might want to trade their _Hobby Electronics_ subscription for the Bell System Technical Journal (since re-named). Surely they'd qualify for a TrueDiscount or something. For the severely technically-impaired, there is the charming 1934 book, intended for a popular audience, by Mr. J. Mills entitled _Signals and Speech in Electrical Communications_ (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich), stating: "The test experiment is easily set up by one 'skilled in the art' as the patent lawyers would say. It requires telephone equipment; and in the line between the transmitter, which picks up the musical note, and the loud speaker, which delivers its mutilated remains to the observer, a set of adjustable electric filters, for those devices are selective in their transmission and will eliminate currents corresponding to undesired pitches. In fact, when once a sound wave has been anaesthetized by a transmitter and laid out on a pair of telephone wires, the most crucial of operations may be performed upon it. Its various components can be removed, amplified or rearranged." [pages 14-15] The most striking thing about this passage is Mr. Mills' ability to predict, exactly 60 years in advance, what patent lawyers would say. And, by the way, if you watch the end of the commercial closely, you will notice that Whitney Houston's mouth movements are out of synch with the soundtrack. John Berryhill 1601 Market St., Suite 720, Philadelphia PA 19103 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 14:55:00 GMT From: charles (c.a.) hoequist Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon I, too, was thrilled watching the first moon landing (and the subsequent ones, for that matter), and I'd like to put some details on the Moderator's reminiscences that prefaced Don Kimberlin's article. PAT wrote > Even the talking heads of television news had nothing to say, so > shocking was the scene before all of us. Imagine nearly an hour of > dead air, just silence from the men and women who usually have plenty > to say ... they sat there as shocked as the rest of us. We stared at > a picture on a screen for nearly an hour without a word of sound as > the men Not on CBS, they weren't silent, though we probably all just tuned them out. I certainly did. I sat down yesterday, though, and listened to a tape I made live of the audio from the CBS broadcast. (frequently stopping the tape and just sitting, overwhelmed -- it hasn't lost any of its impact for me), and here is a transcription of the central event. Note the telecom glitch (inverted display) and the inability of the talking heads (the two Walters, Cronkite and Schirra) to just belt up for once and let history happen. -------------- transcription start ------------------ Apollo: Roger, tv circuit breaker's in [unintelligible] Houston: Roger. And we're getting a picture on the tv! Cronkite: There it is! Schirra: Oh, great! Apollo: You got a good picture, huh? Houston: There's a great deal of contrast in it, and currently it's upside-down on our monitor, but we can make out a fair amount of detail. Cronkite: four hundred million people are turning on their heads at the moment, with those words. Uh, they're supposed to turn that picture over for us, electronically. Schirra: There's some motion there. Cronkite: There, they turned it over now. Schirra: There's a foot going down. Cronkite: There he is, there's a foot coming down the steps. Houston: Okay, Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now. Apollo: Okay, I just checked, getting back up to that first step. It's, not collapsed too far, but it's adequate to get back up. Houston: Roger, we copy. Apollo: It's a pretty good little jump. Cronkite: So there's a foot on the moon! Stepping down on the moon. If he's testing that first step, he must be stepping down on the moon at this point! Ten- Houston: Buzz, this is Houston. [Add? aft?] 2 1/160ths second for shadow photography on the sequence camera. Apollo: [Aldrin] Okay. [Armstrong] I'm uh, at the foot of the ladder. The LEM footpads are only, uh, depressed in the surface about one or two inches, although the surface appears to be, uh, very, very fine-grained as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder. [unintelligible] is very fine. Cronkite: Boy, look at those pictures. Wow! It's a little shadowy, but he said he expected that in the shadow of the lunar module. Armstrong is on the moon. Neil Armstrong, [Armstrong's voice in the background: "Okay, I'm gonna [unintelligible] off the LEM now" ] 38-year-old American, standing on the surface of the moon. On this July 20th, nineteen hundred and sixty-nine. [Armstrong has started talking under the word, 'nine': "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."] [ several seconds of dead air ] Schirra: I think that was Neil's quote. I didn't understand it. Cronkite: 'One small step for man', but I didn't get the second phrase. Someone of our monitors here, at space headquarters, was able to hear that, we'd like to know what it was. [Armstrong under: [unintelligble] The surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boot."] Cronkite: His quote was, that's one small step for man, that's one giant leap for mankind [Armstrong under: unintelligible, due to Cronkite talking] ---------------- transcription end -------------- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You kinda feel excited even reading about it ... Well, I hope the messages this past week on the 25th anniversary of the moon walk have been enjoyable to everyone. The action on Jupiter this past week has also been fascinating. At least in the case of Jupiter there have been others to observe what is going on. I wonder, when it happens here -- as it surely will some day -- if there will be anyone to mourn or miss us after we are gone, or anyone who even knows that it happened? At least we know it happened on Jupiter, even though there is not a thing we can do about it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 00:45:31 -0700 From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Subject: Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This time around dear readers, I decided > to save the best for first. Let's all have a good laugh to start this > issue at the expense of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company > Security Department. They must really think they are hot stuff. PAT] While this refers to an incident circa 1976, it should be noted that Pac*Bell's security department continues its tradition of ultra-silly behavior and attitude even to this day. A couple of years ago I was involved in consultations with the defendant in a "telephonic misconduct" case. At one point it was necessary to visit the local FBI office to review the physical evidence that the bureau was intending to use against the alleged wrongdoer. In addition to the agents, the head of security for Pacific Bell was on hand, presumably to protect the interests of his company during my pawing of the evidence. Among the many harmless-looking items was a street map of the south Bay Area. My curiosity could no longer be suppressed, so I asked, "What is the significance of this particular item?" With that, I waved the map in the air. Mr. Security immediately rushed over, grabbed the map out of my hand and announced, "that is a map that has been marked to REVEAL Pacific Bell central office locations!" "May I see it, please?" One of the FBI agents motioned for Mr. Security to return the map to my hands, at which time I opened it and spread it out on the table. Then I proceeded to deliberately and obviously run my finger to a dozen or so points on the map saying, "There is no mark here; no mark here; no mark here...", etc. Mr. Security's eyes were becoming as big as saucers. "No, this is not a map of central office locations. What marks there are on this map are not designating them at all." Mr. Security came unglued. "How do YOU know where the central offices are located? Those locations are SECRET!" I explained to him that not only were the buildings themselves plainly marked with gigantic Pac*Bell logos, but the complete listing of exchange areas with maps and CO locations was available to any equipment vendor or service reseller. At the same time, I informed him that another piece of evidence, the test number directory, was also available to the public. That dude had one long face. There are some telco people who apparently missed what happened in 1984! John Higdon | P.O. Box 7648 | +1 408 264 4115 | FAX: john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | 10288 0 700 FOR-A-MOO | +1 408 264 4407 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Welcome back to the Digest, John. For the newer readers among us (those joining in the past year or so), John was a regular participant for several years prior to the great schism which occurred now about as year ago. Glad you chose to post again John, and perhaps you will be around more often. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 14:05:21 CDT From: Andrew C. Green Subject: Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime Our Moderator writes: > The little book published by the Radio Hobbyists Guild was given away > to anyone who sent a dollar or four postage stamps with a self addressed > large envelope ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ... and address it "Care of Congressman Dan Rostenkowski..." :-) Aw, I couldn't resist... Andrew C. Green (312) 266-4431 Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@dlogics.com 441 W. Huron Chicago, IL 60610-3498 FAX: (312) 266-4473 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for your input into this discussion Andrew. Yeah, Dan Rostenkowski finally got his come-uppance after all these years. I think he would prefer the dollar bill instead of the stamps. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #330 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29771; 22 Jul 94 19:46 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07385; Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:45:02 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA07376; Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:45:00 CDT Date: Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:45:00 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407222045.AA07376@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #331 TELECOM Digest Fri, 22 Jul 94 15:45:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 331 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations (Stan Schwartz) Re: Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations (Mike Deignan) Environmental Network Funded by Ontario Government (Joan McCalla) Mobitex Standard Description Wanted (Oliver Mauss) Book Review: "The PC Internet Tour Guide" by Fraase (Rob Slade) Re: CWA Charges Sprint With Illegal Action (David A. Kaye) Re: Conference Call Circuit? (John Lundgren) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations Sought Date: 22 Jul 1994 13:17:08 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Peter, I think I can help you with a couple of your questions, based on my personal experiences (and former employer). > I'm looking for simple technical explanations of how bank machines and > bank machine networks work for a radio series on "everyday technology" > I'm working on. Specifically: > (1) How is my "PIN Number" kept secret from everyone but me? Is it > stored on the magnetic stripe on my "bank card" or in some form in the > bank's "central computer?" Or somewhere else? The PIN is not on the card. In our application, a PIN-offset is encoded on the card. The offset is sent with the PIN from the transaction terminal (ATM or POS) and when combined with an algorithm at your bank, produces the anticipated result. Any other result will cause a response of "invalid PIN". > (3) How is the traffic between different banks' networks (and different > "networks of networks" like Cirrus and Plus and, here in Canada, Interac) > handled? Do all banks' computer speak "the same language" in the same > way that all Internet computers speak TCP/IP? Interbank transaction processing is done through privately owned "clearing houses" that basically have a big internal table of where to steer each transaction based on card number (ususally the first 4 to 6 digits). Each bank doesn't have to speak the same language, as long as they can communicate with the clearing house. > (4) I'm assuming the process of, say, withdrawing $20 from a machine goes > something like this: > - I stick my card in, card reader gets my "client number" > from the magnetic stripe, asks me for my PIN Number, > somehow verifies that I entered the right one (or not) > - the local computer in the bank machine presents me with a > menu of possible transactions (perhaps based on information > it got about my various accounts from the "central > computer"?) and takes me through a series of questions... > Withdraw... Savings... $20.00 > - the bank machine computer the packages up the request > and sends it off to "central" which verifies (a) that I > have enough money in my account and (b) that I haven't > gone over my "daily limit" and, if everything's okay, > sends a signal to this effect back to the bank machine, > - the bank machine, having received an "okay to dispense" > signal, spits out $20 and sends back a "debit $20 from > his account" message to "central." It depends on the bank and the system. If you're not at your own bank, it's more than likely that PIN verification is packaged with the withdrawal request, thereby cutting down on transmissions and transaction time. If you're at your bank, the opportunity exists to transmit more information between the host and the ATM, so PIN processing might be done up front. You will also have more transaction options at your own bank. > (5) How do bank machines "count money?" This would seem like a hard > sort of thing to pull off, especially given that you have to be right > pretty near well 100% of the time. The first part of the process is usually a modified currency counter (the kind that you see behind the tellers at your local bank). For verification, I know that some of them use a light sensor, which passes each bill over a beam of light. If the lens on the other side of the bill doesn't see the correct amount of light, then the bills are dumped into a "reject" bin because the machine assumes that it has more than one bill stuck together. > (6) Besides the recent "Chemical Bank computer error results in double > withdrawls from 100,000 accounts" problem in February, are there other > large-scale problems which have occured with banking machine networks? Chemical Bank's problem was not related so much to the ATM's themselves as it was to the bank's overnight batch processing. Apparently the transaction file was fed into the jobstream more than once during the course of the run. While this does happen on occasion, it's usually corrected before any customers are affected (or aware) of a problem. > (7) A 1992 New Scientist article talks about how the process of > "shouldering" people when they're entering their PIN, then collecting > their carelessly discarded receipt and, using the card number printed > on the receipt, using "readily available equipment which costs less > that $1600" to crank out a duplicate card using "published documents" > as a guide. Is such equipment still "readily available" and what > would the "published documents" be? Is this a widespread problem in > the U.S.? Yes, see Long Island Newsday dated 7/21/94. Stan ------------------------------ From: md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan) Subject: Re: Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations Sought Date: 21 Jul 1994 13:51:31 GMT Organization: Center For Political Incorrectness & Environmental Ignorance Reply-To: mpd@anomaly.sbs.com In article , Peter Rukavina writes: > I'm looking for simple technical explanations of how bank machines and > bank machine networks work for a radio series on "everyday technology" > I'm working on. Several years ago when I was working for a national consulting company here in the northeast I had the opportunity to work on ATM software at banks, so I can provide a little generic information. > (1) How is my "PIN Number" kept secret from everyone but me? Is it > stored on the magnetic stripe on my "bank card" or in some form in the > bank's "central computer?" Or somewhere else? Several methods that were used are as follows: 1. The PIN number is stored on the mag stripe. It is then verified at the ATM when you punch your code in. 2. The PIN is stored electronically at the bank's central computer. When you enter your PIN at the ATM, it is sent to the central computer and verified, with a result code being returned to the ATM (ok to proceed, bad pin, etc.) 3. Some banks didn't allow you to pick your PIN. Instead, each ATM card had a serial number. A PIN was automatically generated using an algorithm based upon that serial number. The ATM software could then read your card's serial number and determine what your PIN should be, prompt you for it, and see if it matches. This was before the big interbank ATM networks were established, though, so now they adhere to those standards if they're a member of a large ATM network. > (2) How is the security of tranmissions between bank machines and the > "central computers" ensured? I have an old "Discover" magazine article > which talks about a 64-bit digital key generated by "white noise" which > is placed in both bank machine and central computer and used to DES > encrypt everything that passes between the two... is this accurate? Again, different systems vary. I've never seen a system that uses the method you describe, but then again, I only worked at regional banks. Many ATM's are intelligent and do a significant amount of processing on their own; all they need to do is send a small message back to the central computer to effect an account transaction and get a one-byte reply code back. For instance, a typical data stream to the central computer will consist of a transaction code, account number, and amount. So, you may be talking 20 bytes total going to the central computer, and then a one-byte reply code being returned (00=okay, 01=insufficient funds, 02= account closed, etc.) Some banks use encryption to encrypt the data stream going from the ATM to the central computer, others don't. Encryption schemes vary depending on what the bank is comfortable with. Some use revolving encryption which changes on a regular basis. > (3) How is the traffic between different banks' networks (and different > "networks of networks" like Cirrus and Plus and, here in Canada, Interac) > handled? Do all banks' computer speak "the same language" in the same > way that all Internet computers speak TCP/IP? Most ATM's are programmed to recognize a native card (ie one from the ATM's bank) and a foreign card. A whole set of subroutines will exist for foreign cards. The transaction requests are still sent back to the central computer which then knows to route the request to a Cirrus/Plus clearing house. Cirrus/Plus publish their own standards by which member banks must format their data and communicate with their networks. > (4) I'm assuming the process of, say, withdrawing $20 from a machine goes > something like this: Essentially, the scenario you paint is sometimes used. > (5) How do bank machines "count money?" This would seem like a hard > sort of thing to pull off, especially given that you have to be right > pretty near well 100% of the time. "Count money" how? In dispensing? Its fairly mechanical and works almost flawlessly. > (7) A 1992 New Scientist article talks about how the process of > "shouldering" people when they're entering their PIN, then collecting > their carelessly discarded receipt and, using the card number printed > on the receipt, using "readily available equipment which costs less > that $1600" to crank out a duplicate card using "published documents" > as a guide. Is such equipment still "readily available" and what > would the "published documents" be? Is this a widespread problem in > the U.S.? Depending on the bank's standards, you could conceivably do this. You need a source of blank magstripe cards, and a magstripe programmer/ reader. Most bank cards adhere to a standard for placing account numbers, pins, etc., in certain locations (otherwise how could you use your card in a foreign machine?) so if you can find that document in your research, then you should, fairly easily, be able to make a basic card which will work at the ATM. About a year ago in MA a couple of guys set up fake ATM machines at local shopping malls, and collected people's account/pin numbers, manufactured their own duplicate cards, and then started withdrawing money from people's accounts. ------------------------------ From: mccallj@gov.on.ca (Joan McCalla) Subject: Environmental Network Funded by Ontario Government Organization: Government of Ontario Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 17:56:22 GMT July 21, 1994 Ontario's First Electronic Environmental Network Receives $1.2 million from Province TORONTO - The jobsOntario program is providing a $1.2 million grant to launch the first province-wide electronic environmental network Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade Minister Frances Lankin announced today. The $3.1 million Environmental Inter-Network (EIN) will link hundreds of separate sources of environmental information into a single, user-friendly network. It is also expected to create some 70 new person- years of direct employment in its first three years and result in 14 to 20 full-time permanent jobs. "Our investment in Ontario's information infrastructure is an investment in the jobs of the future," said Ms. Lankin. "It helps us develop the skills, technology and network capacity needed in a modern, vibrant economy. This network will use Ontario-developed technology and foster other network-related products and services." The project was developed by Ontario Environmental Network (OEN), an association serving more than 500 Ontario environmental groups, and NirvCentre(Web), a not-for-profit network operation. Other partners include the Recycling Council of Ontario, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, York University and Open Text Corporation. Within three years the network is expected to have 1,300 active users including not-for-profit organizations, corporations, government agencies and individuals. "Projects such as the EIN demonstrate that effective telecommunications infrastructure can be used in innovative ways," said Ms. Lankin. "This network will boost efforts to protect the environment by making it easier for groups and individuals to access information and communicate with each other." She noted that the network is itself environmentally friendly, since it reduces the need for paper, while disseminating large amounts of information. The network is expected to be fully operational by this September. "Building on state-of-the-art technology, EIN is a ground-breaking effort to build an on-line community of information providers, environmental organizations, businesses and individuals," said Kirk Roberts, Executive Director of NirvCentre(Web). "For environmentalists using the EIN, everything from research to networking to public education can now be achieved more effectively," said Irene Kock, Co-chair of the Ontario Environment Network Steering Committee. "Today's announcement reflects our sector development approach to economic renewal," said Ms. Lankin. "We are working with various sectors, including telecommunications, computing and environmental protection, to help our economy become more competitive and create the high-skill, long- term jobs of the future." Provincial support for this network comes from the Ontario Network Infrastructure Program, a $100 million jobsOntario Capital initiative. It was established to help increase access to and the development of an advanced information infrastructure throughout Ontario. This investment was recommended in the province's telecommunications sector strategy, released in February 1993. Contacts: Lucy Rybka-Becker, Minister's Office (416) 325-6909 John Cooper, Marketing & Public Affairs Branch (416) 325-6694 Internet address: mccallj@gov.on.ca Editor's Note: contact lists of Ontario Environmental Network members located throughout the province are also available. ------------------------------ From: mauss@manekenpix.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (Oliver Mauss) Subject: Mobitex Standard Description Wanted Date: 21 Jul 1994 13:06:41 GMT Organization: Rechnerbetrieb Informatik - RWTH Aachen I have unsuccessfully been looking for a detailed description of the link layer for the Ericsson Mobitex system. I know about the frame structure and coding scheme, but would also like some information on the specified channel model, modulation/filtering parameters, required BER, etc. Can anyone give me a hint where to look? Also, I would appreciate it if anyone knew any papers describing Mobitex modem designs. Thanks in advance, Oliver C. Mauss | Aachen University of Technology - RWTH | Integrated Systems for Signal Processing phone: +49 (0)241 80 7632 | ISS - 611810 fax: +49 (0)241 8888 195 | Templergraben 55 mauss@ert.rwth-aachen.de | 52056 Aachen, Germany ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 15:03:59 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The PC Internet Tour Guide" by Fraase BKPCINTG.RVW 940428 Ventana Press, Inc. P.O. Box 2468 Chapel Hill, NC 27515 919/942-0220 FAX 919/942-1140 dilennox@aol.com lwenzel@aol.com "The PC Internet Tour Guide", Fraase, 1994, 1-56604-084-1, U$24.95 mfraase@farces.com Fraase's book is a real grab bag. Written (on a Mac) by someone who admits to having an aversion to MS-DOS, it really has little system specificity other than the PC basis of the programs on the included disk. It has some good information, some excellent writing, some gaps, some errors, some promises and a lot of graphics (of which the author seems inordinately fond). Overall, the discussion of Internet applications and use covers the major topics, and gives the new user a reasonable understanding of the basic tools. The chapter on "Getting Connected" proposes a very broadly based and helpfully divided overview of the various options. It starts with talk of the university, government, and corporate options, of which many potential users remain unaware. The difference between dedicated dial-up IP and dial-up terminal is raised, although the promised discussion of dial-up terminal and commercial "email gateway" access never seems to materialize. The personal and community aspects of the net get a lot of space. Some important, but often neglected, aspects of file characteristics and transfer are raised, albeit briefly. The "Neat Stuff" section really does have some interesting and little known resources. On the other hand, the quality of the information is very uneven. The setup of the included programs is said to be easy, but I suspect that a very thorough familiarity with modems would be needed in view of the extremely brief instructions for the SLIP software configuration. The "points of interest" are interesting, but seldom have anything to do with the surrounding text. (A pleasant exception to this are some of the useful and helpful points in the email section.) The directions on how to use and access resources on the net are *not* going to be helpful unless you are using the included software (and that type of dial-up connection). Every set of directions starts with UMSLIP, and most use gopher, even where email or telnet would be faster and more efficient. There are a number of dated addresses, as well as some that are just plain wrong (one suspects through bad editing). Seasoned Internauts will be able to correct these errors, but then, seasoned Internauts aren't likely to be using the book. (Some of the errors relate to DOS rather than the net: the LHA program, for example, produces files with an .lzh extension rather than .lha. Again, MS-DOS users familiar with BBSes are unlikely to have problems.) At one seminar I was told to promote this book because it had software. The software included may be useful, depending upon the user's level of access to the net, but is neither necessary nor unique. Providers that do handle IP access can also handle terminal access, but many access providers cannot provide IP access at all. In any case, (as the book states almost every time UMSLIP is mentioned), both UMSLIP and Minuet are shareware, and available online. (It is also interesting to note that the book acknowledges the superiority of PPP to SLIP -- but provides SLIP.) (In any case, I can't comment on the program disk -- my review copy came without one.) An interesting feature is the promise of an electronic update to the guide, distributed via electronic mail. The book has a coupon for two of the quarterly updates free; regular price is $25 per year. I'll try to add a note to a later edition of this review. For those who want to set up a direct IP connection quickly, (particularly for residents of Minnesota,) this is probably your book. The tools are "real" TCP/IP programs, without the UUCP limitations of "The DOS User's Guide to the Internet" (cf BKDOSINT.RVW). copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKPCINTG.RVW 940428. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: CWA Charges Sprint With Illegal Action Date: 21 Jul 1994 15:25:18 -0700 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] Phillip Dampier (phil@rochgte.fidonet.org) wrote: > Sprint Long Distance illegally shut down a San Francisco subsidiary > that markets services to the Spanish-speaking community just one week > before the 177 workers were set to vote on unionizing in a National > Labor Relations Board election, the Communications Workers of America > declared in charges filed with the NLRB. According to the afternoon {San Fransisco Examiner}, Sprint regularly told its managers that it was their "duty" to prevent unionization votes in their offices and that they should do anything in their power to prevent them. Apparently, according to the article, this is policy througout Sprint, not just in the La Familia operation. Effective two days ago I am making all my LD calls with 10288 until I get around to changing my dial-1 situation. Nominally, I make about $250 of inter-LATA calls a month. At least AT&T is unionized, gives rate info instantly, and has a domestic partners plan in action. Neither MCI nor Sprint can offer those. dk@crl.com National Car Rentals now includes domestic San Francisco partners in rental agreements at no extra cost! ------------------------------ From: jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu (John E. Lundgren) Subject: Re: Conference Call Circuit? Date: 21 Jul 1994 19:52:30 -0700 Organization: California Technology Project of The Calif State Univ Todd McLaughlin writes: > I've made a simple circuit between my two phone lines so I can host a > conference call. The sound quality is rather disappointing, though. > The second call that is made sounds very distant. I'm guessing a > simple amplifier would fix the problem. A friend said I needed to get > a phone transformer, but he didn't seem to know much about it. Has > anyone else done this with promising results? Or if someone can tell > me a bit about the phone transformer ... The transformer that you need is really two hybrid phone patches back-to-back. The two wire circuit has to be split into a four-wire circuit with a send pair and a receive pair. Then the amplifiers (2) can be put from the send pair of the first line to the receive pair of the second line, and vice-versa. But it has to be a good match so that you won't get ringing and instability. Another method is to use a gyrator, or negative impedance converter, I think that's what the phone co used to call it. John Lundgren jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us Rancho Santiago College - 17th St. at Bristol - Santa Ana, CA 92706 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #331 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa00173; 22 Jul 94 20:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09250; Fri, 22 Jul 94 16:37:04 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09234; Fri, 22 Jul 94 16:37:01 CDT Date: Fri, 22 Jul 94 16:37:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407222137.AA09234@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #332 TELECOM Digest Fri, 22 Jul 94 16:37:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 332 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T True Voice Patent Re-examination Requested (John Berryhill) Need to Know How/What Vendors For Wireless LANS (Brad Block) Phone Installation Error (Brian Gordon) Re: Camelot on the Moon! (Mark James) Minneapolis Macintosh Job Openings (Kelly Breit) Request: Available Code Libraries? (Jim Maslanka) Leahy on Gore Clipper Letter 7/21/94 (Dave Banisar) Ramparts Magazine (Gary D. Shapiro) Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such (Robert Casey) Crain's NY Business Article (James Taranto) Equipment For IVR (Phone Menus) (Hugh Fader) Re: *78/*780 Added to BAMS/DC (Raymond Okonski) SS-1 Signaling (Nick Xidis) Help Needed Getting -48 Power (Mark Kelly) Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet (Al Mcintosh) Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet (J. McKeough) Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet (kronos) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jul 94 23:00:56 EDT From: Berryh@huey.udel.edu Subject: AT&T True Voice Patent Re-examination Requested A Request for Re-examination is being filed today with the United States Patent and Trademark Office relative to U.S. Patent No. 5,195,132 to Bowker et al. entitled "Telephone Network Speech Signal Enhancement" and assigned to AT&T Bell Laboratories. The Request is being made by Roger W. Herrell and John B. Berryhill of Dann, Dorfman, Herrell, and Skillman. The text of the Request will be made available via anonymous ftp at a location to be announced. Under 37 CFR 1.501, any person may submit prior art to the Patent Office free of charge. These submissions will be considered during any Re-examination proceedings. If you would like to recieve free information on how you may participate in having the Bowker patent invalidated, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Dr. John Berryhill 1601 Market Street, Suite 720 Philadelphia, PA 19103 If you are in the telecommunications industry, please pass this message along to your legal department. Further information about the procedure for submitting prior art to the Patent Office, and about the Reexamination Request, is being posted to misc.int-property and other pertinent newsgroups. ------------------------------ From: bradb@bronze.coil.com (Brad Block) Subject: Need to Know How/What Vendors For Wireless LANS Date: 22 Jul 1994 00:20:51 -0400 Organization: Central Ohio Internet Link I need to know if I can distribute IP packets over a Wir eless trasnmittor of some sort and if so, what range can be assumed and also who do I look to for vendors? Thanks! Brad Block ------------------------------ From: briang@netcom.com (Brian Gordon) Subject: Phone Installation Error Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 15:46:47 GMT I had some more phone lines installed the other day, and had the local telco do the required (extensive) inside wiring for them. The installer called each line to demonstrate that each worked and then left. When I first tried to call out on one of them, the keypad would break dialtone but not gnerate tone. Two hours of work blown by a simple miswiring! "611" fixed it at the central office and will drop by today to do a permanent fix at the demarc. You pay the professionals so you don't have that kind of hassle, don't you? :-( Brian G. Gordon briang@netcom.COM bgg on DELPHI 70243,3012 on Compu$erve BGordon on GENie BGordon2 on AOL ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 94 13:59 EDT From: jamesm@dialogic.com (Mark James) Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon! Organization: Dialogic Corporation, Parsippany NJ In article TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > Did anyone get to watch the explosion? Our local astronomy club installed a video camera onto a 14-inch diameter telescope and invited the neighbors in to watch the impact of "fragment B" on TV. Unfortunately, you needed a much larger scope than that. We saw nothing unusual. > How long have we known about the Jupiter incident? Seems to me at > least a few years ago they had the date for it established. PAT] The comet was discovered only last year, and it was September before its orbital parameters were known with enough precision to make a confident prediction of a crash. If you'd like more depth on this topic than CNN sound bites, check out the discussions in the sci.astro newsgroup. Mark James ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 19:32:13 -0500 From: Kelly Breit@MR.Net Subject: Minneapolis Macintosh Job Openings I am enclosing two job postings for First Tech Computer, the largest Macintosh dealer in the Minneapolis area. If you are interested, please send resumes only to the address or fax listed. Please feel free to post the full content in any appropriate place. MACINTOSH SERVICE TECHNICIAN Opening for Mac service technician. Experienced on Mac systems, hardware repair and laser printers is a must. Opportunity to advance with leading edge of technology. Work for the leader in Macintosh knowledge and expertise. We offer excellent training programs and great benefits. MACINTOSH TECHNICAL SUPPORT TECHNICIAN Opening for experienced support technician. Extensive knowledge of Mac application software and product knowledge is a must. Support high end Macintosh solutions. Additional knowledge in Novel and networks is a plus for the serious candidate. PowerBook provided for daily use. We offer excellent training programs and great benefits. Send resumes, indicating desired position, by mail or fax to: FIRST TECH COMPUTER Attn: Service Manager 2640 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN 55408 Fax 612-374-8095 EEO/AA Employer Kelly Breit International Telecommunications Engineering, Inc. (dba ITE) 6009 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 103 * Minneapolis, MN 55416-1623 612-542-9440 * 612-542-9341 Fax * Internet: breit@mr.net ------------------------------ From: jmasl@cybl51.fnbc.com (Jim Maslanka) Subject: Request: Available Code Libraries? Reply-To: jmasl@juliet.fnbc.com Organization: First National Bank Of Chicago, Chicago IL, USA Date: Fri, 22 Jul 94 20:00:02 GMT We are looking for commercially available code libraries to support interprocess communications in the following environments: - Between Unix processes via TCP - Between Unix and MVS processes via TCP and/or SNA Any information or suggestions will be appreciated. Please respond via c.d.t or email direct to: mdl@fnbc.com Mike Lamble jmasl@fnbc.com Jim Maslanka Thanks in advance, Jim Maslanka 1st Nat'l Bank of Chicago ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 16:35:07 +0000 From: Dave Banisar Subject: Leahy on Gore Clipper Letter 7/21/94 U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY - Vermont STATEMENT OF PATRICK LEAHY ON VICE PRESIDENT GORE'S CLIPPER CHIP LETTER July 21, 1994 I have read the July 20th letter from the Vice President about the Administration's current thinking on Clipper Chip and, to my mind, it represents no change in policy. In fact, when this letter was sent, I would be surprised if the Administration even thought it was news. The letter makes clear to me that the Administration continues to embrace key escrow encryption technology, and stands behind Clipper Chip as a federal standard for telephone communications. The official standard makes clear that this standard applies to any communications over telephone lines. Those communications include not only voice, but also low-speed computer data and facsimile messages. The Administration is working on encryption technologies for higher-speed transmissions, such as for computer networks and video networks. The Vice President says that they want to work with industry to design a key escrow system that could be implemented not just in hardware, but also in software, that would be voluntary, exportable and not rely upon a classified encoding formula. The Administration said all this last February when the federal standard was approved. Yet, when Administration witnesses were questioned about the progress they had made in this effort at my Judiciary subcommittee hearing in early May, I learned they had held only a few meetings. Last week, the Appropriations Committee accepted strong Report language I suggested on Clipper Chip. The Attorney General is directed to report to Congress within four months on ten areas of concern about Clipper Chip. I agree with the Vice President that balancing economic and privacy needs with law enforcement and national security is not always an easy task. But we can do better than Clipper Chip. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1994 00:32:29 PDT From: Gary D. Shapiro Subject: Ramparts Magazine The best I can recall is that {Ramparts} stopped publishing early in the 70s. BTW, {Ramparts} started out as a non-mainstream Catholic magazine. I would consider {Mother Jones} magazine to be the successor to {Ramparts}. I'm rather odd myself. Gary D. Shapiro Santa Barbara, California [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I used to be odd for quite a few years until I decided to re-evaluate myself. Now I consider myself mainstream sort of. I won't say what stream I am part of ... One of the great heroines of our past: "Mother" Emma Jones. A social worker and civic conscience of the 19th century, Ms. Jones was once asked by a federal bureaucrat what was her occupation; what she did for a living. She looked at him and bellowed, "My occupation? I'm a hell raiser!". Indeed she was. I can't say that I agree now (or would have back then) with everything she preached, but that's not necessary for someone to be a hero(ine) of mine; merely that they believe what they say and live it as best they can. And she did make a difference in the lives of many people in her time. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 13:01:26 GMT From time to time, a pop record appears with a real (non 555-xxxx) phone number in it. Like "Jenny, 867-5309", "BEachwood 4-5789", or a number mumbled in a heavy metal song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". And another song "Don't call us, We'll call You" (Sugarloaf?) had some touch tones in the background. I suppose there exists a list of valid but unusable phone numbers due to popular song lyrics. Like: 867-5309 BE4-5789 ( ) (Dirty Deeds ...) ( ) (Dont Call Us...) Pennsylvania 6-5000 Why did the phone system make exchange 555 not useable, other than 555-1212? Other than maybe a certain "club" in the South might request all its phone numbers from that exchange. (Look at the center letter on the "5" key on your phone). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: PEnnsylvania-6-5000 has been the phone number of a hotel in New York for sixty years or more. There are other telco things on 555 in addition to 1212. The AT&T teletype relay operator for aurally impaired people is on there somewhere, and a couple other things. PAT] ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Crain's NY Business Article Date: 22 Jul 1994 13:34:16 GMT Organization: The Bad Taranto The July 18 issue of {Crain's New York Business} has an article on the switch to NNX area codes. It includes the following statement: Another, perhaps less important, change is the allowance of a zero or one as the first digit of a local phone call, currently prohibited. Can this possibly be right? Or is the author referring to 1 or 0 being allowed as the middle digit of a local exchange, which of course has been the case in some places for as long as 20 years? Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: hfader@etch47.eld.ford.com (H O Fader (Hugh)) Subject: Equipment For IVR (Phone Menus) Date: 22 Jul 1994 12:42:49 GMT Organization: ECC at Ford Motor Company, Dearborn Michigan I am working on a project for a networks class that involves Interactive Voice Response, AKA phone menus. The system must process ~100 calls simultaneously. It will be connected to a mainframe computer. Can anybody out there give me an idea of the equipment, software, and money that would be required to implement one of these systems? Thanks in advance. Hugh Fader Ford Motor Company ------------------------------ From: buzby@cix.compulink.co.uk (Raymond Okonski) Reply-To: buzby@cix.compulink.co.uk Subject: Re: *78/*780 Added to BAMS/DC Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 03:57:32 PDT Arriving in Dublin with a GSM Cellular (digital) phone, I was expecting service on the local 'Eircell' network, with calls being billed to my home UK 'Vodafone' network. Having received and made a number of calls, things were going well, until I tried to make a 'toll free' call to a 1-800 number. The call was rejected. Replacing the GSM Vodafone SIM card with local carrier Eircell, the 1-800 call could be made with no difficulty. This state of affairs has existed since the Irish GSM network went live in 1992, but I thought I would complain about the anomaly. Customer Services denied there was a problem "all roamed users on our network can dial the same numbers as our Irish customers." Trying again, the call still failed. [As did ALL calls to any number commencing with "1" - Freefone, Directory Enquiries etc - the only exception was 112 the European Emergency Services code]. Complaining again, two hours later I received a call from the mobile network engineers, saying that access had indeed been blocked (in error) and was now fully open. This opened up an interesting situation where Eircell DO NOT CHARGE for calls to DQ and 1-800 numbers, where in the UK these calls are charged at premium rates. It will be interesting to see if Eircell will pass the information that it was a free call to my home network, and then watch the home network attempt to extract a fee for a correctly connected toll-free call. Raymond Okonski Raymond (+353 1) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 94 11:39:37 EST From: Nick_Xidis_at_ZSEAFS@mail.hq.faa.gov Subject: SS-1 Signaling Background: Selective Signaling is a system that sends operator dialed digits over an analog private line circuit. The digits are encoded as a series of 2600 Hz pulses with 2400 Hz between pulses. Normally SS-1 circuits do not have any supervision i.e., the talk path is always there. This is a very old type of signaling and I think it was only used by the goverment. My Question: Are there any companies that are currently manufacturing test equipment for Selective Signaling (SS-1) signaling circuits? We have only found one (Ameritec) that offers SS-1 as an option to one of their test sets. Also, are there any archive files that cover history, development, or technical specifications for SS-1 circuits and test equipment. Thank You, Nick Xidis ------------------------------ From: mkelly@gabriel.resudox.net (Mark Kelly) Subject: Help Needed Getting -48 Power Date: 22 Jul 1994 00:23:47 GMT Organization: Resudox Online Services Can anyone provide a recommendation (or experiences) on producing -48 power in an standard business office environment? I know of a supplier in Montreal, Quebec, Canada who can provide 120AC to -48DC called Lambda Electronics but it looks like I'll be hit with a price tag of about $40K Canadian. I need about 250 amps at -48. Also, what about backup power, say 10-15 minutes worth. I don't particularly want a bank of car batteries but ... Thanks, Mark Kelly Advanced Multi-Point Conferencing 320 March Road, Suite 102 Kanata, Ontario K2L 1Z8 1-613-592-5752 1-800-900-4249 ------------------------------ From: mcintosh@larch.bellcore.com (Allen Mcintosh) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet Date: 22 Jul 1994 12:51:53 GMT Organization: Bellcore, Morristown NJ In article , the TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > There is no such modern word as 'rampart' by the way. It is an > archaism last used in middle French/English dating from about 1583 or > so and it roughly translates in modern English to 'a hole dug in the > ground behind a large pile of dirt or behind a hill where one can hide > (in the hole) to watch one's enemies without being seen ...'. The > magazine took its name from the first stanza of {The Star Spangled > Banner} written by Francis Scott Key with its words, 'whose broad > stripes and bright stars / through the perilous night / from [sic] the > ramparts we watched / were so gallantly streaming ..'. The "ramparts" the poem refers to were on an American fort in the war of 1812-1814. I suppose one could argue that this isn't "modern"... For the terminally curious, our online version of Collins English Dictionary defines "rampart" as follows: CED #Hram#+part #5(#!r@amp$a$:t) #6n. @n#1$D. #5the surrounding embankment of a fort, often including any walls, etc., that are built on the bank. @n#1$D. #5anything resembling a rampart in form or function, esp. in being a defence or bulwark. @m#1?-#6vb. @n#1$D. #5(#6tr.#5) to provide with a rampart; fortify. @m[C16: from Old French, from #6remparer, #5from #7re#5-@t#7#+@t#6emparer #5to take possession of, from Old Proven*,cal #6antparar, #5from Latin #6ante #5before@t#+@t#6par*_are #5to prepare] The Oxford English Dictionary defines "rampart" as follows: 1. Fortif. A mound of earth raised for the defence of a place, capable of resisting cannon-shot, wide enough on top for the passage of troops, guns, etc., and usually surmounted by a stone parapet. [followed by citations dated from 1583 to 1880. Interestingly enough, The Star Spangled Banner is not among them.] 2. Canad. A steep bank of a river or gorge. Usu. pl. [followed by citations dated from 1853 to 1973.] 3. attrib. and Comb., as rampart-base, communication, -height, -line, -walk. [followed by citations dated from 1799 to 1923.] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 12:07:05 -0400 From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst I don't find this surprising in the least. I've been following the goings-on over at alt.2600, where there was a heated discussion about whether or not the Repeat Call feature would produce audible touchtones. There are an astounding number of people who inquire in hushed-tone ASCII about such renegade features as the *67 CNID privacy toggle ("CALLER ID DEFEAT FOUND!"), or who express amazement upon finding out that recipients (read: the people who pay) for 800 calls can receive ANI. Half of the things that enthrall these people can be found in the front matter of the telephone directory, and the other half can be found in the Digest. The idea that telephone company secrets are illegal to possess or discuss came up in a brief e-mail correspondence. I referred to a feature description from an AT&T manual, purchased from the CIC. The wannabe hackerphreak in question became very excited at the prospect of my having this information and wanted to know where I stole it from! (I really wanted to make up a little tale about a nocturnal trip to my local CO, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.) This being the post-divestiture era, these sorts of inquiries are not limited to phreaks. There was a post on several of the soc.culture groups from an LD reseller, asking people to send rate quotes for a one-minute call from their country to the US. I would guess that a few simple phone calls could glean this information (and more accurately) from national PTT's and major service providers. Of course, then the reseller might have to *pay* for his market research. Something tells me that AT&T and MCI use somewhat more advanced methods. I hate to think that I'm as cynical as our Moderator on this issue ;-) but lately it seems as though the old poem should go "30 days have September, April, June and November, except on Usenet, where September has 365." Jeffrey William McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And furthermore, every day is April 1, although they do not realize it. Usenet is sinking to its least common denominator, face it. It was fun while it lasted. I can speak only with authority for myself, but other mailing list moderators have reported similarly that people are quicklu choosing to read and participate only in moderated groups or private lists such as this one. They just can't handle the noise any longer. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (Kronos) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 05:55:14 GMT jlundgre@ohlone.kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Lundgren found this gem of wisdom > on some Usenet group somewhere and passed it along ... Aw, come on. Based on the grammar and spelling, I'd say its just some young kids. But, maybe not! I'm hearing "Dueling Banjos!" I remember picking up the phone on our old Western SXS when I was a kid (or was it my friend's Automatic GTE SXS?) and noticing that there would appear to be no voltage for just a moment because there was no sidetone. Immediately upon going off hook, there was sidetone, then no sidetone, then dialtone. I never thought this was because they were "switching batteries." (That was pretty funny) I just assumed that the line was momentarily open while the line finder worked. But maybe the guy authoring the posted opinions drew the wrong conclusion. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #332 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29658; 25 Jul 94 18:23 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10076; Mon, 25 Jul 94 14:34:59 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10067; Mon, 25 Jul 94 14:34:57 CDT Date: Mon, 25 Jul 94 14:34:57 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407251934.AA10067@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #333 TELECOM Digest Mon, 25 Jul 94 14:34:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 333 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson GSM Tariffs in Europe (Alfredo E. Cotroneo) EMA/IC Information Wanted (Roberto Irribarren) Residential Phone/Data Wiring (Jeff Brown) Mobile94 Workshop Deadline 8/20 (Darrell Long) Employment Opportunities in Korea (Hanwook Jung) Looking to Share a T1 in Chicago (Jonathan Lieberman) Looking for Fractional T1 (Tim Mangan) Information on Telemarketing Lawsuits Wanted (John Murray) Who and Where is Northwestern Bell? (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Would Appreciate Information on AFRISAT (Herb Effron) Dialogic Cards and RING Help Please (Chas. Watkins) Voice-Activated Call (Marida Ignacio) Information Wanted on Home System Standard (Keith H. K. Chow) Need Help on Specifications For Telcom Bid! (Daniel E. Collins) ETSI Reports Wanted (Lars Kalsen) UC Berkeley Short Courses on Broadband Communications (Harvey Stern) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: 100020.1013@compuserve.com (Alfredo E. Cotroneo) Subject: GSM Tariffs in Europe Date: 25 Jul 1994 14:04:05 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway I had the opportunity to play around with a new GSM phone last weekend, and was amazed by the features offered by this service, some real, some still non-implemented (e.g. call forward). I travelled by car from Milano, Italy, to Genova, and then West to the border with France on the Italian riviera. I had almost everywhere good coverage on the motorway and over the coast. Coverage appeared to be everywhere on the road the same as for the other analogue (900 MHz, TACS) cellular phone. To my surprise at the place of my stay some 15 km from the French border, I realized that with the GSM phone I had the option of using one of THREE (!) available networks (one Italian and two French). [US readers please do not laugh: phones in Europe are still a monopoly in most countries :<( ] As soon as I realized that I could make a call to France via one of the the French telephone networks, thus bypassing the Italian operator, I tried to find out more about the different rates, and rate systems, used by the different GSM operators. Unfortunately, after calling the Italian operator "SIP" on 119, they suggested that I placed an Int'l paid call to each operator to get their tariffs (They gladly provided me with their numbers in Paris, good only during business hours Mon-Fri). This makes quite difficult and expensive to get a clear picture, and e.g. select the best operator in countries where more than one exists (e.g. France, Germany, UK, etc.). If not supplied already, it would be helpful to the European GSM owners if anyone could point out which are the current tariffs for long distance and international calls when roaming in European countries served by the GSM system, or at least provide the respective GSM operators' toll free assitance number, which may be called when entering a new network. How could one decide which operator to use? Maybe stopping at the first telephone boot when crossing the border and have a look at the telephone directory? I would probably have to stop at each operatr's telephone boot, which makes it most annoying especially when you travel on motorways ;<) . I will be glad to pass on any information on rates you may subject when roaming thru the Italian SIP operator. Or you may call toll free 119 when you switch to the SIP network in Italy. Any help will be gladly appreciated, and if there's enough interest I will be glad to summarize. Please reply directly since I may not read the news from here. I also found most annoying to try calling Italy from France by dialling 0039-XXXXX, and then today back at home I learned from my telephone directory that in France you get access to the international lines by dialing 19-39-XXXXXX; the situation is -- sadly -- all the same non standard and most confusing when you dial e.g. from Austria: 00-40-XXXXX, Spain: 07-39-XXXXXX, the UK: 010-39-XXXXX, or Norway: 095-39-XXXXXXX). It's not a mistype, Austria disregards completely Italy's country code by making it 40 instead of 39. Alfredo E. Cotroneo, President, NEXUS-IBA, PO Box 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy Phone: +39-337-297788 / +39-2-2666971 / email: 100020.1013@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: roberto@netcom.com (Roberto Irribarren) Subject: EMA/IC Information Wanted Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 16:11:40 GMT I read a reprint of {Network World} (July 18th), in which it talks about a certain Electronic Messaging Association (EMA) Interoperability Committee that will produce a joint protocol for electronic and voice mail exchange ... does anyone out there know how to get in touch with Mr. Ron Rassner or this organization? Thanks in advance. Please send e-mail to roberto@centigram.com or roberto@netcom.com Roberto Irribarren | Centigram Communications Corp. Director of Int'l Eng | 91 E Tasman Dr. and Advanced Appl. | San Jose, CA 95134 USA (408) 428-3516 direct voice/VoiceMail (408) 428-3827 Fax (408) 894-8416 FaxMail ------------------------------ From: edjcb@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov (Jeff Brown) Subject: Residential Phone/Data Wiring Date: 25 Jul 1994 12:48 EDT Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center In new residential construction, what is the sensible and/or creative way to run phone and data lines? I'm thinking about pulling four pair category 3 cable from a 66 or mini block in the basement to a box in each room. I'll use one pair to each room for primary house phone, the others as needed for more phone lines or in-house LAN. At the block, I'll punch as necessary to get what I need. I'll also pull coax to the same location for cable TV. Problems? Suggestions? Thanks, Jeff Brown edjcb@scivax.lerc.nasa.gov ------------------------------ From: darrell@cse.ucsc.edu (Darrell Long) Subject: Mobile94 Workshop Deadline 8/20 Date: 23 Jul 1994 20:41:37 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz WORKSHOP ON MOBILE COMPUTING SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS DECEMBER 8-9 1994 DREAM INN, SANTA CRUZ, CA Sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society TCOS (in cooperation with ACM SIGOPS and USENIX Association) General Chair Darrell Long, University of California, Santa Cruz Program Chair M. Satyanarayanan, Carnegie Mellon University Exhibits Peter Honeyman, University of Michigan Finance & Registration Richard Golding, Hewlett-Packard Publication Luis-Felipe Cabrera, IBM Almaden Program Committee Dan Duchamp, Columbia University Peter Honeyman, University of Michigan Randy Katz, UC Berkeley & ARPA Jay Kistler, DEC SRC Krishan Sabnani, AT&T Holmdel M. Satyanarayanan, Carnegie Mellon University Amal Shaheen, IBM Austin Marvin Theimer, Xerox PARC Rich Wolff, Bellcore A major challenge of this decade is the effective exploitation of two symbiotic technologies: portable computers and wireless networks. Harnessing these technologies will dramatically change the computing landscape. But realizing the full potential of the resulting mobile computing systems will require advances in many areas such as: hardware communications scalability power management security data access user interfaces location sensitivity The goal of this workshop is to foster exchange of ideas in mobile computing among workers in the field. Attendance will be limited to about 60 participants, based on the position papers submitted. Submissions should be fewer than five pages in length and may expose a new problem, advocate a specific solution, or report on actual experience. In addition, we will be hosting a small number of novel hardware and software exhibits relevant to mobile computing. The exhibits may be research prototypes or commercial products. Interested parties should submit technical descriptions of their exhibits. Online copies of the position papers will be made available via anonymous FTP prior to the workshop. A printed proceedings will be published after the workshop, and mailed to participants. A small number of graduate students will be granted a waiver of the registration fee. In return, these students will be required to take notes at the workshop and help put together the proceedings. Students who wish to be considered for the waiver must send in a brief description of their current research, and an explanation of how participation in the workshop is likely to help them. Send ten copies of position papers to: M. Satyanarayanan Email: satya@cs.cmu.edu School of Computer Science Phone: (412)-268-3743 Carnegie Mellon University Fax: (412)-681-5739 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Send exhibit descriptions to: Peter Honeyman Email: honey@citi.umich.edu CITI Phone: (313)-763-4413 University of Michigan Fax: (313)-763-4434 Ann Arbor, MI 48103-4943 IMPORTANT DATES Submissions due August 20 1994 Acceptance Notification October 1 1994 Camera-ready copy due November 15 1994 ------------------------------ From: hjung@acsu.buffalo.edu (Hanwook Jung) Subject: Employment Opportunities in Korea Organization: UB Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 12:59:49 GMT Korea Mobile Telecom(KMT) Research Center in Taejon, Korea, invites experienced and retired engineers in the area of mobile cellular telecommunications. The applicants should have experiences in following areas: * radio frequency(RF) design(800MHz~2.2GHz) * system desin for personal communications service(PCS) * operation of the EEsof and related telecommunication software tool. Bachelor's or master's degree in EE or related areas are required. The contract period will be six months to one year (can be extended) and start in fall. Local interview can be arranged around August or early September this year. Salary is around $50,000 per year which is negotiable. The apartment and roundtrip airfare will be provided. Please send resume to the one of the following ways: 1. Address: Korea Mobile Telecom(KMT) Research Center Attn. Dr. Yongwan Park 58-4, Hwaam-Dong, Yoosoung-Gu, Taejon, Korea 2. Fax: +82-42-865-0767 3. E-mail: ypark@kmnms4.kmt.re.kr ------------------------------ From: Jonathan Lieberman Subject: Looking to Share a T1 in Chicago Organization: The University of Chicago Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 05:38:10 GMT Is anybody interested in sharing a leased T1 connection to the net, and presumably office space (of an inexpensive nature) as well (because otherwise it is a little tricky to share the T1)? A T1 provides 1.544 Megabits per second through put and generally costs in the neighborhood of $1000 a month. Thanks, Jonathan ------------------------------ Subject: Looking for Fractional T1 From: tim.mangan@channel1.com (Tim Mangan) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 06:43:00 -0400 Organization: Channel 1(R) 617-864-0100 Info > I am looking for csu/dsu's that can handle sppeds from fractional t1 > (128k) to full t1. I guess this is referred to as a multirate CSU/DSU TyLink (my employer) has products to meet the need. ONS150: Single DTE to T1, data rates from 56/64K to 1.536M. ONS400: 2-4 Port DTE to T1, data rates at Nx8K from 8K to 1.536M. Products are sold direct, or via many regional and national distributors. Call 1-800-828-2785 or 1-508-285-0033. Tim Mangan (tman@internet.tylink.com) ------------------------------ From: jxm@engin.umich.edu (John Murray) Subject: Information on Telemarketing Lawsuits Wanted Date: 25 Jul 1994 18:52:11 GMT Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor Hello all, I'm considering taking legal action against the company which provides my residential long-distance phone service. Marketing representatives from the company persist in calling me despite several requests to be put on the do-not-call list. I know that the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act makes it illegal in certain circumstances to persist in that manner. I have also heard of at least one successful action in a Small Claims Court under this act -- that case involved telemarketing on behalf of Citibank as I recall. Does anyone know of other cases, preferably involving telephone companies? The issue hinges on a "prior business relationship" existing between the caller and the recipient. If the marketer opens the call with a personal discussion on a topic specific to the recipient, that might change the situation. So, "Hi, I'm calling to confirm that we received your last month's payment of $47.23, and now let me introduce our new plan ..." could supposedly be construed merely as "good customer relations"! Any leads on specific cases would be much appreciated. Thanks, John Murray, Universoty of Michigan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why not just drop them as a carrier and go with someone else, and let them know why you are dropping them. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 17:44:14 -0400 From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: Who and Where is Northwestern Bell Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Today's newspaper included an insert from a retailer advertising a trimline-style phone manufactured by Northwestern Bell. While the ad included the Bell System logo (now the RBOC logo), the name didn't ring any bells with me. I don't remember seeing the name on a list of AT&T's former operating companies, but then I've been mistaken before. Is this company out in Pac*Tel or US West territory? Canada, maybe? Jeffrey William McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think they serve the area around Minneapolis, Minnesota as the local telco. They are probably in US West now, but not certain. PAT] ------------------------------ From: herb@halcyon.com (Herb Effron) Subject: Would Appreciate Information on AFRISAT Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 12:58:21 -0800 Organization: Seagopher A business associate (does not use Internet) would like specific information about the AFRISAT conference in Washington, DC on August 29, 30, 31. Also, she would appreciate factual info on the project. (I don't like to send posts asking blind for information ... but I found nothing searching gopherspace for AFRISAT.) Please email to me: herb@halcyon.com and I will forward it to her. Herb Effron For replies regarding Seattle USA herb@halcyon.com e-mail: seattle-usa@halcyon.com ------------------------------ From: chasman@jolt.mpx.com.au (Chas Watkins) Subject: Dialogic Cards and RING Help Please Date: 25 Jul 1994 10:00:41 GMT Organization: Microplex Pty Ltd I have recently set up a complex voice mail system. It basiclly is a classified Ad system running on the Dialogic 4 port cards. I commissioned a company to write it using the VOS operating system as supplied by PARITY software in the US. It was very expensive to develop. However it has just come to my notice that I might have saved myself a considerable amount of time and expense if I had used a system called RING which is a GUI based development system. I would like to "talk" to somebody who has experience with this system. I have seen the demo of RING but I would like to chat with somebody who has used it to develop an application. Also I am looking to source it directly from the company that makes it can anybody give me a clue where the company is based? Please e-mail me with any information you may have. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Kind regards, Chas Watkins Sydney Australia. ------------------------------ From: maridai@comm.mot.com (Marida Ignacio) Subject: Voice-Activated Call Organization: trunking_fixed Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 14:00:19 GMT Hi. This issue may have come up here before. Anyway, I'm requesting for any info or references that can point me to "voice-activated telephone calls". I've tried calling SPRINT as I remember on one of their commercials mentioning this feature, but since I'm not a member, I have not received any much good input whatsoever on the more technical aspect behind it and simply trying to know what exactly is out there regarding this. Please respond to me directly via email since I've not been reading netnews for a long time now. Thanks for any help. Marida Ignacio (maridai@ecs.comm.mot.com) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You're not alone in not reading netnews, Marida. It seems a large number of people are starting to abandon Usenet due to its sheer volume of traffic each day, opting instead for mailing lists and highly specialized smaller groups. Let's see is anyone on the Digest mailing list can help you with your questions. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 25 Jul 1994 16:56:11 +0800 From: keith@UXMAIL.UST.HK (Keith H. K. Chow) Subject: Information Wanted on Home System Standard Organization: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hi there, Does anyone know about ISO/IECJTC1SC25 WG1 and WG2? It is a standard body responsible for home systems standards. Does anyone know where I can get a draft of this standard? Any more info for that?? Thanks in advance. Keith Hung-Kei Chow Hong Kong Telecom institute of Information Technology Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Clear Water Bay Kowloon, Hong Kong Voice: (HK) 358-7089 Fax: (HK) 358-1485 e-mail: keith@uxmail.ust.hk ------------------------------ From: dec@world.std.com (Daniel E Collins) Subject: Need help on Specifications For Telcom Bid Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 15:09:42 GMT Hello All: I have lurked this list for quite some time, and have noticed that many included on this list are quite knowledgeable about telcom issues. I have been charged with the responsibility of writing the specifications for a competitive bid for payphone service. As a call aggregator with over 150 public telephones my company is interested in understanding the contemporary landscape in regard to public payphones. What regulatory structure is in place enveloping AOS and AOP providers. What pitfalls and traps must I be aware when dealing with these providers? Is there any location where I can get more indepth information about this subject? Thanks for your advice! Dan ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dkuug.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: ETSI Reports Wanted Date: 25 Jul 94 13:46:57 GMT Organization: DKnet Hi, Is it possible somewhere on the Internet to find reports from the meetings in ETSI (The Technical Amssembly). Please email me if you know where to find these. Greetings, Lars Kalsen dalk@login.dkuug.dk ------------------------------ From: southbay@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: UC Berkeley Short Courses on Broadband Communications Date: 25 Jul 1994 18:56:31 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces 5 Short Courses on Broadband Communications, Wireless Networks, and Video Compression MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Wide Area Networks, Personal Communication Systems, Network Management and Control, and Multimedia Applications (September 22-23, 1994) This course is designed as a gentle but comprehensive overview of telecommunications including current status and future directions. This course traces the evolution of telecommunications, starting from its voice roots and progressing through local, metropolitan, and wide area networks, narrowband ISDN, asynchronous transfer mode, broadband ISDN, satellite systems, optical communications, cellular radio, personal communication systems, all-optical networks, and multimedia services. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems, Architectures and Designs (October 19-21, 1994) It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM (Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique. This course is an in-depth examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues for development of future high-speed networks. Topics include: Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn Polytechnic University. Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM switches, high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow control in ATM networks. GIGABIT/SEC DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS: Internetworking, Signaling and Network Management (October 17-18, 1994) This short course aims to provide a general understanding of the key issues needed to design and implement gigabit local and wide area networks. The topics are designed to compliment those covered in the SONET/ATM-Based Broadband Networks course (above). Topics include: technology drivers, data protocols, signaling, network management, internetworking and applications. Specific issues addressed include TCP/IP on ATM networks, design of high performance network interfaces, internetworking ATM networks with other network types, and techniques for transporting video over gigabit networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: William E. Stephens, Ph.D., Director, High-Speed Switching and Storage Technology Group, Applied Research, Bellcore. Dr. Stephens has over 40 publications and one patent in the field of optical communications. He has served on several technical program committees, including IEEE GLOBECOM and the IEEE Electronic Components Technology Conference, and has served as Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. NETWORKS FOR DIGITAL WIRELESS ACCESS: Cellular, Voice, Data, Packet, and Personal Communication Systems (October 3-5, 1994) This comprehensive course is focused on the principles, technologies, system architectures, standards, and market forces driving wireless access. At the core of this course are the cellular/microcellular/ frequency reuse concepts needed to enable adequate wireless access capacity for Personal Communication Services (PCS). Presented are both the physical-level issues associated with wireless access and the network-level issues arising from the inherent mobility of the subscriber. Standards are fully treated including GSM (TDMA), IS-54 (North American TDMA), IS-95 (CDMA), CT2, DCT 900/CT3, IEEE 802.11, DCS 1800, and Iridium. Emerging concepts for wireless ATM are also developed. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. VIDEO COMPRESSION AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION (October 13-14, 1994) Video Compression and Visual Communication is a rapidly evolving multidisciplinary field focussing on the development of technologies and standards for efficient storage and transmission of video signals. It covers areas of video compression algorithms, VLSI technology, standards, and high-speed digital networks. It is a critical enabling technology for the emerging information superhighway for offering various video services. In this course, we will fully treat video compression algorithms and standards, and discuss the issues related to the transport of video over various networks. Lecturers: Ming-Ting Sun, Ph.D, is director of Video Signal Processing Research, Bellcore. Dr. Sun has published numerous technical papers, holds four patents, developed IEEE Std 1180- 1990, was awarded the Best Paper Award for IEEE Transactions Video Technology in 1993 (with Tzou), and an award for excellence in standards development from the IEEE Standards Board in 1991. He is currently the express letter editor, IEEE Transaction on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (CSVT), and associate editor, IEEE Transactions of CSVT. He was chairman and now serves as secretary of the IEEE CAS Technical committee on Visual Signal Processing and Communications. Kou-Hu Tzou, Ph.D., is manager of the Image Processing Department, COMSAT Laboratories. Dr Tzou won the Best Paper Award for IEEE Transactions Video Technology in 1993 (with Sun). He holds 6 patents, has served as an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, is currently associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, and served as a guest editor for Optical Engineering Journal special issues on Visual Communications and Image Processing in 1989, 91, and 93. He is the committee chair of the Visual Signal Processing and Communication Technical committee, IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor bios, etc.) contact: Harvey Stern U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay 800 El Camino Real Ste. 150 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel: (415) 323-8141 Fax: (415) 323-1438 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #333 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa00695; 25 Jul 94 20:16 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA16743; Mon, 25 Jul 94 16:55:04 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA16734; Mon, 25 Jul 94 16:55:02 CDT Date: Mon, 25 Jul 94 16:55:02 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407252155.AA16734@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #334 TELECOM Digest Mon, 25 Jul 94 16:55:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 334 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime (Ed Ellers) Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime (Clifton T. Sharp) Re: Ramparts Magazine (John E. Lundgren) Re: Ramparts Magazine (David A. Kaye) Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such (Mike King) Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such (John E. Lundgren) Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such (Pasi Korhonen) Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such (Carl Moore) Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such (David A. Cantor) Advice Wanted on Wireless (Alex Cena) Isochronous/Switched/100 Mbps Ethernet (Hari Kalva) Advertising and the Internet (Jennifer Holpit) Regulations on the Internet (Laura Lunt) Virtual Private Network (W. Hatfield) PacBell Targets Gays (Randall C Gellens) Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (Paul Robinson) Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments (David A. Kaye) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Tom E. Kunselman) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Dave Held) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime Date: Sun, 24 Jul 94 18:08:27 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) Steve Bunning writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Isn't that precious! They want to fight, > maybe somone or more people should give them one. This reminds me of a > similar case here in the late 1970's when Channel 44 was operating in > many parts of the USA as 'pay television' with a scrambled signal. You > could watch their movies, but to do so you had to have one of their > decoding boxes, and of course you got one of those when you signed up > for the service. Purchase of a decoding box got to be a joke however, as > more and more pirates began building them and selling them out of the > back of their car. Everytime Channel 44 would change the system slightly > then the pirates would soon change their product to meet the new specs. I take it you're referring to ON-TV? That was only on channel 44 in Chicago; it was on channel 52 in the Los Angeles area (where it began), channel 64 in Cincinnati and so on in maybe a dozen metro areas. One interesting aspect of the sale of bootleg ON-TV decoders is that the FCC has banned the sale to consumers of those units, EVEN WITH the permission of the pay-TV provider! The reason for that was NOT to deter piracy but to make sure that subscribers could drop the service at any time without losing a large sum spent buying a decoder. The FCC used to also have a rule that these services (and cable channels like HBO) couldn't have serialized programming, so that the customers wouldn't have to keep the service for months just to find out how the story line of a serial ended. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, ON-TV was the outfit. The thing I resented was their claim that no one had the right to any information about how their system operated. It seems funny to me how in areas of high tech, dissemination of information to common people is considered very wrong because 'they might get ideas on how to commit crimes using the information' ... yet no one says a thing about all the crime programs on television. Every day people shown robbing banks, killing other people, raping, looting, pillaging ... but if an effort were made -- and there have been -- to get these shows off television on the premises that people easily influenced by what they see and read were likely to go out and do the same thing, there would be First Amendment complaints left and right. But let it be a high tech crime -- one that the 'average person' would not be able to commit anyway even if their life depended on it -- and suddenly dissemination of information, depictions of the crime, 'too much detailed information on how it was done' become a bad thing. It is not a question of *how much knowledge* a person has on any subject, it is a question of *that person's moral and ethical standards*. Either you commit crimes or you do not commit crimes. I guess the people (usually involved with security in high tech situations) who complain about the disemination of information are essentially saying two things: (1) most people are criminals by nature; they will commit crimes given the chance, and (2) most people are stupid. It does not matter if you let them see shows on television about bank robberies since they know how to do that anyway and besides it makes good entertainment. What you have to be very concerned about is giving them information *they did not already have* on how to commit other crimes; crimes generally beyond their intellectual reach without assistance, lest they begin committing those crimes also. I say that is hooey. Either you commit crimes or you do not commit them. Or maybe you used to commit them and decided to change your life and not commit them anymore ... or whatever. But having knowledge of *how* to commit crimes -- successfully, I presume -- is not the same as actually committing them. When someone says to me that I do not have the right to give out information -- freely or for a price or on whatever terms are established -- that's when I suggest that if they feel that way then it would be a good idea to start hassling the television networks and Hollywood instead: go tell those folks to quit giving out information 'which could be used to encourage a crime' ... and when you get somewhere with them, telling them that, then come back and see me. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Jul 94 02:09:38 CDT From: clifto@indep1.chi.il.us (Clifton T. Sharp) Subject: Re: Reading the TELECOM Digest May Be a Crime In article , John Higdon wrote: > Mr. Security came unglued. "How do YOU know where the central offices > are located? Those locations are SECRET!" I explained to him that not > only were the buildings themselves plainly marked with gigantic > Pac*Bell logos, but the complete listing of exchange areas with maps > and CO locations was available to any equipment vendor or service > reseller. Sounds like my experiences some years ago. When I first found out about V-H coordinates, I began my search for them with the Illinois Bell service representative. It was explained to me that these weren't given out, because Bell didn't want people knowing where their offices were. I thanked her and hung up, waited a while and called back to see what someone else would say. The second representative told me that indeed, she couldn't give me a list of V-H coordinates, but if it would help, why didn't she send me a list of the addresses of all the COs in the Chicago MSA? And she did. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The only thing Illinois Bell wants you to know about them is where to send your payment each month and where to call to when you want to order new service. They no longer have any open houses or tours for schools; they completely dismanted the nice little museum which the Pioneers worked so hard to put together downtown, and in general, shut up and pay your bill on time. I remember once when Illinois Bell also tried to give people that rap about how 'it is against the law to give out information about how the phone system works or have such information in your possession ...'. My answer was that the banks in the USA would love to have such laws -- if indeed the laws existed -- protecting their interests, and how come there were not laws against showing people planning and committing bank robberies on television. Maybe the phone company has more shyster lawyers working for them to make sure they get their way than the bank has on staff, although that's hard to believe. My objective in publishing this Digest has always been to educate and entertain the public, generally in the way telephones and telephone systems operate, although not exclusively just that topic. What you choose to *do* with that information is your business; frankly if you wish to commit a serious crime, then I hope you get punished for it. But that is between you and the person/organization you have offended. Even AT&T is entitled to the protection of the law, the same as any of us. If the telcos and high-tech industries in general want to forbid the dissemination of information on the theory that too much specifics might lead to people committing crimes, then let them first try to get that censorship accomplished in areas where the most information is given out to the greatest number of people, i.e. television, books and magazines dealing with crime in general. At least I don't claim to be a journal of 'true crime stories' committed against high tech. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu (John E. Lundgren) Subject: Re: Ramparts Magazine Date: 25 Jul 1994 18:33:02 GMT Organization: California Technology Project of The Calif State Univ Gary D. Shapiro writes: > The best I can recall is that {Ramparts} stopped publishing early in > the 70s. BTW, {Ramparts} started out as a non-mainstream Catholic > magazine. > I would consider {Mother Jones} magazine to be the successor to > {Ramparts}. > I'm rather odd myself. > Gary D. Shapiro Santa Barbara, California [Digest Ed. deleted] I don't think you guys mentioned the 'other' article. Yeah, that one. I made a copy of that article in the Oct 70 {Esquire}, I think it was. I was lucky to find it at the Cal State library, because rumors were that the telco had gone around and razored it out of every magazine they could find. But it was probably the pre-pubescent wannabe phreaks of that day who were doing it. I found out about it from that TCA or whatever the name was magazine. I got a free evaluation copy in the mail, after I bubbled in one of those bingo cards, or reader service cards, from {Popular Electronics}, I think it was. I, too, received one of those stern warnings from Pac Bell about how they got my name from the court ordered release of the subscriber list, and how it was illegal, blah-blah-blah. I remember reading something in {Ramparts} about Western Electric being the prime contractor for the Minuteman, or some ICBM missile. I got the feeling that the reason for the anti-establishment attitude of the magazine was that it was anti-war, and anti military-industrial complex. Any more war (or anti-war) stories? John Lundgren jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us Rancho Santiago College - 17th St. at Bristol - Santa Ana, CA 92706 ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: Ramparts Magazine Date: 24 Jul 1994 13:16:01 -0700 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] Gary D. Shapiro (gshapiro@rain.org) wrote: > The best I can recall is that {Ramparts} stopped publishing early in > the 70s. BTW, {Ramparts} started out as a non-mainstream Catholic > magazine. How much people change. The editor of {Ramparts}, Warren Hinckle, is a local columnist in San Francisco, and was responsible for causing severe political damage bordering on slander against former mayor Art Agnos in order to have his own candidate, Frank Jordan, win. When asked what was so special about Frank Jordan, Hinckle replied, "He's a blank slate. Nobody knows anything about him." So, today, we have a blank slate as mayor, who has succeeded to disembowel a small-business commission in favor of powerful downtown big-business interests. These interests are succeeding in driving small stores out of the neighborhoods (especially pharmacies and markets). Walgreen's is everywhere. The homeless situation and panhandling is far worse than it was previously becuase Jordan took about 50 cops off the street. The libraries nearly closed, and were only saved by a ballot initiative mandating that funding be kept at a certain level. And do you know WHY Warren Hinckle had orchestrated this? Because a friend of his, a political consultant, Jack Davis, was snubbed by Art Agnos at a party. How people change ... dk@crl.com San Francisco ------------------------------ From: mk@TFS.COM (Mike King) Subject: Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 15:51:21 -0700 (PDT) In TELECOM Digest, V14 #332, wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) wrote: > And another song "Don't call us, We'll call You" (Sugarloaf?) had some > touch tones in the background. [...] The main switchboard number for the White House. Mike King mk@tfs.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You mean 202-456-1414? Beleive it or not, *that* was considered in poor taste to give out for many years by certain people in the media, even if not in bad taste by C&P Telephone Company in *their* printed media, the phone directory. Now on the other hand, members of the media with a copy (pirated or otherwise) of the White House internal phone directory which lists all the centrex direct dialable numbers have been told not to give out that information if they don't want to wind up 'committing suicide' like that Vince whats-his-name. They guard that pretty closely. The White House is served from the centrex in the Executive Office Building nearby. Another anti-establisment magazine of the 1960-70 era was {Straight to Hell}, published by Boyd McDonald out of his room in a little flophouse hotel in New York. In one issue of STH, he printed a full page from the White House internal phone directory including the direct numbers of President Nixon, his secretary Rosemary Woods, and several other members of Nixon's immediate staff. Included were the private non-centrex direct number to Nixon's desk and the phone numbers in the family's living quarters. The thing ahout STH was that it was not merely content to be anti-establisment. It did double-dipping in that regard. In addition to offending the establisment of the times, it went out of its way to offend the 'established' gay lib movement of the 1970's with absolutely politically incorrect stories designed to titilate its readership -- mostly gay -- and offend the gay lib people, who according to publisher McDonald were 'only active in the movement because they are too ugly or wimpish to find a lover ...'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu (John E. Lundgren) Subject: Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such Date: 25 Jul 1994 12:37:42 -0700 Organization: California Technology Project of The Calif State Univ Up north in San Francisco, the number to call to get the time was POPCORN or 767-2676. But that isn't the standard down here in southern California which is 853-1212. I wonder how many of the people who had that number down here got calls from someone from San Francisco who had just moved into their neighborhood? ------------------------------ From: pkor@paju.oulu.fi (Pasi Korhonen) Subject: Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such Date: 25 Jul 1994 13:02:50 GMT Organization: Ripoff Industries Robert Casey (wa2ise@netcom.com) wrote: > From time to time, a pop record appears with a real (non 555-xxxx) > phone number in it. Like "Jenny, 867-5309", "BEachwood 4-5789", or a On Ry Cooder's Borderline album there is a Steve Cropper/Eddie Floyd song '634-5789'. p a s i k o r h o n e n p k o r @ p a j u . o u l u . f i saaristonkatu 3A6 90100 oulu, finland voice 358 81 377 811 fax 358 81 3116189 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Jul 94 14:01:07 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such 555 prefix has turned up in places where a script (TV or otherwise) calls for a telephone number; otherwise, it might turn out to an actual residence or business number somewhere, with that place getting calls from the curious. But I have seen several "I Love Lucy" episodes recently, and a few of them mention telephone numbers (of the form "name + five digits"). "I Love Lucy" was made in the 1950s. ------------------------------ From: cantor@mv.mv.com (David A. Cantor) Subject: Re: Famous Phone Numbers From Songs and Such Organization: MV Communications, Inc. Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 14:13:20 GMT In article , Robert Casey wrote: > From time to time, a pop record appears with a real (non 555-xxxx) > phone number in it. Like "Jenny, 867-5309", "BEachwood 4-5789", or a > number mumbled in a heavy metal song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". > And another song "Don't call us, We'll call You" (Sugarloaf?) had some > touch tones in the background. I suppose there exists a list of valid > but unusable phone numbers due to popular song lyrics. The moderator already mentioned PEnnsylvania 6-5000. Two more: TRansylvania 6-5000 TRansylvania 4-5789 (Yes, both of these appeared in songs ("novelty songs", I think they call them) which were once, er, popular -- well at least they played them on the radio). David A. Cantor +1 203-444-7268 (203-444-RANT) 453 Bayonet St., #16 Internet: cantor@mv.mv.com New London, CT 06320 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Jul 94 18:05:40 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: Advice on Wireless While in Tokyo I stumbled across an area called Akihabara that is wall to wall electronic stores. I found a lot of stuff in Akihabara that would thrill any technoid. But what excited me were the numrous walkie talkies available. I saw several UHF walkie talkies made by Sanyo, Sony and Kenwood operating in the 400Mhz-450Mhz band w/700 Mw of power. Urban range 200-m-500m and rural1km to 2km. Form factor smaller than a Mot Micro-Tac Lite w/small battery. Includes VOX/PTT Mike and anywhere from 9 to 11 channels. Is someone familiar w/any of these? They range from $200-$350 each and I'm thinking of picking up a couple but manuals are available in Japanese only. I don't speak Japanese so I couldn't get much help from the merchants. Please respond quickly since I am leaving this place in a couple of days. Regards, Alex [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Someone mentioned a curious thing to me a few days ago regarding Radio Shack. Here in the USA we have Radio Shack stores all over and they have the brand names Realistic, Tandy, and a few others. But this person said to me in the far east countries like Australia and Japan they have lots of stores known as 'Tandy', and these are all stocked with the brand name 'Radio Shack' on the products. In other words, just the opposite of the USA. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kalvah@cse.fau.edu (Hari Kalva) Subject: Isochronous/Switched/100 Mbps Ethernet Date: 24 Jul 1994 22:59:45 GMT Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA Hi ! I am looking for papers/reports that talk about Isochronous ethernet, Switched ethernet, and 100 Mbps ethernet. I would appreciate any helpful information. Please respond via e-mail. Thanks in advance, Hari Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton e-mail: kalvah@sunrise.cse.fau.edu ------------------------------ From: jholpit@bgsu.edu (jennifer holpit) Subject: Advertising on the Internet Date: 25 Jul 1994 00:07:35 GMT Organization: Bowling Green State University I am a student at Bowling Green State University. Currently I am involved with a research project that is studying the implications of advertising and commercial use on the internet. My question: With the growing intensity of the internet, what is the danger of advertising and commercial use taking over the internet, only to leave researchers and educators falling to the wayside due to the lack of money that would be needed to compete with big business? Any information on this subject would be greatly appreciated. ------------------------------ From: llunt@bgsu.edu (Laura Lunt) Subject: Regulations on the Internet Date: 25 Jul 1994 00:19:42 GMT Organization: Bowling Green State University I am researching the economics of the Internet. With regards to growing expansion of the Internet what will the governments role be in regulation and subsidization of the research facilities and universities? With concerns of the imminent entry of commercialization on the Internet, it seems that research facilities will need to rely on the government for protections from commercialization. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well luv, for many many years, the Internet had what was known as 'Acceptable Use Policy', and that policy forbade commercialization. These days much of that seems to be gone. You take me and a couple other people who continually run our commercial stuff on here ... and its all gone to pot. PAT] ------------------------------ From: whatfield@pro-applepi.wap.org (W. Hatfield) Subject: Virtual Private Network Information Wanted Date: 24 Jul 1994 22:24:34 -0400 Organization: Washington Apple Pi, Ltd. user group in Bethesda, Maryland Please post references for books, papers, FAQs, on virtual private networks (VPNs). Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Jul 94 22:31 EST From: Randall C Gellens <0005000102@mcimail.com> Subject: PacBell Targets Gays I recently received a mailing from PacBell which is interesting in that it is clearly targeted at gays and lesbians. It offers $20 off installation of a second line, plus a $20 certificate for Office Depot. The text is accompanied by a photo of two women embracing, and a photo of two men in a pose somewhat more intimate than is typical in mainstream ads. For the most part, the text could be part of any pitch for a second line, but does include a few sentences about how "With a second line, your home is no longer cut off from the rest of the world every time you're on the phone arranging a get-together ... or every time your roommate or partner's doing the same." What I found especially interesting is that it was mailed to an address which is not even in PacBell's service area. I have no account with PacBell which uses that address. I have to assume they are using mailing lists and not bothering to even check if the zip code is served by them. (A couple of weeks later, I received another flyer which was very similiar, except it had no photos of same-sex couples, and no mention of partners or roommates. I guess they use multiple lists.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: AT&T has used advertisments very similar in nature to target gay audiences on the one hand and middle class Americans on the other. "Reach Out and Touch Someone" has been worked to the hilt. One ad shows grandma smiling and talking to the grandkids while another version of the ad shows gay guys chatting on the phone. One appears in the {Chicago Tribune} while the other appears in alternate lifestyle media. When AT&T cut a deal with some guy in the Netherland Antilles to intercept and route calls to his hot-chat conference bridge they used a picture depicting sado-masochistic activities -- whips, chains, boots -- and a couple guys talking on a phone with the caption that you could Reach Out and Touch a new friend using the AT&T network by calling 011-whatever ... no premium charges! no credit cards needed! Just regular international toll charges apply. Needless to say, they did not run the ad in the {Christian Science Monitor}. It appeared in a few gay newspapers though. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 15:07:31 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA "Kevin W. Reed" , writes: > I noticed pretty quickly that the only Caller-ID information that we > were getting was from the Metropolitan Phoenix area only with everything > else coming in as "OUT-OF-AREA". This is the usual practice. > I thought this was a bit strange as others (in other States) have > mentioned that they obtain Caller-ID information from other areas of > the country on their units. I think what they said was there was some leakage. Some telephone companies may be suppressing delivery of the information to Feature Group trunks (what the long distance call is sent via), and in some cases the long distance company cannot provide it. > First I was told it was because they were un-tarriffed to get such > information, then they said it was up to the long distance carrier to > provide such information and the reason why we don't get it is because > the callers are using a carrier that doesn't provide that information. > This is seems a bit weird because I get close to 60-70 calls a day > from all parts of the country and have never gotten a single out of > state number on the Caller-ID unit. Anyone have an idea as to what is > really going on here? Further attempts at clarification of this with > US West has ended up going nowhere. Unless and until the FCC's proposal (either as current or as modified to something else) takes effect, interstate delivery of CNID will range from meager to nonexistent. The quote fits exactly, so I'll use it: In Robert A. Heinlein's "To Sail Beyond the Sunset," a woman's son asks why they made Video Telephones in Dallas stereoscopic, while ones in Kansas City are not. "Donald, any question that begins, 'Why don't they...' can almost always be answered 'Money.'" In order to provide Caller-ID, the caller's telephone must be on an SS7 Switch, the recipient must also be connected to one, and *every single connection* must have SS7 connectivity or the CID information will be lost. Also, if any of them fail to send the information or refuse to do so, the information is lost. Local telephone companies see the passing of the caller's telephone number as valuable information they should be compensated for; they probably expect the long distance companies to come up with additional money to pay for it; on the other hand, they are probably not offering to pay anything to receive caller-id information since only the called party benefits from the information. So in effect, the inability to receive a Caller ID from out of state is politically motivated, and will require a political solution. Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments Date: 25 Jul 1994 13:06:13 -0700 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] Dr. John Berryhill (berryh@huey.udel.edu) wrote: > In fact, the ONLY specific pieces of equipment mentioned in the > Bowker patent are a Yamaha DEQ-7 equalizer and a 4ESS toll switch. If this is the extent of it and the rest of the patent is a fairly intense recital of what's happening when you hook an equalizer to a phone switch, this looks obvious to me. Being obvious, how would it qualify for a patent? Those of us who have worked in broadcasting have long used equalizers to modify phone line signals to make them sound better. dk@crl.com San Francisco ------------------------------ From: Tom E Kunselman Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Date: 25 Jul 1994 14:26:41 GMT Organization: University of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences I was at a little party this weekend and was talking to a guy that runs a telephone system for a small company. He said that AT&T had given him a list of 800 numbers that were not toll-free. Apparently some companies are socking quite a charge when you call some of these numbers ... sometimes in the hundreds of dollars! Anyone have any idea how to make sure that a 1-800 is really toll-free before you call it? Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The thing which makes it legal is the recipient of the call is *not* charging for the carriage to get there. He is charging for the information he provides while he is talking to you. Understand now? Sort of like saying ISDN is anywhere but not everywhere. Gotta luv that telco-speak at times, don't you? PAT] ------------------------------ From: daveheld@delphi.com Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Date: Mon, 25 Jul 94 02:10:21 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) Joe Kukulka writes: > A buddy of mine called a supposedly free sex line. After an initial > preamble, he was told to enter a code on his phone that would give him > free time. He entered the number, and the other end shortly hung up > without providing him with anything. A month later, he gets a charge > on his Pacific Bell phone bill for $30 for two minutes connect time to [deleted] I'm confused. I don't call sex lines, but I frequently dial 800 numbers for other purposes. Under what circumstances are the 800 service providers permitted to charge me for the calls? Dave [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See my note above. The service providers are entitled to be compensated for their *information* or titillation or whatever it is they cause to happen. Telco does not charge you for the carriage, or the connection itself. The recipient of the call charges you for taking the time to talk to you and say whatever it is s/he says. Note that when the bill comes, it is a separate entity from some outfit posing as a long distance phone company; it is not from your telco or the 800 carrier as such. That's how it is done. Telco-speak is my name for it. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #334 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa11101; 26 Jul 94 19:38 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19869; Tue, 26 Jul 94 15:49:03 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19859; Tue, 26 Jul 94 15:49:01 CDT Date: Tue, 26 Jul 94 15:49:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407262049.AA19859@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #335 TELECOM Digest Tue, 26 Jul 94 15:49:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 335 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Ethernet Pocket Guide" by Spinney (Rob Slade) Re: GSM Tariffs in Europe (Steen Koefed Larsen) Re: GSM Tariffs in Europe (Tom Hofmann) Thoughts on Cantel's Amigo Cellular Phone (Jeff Bamford) Communications Networks Course at Berkeley (Richard Tsina) Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments (Dr. John Berryhill) Switched Without Permission (Nancy Jean Airey) Measured and Unlimited at Same Residence (Mat Mathews) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 13:35:33 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Ethernet Pocket Guide" by Spinney BKETHPKT.RVW 940506 CBM Books 101 Witmer Road PO Box 446 Horsham, PA 19044 215-957-4265 215-957-4287 Fax: 215-957-1050 76702.1565@compuserve.com books@propress.com "Ethernet Pocket Guide", Spinney, 1994, 1-878956-43-4, U$15 As the subtitle says, this is "A practical guide to designing, installing and troubleshooting ethernet networks." The book (at 60 pages, plus glossary and index, almost a booklet) is quite practical, although some decisions regarding what to include and what to leave out are a bit odd. Chapter 1 is an introduction to Ethernet, and the standards around it. The description covers the various aspects of Ethernet operation and definition. The picture painted of "Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection" (CSMA/CD) will be clear to any intelligent reader. On the other hand, the detail given of the ISO OSI model is difficult to understand, since it is never referred to again. An addition to this edition is a very clear and detailed overview of the framing of Ethernet packets. Chapter 2, dealing with cabling media, is the beginning of the heart of the book. Cabling is really the strong point of this work. Chapter 3 (Hardware) provides useful background information in terms of the various other parts to the net. Another improvement to this edition, however, is the inclusion of a number of new diagrams which add greatly to the ease of understanding these topics. Chapter four, on Design, gives good basic rules of thumb for doing your own design, but you will still need some technical smarts to actually come up with a design, let alone generate several and assess the best. Chapter 5, Installation, again deals primarily with cabling and cable runs. Chapter 6, Maintenance, while giving brief nods to management aspects, is again primarily concerned with finding breaks in the cable. Given that the book deals exclusively and particularly with Ethernet, the cabling emphasis is understandable. However, even within this limited scope there could be some improvement. Although the 2.5 meter markings on "thick coax" are mentioned often, there is no explanation of "half-wave lengths", the reason for them. Table 2-2 offers, as an advantage of glass fiber-optic cable, that it yields "extended length". This is, in fact, the opposite of the reality: coax runs can be longer overall since the "index of refraction" of coax is less than that of fiber-optic cable. However, with the proviso that this work is not "gospel", the book would provide handy background information for those who don't have the time for a full study of the field. For the novice who must face putting a network together for the first time it may provide a false sense of security, although it definitely *will* provide some helpful advice. It may be best for the IS manager who needs to know just enough to keep network contractors honest. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993, 1994 BKETHPKT.RVW 940506. Distrobution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated mailing lists/newsgroups. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: steenkl@thamis.ico.olivetti.com (Steen Koefed Larsen) Subject: Re: GSM Tariffs in Europe Date: 26 Jul 94 12:59:25 GMT Organization: Olivetti ATC; Cupertino, CA USA Finally some GSM discussion! I'm a subscriber of the Danish GSM operator Sonofon but I currently spend most of my time in Italy. In Italy I am perfectly able to use the Italian SIP network and have been doing so for about one year. To many Italians it comes as a big surprise when they hear that I am using GSM in Italy, this is because SIP is not doing very much to market GSM. GSM will probably become very hot in Italy later this year when the second operator Omnitel starts its competing GSM network. When I use my GSM phone in Italy I pay the normal Italian tariffs plus a 5% roaming surcharge. But then again I didn't pay the VERY HIGH Italian connection charges (I'll look them up for you) and their VERY HIGH subscription fees. The Danish connection fees was approx. USD 120, but then they also payed half of my GSM phone :-). The Danish subscription fee is approx. USD 40 each 3 months. The big roaming problem is when somebody has to call me, not that it is difficult to call me - but it costs. Since my phone number is Danish you have to call me in Denmark. I must pay to transfer the call to Italy, approx. 80 cents pr. minute. This is not too bad, my Danish friends can call me on a Danish number and have me paying the foreign transfer. THE BIG PROBLEM is when one of my Italian friends has to call me, then he has to call a number in Denmark, paying an international call to Denmark and I have to pay to get the call transferred back to Italy. This is crazy! Is the phone system really that stupid in its routing? or are the phone companies just making big money? 100020.1013@compuserve.com (Alfredo E. Cotroneo) writes: > I had the opportunity to play around with a new GSM phone last > weekend, and was amazed by the features offered by this service, some > real, some still non-implemented (e.g. call forward). Maybe you haven't subscribed to these services. I am able to use all of the four different call-forward types. > I travelled by car from Milano, Italy, to Genova, and then West to > the border with France on the Italian riviera. I had almost everywhere > good coverage on the motorway and over the coast. Coverage appeared to > be everywhere on the road the same as for the other analogue (900 MHz, > TACS) cellular phone. My experience in the Naples and Turin areas is the same. You can use GSM almost all the places where the old TACS 900 Mhz system is present. > As soon as I realized that I could make a call to France via one of > the the French telephone networks, thus bypassing the Italian operator, Yes you can save lots of money this way. I have used the same system to call Sweden from Denmark. > I tried to find out more about the different rates, and rate > systems, used by the different GSM operators. Unfortunately, after > calling the Italian operator "SIP" on 119, they suggested that I > placed an Int'l paid call to each operator to get their tariffs (They > gladly provided me with their numbers in Paris, good only during > business hours Mon-Fri). This makes quite difficult and expensive to > get a clear picture, and e.g. select the best operator in countries > where more than one exists (e.g. France, Germany, UK, etc.). SIP doesn't give a very good service. (Bet you knew that already :-) Both Danish GSM operators give all their customers a small roaming guide that contains all the prices of most European GSM networks. (Yes, they do have VERY complicated price structures !-) > Any help will be gladly appreciated, and if there's enough interest I > will be glad to summarize. Please reply directly since I may not read > the news from here. I will try to find my roaming guide and send the prices directly to you. > I also found most annoying to try calling Italy from France by > dialing 0039-XXXXX, and then today back at home I learned from my > telephone directory that in France you get access to the international > lines by dialing 19-39-XXXXXX; the situation is -- sadly -- all the > same non standard and most confusing when you dial e.g. from Austria: > 00-40-XXXXX, Spain: 07-39-XXXXXX, the UK: 010-39-XXXXX, or Norway: > 095-39-XXXXXXX). All European contries should be about to standardize on "00" + country code. Denmark changed "009" to "00" in May this year. BUT with a GSM phone this should not be a problem, all GSM phones have a special code for "international" that remains the same no matter which country you are in. I didn't even know that "00" works on a GSM phone. Best regards and happy GSM roaming! Steen Koefoed Larsen Email: steenkl@larsen.ico.olivetti.com GSM Mobile: +45 40512486 AmbraSoft International A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark consultant for Olivetti Ricerca S.C.p.A., Naples, Italy ------------------------------ From: wtho@CHBS.CIBA.COM (Tom Hofmann) Subject: Re: GSM Tariffs in Europe Organization: Ciba-Geigy Ltd.,Basel,Switzerland Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 06:46:19 GMT 100020.1013@compuserve.com (Alfredo E. Cotroneo) writes: > telephone directory that in France you get access to the international > lines by dialing 19-39-XXXXXX; the situation is -- sadly -- all the > same non standard and most confusing when you dial e.g. from Austria: > 00-40-XXXXX, Spain: 07-39-XXXXXX, the UK: 010-39-XXXXX, or Norway: > 095-39-XXXXXXX). It's not a mistype, Austria disregards completely > Italy's country code by making it 40 instead of 39. Wrong, 40 is the country code for Romania, and that works from Austria as well (0040-41 is Craiova/Romania, not Venice/Italy). For Italy they use a code which looks like a domestic area code: 040 (not 0040). There is in deed one anomaly in country codes from Austria, but that is for Luxembourg where they have to dial their own country code (43). Btw., in parts of Austria (everywhere?) you can reach Italy by 0039. The international access code as recommended by the CCITT (what is the new name of that organization?) is 00, and many European countries which still use an other code plan the migration to 00 within the next couple of years (France, U.K., Netherlands etc.). Tom Hofmann wtho@chbs.ciba.com ------------------------------ From: jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) Subject: Thoughts on Cantel's Amigo Cellular Phone Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 15:20:04 GMT I haven't seen too many posts about this so I thought I'd offer my thoughts on the matter. I recently decided to pick up cellular service via Rogers Cantel with their "Amigo" service. I got the "Personal" package which includes the rental of an AT&T 3610 Phone (batter pack, charger, short & long antennae) and service for $29.95 (Canadian). The service includes free weekend calling (Friday 20h to Monday 7h) and air time at $0.75 during other times. They also offer free evening calling for two weeks extendable to months if you mail in the coupon (their evening is 17h to 7h). There were no activation or license fees and the service is able to be cancelled at any time. They claim that the only other charges I can expect would be for Long Distance or directory assistance. (I assume they assume I stay in Canada). The one thing they do require is credit card billing. They won't give you service if they can't bill to your credit card. As a "service" to their customers they won't send you an invoice! This is one aspect of the service that I don't really like. You can call their 1-800 number (or *811 on the phone) and get their automated service line and have your bill explained there. I haven't been able to try this as I've only been billed for the initial service. They'll mail / FAX you the details for $3.95 though. With this setup I should be able to roam anywhere in Canada. I can use the phone in the States but would first have to have it programmed to be able to make calls there. I've driven around a bit with the phone and was surprised at one aspect of the service. I am able to call as a local call areas that are long distance with my home phone. Perhaps this is common for Cell Phones but I found it kind of neat. Bell Mobility (the other carrier in this area) also have a similar offer. You can buy a Cell Phone for $49.95 and pay $19.95 for service and $0.55 / minute for air time. They also offer free weekend calling but only for the first two or three months of service. I don't know if they have any activation fees or not for this offer. The guy at the store where I picked it up said that a lot of students are picking these things up. They're having a hard time keeping them in stock. The one thing you notice whenever you buy one of these things is how many other people have them. So far I've seen a couple of younger-types walking around with what looks to be the AT&T phone. I'm sure some marketing genius with Cantel is having a field day. Jeff Bamford jsbamford@uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome ------------------------------ From: course@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: Communications Networks Course at Berkeley Date: 26 Jul 1994 00:22:53 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. BERKELEY Continuing Education in Engineering Announces a short course on Communication Networks: COMMUNICATION NETWORKS: FROM FDDI TO ATM (August 9-10, 1994) This course provides an overview of the operating principles and design guidelines for communication networks, and includes a description of the popular current networks and a discussion of major industry trends. Topics include: History and Operating Principles, Open System Interconnection, Overview of High-Speed Networks, Physical Layer, Switching, Trends in Data Networks (FDDI, DQDB, Frame Relay, SMDS), Trends in Telecommunication Networks (SONET, Fiber to the home, ISDN, Intelligent Networks, ATM) , Topological Design of Networks, Control of ATM Networks. Comprehensive course notes will be provided. Lecturers: PRAVIN VARAIYA, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley he works on stochastic systems, communication networks, power systems and urban economics. He is the author of "Stochastic Systems: Estimation, Identification, and Adaptive Control" (Prentice-Hall, 1986) and coeditor of "Discrete Event Systems: Models and Applications" (Springer, 1988). He is a fellow of the IEEE. JEAN WALRAND, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of "An Introduction to Queuing Networks" (Prentice-Hall, 1988) and "Communication Networks: A First Course" (Irwin/Aksen, 1991). For more information (brochure with complete course descriptions, outlines,instructor bios, etc.,) send your postal address to: Richard Tsina U.C. Berkeley Extension Continuing Education in Engineering 2223 Fulton St. Berkeley, CA 94720 Tel: (510) 642-4151 Fax: (510) 643-8683 email: course@garnet.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: Dr. John Berryhill Subject: Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments Date: 26 Jul 1994 04:08:26 GMT Organization: little scraps of paper, mostly In article dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) writes: > qualify for a patent? Those of us who have worked in broadcasting > have long used equalizers to modify phone line signals to make them > sound better. And that is a point well taken. In fact, the Technical Papers of the 1969 National Association of Broadcasters includes a paper by Mr. Leonard R. Kahn on a system that he called "VoiceLine" whereby broadcast quality audio can be obtained using standard phone lines. Although the VoiceLine system works by modulating the 100 - 300 Hz range into a notch at 2000-2300 Hz, and then pulling it back out at the receiving end, Mr. Kahn began his paper by saying that ideally one would just use an equalizer to boost the 100 - 300 Hz range. Unfortunately, at that time the channel filters had a 300 Hz cutoff at something like 20 db per decade that would tend to nix the idea of just using a filter. Nevertheless, Mr. Kahn made it clear in 1969 that, if the phone company cooperated, one could use an equalizer to boost that particular range. Fortunately, Mr. Kahn is still around, and he is registered to practice before the patent office. You may recognize Mr. Kahn's name from his regular advertisement on the penultimate page of each month's IEEE Spectrum. He contributed a sworn declaration to the Reexamination Request wherein he confirms that our observations regarding his 1969 suggestion are accurate. Additionally, in a 1938 Bell System Technical Journal Article on long-distance radio program circuits, there is a frequency response diagram for an exemplary circuit. Surprise, surprise, the curve exhibits several dB of gain in the range of about 50 - 200 Hz. If you know of other publications, prior to December 3, 1989, that discuss the use of equalizers to obtain broadcast quality audio on telephone lines, please let me know, or send them directly to the patent office in accordance with the directions that have been posted in misc.int-property. For more information on submitting prior art to the patent office relative to AT&T's U.S. Patent No. 5,195,132, please send a SASE to the address below. John Berryhill 1601 Market St., Suite 720, Philadelphia PA 19103 ------------------------------ From: Nancy.Jean.Airey@att.com Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 09:12:05 +0500 Subject: Switched Without Permission Organization: AT&T If you could just reply to this, that would be fine. I know it's been rehashed many time. I can't ftp the archives (they're not on AT&T systems). One of the women I work with was "accidently" switched from AT&T to MCI by Illinois Bell. She didn't realize it until she got her bill. IL Bell says it's because the "new" phone number she got had belonged to someone who had MCI as their long distance carrier; it's OK that she got MCI as well. She disagrees. She had AT&T before and did not want to change it. Since she also works for AT&T she also does not want, in any way, to be perceived as "supporting" a competitor. Additionally, as an AT&T employee, she is reimbursed (somewhat) for long distance calls she makes using AT&T. So if she pays the bill she will be out hard cash to boot. Who does she need to talk to? What does she need to quote? Your help appreciated. Jean Airey att!hrcce!jean [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: She needs merely to call the service representative at Illinois Bell and tell that person to default her one plus dialing to AT&T and to do so today with no further delay. To avoid any loss to herself for the day or two the order might be pending she should dial long distance calls using 10288, and only commence making one plus calls after a check with 1-700-555-4141 indicates that AT&T is indeed now her carrier. She should also call the AT&T customer service people at 800-222-0300 and let them know as well. Generally what they will do is send a fax to Illinois Bell to confirm the order and insure that the change is made. If any calls were accidentally made via MCI during the period that MCI had control of her line she *is legally obligated to pay* but Illinois Bell might be willing to make an adjustment, perhaps by allowing her to pay what she normally would pay with any AT&T employee benefit offsets taken into consideration. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mmathews@hadron.wellfleet.com (Mat Mathews) Subject: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence Date: 26 Jul 1994 13:24:35 GMT Organization: Wellfleet Communications, Inc. I just recently ordered a second line at my apartment for computer use. Since my company provides an 800 number for the dial-in line, I decided to order a measured-service line. NYNEX tells me, however, that it IS NOT POSSIBLE to have measured and unlimited service at the same residence. Why is this? The sales rep said something about the impossibility of wiring such a setup. It seems to me that every network interface should be separately configurable. I know that they would never see a dime on the measured line if there is an unlimited line there too, but surely such a configuration is not impossible. Anybody know? Mathew J. Mathews Phone: 508-436-8065 Switch Development Fax: 508-670-8760 2 Federal St, Billerica, MA 01821 Email: mmathews@wellfleet.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It isn't the 'impossibility of wiring such a setup' ... it is the fact that nearly everyone (in the past) who had such an arrangement took advantage of the unmeasured line to make outgoing calls and used the measured line for incoming calls, thus getting the flexibility of two phone lines for the cost of one and a half lines, so to speak. Normally two unmeasured lines are a lot more expensive than two measured lines. In fairness to telco, they require that you either get measured service or unmeasured service. You of course pay less per month for *basic service* for the one but more on each call; the other charges much more for *basic service* while giving each call away for 'free'. You the customer decide when ordering either type of service if your volume of calls and calling patterns are such that the one works better than the other in your application. Some customers even have the gall to try and order two lines -- one of each -- with incoming calls to the listed, measured line and hunt on busy to the unlisted, unmeasured line. Uh huh ... nice if you can do it, but telco is in the business to make money. About the only time you can get telco to install one of each on the same premises is if there are two or more distinct persons sharing the premises, and each claims that he is in exclusive control of and is the exclusive user of his particular service; for example a phone in my bedroom that only I use and one in your bedroom that only you use. Even then telcos eyebrows raise, but let the phones be in common use in common areas of the premises, and you won't get that arrangement. The same thing applies with business versus residential service on the same premises. Usually business service is more expensive where monthly service and outgoing calls are concerned. People have tried to have residence service installed where business service was already in existence and telco has refused to do it. They also, rightfully in my opinion, refuse to install residence service at a street address which has histor- ically been of record as a place where business is conducted, for example in a downtown storefront, or an office building. People want to get the advantage of a business listing for their business while paying lower rates for residence service, both monthly charges and per call charges. On the other hand if you have residence service in your home and ask telco to install business service *in addition to* residence service, they will do that, *in your home*, and trust you to make your outgoing calls on the appropriate line, although most people will abuse it. PAT] Then there are the folks with semi-public payphones on their business premises. Those are the non-commissionable type that telco will install for anyone if desired, with the customer paying a monthly fee for the service and each call being paid for with coins deposited in the box. On those, the subscriber can have an 'answer-only extension' installed if desired, which is a phone without a dial or touchtone pad, purely for answering purposes if the semi-public coin phone gets an incoming call. Telco refuses to do it, and the sophisticated subscriber then says, 'well, I want an answer-only extension for the payphone and I want you to terminate it on my existing multi-line phone on an idle pair ...'. Now telco is stuck because your existing multi-line phone has touchtone or dial on it of course. If a rotary dial, they just won't do it; if a touchtone they *will* but in the process they reverse the polarity on that particular pair to disable your ability to dial out on that line regardless of having a touch tone pad on the phone or not. There are all kinds of tricks to squeeze a little extra out of telco without paying for it, or to get something which is against the tariff; telco knows all the tricks, but unfortunatly so do all the subscribers. To get back to your original question, no they won't install metered service at your premises then turn around and give you a way to bypass the meter. Makes sense to me. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #335 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa19048; 27 Jul 94 15:39 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06836; Wed, 27 Jul 94 11:23:08 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06827; Wed, 27 Jul 94 11:23:06 CDT Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 11:23:06 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407271623.AA06827@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #336 TELECOM Digest Wed, 27 Jul 94 11:23:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 336 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? (Jim Derdzinski) Living in a Telegraph Company Head Office (Nigel Allen) Longest Time on Hold? (Arthur Shapiro) Patent Lawsuit War Breaking Out Over Fax Technology (Gregory Aharonian) Canadian Long-distance Carrier Codes (T.C. Chao) ATM/T1 DEmultiplexors (Curt Schwaderer) Help Needed With Ringing Frequencies (Steven Higa) UC Berkeley Short Course: SONET/ATM and Gigabit/sec Networks (H. Stern) UC Berkeley Short Course: Networks for Digital Wireless Access (H. Stern) Calling Card Fraud (Tony Pelliccio) BBS/Interest Group Set-up (Jeff Hersh) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (bkron@netcom.com) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Mark E. Daniel) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Rob Boudrie) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Ry Jones) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Jul 94 21:27:29 EDT From: Jim Derdzinski <73114.3146@compuserve.com> Subject: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? Recently, I have noticed some of the strangest behavior from my Caller-ID-With-Name service that I subscribe to from Ameritech here in Chicago. I get my service from the Humboldt (312-278) CO here in the City. When I had my telephone lines installed upon moving here seven months ago, I and my friends who also subscribe to the service noticed that my name didn't show up on their displays. When I would call them, all they would get is my number and "----------------" for a name. I noticed that this has been happening on a lot of calls I receive as well. Note that this name and number service is available in the areas these calls originate from. The number always shows up flawlessly, but no name. I might add that this seems to be happening on calls originating from recently installed or relocated numbers. This past weekend, one of the people I called mentioned to me that my name was now finally showing on their display. I tried it from both of my lines with a neighbor who has it, and it was working on Saturday. Starting on Sunday, however, the name went back to a "----------------" like before, but then it started showing sporadically. Sometimes it works on one line and not the other and sometimes the other way around or not at all. Yes, I was obsessed by this enough to experiment with it repeatedly. It is really handy to have friends and neighbors who share my interest in telephone stuff around here. :) So, anybody know what the deal is here? Why did it take six months after I ordered telephone service here for my name to show? Comments? Ideas? How does the name system work anyway? Any Ameritech people out there? I'm about ready to cancel this service since it only seems to work right half the time. P.S. What is that "0R" that follows the name that I have seen periodically? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sounds to me like someone in the business office did not do their paperwork correctly when you had your service turned on. Copies of the order are *supposed* to go to various departments for inclusion in their systems. The '0R' appears to be a programming error. Someone incorrectly closed their parenthesis or quote mark in some print statement. The '0R' is supposed to be an op code to accomplish something else. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 20:50:29 -0400 From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Living in a Telegraph Company Head Office Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca At the corner of St. Francois Xavier and de l'Hopital streets in old Montreal, there stands what used to be the head office of Canadian Pacific Telegraphs. Old Montreal used to be the financial heart of Canada, but the financial centre of Montreal has moved north and west from its old location on St. James Street, and Toronto's Bay Street is now the real financial centre of Canada. But the fascinating thing about the former CP Telegraphs building is how what I assume is a a late nineteenth-century building has been recycled: the ground floor, where decades ago people would have filed their telegrams, became a restaurant (although the restaurant has since gone out of business), and the upper stories became apartments. When I first saw the building, I was fascinated by the idea of living in a former telegraph company head office. One of my sisters quite wisely observed, though, that there didn't seem to be any supermarket nearby. The building is only a few blocks away from 360 St. Jacques Street, where Canadian Pacific Telecommunications had its Montreal telegraph office for many years, and within walking distance of 740 Notre-Dame Street West, where Unitel Communications has its Montreal offices, including the last remaining telegraph office in Canada. Nigel Allen ae446@freenet.carleton.ca [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just be certain that telco does not still have easement rights to come in when they please to work on things. You may recall the story here in the Digest a few years ago about the woman who purchased a house to live in from a man who had formerly run a telephone answering service in what later became her bedroom. One closet was full of telco wiring for everywhere on the block. Telco refused to remove it unless she paid them about $2000 to relocate everything. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ARTHUR%MPA15C@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 26 JUL 94 10:51 Subject: Longest Time on Hold? Pat, the tribulations of being stuck on hold came up on our internal corporate E Mail network, and I submitted the following as part of the thread. It was suggested to me that this might be a weird enough story to be of interest to TELECOM Digest readers, perhaps sparking a round of one-upsmanship. My record for being on hold involved the Crocker National Bank in California, now part of Wells-Fargo. I had need to talk to a human regarding my account, and I called them about 4:30 on a Friday, a day in which the phone was alleged to be manned until 5 pm. I got the usual "all agents are busy ... please hold" message. After 5 pm rolled around, and nobody had answered (with Muzak droning on to let one know there was still some hope) I decided to wait 'em out. Friday passed. Saturday passed. Sunday came. Muzak still droning on, nobody answering. Finally, Sunday evening, I needed to use the phone so I hung up. Wonder if they would have picked it up bright and early Monday morning. At least the 800 call cost them a bundle. Arthur L. Shapiro Arthur@mpa15c.mv-oc.unisys.com Software Engineering Unisys Corporation Speaking as a civilian, rather than for Mission Viejo, CA Unisys, unless this box is checked: [ ] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A company in Chicago I know has a Rolm system with a provision to 'do not disturb' an idle agent position. The trouble is, they are supposed to leave at least one such position open at all times, but the minimum wage clerks there are all too ignorant to remember to do that. No one ever told the clerks that their phones go to such a recording; no one ever told them that in the event there is only one clerk on duty and she wants to spend half an hour on a personal phone call she has to leave a *second* line open (not on DND status) in order to be warned if someone is waiting. All I know about time spent on hold is that the utility companies here and the cable television company are pretty bad. About three weeks ago at 3:30 in the morning I woke up; my house was totally dark, all the clocks were dark, etc. Flipping switches got me no electricity. I called the electric company service number, and at 3:30 in the morning mind you, got this response: "Edison ... all representatives are busy. For normal business matters, please call between ?? am and ?? pm Monday through Friday. To report a service outage, please remain on the line. We are extremely busy at the present time. Calls are answered in the order received. Estimated time on hold will be (here the recording paused, as the computer figured out who all was waiting, then a dismembered voice cut in) 'greater than ten minutes'. Apparently between one and ten minutes they tell you in their estimation how many minutes it will be. Above that, they just say it will be 'greater than ten minutes'. After a couple minutes of music, the recording came back to say that 'Edison is experiencing service outages in several communities at the present time. You may hold for a representative or be assured that we are aware of your problems ... ' More music, and fifteen minutes later I got a live answer. Apparently a transformer on a pole about a block away had been visited by a squirrel. Having nothing else to do and not being sleepy and walked down to the Amoco two blocks away to get some cigarettes and a sandwich. They still had their electricity on there. On the way home I saw the Edison crew at the corner with one of those trucks with a basket to ride in which goes up in the air. Spotlight pointed at the transformer and some guy in the basket up there. He says 'look out below' and five seconds later the carcass of one dead squirrel lands on the ground. He resets the breaker, the lights come on. One guy on the ground opens a box in the back of the truck *full of dead squirrels*, takes a shovel to collect the latest one and adds it to the collection, then closes the box. Seeing me looking at it, he remarks, "Don't say it buddy! I already heard it five times this morning ... " Intriqued, I ask him what I am not supposed to say. Its a comment about how its a lousy job that does not pay very well but you get all you want for breakfast every day. The radio in the truck calls their attention and the dispatcher gives them another address where a curious squirrel seeking a better home for himself and his family has meet an unwanted death by electrocution. When the crew finishes its rounds that morning, the squirrels will find their final resting place at the City of Chicago pathological incinerator on Weed Street in an industrial/warehouse area on the north side. PAT] ------------------------------ From: srctran@world.std.com (Gregory Aharonian) Subject: Patent Lawsuit War Breaking Out Over Fax Technology Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 00:19:41 GMT It seems there is a war breaking out over fax-networking technology and most likely we will see another reexamination at the Patent Office. Last March, Brooktree Technology (Needham, MA) was awarded a patent that allows incoming faxes to be directed to multiple electronic mailboxes that have their own telephone numbers -- Direct Inward Dialing technology. For sites with large numbers of people, such technology can be quite useful. Two weeks after receiving the patent, Brooktree sued Gammalink (Sunnyvale, CA), claiming infringement of the patent. Recently, Gammalink was bought out by Dialogic Corporation, providing Gammalink with the funding to countersue Brooktree. Additionally, Gammalink has discovered what it feels is sufficient prior art to have Brooktree's patent declared invalid. According to Jerry Brodsky, president of the American Facsimile Association (Philadelphia, PA), "The Patent Office has been remiss in doing its job" because it apparently did not find prior art evidence of the technology. Gammalink argues that Brooktree is trying to hurt competition by requiring unreasonable license fees. Brooktree counters that the license fees it will require will not disrupt the market. Stay tuned. Given the large number of office automation related networking patents, hardware and software, that have been issued over the years, Gammalin probably has a good chance to have Brooktree's patent overturned. Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service (for subscription info, send 'help' to patents@world.std.com) (for prior art search services info, send 'prior' to patents@world.std.com) ------------------------------ From: tcchao@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (T.C. Chao) Subject: Canadian Long-Distance Carrier Codes Organization: University of Waterloo Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 17:51:27 GMT Hi, Does anyone has a list for all Canadian long-distance carrier codes? I have the following: ACC 10234 Bell 10323 Sprint 10348 STN 10773 Unitel 10869 Thanks, T.C.Chao tcchao@descartes.uwaterloo.ca ------------------------------ From: mcrware!curts@uunet.uu.net (Curt Schwaderer) Subject: ATM/T1 DEmultiplexors Organization: Microware Systems Corp., Des Moines, Iowa Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 20:38:18 GMT I'm looking for hardware that would be configurable to allow various ATM virtual connections to be routed to various T1 lines. Does such a thing exist? Curt Schwaderer, WAN engineer, Microware Systems Corp, (515)224-1929 x388 Des Moines, Iowa 50325-7077 | curts@microware.com | uunet!mcrware!curts ------------------------------ From: steven_h2@verifone.com (STEVEN HIGA/HNL DQ) Subject: Help Needed With Ringing Frequencies Date: 26 Jul 94 18:15:24 -1000 Organization: VeriFone Inc., Honolulu HI I'm trying to design a ring detect circuit but I'm having problems determining what kinds of rings I need to detect. Cadence is not a problem because that's software controlled. The real problem is the Frequency and Voltage. FCC part 68 specifies two types of ringers...'A' and 'B'. The 'A' ringer must detect between 17 and 33Hz. While the 'B' ringer must detect rings from 17 to 68Hz. The real question is ... do I really have to detect rings all the way upto 68Hz. Are there any CO's or PBX's that put out 20Hz rings anymore? ------------------------------ From: southbay@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: UC Berkeley Short Courses on SONET/ATM and Gigabit/sec Networks Date: 26 Jul 1994 23:03:38 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces 2 Short Courses on Broadband Communications SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems, Architectures and Designs (October 19-21, 1994) It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM (Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique. This course is an in-depth examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues for development of future high-speed networks. Topics include: Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn Polytechnic University. Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM switches, high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow control in ATM networks. GIGABIT/SEC DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS: Internetworking, Signaling and Network Management (October 17-18, 1994) This short course aims to provide a general understanding of the key issues needed to design and implement gigabit local and wide area networks. The topics are designed to compliment those covered in the SONET/ATM-Based Broadband Networks course (above). Topics include: technology drivers, data protocols, signaling, network management, internetworking and applications. Specific issues addressed include TCP/IP on ATM networks, design of high performance network interfaces, internetworking ATM networks with other network types, and techniques for transporting video over gigabit networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: William E. Stephens, Ph.D., Director, High-Speed Switching and Storage Technology Group, Applied Research, Bellcore. Dr. Stephens has over 40 publications and one patent in the field of optical communications. He has served on several technical program committees, including IEEE GLOBECOM and the IEEE Electronic Components Technology Conference, and has served as Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor bios, etc.) contact: Harvey Stern U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay 800 El Camino Real Ste. 150 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel: (415) 323-8141 Fax: (415) 323-1438 ------------------------------ From: southbay@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: UC Berkeley Short Course: Networks for Digital Wireless Access Date: 26 Jul 1994 22:13:10 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces A Short Course on NETWORKS FOR DIGITAL WIRELESS ACCESS: Cellular, Voice, Data, Packet, and Personal Communication Systems (October 3-5, 1994) This comprehensive course is focused on the principles, technologies, system architectures, standards, and market forces driving wireless access. At the core of this course are the cellular/microcellular/ frequency reuse concepts needed to enable adequate wireless access capacity for Personal Communication Services (PCS). Presented are both the physical-level issues associated with wireless access and the network-level issues arising from the inherent mobility of the subscriber. Standards are fully treated including GSM (TDMA), IS-54 (North American TDMA), IS-95 (CDMA), CT2, DCT 900/CT3, IEEE 802.11, DCS 1800, and Iridium. Emerging concepts for wireless ATM are also developed. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor bios, etc.) contact: Harvey Stern U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay 800 El Camino Real Ste. 150 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel: (415) 323-8141 Fax: (415) 323-1438 ------------------------------ From: Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: Calling Card Fraud Date: 26 Jul 1994 14:13:45 GMT Organization: Brown University ADIR There was an interesting article in clari.nb.telecom about calling card fraud. Supposedly AT&T and other companies will be increasing rates from 17-25% on international calls made using a calling card, to cover fraud costs. It also mentions that several things are being done to discourage this type of fraud but what occured to me is why not incorporate a simple technology ... a card reader. And don't put anything on the users card EXCEPT their name. Granted there may be some phones that don't have these readers and the user would have to know their number. So give them a slip of paper with their card that has their actual number on it, tell them to memorize it or store it in a SAFE place and use it only when other possibilities have been exhausted. Then if someone is caught using a card number that they obtained through fraudulent means ... shoot them. They were probably drug dealers anyhow. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu, Tel. (401) 863-1880 Fax. (401) 863-2269 ------------------------------ From: Hersh Jeff Subject: BBS/Interest Group Set-up Date: Tue, 26 Jul 94 16:35:00 edt I am interested in setting up a BBS/interest group-type of system for one of my clients. Most of the accessing sites will (or will acquire) Internet access. They also are all connected to a private, world-wide voice network. Access will be required from sites all over the world. I would like to have some type of anonymous file transfer capability (such as anonymous FTP), since there will be documents of significant size. If anyone could send suggestions on how to do this configuration, reviews of software BBS/interest group packages, and any other ideas, please e-mail me at hershj@tfalls.bah.com. Thank you in advance, Jeff Hersh Booz, Allen & Hamilton 151 Industrial Way East Eatontown, NJ 07724 ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (Kronos) Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 08:19:07 GMT daveheld@delphi.com writes: > Joe Kukulka writes: >> A buddy of mine called a supposedly free sex line. After an initial >> preamble, he was told to enter a code ... > I'm confused. I don't call sex lines, but I frequently dial 800 > numbers for other purposes. Under what circumstances are the 800 > service providers permitted to charge me for the calls? TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > Telco does not charge you for the carriage, or the connection > itself. The recipient of the call charges you for taking the time to > talk to you and say whatever it is s/he says. Note that when the bill > comes, it is a separate entity from some outfit posing as a long > distance phone company; it is not from your telco or the 800 carrier > as such. As Pat says, the 800 call is free. Your charge is from a third-party billing company. The fact that you have to 'enter a code' (sometimes the last four digits of the number you're calling from) makes this legal, at least for the time being, because it satisfies the FTC's requirement that there be a 'prior agreement' before any charges can be made. For now, just entering digits you are instructed to in the same announcement where the charging scheme is explained is considered tacit agreement. However, there have been so many complaints to the FTC and FCC that these rules are about to change. Most likely, a written agreement will be required. In other words, they'll all have either 011- international access or credit cards. Believe me, the IEC's want these to go away! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jul 94 21:58:24 EDT From: mark@legend.akron.oh.us (Mark E Daniel) Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The thing which makes it legal is the > recipient of the call is *not* charging for the carriage to get there. > He is charging for the information he provides while he is talking > to you. Understand now? Sort of like saying ISDN is anywhere but > not everywhere. Gotta luv that telco-speak at times, don't you? This goes back to the old argument of putting a 1 in front of all toll calls. Quite many people were upset when Ameritech started "Local +" charges on some numbers that used to be hefty tolls. You just dial the number as normal. But in the case of 800 numbers that can charge me for services rendered, I say get them a 900 number and be done with it since I believe that 900 charges are set up with the LD Carrier and the service provider and they (the provider) can basically charge what they want. At least 900 numbers give a clue to the user that they will be charged for the call. :) You might say that using 800 rebilling is false advertising, in a way... :) Mark E Daniel Inet: mark@legend.akron.oh.us ------------------------------ From: rboudrie@chpc.org (Rob Boudrie) Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Date: 26 Jul 1994 10:18:48 -0400 Organization: Center for High Performance Computing of WPI > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See my note above. The service providers > are entitled to be compensated for their *information* or titillation > or whatever it is they cause to happen. Telco does not charge you for And just where does this "entitlement" end? Taken to an absurdity, the 800 number could say "enter 1 if you wish to pay $1000 per minute for this call" -- would that "entitle" the service provider to collect that sum from the subscriber, even if the caller did not have permission to use the phone? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah but you see the 'gotcha' in this is that by definition the person using the phone is entitled to use it. Remember the rule: the subscriber is responsible for the uses made of his instruments. Telco assumes in good faith that when a phone is taken off hook the owner or person in control of the line on your end is either making the call or has authorized it. What else can they assume? Telco does allow for modern day realities by allowing blocking of 900/976 to prevent such abuses, but the information providers have developed work- arounds as well. The only workable solution is to simply not allow the information providers to bill via telco. Period. That is unlikely to happen since the telcos are making money at this also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rjones@halcyon.halcyon.com (Ry Jones) Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Date: 26 Jul 1994 00:38:42 GMT Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. I have also seen (last night on Fox, actually) a porno number written in such a way that someone not up on telephony would be easily fooled into thinking it was free or something. It was written like this: "Dial 106 561 999 122 3288, extension 333" instead of "To use our way expensive AOS service, call 10656+1-999-122-3288, ext 333" Obviously this isn't the real AOS number, it's fake, so if 656 is your company or something, I apologize. Also, on page 46 of the {Hustler} 20th anniversary edition, they list two numbers (in these formats): 011 852 1721 1742 followed by this: "WARNING if you cant get through dial 01144 272 234 093!" Then, halfway down the page, the game is up. "DIAL A SEX DATE! We advertise for (women) who want to (have sex). We set up the sex date within one hour and we make our money on the 01144 kickback". Huh. they admit it's a kickback! And then: (all over the page) "REMEMBER ONLY $.75 PER MINUTE!" (at the bottom in small type) "All numbers are international. The minimum call charge being $.75 per minute." Then they advertise how you can get into the chat line business: "IF YOU ARE IN THE INTERNATIONAL PORNO BUSINESS, OR GLAMOR (SIC) BUSINESS, INCLUDING CHAT LINES THEN WE CAN DO BUSINESS, SO FAX US ON 01144--272-211237 (NEW BUSINESS DEPARTMENT)" So even if you call to use thier scam AOS, they nail you! rjones@halcyon.com OG+GOT; [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is one company in Florida I am aware of which will put you in business right away as a 900 Information Provider for $100 per month. They set you up with a 900 number, allow you to access the database of men and women who have left messages on the system and leave it up to you to advertise it however you want. They handle all the billing details and you get $2 per minute for each call received on 'your' 900 line, less the $100 per month fee. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #336 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa06566; 29 Jul 94 15:41 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15616; Fri, 29 Jul 94 12:07:06 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15605; Fri, 29 Jul 94 12:07:03 CDT Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 12:07:03 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407291707.AA15605@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #337 TELECOM Digest Fri, 29 Jul 94 12:07:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 337 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Summary: Bridges vs. Routers (Scott D. Thomas) Tie Line Alternatives/Advice Sought (Howard Ball) GSM Encryption References Wanted (Niel Viljoen) Book Review: "Networking Applications of UNIX Systen V" (Rob Slade) Rotary Phones (Wall Street Journal via Daryl Gibson) AC 813 Split Press Release (Paul A. Lee) Telephony Over the Internet (Willard Dawson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 15:48:59 GMT From: sthomas@mitchell.hac.com (Scott D. Thomas) Subject: Summary: Bridges vs. Routers Organization: Hughes Aircraft Company Hello everyone, I want to thank everybody who responded to my post about the performance differences of bridges vs. routers. Special thanks to Mike Drollman of Networks Northwest and Greg Pflaum of Software, Tool & Die. To summarize: The performance problem with bridges is the unnecessary broadcast traffic that is forwarded across the WAN. Bridges CAN do filtering, some support filtering on specific protocols. However, routers enable the network engineer greater flexibility for filtering, and other technics, such as "spoofing", as suggested by David Devereaux-Weber. Thanks again to all those who responded. ===================================================== SUMMARY OF RESPONSES TO BRIDGES.VS.ROUTERS POST From: Jim Burks Organization: The Promus Companies, Inc. If you're using the link for LAN-type stuff, you'll find that performace suffers, while total utilization on the satellite link is low. The problem is that LAN activity (file sharing, MS Mail, etc.) sends a request for a relatively small packet to be returned (~1kb), and waits for a response before sending the next request. This is the opposite of a streaming protocol (such as TCP/IP FTP) that streams data without waiting for an acknoledgement until a specified window is reached. Depending on the configuration of the bridges, and software and network use of them, they can be more efficient on a point-to-point link, but may pass more broadcast packets between the networks than necessary. From: sdaggett@netrix.com (Steve Daggett) Organization: NETRIX Corporation Actually this is not a "simple network". Depending on the protocol running on the LAN & WAN segments, the type of data, and the total usage of each segment of the network things could get pretty strange. > ( ---- ) > host bridge---sat.---/\ /\ ---sat.---bridge bridge--DSU > | | modem modem | | | > ------------ ---------- | > *Segment #1* *Segment #2* | > T1 | > | > host bridge---DSU > | | > ------------- > *Segment #3* > You didn't include the speeds for each of the WAN segments but I'll assume that the big bottleneck is the satellite hop. You will pick up about 750 ms delay for every hop over a satellite shot. The delay does nasty things to protocols like X.25 & TCP that are expecting a acknowledgment from the far end that the data was transmitted without error. You may also have exceeded the capacity of your WAN segments to carry data. When you exceed the capacity of the WAN your data will begin to buffer up and increase the delay in the network. You can also experience a condition called "thrash" were your data buffering up causes retransmit timers to pop. The datagrams caught up in the congestions are retransmitted causing even more congestion in the network. There are techniques for setting timers, frame sizes, and window size to combat the delay and increase throughput on the WAN. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >> EDITOR's COMMENT: >> The following paragraph is incorrect, bridges do filtering, so not all >> datagrams are passed. When the entire network was being bridged all datagrams on all segments were transmitted to every segment in the network. Therefore heavy usage between workstations on segment #3 could cause network congestion between segment #1 and #2. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you reconfigured to a routed network only those datagrams that are addressed to a workstation on another segment are actually passed on the WAN segments. Your traffic is now probably within the capacity of the WAN segments to carry data and therefore you don't experience the buffer or network delay. > I was under the impression that bridges were more efficient because > of lower overhead, less complexity, etc. and therefore would offer > the better performance. In some cases bridges offer better performance. Sometimes they are murder on the network. If segment #1 was an engineering office running high power workstations and passing gigabytes of data between stations then a bridged configuration won't work. If the entire network is an IPX network with light traffic between users and NOVELL mail servers then a bridged configuration might work. As with most things in communications today the official answer is " well, maybe yes ... maybe no ...". > Does anyone have thoughts on the matter? My personal opinion is that bridging in a WAN environment is probally a bad idea. It's better to go with the routed configuration. I be out of the office next week so I won't be able to respond to any follow up posts. I hope this helps to clear things up a little. From: leo@elmail.co.uk (E.J.Leoni-Smith) Organization: ElectricMail News Service In general bridge for performance and route for security. Routing enforces pre-deetermined segmntation. Bridging tends to adapt to the traffic. Routing also restricts broadcasts, so it tends to keep inter segment traffic to a minimum Bridging is easier to make work at very high throughputs: there is less computation per packet I think. From: cwg@urbino.mcc.com (Chris Garrigues) Organization: Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) E.J.Leoni-Smith wrote in article : EJLS> EJLS>In general bridge for performance and route for security. EJLS> EJLS>routing enforces pre-deetermined segmntation. Bridging tends to EJLS>adapt to the traffic. EJLS> EJLS> EJLS>Routing also restricts broadcasts, so it tends to keep inter segment EJLS>traffic to a minimum If the network is sufficiently large, on a well engineered network you can get better performance out of a routed network than a bridged network because there's better control over what packets are sent where. (Give your doom players their own segment.) The problem is that a lot of sites don't have the talent available to engineer the network well, or the physical geography limits the ability to properly segment traffic. From: David Devereaux-Weber Organization: TELECOM Digest It depends on what protocols the network is carying. Routers can improve performance on several protocols by reducing unnecessary broadcast traffic -- for example, in an IPX network, if there are many servers, the servers periodically advertise their resources to the network in broadcast messages. Routers can suppress redundant messages like that and then regenerate them on the other end of a link. Furthermore, plain old IPX (without packet burst) sends a packet at a time and then waits for an acknowledgement that the packet arrived at the far end. A satellite circuit has a significant delay, which severely limits throughput. Routers can "spoof" the IPX protocol by sending an acknowledgement (an electronic white lie) from the local router before the packet is recieved by the far end. The far router blocks the acknowledgement, because it knows the near router has already simulated it. Because of the magnitude of the delay of the satellite link, several packets can be in the pipeline during the time required to send just one and wait for the ack. If your network is IP, much of the broadcast traffic (like ARP packets) can be kept off narrow bandwidth long delay circuits like the satellite link. So, in a purely local, wide bandwidth network, a bridge has less latency than a router, but in a narrow, long delay network like one with a satellite link, a router can reduce broadcast traffic and improve performance on many protocols. From: lars@Eskimo.CPH.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Organization: Rockwell Network Systems, Copenhagen DENMARK > I have a puzzling (at least to me) situation. We have a simple > network with a satellite link included. Orginally, we bridged three > ethernet segments ... ... ... ... ... ... and got poorer that expected > results. We decided to replace the bridges with routers, one per > segment. The throughput was tripled! > I was under the impression that bridges were more efficient because of > lower overhead, less complexity, etc. and therefore would offer the > better performance. The most likely reason for your poor performance, is that one of the sites in question is a LARGE network (maybe several hundred stations or more ?) and the amount of broadcast/multicast traffic floating around in the network is eating up all the bandwidth of the DS-1 link. When connecting multiple LANs into one extended network, the connection can be implemented with different logical models. Bridging is the lowest level model; it takes to similar networks (such as two Ethernets or two Token-Rings) and joins them intpo one logical network. A bridge device on each end of the link: - goes into promiscuous mode (snooping on all traffic) - keeps track of which devices (identified by their Ethernet addresses) are on each end, and - forwards traffic for any device not know to be on the same LAN as the sender, as well as all broadcast/multicast messages across the link. Because this is done at Media Attachment Control (MAC) level, it is protocol independent, and requires very little setup. The downside is that all broadcast/multicast traffic is forwarded, as well as traffic from protocols that are entirely unsuited for wide area traffic. The larger the combined network, the larger the amount of background "slosh" og broadcasts, even as a percentage of total traffic. (For instance, every ARP request will be sent everywhere, theough almost all of them are for stations local to the sender.) When you have a couple hundred workstations, you are likely to have about 32 Kbps worth of "slosh". (Meaning you need a T1 to get any WORK done.) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >> EDITOR's COMMENT >> Some bridges can and do filter on protocol type, and can filter all >> broadcasts. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To overcome the deficiencies of bridging, you need a router. Routers must understand each protocol and must be configured appropriately for each protocol. This means that somewhere in the organization there has to be a person who understands each protocol that is being routed, and who can set up an addressing plan and troubleshoot when problems arise. For a good textbook in this area, I recommend Radia Perlman's book "Interconnections: Bridges and Routers". Addison-Wesley, 1992. ISBN 0-201-56332-0. I think I paid $53.26 (incl CA tax). ------------ Scott Thomas Hughes Information Technology Corp. e-mail: sthomas@mitchell.hitc.com phone: (703) 759-1382 fax: (703) 438-8430 ------------------------------ Subject: Tie Line Alternatives/Advice Sought From: howard.ball@execnet.com (Howard Ball) Date: Thu, 28 Jul 94 22:21:00 -0500 Organization: The Executive Network Information System Does anyone know of a cost effective microwave or radio link for tie-lines: My employer (a specialty retailer) relocated my department (communications) in a building next to the building of several other departments. This is in midtown Manhattan. The buildings do not have any common passageway, having their own walls, however there is a courtyard common between them. We lease our space in these buildings which house other lessees as well. Each of our office locations has its own PBX. We guess that there are about 100 calls made between buildings. (I will research traffic as part of the process of implementing a tie; however, the decision to link was made by senior management and a cost limit given. This is not really an investment decision. While least (475 min left), (H)elp, More? nscost is still desirable, least cost would be to continue with no change.) I would like between 4 and 24 channels, depending on cost and traffic. Presently calls from one location go out to the central office just like any other Manhattan call. My manager has decided not to use tie line arrangements via NYNEX on the basis of cost. I am exploring having a cable routed along the courtyard which will mean drilling holes through the walls. Only one of our premises has windows facing this courtyard. We will need the permission of the building management to implement the external cabling. I would like to scope out other alternatives such as microwave or radio link. While 900 Mhz cordless phones would probably span the gap, this would not be a tie-line arrangement which is desired so that anyone in one building could call anyone in the other building with a 4 digit extension the same way they make internal calls now and also share our lower cost long distance service. A multichannel radio link that could be connected to telephone pairs in the same way trunks would be acceptable. Similarly if microwave located INSIDE could span the 30 foot gap and penetrate the wall and window, fine. I also had the thought of bouncing signals off buildings across the street; both locations have windows facing this major wide avenue. In these cases, the link must be reliable in all kinds of weather. We would not be able to make any arrangements with the building owners of these facing buildings for either reflectors or notification of construction, demolition, etc. Can anyone recommend equipment vendors with possible solutions? Thanks, Howard Reply via Internet to howard.ball@execnet.com ------------------------------ From: niel@marge.mikom.csir.co.za (Niel Viljoen) Subject: GSM Encryption References Wanted Date: 29 Jul 1994 19:49:07 GMT Organization: Mikomtek - CSIR 1) Could anybody point me to some references as to the algortihms (if public). 2) Are these always used? Cheers and thanks, Neil ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 13:09:22 MDT From: Book Review: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Networking Applications of UNIX Systen V" by Padovano BKNTAPUN.RVW 940504 Prentice Hall 113 Sylvan Avenue Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 or 11711 N. College Ave. Carmel, IN 46032-9903 or 201 W. 103rd Street Indianapolis, IN 46290 or 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10023 800-428-5331 or Market Cross House Cooper Street Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1EB England phyllis@prenhall.com - Phyllis Eve Bregman is postmaster 70621.2737@CompuServe.COM Alan Apt Beth Mullen-Hespe beth_hespe@prenhall.com "Networking Applications of UNIX System V", Padovano, 1993, 0-13-613555-2 padovano@remus.rutgers.edu As the title implies, this text is primarily of use to those studying the System V Release 4 variant of UNIX (descended from the AT&T family), which also covers implementations such as Solaris 2. The STREAMS model is introduced, and while TCP/IP, UUCP and NFS are covered, it is from an SVR4 perspective. Within these limits, the book is clear, well organized, and complete. Each chapter contains a well-chosen bibliography, and a challenging set of exercises. The text concentrates on functions rather than applications. This is a departure from a number of recent texts which present the concepts within a framework of a larger program, but the code presented is ample to illustrate the points being made. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKNTAPUN.RVW 940504. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 14:36:51 MST From: Daryl Gibson Subject: Rotary Phones The July 28 {Wall Street Journal} has a piece on the trials of using a rotary phone. Obviously, copyright law and all, I can't quote the whole thing, but I thought you'd find these two paragraphs interesting ... A major point of rotary's appeal is their durability. Cased in metal or bakelite, a very durable plastic, a rotary phone can stand up to a lot of torture. When he was 12 years old, Russell Carrick of Boston remembers watching his friends trying to blow up rotary phones by placing firecrackers beneath them. "It did nothing," recalls Mr. Carrick, now 25. "Those phones were built like tanks." The story also notes that AT&T *leased* about 20,000 refurbished rotaries last year, and continues to offer the phones because there is still a demand. It also features the following: Some people are simply nostalgic. "These phones lived through the Depression, World War II, Prohibition," says Mike Margolius, an Atlanta antiques dealer who specializes in restoring rotaries. "If these phones could talk, it's great what they would whisper in your ear." Daryl (801)378- 2950 (801) 489-6348 drg@du1.byu.edu 71171.2036@compuserve.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Daryl, those phones go back to the time now over a decade ago when the Bell System used to run the phone network in the USA. In those days, a lot more people too pride in their craftsmanship. Phones quite often lasted 40-50 years without breaking down. Now and then you still see one of those better quality older phones around, still in service. I think the same article in the WSJ said that about 11 percent of the people in the USA still prefer to use rotary dial service. When I have occassion to use it I find it a nuisance. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jul 1994 12:34:23 -0400 Subject: AC 813 Split Press Release From: Paul A. Lee Organization: Woolworth Corporation Since we have sites in GTE Florida territory, a recent mention in {TELECOM Digest} of an impending split of NPA 813 caught my attention. I contacted GTE Florida and they sent me the following press release: June 30, 1994 GTE Customers in Polk, Manatee and Sarasota Counties to Receive New 941 Area Code in 1995 Tampa, FL -- The 813 area code will be divided into two area codes effective May 28, 1995. GTE customers in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties who currently have an 813 area code will keep the same area code. Customers in Polk, Manatee and Sarasota counties will be assigned the new 941 area code. Sprint/United Telephone-Florida customers in the 813 area will also be assigned the new 941 area code. The new area code is necessary because the southwest coast of Florida is running out of seven-digit telephone numbers. According to GTE Florida President Peter A. Daks, the demand for telephone numbers has increased due to population growth, business expansion, and new technologies. "Customer use of cellular phones, fax machines, pagers, computer modems and other technologies has exploded," said Daks. "Without this split, we projected that we would literally run out of telephone numbers in late 1996." Between May 28, 1995 and March 3, 1996, callers are encouraged to begin using the new 941 area code. After March 3, 1996, it will be mandatory to dial the new area code or callers will receive an intercept message instructing them to redial using the 941 area code. The area code boundaries were designed to allow maximum time before the next area code split would be necessary. GTE's current forecasts indicate the 813 and 941 area codes will provide sufficient telephone numbers to accommodate growth until 2012. GTE Florida, Inc. provides high-quality voice and data communications services to customers through approximately two million access lines in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties. --------------- Paul A. Lee Voice 414 357-1409 Telecommunications Analyst FAX 414 357-1450 Woolworth Corporation CompuServe 70353,566 INTERNET ------------------------------ From: wdawson@willard.atl.ga.us (Willard Dawson) Subject: Telephony Over the Internet Organization: Willard's House Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 11:08:19 GMT A discussion currently conducted on the com-priv mailing list has mentioned that there already exists software to allow one to do two-way voice conferences (aka, a telephone call) over the Internet. Is there a convenient summary of the state of the art, hopefully including a list of available software? One of the posters on com-priv mentioned a program called IVC. My inital archie searches turned up nothing ... ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #337 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa07608; 29 Jul 94 17:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17725; Fri, 29 Jul 94 14:20:32 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17716; Fri, 29 Jul 94 14:20:30 CDT Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 14:20:30 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407291920.AA17716@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #338 TELECOM Digest Fri, 29 Jul 94 14:20:30 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 338 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence (Steve Forrette) Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence (Doug Granzow) Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence (Stan Schwartz) Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence (Mark E. Daniel) Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence (John Higdon) Having a Rotary Extension on a Pay Phone (Jonathan Welch) Re: Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations (Rich Ahrens) Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? (Ry Jones) Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? (Stephen Denny) Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? (Arnette P. Schultz) Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? (Clifton T. Sharp) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence Date: 28 Jul 1994 22:41:04 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In , mmathews@hadron.wellfleet.com (Mat Mathews) writes: > I just recently ordered a second line at my apartment for computer use. NYNEX tells me, however, that it IS NOT POSSIBLE to have measured and unlimited service at the same residence. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: About the only time you can get telco > to install one of each on the same premises is if there are two or more > distinct persons sharing the premises, and each claims that he is in > exclusive control of and is the exclusive user of his particular service; This is not true in all areas. In Washington State and in California, the tariffs are written such that both businesses and residences can have any mix of measured and unmeasured service at the same location (well, unmeasured business service does not exist in California, so the question is moot in that case). California did have a prohibition against this similar to New York's until around 1991 when they changed it for residence customers. I've had a mix of measured and unmeasured in both states, and never had a problem ordering it since it is explicitly permitted by tariff. > Then there are the folks with semi-public payphones on their > business premises. On those, the subscriber can have an 'answer-only > extension' installed if desired, which is a phone without a dial or > touchtone pad, purely for answering purposes if the semi-public coin > phone gets an incoming call. Telco refuses to do it, and the > sophisticated subscriber then says, 'well, I want an answer-only > extension for the payphone and I want you to terminate it on my > existing multi-line phone on an idle pair ...'. Now telco is stuck > because your existing multi-line phone has touchtone or dial on it of > course. If a rotary dial, they just won't do it; if a touchtone they > *will* but in the process they reverse the polarity on that particular > pair to disable your ability to dial out on that line regardless of > having a touch tone pad on the phone or not. Ah, Pat, you are showing your age here :-) Much of what you said above is no longer true, although it used to be. Back in the "no dialtone until initial rate is deposited" days of payphones, it was necessary for telco to put in payphone extensions with no dial pads or with polarity-reversed touchtone pads, but no more. Virtually all areas have the coin collection controlled by the CO -- the phone merely reports to the CO how many coins have been deposited, and the CO then decides whether or not to let the call go through. Because of this, there is no problem in connecting any sort of phone, rotary or tone, to a payphone line. If you try to dial a local or long-distance call directly, a recording comes on to tell you to "please deposit $x.xx". Of course, you can't do this from the non-coin extension, but you are perfectly able to receive calls, or place emergency, toll-free, or calling card calls from the extension. A polarity-reversed tone phone wouldn't prevent you from dialing anyway, since most (all?) touch-tone telephones manufactured in the last ten years or so don't care about the polarity and will generate tones either way. My experience with Pacific Bell is that they no longer will install extension jacks for semi-public phones. Of course, there is no technical reason to stop you from doing this yourself. They won't like it if they find out, although I don't know why since it does not allow you to place free calls. However, I used to live in a place that had one that had been installed many years ago (pre-divestiture) when a tariff was in place for this, and we were allowed to officially keep it since we were grandfathered. Another unusual arrangement we had was to have two payphones on each of two lines. When one of them was stolen, we called Pacific Bell to have it replaced. The people in Repair just would not believe that we had had two payphones on the same line (they correctly showed that we were paying for only two semi-public coin lines, and therefore concluded that we were entitled to only two coin phones). They thought we had installed them ourselves or had put a COCOT on the line, but all of the phones were indeed genuine Pacific Bell coin telephones that they had installed themselves. Since it was no longer possible to order multiple coin phones on the same line, we had not even been charged for the extra phones for several years. They finally talked to an old-timer in repair that could vaguely remember that this arrangement had at one time been allowed, so they didn't send the phone police out to get the other extra one, but they would not replace the one that had been stolen. This was all around 1989 or so. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There once was this cocky young man who knew everything there was to know about phones, around 1956 or so. His uncle operated a Walgreen Agency drugstore in Whiting, Indiana. The drugstore had a phone at the front counter, and a phone at the pharmacy in back, plus a pay phone. Seems to me the phone number was Whiting 89 or something like that; it was before automatic dialing. There was also a Genuine Bell payphone -- in a booth with a door that closed on the front for the privacy of the person making the call. The booth had a little seat inside. The payphone was something like Whiting 9285. It was a ground-start type line, and depositing a five cent coin in the right hand (of three, 5/10/25 cent) slot tripped a little lever which sent the line to ground for just the instant needed to activate it. Deposit the five cents and battery would come on the line followed a few seconds to a minute later by an operator asking 'number please'. The phone at the pharmacy counter was an interesting multi-line deal with a hold button and five buttons for lines. The pharmacy had its own private number in addition to Whiting 89 for the store itself. This phone had just a blank front with no dial of any kind since that sort of phone service was not available in Whiting yet. This smart kid, he says, "Uncle Tom, you oughta have an extension from the payphone back here so you could answer it when it rings instead of having to run to the front and answer only to find out its some teenage girl calling to see if her boyfriend is sitting at the fountain drinking a Coke." Uncle Tom thought that was a good idea, so the smart kid sets about wiring it up. From in back where all the phones terminate anyway he just runs a wire to the control box which handles the multi-line phone at the pharmacy and pops the payphone on one of the line buttons. To be clever, he takes still another of the unused line buttons (there were five to begin with and only two actual phone lines [Whiting 89 and whatever the number was for the pharmacy counter] there, so that left three buttons to play with) and adjusts the little spring-loaded ball bearings under- neath -- the ones that slide back and forth causing one button to pop up when another is pressed down -- on the last button. Now instead of staying down when pressed, it pops right back up. Take the pair associated there and send one side to ground while the other side is attached to one side of the pair serving the payphone. Now when Uncle Tom would lift the phone receiver and press the key for the line serving as the payphone extension he would hear nothing -- all payphones in those days were ground start lines -- but as soon as he pressed and released the button next to it on the phone, ground was applied to the payphone. Presently the operator would answer and take the request; no need to give her five cents. Then one day the Telephone Inspector came to the premises. A normally cheerful, very rotund fellow from years of eating well on his phone company expense account with a large, bulbous and very red nose caused no doubt by all the iced tea he consumed every day, his mission was to protect the company's interests. The phreaks of those days thought he knew too much for his own good, and his feeling toward smart-alecky children was mutual. A few minutes of investigation with him prodding the innards of the control box in back and the five-line phone told him what he needed to know. "Ummm hmmm," he muttered to himself, looking over the top of his spectacles which were perched on his nose as he prodded around the inside of the phone. The cocky kid is hiding in the storeroom in back, carefully peeking out the door watching his work get undone. Inspector warns Uncle Tom not to let this happen again or his service will get disconnected. "I am supposed to report this to the manager, but maybe there is a way to overlook it ..." Uncle Tom understands, and something passes from his hand to the Inspector's hand as they 'shake hands on it'. The Inspector lifts the phone and when the operator asks 'number please' he says 'give me the Business Office'. He chats with someone there and reports the 'problem' has been corrected. 'A couple of lines that were intermittently shorting out ...'. On his way out, the Inspector sees the cocky kid who has by now left by the back door and is innocently standing on the sidewalk in front. "Listen, you see anyone messing with the phone back there?". Nope says the kid, but not very convincingly. "Well if I catch the little bastard whose handiwork that was I'll whip his ass. And you tell him that!" The kid assures the Inspector he will watch carefully to make sure 'no one messes around with the phone again' ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: doug.granzow@cynosure.clark.net (Doug Granzow) Subject: Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 05:04:15 GMT Organization: Cynosure Online - 410-781-6271 > To get back to your original question, no they won't > install metered service at your premises then turn around and give > you a way to bypass the meter. Makes sense to me. PAT] Doesn't make sense to me. Does it somehow follow that if I add a second line to my house, that I will make more phone calls? There are three lines in the house I live in -- the two extra are for incoming calls (I run a BBS). One phone line has unlimited local calls, the other two carry a nine cent charge for each local call. (Two are in my name: one unlimited, one measured. One is in another name: measured.) Bell Atlantic has never had a problem with this arrangement. Their only problem is that since one of my lines is a foreign exchange, it's billed seperately from my other line. So, three phone bills arrive at this house every month, and three sets of phone books arrive each year. Wasteful on Bell's part, but they don't charge me more, so I don't complain. Doug Granzow dig@cynosure.clark.net ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence Date: 29 Jul 1994 09:51:27 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Mat Mathews (mmathews@hadron.wellfleet.com) wrote: > I just recently ordered a second line at my apartment for computer > use. Since my company provides an 800 number for the dial-in line, I > decided to order a measured-service line. NYNEX tells me, however, > that it IS NOT POSSIBLE to have measured and unlimited service at the > same residence. Why is this? The sales rep said something about the > impossibility of wiring such a setup. It seems to me that every > network interface should be separately configurable. I know that they > would never see a dime on the measured line if there is an unlimited > line there too, but surely such a configuration is not impossible. > Anybody know? NYNEX discontinued the policy of allowing Flat Rate and Untimed Message Rate residence services to be installed in the same house more than ten years ago. At that time, my parents had that setup exactly, but NYNEX (NY Tel at the time -- it was even Ma Bell!) allowed anyone who already had the service to continue with it. If you moved or changed your service, you lost the grandfather rights. My parents (and most of the other parents in the neighborhood) had it and it worked out nicely -- the flat rate line was the "kids" line, assuming that all our friends would be within the local calling area. The other line was what we used for extended area and all incoming calls, keeping the flat rate line free for those "free" calls. Most people went so far as to have the flat rate line non-published, so they could avoid the problem of incoming callsieing up the outgoing line. Stan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Jul 94 02:10:12 EDT From: mark@legend.akron.oh.us (Mark E Daniel) Subject: Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence I don't know why they think we're all stupid. It has absolutly nothing to do with *wiring*, except maybe the wires that make the Phone Company ramble out useless answers to questions just to get customers off their backs. It's basically that The Phone Company doesn't want you having measured service and unlimited service and making all your calls on your unlimited line, thus saving them of precious money they could be making from you. *Cough*. I *believe* the Ohio PUCO stopped Ameritech from using the same practice here. Perhaps getting your PUCO involved can provide you with similar results. mark@legend.akron.oh.us ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 00:11:45 -0700 From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Subject: Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence mmathews@hadron.wellfleet.com (Mat Mathews) writes: > I just recently ordered a second line at my apartment for computer > use. Since my company provides an 800 number for the dial-in line, I > decided to order a measured-service line. NYNEX tells me, however, > that it IS NOT POSSIBLE to have measured and unlimited service at the > same residence. Why is this? Probably because Nynex feels that this is a necessary way to extract the last farthing from you. While I snort aplenty about Pac*Bell, at least that company has absolutely no restrictions concerning mix and match on classes of service. In Pac*Bell territory, you may order ANY number of unmeasured, measured, or business service at your residence. You may, if you like, have one unmeasured line and twenty measured lines if that strikes your fancy. Furthermore, you may have them all part of a Commstar (mini-Centrex) group. In other words, you can make a local call on your unmeasured line, transfer it to your measured line, and then talk to your heart's content without incurring any local charges. Somehow Pac*Bell manages to survive with some of the lowest rates in the country AND have people "take advantage of them" by using unmeasured lines for local calls and measured lines for BBSes and other "incoming" purposes at home. It never seemed odd to me to be able to order the type of service needed without having a stack of screwy restrictions attached designed to tilt the game table toward the service provider. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > To get back to your original question, no they won't install metered > service at your premises then turn around and give you a way to bypass > the meter. Makes sense to me. PAT] But not to me. If the telco is selling unmeasured service, is it not done so expecting that the customer will make calls? Why does the presence of a measured line disqualify the customer from enjoying the service he is paying for on the unmeasured line? Does the presence of a measured line encourage an inordinate outgoing use of the unmeasured line? If a customer has a measure line and an unmeasured line, he is getting exactly what he is paying for: a more expensive line on which unlimited local calls are possible; and a less expensive line on which local calls are charged for. Reading anything else into the arrangement is removing the concept of a simple "payment for service received" arrange- ment and puts it into a "the customer is only entitled to thus and so" sort of rationing domain. I am afraid that I have never been able to comprehend the reasoning (other than greed or the desire to discourage having to provide extra service in a neighborhood) behind the rules against mixing classes of service in a residence. Pac*Bell's tariffs on this matter (or more properly, the lack of them) indicates a dose of reality rarely seen in the utility business. John Higdon | P.O. Box 7648 | +1 408 264 4115 | FAX: john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | 10288 0 700 FOR-A-MOO | +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 09:15:57 -0500 From: Jonathan_Welch Subject: Rotary Extension on Pay Phone > On those, the subscriber can have an 'answer-only extension' installed > if desired, which is a phone without a dial or touchtone pad, purely > for answering purposes if the semi-public coin phone gets an incoming > call. At the yacht club I belong to there's a NET pay phone in the clubhouse. For years there was a jack in the steward's office so they could answer the phone more easily. Due to storm damage the jack went dead and the phone man who came out must have seen the rotary phone attached to it while he was running a much better line. I've tried dialing out from this extension with no luck, but I think people have successfully placed collect calls via the operator. Does this sound right to you? Jonathan Welch VAX Systems Manager Umass/Amherst JHWELCH@ecs.umass.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We know that in the olden days of rotary dial, you could not have two or more phones on the same line *off hook at the same time when trying to dial* since the signalling depended on the rapid opening and closing of the loop causing rapid changes in the electrical status of the line. These rapid changes, or pulses, were counted to detirmine what number was desired. By having a second phone off the hook at the same time, the loop would never go open, thus the dialing would never be recognized. You can fix a rotary dial phone so that it won't cut the dial tone by making a couple of simple wiring changes inside the instrument which is probably what the repairman did when he went to the clubhouse. You can 'dial' a phone by tapping up and down rapidly on the switchhook the desired number of times however. It gets tricky making it accurate, but with some practice most people can easily tap the hook ten times in the proper rythym to simulate dialing the operator. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rma@ahrens.irvine.dg.com (Rich Ahrens) Subject: Re: Secret Life of Bank Machines: Simple Tech Explanations Sought Date: 28 Jul 1994 19:39:56 GMT Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC In article , md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan) writes: > Again, different systems vary. I've never seen a system that uses the > method you describe, but then again, I only worked at regional banks. > Many ATM's are intelligent and do a significant amount of processing > on their own; all they need to do is send a small message back to the > central computer to effect an account transaction and get a one-byte > reply code back. For instance, a typical data stream to the central > computer will consist of a transaction code, account number, and > amount. So, you may be talking 20 bytes total going to the central > computer, and then a one-byte reply code being returned (00=okay, > 01=insufficient funds, 02= account closed, etc.) Which reminds me of a tale I heard in a class I took from Tymnet a while back. The instructor was talking about a network of ATMs in the U.K., connected to the central facility via a packet network, presumably Tymnet. They would establish a virtual circuit each for each session. The network protocol allowed for a certain amount of user data in the packet which requested the VC, and more in the packets accepting or denying it. Apparently the bank recognized an opportunity: all the necessary data per transaction would fit into the small user data field of the request packet, and the central facility could return the results the same way, denying each VC request. No circuits set up, no network charges applied, and everyone was happy for something like nine months until the network folks finally caught on and managed to get severe penalties applied somehow. Rich Ahrens, Data General Corporation rma@irvine.dg.com 2603 Main St, Ste 400, Irvine,CA 92714-6232 rich_ahrens@dgc.ceo.dg.com Voice: 714-724-3934 FAX: 714-724-3989 ------------------------------ From: rjones@halcyon.com (Ry Jones) Subject: Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? Date: 28 Jul 1994 00:31:59 GMT Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. Jim Derdzinski (73114.3146@compuserve.com) wrote: > my name didn't show up on their displays. When I would call them, all > they would get is my number and "----------------" for a name. I > noticed that this has been happening on a lot of calls I receive as > well. Note that this name and number service is available in the > areas these calls originate from. The number always shows up > flawlessly, but no name. I noticed this when I first got mine installed, but it went away after the first week or two (it has always worked correctly since then). When my pals move around (and get a new phone), they come down the line as "PRIVATE NAME / 206 xxx xxxx" or "--- -E- ---/206 xxx xxxx" for a little bit, then the programming is completed and everything works. I am in USWEST territory, served by a 1AESS. > I might add that this seems to be happening on calls originating from > recently installed or relocated numbers. Righto. > P.S. What is that "0R" that follows the name that I have seen periodically? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sounds to me like someone in the business > office did not do their paperwork correctly when you had your service > turned on. Copies of the order are *supposed* to go to various departments > for inclusion in their systems. The '0R' appears to be a programming error. > Someone incorrectly closed their parenthesis or quote mark in some print > statement. The '0R' is supposed to be an op code to accomplish something > else. PAT] Pat, I see this topic flare up on alt.2600, alt.dcom.telecom, and comp.dcom.telecom.tech from time to time. If this is a programming error (which I'm incline to think it must be), then it's endemic to CLID programmers. We should find out where this programming error is introduced. Perhaps it's a certain manufacturer's equipment ... ? Surely we have enough people with current ONA disks for their area that we can find out what equipment generates this spurious character. Then again, why should WE debug the phone system? :) rjones@halcyon.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The '0R' is either an op code or an operand (the argument for an op code) of some sort. It probably says what to do at the conclusion of the print statement which includes the name and phone number. I don't think it is customer premises equipment causing the problem. PAT] ------------------------------ From: sdenny@spd.dsccc.com (Stephen Denny) Subject: Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? Date: 28 Jul 1994 03:33:09 GMT Organization: DSC Communications Corporation, Plano, Texas USA Well, I have a theory. While the phone number is normally automatically carried with the call, the name involves a database lookup. Any sort of disruption to or in this database would not allow the name to get through, but the number would always be available. Perhaps they take down the name server for updates or maintenance or have failures with backups also failing, or just overloads of the system? I have no idea how long it would take to get the name "installed" into the database, but this being a "relatively" new service, it wouldn't surprise me if all the kinks weren't yet worked out of the system. Regards, Stephen Denny sdenny@spd.dsccc.com DSC Communications Corp. Plano, TX ------------------------------ From: Arnette.P.Schultz@att.com Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 15:31:20 +0500 Subject: Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? Organization: AT&T In article , Jim Derdzinski <73114.3146@compuserve.com> writes: Subject: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? > I might add that this seems to be happening on calls originating from > recently installed or relocated numbers. Bingo! Although as you later point out "recently installed or relocated" seems to extend up to six to nine months. > Comments? Ideas? How does the name system work anyway? Any > Ameritech people out there? I'm about ready to cancel this service > since it only seems to work right half the time. The calling name system as deployed in the USA utilizes database queries to obtain the caller's name based on the calling party number. The name database is administered by the local exchange carrier providing the calling name service. Some smaller telco's may share a name database, or lease one from another provider. The name database is most likely populated from business (billing records). New lines or recently moved lines will take some time to show up, as this is a separate DB from the actual telephone office "data" and is also (likely) separate from the real billing DB. There is also a possibility that access to the name database is unavailable or that the DB will take "too long" to respond with the information. So the call is completed with out the callers name. Such occurrences should be very rare. I have also noticed that "second" or "teen lines" that are apparently billed to another number (e.g. I get two phone lines, but a single bill at my house under one name) do not show up with a name here in Ameritech land. We figured this one out with a teenager in the home. All her friends have "their own phone line" (billed to mom and dad of course!), and this has been the case even when those phone lines have been active for two or three years. As to the statement that the calling name service only appears to work "part of the time", I have not experienced the same thing in the Naperville CO. Except for one friend who moved (new line) in April, and the teen lines I mentioned, I get name on all "in area" calls. Makes it very handy to avoid the {Chicago Tribune} and {Daily Herald}. My life is greatly improved now that I don't have to talk to those "people" at dinner time!! (John H., maybe you should consider relocating to a more progressive state like Illinois. :) :) :). Arnette Schultz AT&T Network Systems arnette.schultz@att.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 01:11:22 CDT From: clifto@indep1.chi.il.us (Clifton T. Sharp) Subject: Re: What's Wrong With My Caller-ID-With-Name? In article , Jim Derdzinski <73114.3146@ compuserve.com> wrote: > So, anybody know what the deal is here? Why did it take six months > after I ordered telephone service here for my name to show? Seems like they're a few months behind on entry into whatever database they're using for name lookup. It seems to be the norm that names show up some months after service is initiated; my bro-in-law took about three months. I managed to get mine in there right away (not exactly deliberately); just for kicks, I decided to ask the police if I could test E911 here, and they were slow enough to oblige. I called, and they told me in stern, important tones that no information whatsoever showed on their console, and that I'd better call Ameritech and get _that_ fixed for my own safety! I'm guessing when I relate the two things, but my name did show up on displays almost immediately after I got the service installed. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #338 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa07915; 29 Jul 94 18:25 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18890; Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:04:14 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18880; Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:04:12 CDT Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:04:12 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407292004.AA18880@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #339 TELECOM Digest Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:04:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 339 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog" (Rob Slade) List Your Company Free in Interactive Guide (Fraser Zimmerman) NOS Like Application for Macintosh? (Tony Pelliccio) Discount Data Lines (josephh888@aol.com) Communicating Interactively Using Two PCs (christos@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu) Bring Business Long Distance Costs Down (Ed Smith) Strange Cordless Phones (Benjamin W. Stein) Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? (Howard Ball) Local Service Competition in New Jersey (Todd Broccolo) AT&T HT5500 Question (Jeff Nieusma) Manufacturing Learning Curve (Marc Goldburg) Bellcore Document for Sale (Eric Bobinsky) NET IDNX Question (Eric Scott) Re: Information on Fiber Optics Requested (John E. Lundgren) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 13:08:32 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog" BKKROL.RVW 940506 O'Reilly and Associates 103 Morris St., Suite A Sebastopol, CA 95472-9902 800-338-6887 fax: 707-829-0104 info@ora.com "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog", Krol, 1994, 1-56592-063-5, U$24.95 krol@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu For those of us who have used the Internet for some time, the enthusiasm of "newbies" can sometimes be tiring. You get used to seeing articles, and hearing presentations, by those who are breathless with excitement over the fact that they have received email from someone in another country. Thus, when I first heard of this book with the rather "california" title, I assumed I would be plowing through old material and trying to be kind in the review. The day I received the book, I had a use for an "Internet guide". I had forgotten the site that allows posting from mail to the Usenet newsgroups. So, I decided to put it to the test. I didn't find the answer, but what I did find was a fascinating and useful resource, well worth the time (and book price) invested by novice and devotee alike. In an environment where everyone and his dog seems to be writing an Internet book, Krol has held a largely deserved place in the pantheon, and is likely the most widely sold of the "resource" level guides. About three quarters of the book is devoted to the user's guide. It is likely impossible to give a "non-user" a true feeling for the "living" Internet in a "static" book, but this definitely comes close. The "catalog" is rather small, but not to be skipped, taking up about half of the remaining pages, with the rest assigned to four appendices, a glossary and the index. All parts of the book seems to have grown by about half again as much material as was included in the first edition. The user's guide contains fifteen chapters, implicitly divided into four sections. Although there are no explicit divisions, the preface suggests different "sets" of chapters for different types of users. The first four chapters deal with background material; the book, the Internet, what, who and how; while chapter fifteen covers problems that may arise. The next four chapters describe the functions of the basic tools of the Internet; telnet (using a "remote" computer), ftp (copying files from a remote computer to your local computer system and vice versa), electronic mail (including electronic "periodicals") and the Usenet "news" discussion groups; to which chapter fourteen adds "other applications". Chapters nine through thirteen are concerned with "finding" different types of information; files (archie), people (finger and whois), menus (gopher), related information (the Web) and anything (WAIS). Krol, in the introduction, suggests that this book is for anyone who wants access to the resources of the Internet. This is definitely valid. The vocabulary and style are accessible to any intelligent reader, even without any background or familiarity with computers. The examples are clear and well chosen. The range of material covered is "sufficiently" complete: the Internet is still "under construction", and probably will never be "finished", but the range of topics covered is enough for all but the most specialized interest. Indeed, the book is not only for the Internet novice. I practically "live" on the Internet, and freely admit that much of the content even in the original version was a new (and welcome) surprise. I hesitate to say that I have any "complaints" about the book. Those items that I might raise tend to fall into the misty areas of personal opinion. Speaking personally, then, I would like to see some "reordering" of sections of the book. Within the "section" composed of chapters four to eight, I would suggest that mail and news are of more interest to more people (especially newcomers) than telnet and ftp. Also, although Krol explains his choice of UNIX as an "operating system of choice" for examples of various systems, it is my opinion that this is taken too far in certain areas. It tends to demonstrate a "workstation" bias which may be hard to understand for those, likely a majority, who have access to the Internet only through terminal connections or personal computer "dial-in" situations. This is echoed in the emphasis on WAIS and the Web. Although I would hardly recommend eliminating the references to them, the amount of space dedicated to these topics is likely lost on the majority of users who do not have either dedicated or "SLIP" access, and therefore do not have access to gopher, WAIS or Web clients (or Xwindows servers). I have, perhaps, been unjust with my opening illustration: the information about how to post to Usenet newsgroups from email *does* appear in the book. However, I expected to find it in either the chapter on mail (which does cover "distribution lists", the electronic periodicals of the Internet) or in the Usenet news chapter. It appears in neither, nor is it referenced in the index. It *used to* appear in the "catalog", but I seem to have lost it in theis current version. In the same way I was surprised to find that chapter seven, in covering mail and the distribution lists, did not mention the "list of lists", which gives information about how to access specific lists. Again, this is not mentioned in the index, either, although it does appear in the catalog -- and I am happy to see that information on how to get it now uses ftp rather than WAIS. (In the first version the dependence upon WAIS may have limited the usefulness of the catalog. In "Computing" WAIS was used to access nine items: ftp, telnet, gopher and email combined only give you sixteen. In "Network Information" the imbalance was even more pronounced; WAIS is used ten times, the others, combined, only four. The current catalog is much more balanced, although I note a new preponderance of World Wide Web items.) The catalog can't really be considered a serious resource. How could it? Fifty pages is only enough space for an unformatted printout of the "list of lists" *or* a listing of the "backbone" Usenet newsgroups. This would not leave space for explanation or any other resources. Therefore the catalog should best be considered as, perhaps, a pointer to a general topic. After you start making contacts, you can take it from there. The catalog is, however, a lot of fun to browse, and does, as mentioned earlier, contain some very valuable information. These comments do not, however, take away from the overriding importance and usefulness of the book. The quote from "Communications Week", used as a cover blurb, that it "... has become the Internet user's bible" may be overstating the case with the raft of other resources out there. It does, though, still hold a pre-eminent position, and this new edition will help it hold that rank. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993, 1994 BKKROL.RVW 940506. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: Fraser Zimmerman Subject: List Your Company Free in Interactive Guide Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 14:15:28 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) You can list your company free among the movers and shakers of the interactive world. The non-profit Interactive Television Association (ITA) is producing the Only Guide to the Interactive Television Industry. The guide lists all companies with an interest in the industry, including cable and phone companies, commercial on-line services, software manufacturers, advertising agencies, direct marketers, investors, infomercial producers and many others. Listings include company names, contact information and where their interests lie. The guide will also identify by category those companies staking an early claim in the broad-based interactive market (valuable information for investors, market researchers, etc.). To be listed in the guide free of charge, please contact David Shelton of the ITA at 202-408-0008 or send your request (with your fax number) to nd@delphi.com. A limited amount of advertising space in the guide is also being offered free of charge to members. Advertising is being handled by Jim Ralston at 202-296-0263. ITA is planning to make the Only Guide available late this summer. ------------------------------ From: Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: NOS Like Application For Macintosh? Date: 29 Jul 1994 02:03:38 GMT Organization: Brown University ADIR Ok ... now that I've finally figured out what we're doing I'll ask the question. I have a remote office that has four Macintoshes on a localtalk setup. We're trying to get this remote office tied into ours via SL/IP in the least expensive way possible. As such 14.4 SL/IP has been chosen. What I need to do is find software for one of the Macs that will make the dedicated SL/IP connection and also manage traffic locally, ie. act as a router. Someone has suggested that DOS boxes can use KA9Q's NOS to do what I'm looking for but is there something like it for the Mac? The critical applications we're running are a terminal emulator for a Data General MV, and Eudora email. Anything else is secondary. Please direct all response to email. Thanks, Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR, VE ARRL/W5YI Tel. (401) 863-1880 Brown University ADIR Fax. (401) 863-2269 ------------------------------ From: josephh888@aol.com (JosephH888) Subject: Discount Data Lines Date: 29 Jul 1994 23:45:13 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) The Gateway Group provides access to DISCOUNTED voice and data private lines. The network is configured by utilizing capacity from all of the major fiber companies through long-term contractual agreements. The network has been setup to select the best pricing and traffic routes available from fiber companies in each part of the country. This strategy has allowed our company to offer our customers electronic and line diversity on most circuits at the best price available. All customers are assigned an Account Manager. The Account Manager provides one point of contact for service, account changes, and quote requests. All Account Managers have been trained in customer service, trouble shooting, computer networking and PBX Networking. The experience of each Account Managers enables an extremely high resolution rate for line trouble shooting. There is a one-hour return call policy. If a customer cannot reach an Account Manager on the first try, there is a guarantee of a call-back in less than one hour. Provided is a comprehensive package of vice, data, video and imaging services including: Private Line D-3 Fractional DS-3 (T-3) DS-1 Fractional DS-1 (T-1) 56 kbps DDS DS-0 with DDS Access DS-0 with VF Access High-capacity switched digital services Video Conferencing Band-width on demand Beyond the basic bandwidth offerings, value-added capabilities. such as s real-time DS-1 performance monitoring and customized billing services, are provided. The Network incorporates technology unmatched in the industry, utilizing expert systems the circuits are monitored nationwide in real-time, down to the circuit level, 24 hours a day. The Gateway Group 8 Buxley Court, Medford, N.J. 08055-9174 800-GATE888 JosephH888 (via AOL) 74124,2401 (via Compuservice) ------------------------------ From: christos@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Communicating Interactively Using Two PCs Date: 29 Jul 94 19:36:06 CDT Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services Hello there, I am trying to exchange data from one PC computer to another via the RS-232 interface. I have a null modem and I am connecting these two machines through their serial port. What I would like to do is to have an interactive communication between the two PCs. For example, I would like to be able to get two windows so that I can see in one of them what I am typing and on the other one I can see what the remote user is typing. In other words, something similar to talk that run on Internet. Also, -what other programs like kermit exist that allow me to do the above that are public domain and where can I find them? Where can I find documentation about these programs so that I can investigate various options? -Is there any FAQ on pc communications? Where can get that? I would appreciate any response. Thanks in advance, Chris P.S. Please respond with e-mail. If anyone is interested in the responses please let me know and I will mail all the information I get. ------------------------------ From: knute@netcom.com (Ed Smith) Subject: Bring Business Long Distance Costs Down Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 27 Jul 1994 20:35:56 GMT Businesses currently spending $500 to $5000 per month on telephone bills can save an average of 30% by utilizing the services of MTC Telemanagement Corporation. MTC is a value added switchless reseller. Lower rates are automatic. The added value begins with: 1. Ongoing consulting for your future needs. 2. Periodic reveiws to maintain the lowest possible costs. 3. 7 day, 24 hour 800 service to help with any problems you may have. 4. FREE management reports to help you control costs. 5. An "Intelligent Invoice" that consolidates Services and Carriers. 6. Multiple offices or cost center consolidated on one report. MTC offers a full range of services. They include: 1. Interstate and Intrastate Long distance Service. 2. 800 Service. 3. International Callback. 4. OneCard calling card with Passport features. 5. T-1 Services 6. Overnight delivery services through Airborne Express. Quotes are available only if you are prepared to send a complete copy of your most recent telephone bills. A complete set includes local, long distance, 800, international, and calling card bills. Our flat rate billing is discounted for volume. Please email a request for a FREE quote and I will email the address to send your phone bills to. Send email to knute@netcom.com, Subject: RequestQuote. INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR LESS See Biz.Comp.Services Germany $0.46, U.K. $0.29, Hong Kong $0.52, Brazil $0.69 knute@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: bstein@MCS.COM (Benjamin W. Stein) Subject: Strange Cordless Phones Date: 28 Jul 1994 08:48:06 -0500 Organization: /usr/lib/news/organi[sz]ation The other day I was in a place in Chicago called Shutterbug. I don't know how familiar anyone is with them, but they carry all sorts of misc. electronics. In their collection were three or four high range "Export only Cordless phones" They claimed out of the box the phones had a range of like 20-30km, and with booster packs and high mounted antennas several hundred KM. Anyone ever heard of these things before? I do believe the name on the box was Jaguar. Thanks Benjamin Stein bstein@mcs.com ------------------------------ Subject: Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? From: howard.ball@execnet.com (Howard Ball) Date: Thu, 28 Jul 94 22:22:00 -0500 Organization: The Executive Network Information System I am seeking a list of manufacturers of TWO-LINE 900Mhz cordless phones. The only such phone I've found so far is from Hello Direct of San Jose, CA which offers the Tropez Platinum. (I never heard of Tropez). Does anyone know of any others? Thanks, Howard Reply via Internet: howard.ball@execnet.com ------------------------------ From: GESL@aol.com Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 13:31:02 EDT Subject: Local Service Competition in New Jersey COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATIONS 228 Belleville Turnpike Kearny, NJ 07032 New LOCAL Program Bell Atlantic Authorized Resale Carrier of ALL Local Services Monday, July 25, 1994 Contact: Todd Broccolo Cooperative Communications, Inc. 1-800-215-6788 Ext. 100 Kearny Cooperative Communications Inc. (CCI) is a long distance telecommunications company based out of Kearny, New Jersey. Since October 1993 CCI has had a very special agreement with BELL ATLANTIC in New Jersey. Cooperative has the unique ability to carry LOCAL service, as well as LONG DISTANCE, 800 SERVICE, CELLULAR, CALLING CARDS, and CONFERENCING all on one invoice. The LOCAL program offers reduced monthly line charges, institutes a flat rate for toll calls, and bills the toll calls in six second increments with a 30 second minimum just like long distance. Message Unit calls are still billed at their current rate, and any LOCAL calls that are currently less than $0.10 per minute will remain at that their current rate. Any LOCAL calls that are currently greater than $0.10 per minute will be reduced to $0.10 per minute! The local rate of $0.10 per minute is also offered as the domestic LONG DISTANCE rate! This service also offers 800 SERVICE with a flat rate of $0.12 per minute day, $0.10 per minute night for any call originating in the continental United States. The program is currently available to any commercial business in eleven distinct areas throughout northern New Jersey. These areas comprise 109 different exchanges. ------------------------------ From: nieusma@InternetOne.COM (Jeff Nieusma) Subject: AT&T HT5500 Question Organization: Internet One Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 06:17:22 GMT My AT&T HT5500 cordless/speaker phone just had an interesting metamorphosis. I can JUST BARELY hear loud noises (such as DTMF) via the handset, but the speaker phone works fine. I looked under the hood and didn't see anything that jumped out at me... Anyone had any experience with this before? Maybe it's just a burned out transistor? Any pointers would be appreciated! Jeff Nieusma Director of Engineering 303-444-1993 ------------------------------ From: marcg@arraycomm.com (Marc Goldburg) Subject: Manufacturing Learning Curve Reply-To: marcg@arraycomm.com Organization: ArrayComm, Inc. Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 01:35:47 GMT Perhaps some of you folks can help to settle a bet ... It's generally accepted that the cost (in, say, constant dollars) of producing a particular product decreases with the number of units shipped due to economies of scale and improvements in manufacturing technique. A simple exponential model might be: Cost of Nth unit = (Cost of first unit) * (alpha)**N where 0 < alpha <= 1. I'd be interested in hearing of any such models (and, e.g., values of alpha) that apply specifically to the production of user equipment and service provider equipment for wireless telecom applications. Please respond directly to me, I'll summarize for the net. Thanks, Marc Goldburg marcg@arraycomm.com ------------------------------ From: ebobinsky@delphi.com Subject: Bellcore Document for Sale Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 17:37:23 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) I have a copy of Bellcore Generic Requirements Document GR-2830-CORE, "Primary Reference Sources for Digital Synchronized Networks: Generic Requirements" which I no longer need. It's dated March '94, unmarked, and sold by BC for $160. Yours for $80. Please call or email: Eric Bobinsky 216-243-2992 ebobinsky@delphi.com ------------------------------ From: puppis@netcom.com (Eric Scott) Subject: NET IDNX Question Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 28 Jul 1994 18:56:42 GMT Has anyone connected a T-1 circuit to a PRC card, created an aggregate group of 24 DS0's, mapped it to a identically configured PRC card at the other end of the network via a T-3 trunk? The purpose being to pass an unchannelized T-1 circuit intact thru the IDNX network. Would appreciate any and all responses! ------------------------------ From: jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu (John E. Lundgren) Subject: Re: Information on Fiber Optics Requested Date: 28 Jul 1994 10:17:15 -0700 Organization: California Technology Project of The Calif State Univ moodyblu@umcc.umcc.umich.edu (Matthew Scott Weisberg) writes: > Recently, I posted a request for information on WANs for a project I > was researching for the City of Novi, Michigan. > Well, it turns out that the cable company here, MetroVision, is under > an agreement to the city to provide Fiberoptics cable to every single > municipal building! > MetroVision is wiring the entire Oakland County with FiberOptics, > expected to be completed by the end of 95. They have a very impressive > network already it seems. Many of the schools here have something > called INET, basically, the schools are using MetroVisions "B" cable > to "share" classes on video and such. Supposedly, the original > agreement was that Metrovisoin was to run two cables of 56 channels > each to provide 112 channels to subscribers, however, they only run > one cable, the "A" cable, to subscribers. I saw some maps of their > current network, and they apparently have 750Mhz(?) of bandwith > available in the Novi area. > Anyway, what I need to know is what equipment would I need to attach > to their fiber to our 10BASET ethernet networks in each building? How > many strands would we need? They are running at least 12 strands to > each building I think ... it could be more. For fiber that's longer than a certain distance, I think is't a kilometer, the standard is single mode. For interbuilding on a campus, it's multimode. You have to find out for sure so that you get the right equipment on each end. Almost all fiber is 62.5 / 125 micron. > I also need to know some places to order the equipment from, as I need to > get pricing ideas. AT&T makes 'optical cable' and so does Siecor. Anixter is a distributor that can give you info and prices. And the installed cable isn't that much more than the price of installed coax. > The engineer from Metrovision that came said it is not cost effective > to run fiber between "campus" buildings. They said there is already a Fiber is the only way to go for new installations between buildings because it offers total resistance to electromagnetic interference, and total electrical isolation. > "shadow" cable (coax) running between the buildings and we could use > that and get like 1.54Mbps of bandwith. I disagree and don't feel > this is enough bandwith, especially with IPX/SPX being the bandwith > hog it is. I also thought that costs were coming way down on fiber. Am > I mistaken? And the bandwidth of fiber is whatever the ends will support. Gigabits if you've got the $$$. So it has a built-in future. Hope this helps. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #339 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08241; 29 Jul 94 19:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19956; Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:59:04 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19947; Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:59:02 CDT Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:59:02 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407292059.AA19947@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #340 TELECOM Digest Fri, 29 Jul 94 15:59:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 340 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Ontario Council Presents First-Year Report (Joan McCalla) Cordless Phone Security (Howard Ball) California vs Caller-ID (Franklin Antonio) Information Wanted About Video-Phones (Stefan Weiss) Acoustic Modem Adaptors For Use in China (Dipesh Navsaria) Radio and Telephony Switcher (Javier Elustondo Gonzalez-Pinto) Current NPA Lists Wanted (Bill Kearney) Hunt vs. Busy Call Forward (Spencer Roedder) MS Telephony API Documentation Wanted (Suresh Krishnajois) Cordless/Wireless Information Wanted (Daniel J. Kraemer) Call Return / Call Answer Behaviour (Jeff Bamford) Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments (Robert Casey) TruVoice: AT&T Stealing Stuff Again? (Eric N. Florack) Re: Voice-Activated Call (Mark E. Daniel) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (Brent Geery) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mccallj@gov.on.ca (Joan McCalla) Subject: Ontario Council Presents First-Year Report Organization: Government of Ontario Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 15:35:26 GMT Ontario Moving Full Speed Ahead on Information Highway TORONTO -- Ontario is moving quickly along the road to an information society, according to a report presented today to Minister of Economic Development and Trade Frances Lankin. Full Speed Ahead, the first year report of the Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure, documents the progress made by the province over the past year. "We're pleased that Ontario is moving aggressively to secure a position in the information age," said Council Chair Jim Coombs. "We believe that Ontario has now shifted gears - there is broad interest across the province in information technology and its applications. "In addition, Ontario is fast developing the technologies and capabilities needed to take a leading role and pursue global opportunities." "Just as we need roads, schools and electrical grid systems - we need an information infrastructure. Our investment in information infrastructure creates the jobs of tomorrow, said Ms. Lankin. "The Council has produced a solid foundation to meet these new challenges and keep Ontario at the forefront of information technology. The Ontario government is acting on its recommendations." For example, the Province has provided funding from the Ontario Network Infrastructure Program for projects recommended by the Council. These include: $1.2 million for Ontario's first environmental network which will link and provide information to 1,300 active users from non-profit organizations, corporations, government agencies and individuals interested in environmental issues. LARG*Net, a high-speed network connecting medical research and treatment facilities and educational facilities in the London area, will receive $2.1 million. Funding of up to $75,000 was provided to the Wawatay Communications Society to determine the communications needs of First Nations communities in the Nishawbe Aski Nation. "To date, ONIP funding has totalled $15.4 million, generating an additional $24.8 million in non-government funding at the initial stages of the projects," said Ms. Lankin. "I'm delighted that such a wide range of groups and interests are taking part in building Ontario's information highway." In its report, the Council notes that the convergence of telecommunications, computing and content is moving even faster than anticipated. The Council outlines a number of future directions for Ontario to take as it enters into the 21st century - co-ordinating network development, encouraging sectoral partnerships, broadening access and addressing social implications. The Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure was formed on the recommendation of Ontario's Telecommunications strategy, announced February 1993. In keeping with the Ontario government's sector development approach, its mandate is to bring together these partners, providing advice to the government on an overall vision for an information society. To obtain copies of Full Speed Ahead, please call (416) 326-9600 or write to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Technology and Communications Division, 20th floor, 77 Bloor Street West, Toronto. Contact: Jim Coombs (613) 692-1120 Martine Holmsen Marketing & Public Affairs Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (416) 325-6687 Joan McCalla Information Infrastructure Branch Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (416) 326-9627 Internet address: mccallj@gov.on.ca ------------------------------ Subject: Cordless Phone Security From: howard.ball@execnet.com (Howard Ball) Date: Thu, 28 Jul 94 22:24:00 -0500 Organization: The Executive Network Information System Can anyone tell me how the security codes work in cordless DIGITAL phones? Both analog 46/49 Mhz and digital 900 Mhz cordless phones advertise 64,000 codes. In the analog phones, I believe the scheme that is typical is to send a multiple tone (e.g. fsk) burst that is either suppressed from the user/voice circuit or is subaudible. How do DIGITAL phones implement security? Same way? Does anything affect the analog to digital conversion (i.e. we both use the same model digital cordless, but your phone conversation makes no sense on my unit because the security code is a "seed" to the digital conversion)? Thanks, Howard Reply via Internet: howard.ball@execnet.com ------------------------------ From: antonio@qualcomm.com (Franklin Antonio) Subject: California vs Caller-ID Date: 29 Jul 94 06:17:04 GMT Organization: QUALCOMM, Incorporated; San Diego, CA, USA I live in California. My friends in other states have Caller-ID, but I do not. I have not followed the regulatory battle over Caller-ID. I remember seeing stories on it many months ago. I figured people would argue, and things would get settled, and caller-ID would eventually be available to Californians. I waited ... and nothing happened. What is the present state of affairs? Are Californians going to get Caller-ID in my lifetime? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I dunno. What does John Higdon think on this topic? Perhaps he will respond with an update. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stw@tnet.de (Stefan Weiss) Subject: Information Wanted About Video-Phones Date: 28 Jul 1994 22:13:10 +0200 Organization: TouchNET - Kommerzielle Internetsite, Muenchen Hello, Who has experience with video-phones? (I don't know the correct phrase but I think you've got the idea). Who can say which models are good and which aren't. Thank you in advance. Stefan Weiss - stw@tnet.de TouchNET - Stefan Weiss und Christian Koenig GbR - info@tnet.de Internet, Systemadministration, Schulung - Muenchen ------------------------------ From: navsaria@acs4.bu.edu (Dipesh Navsaria) Subject: Acoustic Modem Adaptors For Use in China Date: 28 Jul 1994 17:05:45 GMT Organization: Boston University, Boston, MA, USA Hi, all. My friend will be travelling to China to spend the year there doing research. We've made some inquiries about her using her modem there (she has a Mac PowerBook 165), with mixed responses. I've heard of a product that plugs into the jack on the PowerBook and has a microphone and speaker on the other end to hook up to the handset of a phone, kind of like the old acoustic modems they used to have in this country. This permits you to use a modem in a country where modular phone systems are not in common use. Does anyone know where we can get these? Please e-mail me directly at navsaria@bu.edu and I'll summarize if there's interest. Thanks! Dipesh (navsaria@bu.edu) ------------------------------ From: jtaelgoj@bi.ehu.es (Javier Elustondo Gonzalez-Pinto) Subject: Radio and Telephony Switcher Date: 29 Jul 1994 15:10:41 GMT Organization: UPV/EHU Facultad de Informatica (San Sebastian) I am looking for a switcher able to handle both radio and telephony lines. We want to design an Operation Center where the operator will receive telephone or radio calls and will be capable to connect with another radio or telephone line. I have been informated that this kind of equipment exists and I want to find information about them (firms, models, contacts, etc). Thank you for your help, Xabi Elustondo Gonzalez-Pinto jtaelgoj@s835cc.bi.ehu.es ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 21:03:28 -0400 From: wkearney@access.digex.net (Bill Kearney) Subject: Current NPA Lists Wanted Where might I find a complete set of US phone exhanges and area code? I've looked at lcs.mit.edu and while it's got a lot, it doesn't have them all. Any idea where I can obtain them all? (In digital format of course). Thanks, Bill [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest you start by contacting Carl Moore of the Digest readership. He has actively compiled these for several years, as has David Leibold. Does anyone think I should put a complete set of them in the archives? I will if there is enough interest. I imagine Carl will be writing to you soon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: roedder@netcom.com (Spencer Roedder) Subject: Hunt vs. Busy Call Forward Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 23:09:45 GMT I am getting a second line for my home. It will be used primarily for outgoing modem calls, but also will be available for my teen-age daughter and in the interim, for incoming calls. Naturally I want to tie the new line to the existing line. As I understand it, the canonical way would be to have my existing line hunt to the new line. But it appears that similar behavior can be obtained by putting Busy Call Forwarding on the existing line. Are these two really functionally equivalent? Is there maybe a difference in how hunting deals with a no answer situation? If they are roughly equivalent, I simply have a time value of money problem: Hunt: $40 install $1.00/month Busy Call Forward $5 install $3.50/month -> breakeven point = 14 months. roedder@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: sujo@netcom.com (Suresh Krishnajois) Subject: MS Telephony API Documents Wanted Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 07:09:32 GMT Hi, I'm looking for a hard copy or PostScript or MS-Write format version of _all_ the documentation (User, Ref, and Programmers guide) for the Microsoft Telephony API (TAPI). I'd be grateful for any pointers :) Thanks, Suresh Krishna Jois | sujo@netcom.com | Cyberspace Gypsy. Last Camp: Silicon Graphics Inc | Next Camp: Who cares ? ------------------------------ From: dkraemer@crl.com (Daniel J. Kraemer) Subject: Cordless/Wireless Information Wanted Date: 28 Jul 1994 20:36:36 GMT Organization: CRL - St. Louis, MO I'm attempting to gather up some information on cordless technology, pertaining to CT-1, CT-2, CT-2 Plus, CT-3 and DECT. Specifically looking for information on system parameters and a good description/definition of each ... Any information or pointers to information would be helpful... Also, any names/addresses/phone numbers of vendors involved in wireless access technologies which might be able to give me more info would be great. Dan Kraemer dkraemer@crl.com ------------------------------ From: jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) Subject: Call Return / Call Answer Behaviour Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 17:10:38 GMT I called up a friend last night who has Call Answer (Voice Mail from the telco) and got the "machine" after the first ring. He must be using the phone I thought as it takes four rings when the phone is not busy. I hung and decided that I'd call back in a couple of minutes. I waited about five minutes and dialed *66 (Return last outgoing call). To my surprise I got the following message from the Telco, "We're sorry, the person you are calling is on the phone. You will be notified by special ringing when the line is free. Please hang up now." It would appear that with Call Return it only checks to see if the line is free, it doesn't follow the call forward if busy instruction. I waited around for a few more minutes to see if the line would free up. Didn't so I ended up calling normally. "Strange" things happen when you start integrating all these features I guess. Jeff Bamford jsbamford@uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome Office/Lab: +1-519-885-1211 x3814 Fax: +1-519-746-8115 ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 04:58:03 GMT In article dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) writes: >> In fact, the ONLY specific pieces of equipment mentioned in the >> Bowker patent are a Yamaha DEQ-7 equalizer and a 4ESS toll switch. > If this is the extent of it and the rest of the patent is a fairly > intense recital of what's happening when you hook an equalizer to a > phone switch, this looks obvious to me. Being obvious, how would it > qualify for a patent? Those of us who have worked in broadcasting > have long used equalizers to modify phone line signals to make them > sound better. The only part of this patent that might be the "invention" is doing an equalizer on the audio signal, all in the digital domain. That is, taking digitized phone audio, and doing digital filtering on it to boost the lows, and it stays digital until it gets near the called party's exchange. And do this in a phone switch. I once got a patent on a digital hysteresis loop. Analog loops have been around for years, but my (then) company submitted my suggestion of doing it digital, and it issued. It doesn't really take that much new inventive content to get a patent on something. But that patent only covers your new contribution, not the whole thing. The really big "set the world on fire" inventions don't happen that often, but lots of patents get issued. (I'm not looking to defend AT&T, if anything, I'm still angry over the very bad management I suffered with at Bell Labs before I quit there.) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 07:19:49 PDT From: Eric_N._Florack.cru-mc@xerox.com Subject: TruVoice, or ATT&T Stealing Stuff Again? > Nevertheless, Mr. Kahn made it clear in 1969 that, if the phone > company cooperated, one could use an equalizer to boost that > particular range. Fortunately, Mr. Kahn is still around, and he is > registered to practice before the patent office. You may recognize > Mr. Kahn's name from his regular advertisement on the penultimate page > of each month's IEEE Spectrum. He contributed a sworn declaration to > the Reexamination Request wherein he confirms that our observations > regarding his 1969 suggestion are accurate. Thanks for that info, John. I had wondered what had happened to the guy after the commission booted his DSB AM STEREO proposal ... (I happen to think it was the best of the bunch of AMS proposals) /E ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 01:55:59 EDT From: mark@legend.akron.oh.us (Mark E Daniel) Subject: Re: Voice-Activated Call In article was written: > I've tried calling SPRINT as I remember on one of their commercials > mentioning this feature, but since I'm not a member, I have not > received any much good input whatsoever on the more technical aspect > behind it and simply trying to know what exactly is out there > regarding this. Well, I'm a Sprint customer and I have a VOICE FONCARD as they are called. Basically you dial the 800 number and "Voice FONCARRD Number please" is spoken and then you say your "card" number which is some random digit and your social security number. Then you get the "Place Call." prompt at which time you can either key in (via Touch-tones) the number in Standard Sprint FONCARD format or say "Call" and some name from your previously set-up Speed- Dial List (which you get to by saying "Speed Dial List" at the "Place Call" prompt) It has worked for me reasonably well, although you do have to try and maintain the same tone and speed of voice when you say your card number or you may have to repeat your V_FONCARD number again. I don't believe that it would work right off the bat in a crowded area from a public payphone unless you set it up that way in the first place. I find that it likes it most when I say my number in exactly the same way as I did on my last call that it put through. Problems I've had with the card: 1. I had a speed-dial list of "Mom Work" which I could never get it to call. And Supposadly Sprint says you could say "My Doctor" or whatever for a list entry. But I've had success only with one word entrys. 2. I once tried to place a call to "Home" and it tried to call "Paul" instead. But 99% of the time my calls go through reletivly quickly. I have had a fare number of times where I didn't properly say the number and had to repeat it. And in loud areas this almost always required me to re-speak it with rather long pauses between the system going to look up my voice-print with a "Please Wait" prompt. (You do get a Please Wait prompt between the saying your card number and the "Place Call" prompt, it just takes some time in loud areas.) 3. There is no provision for speaking numbers you wish to dial that are not on your speed-dial list so the card will not completely work from a rotary phone (yes I can give locations that have payphones that have not yet been updated to Tone). Other miscellaneous information: 1. Sprint will up you to "Priority Gold" Status and charge you $5 a month for the card if you don't bill more then $50 a month on your Sprint Card (the charge is called "Priority Gold Service Charge". 2. There is a $1 service charge per call on the V_FONCARD whereas a normal FONCARD call has a service charge of $.80. 3. They were supposed to call me and ask how the card was working for me. I have yet to receive that call. I hate talking to customer service reps. I always get intimidated. Can anyone give me a FAX number to send a copy of this off to? Also, with the Sprint Voice FONCARD, the internal card number used by Sprint is different then your card number. :) Kind of wierd but a nice security touch that they don't print your SS number on your bill. Also calls say VOICE ACTIVATED FROM location. One thing I miss since I went back to Sprint rather then combined billing is that my calls don't say the number they originated from like they did when Ameritech billed for them. Strange that Ameritech gives me the ANI and Sprint doesn't since Sprint sends Ameritech the bill (I found this out by talking to a Sprint rep. My Ameritch bill is printed on the first of each month and my Sprint is on the seventh. So Sprint sent Ameritech the bills for the calls from the eighth to the seventh of the next month on the seventh and since Ameritech just printed a bill on the first I don't get my LD calls billed to the next first. Ameritech sits on the calls. It would be nice if Sprint could consolidate my billing date with Ameritech's, because the idea of one bill isn't bad; it's the timing that stinks.) -- Mark E Daniel (Loving SysOp of The Legend BBS) Inet: mark@legend.akron.oh.us medaniel@delphi.com (Direct INet) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 09:09:10 +0100 (BST) From: Clive D.W. Feather > Also, on page 46 of the {Hustler} 20th anniversary edition, they list > two numbers (in these formats): 011 852 1721 1742 followed by this: > "WARNING if you cant get through dial 01144 272 234 093!" > Then, halfway down the page, the game is up. > "DIAL A SEX DATE! We advertise for (women) who want to (have sex). We > set up the sex date within one hour and we make our money on the 01144 > kickback". > Huh. they admit it's a kickback! Actually, I don't see where the kickback comes from. The number quoted is a standard Bristol [*] number (and is about to change to 44 11XX 234 093, where I forget what the two XX digits are). No special rates apply, and they don't tell you to use a specific carrier. [*] I'll refrain from the "Bristol City" jokes. I just tried dialing it; a breathy female voice tells you to enter a PIN to access some "real hard core porno" stuff. Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 923 816 344 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 923 210 352 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges From: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) Date: 28 Jul 94 23:06:00 GMT Organization: The Continuum - South Pasadena, CA - 818-441-2625 Reply-To: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is one company in Florida I am > aware of which will put you in business right away as a 900 Information > Provider for $100 per month. They set you up with a 900 number, allow > you to access the database of men and women who have left messages on > the system and leave it up to you to advertise it however you want. > They handle all the billing details and you get $2 per minute for each > call received on 'your' 900 line, less the $100 per month fee. PAT] Hi Pat, My first time, out of the dark here ... FYI, I have seen that ad also and they state a $100 YEARLY fee. The company offers you a choice of (only one): a sport line, and live horoscope line, or a sport info line. The deal looks like a good way for people to get into it for very little. The only thing that I wonder, is what stops them from claiming you got less calls than you did? This is all a matter of trust. But other than that it looks like an up-and-up deal. They do have a 800 number you can call to get a to-the-second accounting of your total number of callers. The Continuum -*- South Pasadena, California (818) 441-2625 for 9600 and faster (818) 799-9633 for 2400 and slower [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since you were offering a correction to my earlier note I did not correct -- because I am not certain what you meant -- what seems to be an error in your reply. You say 'sport, horoscope and sport info' ... I think you meant 'dating, horoscope and sports'. Yes, you are correct; their rate has come down to $100 per *year* plus some amount per call. Each call costs two dollars. They provide the information for the sports and horoscope lines, and all users of the dating line pool their incoming messages into a central database for use by all other operators of the 'dating' line. It is very softcore porn ... nothing raunchy at all. You can call and get a count of the traffic to your lines, and they pay accurately based on that count, but of course there is no way to tell if they count *every* call or not. Also, the calling party dials a common 900 number used by all the information providers; he then has to punch in the 'extension number' as quoted in your advertising material. If he punches in some other extension number, then that guy gets the credit. You do not get a *unique 900 number of your own*, just a unique 'extension number' you can print on your advertising. They will help you with the advertising however, and offer art work and copy you can use for your 'own' line. Overall its not a bad deal; they seem to be honest. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #340 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26392; 31 Jul 94 15:43 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08747; Sun, 31 Jul 94 11:57:03 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08738; Sun, 31 Jul 94 11:57:01 CDT Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 11:57:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407311657.AA08738@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #341 TELECOM Digest Sun, 31 Jul 94 11:57:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 341 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ICC Working Party on the Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce (Mike Baum) The Wrath of Kahn Re: TruVoice, or AT&T Stealing Stuff (John Berryhill) Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments (Dr. John Berryhill) Book Review: "Cyberspace: First Steps" by Benedikt (Rob Slade) Re: Equipment for IVR (Phone Menus) (Paul A. Lee) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 30 Jul 1994 06:28:20 EDT From: Michael S Baum Subject: ICC Working Party on the Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce Please find below for your information the Summary Record of the recent meeting of the ICC Working Party on Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce. Guillermo Jimenez - ICC Secretariat - Paris INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Dept. for International Commercial Policy and Techniques Doc. No. 460-10/11 21 July 1994 Original ICC WORKING PARTY ON THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE (Meeting of 29 June 1994 at ICC Headquarters, Paris) SUMMARY OF DECISIONS Procedure: It was agreed that electronic mail (e-mail) would be the primary mode for dissemination of Working Party documents. 1. It was decided that the ICC would revive the "EDITERMS" project under the task force leadership of Robert Bond (U.K. /EDI Association) to be assisted by David Marsh (U.K./EDI Association). Prof. Jerome Huet agreed to be responsible for the concept of an Editorial Board which would screen/evaluate suggested EDITERMS. 2. It was decided that the ICC would investigate the most appropriate fashion for recommending that UNCITRAL add security issues to the ambit of the proposed UNCITRAL Rules for Electronic Commerce; this effort will be the responsibility of a task force to be led by Ian Walden (U.K.), and will receive input or suggestions from Renaud Sorieul of UNCITRAL. The issues of party autonomy and system rules for Value Added Networks will also be considered in this context, and Mme. Anne de la Presle (EDIFRANCE) will be invited to participate in this area. 3. Mr. Ake Nilson agreed to lead a task force focussed on the BOLERO electronic bill of lading project; one possible project mentioned would involve using BOLERO as a pilot for testing the EDITERMS concept. 4. The date of the next meeting was provisionally set for Saturday 1 October 1994 in Vienna (so as to precede the next UNCITRAL meeting). SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS Introductory remarks by Chairman -- Michael Baum (U.S.), welcomed the participants. He stated that there were many possible work projects for the Working Party, but he did not want objectives or procedure dictated from the chair; rather, the direction of Working Party efforts should come from the widest possible consensus. The first suggestion he wanted to offer for discussion was that the group's work be based on intensive electronic mail (e-mail) collaboration. Several members had already mentioned that resources were scarce and that it was difficult to attend physical meetings, and an e-mail based working procedure might reduce the need for physical meetings, as well as considerably speeding up work efforts. It was therefore agreed that e-mail would be considered the primary form of communication for the Working Party's minutes, agendae, working papers and other documents. During an interim period, some contact would be retained with participants not yet on e-mail. The Chairman also suggested that when physical meetings were necessary, they should be held so as to coincide with other meetings, such as those of UNCITRAL or UN ECE - WP4. Finally, he proposed that if several work projects were felt to be viable by the end of the meeting, that a project Chair should be given responsibility for each one. The Chairman also suggested that one area where there had not been a lot of prior work, and therefore might be deserving of interest, was that of security issues and the legal aspects of information security. Recent developments marked a departure from the context of early EDI trading, in that there was a movement to open systems and networks, where security became a much more important issue. Review of Prior EDI Work -- The Secretary to the Working Party, Guillermo Jimenez, reviewed the work of the prior ICC Working Party on EDI. He pointed out that in 1986-1987 the ICC had coordinated the work of several international organizations to produce the UNCID rules, the first proposed legal infrastructure for EDI trading. In 1990-1991 the Working Party on EDI produced a Policy Statement on EDI. Among the conclusions of that policy statement were: 1) legal reform was essential; 2) the EDIFACT message development process was considered at that time to be inefficient; 3) the pricing policy of VANs (Value Added Networks) was felt to be too obscure and difficult to incorporate into budgetary calculations; 4) the tendency of large companies to unilaterally impose EDI upon their smaller suppliers was felt to be a cause for concern. The next product of the Working Party was a book on EDI contracts entitled "EDI Interchange Agreements: A Guide and Sourcebook". Thereafter, the Working Party spent several meetings debating the possibility of developing ICC "EDIterms", legal terms which could be incorporated into electronic messages. The results were inconclusive, and the Working Party went into abeyance while the Secretariat sought a new Chairman to replace the one who resigned in 1993. Review of Work by Commission on Computing, Telecommunications and Information Policy (CTIP) -- The Secretary to the above Commission, Charles Franklin, reviewed its efforts in the areas of Information Security, Encryption and Data Protection. He noted that the ICC Policy Statement on Encryption, approved at the beginning of June, was quite timely in light of developments in the U.S., Holland and Sweden. The essence of the ICC position, he stated, was that encryption policy was an international issue and should be dealt with at an international, multilateral level. He reported having received unusually strong support for this statement from ICC National Committees. He further reported that the CTIP Commission was very close to completing an exhaustive ICC Guide to Data Protection legislation around the world. Future Project for Electronic Commerce Working Party -- UNCITRAL Draft EDI Rules - Renaud Sorieul (UNCITRAL) reported that there would soon be a new draft of the above Rules. Discussion at the last meeting had been generally very supportive of this UNCITRAL project. As to the level of detail, he reported that it was a very limited project. Anne de la Presle (EDIFRANCE) stated that a missing issue in the Rules was that of contractual relations with the VANs, and specifically the area of "system rules". Ake Nilson (UK - EDIA), observed that the UNCITRAL project generally raised the profile of EDI legal issues and that it was therefore important to provide input to their processes. The project should be limited to developing default rules, rather than binding ones, in his opinion. David Marsh stated that there was a high level of ignorance or lack of understanding concerning these draft Rules. Each country should examine its own commercial law to ascertain the obstacles to EDI practices. Mr. Nilson noted that the issue of VANs was becoming less important because X.400 was making it easier for parties to act as their own VANs. Mr. Toh (Singapore) remarked that when Singapore's TradeNet system was established, there were no system rules, and it functioned solely with bilateral contracts. He acknowledged that this was not very wise, and thus there were recommendations made recently to the government that such rules be established. However, the view had been expressed that it was difficult to decide who would establish the rules -- there was an aversion to leaving this task to the VANs. Mr. Toh suggested that perhaps a neutral party like the ICC could develop such rules. Mr. Sorieul noted that this issue came up regularly at UNCITRAL meetings, and was in each instance rejected as more suitable for other fora. He stated that there was a widely-shared view that the VANs should not be free to do as they please, but there was also a contrary view that the VANS market should be free to develop. Mr. Walden stated that he was not sure if additional rule-setting was necessary. He pointed out that users were free to use public data networks. Some users still transferred information on magnetic tape, he stated, because this was cheaper. He felt that the market was competitive enough that there was no need to impose rules. The Secretary responded to Mr. Walden's remarks by noting that even in somewhat competitive markets, the negotiating power of service providers and users may be quite unbalanced. Mr. Bond concurred, observing that even in the case of standard software licenses it was only recently that consumers were beginning to have the possibility of negotiating. Mr. Walden stated that rather than establish rules, the ICC might be well advised to develop a Guide to VANs for Consumers. The Secretary indicated that ICC Publishing would be likely to wish to pursue such an idea. EDITERMS Project -- The Chairman stated that several pre-meeting discussions had indicated an extremely high level of support for reviving the EDITERMS project. As one example, he mentioned a recent meeting of bankers in the U.S., who had been highly receptive to the EDITERMS concept. The Chairman then presented a possible structure/procedure for this project (outlined in Chairman's "Talking Points on EDITERMS", attached). He proposed that the EDITERMS be fully accessible on the Internet, and that any world legal group could submit proposed EDITERMS, which would then have to be approved by an ICC EDITERMS Editorial Board. These submissions would be digitally signed by submitters, and then digitally time-stamped by the ICC. The Chairman also emphasized that EDITERMS acceptability could be enhanced if their availability were linked to diverse electronic commerce initiatives. Mr. Bond stated that, in light of the change in the name of the Working Party, perhaps these should be renamed "ELCOTERMS". He reported having heard that the U.K. banking sector was very interested in this project. As a businessman, he stated, he would be very concerned to make sure that a final arbiter of acceptability was provided. Mr. Carlos Velez-Rodriguez, ICC Secretary to the Banking Commission and Chairman of the ICC Information Technology task force, reported that said task force was engaged in testing an e-mail system for general ICC use, as well as the possibility of making ICC products available via online databases. In this context, he confirmed that EDITERMS could be incorporated into the task force efforts at a later date, and that the task force could support developing the infrastructure for storing and making available EDITERMS online. David Marsh reported on the development of standard international commercial terms by a U.K. professor, entitled INTRATERMS, and suggested that an international equivalent could be a sensible starting point for the EDITERMS project. He voiced some reservations about the legal acceptability of the concept of incorporation by reference. Etienne Dreyfous (France) stated that he was quite concerned by some of the previous discussion. He noted that the beauty of Incoterms was that they were very few and very clear. He stated that if EDITERMS were not few, they would not be taken seriously. He also reminded participants that official ICC statements can only issue upon sufficient formal consultation with ICC National Committees. Mr. Walden suggested that EDITERMS should perhaps incorporate provisions as to security and communications, as in the concept of "interchange profiles" developed by Thierry Piette-Coudol. Payment Card Technologies: The Chairman stated that although public key cryptography had primarily been implemented commercially in software, there was also potential for usage in cryptographically enhanced "smart" cards. To the present, he stated, very little work had been done from a legal perspective. It might be interesting, he suggested, to investigate how two-factor authentication would be evaluated by legal instances. Moreover, he suggested that the ICC might make use of its geographical convenience, in that France was recognized as perhaps the leading country in developing smart card technology. Mr. Walden reported that Directorate General XV of the European Commission had recently issued a call for tenders on legal issues relating to payment cards. The Secretary reported that these issues might also be of interest to the ICC Working Party on International Aspects of Payment Systems, chaired by Richard Allen, Chief Executive of the U.K. Association for Payment and Clearing Systems (APACS). Mr. Toh reported that in Singapore there was a current pilot project involving a cash-card. Conclusion: The Chairman concluded by observing that there appeared to be strong support for the task forces enumerated in the Summary of Decisions. The Group thanked the Secretary, Guillermo Jimenez, for his guidance and assistance. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Robinson, VP U.S. Council for International Business 1212 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036-1689 Tel:+1 212-354-4480 FAX:+1 212-944-0012 Net: 5969423@mcimail.com or Guillermo Jimenez, Head of Division International Chamber of Commerce 38 Cours Albert 1er 75008 PARIS Tel: 011 331 49 53 28 28 FAX: 011 33 1 49 53 28 59 Net: 5157129@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: Dr. John Berryhill Subject: The Wrath of Kahn Re: TruVoice, or ATT&T Stealing Stuff Again? Date: 31 Jul 1994 03:28:38 GMT In article Eric_N._Florack.cru-mc@xerox. com writes: [Regarding Leonard R. Kahn] > Thanks for that info, John. I had wondered what had happened to the > guy after the commission booted his DSB AM STEREO proposal ... (I happen > to think it was the best of the bunch of AMS proposals) Leonard R. Kahn, president of Kahn Communications, Inc., is one of the industry experts who submitted declarations in support of the Reexamination Request. This is what he had to say: IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE In re: U.S. Patent No. 5,195,132 Issued: March 16, 1993 To: Duane O. Bowker et al. For: "Telephone Network Speech Signal Enhancement" DECLARATION OF LEONARD R. KAHN I, Leonard R. Kahn, declare as follows: 1. I am the President of Kahn Communications, Inc. located at Carle Place, New York. 2. I am the same Leonard R. Kahn who co-authored an article entitled "Enhancement of Telephone Line Performance", which was presented at the National Association of Broadcasters' Engineering Conference held on March 23-26, 1969, in Washington D.C. (hereinafter the NAB article). I am also the same Leonard R. Kahn who is listed as a sole or joint inventor in U.S. Patents Nos. 4,217,661; 3,684,838; and 3,696,298. 3. In addition to the patents set forth in paragraph 2, I am also the sole or joint inventor of over 80 other U.S. patents in the field of electronics and telecommunications. My professional qualifications and achievements are set forth in Attachment A. 4. My above-referenced NAB article was directed to the problem of obtaining high quality speech in the standard telephone network as it was available in 1969. The explicit intention of my 1969 article was to discuss the desirability of restoring, in a telephonic communication system, certain frequencies that were normally attenuated. Specifically, I suggested in my NAB article that the frequencies between 100 Hz and 300 Hz are desirable frequencies to be restored in a telephonic communication system. In the NAB article, I also discussed various devices that could be employed in restoring low frequencies (those between 100 Hz and 300 Hz) in a telephone communication network. 5. Frequencies in the range of between 100 Hz to 300 Hz frequencies are normally attenuated in telephone systems. 6. My NAB article suggested, among other solutions, using an equalizer in a telephone network as a device to accomplish restoration of low frequency speech signals in telephone communication. 7. My NAB article specifically mentions the speech signal associated with a telephone set as the signal to be selectively amplified for more natural speech communication. 8. It was well known, in 1969, when my NAB article was published, that equalization, as referenced in paragraph 6 above, could be accomplished with any of a number of electronic devices known as equalizers or filters. 9. The telephone network was, in 1969, controlled by American Telephone and Telegraph Inc. (AT&T) in a manner which prevented using an equalizer in the straightforward way as suggested in my NAB article. Consequently, it was necessary for me and others to develop complex systems for restoring low frequency signals in the telephone network. 10. The disclosure in U.S Patent No. 5,195,132 relative to the use of an equalizer to restore low frequency speech signals in a telephone network merely reflects the ability of AT&T to arrange their telephone network in accordance with the teaching of my NAB article. In other words, AT&T has modified its network in order to take advantage of the equalizer arrangement suggested in my NAB article. 11. I believe that the disclosure of my NAB article appears to constitute the stated invention in U.S. Patent No. 5,195,132, which provides truer voice transmission of low frequencies. I declare under penalty of perjury, pursuant to the laws of the United States of America, that the foregoing is true and correct. ATTACHMENT A Mr. Kahn is President of Kahn Communications, Inc, of Carle Place, New York. He has served as consultant and/or expert witness to Grumman, RCA, Kaiser Industries, Willys Motors, Fairchild, Airfone, The State Court of California and U.S. Government agencies. Kahn Communications develops and produces civil and military communications and broadcasting products. KCI is presently researching aids to the visually impaired. Kahn Communications was involved in the development of the Airfone System, now GTE, Airfone. Mr. Kahn has been awarded over 80 U.S. patents, a number of which had foreign counterparts and has licensed such major organizations as: RCA, GE, Raytheon, Western Union, GTE, Northrop and Hazeltine. He has published some 25 papers on various aspects of electrical engineering. He published an analysis proving that the ideal diversity combiner follows the Ratio Squarer Law (Maximal Ratio Combiner) now widely used in terrestrial and space communications. Mr. Kahn is credited with a number of inventions in broadcast technology, including AM Stereo transmission and reception and the POWER-side system. Mr. Kahn is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is a Professional Engineer and is also registered to practice on patent matters before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Kahn was formerly an Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York and taught both graduate and undergraduate courses. He has lectured as a guest professor or lecturer at a number of schools and professional societies. Mr. Kahn was employed as research engineer at RCA Communications and Laboratories after his discharge from the U.S. Army. He also subsequently joined Crosby Laboratories (Mr. M.G. Crosby was an eminent FM and general communications researcher) and since then Mr. Kahn has served as president of Kahn Research Laboratories and KCI. Mr. Kahn was the 1980 recipient of the Armstrong Medal. In 1989, he was the first recipient of the Poppele Broadcast award of the Radio Club of America. In 1992 received the IEEE Wheeler Award for his communications work and specifically Airfone. John Berryhill 1601 Market St., Suite 720, Philadelphia PA 19103 ------------------------------ From: Dr. John Berryhill Subject: Re: True Voice Re-Exam - Some Additional Comments Date: 30 Jul 1994 03:39:10 GMT In article wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) writes: > The only part of this patent that might be the "invention" is doing an > equalizer on the audio signal, all in the digital domain. That is, > taking digitized phone audio, and doing digital filtering on it to > boost the lows, and it stays digital until it gets near the called > party's exchange. And do this in a phone switch. If you read _Digital Telephony_ by Bellamy, you'll find that performing digital filtering in a switching system has been a known idea for a very long time. The way one determines what is the "invention" of a patent is to read the claims. Each claim of a patent is supposed to precisely define that which is considered to be novel and non-obvious, and that to which the owner claims the exclusive rights conferred by the patent. According to claims 24 of the Bowker patent, we are supposed to believe that this was an invention in 1989: 24. A method for use in a telecommunications system comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between first and second telephone station sets, in which each of said first and second telephone station sets is arranged to convert speech into audio signals and to then transmit said audio signals over said connection, and responding to receipt from one of said station sets said audio signals by increasing the amplitude of those of said received audio signals in the bass range relative to the remaining range of said received audio signals and then supplying said audio signals to said connection for delivery to the other one of said station sets. Connect two phones. Boost the bass. That is, in essence, what is being claimed amidst all of the verbiage. And the boost is >relative<. In other words, ordinary high-frequency attenuation between Alexander Graham Bell and Mr. Watson performed the method of this patent. John Berryhill 1601 Market St., Suite 720, Philadelphia PA 19103 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Jul 1994 12:50:23 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Cyberspace: First Steps" by Benedikt BKCYBRSP.RVW 940506 The MIT Press 55 Hayward Street Cambridge, MA 02142-1399 Robert V. Prior, Editor - Computer Science prior@mitvma.mit.edu Maureen Curtin, Int'l Promo. - curtin@mit.edu "Cyberspace: First Steps", Benedikt, 1991, 0-262-52177-6, U$18.95 benedikt@vitruvius.ar.utexas.edu William Gibson is generally credited with the invention of the term, "cyberspace," although I recall vague discussions of its prior use by others within the science fiction genre. No matter: Gibson's influence on the term holds primacy in the public mind. Thus, while seasoned Internauts tend to use the term as a rather rough shorthand for the access to information and communications that take place without regard for spatial proximity, the general populace holds a view which tightly couples the mythical Information Superhighway with Virtual Reality. This is a pity. While virtual reality holds promise both as a teaching tool and in studies of the human machine interface, its products still lie in the future. Computer-mediated communications, if one will accept some slight crudities, is here now and used by a signif- icant minority of the computer-using public. Still, there seems to be little point in trying to loosen the cyberspace/virtual reality binding, and this collection of papers promotes it. The first of the essays of the book proper, third in the table of contents, is an anthropological study of rites and symbols as means of communications and group identity. One is rather suspicious of a paper which relies primarily for source material on a couple of science fiction books. (Carelessly read, too. Tomas states that security programs "periodically mutate into independent creative entities" in Gibson's work. This happened once in the works cited, although it is also alluded to in "The Difference Engine.") In reality, there are very few culturally agreed graphical representations of data, let alone meaning. Since we are using science fiction as sources, I refer you to the galactic works of David Brin, where characters experience the data of the Library as *meaningless* graphics, and must build referents to guide themselves therein. I also find very few "rites of passage" in the Interact community. Tomas' view of "jacking in" and out of cyberspace as ritual is also unconvincing: just this week, I changed network access to my major Internet contact point and it has not made any appreciable difference to the process, once I've logged on. The fourth paper is an enthusiastic and subjective view of virtual reality as utopia. This cyberspace siren song is completely uncritical, and reminds one of the recent article which stated that to appreciate virtual reality it was only necessary to fail to grasp reality, itself. I suspect the author doesn't fully grasp the irony in the fact that she starts off by comparing computer animation with the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. Heim's paper, fifth in the series, starts out by asking significant questions about the nature of representations in virtual reality, and even touches, at one point, on computer ethics. Unfortunately, again using a single novel as a source, he confuses erotic passages in a fictional work with substantive characteristics of VR entities. In "Will the Real Body Please Stand Up," Stone raises some provoking and often frightening questions about the psychological relation of the user to the system, and of the capacity humans have for denying reality. Benedikt's "Proposals" propose no less than the "laws of physics" for cyberspace, itself, They are well thought out and psychologically sound, forgetting only one factor: his proposals severely limit the usefulness of virtual reality for universal data representation, and ignore the multi- logical, non-spatial relationships of data. The next (eighth) paper essentially proposes to do the same thing, but slightly differently, and in far less detail. Wexelblat's contribution briefly addresses the multi-logical nature of data under the term, "semantic spaces." It is difficult, however, to relate it to the previous items, given the radical shift from the language of poetry to that of mathematics. One of the most interesting papers is a report on Habitat, Lacasfilm's attempt at a multi-user virtual reality system. Intriguingly, given the book's disregard of real networks in favour of VR explorations, the essential lesson here is that the personal interactions define the space much more thoroughly than any technical advances. Papers eleven to thirteen give some starting ideas on technical aspects of cyberspace. These are conceptual in nature, rather than detailed. Essay fourteen is a typical "day in the life" article on the use of cyberspace in a corporate environment. Fifteen is similar, but concentrates on recreation and education. Although the lack of familiarity with the realities of technology contributes to some unrealistic views and proposals, a number of the essays prompt questions about the nature of virtual reality, and would be good discussion starters. This would likely be useful as an adjunct text in a course on virtual reality or user interface studies. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKCYBRSP.RVW 940506. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 07:55:01 -0400 Subject: Re: Equipment For IVR (Phone Menus) From: Paul A. Lee Organization: Woolworth Corporation In {TELECOM Digest} Volume 14 Issue 332, Hugh Fader wrote (in part): > I am working on a project ... that involves Interactive Voice Response... > The system must process ~100 calls simultaneously. It will be connected to > a mainframe computer. > Can anybody out there give me an idea of the equipment, software, and money > that would be required to implement one of these systems? First of all, there are two different approaches available, each of which has its benefits and pitfalls. You can use a large, proprietary, turnkey system, such as those by Octel, AT&T (Conversant), Periphonics, and several other firms. Or, you can use a system based on networked "generic" (PC box) hardware. Either of these systems can be used with or without a PBX in front of it, depending on traffic and use considerations. The PC-based systems can be bought at various levels of integration, from a complete turnkey system, down to buying hardware components and development software and building the hardware and software systems in house. The hardware components, in general terms, are: - Telephone trunk port (if IVR sits behind a PBX) -- 1 per call port - Telephone station port (if IVR sits behind a PBX) -- 1 per call port - PBX switching, signal handling, and port base (if IVR sits behind a PBX) -- sized to support the trunk and station ports required - Analog Voice port interface -- 1 per 4 call ports -OR- - Digital Voice port interface -- 1 per 24 call ports (typical T1) - IVR speech recognition channel -- 1 per 4 to 12 call ports, depending on degree of SR processing done, or none if all DTMF input - IVR processing platform -- 1 per 24 to 1200 call ports, depending upon the hardware, the software, and the application complexity - Host interface port -- 1 per 1 to 120 call ports, depending upon the host hardware and software, and upon the IVR application - Host computer communications port -- 1 per 1 to 120 call ports (1 for each host interface port), depending upon host computer capabilities The software required, in general terms: - PBX operating software to support the trunk/station size required to frontend the IVR system (if IVR sits behind a PBX) - Voice port driver or I/O software (buy) - IVR/voice processing operating system software (buy) - IVR development system (buy, if building your own system) - IVR application development software (buy, if building your own application) - IVR application software (buy or build) - IVR speech recognition software (buy) - IVR speech synthesis control software (buy, if using text-to-speech) - IVR management software (buy or buy/customize) - IVR to host communication software (buy or buy/customize) - IVR communications drivers (buy) - Host communications access software (buy) - Host communications message software (buy, buy/customize, or build) - Host application environment (buy, if not already present) - Host application software (buy, buy/customize, build, or customize) The costs will vary depending upon the application, the host environment, the IVR platform chosen, and the method of implementation. To get a rough idea, start with the following for the ~100 port range: For a proprietary turnkey IVR system: - IVR system platform hardware $ 20,000 - IVR system software 25,000 - IVR port hardware/software 2,400 per port - IVR speech recognition 3,000 per channel - IVR host communications 3,000 per port - IVR application development 35,000 Rough estimate for 96 port system with speech $400,000 For a PC-based IVR development system, built in house: - IVR system platform hardware $ 22,000 - IVR system software 12,000 - IVR port hardware/software 800 per port - IVR speech recognition 1,200 per channel - IVR host communications 1,700 per port - Development system hardware/software 15,000 - Networking hardware/software 10,000 Rough estimate for 96 port system with speech $250,000 EXCLUDING application development costs This list is just off the top of my head. Your results may vary. Paul A. Lee Voice 414 357-1409 Telecommunications Analyst FAX 414 357-1450 Woolworth Corporation CompuServe 70353,566 INTERNET <=PREFERRED ADDRESS* ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #341 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26955; 31 Jul 94 16:37 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09165; Sun, 31 Jul 94 12:52:04 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09156; Sun, 31 Jul 94 12:52:02 CDT Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 12:52:02 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9407311752.AA09156@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #342 TELECOM Digest Sun, 31 Jul 94 12:52:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 342 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NPA Readiness for 1995 (Greg Monti) "4A" Switches (Brent Geery) "Post-Pay" Payphone System (Brent Geery) HiPPI Switch Vendors Needed! (Scott D. Thomas) Envoy 100 Addressing (Lionel Keeping) Re: California vs Caller-ID (bkron@netcom.com) Re: California vs Caller-ID (Steven H. Lichter) Re: California vs Caller-ID (Lauren Weinstein) Re: Longest Time on Hold? (Ry Jones) Re: Longest Time on Hold? (Stan Schwartz) Re: Longest Time on Hold? (Thomas Lapp) Re: Longest Time on Hold? (Kevin Kadow) Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges (bkron@netcom.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 30 Jul 1994 19:11:37 EDT From: Greg Monti Subject: NPA Readiness for 1995 North America's Countdown to NPA Interchangeability in 1995 Interchangeable Codes Day is Sunday, January 15, 1995. For purposes of this table, "toll calls" are calls that are *individually itemized* on your local or long distance company phone bill. "Message unit" or "Zone Unit Measurement" or "Extended Area" calls are not individually itemized on bills and I don't consider them "toll" even though they cost something over and above local service. If the local telco doesn't force you to dial them differently, and doesn't bill them individually, then they are treating them like local calls and so will I. Premium calls like 976 are mentioned if I know about them. Otherwise, consider this table to be unreliable as to 976, etc., calls. The "Ready for 1/95" column states whether the NPA has eliminated a dialing plan that won't work once NPAs 249?, 281, 334, 360, 520, 562, 630, 931?, 941, 954 come on line. Abbreviations 1+10D or 1+10 mean toll calls within the area code will be dialed with a 1 followed by all 10 digits. Abbreviations 7D or 7 mean toll calls within the area code will be dialed with just 7 digits and will not have a "toll alerting" indicator. "Within an area code" means just that, and has nothing to do with LATAs, or with the number of telephone companies necessary to complete the call. A LATA can be equal to, smaller than, or larger than an area code. A LATA can be equal to, smaller than, or larger than your local calling area. Key: No 1995 plan announced = no. New plan announced, don't know if implemented = yes. New plan announced, definitely not implemented or permitted = no. New plan now implemented, but not mandatory; old one still permitted = yes. New plan now implemented and is mandatory = yes. Toll calls within NPA Ready State dialed for NPA Prov as 1/95? Notes 201 NJ 7 yes 202 DC n/a yes there are no toll calls within 202 203 CT 1+10 yes per Digest posting per cmoore@arl.mil; 1+10D permitted 2/28/94 per Bellcore 204 MB 1+10 yes 1+10D to be mandatory 9/94 205 AL 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 1990 206 WA 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1991, mandatory 1992 207 ME 7 yes 7D announced 1992 208 ID 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993 all US West states 209 CA 7 yes 210 TX 1+10 yes has always been 1+10D toll 212 NY n/a yes there are no toll calls within 212, 540 & 976 premium services are 7D 213 CA 7 yes has always been 7D for toll 214 TX 1+10 yes 215 PA 7 yes "no 1" campaign ran in 1992, when 1+7D eliminated 216 OH 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 1/1/95 217 IL 7 yes Urbana book mentions "10D" without "1", which won't work unless local calls within 217 are also 10D; later Bellcore source says 7D, which I consider more reliable 218 MN 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 12/93, mandatory late 1994 219 IN 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 8/93 301 MD 1+10 yes 302 DE 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 4/1/94, mandatory 1/7/95 303 CO 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993, mandatory 2/27/94 304 WV 7 yes 7D mandatory 10/1/94 per cmoore@arl.mil local calls to outside 304 will be 1+10D 305 FL 1+10 yes 1+10D announced early 93 306 SK 1+10 yes 1+10D to be mandatory 9/94 307 WY 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993 all US West states 308 NE 1+10 yes 1+10D announced for all US West states 12/93 309 IL 7 yes per Bellcore source from varney@uscbu.att.com 310 CA 7 yes 312 IL n/a yes there are no toll calls within 312 313 MI 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993 (was to be 7D) 314 MO 1+10 yes 1+10D permissive 7/94 per Bellcore 315 NY 7 yes per Bellcore source from varney@uscbu.att.com; PSC may ask telcos to provide option for mandatory 1+10D at subscriber's request 316 KS 1+10 yes 1+10D permissive 7/94 per Bellcore 317 IN 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 8/93, mandatory 12/1/93 318 LA 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 9/4/93; mandatory 4/2/94 319 IA 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 12/93 all US West states 401 RI 1+10 yes 7D announced 1992, but 1+10D announced 1/94 to become mandatory 402 NE 1+10 yes 1+10D announced for all US West states 12/93; Lincoln Tel portion 1+10D mandatory late 94 403 AB NT YT1+10 yes 1+10D to be mandatory 9/94 404 GA 1+10 yes 1+10D implemented 1989 405 OK 1+10 yes 1+10D permissive 7/94 per Bellcore 406 MT 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993 all US West states 407 FL 1+10 yes 1+10D announced early 93 408 CA 7 yes inter-NPA calls were limited to 10D, without 1+; 1+10D permitted 10/11/93; mandatory 10/10/94 409 TX 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 410 MD 1+10 yes 412 PA 7 yes not sure if 7D announced 9/93 later Bellcore source from alan.leon.varney @att.com says 7D; comfirmed by 11/93 letter 413 MA 1+10 yes originally to be 7D; Mass DPU was thought to have ordered 1+10D in 10/93, but J. Covert reports no such order exists; bill stuffer reported here confirms 1+10 is correct; was mandatory 6/1/94 or 6/24/94 414 WI 1+10 yes 415 CA 7 yes has always been 7D toll 416 ON 1+10 yes there are no toll calls within 416 except 976, which are dialed 1 416 976-XXXX 417 MO 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 418 QC 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 10/93 419 OH 1+10D yes 1+10D mandatory 1/1/95 501 AR 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 502 KY 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 9/4/93; mandatory 4/2/94 503 OR 1+10 yes 1+10D announced mid 1992 504 LA 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 9/4/93; mandatory 4/2/94 505 NM 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993 all US West states 506 NB 1+10 yes 1+10D to be mandatory 9/94 507 MN 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 12/93, mandatory late 1994 508 MA 1+10 yes see note under 413; mandatory 9/94 509 WA 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 5/15/94, mandatory 9/17/94 510 CA 7 yes has always been 7D for toll 512 TX 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1991 513 OH 1+10D yes 1+10D mandatory 1/1/95 514 QC 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 10/93 515 IA 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993 all US West states 516 NY 7 yes inter-NPA calls to be forced to 1+10D on 9/24/94 540 & 976 premium services are 7D 517 MI 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 5/1/94 518 NY 7 yes per Bellcore source from varney@uscbu.att.com; PSC may ask telcos to provide option for mandatory 1+10D at subscriber's request 519 ON 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 10/93 601 MS 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 12/93 602 AZ 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 1990 603 NH 7 yes 7D announced 1992; but per-line blocking to be available to subs who don't want 7D toll; they will be forced to dial 1+10D 604 BC NT AK1+10 yes 1+10D intra-NPA toll to be mandatory 9/94; Hyder, AK, is in 604 per previous postings here 605 SD 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 12/93 606 KY 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 9/4/93; mandatory 4/2/94 607 NY 7 yes per Bellcore source from varney@uscbu.att.com; PSC may ask telcos to provide option for mandatory 1+10D at subscriber's request 608 WI 1+10 yes 609 NJ 7 yes 1+7 disallowed beginning 9/93 per bill stuffer 610 PA 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 12/93 (was to inherit 7D from 215) or is it still 7D? any news? 612 MN 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 12/93, mandatory late 1994 613 ON 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 10/93 614 OH 1+10D yes 1+10D mandatory 1/1/95 615 TN 1+10 yes 1+10D posted on pay phones 9/93 616 MI 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 5/1/94 617 MA 1+10 yes see note under 413; mandatory 9/94 618 IL 7 yes per Bellcore source from varney@uscbu.att.com 619 CA 7 yes 7D toll announced 9/93 701 ND 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 12/93 702 NV 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 703 VA 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 1987 704 NC 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 1990 705 ON 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 10/93 706 GA 1+10 yes inherited 1+10D from 404 707 CA 7 yes 7D announced 10/93 708 IL n/a yes there are no toll calls within 708 709 NF 1+10 yes 1+10D to be mandatory 9/94 712 IA 1+10 yes 1+10D announced for all US West states 12/93 713 TX 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 12/7/91 714 CA 7 yes 7D toll began in early 1980s 715 WI 1+10 yes 716 NY 7 yes Rochester LATA, per Telecom Digest 787; NYNEX portion may be 1+10D; matches Bellcore source from varney@ uscbu.att.com; PSC may ask telcos to provide option for mandatory 1+10D at subscriber's request 717 PA 7 yes 7D announced 11/93 718 NY n/a yes there are no toll calls within 718, 540 & 976 premium services are 7D 719 CO 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993, mandatory 2/27/94 801 UT 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 1993 all US West states 802 VT 1+10 yes 7D announced 1992; but 1+10D announced 2/94 to become mandatory 803 SC 1+10 yes 1+10D posted on pay phones 9/93 804 VA 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 5/18/94; mandatory 11/16/94 805 CA 7 yes 1+7D still allowed in Pac Bell portion, for now 806 TX 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 807 ON 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 10/93 808 HI 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 6/19/94 per Bellcore 809 Caribb 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 1/9/95; one exception: St. Vincent, Turks & Caicos = 01+10D; 810 MI 1+10 yes 812 IN 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 8/93 813 FL 1+10 yes 1+10D announced early 93 814 PA 7 yes not sure if 7D announced 9/93 later Bellcore source from alan.leon.varney@ att.com says 7D 815 IL 7 yes per Bellcore source from varney@uscbu.att.com 816 MO 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 817 TX 1+10 yes 1+10D currently mandatory 818 CA 7 yes has always been 7D toll 819 QC NT 1+10 yes 1+10D announced 10/93 901 TN 1+10 yes 1+10D posted on pay phones 9/93 902 NS PE 1+10 yes 1+10D to be mandatory 9/94 903 TX 1+10 yes has always been 1+10D toll 904 FL 1+10 yes 1+10D announced early 93 905 ON 1+10 yes has always been 1+10D toll 906 MI 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 2/1/94 per Bellcore 907 AK 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted now; mandatory 1/1/95 908 NJ 7 yes has always been 7D toll 909 CA 7 yes 910 NC 1+10 yes 912 GA 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 8/92 913 KS 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 914 NY 7 yes inter-NPA calls to be forced to 1+10D on 9/24/94 540 & 976 premium services are 7D 915 TX 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 916 CA 7 yes 7D announced 9/93 917 NY n/a yes there are no toll calls within 917; however, since all outbound calls from 917 are cellular, there is a premium airtime charge on most of them 918 OK 1+10 yes 1+10D permitted 7/94 per Bellcore 919 NC 1+10 yes 1+10D mandatory 1990 143 Total NANP NPAs 143 NPAs ready for 1995 0 NPAs not ready for 1995 33 ready NPAs using 7D solution so far 104 ready NPAs using 1+10D solution so far 6 ready NPAs not requiring a solution (no intra-NPA tolls) 0 non-ready NPAs using 7D but still 10D for inter-NPA 0 non-ready NPAs still using 1+7D And I thought this was going to stretch all the way to January ... Corrections are welcomed. Mail to me, I'll re-post summary. Thanks to Ala.Leon.Varney@att.com for providing the new Bellcore updates. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org ------------------------------ Subject: "4A" Switches From: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) Date: 31 Jul 94 01:10:00 GMT Organization: The Continuum - South Pasadena, CA - 818-441-2625 Reply-To: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) Does anyone (Pat?) know in what areas Bell still uses the old 4A switches? Anyone have a list of the exchanges that have yet to be upgraded? Just wondering. BRENT The Continuum -*- South Pasadena, California (818) 441-2625 for 9600 and faster (818) 799-9633 for 2400 and slower ------------------------------ Subject: "Post-Pay" Payphone System From: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) Date: 31 Jul 94 01:26:00 GMT Organization: The Continuum - South Pasadena, CA - 818-441-2625 Reply-To: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) A few years back, I used to hear about a system that was supposed to be in use throughout Canada and the rural U.S. It was described as the "Post-Pay" payphone system. It worked by letting you dial and connect with your party FIRST. It then asked you to deposit your money. You could hear the other party, but the phone cut off your mouthpiece until you gave it your change. That's how it was explained to me anyways ... I was wondering if these this are still in use anywhere, and if so where? I haven't seen one of these myself, but when I was first told about them, I was told they were the 'latest-thing' with the independent payphone companies (because the phone does the billing - not the company) and were spreading all over the place. Any help would be appreciated. The Continuum -*- South Pasadena, California (818) 441-2625 for 9600 and faster (818) 799-9633 for 2400 and slower [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, there is nothing new about payphones like this; they have been around for years and tend to be in places where for whatever reason telco finds it difficult to return coins deposited in the phone in the event of no answer/busy. Quite a few of the early COCOTs used this method also. They found out they were getting ripped off a lot by people using them for calls where only a *one sided conversation* had to take place, such as recorded weather information, etc. I mean, in those cases, who cared if the mouthpiece opened or not. Ditto the prank callers who just wanted to make someone's phone ring and give them dead silence when they answered, etc. Even when used legitimatly, those phones are a nuisance since half the time the caller does not have his coins ready for deposit and the called party is left hanging with no one (that they can tell) on the line. As luck would have it, I used one of those once and by the time I got my money inserted the called party had said 'hello' twice, taken it to be a lewd call and disconnected, just a second or two after my money went in the box. I admit it was my own slowness in getting the money inserted. Still it was annoying to have the called party ring off since when I hung up to redial of course my money dropped in the box anyway. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 00:28:10 GMT From: sthomas@mitchell.hac.com (Scott D. Thomas) Subject: HiPPI Switch Vendors Needed! Organization: Hughes Aircraft Company I'm on a tight schedule, and need to find out who offers a HiPPI switch. If you know of any sources, please email me. thanks in advance. Scott Thomas Hughes Information Technology Corp. e-mail: sthomas@mitchell.hitc.com phone: (703) 759-1382 fax: (703) 438-8430 ------------------------------ From: lkeeping@random.ucs.mun.ca (Lionel Keeping) Subject: Envoy 100 Addressing Date: 30 Jul 1994 03:28:11 GMT Organization: Memorial University of Newfoundland [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The text of this message was lost in processing; I cannot recover it. I believe Mr. Keeping wants assistance with Envoy 100 addressing. If anyone wants to help him, please write him direct. PAT] (His signature got through okay.) Lionel Keeping Internet: lkeeping@random.ucs.mun.ca Corner Brook, NF Packet : VO1LMK@VO1RZ.NF.CAN.NOAM Canada "A Newfie's a Newfie wherever he goes" - Simani ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (Kronos) Subject: Re: California vs Caller-ID Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 08:09:43 GMT antonio@qualcomm.com (Franklin Antonio) writes: > Are Californians going to get Caller-ID in my lifetime? Actually, California did have Caller-ID a couple of years ago and, according to a Pacific Bell employee I spoke to around then, they withdrew it because word got out as to how many people had line blocking. Now you know why whenever you see an article about Caller-ID in a newspaper, the telco employee always "won't reveal those statistics" when referring to line block numbers. It seems Caller-ID is one of those things everyone wants to use, but nobody wants to participate in. Here in Washington State, the Domino's just put in their Caller-ID and they tell me virtually all of their calls are from blocked phones. Everyone I know has a line block -- even those who sign up for the receiving end of the service! Kind of like a landfill! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was amused a year ago when I was doing that Digital Detective project how many people did everything they could to avoid any sort of reference to themselves ... yet they were more than willing -- and quite eager -- to spy on others. The fact that people who use Caller-ID the most deny others the information on themselves is not anything new. PAT] ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: California vs Caller-ID Date: 31 Jul 1994 17:37:07 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) Franklin Antonio writes about Caller-ID: > I live in California. My friends in other states have Caller-ID, but > I do not. I have not followed the regulatory battle over Caller-ID. > I remember seeing stories on it many months ago. I figured people > would argue, and things would get settled, and Caller-ID would > eventually be available to Californians. It seems that the PUC has taken issue with the FCC and has taken the whole thing to court in order to get the new regulations overruled by the court. To me this seems like the persons who are supposed to be acting in the interest of the people acting as if we don't know anything and or we work for them. Or worse, acting to help the creeps that seem to pop up once in a while in the telemarketing business and try and sell people The Internet for $29.99 down and $29.99 for the rest of your life. I think the PUC have overstepped its bounds and should be put out of business since they have not done much to keep rates in anything they regulate within reason. The above statements have nothing to do with my employeer, so there!!! -=- Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS (909) 359-5338 12/24/96/14.4 V32/V42bis ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 10:04 PDT From: lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein) Subject: Re: California vs. Caller-ID From: antonio@qualcomm.com (Franklin Antonio) > I waited ... and nothing happened. What is the present state of > affairs? Are Californians going to get Caller-ID in my lifetime? Californians could get calling number ID right now if the telephone companies were willing to offer it under the terms the CPUC set forth -- free per-line blocking, education campaign, etc. Realizing that in a state where the majority of people have non-published lines the number who would request per-line blocking would be vast, they decided not to offer CNID services at this time. A recent FCC decision, which would take effect next year, would require that all telcos send calling number data on interstate calls, and mandates the availability of per-call blocking. It would also preempt the states where per-line blocking was mandated, effectively limiting blocking to per-call (there are complications regarding intrastate vs. interstate calls, but this simpler description is adequate for here). The result of this FCC decision has been an unprecedented negative reaction by state regulators. Several large states have filed lawsuits to try block the FCC preemption of their regulations and other states have also filed various requests for reconsideration to the FCC and V.P. Gore. (See the PRIVACY Forum archives [via FTP] on "ftp.vortex.com" for copies of some of these materials from the New York PSC.) The upshot of all this is that the ultimate status of the FCC ruling remains to be seen, and the war between per-call and per-line blocking (which is what this all now boils down to in many respects) has yet to be decided. --Lauren-- P.S. For information about the Internet PRIVACY Forum digest, please send a message with the line: information privacy as the first text in the BODY of a message (subject doesn't matter) to: privacy-request@vortex.com --LW-- ------------------------------ From: rjones@halcyon.halcyon.com (Ry Jones) Subject: Re: Longest Time on Hold? Date: 30 Jul 1994 21:40:12 GMT Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. > "Edison ... all representatives are busy. For normal business matters, > please call between ?? am and ?? pm Monday through Friday. To report a > service outage, please remain on the line. We are extremely busy at the > present time. Calls are answered in the order received. Estimated time > on hold will be (here the recording paused, as the computer figured out > who all was waiting, then a dismembered voice cut in) 'greater than ten ^^^^^^^^^^^--disembodied? :) > minutes'. Apparently between one and ten minutes they tell you in their > estimation how many minutes it will be. Above that, they just say it > will be 'greater than ten minutes'. I called Informix (a database vendor) with a problem once. I was put on hold for about 1/2 hour (on my dime, too!) hearing this voice cut in through horrid muzak every minute stating "We expect a wait of no longer than 5 minutes". When the tech answered, I let off some steam at being on hold with no human intervention for so long. He said, "It looks like you were only on hold for 3 minutes, sir". We eventually figured out that the people who tracked the on-hold status of callers decided a reasonable limit to hold times would be five minutes, and all hold-time calculations were based on (time on hold) mod 5 minutes. So every five minutes your clock reset. They pick up calls in the order of who has been on hold longest so ... you oscilate a lot. I want to know how that skewed the customer service response time statistics for them. And this from a major database company ... sheesh. rjones@halcyon.com OG+GOT; [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Chicago Transit Authority is notorious for long holding times on their information line as is Greyhound. CTA gets 8000-10,000 calls per 24 hours asking about busses and trains. They are blunt in their opening recorded greeting: "Please! Have a pencil and paper ready when we answer. Be prepared to tell us where you are located now, where you wish to go and when you wish to travel. Please do not hang up and redial, you will simply go to the back of the line and wait even longer!" Apparently -- and this is discourteous to other callers -- some people actually call them, have them look up the information and *then* say 'well please wait while I go find something to write with and some paper'. And there are a large number of callers who are only 'shopping'; that is they call and one agent tells them one schedule. They don't like that one and call again so that another agent will tell them something else. Then they can claim 'well when I called a few minutes ago someone told me something else' ... never mind that they probably phrased their question differently the first time which accounts for the different answer. A certain number are what the Transit Authority phone room calls 'hoppers'. That is, they dial and when they get the recording they hang up and dial back. They may do this several times, during what would have been overall a two or three minute connection in total (holding time plus discussion time) into half an hour .. then *they* call or write the general office to complain that they tried to get information but 'could not get waited on by anyone; they ignored me and left me holding ...'. Try telling these folks that immediatly when they hang up their place in the line is going to be seized by someone else; they have no conception of what you are talking about. Transit Authority used to be notorious, with holding times of ten to fifteen minutes; lately it has been much, much better. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: Longest Time on Hold? Date: 30 Jul 1994 20:00:09 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC ARTHUR%MPA15C@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM wrote: > Pat, the tribulations of being stuck on hold came up on our internal > corporate E Mail network, and I submitted the following as part of the > thread. It was suggested to me that this might be a weird enough > story to be of interest to TELECOM Digest readers, perhaps sparking a > round of one-upsmanship. OK, here's my "Hold" story: A few years ago, before TicketMaster owned all the ticket outlets in the free world, tickets for Jones Beach concerts were handled by Teletron, the phone division of Ticketron (remember them?). Jones Beach has a series of about 20 to 30 concerts every summer, ranging from Barry Manilow to Van Halen, and tickets for all the concerts go on sale on the same Saturday in May every year. I called Teletron the night before, just to verify when the phones would open in the morning. I got the "We're closed for the evening" recording, but I was on the speaker and busy on the computer so I didn't hang up right away. The call, instead of hanging up, dropped into the hold queue. I got "All representatives are busy..." and music. This was at 10:30pm, when tickets were to go on sale at 9am the next day. It was a local call, so I played the "What ime, and left the phone off hook all night. I went back to the phone at 8:45 the next morning, and I was still on hold! I waited it out, and at 9:00:01, Teletron answered and was more than happy to sell me second row tickets for my parents to see Frank Sinatra. Geez, it's too bad they closed that phone room down! ;-) Stan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 10:41:23 EDT From: Thomas Lapp Subject: Re: Longest Time on Hold? > Pat, the tribulations of being stuck on hold came up on our internal > corporate E Mail network, and I submitted the following as part of the > thread. It was suggested to me that this might be a weird enough > story to be of interest to TELECOM Digest readers, perhaps sparking a > round of one-upsmanship. If Carl Moore hasn't submitted it yet, I'll bite on this one. The Friday edition of the Wilmington, DE {News-Journal} had a front page article of a lady complaining that repeated calls to the local IRS office were always busy. When she contacted an operator to see if the line was defective, she was told that it was all quiet -- ie. on hold. The lady claimed that that it had been on hold for about a month. The article goes on to interview people associated with the IRS who say that it wasn't true, and they could get through when they tried, so I will call this an unsubstantiated record. tom internet : mvac23!thomas@udel.edu or thomas%mvac23@udel.edu (home) : lapp@cdcmvx.dnet.dupont.com (work) OSI : C=US/A=MCI/S=LAPP/D=ID=4398613 uucp : {ucbvax,mcvax,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas Location : Newark, DE, USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hey, try sometime calling Greyhound in Chicago and *ever* getting them to answer the phone, period. The station here in Skokie gets a huge overflow of phone calls from all over the Chicago area from people trying to get bus schedule and fare information. The explanation is always the same: I've tried for two days to reach the national 800 number without success and can't reach the Chicago station either. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Jul 94 22:29 CDT From: kadokev@ripco.com (Kevin Kadow) Subject: Re: Longest Time on Hold? Re the squirrel story ... Thanks for the laugh. I have a serious dislike for Chicago rodents in general. Lately skunks have been the most trouble though. My house is now on the fourth drop wire (phone line) in five years, all due to squirrel damage. Too bad there's not enough current in there to kill them, though the still have a short lifespan in my neighborhood ... ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (Kronos) Subject: Re: Fraudulent 800 Number Sex Line Charges Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 08:41:27 GMT cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) writes: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is one company in Florida I am >> aware of which will put you in business right away as a 900 Information >> Provider for $100. Actually, this is a scam. The fact that these numbers are widely advertised to the general public in infomercials is a reliable indicator that the money-making potential for this product has long-since past. Here's how this scam works: You "buy" a 900 number for, say, $99. Or even free, it doesn't matter. You think that all you have to do now is buy a new book of deposit slips. Hardly. They assign you your number with a program attached (psychic, horrorscope, or the euphemistic "dateline" which is nothing more than a collection of years-old messages or bogus ads recorded by hired talent). The agreement is usually something like this: The bureau you got the number from "charges" you around $1/minute for running the program and handling the accounting. Anything over that that you charge is "yours." Let's assume you charge $2/minute for this example. Now the bureau buys the network service usually from MCI for about .30/minute. That means they are guaranteed .70/minute profit for every minute you generate. However, your $1 part gets hit by the following deductions before you get it: Chargebacks (people who don't pay for their calls, as high as 50% for these program classifications, have the full retail value of their calls -- $2 minute -- charged against your proceeds), uncollectable holdback (now 10% of retail), and others things like excise tax and the like. Now your $1 is down to around 30 cents. This is your margin! To make money this way, you would have to absorb advertising expenses, which are exorbitant, and still have something left over. This is impossible. In order to generate enough volume to make any money, you would have to have the market to yourself. Look in any weekly newspaper and you'll see hundreds of postage-stamp-sized ads for these numbers placed by people who get caught up in this. What happens is that, before long, you've wiped out your savings and you "give up" the number, which the bureau quickly recycles to the next mark. Some disgusting twists: Some bureaus are now requiring that you place all advertising through their own "in-house" ad agency, meaning they get the 20% agency commission from the publisher. And recently I heard of a pyramid scheme where you are encouraged to get several numbers so you can re-sell them to your friends! There was a time when the 900-number business was like a money-printing machine. But that all changed years ago. The only money to be made in the business now is selling the 900 numbers, or being a telephone company of course. Unless you can advertise for free, its a guaranteed money loser for the starry-eyed would-be information provider. And the only people who can advertise for free are magazine and newspaper publishers (that's where you see those big full-page spreads for their own 900 lines), and broadcasters (those long informercials are run by companies either owned by the broadcaster or else in whom the broadcaster has a financial interest). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Generally what you say is true. I think there is still some money to be made in 900/976 hot chat, particularly to gay clientele in the USA. But that's about it unless you have a really good product otherwise and very low cost lines. I think you are almost better off to provide information via straight dialup lines and use some sort of credit card billing and/or cash in the mail (to have a user account set up in your name, etc. At least on those the rules are a lot different. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #342 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa17173; 1 Aug 94 18:41 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24096; Mon, 1 Aug 94 14:19:03 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24086; Mon, 1 Aug 94 14:19:01 CDT Date: Mon, 1 Aug 94 14:19:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408011919.AA24086@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #343 TELECOM Digest Mon, 1 Aug 94 14:19:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 343 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ZMODEM: Is CR@CR Obsolete? (Stephen Satchell) SLIPP Connection Wanted (Seth Lieberman) Use of Call Forwarding to Avoid Toll Charges (Javad Boroumand) 800 Number Disasters (Steve Kudlak) A Troubleshooting Puzzle (Jeff Stieglitz) Positions Available at University in New Zealand (geoff@waikato.ac.nz) Is This Schematic Right? (Brent Geery) Companies That Can Install VSAT's (Doug Gurich) Looking For Source of Repeaters (Glen Roberts) Recent Changes in Cellphone Billing (Dave O'Shea) Best Calling Card Rates? (Phil Calvert) Re: Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? (Jonathan Lundell) Re: Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? (draziw@netcom.com) Re: Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? (ted@ics.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ssatchell@BIX.com (ssatchell on BIX) Subject: ZMODEM: Is CR@CR Obsolete? Date: 1 Aug 94 16:09:26 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation caf@omen.COM (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) wrote elsewhere: [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Original message did not appear in the Digest; I never recieved a copy of it. PAT] > One of the features of ZMODEM is the protection of the sequence > CR @ CR which was used by the recently discontinued Telenet PC > Pursuit service. > Perhaps it is time to remove this particular feature. At this point I think you would be ill-advised to remove the protection. Granted, PC Pursuit is dead ... for now. There's nothing that says that there might be demand later. If you are going to change the protocol, it needs to be aware of TIA PN-2812. This project defines a means for controls in-band, and has its own escape sequences defined. All these sequences begin with the character decimal 25, hexidecimal 19, or Ctrl-Y. The cellular people have already incorporated this sequence into their standards, and TR-30.4 has an industry ballot out to make PN-2812 ANSI/TIA/EIA-617-1994. The good news is that the content of the sequences after the Ctrl-Y are all graphics, not control codes. This was to enhance the possibility of the sequences being able to go through 7-bit networks without running into uusual er unusual control sequences which might have bad effects. The in-band controls currently defined are: flow control, modem lead signalling such as DTR, DSR, DCD, SQ, RI, and BREAK handling. The intent is that any channel to a modem in which out-of-band signalling is not supported or that time relationships are not guaranteed can support all the known required functions, including old-style '302 escape processing. (Tidbit: PN-2812 includes two escape-in-data sequences: one for a single occurance of Ctrl-Y, and one for a pair of occurences of Ctrl-Y. This was done to prevent excessive stream expansion because of a series of Ctrl-Y characters.) Stephen Satchell, Satchell Evaluations, Incline Village, NV Testing modems for magazines and industry since 1984 ssatchell@bix.com, 70007.3351@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: j-lieberman@bio-3.bsd.uchicago.edu (Seth Lieberman) Subject: SLIPP Connection Wanted Organization: The University of Chicago Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 16:26:32 GMT I have a slip (or PPP) question that I was hoping someone could help me answer. Where I attend school there is only dial in service or direct connecitons from the lab. If I wanted to get a slip account how would I find out if it is offered in my area: Northfield, Minn. It is about 45 minutes south on the twin cities but a new area code: 507. I heard mention about SLIPP nad PPP and the thought of a direct connection even if only at 14.4 made me smile :). I also heard some mention about a leased line where it could be hooked up from my dorm to the computer lab and that it was a dedicated 56K line and cost about $400 a month (hopefully I'll get some people to share my costs). Thanks for any help you can give me. Please mail (or post). Seth Lieberman lieberms@mathcs.carleton.edu ------------------------------ From: Javad Boroumand Subject: Use of Call Forwarding to Avoid Toll Charges Date: 1 Aug 1994 14:46:06 GMT Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Is the use of Call Forwarding to avoid long distance charges illegal? Let's say from point X to point Y is long distance. This could either be long distance within a Bell company "Regional Calling Area" or it goes across LATA boundaries and involves a long distance carrier charges. Point Z is local to both X and Y (i.e., X-Z and Z-Y calls are local calls). We get Call Forwarding service for phone Z and have the number be forwarded to phone Y. Phone X calls Z, gets forwarded to Y without any toll charges. Here are our questions: 1. Is this illegal? There is no notice on the use of Call Forwarding anywhere in telephone company's ads, instructions, etc. specifying where this service should not be used. 2. Is there a technical limit in the number of times you can forward a call? Can the above scheme be done with multiple forwarding phones in between origination and destination (to achieve longer distances)? 3. Is Call Forwarding feature smart enough to realize that toll charges are being avoided and so it would charge a toll based on initial origin and final destination to the originator or the forwarding phones? Of course if this is the case, then the question of legality is irrelevant. Any answer (especially if it know-for-sure), idea or suggestion for further investigation is very much appreciated. Please email me your responds to javad@jacks.gsfc.nasa.gov Thanks, Javad [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is technically illegal since anything device or scheme which is used to avoid tolls is illegal. The apparent contradition here lies in the *intent* behind call forwarding as it was developed by telco. The *intent* is to make it convenient for a person to receive their calls wherever they may happen to be. The *intent* is not to provide alternatives to the existing toll rates. Unlike DDD versus WATS for example, or unlike measured service versus unmeasured service where the subscriber has the option of selecting the rate he will be billed for his call based on his own judgment as to the most economical way of setting up the service, call forwarding through local unmeasured hops is not intended as an alternative to WATS or DDD type billing. Therein lies the difference. If it so happens, by the merest coincidence, that it is convenient for you to receive calls intended for yourself at some alternative location and that location happens to be, when evaluated to the original caller a toll charge had the original caller dialed it direct, then my belief is you are within your rights to receive calls routed in that way. I believe however that to deliberatly structure your calling patterns in such a way as to *always* avoid tolls using call forwarding via local hops is in violation of the intent of the tariff, and thus the tariff itself. Bear in mind also that the costs involved in establishing a permanently forwarded number at some location in an effort to divert the call from toll will to a large extent negate any 'savings' you might expect otherwise. Forget for a moment the grey area of 'call-forwarding versus toll' and its questionable legality as an elective 'billing option' for subscribers. Let's assume it is legal. Unless all the interim connections are untimed, unmeasured local calls, there will be no savings, transparent or otherwise. It is very, very rare when any two or more local calls (or for that matter any two or more long distance calls) when their costs are added together are cheaper than a single call from one destination to another. If you have to actually pay for two of the local interim connections, then those charges are almost always greater than the 'long haul' charge had it been a single connection from start to finish. Unless you have absolutely untimed, 'free' local calling over a wide area, your scheme is probably doomed to fail, or at best break even. Now suppose you do have the *legitimate* option from telco of wide area local unmeasured calling; not many of us do anymore, but suppose you do. You still have some fixed expenses which have to be amortized, or justified each month. You have the initial installation costs. You have the monthly bill for service at the interim location, including the custom calling feature known as call forwarding. How much will that cost in your town? Let us say fifty dollars to install and ten dollars per month in this example. Now you also have to include the 'cost of goodwill' of the person upon whose premises you install the interim phone. Do you pay rent to an answering service to hang a phone on their wall which goes ignored by them all the time? Do you have a generous freind who lets you install it in his house, program the forwarding then remove the instrument leaving only the jack there? Are you certain he won't use the phone to make unwanted calls at your expense otherwise? If all these things work in your favor -- except telco of course, telco never works in your favor -- then you have a first year cost of maybe $200 at minimum for service, installation and whatnot, or about $18 per month. If you 'rent' the space for your interim phone then add a bit (!?!) more. Now do you propose that your calls from start to finish, had they been dialed direct in a straight-forward manner will exceed that by any worthwhile amount? See my point? Nothing comes 'free', not even unmeasured local service as a way to avoid tolls. At bare minimum, skin and bones cost for the permanently forwarded interim line, you need to make a certain amount of calls each month before it rolls in your favor. Add any interim expenses and the rollover point gets even higher. Unless you can get the cost per minute down to under 10-12 cents then forget it, because you can get an 800 number with prices in that range, and the legality of 800 as a way of receiving calls is unquestioned. Generally call-forwarding accepts one call only at a time unless you do battle with telco to get them to change the parameters. Why? Because of the *intention*. Call forwarding is *intended* as a convenient way to have *a phone call* reach you wherever you may be ... not as an alternative billing arrangement where a high volume of toll traffic is concerned. On the other hand, 800 is rarely restricted in this way. Generally calls to an 800 number are only limited by the capacity at the terminating end. You have ten lines in rotary hunt, you can get ten calls. This has come up here in the Digest several times in the past. I have always contended that there will never be a savings in cost, but then I am biased from living in an area where we pay five cents everytime the phone goes off hook for an outgoing local call. Others have written to offer rebuttal, and presented, IMO (look, no 'H'; that's because I don't give humble opinions) very peculiar traffic patterns where indeed, maybe under some circumstances a penny or two might be saved. Overall, forget call-forwarding as a way to chisel Ma Bell. Go with a very cheap, discounted 800 number from one of her several competitors. PAT] ------------------------------ From: chroma@armory.com (Steve Kudlak) Subject: 800 Number Disasters Organization: The Armory Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 12:59:19 GMT A friend in NYC has an 800 number. We are in the habit of conversing at odd odd hours of the day. Recenetly a curious and irtitating incident happened. My friend has had had this number thru SPRINT for ages. It is easy to remember. This AM I called this number and instead of getting my friend I got this other person. I apologized, assuming I had missed a digit or transposed something. The second time I tried and was much more careful and got the person again who was quite irate. I dialed a third time to try to ascertian what number was being pointed to. so I could have the matter corrected. I recieved a string of expletives that would wither any right thinking person. I tried to explain the this person that something was wrong and we should call SPRINT and have it fixed. My friend uses his number for business, and that it is a gross problem for him. Instead just more yelling and screaming. I called SPRINT and they said it was a cross-over, and they would look into it. This didn't fix the problem at all; they just acknowleged it. I called the AT&T repair service and lo and behold the probelm was fixed in about five or ten minutes, about the time it took to get clothed in day clothes and call the number again. Anyone have any idea what causes this, and how it is easiest to get fixed? Any way to prevent the problem in the future? Have Fun, Steve ------------------------------ From: jest@netcom.com (Jeff Stieglitz) Subject: A Troubleshooting Puzzle Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 22:03:52 GMT I humble myself before the altar of the telecom gods. I'm having an unusual problem that I believe to be related to routing within Southern Bell. Let me explain ... The application is rather simple -- I have 14 IBM AS/400 minicomputers across the country. Each one has an AT&T 800 number MasterLined on rotary into four IBM 5853 modems. About 350 field people dial in to these systems with IBM Thinkpads, and they transfer about 50k of data at 2400 bps. It's been working fine everywhere for two years -- except in Atlanta. When I started hearing complaints, I decided to check it out by dialing into Atlanta from my home base in Los Angeles. I transferred a few megabytes back and forth without incident. I did it many times. I then called AT&T, and they checked out their end and had Southern Bell "tone" the local lines. It all checked out, so I dismissed the complaints. Still, the users were crying. So, I had the modems swapped, then the cabling. I also rearranged the rotary. Even after all of this, the Atlanta locals complained they were still receiving transmission errors, but I could get in fine from LA. I was also confused by the nature of their complaints. They said they could download all day but they had problems with uploads. Eventually, some big boss calls my big boss, and I'm on a plane to Atlanta. The first thing I did in hotel room is try to connect to the Atlanta system. It errored out on uploads. I was scratching my head because I knew I could upload fine from LA. I then tried to upload data to the systems in Boston, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. No problems at all -- from my hotel room. The next day I went to the Atlanta office and had the same results. I could dial around the country, but I couldn't get a successful transfer to the Atlanta system. Even stranger was the nature of the failure. I could download files just fine. Uploading a numeric text file failed every time. Uploading a file full of the letter "A" worked. So, I can upload to the Atlanta system from all over the country, except Atlanta. And I can download data from Atlanta without incident. But when I try to upload at the pokey rate of 2400 bps it fails, but only for some files! Tracing the line on the AS/400 looks OK, but I'm using a package called PC/Support and it uses HDLC. Maybe the problem is timing related. And yes, I am kicking myself for not bringing a protocol analyzer. I left mine in Chicago the week before, where it's monitoring the line to trap an unrelated problem on a Unix box. Tracing on the AS/400 shows nothing, just that the session ends. I hooked up a null modem and it worked just fine. I wired my own jack from the wiring board, bypassing the AT&T Definity PBX completely, and still had the problem. I tried going through the PBX only -- extension to extension -- and that failed too. That had me really confused. At this point, I'm thinking inside wiring to the local loop, or some kind of odd-routing that induces a subtle, cumulative degradation. Maybe it has to do with repeated digital to analog conversions. So, telecom gods in netland, Why can I upload data from LA to Atlanta without error, but can't from Atlanta to Atlanta? Any ideas? Jeff Stieglitz jest@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One thing you obviously have no control over and have not been able to test is the route the data takes when it leaves your premises in Atlanta on its travels to wherever it goes. It most likely goes from your premises in Atlanta through one CO to a toll switch and then out around the country, but a different route when being transported locally in Atlanta. Are all of your complaining users in Atlanta served out of the same CO and same trunking between themselves and where your computers are located? Is the hotel where you stayed while testing this out in the same CO/trunking configuration? Try from another hotel somewhere else in Atlanta. If the problem was in the local loop then why wouldn't the users all over the country have the same problem ... they all use the same local loop and the same wiring in Atlanta regardless. Anything that happens should happen to *everyone* until you reach the point where the users go on their separate ways, which would be in a phone company central office somewhere. What if some central office in Atlanta where all your local Atlanta users (and yourself when you were in the hotel testing it) are situated has problems? You might begin by finding out the phone numbers your Atlanta users are calling from when they try to upload. All in the same CO? Deliberatly get yourself in a different CO (but still local in Atlanta) and try the transfer. If it works okay then, your trouble is definitly CO-based. I'd be willing to bet you anything its not the CO serving your office and computer there in trouble but some other local CO in Atlanta which does business with lots of your local users. The CO serving your office is fine; otherwise it would screw up when talking to the toll switch. Its when your local CO there hands the calls to some other local CO in Atlanta that the trouble commences in that second CO. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out that your complaining users all were on that CO as was the hotel where you stayed? ... Now, if you can pin that down and find what I am saying is correct about the CO-in-common everyone there seems to hang off of, you'll want to test at various times of day and night. Does the trouble always seem to occur mostly at night or mostly in the day, or when? If at night when traffic overall is less, the CO-in-common is handing the calls to the the CO at your office (or the other way around) time and again on the first couple of selected trunks. If the first or second trunk selected between the CO's is bad, your lucky local users are always going to land there, and always get messed up. Let's not worry about the local loop or the internal wiring for now; if they were bad everyone would be affected. Let's find out the phone numbers your users are on when they call the computer and look for commonalities there first. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 01 Aug 1994 11:10:14 +1200 From: GEOFF@waikato.ac.nz Subject: Positions Available at University in New Zealand Organization: University of Waikato Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Computer Science/Information Systems Applications are invited for two positions in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Outstanding candidates in all areas of Computer Science/Information Systems will be considered, but databases and networks and communications are of particular interest. Applicants should hold an advanced degree in Computer Science or Information Systems and must be committed to teaching and scholarly research. The Department of Computer Science has a complement of 28 academic and support staff and is one of the largest departments in the University. Its staff teach and conduct research in both Computer Science and Information Systems areas. There are 2500 student course enrolments, and majors are granted in five undergraduate degrees, 40 students are currently enrolled in graduate study at the masters and doctoral level in the Department. As well as large networked IBM PC and Macintosh teaching laboratories, departmental resources include SUN workstations, SGI Indy workstations, NeXTs, hardware and communications laboratories, a variety of Unix servers, and access to the University's VAX cluster. Internet access to email and networks is available. The University of Waikato is the fastest growing of the seven universities in New Zealand and currently has over 10,000 students. The campus and surrounding area are very attractive, bordering a pleasant rural district on the eastern edge of Hamilton, a modern city of 100,000. Climate is moderate ... the grass grows year round ... and social activities include fishing, sailing, hiking, skiing, golf, rugby, soccer, tennis and cricket. In short, the lifestyle and climate are unbeatable! The present salary ranges are as follows: Lecturer: $37,440 - $49,088 per annum, Senior Lecturer: $52,000 - $67,080 per annum, Associate Professor: $69,680 - $75,920 per annum. Enquiries of an academic nature may be made to the Chairperson of the Department, Dr Geoffrey Holmes, Email: geoff@waikato.ac.nz, telephone: 64-7-838-4528, fax: 64-7- 838-4155. Information on the method of application and conditions of appointment can be obtained from Personnel and Management Services, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand, telephone 64-7-838 4003, fax: 64-7-856-0135, Email: rgtywp4@ waikato.ac.nz (via internet). All applications quoting reference number A94/28 received by 9 September 1994 will be considered shortly thereafter. Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled. Places for appointees' children may be available in the creche run by the Campus Creche Society (Inc). Equal Opportunity is University policy. ------------------------------ Subject: Is This Schematic Right? From: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) Date: 31 Jul 94 21:17:00 GMT Organization: The Continuum - South Pasadena, CA - 818-441-2625 Reply-To: cntinuum!brent.geery@uplherc.upl.com (Brent Geery) I am planning on connecting my phone line to my modem line at home with the device below. This will allow me to call my home line #1 and get a dial tone and call out through my modem line. This allows me to call my local BBS, ect., even when they would not be local for the phone that I'm calling in from. (PS: As both lines are mine, there is nothing wrong with this.) I found a file with a schematic of a device that looks like it will work fine for my needs, the only thing is I can't make heads or tails of it. Below is the schematic as it is in the file can someone re-write it so I can understand it, and check for any errors?: 2 10K OHM Resistors 3 1.4K OHM Resistors 2 2N3904 Transistors 2 Photocells 2 Red LEDs (the more light the better)[jumbo, super brights? other colors?] Project Box that will not let light in red [and red stripped] and green [and green stripped] wire 1 :-PHOTOCELL--: : : : :BASE : 1 TTTTT NOTE: GREEN1, GREEN2, RED1,RED2 : +LED- TRANSISTOR are the points where the : TTTTT phone lines are connected. : : : : -I(-- : :COLLECTOR RED1--< >:--: :-------:-----GREEN2 -I(-- : ----------: <---Why the hell is this like this. : : This is also the part I am most 2 :-/+/+/-/+/+/-/+/+/-/+/+/ confused about how it's hooked LED 10K 10K 1.4K 1.4K up. It's not clear what they RESISTORES mean. 2 -PHOTOCELL----------------- : : :BASE : TTTTT : TRANSISTOR : TTTTT : : :EMITTER : GREEN1- --------------------------RED2 : : /+/+/ 1.4K Light from LED #1 must shine directly on the photocell #1. The one I made needed the top of the LEDs to touch the photocell for it to work. The same applies to PHOTOCELL #2 and LED #2. [Maybe 'span the gap' between the LED and the photocell with amuminum foil and then wrap both together with electrical tape.] The 1.4K resistor[s(?)] is veriable. The second part may be skipped if you choose. If the second part is skipped, it will still work but if someone picks the phone up they will hear a faint dial tone in the background. Now that you have built it, take two green wires of the same length strip the ends, twist two ends together and connect them to green1 and place a peice of tape on it with "LINE #1" writing on it. Continue the process with red1 only use red wire. Repeat with red2 and green2 but change to line #2. Well that's it. I hope you can help me understand it! Thank you. The Continuum -*- South Pasadena, California (818) 441-2625 for 9600 and faster (818) 799-9633 for 2400 and slower ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Aug 94 08:44:03 CST From: Doug_Gurich@fcircus.sat.tx.us (Doug Gurich) Subject: Companies That Can Install VSAT's We are looking for companies that have the authority and capability to install VSAT's in various international locations. We would like to initiate talks with such companies regarding future business opportunities. Our firm, GlobalCom International, is a systems integrator offering a wide variety of telecommunications services to the commerical and government sectors. ------------------------------ From: glr@ripco.com (Glen Roberts) Subject: Looking For a Source of Repeaters Organization: RCI, Chicago, IL Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 15:53:39 GMT I'm looking for a source for 24V4 repeaters. Glen L. Roberts, glr@rci.ripco.com ph: (708) 838-4478 ------------------------------ From: dos@spam.wdns.wiltel.com (Dave O'Shea) Subject: Recent Changes in Cellphone Billing Date: 1 Aug 1994 15:12:03 GMT Organization: WilTel Reply-To: dave_oshea@wiltel.com I've noticed that several of the carriers in this area (Metro NY/NJ) seem to be eliminating daily roaming charges on a nationwide basis. I'm happy to see this happen -- no more of the "if I push 'send', is it gonna cost me ten bucks?" worries. Anyone know if this change is taking place on a more widespread scale, and whether it's just a change in marketing, or a result of some technological change? My understanding was that many of the carriers were actually sending each other tapes full of roamer billing information -- if this changed, it could explain the move in billing. ------------------------------ From: calvert@eos.ncsu.edu (Phil Calvert) Subject: Best Calling Card Rates? Date: 31 Jul 1994 18:15:33 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway A few months ago I saw something on the net about a calling card called the "Orange Card". It supposedly has no surchage and fairly reasonable rates. Does it still exist? If so, how can I obtain info. on how to get one? I'd also like to hear about any other calling cards with no surcharge and exceptionally good rates. Please post any info. directly to the newsgroup, as I'm sure others will also be interested. Thanks, Phil Calvert calvert@eos.ncsu.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I used to be a sales representative for Orange Card, but I pretty much quit doing it and alot of the other telecom sidelines I had. Orange isn't a bad deal, but since I got my 800 number with outdial privileges on it for 15 cents per minute I have used that instead. That's an even better deal. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jlundell@opus.com (Jonathan Lundell) Subject: Re: Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 03:02:00 GMT In article , howard.ball@execnet.com (Howard Ball) wrote: > I am seeking a list of manufacturers of TWO-LINE 900Mhz cordless > phones. > The only such phone I've found so far is from Hello Direct of San > Jose, CA which offers the Tropez Platinum. (I never heard of Tropez). > Does anyone know of any others? I don't know directly, but I've noticed that Panasonic is pretty active with two-line phones, answering machines, and non-900 cordless phones. Jonathan Lundell jlundell@opus.com ------------------------------ From: draziw@netcom.com (Ryan) Subject: Re: Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? Organization: Netcom Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 02:25:09 GMT Howard Ball (howard.ball@execnet.com) wrote: > I am seeking a list of manufacturers of TWO-LINE 900Mhz cordless > phones. > The only such phone I've found so far is from Hello Direct of San > Jose, CA which offers the Tropez Platinum. (I never heard of Tropez). Uniden makes one. It's the "Uniden 9200 Cordless Extend-A-Phone". Ryan ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Who Makes Two Line 900Mhz Cordless Phones? Date: Mon, 01 Aug 94 11:46:27 -0400 From: ted@ics.com > Does anyone know of any others? Uniden EXP9200. I think it was $379 at Comp USA. Comp USA is discontinuing their phone line (no pun intended) and had some pretty good closeout deals on phones. Quantities were limited. I bought a Bell South 756BK for $99 but I had to have it shipped from Rhode Island to my home in MA. The Panasonic 3980 was $139, also a very good price. Both of these are two line cordless, not 900MHz. Ted ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #343 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa17882; 5 Aug 94 15:05 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06227; Fri, 5 Aug 94 11:18:08 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06209; Fri, 5 Aug 94 11:18:03 CDT Date: Fri, 5 Aug 94 11:18:03 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408051618.AA06209@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #344 TELECOM Digest Fri, 5 Aug 94 11:18:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 344 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson July in China (Cedric Hui) San Carlos/Smart Valley. (Brian Moura) Bell Atlantic Directory Service (Phillip Dampier) Sammons/Bell Atlantic End Talks (Phillip Dampier) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: chui@netcom.com (Cedric Hui) Subject: July in China Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 1994 07:34:52 GMT July's telecom news from China: * China launches key Pan-Asian Telecom Satellite China launched the US made Apstar-1 telecommunications satellite atop a Long March 3 rocket, broadcasting the fiery lift-off live to an international television audience. The Apstar-1, owned by the China -controlled APT Satellite consortium in Hong Kong, has contracts to carry television signals for many major Western media giants, opening up conveted access to Asia's huge and growing broadcast market. The US Turner Broadcasting System Inc plans to beam its Cable News Network (CNN) programming over one of Apstar's 24 transponders. Other ambitious broadcast schemes using the satellite are also in the works at ESPN Asia, HBO Asia, Discovery Communications, Viacom Networks, Reuters Television, Hong Kong's TVB, Australia's Channel 9 and Taiwan's Po Hsin. And a Chinese state concern is believed to have leased 8 transponders, possibly to relay telephone calls or state television broadcasts. Apstar-1, a HS 376 satellite was built by Hughes Aircraft of the United States. * The APT satellite has raised some eyebrows. Apstar-1's position at longitude 131 degrees east will put it nearer to existing satellites than industry rules of thumb suggest are advisable. While APT said it did not forsee any problems, US-Russian venture Rimsat Ltd, whose Rimsat-1 sits at 130 degrees east, disagreed. Japanese officials accused China of violating global rules with the launch of a communications satellite and threated to take countermeasures. Japan had placed its satellite Sakura 3a used by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone at 132 degrees east eariler than China. Satellite operators must register their position with the International Telecommunications Union, but it is up to the governments to negotiate on behalf of satellite operators to minimise problems. Rimsat said no such inter-governmental coordination of the 131-degree slot had taken place. * Satellite launch is big business China is actively promoting its satellite launch business as a low-budget alternative to more expensive systems in the United States and Europe. The Apstar-1 was launched by a Long March 3 rocket from the Xichang space centre in southwest China. The success of the Apstar-1 launch should reassure Australia's Optus Communications, whose Optus B2 satellite will be hurled aloft by China this fall. * China officially launches second telecom network China has set up a long-awited second telecommunications network, forcing competition onto the stste's telephone monopoly in an ambitious bid to leap-frog out of communications backwardness. China United Tele- communications Corp, nickname Unicom in English and Liantong in Chinese, is backed by the ministries of power industry, electronics industry and railways, the people's Daily and other state media said. Though nominally endorsed by the monolithic Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Unicom's high profile emergence reflects Beijing's backing of the far more aggressive strategy of the rival Ministry of Electronics Industry, which has long bridled at the phone monopoly's plodding approach. * Unicom's new strategy Unicom's president, Zhao Weichen said "Unicom will compete with the telecom ministry in a broad range of basic services with a focus on local, long distance and mobile telephone service." All are in acutely short supply, and failed to keep pace with China's 15 years of whirlwind economic expansion. Unicom's strategy is to sell services on a super-network stitched together from disjointed internal phone networks developed by the electric power, petroleum and railway monopolies and by the People's Liberation Army. However, Unicom stated that the army had taken no equity in the new firm and that integration of its network, while approved in principle, was highly sensitive and still subject to discussion. Zhao said the firm will spend 100 billion yuan ($12.5 billion) to push China's telephone penetration rate one percentage point beyond the current 2.15% by 2000, a leap of nearly 50%. He pledged that Unicom would handle 10% of China's market for long-distance services and 30% of mobile telephone services by 2000. Unicom has registered capital of 1 billion yuan ($115.6 million), including 80 million yuan ($9.3 million) each from the 6 biggest state corporate investors including the powerful China International Trust and Investment Corp, China National Chemicals Import and Export Corp and China National Technology Import and Export Corp. * China's communications backwardness might be an advantage Although China's rate of telephone penetration has tripled to 2.15% from just 0.7% in 1988, this still amounts to only about 42 million phones for 1.2 billion people, one of the lowest in the world. Fearing poor communications could cripple economic growth, China wants to have 140 million phones by 2004, an ambitious target requiring an additional of 10 million lines a year, half again as many as were installed in 1993. Some Chinese laders believe the backwardness will work to the country's advantage in the future. Minister of Telecommunications Wu Jiachuan said last month that China was fortunate to be able to leap-frog its way onto the high-tech information superhighway by exploiting its very backwardness. Wu said, "compared with Western countries, China is spared the pain of eliminating outdated equipment due to its not-so-developed telecommunications infrastructure." China has pledged to tap at least US$7 billion in overseas investment this decade for telecom development. But Beijing still bans direct management or equity ownership of services by foreigners out of national security concerns and, some analysts say, to protect the lucrative interests of Chinese firms. * Hongkong - Chevalier, China Paging Link Up Chevalier Telepoint has entered into a strategic relationship with China Motion Ltd, the mainland's largest paging company. The move aims to strengthen Chevalier's ties with China's rapidly emerging mobile telephony market and cement the company's foundations while negotiating CT2 roaming agreements in the PRC. China Motion has more than 100,000 paging subscribers in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Southern China. Its unique Registration-Free roaming paging service enables subscribers to be paged on either side of the border whether in Hong Kong or China. China Motion is the representative office of the Roaming Paging Service of the Guangdong Mobile Communication Corporation and the sole agent for the dual- frequency pagers of the China Motion Telecom Development Company (Shenzhen). China motion offers a variety of pagers to subscribers including Casio, OI, NEC and Pantech. China Motion is also a dealer of CSL cellular phones and Chevalier Telepoint CT2 handsets. * University-Developed Desktop Conferencing BEIGING, (Newsbytes) The Department of Computer Science and Technology of Tsinghua University has developed a desktop multimedia conference system. "Development of Multimedia Conference Systems" is a sub-project of "Research on Distributed Multimedia Information Processing and Support Platform" which is funded by Chinese National Science Foundation. The conference system includes the following four sub-systems. Multimedia conference management; Electronic Multimedia Blackboard; Multimedia file creation subsystem; Multimedia database. The hardware requirements for this conference system are IBM or compatible PCs with a CPU (central processing unit) of 80386 or higher, at least four megabytes (MB) RAM, VGA display, and a sound card working under Windows 3.1 with microphone and speakers. The required work environment includes DOS 3.0, Windows 3.1, and Novell 3.11 or higher. * Computerized Traffic Control SHANGHAI,(Newsbytes) A Chinese city traffic control system called "Shuda" has been developed by Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Traffic Department of Shanghai Security Bureau. Experts from the Science Committee of Shanghai City say the system is ready to be implemented. Traffic conditions in China are unique on some streets. Besides traffic lights for automobiles, there are signals specially designed for bicycles. It is said that the "Shuda" traffic control system can handle these unique conditions in most Chinese cities. Therefore, it is more suitable than an imported systems for the complicated traffic controls needed in China. The "Shuda" is a 486-based system which can control one to 80 traffic intersections. All operation menus are in Chinese. Advanced adaptive control techniques are used in the system. The experts of the Science Committee of Shanghai said that this system has reached an advanced international level. * Phone Number Portability Recommended In Hong Kong LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 JUL 27 (Newsbytes) Ovum, the market research and reporting company, has recommended that number portability be introduced to the Hong Kong telephone network from July of 1995. The recommendation follows the completion of a study commissioned from Ovum in Hong Kong by the Office of Telecoms Authority (OFTA). Number portability is the term that refers to the ability of a phone subscriber to switch to a new service operator and still retain their old number. It does not, Newsbytes notes, take account of retaining numbers when moving location. According to Ovum, the report found two main benefits that would result from number portability: direct and indirect user benefits. With direct user benefits, cost savings would be experienced by users who switched services or network operators when they could retain their original phone number. With indirect user benefits, user benefits from number portability as the result of growth in competition that it encourages. The need to switch phone numbers is a major stumbling block for users thinking of changing service operators. If number portability were available, Ovum predicts that business would benefit from lower overall phone costs, which should translate into lower product pricing for consumers. Ovum concludes that call divert facilities would be appropriate in the short term, but would represent an inefficient use of resources. By delaying the launch until July of next year, HK network operators could implement an intelligent network (IN) that could handle number portability very easily. ------------------------------ Date: 05 Aug 94 00:08:12 EDT From: Brian Moura <76702.1337@compuserve.com> Subject: San Carlos/Smart Valley CITY OF SAN CARLOS 666 Elm Street San Carlos, CA 94070 For More Information, Call: Brian Moura, Asst. City Manager For Release 9:00 A.M. Phone: (415) 802-4210 August 4, 1994 Internet: scarlos@crl.com Web: http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/local_gov/city/ san_carlos/schome.html SAN CARLOS JOINS SMART VALLEY, INC. First City in Key Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Initiative SAN CARLOS, CA -- August 4, 1994 -- The City of San Carlos announced today that it has joined Smart Valley Inc, a flagship initiative affiliated with Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network. Smart Valley's 62 member companies and organizations have joined together in a unique private/public partnership to facilitate an advanced regional information infrastructure that will benefit all sectors of the community -- education, health care, local government, business and the home (see attached list of Smart Valley members). San Carlos is the first City to join the Smart Valley effort. San Carlos Mayor Tom Davids stated "The City of San Carlos has been working hard to improve its relations with the business community. This is evidenced by the close working relationships we have with the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce, leaders of the business community in San Carlos and throughout Silicon Valley." "We were one of the first cities of our size in this area to create an Economic Development Department and that program continues to pay dividends in terms of improving the business climate, job opportunites and quality of life in San Carlos. We are pleased to be taking a further step in enhancing our business-friendly orientation by joining the Smart Valley initiative." Assistant City Manager Brian Moura stated that "San Carlos has been a charter participant in the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley effort. We attended the early meetings when the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley program was being designed and we have been active participants in several Joint Venture efforts including regulatory reform for new businesses, distributing computerized information on how to start a business and the use of new, high speed communications technology to enhance the desirability of Silicon Valley." Moura added: "The Smart Valley inititaive fits in nicely with several existing San Carlos projects including using computer technology in the school classroom, enabling businesses to get permits using the Internet, designing a computerized mapping system and several others. We look forward to sharing our experiences in these areas with the Smart Valley team. We also look forward to learning how to work with the private sector on new ways to improve City/Business relationships. To that end, City Manager Michael Garvey, Economic Development Director Steve Watry and City/School Microcomputer Specialist Connie Dillard will be working with me on this interesting and promising effort." About Smart Valley Smart Valley, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to rapidly advancing a regional approach to the National Information Infrastructure (NII) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its vision is to help create an electronic community based on an advanced information infrastructure and the collective ability to use it. Smart Valley Inc. is located at 1661 Page Mill Road, Suite 289, Palo Alto, CA 94384-1289. Tel: 415/843-2169; Fax: 415/843-2222. Internet: info@svi.org. Smart Valley Member Companies (as of August 1, 1994) 3Com Corporation Lynch Enterprises ABAG Mitsubishi Corporation Andersen Consulting Mohr, Davidow Ventures ARGOSystems National Semiconductor Asset Management Navigation Technologies AT&T Network General Corporation ATG Cygnet Northern Telecom Bank of America Novell Business Comm. Nonprofit Services Nomura Research Institute Catalyst Consulting NTT Catapult Communications OCTuS City of San Carlos Pacific Bell ClariNet Communications Philips Research, Palo Alto Cunningham Communication Price Waterhouse Digital Pathways Raychem Corporation Electronic Marketplace Systems Regis McKenna, Inc. Enterprise Integration Tech. Santa Clara University EPRI Semaphore Communications First Person Silicon Graphics Formtek Stanford University Fry's Electronics Sun Microsystems Gemini Consulting Symantec Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich TCI GTE TRW Business Intelligence Hewlett-Packard Company Ubique IBM Storage Systems Div. (ISSC) Virtual Microsystems InfoSeek Virtual Valley Intel Corporation Wells Fargo & Company Kaiser Permanente West Bay Opera Korn/Ferry International Wilson McHenry Company Logitech Wyse Technology ------------------------------ From: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org (Phillip Dampier) Reply-To: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org Date: Fri, 05 Aug 1994 00:32:16 -0500 Subject: Bell Atlantic Directory Service Bell Atlantic Directory Service FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: August 3, 1994 Mara Radis Jean Young 301-309-9404 ***************************************************** * Bell Atlantic Announces The Rollout of InfoTravel * * At Washington DC Marriott And Hilton Hotels * ***************************************************** Interactive Yellow Pages Launch Follows Successful Santa Clara Marriott Pilot BETHESDA, Md., August 3, 1994 - Bell Atlantic Directory Services announces the rollout of InfoTravel, an interactive multimedia version of a targeted yellow pages service. The implementation will begin with 4000 rooms of four Marriott and two Hilton hotels in Washington, D.C. This follows what Bob Graham, Bell Atlantic Directory Services' president said "is a highly successful pilot" in the Santa Clara Marriott in California. Via a hotel's TV-based video service, InfoTravel users can access national and local advertisers, connect by telephone to the advertiser, and generate printed maps. "InfoTravel is proving to be a new and exciting capability for the mobile traveler, the hotel industry and the emerging interactive TV services industry, "said Graham. "Bell Atlantic is pleased to be in the leadership position, particularly in our region and in the nation's capitol." The announcement was made in conjunction with COMCAST's On Command Video, whose hotel-based video system is used in Marriott and Hilton hotels nationwide, and Cap Disc, a division of Capitol Multimedia Inc., who co-developed with Bell Atlantic the Compact Disc-interactive (CD-i) application software and user interfaces utilized with the On Command System. CD-i is an electronic multimedia system that integrates high quality digital audio and video viewed on the hotel guest room's TV. InfoTravel will be implemented in six premier Marriott and Hilton hotels in the Washington, D.C. area in 1995. Bell Atlantic Directory Services is soliciting 225 national and local advertisers to participate in the Washington, D.C. rollout. The first InfoTravel service was implemented in mid-April in 400 rooms of the Santa Clara Marriott in California with more than 150 advertisers. Direct dialing to the advertiser and extensive mapping capabilities are some of the distinguished features that MarketWyse, a Cleveland, Ohio-based market research firm, found to be popular with the Santa Clara Marriott guest users of InfoTravel. Guests in 40 percent of the rooms with InfoTravel use the service on the average of twice a day. InfoTravel's directory menu includes "Places To Eat," "Things to See and Do," "Services," (medical, business and personal) and "Getting Around." A "Travelog" feature will be added for the tourist-popular Washington, D.C. traveler. The InfoTravel system operates by keying in numerical codes on the On-Command remote control. Maps which locate the advertiser's establishment are viewed on-Screen or printed for pickup at the hotel's front desk. The user can automatically connect to an advertiser via the user's hotel room phone, providing virtually an immediate response for restaurant reservations or more information on an advertiser's services or products. "In response to market demand, Bell Atlantic Directory Services is adding other major sites in 1994 and early 1995 for InfoTravel implementation, "said Tom Pelletreau, director, now business development, Bell Atlantic Directory Services. "Although the first InfoTravel systems are CD-1 based, future systems will be configurable to a variety of platforms." Capitol Multimedia Inc. (NASDAQ:CDIM, CDIMW), located in Bethesda, Md, is a leader in multimedia publishing and high-end development if CD-based interactive software for the consumer and professional markets. In addition to InfoTravel, its professional division had developed and successfully marketed ShowMaster - a revolutionary new method for delivering multimedia business presentations. The company is also the largest independent developer of CD-i titles in the world, including top five consumer hits Pinball and Battleship. During 1994, Capitol is expanding into development and distribution of SEGA CD and CD-ROM software. On Command Video, majority owned by COMSAT Video Enterprises, Inc., is a market leader in hotel video-on-demand and interactive information technology, and operates the largest hotel video-on-demand system in the world, with 350,000 rooms installed or under contract. COMSAT Video Enterprises (CVE) is a subsidiary of COMSAT Corporation (NYSE:CQ), an international communications, information and entertainment-distribution services company headquartered in Bethesda, Md. InfoTravel will be offered by Bell Atlantic Electronic Publishing, Inc., part of the directory services group of the Bell Atlantic Corporation. Bell Atlantic Corporation, publishes over 240 telephone directories in the mid-Atlantic region. Bell Atlantic Corporation, based in Philadelphia. is the parent of companies which provide a full array of local exchange telecommunications services in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington D.C. The corporation is at the forefront of developing a variety of new products, including video, entertainment and information services. Bell Atlantic also is the parent of one of the nation's largest cellular carriers and has an ownership position in cellular properties internationally. In addition, Bell Atlantic owns an interest in Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is the parent of companies that provide financial services in the U.S. and business systems services for customer-based information technology throughout the U.S. and internationally. ------------------------------ From: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org (Phillip Dampier) Reply-To: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org Date: Fri, 05 Aug 1994 00:11:15 -0500 Subject: Sammons/Bell Atlantic End Talks FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: August 2, 1994 James W. Carrigan Bell Atlantic 201 649-2279 DeAnna Kriege Sammons 214 919-5752 SAMMONS AND BELL ATLANTIC END VIDEO DIAL TONE AGREEMENT Newark, N.J.-- Bell Atlantic and Dallas-based Sammons Communications, Inc., today announced that they have terminated the contract for video dialtone (VDT) services that would have made Sammons the first information provider to use Bell Atlantic's VDT network in three Morris County, NJ, municipalities. In making the announcement, Bell Atlantic stressed that it still plans to offer VDT in Madison, Chatham and Florham Park (N.J.) and that it will begin construction of the network upon obtaining the necessary approvals from the Federal Communications Commission. "Sammons will proceed with its cable system, fiber/coax rebuild within the three affected communities with the intention of activating newly-constructed plant prior to year-end," said Ed Comstock, Sammon's vice president of business development. "We are disappointed that Sammons will not be using the video dial tone network in Morris County as we had planned, and we understand that Sammons had to make a business decision to meet its state regulatory and customer commitments to complete the system rebuild within the specific period of time," said Edward G. Young, Bell Atlantic vice president and associate general counsel. "Bell Atlantic is talking with other information providers that have expressed interest in using the advanced, interactive network. While we cannot name them today, we can say that we've had discussions with a number of potential providers," said Young. "The door is open for all information providers, including Sammons when the timing is better, to use our video dial tone platform to deliver their services," Young added. Comstock agreed, saying, "We're interested in further discussion on the use of Bell facilities when they become available." In July (1994), Bell Atlantic received FCC approval to construct the nation's first large-scale VDT network serving about 38,000 homes in Dover Township, Ocean County, NJ. In June (1994), Bell Atlantic filed for FCC approval to provide VDT in six metropolitan areas throughout its territory, including 77 New Jersey municipalities, within three years. Video dial tone networks are "common carrier" networks that let customers connect to video information providers or high-speed data networks in the same way today's telephone dial tone allows customers to make audio connections. Bell Atlantic Corporation, based in Philadelphia, is the parent of companies that provide a full array of local exchange telecommunications services in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. The corporation is at the forefront of developing a variety of new products, including video, entertainment and information services. Bell Atlantic also is the parent of one of the nation's largest cellular carriers and has an ownership position in cellular properties internationally. In addition, Bell Atlantic owns an interest in Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is the parent of companies that provide business systems services for customer-based information technology throughout the U.S. and internationally. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #344 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa09351; 7 Aug 94 14:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA26908; Sun, 7 Aug 94 11:24:12 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA26899; Sun, 7 Aug 94 11:24:11 CDT Date: Sun, 7 Aug 94 11:24:11 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408071624.AA26899@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #345 TELECOM Digest Sun, 7 Aug 94 11:24:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 345 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Northern Telecom Second Quarter Results (Dave Leibold) Software Product Review: NPA (Greg Monti) Mobile Phones in Malaysia and Australia (Richard Dale) Re: Use of Call Forwarding to Avoid Toll Charges (Gordon Burditt) Re: Use of Call Forwarding to Avoid Toll Charges (Paul Robinson) Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence (Paul Robinson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 06 Aug 94 23:09:00 -0500 From: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: Northern Telecom 2nd quarter results Reply-To: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org [from Northern Telecom via CNW] NORTHERN TELECOM REPORTS SECOND QUARTER RESULTS TORONTO, July 26 /CNW/ - Northern Telecom today reported results for the second quarter 1994. Revenues were $US 2.12 billion in the second quarter of 1994, up 14 percent compared with $US 1.87 billion reported for the same period in 1993. Net earnings applicable to common shares were $US 37 million, or $US .15 per share, compared with a loss of $US 1.03 billion or $US 4.13 per share. In 1993, excluding one time restructuring and other charges of $US 940 million after tax or $US 3.77 per share, net loss from operations was $US 88 million or $US .36 per share. Order input was $US 1.93 billion for the quarter compared with $US 2.18 billion last year reflecting lower orders in Canada and the impact of the business disposals somewhat offset by year over year gains in the United States and international markets. Orders on hand at June 30, 1994 remain strong at $US 3.76 billion. For the first half of 1994 Northern Telecom recorded revenues of $US 4.12 billion, an increase of eight percent over the $US 3.81 billion for the first half of 1993. Order input for the first half was $US 3.67 billion compared with $US 4.01 billion in 1993. Net earnings applicable to common shares for the first six months were $US 124 million, or $US .50 per share, compared with a net loss of $US 954 million or $US 3.83 per share in 1993. Excluding the one time restructuring and other charges of $US 940 million after tax, or $US 3.77 per share the net loss was $US 14 million after tax or $US .06 per share. Commenting on the results, Jean C. Monty, President and Chief Executive Officer of Northern Telecom said: "We are pleased with the second quarter and first half performance as we progress through this year of transition. The gain in revenue is indicative of our strengthening product portfolio and expanding global position. In addition, our cost reduction initiatives remain on track and with proceeds from the sale of non core assets, the business has an improved financial position." Geographic revenue for the quarter showed strong gains in the United States and international markets. United States revenues improved sharply principally on the strength of central office switching and transmission. Asia Pacific and the Caribbean and Latin America markets recorded significant revenue growth across most product lines. Revenues from Canada continued significantly below last year reflecting the ongoing impact of lower capital spending by the telephone operating companies. Product line revenues for the quarter showed advances over the prior year in all core business segments, except cable and outside plant which was much lower due to the impact of the sale of STC Submarine Systems in the first quarter. Substantial gains in central office switching, were led by the United States, Asia Pacific and the Caribbean and Latin American markets. Transmission revenues continue to post significant gains over last year reflecting strength in the synchronous product portfolio and wireless radio products. Multimedia Communications Systems also enjoyed double digit revenue growth. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $US 376 million, or 17.7 percent of revenue in the quarter as compared with $US 373 million, or 20.0 percent of revenue in 1993. For the first half of 1994, such expenses increased to $US 765 million from $US 737 million and decreased as a percentage of revenue to 18.6 percent from 19.3 percent. As a result of the restructuring plan Northern Telecom has invested in international sales and marketing activities while containing expense levels year over year. Research and development expenses totaled $US 274 million, or 12.9 percent of revenues, for the second quarter compared with $US 283 million, or 15.1 percent, for the second quarter last year. For the first half of 1994, research and development expenses decreased to $US 521 million from $US 539 million for 1993 or 12.6 percent of revenue compared with 14.1 percent. Additional spending relating to the modularization of central office switching architecture was incurred as planned and charged against the software provision taken in 1993. Mr. Monty added: "The second quarter improvements are indicative of the value of our investments in the development of international markets and new products. The introduction of our comprehensive portfolio of world class wireless systems is just one example. Entering the second half, we continue to anticipate improvement as compared with the same period last year due to the on-going benefits of our cost reduction activities and the expected cyclical spending patterns of our major customers. To complete our transition to traditional levels of profitability in the 1995 timeframe, we will continue to maintain our focus on cost improvement, product evolution and market development." Northern Telecom's common shares are listed on the New York, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, London, and Tokyo stock exchanges. NORTHERN TELECOM LIMITED Second Quarter Consolidated Results (unaudited) [detailed results omitted for brevity; available on original news release] For further information: Doug Patterson/Gary Brandt, Northern Telecom Limited (905) 566-3178/(905) 566-3098. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 15:59:44 EDT From: Greg Monti Subject: Software Product Review: NPA Software Product Review: NPA from The PC Consultant, PO Box 42086, Houston, TX 77242-2086 +1 713 826-2629 single license fee: $25.00 by Greg Monti "NPA" is a shareware database with lookup tools. It's a character-based, DOS application that allows you to find: -- city and state or province given the area code (NPA) and prefix (NXX); -- the area code(s) and prefix(es) which serve a given city and state or province; -- all cities and state(s) or province(s) which use an NPA; -- the US ZIP (but not Canadian postal) codes which predominate the land area served by a prefix; -- the county in which the city is located, with its population; -- the latitude and logitude (in terrestrial coordinates, not V&H coordinates) of the central office serving that prefix; -- a great circle mileage feature that lets you input a second area and prefix (or a second city and state) which calculates and displays the air mileage between there and the first city. This program is best run from a hard disk drive. 2.5 MegaBytes of free disk space are required for file decompression and setup. About 1.8 Megs are used for executables and databases thereafter. INPUT SCREEN: NPA - <04Feb94> (Numbering Plan Area) (C) 1991-94 PC Consultant Licensed to: Greg Monti 1st 2nd (great circle mileage) State/Province/NPA: 619 City/County/NXX/Zip: Min/Max # NXX: 1 / ^Scan City/ +---Show---+ +-------Show-------+ Screen ^Output County Name ^County ^Pop ^NXX ^Zip ^Lat/Long ^Display to Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Scroll Screen F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 Esc Help PrvSpec NxtSpec ClrSpec ClrFld SavOpts Cancel OUTPUT SCREEN: NPA - <04Feb94> (Numbering Plan Area) (C) 1991-94 PC Consultant Licensed to: Greg Monti (Hits: 105) TopLine: 1 of 129 NPA City/County/Pop x1k NXX (Esc) Quits ,PgDn --- ------------------- -------------------------------------------------- CA:California 619 Adelanto/San Bernardino/1418 246 388 Alpine/San Diego/2498 445 659 Apple Valley/San Bernardino/1418 240 242 247 946 Baker/San Bernardino/1418 733 852 Barstow/San Bernardino/1418 252 253 255 256 577 Benton/Mono/9 933 Big Pine/Inyo/18 938 Bishop/Inyo/18 387 872 873 937 Blythe/Riverside/1170 921 922 Bonita/San Diego/2498 472 479 Boron/Kern/543 762 769 Borrego Springs/San Diego/2498 394 767 Brawley/Imperial/109 344 351 Bridgeport/Mono/9 932 Calexico/Imperial/109 357 768 California City/Kern/543 373 Calipatria/Imperial/109 348 354 Camp Pendleton/San Diego/2498 430 Campo/San Diego/2498 478 For this report, I had the county name and population switches on, but the Zip code switch off. I also instructed "NPA" to display the small, one-prefix towns. Advantages: A1. States and provinces may be looked up by 2-letter code or by a fraction of (or the whole) the name. A2. If you input only a state or province, all cities, NPAs and prefixes will be displayed consistent with default filter criteria. When you call up a whole NPA, the default report will show only those cities with at least 5 prefixes. If you call up a whole state, the output displayed will be limited to cities with 10 or more NXXs. However, you can set the output to display cities with as few as one prefix. The reason for this is obvious: If you input California and nothing else, the default (ten-prefix) display will be 343 lines long, showing 114 cities. If you set the minimum number of prefixes per city to 1, the CA display will be 1009 lines long, showing 825 cities. A3. Cities are listed by area code, then alphabetically, then prefixes are listed numerically. A4. The prefix you enter, if any, shows in a contrasting color in the output screen. A5. You can search with just a state and a prefix. "NPA" will find all the area codes and city names. For example, if you enter Illinois and prefix 939, it reports all 939 prefixes in that state. There are four: 312-939 in Chicago, 618-939 in Waterloo, 708-939 in Northbrook, and 815-939 in Kankakee. A6. You can set the application for "left" or "any substring" matches of city and county names. A7. Screen may be set to scroll forward and back, or pause after each page, or nonstop. A8. Output may be sent to screen, printer or file. You can set the width of the report (from 79 to 255 columns for printer; from 79 to 999 columns for file). A9. You can move forward and backward through a history of the 20 most recent search criteria. A10. The escape key works any time, even quitting out of a long search. A11. "NPA" can be executed from a DOS prompt by specifying the search criteria in the command syntax or from an input screen. Disadvantages: D1. As with any work of this magnitude (and this fluid source material) information is sometimes incomplete. Sometimes, a new prefix not yet in use will show. Sometimes, a prefix known to be in use will be absent, or in the wrong city. There were few such errors with local numbers I know. D2. Multiple prefixes, serving different rate areas, are treated inconsistently. In Virginia, prefixes from the Dale City and Occoquan central offices, which serve four rate areas (Dale City, Occoquan, Lorton and Lorton Metro) are listed as being in a single city: Woodbridge, which is the postal name for the unincorporated area. In New York state, Bayville and Oyster Bay, different rate areas, are served out of a single CO in Oyster Bay, but are listed separately. D3. CO names themselves are not displayed and prefixes are not grouped by CO. However, by turning on the Latitude and Longitude coordinates and looking for prefixes with same Lat & Long, you can tell which are in the same office. D4. Zip codes shown are "best guesses", as the documentation puts it, probably the zip of the CO or of a nearby business district. A CO can cover many zips. D5. You cannot search for partial NXXs. You can't enter 39x or 39* and expect to find 391, 396 and 399. The same input field is used for Zip codes (where partials are allowed) and NXXs. 39* will give you all the known Zips from 39000 through 39999 inclusive. Curiosities: C1. In California's 213 and 310 NPAs, there is a city called "Belle Cellu" in each code, with a few NXXs between them. What are these? Cellular NXXs that are not assigned to a city name? Ironically, there is no company called "Bell Cellular" or "Pac Bell Cellular" any more. It was spun off and is called "AirTouch". C2. The much celebrated Hyder, AK, is not listed in either 604 or 907 areas. C3. The February, 1994, data show the 416/905 split in Ontario still in progress. Brampton, for example, is listed twice, with the same prefixes, once in each area code. Presumably, in a later version, the 416 listing will disappear. C4. "NPA" even lists the tiny towns in Northwest Territories and Yukon, such as (with the Latitude & Longitude switch on): Snowdrift 370/62.40x110.73 Spence Bay 561/69.53x093.54 Tuktoyaktuk 977/69.43x133.02 Tungsten 777/61.97x128.22 Wrigley 581/63.27x123.62 Yellowknife 669/62.45x114.37 873/62.45x114.37 920/62.45x114.37 604 Cassiar 778/59.28x129.79 Dease Lake 771/58.43x130.02 Fort Nelson 774/58.80x122.69 Iskut 234/57.83x129.97 Lower Post 779/60.06x128.69 Muncho Lake 776/58.91x125.74 Telegraph Creek 235/57.89x131.15 Toad River 232/58.84x125.21 Wonowon 772/56.73x121.79 819 Arctic Bay 439/73.03x085.19 Arviat 857/61.11x094.07 Baker Lake 793/64.31x096.03 Broughton Island 927/67.12x065.17 Capdorst 897/64.23x076.55 C5. Area 809 is listed, but only for Puerto Rico and the USVI. For some reason, asking for everything in 809 just gives you Puerto Rico. If you ask for VI specifically, it will list it. Asking for everything in 403 does show both Alberta and Yukon. Asking for 604 does show both BC and NW in one pass. C6. Fishers Island, NY (516-788) is listed in Connecticut as 203-788 and is missing from 516 and from NY State. Summary: On the whole, the algorithm and database sources in "NPA" appear useful and accurate. Those Telecom Digesters who have always wanted to associate Zip codes with NXXs will have a field day. For marketing types, county populations and Zips can give you an idea where to look when loading prefixes into war dialers. I have no association with The PC Consultant, other than as a satisfied customer. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: +1 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: +1 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org ------------------------------ From: rad@170.38.8.1 (Richard Dale) Subject: Mobile Phones in Malaysia and Australia Date: 7 Aug 1994 10:42:23 +0800 Organization: Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) Hello all, I'm an Australian resident looking to take a mobile phone to Malaysia to use in both locations. I would like to know if the mobile phones are compatible between both countries. Here's some background data: Australia Has both GSM & Analogue services (analogue is the most popular by about 10:1) Does NOT allow the importation of mobile phones - ie you must buy them in Australia. Malaysia Has several mobile phone services: 450Mhz - long distance coverage 800Mhz - Klang valley coverage (i.e. Kuala Lumpur area) 900Mhz - More coverage than 800 but not as much as 450Mhz. Handsets I have seen the Motorola Microtac II available in both Australia and Malaysia (and am interested in this model). Can I take one from Australia and, after registering with the appropriate carrier, use it in Malaysia? Thanks in advance, Richard A. Dale, Integrated Systems Australia (for Petronet Phase II) Petronas, Telecommunications & Networking, IRM Division, 27th Floor, Menara Dayabumi, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, 50500 KUALA LUMPUR Voice@Malaysia: +60-3-275-4277 | Voice@Australia: +61-9-333-4444 Fax@Malaysia: +60-3-293-3828 | Fax@Australia: +61-9-333-4499 EMail@MY: rad@tcn.petronas.my | EMail@AU: rad@osi.curtin.edu.au ------------------------------ From: gordon@sneaky.lonestar.org (Gordon Burditt) Subject: Re: Use of Call Forwarding to Avoid Toll Charges Organization: /usr/lib/news/organi[sz]ation Date: Sun, 7 Aug 1994 03:59:36 GMT TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > Bear in mind also that the costs involved in establishing a permanently > forwarded number at some location in an effort to divert the call from > toll will to a large extent negate any 'savings' you might expect otherwise. > Forget for a moment the grey area of 'call-forwarding versus toll' and > its questionable legality as an elective 'billing option' for subscribers. > Let's assume it is legal. Unless all the interim connections are untimed, > unmeasured local calls, there will be no savings, transparent or otherwise. Are you sure about this? Some intrastate rates, last time I checked, which was a few years back, seem bad enough that you'd be better off chaining three interstate calls going through, say, California and New York. Since you'd only need to chain two calls, you could make headway against the fixed overhead, but you'd still have to do a LOT of calling to get any savings overall. And an 800 number would probably beat both alternatives unless the 800 intrastate rate is much higher than the 800 interstate rate. Gordon L. Burditt sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 23:13:29 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Re: Use of Call Forwarding to Avoid Toll Charges Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Javad Boroumand , writes the following: > Is the use of Call Forwarding to avoid long distance charges illegal? > Let's say from point X to point Y is long distance. This could either > be long distance within a Bell company "Regional Calling Area" or it > goes across LATA boundaries and involves a long distance carrier > charges. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is technically illegal since > any device or scheme which is used to avoid tolls is illegal. Pat, I think you need to look again at the situation here. > If it so happens, by the merest coincidence, that it is convenient > for you to receive calls intended for yourself at some alternative > location and that location happens to be, when evaluated to the > original caller a toll charge had the original caller dialed it > direct, then my belief is you are within your rights to receive calls > routed in that way. I believe however that to deliberatly structure > your calling patterns in such a way as to *always* avoid tolls using > call forwarding via local hops is in violation of the intent of the > tariff, and thus the tariff itself. The writer was not referring to avoiding local call charges; he was referring to how to avoid paying an inter-lata carrier for the call. I cannot see how this can be a violation of tariff when local telephone companies, due to Judge Greene aren't even allowed to tariff inter-lata calls (except very limited circumstances). > The apparent contradition here lies in the *intent* behind call forwarding > as it was developed by telco. The *intent* is to make it convenient for a > person to receive their calls wherever they may happen to be. The *intent* > is not to provide alternatives to the existing toll rates. I think intent is irrelevant. If it is a violation of the phone company's rules to use local service to avoid going through a carrier -- and it only is if a tariff from the local phone company specifically has one stating such a condition -- then it matters little whether one does this on a regular, continuous basis or occasionally. Either using multiple forwarding to bypass a lata restriction is a tariff violation or it isn't, if it isn't, then it doesn't matter; if it is, then the reasons don't matter. Again, it must be a local wire company tariff explicitly stating that using call forwarding expressly to avoid using a LATA is prohibited. A tariff from AT&T or MCI carrying this is irrelevant. If it's legal in some cases and not in others, where do you draw the line? Once in a while? Once a week? Once a day? How do you set such a standard? It's technically illegal to drive over 65 miles per hour on any U.S. public road or faster than 55 in metropolitan areas, whether you do it once or ten times a day; (getting caught is the 'technical' part). > Let's assume it is legal. Unless all the interim connections are > untimed, unmeasured local calls, there will be no savings, transparent > or otherwise. Unlike Illinois and the huge phone bill increases after Ameritech got your call paks cancelled on the claim you would see lower bills, but never did, some places -- perhaps many -- still have untimed local calls. > It is very, very rare when any two or more local calls (or for that matter > any two or more long distance calls) when their costs are added together > are cheaper than a single call from one destination to another. I am in Silver Spring, Maryland. From this area to Baltimore is an inter-lata call which costs between 15 and 19c per minute, for example, depending on which carrier and what time called. 15c per minute is $9.00 per hour. It is a local call from here to Columbia, MD. It is a local call from Columbia to Baltimore. Local calls from both residential and business customers are untimed and cost about 10c each. Based on these rates, the break-even point on a call is 3 minutes. If we assumed that you had to pay someone $20 a month to let them keep an unused passthru line in their place, plus, say, $30 a month for that passthru line, plus 10c per call, the break-even point is at 6 hours of usage a month, or about 1/2 hour each weekday. If the line took two 15 minute call transfers each weekday, this would cost $5.00 in call charges. That means the line costs $55 a month. The toll cost of 15 minutes 50 times a month is $120. This represents a 50% savings over the cost of making the calls direct. Want to bet a direct tie line stretching 40 miles from Baltimore to Silver Spring is considerably more than either $55 or $120 a month. Beyond that, we have remote call forwarding capability, which means the destination number can be changed without visiting the site. There are places where this sort of thing is cheaper. > See my point? Nothing comes 'free', not even unmeasured local service > as a way to avoid tolls. At bare minimum, skin and bones cost for the > permanently forwarded interim line, you need to make a certain amount of > calls each month before it rolls in your favor. Add any interim expenses > and the rollover point gets even higher. Unless you can get the cost per > minute down to under 10-12 cents then forget it, because you can get an > 800 number with prices in that range, and the legality of 800 as a way > of receiving calls is unquestioned. At 10c a minute, we are still talking $6 an hour. That is quite a bit of money in some cases. The only reason using 800 is legal is because of the 2c per minute each side is getting in feature group access charges. And that's what it all comes down to is money. If people wanted to pay 2c per minute on forwarded calls, the local phone company wouldn't care how you forwarded them. Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Aug 1994 00:10:04 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Re: Measured and Unlimited Service at Same Residence Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA John Higdon wrote: > mmathews@hadron.wellfleet.com (Mat Mathews) writes: > NYNEX tells me, however, that it IS NOT POSSIBLE to have measured and > unlimited service at the same residence. Why is this? > Probably because Nynex feels that this is a necessary way to extract > the last farthing from you. While I snort aplenty about Pac*Bell, at > least that company has absolutely no restrictions concerning mix and > match on classes of service. >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: >> To get back to your original question, no they won't install metered >> service at your premises then turn around and give you a way to bypass >> the meter. Makes sense to me. PAT] > But not to me. If the telco is selling unmeasured service, is it not > done so expecting that the customer will make calls?... If a customer > has [both]...he is getting exactly what he is paying for: a more > expensive ... unlimited ... and a less expensive ...local calls are > charged for ... never been able to comprehend the reasoning (other > than greed or the desire to discourage having to provide extra > service in a neighborhood) behind the rules against mixing classes of > service... I hadn't thought about it that way, and it makes sense. A person who buys a limited and unlimited lines is doing essentially the same thing as adding call waiting on their line, and the extra line is usually more expensive than call waiting anyway. I am in the unique situation of having had both unlimited and limited lines at the same location. We have three classes of residential service in this part of Maryland. There is "economy" service which charges 9c for every call; there is "measured" service which gives 65 free calls on the line; and there is unlimited service. After having two unlimited service lines, then adding a third line, I figured if I could convert them to 65 call lines, that I would save money. I make calls to BBSs and would use more than 65 calls per month, but if I understood it correctly I would get 65*3 free calls per month, or 195 free call units, which is more than enough. Well, I find out from the clerk that I can do this, so I change over. I talk to another clerk about something, and she informs me that each line is separate and the call counts don't carry across from line to line even though they are all billed on the same bill. So I ask if I can have economy service on the two other lines and unmeasured service on the line my computer is on, since I can't get what I want, and the clerk says this is okay, except that I have to have someone else in the place get the second economy line since a person can't have two economy lines. My mother is living here so I give them her name and identification. This is back in November. I leave a message on TELECOM Digest about my situation, and a local reader I've had messages with before informs me that I *can* get all of the call counts combined. I check with a clerk, she says no and even mails me the tariff pages that seem to confirm that the call counts can not combined. By February I mention something to a clerk and she says that's wrong, the counts *can* be combined. So now I'm thoroughly confused. I ask for a supervisor, explain the whole thing and she says this is what is correct, and in fact having economy service with *any* other service at the same address is a tariff violation. You can have either one (1) phone line with economy. Or you can have all lines as measured service or all lines as unlimited, but not both types. In fact, because of this the telephone company's computers are bouncing my account's orders because they know what is on my account is a tariff violation and won't accept them. So the supervisor determines what I am trying to get -- three lines billed as one account with combined call allocation of 195 calls per month irregardless of which of the three lines places the calls -- and she says that's exactly what the measured service is supposed to provide. So the supervisor orders me back-billed to correct the problem since they have been billing me for the old account as well as the new one, which I paid. By the time they cleared the account, plus the erroneous account changes that were reversed because I wouldn't have been charged them if the account was correctly set up in the first place, it ended up that I had a credit of $85.00. So I think that the statement as made is correct; the reason for not allowing limited and unlimited is because the phone company wants to squeeze the last nickel. The difference between a 65-call per month line and an unlimited call line is about $12. Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A comedy of errors here: John Higdon has further replied to Paul Robinson and sent a copy of that reply to the Digest (without realizing it.) Getting my autoreply, he writes and says 'did not mean to send that since it was personal to Paul; unless you use his don't use mine ...'. Not having Paul's message (above) on hand at the moment I wrote John saying okay I would kill his message. Then bingo, that being done, all of a sudden Paul's shows up here! Now I don't have John Higdon's further reply which was a good one. So John, if you will write again restating your comments responding to Paul, I will get yours out to the list ASAP probably Monday. There! Is all that clear as mud? As the Digest nears its 13th anniversary later this week I am hoping I can hold the thing together and get a few issues out later this week. I think regular readers know what I mean. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #345 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa20230; 12 Aug 94 13:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA29162; Fri, 12 Aug 94 09:11:22 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA29155; Fri, 12 Aug 94 09:11:20 CDT Date: Fri, 12 Aug 94 09:11:20 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408121411.AA29155@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #346 TELECOM Digest Fri, 12 Aug 94 09:11:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 346 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet '94 Conference/Expo (Leona Nichols) UCLA Short Courses in Communications Engineering (William R. Goodin) Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Laurence R. Brothers) Pcomm SPARC10 Binaries Sought (Craig Chakford) PTL (Phone The LifeLine) Club (Dave Leibold) Europe: Unlimited Residential Service (quioqy@satelnet.com) CPUC and Cellular Phone Rebates (Again) (John Antypas) Blocking 800-Number Charge-Backs (Will Martin) Another Year of It (TELECOM Digest Editor) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 11 Aug 94 09:46:39 PDT From: Leona Nichols Subject: Internet '94 Conference/Expo A TeleStrategies Event co-chaired by the Commercial Internet eXchange (CIX) TeleStrategies' Internet Conference and Expo '94 Monday October 10 - Wednesday October 12 Sheraton Crystal City, Arlington VA Conference Track (Tue October 11 - Wed October 12):Publishing, Marketing and Advertising on the Internet Pre-Conference Tutorial (Mon October 10): Understanding Internet Technologies For Non-Engineers And Strategic Planners Demonstration Track (Mon October 10 - Wed October 12):Online Demonstrations Of Internet Services, Products And Access Technologies Workshop Track (Tue October 11 - Wed October 12):How To Do Business On The Internet Exhibitions (Mon October 10 - Wed October 12) CONFERENCE TRACK - Tuesday, October 11, 1994 Publishing , Marketing and Advertising on the Internet 8:00-9:00 Registration 9:00-10:00 - INTERNET: THE OUTLOOK FOR COMMERCIALIZATION AND GROWTH John Curran, Product Manager, BBN Technology Services Bill Washburn, Executive Director, Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX) 10:00-10:15 Coffee Break 10:15-12:00 - NEWSPAPER AND BOOK PUBLISHING ON THE INTERNET Jeff Crigler, Director, Market Development, Network Advanced Services Division, IBM Laura Fillmore, President, Online Bookstore William S. Johnson, Publisher, Palo Alto Weekly 12:00-2:00 Hosted Lunch and Exhibits 2:00-2:45 - INTERNET USERS: WHO ARE THEY? Magdalena Yesil, Partner, Management Forum 2:45-3:15 - INTERNET BILLING Gary Desler, Senior Vice President, Network Solutions 3:15-3:30 Coffee Break 3:30-5:30 - CREATING BUSINESS MODELS FOR THE INTERNET Gordon Cook, President, Cook Network Consultants Chris Locke, President, MecklerWeb Corporation Cathy Medich, Executive Director, CommerceNet Robert Raisch, President, The Internet Company 5:30-6:30 Reception and Exhibits CONFERENCE TRACK - Wednesday, October 12, 1994 Publishing , Marketing and Advertising on the Internet 8:30-10:00 - HOW TO MARKET AND ADVERTISE EFFECTIVELY Andrew Frank, Director, Software Development, Ogilvy & Mather Direct Erica Gruen, Senior Vice President, Television, Information and New Media, Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide Judith Axler Turner, a head of the working group on advertising for the Coalition for Networked Information 10:00-10:30 Coffee Break and Exhibits 10:30-12:00 - COPYRIGHT AND LICENSING ISSUES Kathlene Krag, Assistant Director, Copyright and New Technology Association of American Publishers, Inc. Steve Metalitz, Vice President and General Counsel Information Industry Association Martha Whittaker, General Manager, The UnCover Company 12:00-12:30 - VIDEO VIA THE INTERNET Ed Moura, Vice President, Marketing and Sales Hybrid Networks, Inc. 12:30-2:00 Hosted Lunch and Exhibits 2:00-3:30 - INFORMATION SERVICES AND THE INTERNET Brad Templeton, President, ClariNet Communications Richard Vancil, Vice President, Marketing, INDIVIDUAL, Inc. Representative, America Online 3:30-3:45 Coffee Break 3:45-5:00 - INTERNET PUBLISHING AND MARKETING TOOLS Bruce Caslow, Systems Engineer, Mesa Technologies John Kolman, Vice President, NOTIS Systems, Inc. Kevin Oliveau, Engineer, WAIS, Inc. Pre-Conference Tutorial UNDERSTANDING INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES FOR NON-ENGINEERS AND STRATEGIC PLANNERS Monday, October 10, 1994 - 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Presented By: John Curran, BBN Technology Services; Bruce Antleman, Information Express; Bruce Caslow, Mesa Technologies; and Stephen Crocker, Trusted Information Systems, Inc. This one-day tutorial is for the non-engineer, strategic planner, entrepreneur or anyone who has to understand the Internet in order to make business decisions about emerging commercial opportunities. This tutorial covers not only Internet technologies, economics and leading-edge opportunities, but also looks at operational issues such as security, addressing and network management from a business development perspective. 1. INTERNET OVERVIEW: What is the Internet? Who controls it? How do you get connected? What can you do with it? Who pays for it? Who are the players domestically and internationally? What is the role of the NII and NREN? Why are the RBOCs, cable TV companies, IXCs and PDA vendors interested in Internet? Why all the attention to commercializa- tion? How is the Internet likely to evolve over the next few years? 2. INTERNET ACCESS, NAVIGATION AND APPLICATIONS: How to find, share and sell information on the Internet. The basic application tools and navigation/search systems (FTP, Telnet, Archie, Gopher, Mosaic, World Wide Web, WAIS, etc.). Access service providers (CIX, PSI, Sprint and others). Access options (dial-up, dedicated, frame relay, cable TV and wireless).New entrepreneurial developments. 3. INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES: Role of TCP/IP. MAC vs. PC products. LAN access (SLIP, PPP, frame relay, etc.) and WAN and ATM developments. IPX, DECNET and APPLETALK. Leading edge vendors and where their products are headed. IP addressing. How to obtain addresses (Class A,B,and C). CIDR, Internet DNS and how to register. Setting up an E-mail server, bulletin board and directory service. 4. INTERNET SECURITY AND MANAGEMENT: Security concerns, policies and procedures. Defeating password sniffing. Firewalls and available firewall toolkits. Encryption, authentication and Clipper Chip issues. Other operational concerns related to doing business on the Internet. Guidelines for managing a commercial Internet service. SNMP management tools and products. WORKSHOP TRACK - Tuesday, October 11, 1994 HOW TO DO BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET 9:00-10:15 - GETTING CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET Howard McQueen, President, CD Consultants 10:15-10:45 Coffee Break 10:45-12:00 - CREATING A BUSINESS PRESENCE ON THE INTERNET Duffy Mazan, Partner, Electric Press, Inc. 12:00-2:00 Lunch and Exhibits 2:00-3:15 - MOSAIC Bruce Caslow, Systems Engineer, Mesa Technologies 3:15-3:30 Break 3:30-5:00 - BUSINESS USES OF THE INTERNET Al Dhir, President, Internet Access Group, Inc. 5:00-6:30 Reception and Exhibits WORKSHOP TRACK - Wednesday, October 12, 1994 HOW TO DO BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET 9:00-10:15 - SECURITY: SINGLE SIGN ON Tom McHale, Director of Marketing and Product Development for North America, ICL, Inc. 10:15-10:45 Coffee Break 10:45-12:00 - CORPORATE AND BUSINESS TRAINING OVER THE INTERNET Speaker to be announced 12:00-2:00 Lunch and Exhibits 2:00-3:15 - NETIQUETTE: HOW TO DO BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET WITHOUT GETTING "FLAMED" Paul Kainen, President, Kainen Technology Services ONLINE INTERNET DEMONSTRATION TRACK Monday, October 10, 1994 2:00-5:00 p.m. Track A: DEMYSTIFYING THE INTERNET Paul Kainen, President, Kainen Technology Services Track B: DEMONSTRATIONS BY WAIS, Inc. and Performance Systems International 5:00-6:30 Reception and Exhibits ONLINE INTERNET DEMONSTRATION TRACK Tuesday, October 11, 1994 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Track A: DEMYSTIFYING THE INTERNET Bruce Caslow, Systems Engineer, Mesa Technologies Track B: DEMONSTRATIONS BY:Semaphore Communications - Internet security products - CD Consultants 12:00-2:00 Lunch and Exhibits 2:00-5:00 Track A: DEMONSTRATIONS BY Spry, Inc. - "Internet in a Box" Online Bookstore Track B: DEMONSTRATIONS BY MecklerWeb Corporation and "Palo Alto Weekly," the first general circulation newspaper on the Internet 5:00-6:30 Reception and Exhibits ONLINE INTERNET DEMONSTRATION TRACK Wednesday, October 12, 1994 9:00-12:00 Track A: DEMONSTRATIONS BY America Online - demo of their current information services and NOTIS Systems, Inc. - demo of new, easy-to-use publishing tool for the Internet Track B: DEMONSTRATION BY Hybrid Networks, Inc. and Mesa Technologies - MOSAIC at 56 KBPS 12:00-2:00 Lunch and Exhibits 2:00-3:15 Track A: DEMONSTRATION BY LEGI-SLATE Track B: DEMONSTRATION BY Gestalt Systems, Inc. CURRENT ONLINE DEMONTRATIONS Monday, October 10 - Wednesday, October 12 Current Demonstrations Conducted By: WAIS, Inc., SemaphoreCommunications, CD Consultants, Spry, Inc., Online Bookstore,MecklerWeb Corporation, "Palo Alto Weekly," America Online,NOTIS Systems, Inc., Hybrid Networks, Inc., Mesa Technologies,Legi-Slate, Performance Systems International and Gestalt Systems, Inc. EXHIBIT HOURS Monday, October 10 - 5:00-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 11 - 12:00-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 12 - 10:00-2:00 p.m. For more information about exhibiting, call Jackie McGuigan at (703) 734-7050. For more information or registration call (703) 734-7050. ------------------------------ From: BGOODIN@unex.ucla.edu (William R. Goodin) Subject: UCLA Short Courses in Communications Engineering Date: Thu, 11 Aug 1994 16:25:57 Organization: UCLA Extension This fall, UCLA Extension will present four short courses in communications engineering on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. "Wireless Voice and Data Communications", October 18-21, 1994. The instructors will be Dr. C.R. "Rick" Baugh, consultant, and Mr. Peter Rysavy, Rysavy and Associates. This course provides an understanding of the new wireless technologies and addresses the following technical planning/design and business development questions: o How do competing wireless technologies compare? o What voice, data, messaging, and paging services will the technology support? o What technology is best for which applications? o What are the wireless data technologies being used today? o How does PCS interconnect with existing telecommunications networks? o What is important for designing wireless products and services? o What is the status of PCS standards and FCC license? o How will existing wireless data technologies coexist with new PCS technologies? The topics to be covered include introduction to PCS and definition of PCS technology alternatives, PCS multiple access technologies, PCS system design issues, PCS networks, PCS interconnection with the PSTN, advanced intelligent network features with PCS, FCC regulatory status, PCS cost structures, issues in deploying PCS services, wireless point-to-point solutions, wireless LANs, paging, data over cellular, wireless data WANs, digital cellular, new networks, and data PCS. ------------------- "Optical Fiber Communications: Techniques and Applications", October 25-28, 1994. The instructors will be Dr Tran V. Muoi, Optical Communication Products, Dr Bor U. Chen, Optical Communication Products, Dr Del Hanson, Hewlett-Packard, and Dr Richard E. Wagner, Bellcore. This course offers a review of optical fiber communications fundamentals, then focuses on state-of-the-art technology and its applications in present and future communication networks. The course begins with the major building blocks of optical fiber communications systems ( fiber and passive components, sources and transmitters, detectors and receivers). Actual design examples of fiber optic links for short-haul and long-haul applications are studied, and recent technological advances in addressing problems due to fiber loss and dispersion are presented. Recent developments in local and metropolitan area networks to support multimedia traffic and their evolving architectures and standards are fully covered. The treatment on telecommunications systems includes various technological options for subscriber networks, exchange networks, and the global undersea networks. Network architectures evolving from the traditional telephone and CATV networks are contrasted. Technology trends and directions for realizing the so-called information superhighway are examined as well. Finally, optical networks using wavelength routing and multi-wavelength cross-connects are presented. ________________________________ "Advanced Communication Systems Using Digital Signal Processing", November 14-18, 1994. The instructors will be Dr Bernard Sklar, Communications Engineering Services, and Mr Frederick Harris, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Diego State University. This course provides comprehensive coverage of advanced digital communications. It differs from other communications courses in its emphasis on applying modern digital signal processing techniques to the implementation of communication systems. This makes the course essential for practitioners in the rapidly changing field. Error-correction coding, spread spectrum techniques, and bandwidth-efficient signalling are all discussed in detail. Basic digital signaling methods and the newest modulation-with -memory techniques are presented, along with trellis-coded modulation. Topics that are covered include: signal processing overview and baseband transmission, bandpass modulation and demodulation, digital signal processing tools and technology, non-recursive filters, channel coding: error detection and correction, modulation and coding trade-offs and bandwith-efficient signaling, signal conditioning, adaptive algorithms for communication systems, spread spectrum techniques, and multiple access and cryptographic techniques. Each participant receives a copy of the text, "Digital Communications-Fundamentals and Applications", by Bernard Sklar. --------------------- "Active Circuit Design for Wireless Systems: Principles and Applications", November 28- December 2, 1994. The instructors will be Dr. Les Besser, Besser and Associates, and Dr Stephen Maas, Nonlinear Technologies. This course describes the design of RF circuits and subsystems, beginning with approximate designs and optimizing them by the most appropriate tool. The course also compares practical linear and non-linear design methods used in active RF circuit engineering. It gives participants in-depth instruction in the practical use of CAE tools and their limitations, taking both lumped and distributed transmission line networks into account. Topics covered include review of linear active two-ports, monolithic circuit amplifiers: availability and performance, discrete device amplifiers, fundamentals and properties of nonlinear circuits, nonlinear CAD programs, intermodulation distortion, large-signal device modeling, power amplifier design, frequent multiplier design, commercial MMICs for wireless applications, mixer design, and oscillators. Each participant will receive a copy of the text, "Nonlinear Microwave Circuits", S. A. Maas. _______________________________________ For additional information and complete course descriptions, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: bellcore!ctt.bellcore.com!quasar@uunet.uu.net (Laurence R. Brothers) Subject: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Organization: Bellcore Date: Fri, 12 Aug 1994 10:48:50 GMT I want a device to do the following: * Intercept incoming call and not pass ring to phone. * Play message: "If this is a personal call press 1 now, otherwise hang up." * Hang up in 10 seconds if 1 is not pressed. * If 1 is pressed, ring the phone. I imagine an ACD could be trivially programmed to do this, but I also imagine it would be rather expensive for an ordinary consumer to purchase an ACD to serve just one line. Perhaps I'm wrong about that, or perhaps there is some consumer device to do basically this; if there is any reasonably affordable way to achieve this effect, please let me know. Basically my goal is to preempt all non-personal calls so that I don't even know I'm being called. Anti-telemarketer approaches that rely on callerid, distinctive ring, or listening to an answering machine don't cut it, because in every such case I will be disturbed by the phone ringing and probably have to go across my house to the phone in any event. If I have to do that, I might as well just answer the phone and hang up on the caller. I imagine that this would be a simple to implement using an AIN terminating call screening service, but unfortunately I don't have access to anything like that. I can't think of any way to get ordinary voice mail to do this either; so far as I know, no conventional voice mail can ring back to the customer after its been activated. Thanks, as usual, in advance. I will repost anything useful I get to the net. Laurence R. Brothers (quasar@bellcore.com) Bellcore -- Computing Technology Integration -- Knowledge-Based Applications ------------------------------ Subject: Pcomm SPARC10 Binaries Sought From: chakford@tenagra.sas.muohio.edu (Craig Chakford) Date: 11 Aug 94 15:40:34 -0500 Hello, I'm having a very difficult time compiling pcomm (a unix procomm-like utility) for a SUN SPARCstation 10 running solaris 2.3, using the gcc compiler, verssion 3.3 (or so). I'm not really interested in getting it to compile any more. Does anyone have the binaries, or know where I can get them? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Craig chakford@phoenix.aps.muohio.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Aug 94 00:28:00 -0500 From: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: PTL (Phone The LifeLine) Club Reply-To: dave.leibold@superctl.tor250.org The article "Putting God on the line" as it appeared in {The Toronto Star} 9 August 1994, describes a long distance offering called LifeLine, a reseller of WilTel long distance service as set up by a company called AmeriVision. The text of that article originated with Knight-Ridder Tribune and may appear in other newspapers. LifeLine was set up for the conservative Christian community. In the words of AmeriVision vice-president Carl Thompson: "You would call us a fundamentalist Christian, right-wing organization -- and we like it." 10% of billings are donated to various conservative groups consistent with the "religious right"; much of this community was offended by AT&T's reported sponsorship of the Gay Games sporting event, and there are concerns that major carriers sponsor entertainment shows that aren't exactly the 700 Club. LifeLine has a reported 80,000 customers, with growth of over 1000/week; yet there are hopes for 3.5 million customers over the next five years (somewhat more than current trends indicate). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is, to my knowledge, the first instance of a religious organization forming an affinity group for the purpose of telecommuniations. There have been other telecom users affinity groups, such as the one dealing with conservation of natural resources, etc. In the beginning -- the middle 1980's -- the "Gay Games" was originally known as the "Gay Olympics"; the organizers were however sued by the international organization which sponsors the Olympics events each year. Their claim was that the word 'olympics' is copyrighted when used in the context of an organized series of sporting events held on a regular basis. The court found in their favor and required the organizers of "Gay Olympics" to drop their use of the word in that context; thus the change a few years ago to the "Gay Games" name they use now. PAT] ------------------------------ From: quioqy@satelnet.org (Quioqy) Subject: Europe: Unlimited Residential Service Date: 12 Aug 1994 09:37:33 -0400 Organization: SatelNET "Freedom of information" = the cost of access to the internet = the cost of the access provider + the connect cost charged by the local telcom. In America there are access providers which charge per time unit, and newer ones which charge a flat monthly rate. Local Bells provide residential service at a flat rate for unlimited local calls. Thus in most areas "freedom of information" can be purchased at a flat monthly rate, for instance: $20 for internet access + $20 for unlimited local calls = $40 per month for freedom of information +/- 10 percent. In Europe I imagine the situation varies from country to country. Please post your local experience, so that we may all get an impression of the cost of "freedom of information" in the countries of Europe. Government and social hierarchy seems always to have been associated with "-information" that is restriction of access and disinformation. Competetive advantage seems to have been associated with "+information", that is broadness in scope and ease of access. ------------------------------ From: jantypas@ccnet.com (John Antypas) Subject: CPUC and Cellular Phone Rebates (Again) Date: 12 Aug 1994 10:22:10 -0700 Organization: CCnet Communications OK -- now I'm really confused. I live in the San Fransisco Bay Area and I've been looking at getting a cellular phone. The two major carriers in my area are GTE MobileNet and Cellular One. Any many of you no doubt know, many dealers outside the Bay are providing substantial rebates on phone prices. As an example, the MotCo PT-550 can be had for as little as $99 with a one-year contract. In the Bay, the best I can do is $200. The reason, according to Cell One dealers is as follows: "The CPUC prevents us from selling the phone at anything less than 10% below a standard retail price. Anything less is illegal." Now, I've probably misunderstood something here, so please Cell One Dealers, the Good Guys, or whomever else is reading this, explain this ruling? It only affects the Bay, it does not seem to bother GTE MobileNet dealers at all. To quote FOUR Cell One dealers, "Well, if they want to do something illegal, that doesn't mean we can" Sure sounds strange to me. 1) The CPUC regulates the state, not just the Bay. 2) It doesn't care a witt about Cell One vs. GTE vs. US West vs. Bob's CellCO. 3) Why the $75-$100 rebates only via GTE? It sure sounds like Cell One dealers are feeding me a line, but I could be missing something. Again, for a one-year contract at $0.40/$0.20 peak /off-peak rates and a purchase of a new PT-550 phone, Cell One Dealers want $200-$220 for the phone and fat battery + $40/month. GTE dealers want $120-$150 + $40/mon. What gives? If anyone is interested, I'll gladly give out the phone numbers of various dealers via e-mail so this can be verified. Cell One Dealers, I am open to any pricing you have and I'll give you numbers of ads for GTE dealers to check against. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Aug 94 10:49:28 GMT From: Will Martin Subject: Blocking 800-Number Charge-Backs Here's an extract from a misc.consumers posting that includes a list of the 800 numbers for ten carriers which you can call if you want charge-back 800 call billing blocked on your line. Note that these are for carriers serving the St. Cloud, MN area, so there are undoubtedly many more in other areas, too: Subject: stop 800 number billing From: darren.young@granite.mn.org (Darren Young) Date: Thu, 4 Aug 94 17:28:00 +0600 Organization: Granite City Connection St. Cloud MN 612-654-8372 Did you know that you can be charged for 1-800 number calls? I was told this before but thought they guy that told me was crazy. ... Now after talking with the VSR company d*nk, I was informed that they could block this from my number, but it would only be THEIR particular company. There are 100's of these companies throughout the US doing this. She did tell me that a call to my local phone company would result in a block (like the 900 number block I currently have), that would keep this from happening. Not true! US West told me that of the 20 some long distance carriers that service my area (St. Cloud, MN), 10 of these offer billable 800 number service, and I would have to call each and every one of them to have them block this [<---insert profanity here--->] thing. Anyhow, here's the list........ Network Access 1-800-918-8255 Long Distance Billing 1-800-748-4309 ITA 1-800-866-8889 Integratel 1-800-736-7500 Info Access 1-800-661-1352 Federal Transtel 1-800-388-8111 Enhance Service Billing Co. 1-800-460-0078 Communications Telesystems 1-800-569-8200 American Telenet 1-800-460-0307 VRS Subscriber Service 1-800-800-2526 ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Another Year of it Date: Fri, 12 Aug 1994 08:30:00 CDT I just thought I would mention this issue marks the start of another year of TELECOM Digest. The Digest started thirteen years ago, on August 11, 1981. It was founded by Jon Solomon, and was spun-off from a group at that time called Human-Nets. Just as this Digest was by a group of people interested in more specialized discussions on telecom topics than was going on in Human-Nets, it has also been responsible for the creation of two journals in recent years: The Computer Underground Digest and the Computer Privacy Digest were both originally part of TELECOM Digest. They began when discussions here on the topics covered in those journals began to get too far afield from what is usually covered here. I assumed control of the Digest in October, 1988. I believe that with thirteen years of continuous publication, TELECOM Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal distributed on the Internet and related internet of computers throughout the world. Many of the original reader/participants are still around. For various reasons, publication and distribution of the Digest has been shaky over the past few months, but things are starting to look better. Anyway, welcome to the start of year fourteen. Pat ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #346 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27711; 17 Aug 94 17:32 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA23913; Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:08:06 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA23905; Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:08:02 CDT Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:08:02 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408171808.AA23905@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #347 TELECOM Digest Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:08:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 347 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Understanding Telephone Electronics" by Bigelow (Rob Slade) Cisco to Ship ATM Switch (Stephen Goodman) NPA/NXX Report #14 (David Esan) AT&T For Far Local Calls After August? (Gary L. Dare) Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? (Brian Nunes) Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? (John Levine) MobileMedia Significantly Better Than Pagemart? (Doug Reuben) Cellular Standards (David L. Ethridge) Will an Australian Cellular Phone Work in USA? (Glen K. Moore) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Aug 1994 11:39:42 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Understanding Telephone Electronics" by Bigelow BKUNDTEL.RVW 940608 SAMS Publishing 11711 N. College Ave., Suite 140 Carmel, IN 46032-5634 317-573-2500 317-581-3535 800-428-5331 800-428-3804 or 201 West 103rd St. Indianapolis, IN 46290 317-581-3718 fax: 317-581-4669 "Understanding Telephone Electronics", Bigelow, 1991, 0-672-27350-0, U$24.95/C$31.95 One of my professors was fond of remarking that a computer scientist was one who sat at a terminal connected to a wire that disappeared into the wall. Not only did the computer scientist not know what was on the other side of the wall, he or she did not *want* to know. For those involved in data communications, life is not quite that simple. There is a requirement to deal with hardware, both at the simple level of cables and phone cords, and up through modems, multiplexers and PADs. Most, however, stop short at the phone jack. The wires go off into the wall, and not only do the data comm types not know what is on the other side of the wall ... Some, however, may actually want to know. There are remarkably few sources outside of professional or engineering references. Thus, it is very heartening to find that this book is not merely a source of information, but is written clearly and presented well. Illustrations are illustrative and organization is thorough. (The end of chapter quizzes are so simple as to be a waste of time, but I suppose you can't have everything.) Logically divided chapters lay out the basics and details of the telephone system; telephone set; electronic speech, dialling and ringing circuits; integrated telephone circuits; electronics in the central office; network transmission; and wireless and cellular phones. We data mavens are remembered with chapters on digital transmission, modem and facsimile. The material is lucid and, at all points, within reach of the intelligent novice. This is, by no means, written specifically for the data professional. Anyone with an curiosity for what is inside a telephone will be interested. Electronics buffs may find enough detail in the schematics to try and build telephones; even quite advanced ones; at home. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKUNDTEL.RVW 940608. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated mailing lists/newsgroups. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Aug 94 16:32 EST From: Stephen Goodman <0003945654@mcimail.com> Subject: Cisco to Ship ATM Switch CISCO TO SHIP ATM SWITCH NEXT MONTH; FIRST TO SUPPORT ATM FORUM'S NEW P-NNI ROUTING STANDARD SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 15, 1994 -- Cisco Systems next month will begin customer shipments of its Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switch, the HyperSwitch A100. The new product will be the first ATM switch to support the Phase 0 P-NNI (Private Network Node Interface) protocol adopted by the ATM Forum in July and soon to be finalized as the first available solution for ensuring interoperability among multi-vendor ATM switches. The HyperSwitch will be used in conjunction with Cisco's ATM Interface Processor (AIP), which began shipping in May for the firm's high-end Cisco 7000 family of routers. The two products together form a key part of the CiscoFusion(TM) architecture, which combines routing and multi-layer switching technologies to build scalable, secure and intelligent enterprise internetworks. Larry Lang, senior product line manager, said, "Cisco is the first vendor to offer both a PNNI-compliant ATM switch and a UNI-compliant ATM router, providing the industry's only complete ATM solution based on ATM Forum standards. The combination of the HyperSwitch and the AIP card will allow users to create high-speed switched internetworks that eliminate congestion problems in corporate backbone internetworks. An Interoperability Standard for ATM Networks Lang called Phase 0 P-NNI support "a critical component of our ATM strategy. Cisco led the way in defining this protocol, which provides an urgently needed interoperability standard for ATM networks. Now, for the first time, users can build multi- switch, multi-vendor networks and set up switched virtual connections across those networks without resorting to proprietary protocols that lock customers into a single vendor's solution. "As a founding member of the ATM Forum, and chair of the LAN emulation working group, Cisco is committed to the development and implementation of current and emerging industry standards that permit true interoperability." Cisco will continue to play a leading role as the ATM Forum pursues development of the Phase 1 P-NNI standard, a more sophisticated and scalable version of Phase 0 that is expected to be finalized by the second half of 1995. The HyperSwitch, co-developed with NEC Corporation, supports up to 16 155-Mbps ATM interfaces. Unlike other ATM switches that come only in fixed, fully-populated configurations, the HyperSwitch can be purchased with any number of interfaces, reducing entry costs. Recognizing the importance of congestion and traffic management in private ATM networks, the HyperSwitch A100 is designed to support up to 2,000 (minimum 1,000) cells of buffering per port -- more than any other private network ATM switch. At the same time, priority mechanisms ensure low latency for such time-sensitive applications as voice and video. In conjunction with the traffic-shaping capabilities of the Cisco AIP, these features will allow router clusters made up of Cisco ATM routers and HyperSwitches to offer unprecedented levels of loss-free throughput for private networks. Available HyperSwitch interfaces, compliant with ATM Forum specifications, are TAXI 4B/5B (100-Mbps) and SONET/SDH STS3c/STM1 (155 Mbps), both on multi-mode fiber. Future plans call for SONET single-mode fiber and copper unshielded twisted pair category 5 (UTP-5), DS-3 and E-3 interfaces. Interface types can be freely mixed and matched for use in workgroup or WAN switching. Supporting all traffic and ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) types, the HyperSwitch uses a non-blocking, 2.4-Gbps cross-bar matrix switch fabric that minimizes cell loss. It has two priority levels and separate queuing classes for data- and time- sensitive traffic. Multicast traffic is handled with no throughput degradation. The HyperSwitch includes SNMP-based network management. The HyperSwitch offers fully integrated support for ATM forum UNI V3.0 signaling, eliminating the need for a separate connection management system that could reduce reliability. Both permanent and switched virtual circuits (PVCs and SVCs) are supported. The same signaling code is used on the AIP and the A100, ensuring interoperability. HyperSwitch Pricing The HyperSwitch chassis and two interface types are available next month. The chassis is priced at $21,900. The SONET 155-Mbps interface card is priced at $1,250, and the TAXI 100-Mbps interface card at $1,050. Up to 16 interfaces of the same or different types can be used in the chassis. Bundled packages of the HyperSwitch and the AIP module will also be available. Cisco Systems, Inc., is the leading worldwide supplier of high-performance, multimedia and multiprotocol internetworking products, including routers, bridges, workgroup systems for 10- Mbps/100-Mbps data transmission, ATM switches, communication servers, software routers, and router management software. Cisco technology is used to build enterprise-wide networks linking an unlimited number of geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM SNA networks. In the United States, Cisco is traded over the counter under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO. ------------------------------ From: de@moscom.com (David Esan) Subject: NPA/NXX Report #14 Date: 17 Aug 94 11:42:31 GMT Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY This is my quarterly report on the number of exchanges in each NPA in the NANP. It is derived from information in FCC #10. This is article #14 in the series. FCC #10 is a tariff issued by BellCore that contains all the area codes, exchange combinations in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It also contains lata information and V&H coordinate information. There is a lot of additional information that I don't use, so I won't add here. It is available through a number of sources. The one closest to the FCC is ITS, which can be contacted at 202-857-3800. My company compiles this information for use in its products and does not seem to be interested in selling this information. Queries are still flowing through the bureaucracy. I have used pages that are effective prior to July 20, 1994. I am not responsible for the information supplied in FCC #10. I have not included the following in my counts of exchanges: - NXX's that are not dialable by a standard user (ie nxx's that begin with a 1 or 0). - Mexican exchanges in the 52? series of area codes. I've got them, you can dial them with 011, but they're not really NPAs. - Exchanges that are non-dialable in the 88? series of area codes. I've got those also, but you can't dial them, so I'm not including them. Numbers that begin with 88 are nondialable stations in the US, Canada and Mexico. They are ranches in the middle of the Nevada or Texas desert, or isolated outpost of civilization (always wanted to use that phrase) in the tundra of Canada. I find place names like the Bar J Ranch, Double B Ranch, and JD Dye, Texas, Amargosa, Corncreek and Reese Valley, NV, and Chick Lake, Redknife and Taglu, NT. I gather they are ringdown stations, or radio-telephone stations. [It has been noted in c.d.t. that at least two of these numbers are for a bordello on the NV-CA border.] The fields are: ------------ rank last in April, 1994 213: 736 (1, 7) area code --^^^ ^^^ ^------- number of new exchanges |-------------- total number of exchanges 205: 740 ( 3, 11) 602: 712 ( 8, 21) 813 : 630 (16, 15) 403: 621 (13, 2) 313: 733 ( 2, 2) 713: 686 ( 9, 16) 615 : 628 (14, 11) 503: 620 (18, 12) 215: 726 ( 4, 16) 703: 664 (10, 9) 604 : 624 (15, 7) 305: 611 (21, 15) 206: 723 ( 6, 24) 303: 643 (12, 18) 216 : 623 (19, 17) 404: 607 (20, 6) 708: 715 ( 7, 19) 212: 642 (11, 4) 803 : 622 (17, 13) 214: 607 (22, 12) 1. 205 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 2. 313 - split is in progress. Number should be reduced by split. 3. 215 - split is in progress. Number should be reduced by split. 4. 206 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 5. 708 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 6. 602 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 7. 713 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 8. 703 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 11. 813 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 12. 615 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 18. 305 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. Note: The Los Angeles Area (213/818/310) area will receive an overlay area code. While none of these NPAs are in the top 20 this is an area of rapid telephone growth. -> The NPA that is largest and is not splitting nor has plans, at this time, to split, is 303. -> The 3 smallest NPA's were 302, 906, 807. They are now: 413: 137 - Western Massachusetts (+1 exchange) 906: 117 - Michigan's Upper Peninsula (no change) 807: 109 - Western Ontario (+1 exchange) -> The NPAs with the greatest growth rates are: NPA % growth 512 4.91 917 4.76 417 4.21 310 4.02 303 3.99 617 3.91 813 3.89 719 3.80 610 3.79 213 3.63 -> The 10 NPAs with the least growth rates are: NPA % growth 806 -.76 718 -.39 212 0 217 0 309 0 410 0 418 0 506 0 515 0 519 0 Just for grins: The most used NXX (not counting 555) is 754 used in 118 npas. The least used are: 211 and 311 used only in 212, 900 used in 213, 950 used only in 716 (my NPA), and 959 used only in 808. I should note here that these are exchanges that are truly in use, not for special calling, but in general day to day use. 716-950 was an exchange before the general use of 950 as a special number exchange. All the NPAs and the number of nxx's in each are listed below: 919: 731 214: 595 201: 472 213: 400 912: 360 819: 317 709: 264 313: 731 612: 592 412: 466 316: 396 810: 359 918: 310 509: 263 205: 729 314: 588 913: 460 704: 392 519: 359 613: 309 806: 261 215: 710 809: 577 306: 458 219: 390 204: 358 909: 308 608: 260 416: 707 501: 575 818: 455 910: 385 207: 357 706: 308 603: 251 206: 699 203: 573 407: 454 801: 383 304: 351 218: 303 901: 250 708: 696 904: 571 210: 454 914: 382 419: 347 610: 301 417: 223 602: 691 619: 562 617: 452 406: 382 319: 346 808: 300 308: 217 713: 670 817: 550 614: 452 504: 380 618: 345 202: 299 707: 206 703: 655 405: 546 415: 443 502: 380 517: 344 606: 292 719: 191 212: 638 310: 544 410: 441 908: 376 505: 343 903: 291 506: 186 303: 625 804: 542 515: 440 301: 376 702: 337 712: 289 802: 183 403: 619 717: 525 601: 439 510: 375 805: 335 812: 288 307: 182 615: 617 312: 521 402: 428 217: 375 915: 324 518: 281 607: 180 604: 617 414: 517 714: 426 418: 370 409: 323 507: 281 917: 176 813: 615 514: 510 516: 426 701: 367 815: 322 902: 279 401: 149 803: 609 718: 506 508: 419 408: 366 715: 321 705: 275 413: 136 503: 608 816: 496 716: 415 605: 365 208: 320 315: 273 302: 136 216: 606 513: 488 907: 414 318: 364 609: 319 814: 271 906: 117 404: 601 317: 486 616: 410 512: 363 905: 318 309: 268 807: 107 305: 596 916: 475 209: 402 David Esan de@moscom.com ------------------------------ From: gld@prairienet.org (Gary L. Dare) Subject: AT&T For Far Local Calls After August? Date: 17 Aug 1994 05:50:39 GMT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Reply-To: gld@prairienet.org (Gary L. Dare) In the metro Chicago area codes 708 and 312, AT&T has been having a sale on C & D tier locals calls (over 15 miles) in competition with Ameritech; Ma Bell may be doing the same in other areas. What will be the case after August 31st when their "up to 10% off" sale ends ... will it be extended, or will they offer local rates for "far distance" calls at the same price as a local carrier? Thanks for any info ... Where I am (Rolling Meadows), all my calls to area code 312 (Chicago proper) and Evanston (Northwestern University area) fall into the C and D band. The calls under 15 miles would actually cost more using AT&T rather than Ameritech. Gary L. Dare formerly gld@columbia.edu gld@prairienet.org uk960@freenet.victoria.bc.ca ------------------------------ From: bnunes@netcom.com (Brian Nunes) Subject: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? Organization: This Way Out, the int'l lesbian & gay radio magazine Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 06:00:00 GMT I have a bizarre question, if reading the rest of the posts is any indication. I have a 14.4 bps modem and I have call waiting, but my question is not how to turn off the call waiting, but how to let the second call get through. Apparently the "click" or "beep" to let me know I have a second call is seen as "noise" by the modem, which then error-corrects it away. There are times when I *WANT* a voice call to come through, so I specifically DO NOT TURN OFF call waiting. Sometimes it will knock me offline, but quite often I later find out that my line just rang and rang with a second call, and I had no idea (no weird characters on the screen, no loss of carrier). Any idea how I can make my modem "more sensitive" to the call-waiting beep, without disabling error-correction? Thanks! Brian Nunes=*-*-*-*-*-* bnunes@netcom.com -*-*- +1.213.656.9117 7985 Santa Monica Blvd. #109-473, West Hollywood, CA 90046-5112 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, there isn't any way to do it. I don't know how many times over the years here there have been articles asking how to *avoid* being knocked off by call waiting; this seems to be the first saying the person wants to be knocked off. I suggest its impossible to have it both ways. Early modems had no error correction built into them and there were chronic problems of the sort described. So the modem manufacturers improve their products considerably and now people want things the other way around. My belief has always been that your modem and/or fax line simply has to be a line dedicated to that purpose, and no other. Have a single line for data purposes, totally separate and apart from voice. The two do not mix well at all. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 02:07 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? I'm here at my summer headquarters at the beach in New Jersey, and I'm having incredible trouble getting a reliable modem connection. Half the time, the modem won't even shake hands, the other half of the time the connection dies after somewhere between one and fifteen minutes. I've tried this with two different modems, a Megahertz PCMCIA and a GBC (or maybe GVC, it's an OEM version without a label) external modem. The other end is a bank of five Telebits. I'm trying to connect at 14.4K V.32bis. I'm in Harvey Cedars NJ (609-361), the other end is in Pleasantville (609-485) which is a local call albeit a different CO. Both COs have modern electronic switches. I have two phone lines here and have about the same amount of trouble with either. Things work best in the morning, worst around midnight. (Strange but true.) There is no audible noise that I can hear on the line. I had the same problem last year but though that it was due to the cheapo Sportster modem I was using. Any suggestions? If I shelled out for a Telebit would it be likely to work any better? Any magic things I can say to repair service beyond "my fax machine keeps hanging up" ? Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you told that to telco, they will probably be quick to respond that fax machines do not operate at 14.4 usually. Why don't you try backing down to 9600 and seeing if that works. Or, go to 2400 and see how well it performs then increase it to 9600 if circumstances will handle it. All the time you have spent negotiating at 14.4 could have been used transferring a lot of data at 2400/9600. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 17-AUG-1994 15:31:28 From: DREUBEN@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU Subject: MobileMedia Significantly Better Than Pagemart? I've had PageMart's Natiowide pager service for over a year now, and overall find it to be acceptable. I pay $25 or so per month for service (I own my pager, so no rental fee), get 200 nationwide pages per month, "voice-mail" where I can call in and hear the last 15 pages, and callers hear a message from ME (not beeps) when they call in. I thought Pagemart's coverage was pretty good -- I even got pages while in Toronto, which I guess came from New York state locations on the other side of lake Ontario. I especially like the system where callers hear a personalized greeting -- this allows me to forward other numbers to my pager and leave instructions on how to page me properly when caller reach the pager. The fact that I can retrieve the numbers later on by calling into my pager is equally useful. Recently, I acquired service from MobileMedia, which rents me a Motorola Advisor (alpha) pager for $32 or so per month. I pay $3 extra for an additional coverage "region". I think the regions are: DC/Baltimore, West VA/PA, NY Metro, and New England. Each added region costs $3, except West VA/PA which is $9 more. I get two numbers: a regular local number for numeric beeps, and a 800 number with an ID code which people use to leave me alpha (text) messages. There is no provision for my own, personalized outgoing message, nor can I retrieve numeric messages remotely like I can with Pagemart -- if I miss a *numeric* page it is gone forever. (The alpha pages can be replayed to you if you call the dispatch center and ask them to do so; these will count towards your monthly "free" page allowance. I think that only pages sent through the service, ie, where people called the 800 number and talked to a representative and gave him/her your ID number can be re-sent, while those which you dispatch via a PC can not.) I get 250 "free" numeric beeps per month, 250 *PC-dispatched* alpha beeps per month, and 25 human-dispatched (where callers use the 800 number and speak to a person who keys in the message.) The most significant difference between Pagemart and Mobilmedia is the coverage. I was traveling through Western Mass and along I-91 between VT and NH for the past few days, and received EVERY page on my MobilMedia beeper. I got absolutely nothing with PageMart. I even did a number of test pages where I called my computer from the car, which then calls me back in two minutes and pages me on BOTH pagers (for comparative testing purposes.) I had very prompt and reliable service on MobilMedia from White River Junction, VT and about 20 miles surrounding that city, all the way south to cover all of Mass, CT, and RI. Previous trials in NY, NJ, PA, and DE (all within my coverage area) were also excellent -- EVERY page went through, while only a few of the duplicate pages which were sent to PageMart worked. My observations lead me to conclude that PageMart really only works well in large cities and along well-travelled corridors. By "large" I mean something like Scranton, PA and up, ie, places with a significant amount of people and/or commerce. Out West, PageMart did quite well in large, flat areas, but back East, in the hills of New England (or even on sections of the New Jersey Turnpike!) PageMart fails miserably, at least compared to the vastly superior coverage of MobileMedia. MobileMedia service is available from West Virginia to DC through PA and up along the East Coast to DE, NJ, NY (to Albany, more?), CT, MA, RI, NH, VT (Eastern VT only, they are planning to expand this soon) and Maine. You can get nationwide coverage, too, but that involves using SkyTel, and paying their outrageous rates or $80 per month or so. (I laughed when the SkyTel rep without hesitation quoted me that rate and said it was "economical"! He said "Oh, but WE work in countries where no one else goes, like Singapore". Big deal, next time I want to get beaten I'll call SkyTel first! :) ) Overall, I am *very* impressed by the coverage which MobilMedia provides. I was always under the impression that I had to sacrifice *thorough* penetration in order to get regionwide coverage, which turns out not to be the case with MobilMedia. I just wish I could add other regions, like California (assuming the coverage is equally as good there on whatever carrier MobileMedia/SkyTel uses), without paying $80+ per month for SkyTel. If you just need to go from city to city, then Pagemart's nationwide (no Canadian service :( ) is acceptable, and has nice bonuses like personalized greetings and storage of pages. And at $25 or so per month on an annual contract, I can't complain. (Altghough don't try calling cust. svc. -- they are perpetually busy. PageMart is working to alleviate this.) However, if you are in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic regions, and want highly effective pager service which works just about everywhere, I'd suggest you give MobileMedia (previously MetroMedia) a try. Doug CID Technologies (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ From: ethridge@donald.sp.trw.com (David L. Ethridge) Subject: Cellular Standards Date: 17 Aug 1994 14:13:29 GMT Organization: TRW Reply-To: ethridge@donald.sp.trw.com Hello Everyone: Could anyone recommend a reference book, conference paper, or other technical resource which compares the GSM (TDMA) cellular standard used in Europe with the IS-95 (CDMA) standard developed by Qualcomm? In particular, I am curious if there are any systems being developed which are compatible with both, or which use one standard for the interface between the mobile and base station and the other standard for the interface between the base station and the local public switched telephone networks. Does anyone know what the fundamental problems, issues, and concerns associated such a system are? Any information that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. As always, thanks in advance for your help. David Ethridge ethridge@donald.sp.trw.com ------------------------------ From: gkm@uow.edu.au (Glen K Moore) Subject: Will an Australian Cellular Phone Work in USA? Date: 17 Aug 1994 00:21:23 +1000 Organization: University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. I have received many opinions as to whether: 1. an Australian cellular phone (Motorola Microtac Ultralite) will work in the USA. 2. whether it is possible to get a connection if it will work. Anyone out there really know? Does anyone have fax numbers for telephone companies in the San Francisco area who might be able to advise? It seems Australia has reciprocal agreements in every country (almost) except the USA. The reason usually given is the large number of different carriers in the USA. In Australia, until recently, we had only one. Any advice greatly appreciated. Glen University of Wollongong, AUSTRALIA email: g.moore@uow.edu.au fax: 61 42 213151 tel: 018 425325 (mobile) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #347 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28807; 17 Aug 94 18:07 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA25144; Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:54:16 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA25136; Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:54:11 CDT Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:54:11 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408171854.AA25136@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #348 TELECOM Digest Wed, 17 Aug 94 13:54:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 348 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson EFF Analysis of Leahy/Edwards Digital Telephony Bill (Stanton McCandlish) Book Review: "Understanding Data Communications" by Held (Rob Slade) ISDN/Switched 56 Billing Problem (Ralph Woods) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Alan Boritz) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Mark E. Daniel) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Scott Coleman) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Gary Breuckman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mech@eff.org (Stanton McCandlish) Subject: EFF Analysis of Leahy/Edwards Digital Telephony Bill Date: 15 Aug 1994 11:58:23 PDT EFF SUMMARY OF THE EDWARDS/LEAHY DIGITAL TELEPHONY BILL OVERVIEW The Edwards/Leahy Digital Telephony bill places functional requirements on telecommunications carriers in order to enable law enforcement to continue to conduct authorized electronic surveillance. It allows a court to impose fines on carriers that violate the requirements, and mandates that the processes for determining capacity requirements and technical standards be open and public. The bill also contains significant new privacy protections; including an increased standard for government access to transactional data (such as addressing information contained in electronic mail logs), a requirement that information acquired through the use of pen registers or trap and trace devices not disclose the physical location of an individual, and an expansion of current law to protect the radio portion of cordless telephone conversations from unauthorized surveillance. SCOPE OF THE BILL. WHO IS COVERED? The requirements of the bill apply to "telecommunications carriers", which are defined as any person or entity engaged in the transmission or switching of wire or electronic communications as a common carrier for hire (as defined by section 3 (h) of the Communications Act of 1934), including commercial mobile services (cellular, PCS, etc.). The bill also applies to those persons or entities engaged in providing wire or electronic communication switching or transmission service to the extent that the FCC finds that such service is a replacement for a substantial portion of the local telephone exchange. The bill does not apply to online communication and information services such as Internet providers, Compuserve, AOL, Prodigy, and BBS's. It also excludes private networks, PBX's, and facilities which only interconnect telecommunications carriers or private networks (such as most long distance service). REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED ON CARRIERS Telecommunications carriers would be required to ensure that they possess sufficient capability and capacity to accommodate law enforcement's needs. The bill distinguishes between capability and capacity requirements, and ensures that the determination of such requirements occur in an open and public process. CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS A telecommunications carrier is required to ensure that, within four years from the date of enactment, it has the capability to: 1. expeditiously isolate the content of a targeted communication within its service area; 2. isolate call-identifying information about the origin and destination of a targeted communication; 3. enable the government to access isolated communications at a point away from the carrier's premises and on facilities procured by the government, and; 4. to do so unobtrusively and in such a way that protects the privacy and security of communications not authorized to be intercepted (Sec. 2601). However, the bill does not permit law enforcement agencies or officers to require the specific design of features or services, nor does it prohibit a carrier from deploying any feature or service which does not meet the requirements outlined above. CAPACITY REQUIREMENTS Within one year of enactment of the bill, the Attorney General must determine the maximum number of intercepts, pen register, and trap and trace devices that law enforcement will require four years from the date of enactment. Notices of capacity requirements must be published in the Federal Register (Sec. 2603). Carriers have four years to comply with capacity requirements. PROCESS FOR DETERMINING TECH. STANDARDS TO IMPLEMENT CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS Telecommunications carriers, through trade associations or standards setting bodies and in consultation with the Attorney General, must determine the technical specifications necessary to implement the capability requirements (Sec. 2606). The bill contains a 'safe harbor' provision, which allows a carrier to meet its obligations under the legislation if it is in compliance with publicly available standards set through this process. A carrier may deploy a feature or service in the absence of technical standards, although in such a case the carrier would not be covered by the safe harbor provision and may be found in violation. Furthermore, the legislation allows any one to file a motion at the FCC in the event that a standard violates the privacy and security of telecommunications networks or does not meet the requirements of the bill (Sec. 2606). If petitioned under this section, the FCC may establish technical requirements or standards that: 1) meet the capability requirements (in Sec. 2602); 2) protect the privacy and security of communications not authorized to be intercepted, and; 3) encourage the provision of new technologies and services to the public. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES In the event that a court or the FCC deems a technical standard to be insufficient, or if law enforcement finds that it is unable to conduct authorized surveillance because a carrier has not met the requirements of this legislation, the Attorney General can request that a court issue an enforcement order (an order directing a carrier to comply), and/or a fine of up to $10,000 per day for each day in violation (Sec. 2607). However, a court can issue an enforcement order or fine a carrier only if it can be determined that no other reasonable alternatives are available to law enforcement. This provision allows carriers to deploy features and services which may not meet the requirements of the bill. Furthermore, this legislation does not permit the government to block the adoption or use of any feature or service by a telecommunications carrier which does not meet the requirements. The bill requires the government to reimburse carriers for all reasonable costs associated with complying with the capacity requirements. In other words, the government will pay for upgrades of current features or services, as well as any future upgrades which may be necessary, pursuant to published notices of capacity requirements (Sec. 2608). There is $500,000,000 authorized for appropriation to cover the costs of government reimbursements to carriers. In the event that a smaller sum is actually appropriated, the bill allows a court to determine whether a carrier must comply (Sec. 2608 (d)). This section recognizes that telecommunications carriers may not be responsible for meeting the requirements if the government does not cover reasonable costs. The government is also required to submit a report to congress within four years describing all costs paid to carriers for upgrades (Sec. 4). ENHANCED PRIVACY PROTECTIONS The legislation contains enhanced privacy protections for transactional information (such as telephone toll records and electronic mail logs) generated in the course of completing a communication. Current law permits law enforcement to gain access to transactional information through a subpoena. The bill establishes a higher standard for law enforcement access to transactional data contained electronic mail logs and other online records. Telephone toll records would still be available through a subpoena. Under the new standard, law enforcement is required to obtain a court order by demonstrating specific and articulable facts that electronic mail logs and other online transactional records are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation (Sec. 10). Law enforcement is also prohibited from remotely activating any surveillance capability. All intercepts must be conducted with the affirmative consent of a telecommunications carrier and activated by a designated employee of the carrier within the carrier's facilities (Sec. 2604). The bill further requires that, when using pen registers and trap and trace devices, law enforcement will use, when reasonably available, devices which only provide call set up and dialed number information (Sec. 10). This provision will ensure that as law enforcement employs new technologies in pen register and trap and trace devices, it will not gain access to additional call setup information beyond its current authority. Finally, the bill extends the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) protections against interception of wireless communications to cordless telephones, making illegal the intentional interception of the radio portion of a cordless telephone (the transmission between the handset and the base unit). CELLULAR SCANNERS The bill makes it a crime to possess or use an altered telecommunications instrument (such as a cellular telephone or scanning receiver) to obtain unauthorized access to telecommunications services (Sec. 9). This provision is intended to prevent the illegal use of cellular and other wireless communications services. Violations under this section face imprisonment for up to 15 years and a fine of up to $50,000. IMPROVEMENTS OF THE EDWARDS/LEAHY BILL OVER PREVIOUS FBI PROPOSALS The Digital Telephony legislative proposal was first offered in 1992 by the Bush Administration. The 1992 version of the bill: * applied to all providers of wire or electronic communications services (no exemptions for information services, interexchange carriers or private networks); * gave the government the explicit authority to block or enjoin a feature or service that did not meet the requirements; * contained no privacy protections; * contained no public process for determining the capacity requirements; * contained no government reimbursement (carriers were responsible for meeting all costs); * would have allowed remote access to communications by law enforcement, and; * granted telecommunications carriers only 18 months to comply. The Bush Administration proposal was offered on capitol hill for almost a year, but did attract any congressional sponsors. The proposal was again offered under the Clinton Administration's FBI in March of 1993. The Clinton Administration's bill was a moderated version of the original 1992 proposal: * It required the government to pay all reasonable costs incurred by telecommunications carriers in retrofitting their facilities in order to correct existing problems; * It encouraged (but did not require), the Attorney General to consult with telecommunications industry representatives and standards bodies to facilitate compliance, * It narrowed the scope of the legislation to common carriers, rather than all providers of electronic communications services. Although the Clinton Administration version was an improvement over the Bush Administration proposal, it did not address the larger concerns of public interest organizations or the telecommunications industry. The Clinton Administration version: * did not contain any protections for access to transactional information; * did not contain any public process for determining the capability requirements or public notice of law enforcement's capacity needs; * would have allowed law enforcement to dictate system design and bar the introduction of features and services which did not meet the requirements, and; * would have allowed law enforcement to use pen registers and trap and trace devices to obtain tracking or physical location information. ************************** Locating Relevant Documents ** Original 1992 Bush-era draft ** ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/Old/digtel92_old_bill.draft gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Policy/FBI/Old, digtel92_old_bill.draft http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/Old/digtel92_old_bill.draft bbs: +1 202 638 6120 (8N1, 300-14400bps), file area: Privacy - Digital Telephony; file: digtel92.old ** 1993/1994 Clinton-era draft ** ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/digtel94_bill.draft gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Policy/FBI, digtel94_bill.draft http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/digtel94_bill.draft bbs: +1 202 638 6120 (8N1, 300-14400bps), file area: Privacy - Digital Telephony; file: digtel94.dft ** 1994 final draft, as sponsored ** ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/digtel94.bill gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Policy/FBI, digtel94.bill http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/digtel94.bill bbs: +1 202 638 6120 (8N1, 300-14400bps), file area: Privacy - Digital Telephony; file: digtel94.bil ** EFF Statement on sponsored version ** ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/digtel94_statement.eff gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Policy/FBI, digtel94_statement.eff http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/FBI/digtel94_statement.eff bbs: +1 202 638 6120 (8N1, 300-14400bps), file area: Privacy - Digital Telephony; file: digtel94.eff ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 12:19:01 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Understanding Data Communications" by Held BKUNDTCM.RVW 940603 SAMS 11711 N. College Ave., Suite 140 Carmel, IN 46032-5634 317-573-2500 317-581-3535 800-428-5331 800-428-3804 or 201 West 103rd St. Indianapolis, IN 46290 317-581-3718 fax: 317-581-4669 "Understanding Data Communications", Held, 1991, 0-672-30005-2, U$24.95/C$31.95 The first edition of this book had six authors, and one could therefore have understood some disjointedness between chapters. The second and third editions, however, were revised by a single author. Why, then, does this purported textbook seem more like a collection of essays only loosely linked by a common topic? The choice of topics for the chapters seems to be quite "application" specific for a general text on data communications. The overview of chapter one is the usual historical look at various electronic communications systems. Chapter two, "Data Terminals", is quite dated, as well as displaying a decided IBM bias in both terminology and concepts. Chapter three is supposed to say something about messages, but concentrates primarily on transmission media. This chapter highlights the widely varying technical level in the book, as well as the disorganization of the material. There are discussions of attenuation and impedance, as well as lists of utilized frequencies -- but no discussion of keying or fibre optic functioning. Although the definitions of keying and fibre optics are missing, certain details are discussed -- which make little sense without the background. Chapters four and five discuss modems. Again, the discussion is quite anachronistic, and, again, the content fails to find a logical flow. Keying is discussed in chapter four -- but only frequency shift keying. Chapter five then details quadrature amplitude modulation -- which makes little sense without amplitude and phase shift keying. (Actually, amplitude and phase shift keying were illustrated in chapter four -- literally. The figures in the book are generally clear when they list tables of information, but the graphical figures are often incomprehensible.) Chapters six to twelve are again mostly concerned with specific applications; multiplexing, fibre and satellite, protocols, LANs, packet data, network management and ISDN. The questions at the end of each chapter are not only highly simplistic but also "multiple guess". It would be difficult to use this as a comprehensive text for data communications. In spite of the flaws, however, there is some good information buried here. The engineering and hardware aspects of data communications is quite strong, and this tends to be a weakness in some other texts. Therefore, while not perhaps suitable as the sole text for a data comm course, it may see good use as an adjunct text or reference. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKUNDTCM.RVW 940603. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated mailing lists/newsgroups. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 14:37:02 EDT From: ralphradio! Subject: ISDN/Switched 56 Billing Problem This is a "HEADS UP!" to folks regarding a potential billing problem for ISDN and switched 56 services. We recently received bills from our long distance carrier (AT&T) that duplicated charges found on our invoices from the local carrier (Bell Atlantic) for our ISDN and switched 56 lines. The dates, times of day, locations, and telephone numbers match up on the two bills, although, interestingly enough, the LENGTH of the calls don't always match! We received a letter from AT&T acknowledging an "error in processing" regarding the discrepancies in length, but only today did they finally acknowledge the double billing. It is worth noting that the AT&T rep did not realize that "Accunet" was an AT&T product offering, but rather insisted that Accunet must be some kind of reseller. Our Common Carrier Manager damn near blew a fuse on that one! I pass this along as a suggestion to you to check your carrier bills <>. Ralph Woods, Manager, Satellite Operations Distribution Division National Public Radio phone: 202-414-2664 635 Massachusetts Avenue, NW FAX: 202-414-3035 Washington, D.C. 20001-3753 Internet: rwoods@npr.org ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net (Alan Boritz) Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 10:56:33 EDT Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 bellcore!ctt.bellcore.com!quasar@uunet.uu.net (Laurence R. Brothers) writes: > I want a device to do the following: > * Intercept incoming call and not pass ring to phone. > * Play message: "If this is a personal call press 1 now, otherwise > hang up." > * Hang up in 10 seconds if 1 is not pressed. > * If 1 is pressed, ring the phone. > Basically my goal is to preempt all non-personal calls so that I don't > even know I'm being called. You must be one of those Bellcore people that assumed that just because a cellular phone's ESN was "buried within" the equipment that no one would have the nerve to intercept it off the air and clone it. Telemarketers didn't earn their nickname, "telesleaze" for nothing. Anyone who bothers to call you to pitch something won't be the slightest bit deterred by the "dial 1" message. Most of these obnoxious morons will push any buttons, or tell you, or your secretary, just about anything to get you on the phone. However, you WILL eliminate all incoming calls from anyone who is not calling from a fully-functional touch-tone phone. We get lots of telemarketer calls in my office, most of them stock and phony investment pitches. Easiest way to deal with them is to either hang up on them if they won't identify themselves and from where they're calling before speaking to the requested party, or let them start their pitch and put the phone down until you hear dialtone. Rude telesleaze that think we have nothing more important to do with our day but to listen to their pitches deserve the rudest treatment in return. Alan aboritz%drharry@uunet.uu.net or uunet!drharry!aboritz Harry's Place (drharry.UUCP) - Mahwah NJ USA - +1-201-934-0861 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 07:15:56 EDT From: mark@legend.akron.oh.us (Mark E Daniel) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? [Person wants a device that answers the phone and says press 1 for personal calls.] Maybe I missed something (like the 1 was just an example) but what's to stop a smart ass telemarketer from pressing 1 and annoying you anyway? Mark E Daniel (Loving SysOp of The Legend BBS) Inet: mark@legend.akron.oh.us medaniel@delphi.com (Direct INet) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nothing will stop such a person from punching whatever buttons are required to get you on the phone. Telling them specifically to punch a button (if thus and so) is an open invi- tation for anyone to punch the buttons. The original correspondent needs to have a secret code *which only his friends know about to start with* which is not announced on the recording. That's the way my 800 number that I got from MyLine works: If you press the proper code number during the greeting your call gets automatically forwarded to where I am at; otherwise you go to voicemail. The thing is, I don't tell the caller that ahead of time -- they have to know about it. MyLine is a very good 800 service with user-defined forwarding of incoming calls, voicemail and other nice features. PAT] ------------------------------ From: genghis@ilces.ag.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: 17 Aug 94 14:12:09 GMT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana This system has one very large flaw: You rely on the telemarketing slime being HONEST enough to hang up instead of pressing the '1'. You also rely on the telemarketing slime to be intelligent enough to understand that your definition of a "personal call" excludes them; they're more inclined to think that, since they are calling a person, it is a personal call and therefore they are qualified to press '1'. I have set up my PC-based voice mail card to do call screening in a much more reliable fashion. All ringers on all phones are kept off at all times. The PC answers all incoming calls, identifies the caller, and takes some action based on the caller's identity and a caller database which the system and I maintain. Callers can be identified either by Caller*ID or via a passcode entered using the DTMF keypad. Since my friends and family have been given the code, they can easily get through to me. Telemarketing slime don't have the passcode, so they can either be routed to the voicemail (where they can leave a message) or dumped. Since the phones do not ring, I never know they called unless they leave a message (which I'll only discover when I specifically check for it). Calls that make it through are announced by the screener using either a synthesized voice ("Incoming call from Mom on line one..."), via a few musical notes played through the PC speaker, or by illuminating/flashing an ordinary table lamp. What you seek can indeed be done, with acceptable reliability and convenience for all (well, all except the telemarketers ;-). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I must say however what some people will do do avoid a phone call is really amazing. Generally that kind of paranoia where incoming calls are concerned -- that one must have multiple layers of screening in the hope of avoiding someone wanting to sell them something, rather than simply saying 'no' and replacing the receiver -- seems to be very common on Usenet. Personally, I hope all your mothers and family members and close friends all decide to go back to using rotary dial, just to thwart you. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 09:29:54 PDT From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? On Fri, 12 Aug 1994, Laurence R. Brothers wrote: > I imagine an ACD could be trivially programmed to do this, but I also > imagine it would be rather expensive for an ordinary consumer to > purchase an ACD to serve just one line. You can do this, at relatively low cost compared to an ACD, with a fax/voice switch and an answering machine. I'm using a "ComSwitch 660" (from Command Communications, 10800 E. Bethany Drive, Suite 300, Aurora CO 80014, (303) 750-6434) with a fax machine, but it could do this. Basically, the switch answers the call after one ring and listens for FAX CNG tones or Reverse Modem Tones (a modem calling in Answer mode) and if heard routes the call to the FAX or AUX outputs. It also accepts two sets of touchtone codes and uses them to route to the FAX or AUX outputs. Otherwise, it send the call to the PHONE and ANS MACH connections, which are actually in parallel. You can defeat the CNG or MODEM tone recognition, and can set the touchtone codes to up to four digits each. Even after the call is sent to the PHONE/ANS jack, it will still recognize the Touchtone or other signals. What I'm suggesting is that you let it answer calls, and send the call to an answering machine. All this can be done without ringing any bells, so far. The caller could enter the touchtone code now, or could listen to the answering machine and enter the code. The answering machine could take messages by default if you wanted it to, or could be set to announce only. Cost of the switch as about $80. Your choice of answering machines. puma@netcom.com Gary Breuckman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But it isn't expensive enough and compli- cated enough! Isn't there a terrible RISK that a telemarketer will sit there and dial over nine thousand codes until he finds the one that will (shudder!) allow him to get through to me so that I will (shudder!) have to actually answer my phone and listen to him? grin .... PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #348 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29752; 17 Aug 94 18:44 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA26627; Wed, 17 Aug 94 14:46:19 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA26620; Wed, 17 Aug 94 14:46:16 CDT Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 14:46:16 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408171946.AA26620@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #349 TELECOM Digest Wed, 17 Aug 94 14:46:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 349 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CFP: Planning and Design of Broadband Networks - IEEE Conference (I Easson) Multimedia on The NII (dorian@cais.cais.com) Reprogramming Alphanumeric Pagers (LindaS1007@aol.com) Residential In/Outbound Call Mix (Lynne Gregg) Looking for Telecom Consumer Groups/Opinion Makers (Scott Caton) Needed! OEM Modem Board (David Weiss) Ericsson GH337 GSM Phone - Anybody Tried One? (Stephen Page) Modem Under Unix (Joel Macdonald) WAN and TLI (Peter Chandler) Wanted: Sources for Used Telecom Equipment (Ron Lussier) Help Needed With NTT Abbreviations (Robert Fieldman) Locating Someone Using the Information Superhighway (Darren McDaniel) Scanner Ban and New Federal Law (Joe Hamelin) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 11:55:00 -0400 From: ian (i.) easson Subject: CFP: Planning and Design of Broadband Networks - IEEE Conference IEEE SYMPOSIUM ON PLANNING AND DESIGN OF BROADBAND NETWORKS Montebello, Quebec, Canada October 21 - 23, 1994 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION The first IEEE Symposium on Planning and Design of Broadband Networks will be held at Le Chateau Montebello, Montebello, Quebec, Canada on October 21 - 23, 1994. The purpose of this symposium is to provide an environment for the discussion and exchange of ideas concerning computer-aided planning and design techniques and tools for broadband networks. The symposium will include both invited and contributed talks, panel discussions, and demonstrations of broadband network planning and design tools. Abstracts of all presentations will be distributed at the symposium but no proceedings will be published. The symposium will address topics in the following areas: Challenges in broadband network planning and design; Simulation methodologies and tools for planning and design of broadband networks, and Tool applications and deployment strategies. Sponsors: IEEE BNR NT OCRI TRIO Program Friday October 21 1994 4:00 PM Registration 6:00 PM Welcoming Reception 7:30 Welcoming address (I. Ebert, AVP, BNR) Saturday October 22 1994 7:30 AM Breakfast 8:00 AM Registration 8:45 AM Opening Remarks 9:00 AM Plenary Session (Speaker: Professor Erol Gelenbe, Department of Electrical Engineering, Duke University) 10:00 AM Coffee 10:30 AM Split into two parallel tracks, A and B. Saturday Session A: ~Challenges in Traffic Management?: 10:30 AM ~Challenges in the Design of VP and VC Broadband Networks?, A. Girard, INRS-Telecommunications, Canada 11:00 AM ~Traffic Modeling and Performance Analysis Issues in Broadband Multimedia Networks?, I. Lambadaris, M. Devetsikiotis, and A.R. Kaye, Carleton University, Canada. 11:30 AM ~A New Method for In-Service Estimation of Cell Loss QoS in ATM Networks?, H. Zhu and V. Frost, University of Kansas, U.S.A. Saturday Session B: ~Network Design Tools?: 10:30 AM ~CLASS: A Software Tool for the Design of ATM Networks?, M. Ajmone Marsan, A. Bianco, R. Lo Cigno, and M. Munafo, Politecnico di Torino, Italy. 11:00 AM ~An ATM Network Simulator for Design, Analysis, and Simulation of Congestion Control Schemes?, A. Kolarov and G. Ramamurthy, NEC, U.S.A. 11:30 AM ~ A Simulation Tool for Fast Resource Management in ATM Networks?, S. Yazid and H.T. Mouftah, Queen?s University, Canada. 12:00 Noon Lunch 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM Continue with two parallel tracks, A and B Saturday Session A: ~Network Engineering Algorithms?: 2:00 PM ~Routing in Multi-rate, Multi-point Broadband Networks?, A. Rayes, Bellcore, U.S.A. 2:30 PM MENTOUR: An Algorithm for Designing Reliable High Speed Networks, R. Cahn, IBM, U.S.A. 3:00 PM ~A Measurement-based Approach for the Traffic Engineering of Broadband Networks?, C.A. Cooper, Bellcore, U.S.A. 3:30 PM Coffee 4:00 PM "A Resource-Based Paradigm for the Configuration of Broadband Networks", A. Tunnicliffe, BNR, Harlow, UK. 4:30 PM "On the Design of Private Networks", A.B. Cheikh and A. Girard, INRS-Telecommunications, Canada Saturday Session B: ~Network Engineering Tools?: 2:00 PM ~BroadNET: A Broadband Network Engineering Tool?, M. Horwath and R. Liquie, Bellcore, U.S.A. 2:30 PM ~Automated Design of Optimized Ring-Survivable SONET Transport Networks?, W. Grover, M. MacGregor (TRLabs), J. Slevinsky (AGT), R. Iraschko, J. Palm, and B. Christensen (U. of Alberta), Canada. 3:00 PM ~Multi-layer Network Analysis Tool?, D. Vercauteren and P. Demeester, INTEC, Belgium. 3:30 PM Coffee 4:00 PM ~A Testbed for Dynamic Routing Over ATM Networks?, C. Liu, H.T. Mouftah, and M. Sivabalan, Queen?s University, Canada. 4:30 PM ~A Flexible Broadband Network Planning Tool?, T.R. Vilmansen, BNR, Canada. 7:00 PM Banquet 8:00 PM Keynote speaker Sunday October 23 1994 7:30 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM One single track, ~Deployment Strategies?: 9:00 AM ~A Method for Efficient Implementation of an ATM Network Design Environment?, C.C. Chen, A. Khalil, T. Dwight, MCI, U.S.A. 9:30 AM ~Multi-services-network Design?, J. Yan and M. Beshai, BNR, Canada. 10:00 AM ~Key Factors that Influence the Placement of Broadband Related Technology in the Network?, S. Morrison and K. Kobierski, BNR, Canada. 10:30 AM Coffee 10:45 AM Panel discussion: Future Trends in Planning and Design of Broadband Networks Information for Participants: The Symposium will be held at Le Chateau Montebello, in the village of Montebello, Quebec, October 21-23, 1994. Registration will be from 4:00 to 7:30 PM Friday 21 October, followed by a reception. Technical sessions will start Saturday morning, October 22 1994, at 9 AM and run through to 5 PM, followed by a banquet Saturday evening. Technical sessions will continue on Sunday morning, October 23 1994, from 9 AM. The Symposium will end by 1 PM Sunday. Attendance will be strictly limited due to facility constraints, and to enhance open discussions and interaction among the delegates. Registration will be on a first come, first served basis, upon payment of registration fees. The cutoff date for guaranteeing rooms at the hotel is September 15. Registration fees for the full Symposium are $650 for IEEE members and $750 for non-members. Full registration includes the technical sessions, lodging for the nights of 21/22 and 22/23 October, the Friday evening reception (not dinner), Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Sunday breakfast and lunch. Special registration for the technical sessions only is also available at $250 for IEEE members and $300 for non-members. No meals or accommodation are included with special registrations. Partners (spouses, friends, etc.) who accompany a delegate to the Symposium may also be registered for $300. Partner registration includes accommodation (double occupancy), meals and receptions, but not the technical sessions. Partners are encouraged to take advantage of Le Chateau Montebello's extensive recreational facilities. Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements. Rider Meeting Services of Ottawa will be pleased to assist in booking air travel, car rentals, and any additional hotel reservations required - contact Debbie Horner at 613-780-1312, or 1-800-263-1318. Participants should fly to either Ottawa or Montreal, and then drive (rent-a-car) to Montebello (see below for directions). Driving distances in km from various cities are: Ottawa (90), Montreal (130), Quebec (383), Toronto (516), New York (738), and Boston (642). Dress for the Symposium is casual. All events will be non-smoking. Proceedings will be conducted in English. No formal proceedings will be published, but individual speakers may make hard copy of their presentations available on request. Facilities: Montebello is one of the prime resorts in Eastern Canada. Spring, summer, and fall activities include: horseback riding, tennis, golf, nature paths for walking and jogging, volleyball, badminton, swimming, SEA DOO?s and a fully equipped marina. There are a fully equipped exercise complex, spa, two squash courts, and curling rink. There are 210 guest rooms and three restaurants. ---------------------------- REGISTRATION FORM IEEE SYMPOSIUM ON PLANNING AND DESIGN OF BROADBAND NETWORKS Montebello, Quebec, Canada, October 21-23 1994 NAME (Last)_____________ First________________ Preferred_______________ JOB TITLE_______________________ COMPANY___________________________DEPT/SECTION___________ MAILING ADDRESS__________________________________________ ZIP/POSTAL CODE_______________________PHONE____________________ PARTNER'S NAME___________________________________ REGISTRATION FEES ($Cdn) Full Symposium Technical Sessions Only (no meals or accommodations) ____ $650 IEEE Member ____$250 IEEE Member IEEE MEMBERSHIP NUMBER_________________ ___ $750 Non IEEE Member ____$300 Non IEEE Member ___ $300 Partner accompanying delegate METHOD OF PAYMENT Cheque: make cheques payable to: IEEE SYMPOSIUM ON PLANNING AND DESIGN AMEX:____________ (signature)_______________(number)____________(expiry date) Mail to: Rider Meeting Services 45 O'Connor Street, Suite 700 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada KIP 1A4 Phone: 613-780-1312 1-800-263-1318 Fax: 613-233-4246 Directions to Montebello from Ottawa airport and downtown Ottawa: If you are starting at the airport, take airport parkway (which turns into Bronson). Follow Bronson to Colonel By Drive and turn right. Follow Colonel By Drive to Rideau Street. Proceed through intersection onto Sussex Drive. Follow Sussex Drive to MacDonald Cartier Bridge (this will take you from Ontario to Quebec). Take highway 50 EST (this brings you to Masson). Follow highway 148 EST to Le Chateau Montebello. ------------------------------ From: dorian@cais.cais.com Subject: Multimedia on The NII Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 08:51:42 PDT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service email info@cais.com Does anyone know about how many video tapes are rented each week or day? I want this as a projection of the number of movies and multimedia services the NII would carry per day. Any other related information would be appreciated. Thanks, Dorian dorian@cais.com ------------------------------ From: lindas1007@aol.com (LindaS1007) Subject: Reprogramming Alphanumeric Pagers Date: 17 Aug 1994 12:01:04 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) I am still unable to get any pager resellers to reprogram my alphanumeric pager (clone of another one I own) It seems that they all want you to purchase another pager from their company and sign up for the additional service. Does anyone know of a way I can get the capcode reprogrammed in the NJ area for a one time charge? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Residential In/Outbound Call Mix Date: Tue, 16 Aug 94 16:34:00 PDT Does anyone have an idea as to the (%) mix between in/outbound calls among residential phone users? Thanks, Lynne ------------------------------ From: natstrat@dgs.dgsys.com (National Strategies) Subject: Looking for Telecom Consumer Groups/Opinion Makers Date: 17 Aug 1994 14:23:14 -0400 Organization: Digital Gateway Systems I am trying to build a list of state and national consumer groups, public opinion makers, and entrepreneurs concerned with the impact of pending legislation and proposed regulations on emerging telecommunica- tions technologies such as PCS, Wireless, and Telephony. I am working with a Washington public policy consulting firm researching telecom issues. I am asking for responses so that we may exchange information regarding how the many pending federal regulations will help or hinder the buildout of the information superhighway. Thank you very much for any help. Scott Caton ------------------------------ From: d_weiss@news.delphi.com (D_WEISS@DELPHI.COM) Subject: Needed! OEM Modem Board Date: 16 Aug 1994 18:59:45 -0000 Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation I am looking for an OEM modem to sit as a daughter board in a product we are developing: V.32 or V.32bis small form factor (6"square) +24VDC perferred or any combo of +5, +12, -12 VDC TTL or RS-232 output FCC part 68 approved Thanks in advance for you help locating vendors. David Weiss Dataprobe Inc Phone 201-967-9300 Fax 201-967-9090 ------------------------------ From: sdpage@andersen.co.uk (Stephen Page) Subject: Ericsson GH337 GSM Phone - Anybody Tried One? Organization: Andersen Consulting (UK Practice) Date: Mon, 15 Aug 1994 07:49:09 GMT Has anyone had any experience with the new Ericsson GSM phone which has just been released on the UK market? (Perhaps it has been marketed in other GSM countries already?) It looks tiny, but I would appreciate any views on its performance. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: macdonal@ug.cs.dal.ca (Joel Macdonald) Subject: Modem Under Unix Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 10:18:27 -0300 I have been using a modem under Interactive UNIX and have been writing C code to read and write to the com port that the modem is connected to. In general, I simply open the device that the modem is connected to, set some of the parameters in the termio structure associated with that device, and then send and read modem responses and data using the C read() and write() routines. My C code is set up in a loop that simply reads one character at a time from the device. Sometimes, however, the read() routine will not read ALL of the characters that I am expecting to receive from the modem. For example, when the modem connects to another modem, it sends the following sequence to the device: CONNECT 2400\r\n But there are instances where I will not be able to read some of the ending characters of the sequence. For example, sometimes I will only be able to read: CONNECT 2400\r or CONNECT 240 etc. I realize that this is a sketchy description of the problem but there isn't alot more that I am able to tell you about it, except for the fact that the problem tends to occur many times consecutively and then it will disappear. Also, sometimes I can remedy the problem by pausing for a short time before attempting to read, but this is not consistent. If anyone has experienced a similar problem or has advice/suggestions I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks, Joel ------------------------------ From: chandler@chatham.progress.com (Peter Chandler) Subject: WAN and TLI Date: 17 Aug 1994 15:32:48 GMT Organization: Progress Software Corp. I am trying to find TLI drivers which provide native WAN support (X.25, Frame relay, SMDS, ...). Could you please forward me company name, and phone numders. Thanks, Peter Chandler ------------------------------ From: lussierr@angst.umpi.maine.edu (Ron Lussier) Subject: Wanted: Sources For Used Telecom Equipment Date: 17 Aug 1994 19:38:28 GMT Organization: University of Maine System I am the Network Manager at a small liberal arts college that is currently using an old AT&T System 25 PBX. We bought the system used several years ago and it has served us well. I would like to upgrade to a more modern PBX but I'm not in the market for anything new. Could someone supply me with the names a few companies that sell used telcom equipment? Thanks, Ron Lussier lussier@ecology.coa.edu College of the Atlantic Bar Harbor, ME [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You might want to read {Telecom Gear} on a regular basis. That magazine is full of advertisements for used stuff. I caution you though; buying used telecom stuff is a lot like buying a used car; frequently the first owner got rid of it because it was giving him troubles. You can't depend on the seller to always be forthright about existing problems, and telecom equipment can be and usually is sophisticated enough that obscure, yet important problems cannot always be detected in the casual examination which comes before purchase, especially if you are buying something that is being shipped to you from elsewhere upon receipt of your certified check, etc. For small stuff it is okay to buy used, but exercise extreme caution where larger equipment is concerned. Someone blew it up; it could not be fixed; so they stuck it in {Telecom Gear} to get rid of it for whatever they could get. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Robert Fieldman Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 06:12:00 -0500 Subject: Help Needed With NTT abbreviations Hello, Does anyone know what the following NTT abbreviations mean in relation to an SS7 Network implementation: ZC IGS IC I have run across them and do not have a clue. Thank you, robert_fieldman@wiltel.com 8665 New Trails Drive The Woodlands, Texas 77831 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is a good time to remind readers of a service provided by the Telecom Archives. Several glossaries are on file there and they can either be pulled using traditional anonymous ftp or similar services. In addition, the glossaries can be searched using the Telecom Archives Email Information Service on an interactive basis by using the command GLOSSARY in your mail to the archives. For a help file on using the Telecom Archives Email Information Service just write and ask. I will probably put a copy of the help file here in the Digest soon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bigfoot@pro-gallup.cts.com (Darren McDaniel) Subject: Locating Someone Using the Information Superhighway Organization: ProLine [pro-gallup] BBS +1 505 722 9513 24hrs Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 03:55:38 MDT Does anybody have any ideas on how I can go about locating someone who is currently in the Army or Army Reserve via the "Information Superhighway" I am limited to E-mail so any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Darren McDaniel [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess what we need to find out is if the Fort Benjamin Harrison Universal Locator is on line or not. Fort Benjamin Harrison is located down in southern Indiana. It is an Army base, but has the additional assignment of maintaining active records on military personnel around the world. I know you can call them on the phone and they will do lookups for you. Any of our readers using a .mil address know the correct way to access this, if any? PAT] ------------------------------ From: joeh@connected.com (Joe Hamelin) Subject: Scanner Ban and New Federal Law Date: 17 Aug 1994 10:27:20 -0700 Organization: Connected INC -- Full Server Internet Provider (tm) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This originally appeared in a Usenet newsgroup; the original was not here in the Digest. Joe Hamelin thought the discussion there merited some coverage here. PAT] Richard Crisp came off saying that:: : SECTION 9. FRAUDULENT ALTERATION OF COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO : INSTRUMENTS. : (a) Section 1029(a) of title 18 is amended by striking the word : "or" at the end of subparagraph (3) and adding the following new : subparagraphs: : "(5) knowingly and with intent to defraud uses, produces, traffics in, has : control or custody of, or possesses a telecommunications instrument that : has been modified or altered to obtain unauthorized use of : telecommunications services; or This would seem also to include: ham radios used to access autopatches without authorization, VHF & UHF transceivers used to access SMR ("answer back pagers"), telco IMTS (old style mobile phones), cordless (49Mhz) phones used to access another's line, a lineman's butt set used in an unauthorized manner, a cheap phone plugged into the wrong jack, etc. This would seem to clarify and extend the concept of access devices as the law was written to for credit cards. In 1987 it was first used to convict 4 persons who were phreaking Sprint with C=64's (I was the person that designed and built the "access device making equipment") Ever wonder why the telco's give you that mostly useless plastic card, so that the credit card laws would more clearly apply to toll fraud. : "(6) knowingly and with intent to defraud uses, produces, traffics in, has : control or custody of, or possesses (i) a scanning receiver or (ii) : hardware or software used for altering or modifying telecommunications : instruments to obtain unauthorized access to telecommunications services." The key word here is INTENT. The rest of the section is just a helpful hint to the U.S. Attorney on which section to charge the defrauder under. Any sharp object can be used for "altering of modifying" and as noted above, this is worded so that even a standard telephone (wire type) could apply IF used in a defrauding manner, and that even without modifacation. : Notice how this outlaws cellular capable scanners: now mere possession : is outlawed if this silly bill makes it into law. WRONG! The prohibition aganst retail sale of scanners with cellular open is covered under EPCA. This law in and of itself does not address such. If such scanners (tv's, service monitors, etc.) are used in a scheme to defraud a telco service provider then they would apply just as much as your soldering iron you used to remove diode 11 with. : Of course with a "silly Bill" in the White House, I wouldn't be : surprised if it does get enacted. I very much doubt that Mr. Clinton has much to do with this, he seems to be too busy defending himself with "unauthorized use of baby making equipment" :) If there is a person in the White House that may have a hand in it look at Al Gore. My guess is that the telco's and the Secret Service (they hunt down phreakers, not the FBI) saw that the law as exists is outdated and not in keeping with current tech. I know that in my case it took them about a year or so to find a law to charge me with and a judge that would be willing to go through with it (Hon. Alan Edgar, Eastern Div, Tennessee). In closing, I'll say that if you are going to get busted by the feds, make sure that you get busted by the Secrect Service. They are the most intelligent and professional of all the branches. My only complaint was thier holding a .44 to my head and telling me "don't touch the keyboard". : "(7) the term 'scanning receiver' means any device or apparatus that can be : used to intercept a wire or electronic communication in violation of : chapter 119 of this title." As in (6) above, "knowingly and with intent to defraud" applies. Everything that is covered in this amendment to 18 USC 1029 is now illegal activities. This just consolodates a hodge-podge of mostly applicable laws into one that covers the telco topic nicely. I would rather see the law makers (and being law makers they are going to do just that :) clean up the code books without making anything new illegal than start really making new laws that effect our freedom. (my personal feeling is that we should be able to elect an equal number of law unmakers to law makers, something like a zero law growth plan.) Joe Hamelin KB7WAI | tampico@teleport.com Tampico, Washington | joeh@connected.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #349 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa12636; 22 Aug 94 19:34 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19953; Mon, 22 Aug 94 15:04:35 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19940; Mon, 22 Aug 94 15:04:31 CDT Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 15:04:31 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408222004.AA19940@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #350 TELECOM Digest Mon, 22 Aug 94 15:04:30 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 350 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay (Greg Monti) Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay (Carl Moore) Cellular Phone Use in Emergencies (Paul Thompson) GTE and "The World Class Network" (Nigel Allen) CIUG ISDN Conference (Bob Larribeau) ISDN Market Research (Bob Larribeau) Book Review: "Internet Primer" by Lawley/Summerhill (Rob Slade) ISLIP 94 (Symposium on Lucid and Intensional Programming) (R. Jagannathan) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Jonathan Bradshaw) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Paul A. Lee) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Jan Mandel) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Scott Coleman) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Ed Ellers) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Henry Wertz) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Alan Boritz) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (John Clarke) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Haroon H. Dogar) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 11:01:31 EDT From: Greg Monti Subject: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay The newsletter {Communications Daily} is reporting in its August 22, 1994 edition that the Federal Communications Commission is asking for comments on whether it should halt numbering changes proposed by Ameritech in Illinois. This is the first I've seen of this plan: Ameritech is considering not splitting the landline area of existing code 708. Instead, they are considering moving all wireless services in 708 and 312 areas to the new 630 area code. Apparently, Page Mart, Paging Network and MobileMedia Communications have filed a request for declaratory ruling with the FCC saying they feared Ameritech's plan would hurt their business. These wireless carriers would have to give back their 708 numbers and move to 630. They claim that they and their customers would suffer "irreparable harm" if they are forced to change phone numbers. I wonder if these companies have ever read that tariff excerpt in the front of their phone directory which says, "You have no property rights in your phone number..." The article notes briefly that New York City already has a wireless area code overlay (917) and that Los Angeles is considering one (562). Comments are due to the FCC by September 16, 1994. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: +1 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: +1 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All that would change is the area code of the cellular/pager device, not the number itself. In other words if your cellular number was 708-234-5678 it would become 630-234-5678. Everything would continue to be treated as a local call (within whatever local band area the caller is in) as before. I think the precedent was set a few years ago when the same carriers had to be changed (but then on a geographic boundary basis rather than class of service basis) from 312 into 708. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 15:33:41 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay So what would those protesting companies do regarding the crowding in present area 708? I take it those "wireless" services do get incoming calls, so if those services go to area code 630, some people will have to send out word to those who call them. You also notice that the wireless overlays (who else has used the nice and short "wireless" term so far?) are coming in the biggest metro areas. 917 in New York, proposed 562 in Los Angeles, and proposed 630 in Chicago; also, 281 in Houston area could be an overlay, and Houston passed Philadelphia many years ago to become the 4th largest U.S. city. There is no overlay currently planned for Philadelphia, which is staying in 215 area during the 215/610 split, now in permissive mode. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Aug 1994 01:05:58 CDT From: Paul Thompson Subject: Cellular Phone Use in Emergencies The following is an excerpt of a discussion of cell-phone use during emergencies which I encountered on a EMT/Paramedic discussion group. I do not place a great deal of trust in the rantings of the paramedic/EMT group having found from personal experience that these types tend to issue pronouncements on many matters with knowledge optional, however, (Sorry, personal bias leak...:-) ) I do not recall hearing a discussion of any such service as described in the following quotes any time in the last few years' in TELECOM Digest, and wonder to what extent this information is true and how much of the country might offer such a service. ================= Date: Sat, 20 Aug 1994 21:17:00 GMT Subject: Cell Phones during a disaster This message is for Cellular users who utilize their phones for emergency use, such as law enforcement, fire, or emergency medical personell. This message is intended only for these users, and may result in an interruption of cellular telephone service for persons utilizing this information for other than its intended purpose. Did you know, that, like electricity or regular telephone service, that CELLULAR TELEPHONE SERVICE has also set up an emergency network plan for cellular telephone users commonly termed as a ROTATING BLACKOUT. What ROTATING BLACKOUT does is assures that the cellular system is capable processing calls on a priority basis to prevent overload of the cellular network. What does this mean to the Sheriff or Police Officer who carries his personal phone as backup communications to his MDT or radio? Plenty. Cellular systems utilize a programming code known as a access overload class. A mark in the programming that designates the units ROTATING BLACKOUT period. In the event of system overload, such as, an earthqua that cripples a portion of the cellular system, the remaining portion willl compensate by denying access to all phones on a rotating basis. This method assures access by certain users, while denying access to other users, or, the general public, on a rotating basis. If you utilize your phone for emergency services, and would like to know the proper program setting for your cellular phone, contact your local cellular company or cellular service dealer. VERIFICATION/ ID of emergency services personnel will be identified prior to any request for priority being processed. Don't get caught with your phone not working in an emergency situation ----------------------------- (someone else then continues the thread with this reply) Michael, who ever posted this message is presuming alot. I don't know where you got it, but I have had EXTENSIVE experience in this area. Access Overload is a two digit code that may be programmed into the phone for assigning the next open channel. Presently there are NO standards to judge who should have access. I was given access overload codes by Ameritech here in Illinois and then they were pulled after the Plainfield Tornado Disaster. I met with both Cellular One and Amritech, but their legal counsel have decided not to provide any access overload for this reason. There is no standard to say that a man having an arrest in his car is less of an emergency LEGALLY than a medic with an ALS call. Most people who have been misled that they have this feature programmed into their phone are treading dangerous ground if they trully expect access during a major event. Paul --THOMPSOP@VAXA.CIS.UWOSH.EDU [Usual disclaimers] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Aug 1994 15:35:10 -0400 Subject: GTE and "The World Class Network" From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Organization: Internex Online (io.org) GTE is now calling its fiber-optic network The World Class Network, which ought to amuse some of its telephone subscribers. A GTE advertisement in the August 8 issue of {Communications Week} says: "For more information and your free copy of The World Class Network interactive disk, call 1-800-GTE-4WCN. Or access our information with your computer by dialing 1-800-GTE-4927." Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@io.org ------------------------------ From: blarrib@netcom.com (Bob Larribeau) Subject: CIUG ISDN Conference Organization: Consultant Date: Sun, 21 Aug 1994 23:47:36 GMT The California ISDN Users Group is going to hold its second conference on November 9 & 10 at the San Jose Hyatt. The conference fee will be $80. It will be called "Using ISDN to Navigate the Information Superhighway". It will focus on higher performance applications and will include discussions of how ISDN fits with other emerging technologies like Frame Relay, SMDS, and ATM. Sessions will be held on: Equipping your network for ISDN work-at-home International ISDN applications ISDN and the Internet Private ISDN networks Email me your post office address and I will see you receive a flyer in September. A more detailed announcement will be posted later. Bob Larribeau Consultant San Francisco blarrib@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: blarrib@netcom.com (Bob Larribeau) Subject: ISDN Market Research Organization: Consultant Date: Sun, 21 Aug 1994 23:48:08 GMT I am doing market research on the uses of ISDN in small locations or small locations of larger organizations. I am looking for sites with less than about 50 telephones. I am interested in the full range of applications -- voice, data, and video. I have been working in ISDN for nearly nine years. I will be happy to share that experience with the people I talk to. If you fit the description and would like to participate in this survey, please email me your name, company, and phone number. Include a date and time over the next two weeks when it will be convenient for me to call you. Thanks for your help. Bob Larribeau Consultant San Francisco blarrib@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 00:03:07 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Internet Primer" by Lawley/Summerhill BKINTPRM.RVW 940607 Mecklermedia 11 Ferry Lane West Westport, CT 06880 "Internet Primer", Lawley/Summerhill, 1993, 0-88736-831-X, U$29.95/C$37.50 craig@cri.org A primer is supposed to be a short introduction to a topic, and does not need to go into a lot of depth. Generally, a primer is intended for a naive audience. In some cases, however, an audience can be specified, as is the case with this book, and then one expects the material to start at a somewhat higher level of sophistication. Therefore, it may come as a shock to information professionals to learn, around about chapter three, that the authors intended all along to address the "Key-Pressing End User". (One's confidence in the level of the book is not bolstered by the authors' admission, immediately thereafter, that they are, themselves, "end users without formal technical training.") Chapter one defines the Internet in, as is becoming all too common, historical, contractual and legislative terms, rather than technical or functional ones. It is also highly US-centric, as is the list of Internet providers in chapter two which purports to be an overview of current networks. (The "currency" is questionable as well: the public access UNIX list is supposed to date from December of 1991, which is old enough, but contains listings of sites dead almost a year before that date.) Chapter three contains discussions of levels of connectivity, text file formats and data compression which are great for the novice user. Dealing with technical concepts as it does, though, it also demonstrates the greatest concentration of fundamental conceptual errors I can recall seeing in one place. These mistakes are not just implied by a rather silly example of the mail being delivered by packet switch methods, but are made outright in statements that packet-switching has no value in low speed connections. The Internet RFC (Request For Comments) process of distributed work is described in traditional and very formal terms. The client/server model is stated to be "more sophisticated" than SMTP, ftp and telnet -- all of which use and rely on client/server. The numeric IP addresses are described as "four octets separated by a single period" and ranging from, "1.1.1.1 (1x8) through 256.256.256.256 (32x8)," which is not only incorrect, but completely incomprehensible. Perhaps the less said about the coverage of Kermit, OSI, UUCP, and so forth, the better. Even the "good bits" suffer at times: the section on text file formats dwells excessively on EBCDIC, and the section on "binary to text" conversions refers solely to the Mac BinHex format, rather than the more common unencode. (Later on one finds that the only desktop client software mentioned is for the Macintosh. Shall we guess what computers the authors have?) Chapter four, on applications, is much better. While brief, and missing a conceptual framework, the descriptions nevertheless manage to provide some practical detail without getting bogged down in program specific minutiae. The authors miss the distinction between "moderating" and "digesting" a mailing list, and advise looking at "smileys" at a 45 degree angle. (To be fair, this last could be more due to mathematical, than network, ignorance.) The list of network resources in chapter five is well chosen. Chapter six, however, entitled "Policy Issues," while it does cover some interesting ground, appears to be more of a long editorial going ... nowhere. Mecklermedia has made a strong push to be a major publisher on Internet topics, both in terms of books and serial publications. Their production of a book of this dubious quality is therefore odd. There are interesting points, particularly for the network trainer. This should not, however, be a "sole source" book, *particularly* for the information professional. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKINTPRM.RVW 940607. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 07:53:06 PDT From: R. Jagannathan Reply-To: Subject: ISLIP 94 (Symposium on Lucid and Intensional Programming) ISLIP '94 7th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON LUCID AND INTENSIONAL PROGRAMMING PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT STARTS Monday September 26th at 9 AM; Please be there by 845 AM. ENDS Tuesday September 27th midday WHERE: At SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, California. A building, Conference Room B TALKS (listed by author in alphabetical order; order to be decided at start of symposium) Isomorphisms between Two Groups: An Experiment in Program Synthesis and Transformation F. Asfandiari and C. T. P. Burton Multidimensional Declarative Programming, the Book Ed Ashcroft Object-oriented Implementation of Intensional Languages W. Du Objectflow - Adding Objects to GLU W. Du and Tony Faustini Adding Eagerness to Eduction R. Jagannathan Standard Cell Designs for Hardware Synthesis with Lucid Operators Abhay Kejriwal and Ben Huey Prescription for Modelling Time in Databases Mehmet Orgun A Visual Programming Environment for GLU Dhanraj Rajender and Tony Faustini Developing Scientific Applications in GLU Pushpa Rao and R. Jagannathan TBA Bill Wadge Observations on Spreadsheet Languages and Dataflow Alan G. Yoder and David L. Cohn An Object-Oriented Visual Dataflow Language Da-Quian Zhang, Sute Lei, Kang Zhang HOW TO GET TO SRI: From San Francisco or San Jose Airport, take Highway 101 to Willow Road (Menlo Park). Go west on Willow Road to Middlefield Road, right on Middlefield to Ravenswood Avenue (2nd stop light), left on Ravenswood to 333 Ravenswood (main entrance). PARKING: Park in visitors lot in front of building A. REGISTRATION: Registration by mail recommended (by September 19th, 1994) On-site registration possible as a last resort. Registration form follows. ACCOMMODATION: Information on places to stay near SRI follows. ISLIP '94 REGISTRATION September 26-27, 1994 SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., USA Name _____________________________________________________________ Institution ______________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Phone __________________FAX ________________ email________________ Registration fee: $15.00 Send registration (by September 19th) to: Judith Burgess ISLIP 94 Computer Science Laboratory SRI International 333 Ravenswood Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel. (415) 859-5924, FAX (415) 859-2844 email: burgess@csl.sri.com Please enclose check or money order in US dollars, payable to SRI International. No credit cards. Registration includes break refreshments -- lunch is on your own. ACCOMMODATIONS Note: Prices not guaranteed, not necessarily current. Saying you are attending a conference at SRI *may* get you a better rate. Holiday Inn 625 El Camino Palo Alto, CA (415) 328-2800, fax 327-7362 (800) 465-4329 SRI 89/99, gov`t 69/79 if avail. Menlo Park Inn 1315 El Camino Menlo Park, CA 94025 (415) 326-7530, FAX 328-7539, res 800-327-1315 SRI/gov't 57.00/62.00 (walking distance) Mermaid Inn 727 El Camino Menlo Park, CA (415) 323-9481 $48/$58, $60/70 w/kitchen $62 2bed double (walking distance) Riviera Motor Lodge 15 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025 321-8772, FAX 321-2137 $44/52 (long walking distance) Red Cottage Motel 1704 El Camino Redwood City, CA (415) 326-9010 Reg. S=$50, D=$60-65 Govt S=$45, D=$55 No tax (5-10 min. drive) Stanford Park Hotel 100 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025 (415) 322-1234 S=$148-225; D= $158-225 (walking distance) ------------------------------ From: jonathan@nova.decio.nd.edu (Jonathan Bradshaw) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: 22 Aug 1994 00:12:22 GMT Organization: University of Notre Dame Reply-To: Jonathan.M.Bradshaw.9@nd.edu > to have a secret code *which only his friends know about to start with* > which is not announced on the recording. That's the way my 800 number > that I got from MyLine works: If you press the proper code number during > the greeting your call gets automatically forwarded to where I am at; > otherwise you go to voicemail. The thing is, I don't tell the caller > that ahead of time -- they have to know about it. MyLine is a very good > 800 service with user-defined forwarding of incoming calls, voicemail and > other nice features. PAT] Pat, what services/costs does MyLine provide? Jonathan Bradshaw | E-Mail is: Jonathan.Bradshaw@nd.edu | Packet: N9OXE@N0ARY TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: MyLine is a truly fantastic service. It is a user-forwardable 800 number and calling card combination. They give you a personal 800 number which is always answered by their computer with a greeting in your own voice. The typical greeting says 'please stand by while your call is transferred to me'. What happens then depends on you. Using your security code you program the system (change it whenever you want) to send routine calls to the number of your choice, with a fallback to voicemail on busy/no answer if desired. You select a 'priority code' which the caller can punch in during the greeting to override the transfer as described above and instead forward the call to a second number of your choice; again falling back to voicemail if desired. You can elect to have all calls go direct to voicemail if you wish, or none at all. If you prefer you can program in your own third number to be used as a fallback if (1) and (2) don't answer. Your opening greeting might also say something like "I am staying at the Hilton Hotel, when the operator answers ask for room 1234". Then the call would be transferred to the hotel switchboard. Until recently the only user programmable 800 number system I am aware of was the one provided by Cable and Wireless and you had to call a separate number for the purpose of manipulating your 800 number. With MyLine, your one number does it all. When your greeting in your own voice answers you just press in your own (itself programmable and changeable) security code and instruct the system what to do with your 'routine', 'priority' and 'fallback on busy/no answer' calls; i.e. to what number (or voicemail) you want each type of call sent. You can also use MyLine for outgoing calls. Just dial your 800 number, enter your security code and wait for the voice prompt 'MyLine is ready'. Then proceed to make outgoing calls as desired. Check your voicemail on the same call, re-route the termination numbers as desired, etc. The rates are lower than other 800 services. The basic fee is $8.50 per month which gets you your personal number and forwarding. Incoming calls are 25 cents per minute. Outgoing calls you make via MyLine are 55 cents for the first minute and 25 cents each additional minute. If you want MyLine's optional voicemail (you can use your own or an answering machine instead if desired) then add $9.50 per month plus 15 cents per minute of useage by persons leaving messages there. There are quite a few other options including scheduled call forwarding, wake up service and such. Some of these are included in the basic $8.50 monthly fee. Billing is done to the credit card of your choice. For more information or to place an order, call 800-549-3500 to speak with a representative. I understand you can keep your exisiting 800 number if desired and simply have it taken over by MyLine from your existing carrier. They have nice printed, well documented material explaining how to use the system. Please mention that you read about it in TELECOM Digest. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 00:29:10 -0400 Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? From: Paul A. Lee Organization: Woolworth Corporation In TELECOM Digest Volume 14 Issue 348, Alan Borwitz, Mark E Daniel, Scott Coleman, and our Editor all took issue with the practicality of Laurence R. Brothers' plan to screen telemarketing calls. I have to agree that the "telesleaze", boiler room operator who spends the day banging in numbers from a "sucker list" will probably not be deterred by having to wait a few seconds and press one more button. Indeed, reaching such a "high tech" screening measure might flash dollar signs for such a sleazeball. However, the vast majority of "junk" calls these days come from massive telemarketing centers where hundreds of agents are fed prospect calls from predictive dialing systems. Most of those systems run sophisticated analysis software that detects ringback, receives answer supervision, and -- most importantly -- analyzes voice signals from the called phone, in order to determine when the call should be presented to a sales agent and maximize agent productivity. (That's why you'll often be greeted by a few seconds of silence when you answer such a call, while your "hello" is analyzed and the call is switched to an agent.) Part of the audio analysis done by the software is to use cadence and stress patterns to detect answering machines and intercept messages, to prevent switching a non-productive call to an agent. It's *very* likely that the canned announcement being proposed in Laurence's plan would be sensed as a non-productive answer. The predictive dialer would then drop the call without any clue as to how to break through the screening measure and without ever involving a human at either end. Keep us posted, Laurence, and go for it! Paul A. Lee Voice 414 357-1409 Telecommunications Analyst FAX 414 357-1450 Woolworth Corporation CompuServe 70353,566 INTERNET <=PREFERRED ADDRESS* ------------------------------ From: jmandel@carbon.denver.colorado.edu (Jan Mandel) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: 22 Aug 1994 10:23:41 -0600 Organization: University of Colorado at Denver Mark E Daniel (mark@legend.akron.oh.us) wrote: [Person wants a device that answers the phone and says press 1 for personal calls.] > Maybe I missed something (like the 1 was just an example) but what's > to stop a smart ass telemarketer from pressing 1 and annoying you > anyway? Eliminating the dumb telemarketers would be benefit enough. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nothing will stop such a person from > punching whatever buttons are required to get you on the phone. Telling > them specifically to punch a button (if thus and so) is an open invi- > tation for anyone to punch the buttons. The original correspondent needs > to have a secret code *which only his friends know about to start with* > which is not announced on the recording. [rest deleted to save space] The "push 1" would eliminate automatic dialers that will hang up if do not sense a person picking up the phone, and still let personal calls through. I wish I could have my phone number listed again and not to suffer from junk phone calls ... Jan Mandel, Center for Computational Math, University of Colorado at Denver jmandel@colorado.edu ------------------------------ From: genghis@ilces.ag.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: 22 Aug 94 08:42:39 GMT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana genghis@ilces.ag.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman) writes: > I have set up my PC-based voice mail card to do call screening in a > much more reliable fashion. [Description of my PC-based Voice Mail system omitted.] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I must say however what some people > will do do avoid a phone call is really amazing. Generally that kind > of paranoia where incoming calls are concerned -- that one must have > multiple layers of screening in the hope of avoiding someone wanting > to sell them something, rather than simply saying 'no' and replacing > the receiver -- seems to be very common on Usenet. Now now, Pat. Remember your audience: the readers of your digest are Telecom Professionals and Advanced Hobbyists. Tinkering around with electronic gadgets is a hobby for us - paranoia has nothing to do with it. Tweaking and adding neat features just for the fun of it is what computer telephony is all about! The fact that my little hobby has eliminated nearly all of the telemarketing slime which used to disturb my meals and sleep is merely the icing on the cake. ;-) ------------------------------ From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 14:09:24 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I must say however what some people > will do do avoid a phone call is really amazing. Generally that kind > of paranoia where incoming calls are concerned -- that one must have > multiple layers of screening in the hope of avoiding someone wanting > to sell them something, rather than simply saying 'no' and replacing > the receiver -- seems to be very common on Usenet. Personally, I hope > all your mothers and family members and close friends all decide to > go back to using rotary dial, just to thwart you. PAT] It's easy to understand -- they simply don't want to have to pick up the phone to say no. They just don't want to be bothered. No need for "paranoia" here. ------------------------------ From: Henry Wertz Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: 22 Aug 1994 03:20:03 GMT Organization: U of Iowa Panda System Reply-To: Henry@chop.isca.uiowa.edu > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But it isn't expensive enough and compli- > cated enough! Isn't there a terrible RISK that a telemarketer will sit > there and dial over nine thousand codes until he finds the one that will > (shudder!) allow him to get through to me so that I will (shudder!) have > to actually answer my phone and listen to him? grin .... PAT] Okay ... what I do, I answer the phone. If it's a telemarketer, I either listen (if it's something of any interest) or say "not interested" and hang up. Do you have extra-militant telemarketers out there or something? We only get one every couple days or less. Is there a place you could write or phone to to get these stopped? I know for junk mail, there is some place in Washington, DC you can write to basically say "take me off the Junk Mail lists". I think it's part of the Better Business Bureau. So, can you phone a place for that? My modem line hasn't gotten on any telemarketer lists yet 8-), but that would kind of suck if the call waiting kept on cutting the modem out for guys selling vacuums or something 8-) (I have one friend I voice with on the line too ... he calls infrequently enough that the occasional modem cut-out isn't a problem, but enough Call Waiting is kinda nice.) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net (Alan Boritz) Reply-To: uunet!drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net (Alan Boritz) Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 15:05:45 EDT Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 genghis@ilces.ag.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman) writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I must say however what some people > will do do avoid a phone call is really amazing. Generally that kind > of paranoia where incoming calls are concerned -- that one must have > multiple layers of screening in the hope of avoiding someone wanting > to sell them something, rather than simply saying 'no' and replacing > the receiver -- seems to be very common on Usenet. I see more of it here (seriously), than in any unmoderated newsgroup. Do you honestly believe that just because you ring my phone, that I HAVE to talk to you? After a dozen or so telesleaze calls in one morning, I'd find that opinion laughable, at best. > Personally, I hope all your mothers and family members and close > friends all decide to go back to using rotary dial, just to thwart > you. PAT] Ah, but then they couldn't operate your premium "Myline" service ... aboritz%drharry@uunet.uu.net or uunet!drharry!aboritz Harry's Place (drharry.UUCP) - Mahwah NJ USA - +1-201-934-0861 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not 'operate' MyLine. I am merely a very satisfied customer of the San Luis Obispo based company, which is a division of Call America. Anyway, rotary callers need do nothing when dialing a MyLine number. The recording tells them to hold on while their call is being transferred to me. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 10:37:39 +0000 From: john (j.m.) clarke Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? In a discussion about telemarketers on comp.dcom.telecom, PAT, in his usual way, added this comment about how he avoids them: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nothing will stop such a person from > punching whatever buttons are required to get you on the phone. Telling > them specifically to punch a button (if thus and so) is an open invi- > tation for anyone to punch the buttons. The original correspondent needs > to have a secret code *which only his friends know about to start with* > which is not announced on the recording. That's the way my 800 number > that I got from MyLine works: If you press the proper code number during > the greeting your call gets automatically forwarded to where I am at; > otherwise you go to voicemail. The thing is, I don't tell the caller > that ahead of time -- they have to know about it. MyLine is a very good > 800 service with user-defined forwarding of incoming calls, voicemail and > other nice features. PAT] Note how he says that he gives out a personal code to let people reach him. One article later in the thread, someone else details how they have a great setup, which uses Caller*ID to identify the caller, or a personal code, and if they are unidentified, forwards them to voice mail. To me, this simply allows numbers you will always accept calls from to avoid the hassle of punching in the "secret" code. PAT didn't see it that way (and of course, pointed it out): > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I must say however what some people > will do do avoid a phone call is really amazing. Generally that kind > of paranoia where incoming calls are concerned -- that one must have > multiple layers of screening in the hope of avoiding someone wanting > to sell them something, rather than simply saying 'no' and replacing > the receiver -- seems to be very common on Usenet. Personally, I hope > all your mothers and family members and close friends all decide to > go back to using rotary dial, just to thwart you. PAT] Note the clever slam on how paranoid the users of Usenet are. Of course, I know this letter will hit the bit bin with all the other articles that point out PAT's errors, but I thought I'd try. John jclarke@bnr.ca [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There are a couple of important distinctions you missed. In the original case, the caller -- albiet a telemarketer -- was using his nickle to place the call. You don't have to speak to him if you don't want to, but at least it does not affect *your* phone bill. I maintain in the case of an 800 number, the called party has a little more at stake here and should have the right to manipulate the calls as desired. The other point is I do not use the service to avoid telemarketers; I use it to make sure I get the calls I want to recieve and (with the priority code) those calls that are especially important to me. Where the original correspondent said he was using his (no charge for incoming calls) line to specifically screen out the junk calls, I say I am using my line which requires me to pay for incoming calls to specifically divert desired calls to me wherever I might be. Quite a difference. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dogar@coyote.cig.mot.com (Haroon H. Dogar) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: 22 Aug 94 18:34:47 GMT Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group genghis@ilces.ag.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman) writes: > I have set up my PC-based voice mail card to do call screening in a > much more reliable fashion. All ringers on all phones are kept off at > all times. The PC answers all incoming calls, identifies the caller, > and takes some action based on the caller's identity and a caller > database which the system and I maintain. Callers can be identified > either by Caller*ID or via a passcode entered using the DTMF keypad. > Since my friends and family have been given the code, they can easily > get through to me. Telemarketing slime don't have the passcode, so > they can either be routed to the voicemail (where they can leave a > message) or dumped. Since the phones do not ring, I never know they > called unless they leave a message (which I'll only discover when I > specifically check for it). Calls that make it through are announced > by the screener using either a synthesized voice ("Incoming call from > Mom on line one..."), via a few musical notes played through the PC > speaker, or by illuminating/flashing an ordinary table lamp. Which voice mail card do you use? Also, which sound card or text-to-speech program do yu use? I've been trying to do something similar for a while and the cheaper voice mail cards (National Semiconductor Tyin 2000) don't support caller ID, and the text to speech capabilities as well as the recorded sound playback capabilities of the SoundBlaster are abysmal. What I wanted to do was to either have a previously recorded message played for specific numbers [mom's voice saying: "Haroon, this is your mother. Pick up the phone!"] or a text to speech program announce the call ["Wynn is calling from his car."] or a text to speech program which simply reads the number or name from the caller ID information ["Incoming call from 708 555 ..."]. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I must say however what some people > will do do avoid a phone call is really amazing. Generally that kind > of paranoia where incoming calls are concerned -- that one must have > multiple layers of screening in the hope of avoiding someone wanting > to sell them something, rather than simply saying 'no' and replacing > the receiver -- seems to be very common on Usenet. Personally, I hope > all your mothers and family members and close friends all decide to > go back to using rotary dial, just to thwart you. PAT] I've been trying to design this feature because I don't want to set my paints down to dry at an inopportune time and I see getting up to check a caller ID box as defeating the whole purpose of call screening. For me, the purpose is to avoid being disturbed when doing something that requires all of my attention. If there's a call from Mom, or I'm waiting for a specific call, I want to know when it comes so that I can decide if I want to pick it up. Otherwise, (for gabby close friends) :-) I can let the machine (voice mail) take a message. I like the audible identifier part of the solution. To me, the pass-code part seems like overkill too. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #350 ******************************