Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/back.issues/1988.volume.8/vol8.iss190-213

Internet Message Format | 1989-08-01 | 228KB

From [e-mail]  Thu Dec  1 21:43:21 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (4.0/4.7)
    id AA07601; Thu, 1 Dec 88 21:43:21 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 88 21:05:28 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #190
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 1 Dec 88 21:05:28 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 190

Today's Topics:

              All You Ever Wanted To Know About Octothorpes

[Moderator's Note: This is a just-for-fun special issue of the Digest
with a random sampling of the mail received pertaining to your favorite
touch-pad key and mine, the lowly octothorpe, or #. As is our custom,
we have even provided a rebuttal message from someone who says the #
is not known as an octothorpe at all....

Now can we get this out of our systems once and for all please? Let's
call it quits on the subject of #, by whatever name.  P. Townson]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (L Lang)
Subject: Re: Octothorpe source
Date: 22 Nov 88 15:36:53 GMT
Organization: Bell Communications Research
Lines: 24

In article <[e-mail]>, ucla-an!bongo![e-mail] (julian macassey) writes:
>
>     I am looking for an authoritative reference for the term
> OCTOTHORPE.
>
>     An octothorpe is an # , which is what is usually referred to
> as "the pound sign" or "the hash mark", sometimes as "the number
> symbol". I know the correct term is octothorpe, I have seen
> ...
>     I do know that Octo means eight and Thorpe means beam. So the
> word has some roots.
> ...
> Julian Macassey, n6are       julian@bongo   voice [phone]

When I count "thorpes" (the beams or lines),
I only see four, two vertical and two horizontal.

Perhaps it should be called the QUADROTHORPE.
And does that make the * a TRITHORPE?

Cheers,
Larry Lang




To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Peter Desnoyers)
Subject: Re: Octothorpe source
Date: 30 Nov 88 23:20:40 GMT



Just to provide another point of view:
  from CCITT recommendation E.161 (Arrangement of Figures, Letters and
Symbols of Telephones and other Devices that can be used for Gaining
Access to a Telephone Network) as revised for the Blue Book:

    3.2.2 Symbols
     ...
      [drawings, with angle between horiz. and vert. strokes, length of
    strokes, and length of protruding nubbies labelled alpha, b, and a
    respectively]
      in Europe alpha = 90 degrees with a/b = 0.08 (looks funny to a N.A.ican)
      in North America alpha = 80 deg. with a/b = 0.18
     ...
    The symbol will be known as the square or the most commonly used
    equivalent term in other languages.*
    *... alternate term (e.g. "number sign") may be necessary...

I suppose it's useful to have a translatable term. That approach
worked for "star", but it seems to have failed here. Does anyone refer
to '#' as a "square"? Anywhere? Enquiring minds want to know...

                Peter Desnoyers


To: [e-mail]: [e-mail] (Erik T. Mueller)
Subject: Re: Octothorpe source
Date: 1 Dec 88 19:28:06 GMT



The term "octothorpe" appears in issues of the journal -Telesis- from
the mid to late 1970's published by Bell Northern Research. (Sorry,
I don't have the actual issue numbers handy right now...) I don't know
its origin, but vaguely recall reading somewhere that it was a
Canadian telephony term. As far as I know, the term is/was never used
by AT&T.

-Erik



To: [e-mail]
From: avsd!childers (Richard Childers)
Subject: Re: Octothorpe source
Date: 25 Nov 88 21:25:03 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> ucla-an!bongo![e-mail] (julian macassey) writes:

>    I am looking for an authoritative reference for the term
>OCTOTHORPE. ... ( An octothorpe is an # ... )

Well, this isn't authoritative, it's intuitive, but I _think_ it refers
to the symbol as used on a complex organ's key, for a particular mode.

>Julian Macassey, n6are       julian@bongo   voice [phone]

-- richard


--
 *                Any excuse will serve a tyrant.      -- Aesop               *
 *                                                                            *
 *      ..{amdahl|decwrl|octopus|pyramid|ucbvax}!avsd.UUCP!childers@tycho     *
 *          AMPEX Corporation - Audio-Visual Systems Division, R & D          *


To: comp-dcom-telecom
From: [e-mail] (F. L. Charles Seeger III)
Subject: Re: Octothorpe source
Date: 1 Dec 88 15:42:09 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (HECTOR MYERSTON) writes:
|
|    All my Bell System references call # The Number Sign (or Pound).
|The only times I see it called an Octothrope is in Northern Telecom Inc
|publications talking about Digipulse Dialing, "their name" for DTMF.
|    The Japanese routinely call it a "Sharp".  Obscure to me, logical
|to the musically inclined.

I usually refer to as "sharp", but may change to octothorpe -- I sometimes
like to tilt at windmills.  What are the names of the other ASCII special
symbols?  For instance, "&" is an ampersand and "*" an asterisk.  Are
there any fancy (preferrably single word) names for the others?  I.e names
not of the form "* [sign|mark|symbol]".  Does anyone have a reference on
these things, probably a typography reference?

The terms that I use, about which I'm fairly confident:
~  tilde
() [left|right|open|close] parenthesis
[] [left|right|open|close] bracket
{} [left|right|open|close] brace
<> [left|right|open|close] carat
^  circumflex
_  underscore
.  period
,  comma
;  semi-colon
:  colon

What about the following: ? ! @ $ % / \ | + = - ` ' "

If I get responses by Email, I'll summarize in a couple of weeks.
Also, feel free to suggest a more appropriate newsgroup.

--
  Charles Seeger            216 Larsen Hall
  Electrical Engineering    University of Florida
  [e-mail]        Gainesville, FL 32611

[Moderator's inane comment: PUH-LEASE! write direct to Charlie on this; not
to me. I do not give an iota what those things are called! And now, here is
that rebuttal message...]



To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: Octothorpe
Date: 1 Dec 88 22:15:50 GMT



Nope, # is called pound because it is used as a symbol for
pounds (weight).  I really expect the brits would put the
Pound Sterling where the $ is on a typewriter keyboards.

-Ron


[And there you have it. All the questions you were embarrassed to ask your
Mother Company all nicely summarized for you by the Octothorpe Digest people
in simple, easy to read format you would not be reluctant to share with your
own children when they are old enough to ask the name of that 'funny looking
key below the nine.'

In issue 191, distributed early Friday morning, news of the increase in
network access fees which took effect 12-1-88, and the correspondending
decrease in rates by AT&T, Sprint, and MCI.]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Fri Dec  2 00:17:12 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (4.0/4.7)
    id AA10409; Fri, 2 Dec 88 00:17:12 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 88 00:05:35 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #191
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 2 Dec 88 00:05:35 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 191

Today's Topics:

                   UUCP via Northern Telecom "LDU"?
                    Lightbeams aren't FCC regulated
               Re: Inside House Wiring (and other lines)
                   Operating Co's vs. Mobile telco's
                Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
                       A Question About 900 Rates
              Long Distance carriers: ATT, MCI vs. Sprint
                   Network Access Fee Up December 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Tim Evans)
Subject: UUCP via Northern Telecom "LDU"?
Date: 1 Dec 88 01:17:14 GMT
Organization: Tim Evans, Fallston, MD
Lines: 15

Northern Telecom has installed zillions of their Model NT4X25 "Low-
Speed Data Units" (LDU) in my Federal agency.  These use data-only
lines for modem-less communications, with speeds up to 19.2.

They're fine for interactive communications, but it'd be real nice to
use them for UUCP.  Is anyone using such devices for UUCP?  If so,
I'd like to hear from you.  You might even have a dial.c or entries for
/usr/lib/uucp/Dialers and/or Devices?

Thanks
--
UUCP:  ...!{rutgers|ames|uunet}!mimsy!aplcen!wb3ffv!fallst!tkevans
INTERNET:  [e-mail]
OTHER: ...!attmail!fallst!tkevans
Tim Evans  2201 Brookhaven Court, Fallston, MD  21047   [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Fred R. Goldstein dtn226-7388)
Date: 1 Dec 88 09:48
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Lightbeams aren't FCC regulated


Rahul Dhesi, in V8I189, suggests that lightbeam transmitters and
automobile headlights are subject to FCC regulation.  This is not
the case.

Last time I looked, the FCC regs covered frequencies up to 300 GHz.
Anything above that (where microwaves begin to approach infrared)
is not considered a radio emission, and is not covered by the FCC.
Hence you don't need a license for any kind of "optical" transmitter.

I think the top frequency used to be a lot lower (30 GHz in the early
'60s, perhaps) but nowadays, those upper microwaves are becoming
useful.  The atmosphere attenuates them pretty badly, but satellite
to satellite transmissions can use them.
       fred

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 30 Nov 88 11:26:09 PST
From: Jeff Woolsey <hplabs![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Inside House Wiring (and other lines)


While I was attending college and living at my parents' house, I had a
second line installed for my use.  When the time came to leave home I
had the service terminated, but I left a multi-line set on it as an
extension upstairs for my parents' line.  When I returned for a visit a
few months later I discovered that the line was live again, and
assigned to some business elsewhere in the neighborhood.  I obtained
its number from ANAC and it was definitely different from the number I
had when I used the line...

--
--
Television is a medium: it's rarely well done.  - Ernie Kovacs

Jeff Woolsey  [e-mail]  -or-  [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 1 Dec 1988 19:38-EST
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: Operating Co's vs. Mobile telco's


What right do they have to complain about roamer ports not going offhook
(and generating toll charges) until the call is answered?  Next they'll
want to change POTS (plain old telephone service) to do the same thing.

Maybe I should go in the the telco business and get some of this
easy money.

                    - Ralph

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
Date: 1 Dec 88 22:11:10 GMT



These guys had a mini demonstration at ComNet last year. They've been promising
to demo the thing to Rutgers for nearly two years now. It seems like they might
just be getting close now.  I'll let people know when they actually deliver.

-Ron

------------------------------

From: harvard!cs.utexas.edu!uunet.UU.NET!unh!unhtel!paul
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 88 16:47:04 est
To: uunet.UU.NET!uunet!bu-cs![e-mail]
Subject: 900- Rates


Thanking those who answered when I wrote:
>Not all 900-NXX calls are .50 for the first minute and .35 for each additional
>minute...  Is there a consistent pricing scheme by "exchange?"

Each of you suggested 900-555-1212, which is the obvious answer (which I
had not considered!! 8-) for the occasional 900- call question.  In my
haste to make the original submission brief, maybe I was not clear in
stating my need:  I need to have a table (hopefully covering ALL
possibilities ;-) of 900-nxx related to costs per initial minute and
additional minutes, for use in a call pricing and billing system.

For example, 900-410-nnnn calls seem to have initial/additional rates
of .50/.35, while 900-490-nnnn calls seem to be 2.00/.35;  Is this
consistent for each "exchange", or could 900-555-1234 have a different
rate than 900-555-5678?  It would also be interesting to know how
many "exchanges" are in use and to which telcos they belong.  Actually,
171 "exchanges" are listed in the current v&h tables.  Most are named
"900SERVICE", but there is also "PREMIUM" and "ADULT MSG" !  Any
additional info would be appreciated.

Thanks again.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Paul S. Sawyer              uunet!unh!unhtel!paul     [e-mail]
UNH Telecommunications
Durham, NH  03824-3523      VOX: 603-862-3262         FAX: [phone]



------------------------------

Date: Tue, 29 Nov 88 11:52:33 PST
From: sybase!calvin![e-mail] (no capitals here)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Long Distance carriers: ATT, MCI vs. Sprint


My company currently uses sprint's dial 1 wats service on some 52 lines from
our pbx & modems. the line quality (clear as a bell no matter where we call)
and rates (never more than $.20/minute on any domestic call) are the chief
reasons we're staying with them.

recently, sprint has had a number of failures that have crippled domestic
service for .5 hour to 3 hours or more. i've been fielding a lot of heat
from our company's personnel when this happens and it's no fun. their
service to the UK (where we have our european headquarters) sometimes drops
calls right in the middle of a conversation; the european service is
consistently bad.

needless to say, i'm looking to AT & T and MCI to replace sprint
service.  what i want to know is if others are getting rates similar to
ours coupled with very good line quality. i just read in last week's
_Network World_ that line quality among the major carriers is evening
out and is bacoming less of a selling point.


please let me know what kind of rates and line quality you are getting if they
are around what i mentioned above.

thanks in advance for your replies.



...ben
--                        consider my words disclaimed
ben ullrich        "everybody gets so much information all day long that
sybase, inc.            they lose their common sense." -- gertrude stein
emeryville, ca
[e-mail]        {pyramid,pacbell,sun,lll-tis,capmkt}!sybase!ben


------------------------------

Date: Thu, 1 Dec 88 22:21:06 EST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Network Access Fee Up December 1


The monthly bill for network access was increased from $2.60 per line to $3.20
per line effective December 1, in accordance with the Modified Final Judgment.
Subscribers will see this increase on their billings in December. Concurrent
with the network access fee increase, AT&T announced a reduction in basic
interstate long distance rates also effective December 1.

The net result will be a $697 million annual reduction in AT&T revenues, which
reflects AT&T's lower costs of connecting to the local phone network. Obviously
residential and small business subscribers will now be paying more to maintain
the same network.

In the nearly five years since the divestiture of the Bell System, AT&T has
lowered long distance prices by 38 percent. AT&T said Thursday that customers
who make interstate long distance calls totalling $16 or more a month will
find the increase in the line charge (or network access fee) is offset by the
lower long distance rates. AT&T said the average residential customer spent
$8.66 on interstate calls during October, 1988, the last month for which
figures are available.

Here are the exact reductions, as they apply to various types of interstate
long distance calls --

   Interstate calls more than 124 miles will drop 3.8 percent. Smaller
   cuts will be made for interstate calls of shorter distances. About
   25 percent of AT&T's interstate long distance traffic in October was
   on calls to points less than 124 miles distant. This decrease is to
   basic (or daytime) rates. Evenings/nights will calculate their
   additional discounts on the new rates.

   Reach Out America rates will be reduced by 4.9 percent.

   AT&T WATS rates will be reduced 4 percent effective January 1, 1989.
   In addition, AT&T will bill calls individually based on time and
   distance. The current hourly pricing method will be discontinued.

   AT&T 800 INWATS rates will be reduced 3.6 percent effective January 1.

US Sprint Communications said its basic (or daytime) rates will decrease
across the board by 3.85 percent effective January 1.

MCI Communications Corp. declined to announce specifics today, but said
a decrease in rates would phase in during January, 1989, and remain
competitive with Sprint and AT&T.

All of the carriers said there would be no change in the pricing for
surcharged calls, such as calls requiring operator intervention or via
third party/credit card billing.

Obviously, most Americans will see a change of merely *pennies* in their
telephone bill starting this month; but large customers of the telcos
should at least monitor their billings for a month or two with an eye
toward changes in traffic configurations and calling patterns as suggested
by the new rates effective today.


------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Sat Dec  3 02:13:05 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA10762; Sat, 3 Dec 88 02:13:05 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat, 3 Dec 88  01:38:07 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #192
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 3 Dec 88  01:38:07 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 192

Today's Topics:

                             900-NXX costs
                 Re: Other Custom Calling Suggestions
                 Re: Network Access Fee Up December 1
                       New AT&T Interstate Rates
           Re: Need a device to prevent outgoing toll calls
                        Calling card silliness
                               v.25 bis
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:  Fri, 2 Dec 88 00:46:36 EST
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: 900-NXX costs


Each 900 number can be affixed a totally (almost) random cost figure.
It is considered part of the payment for using one that one can set the
payment. The carrier affixes a fee for transport and delivery, (with of
course a kickback to the terminating BOC), but after that, the sky's the limit.

--jsol

------------------------------


To: [e-mail]
From: cs.utexas.edu!iuvax.cs.indiana.edu!bsu-cs!jdh (John Hiday)
Subject: Re: Other Custom Calling Suggestions
Date: 2 Dec 88 02:58:35 GMT
Organization: Ball State University UCS, Muncie, IN
Lines: 33


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>
> [talks of a couple of custom calling services that have been tossed
> around, but thinks will be a while before we see them]

We have had both Automatic Callback and Call Screening, as well as
Distinctive Ringing and Repeat Dialing here in Muncie for almost two
years now.

Automatic Callback lets you return the last call you received (whether
you answered it or not) by punching in *69.

Call Screening lets you block calls from known or unknown numbers.  You
can either enter the numbers or use a special code to reject future calls
from the number of the last call received (for harassing calls, etc).
You can zap up to 10 numbers.  The blocked caller gets a special little
recording.  This one is $3.75/mo and cannot be purchased in a "package"
like most of the other services.  There is no charge per number blocked.

Distinctive Ringing lets you program in 10 numbers which will ring
the phone differently when they call.

Repeat Dialing will ring you back when a busy number becomes free (within
30 minutes of activation).

The biggest problem with these (and the reason why I don't have any of
them) is that they only work with (against) other local numbers.  They
also won't work against people calling out of PBXs (like salespests).

--
UUCP  : <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee,uunet}!bsu-cs!jdh                 John Hiday
BITNET: [e-mail]            Ball State Univ Computing Services
GEnie : JDHIDAY                                               Muncie, IN 47306


------------------------------

Date: Fri,  2 Dec 88 10:52:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Marvin Sirbu <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Network Access Fee Up December 1


A small point:  the increase in network access fees and corresponding
decline in long distance rates is not a result of the Modification of
Final Judgement.  It is a tariff policy decision by the FCC.

Marvin Sirbu


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John R. Covert)
Date: 2 Dec 88 13:10
To: [e-mail]
Subject: New AT&T Interstate Rates


AT&T's new rates as of 1 December 1988.

Residential Reach-out-America:

Night & Weekend Plan:   Makes the night period begin at 10 PM instead of 11 PM.
            $7.50 per month includes first hour of N/W calling.
            $7.20 per additional hour, billed at .12 per minute.

N/W/Evening Plan:    $8.50 per month includes the Night & Weekend Plan.
            Provides an additional 15% discount on normal rates
            during the 5 PM to 10 PM period.

            Hourly charge Boston to    New York    $7.62
                        Washington    $7.95
                        Denver        $8.62
                        Los Angeles    $8.95
                        Honolulu       $10.93

24-Hour Plan:        $9.00 per month includes the above plans.
            Provides an additional 5% discount on daytime rates.

Standard Rates:

 Mileage          Initial Minute   Additional Minutes  Discount Periods
   1-10            .21        .14
  11-22            .25        .17           35% off Sun-Fri 5P-11P
  23-55            .27        .19
  56-124        .27        .21           50% off Every day 11P-8A
 125-292        .27        .23             All day Saturday
 293-430        .27        .24             Until 5P Sunday
 431-1910        .30        .26
1911-3000        .32        .27
3001-4250        .39        .31
4251-5750        .41        .33

------------------------------

From: phri!dasys1![e-mail] (Patt Haring)
Date: 2 Dec 88 19:23:22 GMT
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Need a device to prevent outgoing toll calls
Organization: The Big Electric Cat - NYC's Public Access UN*X System!
Lines: 18

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>X-Administrivia-To: [e-mail]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 185, message 4
>
>>Is there a device available which can be used to toll-restrict
>>long-distance calls?  I have a friend whose daughter runs up bills of
>>$500 per month.
>Why doesn't she just tell her daughter to stop running up the phone bill? It
>sounds to me like what she needs is to give her daughter a taste of some
>kind of punishment, not some gadget to prevent outgoing phone calls.

'twould be nice if you cross-posted this stuff to misc.kids.

I do remember when my child first learned to dial the telephone; I'm
in NYC and soon discovered she liked the area code for HAWAII * sigh *




------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Calling card silliness
Date: Fri, 02 Dec 88 14:54:51 PST
From: [e-mail]


Three weeks ago, we moved. We moved a total of about 10 blocks; we're
in the same service area (415-641, Pacific Bell), and kept the same
number. Of course, I expected to be billed for the "change in service".
I halfway expected to lose the pre-programmed speed dialing numbers (we did).

What I didn't expect was that my calling card would stop working. Seems
that any change in service causes them to cancel the current card. If
you're lucky, they'll automagically order you a new one (with a
different PIN) -- but usually you have to notice that your card is not
working and request a new one.

Of course, we found out that it wasn't working while on a trip. And
there's apparently nothing that can be done in real time to re-enable
the damn thing. Ten working days, indeed.

Is this common to all operating companies?

chris

------------------------------

Date: Fri,  2 Dec 88 22:11:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Drew Daniel Perkins <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: v.25 bis


I was looking at the CCITT Red Book "Recommendations of the V Series" (Volume
VIII - Fascicle VIII.1) today and noticed an interesting protocol
"Recommendation V.25 bis, Automatic Calling and/or Answering Equipment on the
GSTN Using the 100-Series Interchange Circuits".  This recommendation basically
specifies an equivalent of the Hayes "AT" command set for modems.  The thing I
found most interesting was that it specified it for synchronous links (both bit
and character oriented) in addition to async links.  Does anyone know of
anything that supports this protocol?  Is there a good reason why it isn't
common?  I'm thinking that it might be very usefull for dialing sync modems,
dialing ISDN Terminal Adaptors, connecting sync port selectors, etc.

Please respond directly to me ([e-mail]) since I don't normally read
the telecom mailing list.

Thanks,
Drew

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Sat Dec  3 15:43:37 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA25329; Sat, 3 Dec 88 15:43:37 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat, 3 Dec 88 15:30:13 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #193
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 3 Dec 88 15:30:13 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 193

Today's Topics:

           Re: Need a device to prevent outgoing toll calls
 Reason for Cellular roamer ports going off hook before call complete
                     Re: Switched 56kbps services
                Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
                         Re: Octothorpe source
----------------------------------------------------------------------

To: reed!tektronix!comp-dcom-telecom
From: apple.i.intel.com!marko (Mark O'Shea)
Subject: Re: Need a device to prevent outgoing toll calls
Date: 30 Nov 88 20:22:26 GMT
Organization: Intel Corp., OMSO UNIX Development, Hillsboro, OR
Lines: 16


I had a similar phone problem.  My local phone company set it up so that
no toll calls could be made from my phone or to my phone.  When I wanted
to call long distance I used my credit card.  I worked just like a pay
phone.  The operator would come on and ask for my billing.  It cost me
about $20 (one time) for the service.  It cost about the same to have it
removed once I no longer needed it.

I live in a small rural community with a local phone company, but we use
AT&T operators.


For those of you who say "...why doesn't she control her kid...".  Save your
posting and read it again after you have raised two or three teenagers.

Mark O'Shea
SDA


------------------------------

Date: Thu, 1 Dec 88 22:53:10 EST
From: [e-mail] (George Goble)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Reason for Cellular roamer ports going off hook before call complete


In article <[e-mail]>, I wrote:
>A couple of years ago, the roamer ports used to not go off hook until
>the cell phone answered, but the operating companies (not the cell companies)
>bitched so much, that they were changed into going off hook before
>entering the roamer number.  I have recently talked to 3 cellular salesman,

I just got off the phone with John Covert.  He had information which
said that ATT (when they went to #4 ESS toll switches) was the cause
of the roamer ports going off hook.  The #4 ESS only allows a one-way
connection until the remote end goes off hook.  This was designed
to stop "black boxing" toll fraud and misinstalled PBX's which
did not always go off hook on DID trunks. It also messed up intercept
operators. I will certainly pass this tidbit on to my sources in GTE.

--ghg

------------------------------

To: bu-cs.bu.edu![e-mail]
From: harvard!cs.utexas.edu!vector!chip (Chip Rosenthal)
Subject: Re: Switched 56kbps services
Date: 2 Dec 88 01:04:57 GMT



Brian Jay Gould ([e-mail]) writes in issue 189:
> I'm trying to get some information on switched 56kbps services [...]
> 1) How do they initiate a call?  via keypad?  AT command set?  [...]
>    I suspect that in most (all?) cases a dedicated link is required
> 2) What kind of link is it?  56kbps digital?  64kbps digital?  T1 required?

Basically the "Switched-56" service is just like a 56Kbps DDS leased line,
except (1) you are charged by connect time rather than a fixed fee, and
(2) it isn't an end-to-end line.  For example, if you have lines into
your Main Street, Elm Street, and Oak Avenue offices and you connect up
from one office to either of the other two.

So, you end up with a 56Kbps dedicated digital line in your facility.
The "dialing" commands are but one of the network control codes which
need to be transmitted over the line.  I believe that the DTE must
generate the dialing commands, unless there are intelligent DSU's which
do this.

Below is information from AT&T's 3/13/87 FCC tariff for Switched-56:

    56kbps Switched Digital Service is furnished for the switching and
    transmission of simultaneous two-way 56 kbps digital signals.  It
    consists of a common user digital network which is furnished between
    designated AT&T Central Offices.  Service is available for use 24
    hours a day, seven days a week.

    A call can access the 56 kbps Switched Digital Service network at
    designated AT&T Central Offices via an access line.  Access lines are
    provided.

    Access lines are connected at the AT&T Central Office for switching to:

    - another access line for communications between two Customer's
      premises served by the same AT&T Central Office, or

    - the common user digital network for communications between two
      Customer's premises served by different AT&T Central Offices.

    Customer equipment is required to terminate a 56 kbps Switched Digital
    Service call.  Technical Publication - PUB 41458 sets forth the network
    specifications of this equipment.

                __Mileage_Rates__

    Airline            Initial Period        Each Add'l Period
    Mileage            (30 sec)        (6 sec)

    0                $0.35            $0.06
    1-100            $0.36            $0.06
    101-500            $0.38            $0.07
    501-1000            $0.43            $0.08
    1001-up            $0.47            $0.08

Possible documents of interest:

    AT&T TR41458 - Special Access Connections to the AT&T Communications
        Network for New Service Applications, October 1985, $60.00

    AT&T TR41458A2 - Addendum to TR41458, February 1987, no charge

    Bellcore TR-880-22135-84-01 - Circuit Switched Digital Capability
        Network Interface Specifications, Issue 1, July 1984, $48.50

--
Chip Rosenthal     [e-mail]    |      Choke me in the shallow water
Dallas Semiconductor   214-450-5337    |         before I get too deep.

------------------------------

To: comp-dcom-telecom@killer
From: [e-mail] (Doug Davis)
Subject: Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
Date: 2 Dec 88 03:04:10 GMT



Sorry the FCC has absolutly *NOTHING* to do with lasers, All forms of
laser and coherent radient emitting devices are controled by the
Food and Drug administration.  Lasers are specifically covered in
CFR-21 parts 1000.00 - 1040.30, stat 44 FR 52195 1979, and sec 358,
stat 82  1177-1179 (42 U.S.C. 263F)  Incidently these same areas
cover all federal regulations on *LIGHT* emitting produces, such
as the afformention automotive headlights..  Almost anyone who
commercially deals in a wide varity of lasers should be able to provide
you with copies of the relivent sections.

doug davis
--
LaserOptic
1030 Pleasent Valley Lane
Arlington Texas 76015
(817)-467-3740

{ motown!sys1, uiucuxc!sys1, texbell}!doug


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: Ken Dykes <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Octothorpe source
Date: 1 Dec 88 05:16:27 GMT



>    All my Bell System references call # The Number Sign (or Pound).
>The only times I see it called an Octothrope is in Northern Telecom Inc
>publications talking about Digipulse Dialing, "their name" for DTMF.
     N.Tel calls DTMF either DTMF or "Touch Tone (tm)"
  "Digipulse" is the push-button like phones which generate the
    *pulses* that a dial would normally generate.
  ie: digitally generated pulses (instead of mechanical/rotary generated)
   Since N.Tel makes phones that do this, they needed a marketing name.
  Those free give-away phones from magazine subscriptions generally do this.

-----

 I guess with Free Trade, ATT is going to have to call them octothorpes now :-)
--
          - Ken Dykes,   Software Development Group, U.of.Waterloo
                         Waterloo, Ontario, Canada  N2L 3G1
[e-mail]     [e-mail]     [e-mail]
[e-mail]   [e-mail]  {backbone}!watmath!kgdykes

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Mon Dec  5 03:30:29 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA01936; Mon, 5 Dec 88 03:30:29 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 5 Dec 88  3:19:00 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #194
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Mon, 5 Dec 88  3:19:00 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 194

Today's Topics:

           What make/model phone has the best sound quality?
                       Re: Telephone restrictors
                           TV vs telephones
                   Re: In use light (The final word)
                      Getting Hassled By Noisy Line
                                various
----------------------------------------------------------------------

To: att!comp-dcom-telecom
From: harvard!cbnews.att.com!dar (David A. Roth)
Subject: What make/model phone has the best sound quality?
Date: 4 Dec 88 02:44:21 GMT




I am aware of the sound quality limited to the telephone because
of bandwidth, however I have noticed that certain makes and model
phones have better sounds.

I have a $12-13 radio shack phone that sends and receives sound
better than the higher priced GTE phone I have.
So what is the top of the line phone to use for sound quality?

Thanks in advance.

David A. Roth
Columbus, Ohio
...att!cblpn!dar
...arpa!cblpn!dar
...arpa!dar

------------------------------

To: munnari![e-mail]
From: munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.au![e-mail] (Dave Horsfall)
Subject: Re: Telephone restrictors
Date: 5 Dec 88 04:37:14 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
|
| 5.  When the battery goes dead (which happens with no warning) it stops
|     restricting.  It would be better if a dead battery disabled outgoing
|     calls.

Ummm...  I would be just a little bit annoyed if I couldn't make an
emergency out-going call, just because of a stupid flat battery!  This
sounds like RISKS material.

--
Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel-STC Australia,  [e-mail]
[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave
    PCs haven't changed computing history - merely repeated it

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Sat, 3 Dec 88 23:14:16 EST
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TV vs telephones


In Seattle, a TV station showed a half-hour paid ad for a Dial-a-Santa
service.  The catch: it urged children to call in to a pay line, by
holding the telephone up to the TV set while the show played Touch-Tones.

------------------------------

To: munnari![e-mail]
From: munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.au![e-mail] (Dave Horsfall)
Subject: Re: In use light (The final word)
Date: 5 Dec 88 04:34:58 GMT



Some time ago, [e-mail] wanted a circuit for an "in-use" indicator
for a telephone extension, and I offered to send a copy of a circuit to
anyone interested.

Well, here are the people I sent the circuit to, in case you want to
contact them:

Steve Lemke
[e-mail]; [e-mail]; pyramid!comdesign!ivucsb!steve

Jerry Glomph Black
[e-mail]

Michael Grant
[e-mail]


I see that Michael took the trouble to type up the circuit in ASCII
form - phew!

I hope you find the circuit of use - it works for me.

--
Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel-STC Australia,  [e-mail]
[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave
    PCs haven't changed computing history - merely repeated it

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 5 Dec 88 01:07:18 EST
From: [e-mail] (Henry Mensch)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Getting Hassled By Noisy Line


i've been getting audible line noise on a phone in my residence
for some time.  i've phoned new england telebozo several times
about it, and they even sent someone over once, but it hasn't
subsided.

what can i do to get these people to extract their heads from their
butts for a few minutes to fix the line noise??

frustrated,

--
# Henry Mensch  /  <[e-mail]>  /  E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
# {decvax,harvard,mit-eddie}!garp!henry   /  <[e-mail]>

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 5 Dec 1988 1:36:17 EST
From: *Hobbit* <[e-mail]>
Subject: various
To: [e-mail]


I just caught up on the last month and a half, so this addresses a number
of things.

976:  I wasn't aware that the whole thing was *that* much of a fraud [I refer
to the service-employed "keep it hot" people].  I've never been in favor of
legislation protecting the citizen from himself, but this really *cries out*
to have something done about it.  They are making a mint by causing lonely,
depressed people to eventually wind up more depressed, I'll warrant.  Now,
to the original poster of this info:  Can you document this [aside from the
ads in the paper]?

Pat Townson sez:
   ... I found this wallet size card in the dumpster behind the IBM Plaza
   downtown. Obviously I did not find the machine to go with it!

Hmm, out for a trashing run?  Weren't various LOC officials up in arms
about the high school kids finding all kinds of proprietary info in dumpsters
behind business offices and such?

Don't worry -- I routinely find discarded equipment and all kinds of useful
flotsam that hotels or yuppie office complexes or even our own building
simply tossed out.  Don't forget, this is the "age of waste"..

CLASS calling:  They're starting to play with this in my area, offering
the services associated with calling-number identification [call-last-back,
trace-last-call, screen-given-number, etc] and of course along with this
goes the show-me-calling-number service, which requires the outboard box
with the display unit.  My question: Where is the protocol for this thing
given?  There's no way I'm going to *buy* one.

_H*

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Wed Dec  7 02:30:55 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA08761; Wed, 7 Dec 88 02:30:55 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 88  1:22:07 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #195
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 7 Dec 88  1:22:07 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 195

Today's Topics:

                     Re: Switched 56kbps services
         Re: What make/model phone has the best sound quality?
                    Toll charges and call forwarding
            Re: Long Distance carriers: ATT, MCI vs. Sprint
       Is there a way to dial '800' numbers from outside the USA?
                 Re: Network Access Fee Up December 1
                    We Tested Switched 56kbps Service
                    613/819 (Ottawa, Ont./Hull, Que.)
                 Is AT&T giving up 'touch tone' trademark?

[Moderator's Note: We again remind you that XX.LCS.MIT.EDU will be closed
to traffic in early January. Your mail to us *must* be sent to bu-cs.bu.edu
henceforth. Mail via XX will *not* be forwarded much longer!

Historical trivia: 12-7-1941 was a clear, but cold day in Chicago. At the
time, our telephone service here was almost entirely manual. The news which
reached us that day at about 1:00 PM brought phone service to a virtual
halt for several hours, as did the events nearly 22 years later on the
Friday in November, 1963 when JFK was killed. For several hours, and into
the late evening that Sunday in 1941, lifting the telephone receiver brought
a *five to ten minute wait* followed by a special operator who came on the
line and said "emergency calls only being handled at this time...if not an
emergency, then hang up and try again later; else wait for the next available
operator...."    Patrick Townson]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
Date: 6 Dec 88 20:01:19 EST (Tue)
From: [e-mail] (Chip Rosenthal)
Subject: Re: Switched 56kbps services


Below is information from AT&T's 3/13/87 FCC tariff for Switched-56:

    56kbps Switched Digital Service is furnished for the switching and
    transmission of simultaneous two-way 56 kbps digital signals.  It
    consists of a common user digital network which is furnished between
    designated AT&T Central Offices.  Service is available for use 24
    hours a day, seven days a week.

    A call can access the 56 kbps Switched Digital Service network at
    designated AT&T Central Offices via an access line.  Access lines are
    provided.

    Access lines are connected at the AT&T Central Office for switching to:

    - another access line for communications between two Customer's
      premises served by the same AT&T Central Office, or

    - the common user digital network for communications between two
      Customer's premises served by different AT&T Central Offices.

    Customer equipment is required to terminate a 56 kbps Switched Digital
    Service call.  Technical Publication - PUB 41458 sets forth the network
    specifications of this equipment.

                __Mileage_Rates__

    Airline            Initial Period        Each Add'l Period
    Mileage            (30 sec)        (6 sec)

    0                $0.35            $0.06
    1-100            $0.36            $0.06
    101-500            $0.38            $0.07
    501-1000            $0.43            $0.08
    1001-up            $0.47            $0.08

Possible documents of interest:

    AT&T TR41458 - Special Access Connections to the AT&T Communications
        Network for New Service Applications, October 1985, $60.00

    AT&T TR41458A2 - Addendum to TR41458, February 1987, no charge

    Bellcore TR-880-22135-84-01 - Circuit Switched Digital Capability
        Network Interface Specifications, Issue 1, July 1984, $48.50

--
Chip Rosenthal     [e-mail]    |      Choke me in the shallow water
Dallas Semiconductor   214-450-5337    |         before I get too deep.

------------------------------

To: att!comp-dcom-telecom
From: [e-mail] (Harvey Cohen)
Subject: Re: What make/model phone has the best sound quality?
Date: 6 Dec 88 16:20:57 GMT



>From article <[e-mail]>, by harvard!cbnews.att.com![e-mail] (David A. Roth):
> I am aware of the sound quality limited to the telephone because
> of bandwidth, however I have noticed that certain makes and model
> phones have better sounds.
> I have a $12-13 radio shack phone that sends and receives sound
> better than the higher priced GTE phone I have.
> So what is the top of the line phone to use for sound quality?
A telephone is a specialized device for voice communication.  It
is not intended for use with music or any sounds other than speech.
Telephone sound quality, therefore, is normally perceived in terms
of human speech in a matrix of background noise.  The best
telephone sound quality maximizes intelligebility and recognizability
of the speech and the speaker while minimizing background noise.
This is NOT done by making the frequency response or the dynamic
response as flat as possible, as one would for hi-fi music.
Nor is bandwidth as important as it is for hi-fi music.
Telephone speech quality is also sensitive to the type and amount
of acoustic background noise.  This is partly because
telephones are designed to feed the user's speech back to the user's
ear (i.e. sidetone) at a reduced level.  Many of the sets sold for home use
(and perfectly acceptable there) are poorly adapted to noisy offices
because of the effects of sidetone response as well as dynamic response.
The shape and position of the transmitter and receiver in relation
to the user's mouth and ear are also important.
In summary, designing a phone to work well is much more complicated
than just putting together sound components to yield the highest fi,
and selecting a phone depends at least somewhat on your usage
pattern as well as the quality of the phone.
--
Harvey S. Cohen, AT&T Bell Labs, Lincroft, NJ, mtund!hsc, [phone]


------------------------------

To: uw-beaver![e-mail]
From: ssc-vax![e-mail] (Roger Clark Swann)
Subject: Toll charges and call forwarding
Date: 5 Dec 88 16:24:09 GMT



I know we have talked about call forwarding stuff here in the past,
but I don't remember that the following case ever came up:

    Station A, in area ONE, makes call to station B in area TWO.
    (This is a normal toll call for station A)
    However, station B is set to forward to station C back in area
    ONE, where station C is in the normal free calling zone of
    station A.

    How will this call be charged?
        1> as a local call
        2> as an toll call for the around trip A -> B -> C
        3> other...

The ideal case would be choice 1, but the all the required hooks are
probably not three and won't be there until IDSN becomes common. The
other thing that almost forces choice 2, is that different carriers
may be used for each leg of the connection. (i.e. the A->B leg might
be ATT and the  B->C leg might be MCI)  There might even be some
non-technical tariff requirements forcing the call to be charged a
certain way...

     ______      ______     _______    ___   ___        ___   ________
    /  ___ \    /  ___ \   /  ____/   /  /  /   \      /  /  /  _____/
   /  /__/ /   /  /  / /  /  /__     /  /  /  /\ \    /  /  /  / ____
  /  ___  \   /  /  / /  /  ___/    /  /  /  /  \ \  /  /  /  / /_  /
 /  /__/  /  /  /__/ /  /  /____   /  /  /  /    \ \/  /  /  /___/ /
/________/   \______/  /_______/  /__/  /__/      \___/   \_______/
     Roger  Swann  @  The Boeing Co.,  Aerospace Div.
     uucp:  uw-beaver!ssc-vax!clark       voice:  206/657-5810

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: Long Distance carriers: ATT, MCI vs. Sprint
Date: 6 Dec 88 18:48:29 GMT



I don't have any problem with AT&T sound quality, but they are not
immune to outage either.  Just a couple of weeks ago most of Northern
New Jersey was without AT&T Long Distance service, plus it killed all
my AT&T leased data circuits.  Mostly I stay away from SPRINT because
in the past I have had inordinate problems with dealing with their
billing departments.

-Ron

------------------------------

Date: 5 Dec 88 01:28:41 PST (Monday)
Subject: Is there a way to dial '800' numbers from outside the USA?
From: "hugh_davies.WGC1RX"@Xerox.COM
To: [e-mail]


Advertisements in US publications (I'm particularly thinking of 'Byte')
often quote an '800' number to call for information, and no other number.
These numbers apparently cannot be dialled from outside the continental
United States (ignore the routing info in the address - I'm in the UK).

Is there any way of 'getting at' these numbers? I'm quite happy to pay for
the calls. Perhaps via an operator? The only alternative is snail mail.
Bleagh.

Thanks,

Hugh.

[Moderator's Note: There are a few -- very few -- 800 numbers which in fact
are outside the USA and can be reached by us. One example is British Telecom
which is located in London but has an 800 number for callers from the United
States. And in reverse, there are a couple firms in the USA with `0898' type
numbers (I believe 0898 is the UK version of 800) for callers from Hugh's
country. But the general rule is 800 numbers are internal to the United States
or internal to Canada but not both. They can cover a city, a state, an area
code, a large part of the nation, or the entire nation. *Never* outside the
USA/Canada however.

I suggest the only option available to Hugh is to ascertain the area code
where the firm is located, then dial 1-A/C 555-1212 and ask for the regular
telephone number. Then dial it and pay for the call. Himself. But ask the
company if they will reimburse him for the call if his purchase is over a
certain amount. Many firms will do this.    Patrick Townson]


====================================
Hugh Davies,            ([e-mail])
Senior Software Engineer,
Rank Xerox,
England.
====================================
"Test pilots aren't supposed to say they're frightened; But I was real
impressed" - X15 pilot.

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Network Access Fee Up December 1
Date: 5 Dec 88 22:32:36 PST (Mon)
From: bovine![e-mail] (John Higdon)


All references in your posting were to interstate traffic. Do you have any
information concerning intrastate, such as AT&T Full State WATS? Are
intrastate rates going to change, and in which direction?

Suddenly, I realize that intrastate is under the auspices of the PUC and
not the FCC. Still, this is of some concern, to me anyway. Last month my
Sprint bill for interstate calling was $0.62 (call to Boonton, NJ) and my
intrastate bill was around $800. Guess which is of more concern.

--
John Higdon
john@bovine   ..sun!{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!bovine!john

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Network Access Fee Up December 1
Date: 5 Dec 88 22:32:36 PST (Mon)
From: bovine![e-mail] (John Higdon)


All references in your posting were to interstate traffic. Do you have any
information concerning intrastate, such as AT&T Full State WATS? Are
intrastate rates going to change, and in which direction?

Suddenly, I realize that intrastate is under the auspices of the PUC and
not the FCC. Still, this is of some concern, to me anyway. Last month my
Sprint bill for interstate calling was $0.62 (call to Boonton, NJ) and my
intrastate bill was around $800. Guess which is of more concern.

--
John Higdon
john@bovine   ..sun!{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!bovine!john

------------------------------

Date: 5 Dec 88 07:58:58 PST (Monday)
Subject: Some testing done on switched 56kbs
From: "Joseph_J._Gerber.henr801E"@Xerox.COM
To: [e-mail]


BRIAN:

I AM NO EXPERT ON SWITCHED 56KBS BUT MY GROUP TESTED IT IN 1987 FROM
ROCHESTER N.Y. TO CHICAGO AND SANTA  ANA, CALIF.

BASICALLY YOU NEED A DEDICATED 56KBS FROM YOUR SITE TO THE  CLOSEST CO
WHICH SUUPORTS SWITCHED 56KBS. THE SERVICE IS DIGITAL 56KBS A T1 IS NOT
REQUIRED.

FACILITY IS READILY AVAILABLE EXCEPT WHEN AT&T HAS MAJOR OUTAGE ALONG THE
NETWORK.  FOR EXAMPLE WE LOST ALL CKTS GOING WEST BECAUSE SOMEBODY DUG UP
FIBER CABLE ALONG RIGHT AWAY OR AT&T LOSES REPEATER STATION ALONG ROUTE.
THEN ALL TRAFFIC GOES ON PRIORTIY  ROUTING W/ HOSPITALS, MILITARY, POLICE
AND AT&T GETTING CAPACITY BEFORE US PAYING CUSTOMERS. AS A BACKUP CHANNEL
WE OPTED FOR SATELLITE.

IF YOU NEED EXCESS CAPACITY FROM TIME TO TIME I THINK IT'S FINE. IF YOU ARE
LOKKING FOR CONTINGENCY CAPACITY DURING MAJOR CIRCUIT OUTAGES, FIND A
DIFFERENT FACILITY AT&T RUN SWITCHED 56KBS ALONG SIDE EVERYTING ELSE,
PROBABLY A MUXED T3.

------------------------------

Date:     Thu, 1 Dec 88 9:20:20 EST
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
To: telecom <[e-mail]>
Subject:  613/819 (Ottawa, Ont./Hull, Que.)


Are there prefixes in the Ottawa area that can be reached in both
613 and 819?  (I think 777 is one?)  This is in Canada

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Touch Tone Trademark Abandoned?
Date: 6 Dec 88 18:51:02 GMT



I heard a rumor that ATT has abandonned the trademark on "TouchTone."
Can anyone confirm this?

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Thu Dec  8 00:37:15 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA03831; Thu, 8 Dec 88 00:37:15 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 88  0:13:41 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #196
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 8 Dec 88  0:13:41 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 196

Today's Topics:

                  Dialing 800 Services from Overseas
           Correction: British Equivilent of '800' Service
                  Yes, Touch Tone Trademark Abandoned
                       Touch Tone By Another Name
           Re: Need a device to prevent outgoing toll calls
                Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
                         Thanks For The Memories
           Pearl Harbor Telephone Operator Remembers That Day
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 7 Dec 88 09:03:05 PST
From: HECTOR MYERSTON <[e-mail]>
Subject: Dialing 800 Services from Overseas
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]


    There is an outfit called DialOne aka International Networks aka
Cezar Industries aka Gateway America aka Gateway USA currently located
in San Luis Obispo, California.
    Their product is a telephone "dial bridge".  You call in to them,
they "anchor" your call, give you local dial-tone and let you complete
single or multiple calls.  The advantages:  Using only one "First Minute"
as far as the LD carrier is concerned all other are "Each Additional" thus
saving some amount; avoiding any "per-call" charges as in Hotels etc.
    Anyway... most of the applications flopped.  One that did not is
an operation in upstate NY which allowed Canadians to make a cheap calls
(the service is near the border) and, for a small charge, have access
to "US only" 800 services.
    There is no reason why one could not use the same service from the
UK or wherever if billing arrangements can be worked out.
    Another service they where pursuing is completing International
Calls with the US as mid-point.  For example calling Taiwan from Beijing
is near impossible.  Beijing-USA-Taiwan is easier.
    I have no connection nor any further information on this outfit.
My last contact was when I really pissed-off their local rep.  He was
trying to push the international bridging based on savings (marginal) I
was trying to make him see that service was more important to us.
Oh well..
-------

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 07 Dec 88 13:49:51 GMT
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: British Equivilent of '800'


Re your recent comment concerning 0800 numbers.  In the UK calls to (our)
0800 numbers are free.  0898 numbers are used for information (and other)
services and are charged at enhanced rates.  We also have a 0345 prefix
for which local call charges apply.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 7 Dec 88 14:49:48 EST
From: [e-mail] (Michael A. Patton)
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: Touch Tone Trademark Abandoned?


I used to work for a company that made products that used touch-tone
input for access to computer data bases and such.  At one point we
were told by the lawyers that the "Touch-Tone is a registered
trademark of AT&T" should be removed from the manuals because AT&T no
longer owned it.  The rumor I heard was basically that the Baby Bells
and Mother AT&T both tried to claim it in the divestiture.  The Baby
Bells wanted to claim that it was a trademark for the dialing service
(in the CO) and they should own it.  AT&T wanted to claim that it was
a phone instrument related term and they should own it.  Apparently it
was solved when the Patent & Trademark Office declared that AT&T had
not been defending it and therefore nobody owned it anymore.

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: Henry Troup <bnr-fos!bnr-public!hwt>
Subject: Another Name For Touch Tone
Date: 6 Dec 88 16:56:57 GMT




Northern Telecom also calls DTMF 'DigiTone (tm)'
Henry Troup        utgpu!bnr-vpa!bnr-fos!hwt%bnr-public | BNR is not
Bell-Northern Reseach   hwt@bnr (BITNET/NETNORTH)          | responsible for
Ottawa, Canada        [phone] (Voice)             | my opinions



------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Elizabeth A. Evans)
Subject: Re: Need a device to prevent outgoing toll calls
Date: 6 Dec 88 12:46:21 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> phri!dasys1![e-mail] (Patt Haring) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>>>Is there a device available which can be used to toll-restrict
>>>long-distance calls?
>>Why doesn't she just tell her daughter to stop running up the phone bill? It
>>sounds to me like what she needs is to give her daughter a taste of some
>>kind of punishment, not some gadget to prevent outgoing phone calls.

This kind of device would be useful for more than parents restricting
kids' access to toll telephone calls.  We have a shared pool of modems
available to our medical school network users.  In order to prevent
unauthorized toll-dialing by those users, we had to remove the ability
to manually dial out -- if the needed telephone number doesn't exist in
a list of numbers we think people will use, the users can't dial the
number.  It would be much nicer to let them dial other local numbers.

-- Elizabeth A. Evans                    internet:  [e-mail]
   Office of Information Systems         usenet:    uevans@uncmed
   UNC-CH School of Medicine
   Chapel Hill, NC


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Don Preuss)
Subject: Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
Date: 7 Dec 88 22:37 GMT



The National Institutes of Health has one of these set up
between two buildings. It took the company a few
trys to get it right, and the latest I heard was that they
are still getting a large number of retransmits.

It would seem to me that you would get a "loss of signal" during rain
or snow storms. This doesn't seem like a wonderfully reliable
system unless there were some kind of backup.

Also, If the laser was strong enough to punch through the
rain, wouldn't you zap birds with it?

donp

--
Arpa: [e-mail]
UUCP: uunet!mit-eddie!apollo!donp

------------------------------

Date:     Wed, 7 Dec 88 15:19:58 CST
From: Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject:  Re: Pearl Harbor Day Memories


The "moderator's note" on the 7 Dec issue was appreciated. I guess we're
some of the few who pay attention to that day. I have a pin I wear each
year on that day, and am wearing it now -- I inherited it. A circle with
a pearl in the middle and "REMEMBER" arcing above on a red background,
and "HARBOR" arcing below on blue.

(I guess I should send one to George Bush so he can wear it in
September... :-)

Regards,
Will Martin

[The item which follows, to close the Digest for today is another interesting
account, from someone who was there, working the phones.]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 7 Dec 88 23:57:39 EST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: A Phone Operator Remembers 1941

Plenty of stories of interest to telecommunications people originated that
Sunday in December, 1941. My neighbor for several years was an older lady
who retired from government civil service in the late 1960's. At the time
in question, she was a civilian employee of the Army, stationed at Pearl
Harbor as a telephone operator. Her 'exchange' took in several hundred
military phones including Hickham Air Force Base. She had that particular
Sunday off, and told me she decided to work on her flower garden for an
hour or so early that morning before waking her husband up. They were going
to drive into Honolulu for lunch with some friends later in the morning.

She said the attack began around 7:30 that morning, and she heard it coming
and looked up to see the first bomb fall about a mile away. Bear in mind of
course bomb technology in the early 1940's was not like today: they fell
out of the sky, they exploded, they made *loud* noises and set things on
fire. They killed whoever was nearby, but they were a far cry from the
nuclear monsters that scare the bejeezus out of us these days. Within a minute
or so, the Pearl City Fire Department and the base firefighters could be
heard on the way to the scene with their sirens going and she said she
thought she would walk over and see what it was all about. She said she had
started to walk that way and two more bombs came down, and figuring that
something strange was going on, she decided to go wake up her husband and
have him come along.

When she got back in the house, her phone was ringing. She said it was one
of the guys at her office calling asking her if she could come in right away
and help out. The telephone exchange had some civilian women who worked the
board during the day, but overnight a couple of enlisted men were there. Doris
(my neighbor) said '....the poor kid who had been there all night was frantic.
Neither of the two women who were supposed to work that day had come in yet,
and suddenly he was getting dozens of calls all at once from all over that
side of the island asking what in the hell was going on. He did not know any
more than I did at that point, and one of the missles had apparently knocked
over a pole somewhere and knocked several of the phones out of service.

'I drove over in the car never figuring I would wind up being there for the
next 36 hours straight. As soon as I got in, I called a couple of women who
worked in the accounting office who I knew would know how to work the boards
and and told them to please get there and help out as soon as they could. By
the time I got there, we had already received calls from the (Honolulu)
Advertiser asking what was up. We had a tie-line from Honolulu at the office
of RCA Cable, which fed the telegraph machine and it must have gone open for
some reason because one minute we were getting non-stop messages and the next
dead silence. It came back on about an hour later, and I almost wish it had
stayed dead.'

'The CBS and NBC Radio Networks were on the phone constantly asking questions
and there was almost nothing I could tell them. The air raid went on for
several hours until sometime that afternoon; I can't tell you when it was
that we quit hearing those bombs and guns firing; it was probably around 2 or
3 in the afternoon our time. They told me later one had fallen about two
blocks from the telephone exchange; lucky for us we all came out alive, but
all of us knew at least one or two of the ones who had died. I know it left
our wires and (telephone) poles in a mess all over the area. About seventy
percent of the service was knocked out at Hickham. Some fellows from the
repair office in Honolulu came out sometime in the afternoon to figure out
what to do, and they started uprighting the poles the next morning. I would
say we had most of the lines back up by Wednesday, but we could not convince
the people stateside why it was they could not get through to their sons
and husbands.'

'I don't blame the people really, I'd have been worried sick myself, but
some of them were just plain rude to us. We had three or four wire pairs
on the San Fransisco cable which bypassed the exchange in Honolulu and
were wired through to us. By noon the people at CBS had pretty much gotten
off those lines and were on the RCA cable instead so they could 'chat' with
the Advertiser people. By this time it was about 6 PM in the states and
everyone was worked up to a high intensity by the news they were getting
on the radio and every one of them with a family member at Pearl was trying
to call at once; and this with all our wires laying melted in the street
at that. The San Fransisco operators were so nice to us...they protected us
from the most abusive callers. Around 9 PM Sunday evening, the fellow came
in who worked nights. I guess despite all the ruckus all day long he had
somehow managed to get a couple hours sleep before coming back to work. First
thing he did was get on the cable to San Fransisco and put in a call to his
parents. All I remember was hearing him say, 'mom, don't cry, I'm okay and
I'm calling from work. It will be a crazy night...ah don't worry mom..'

'I finally went home Monday afternoon around 3 or so, and slept until Tuesday
morning. When I went in Tuesday it was obvious we were in a whole new era.
I stayed at Pearl until 1950, five years after the war ended, and we decided
to move to Chicago to be with our son when my husband retired.'


(As told to the moderator by Doris Solomon.)

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Fri Dec  9 00:22:12 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA19197; Fri, 9 Dec 88 00:22:12 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 88 00:04:13 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #197
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 9 Dec 88 00:04:13 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 197

Today's Topics:

                  AT&T/Sprint Awarded FTS-2000 Contract
                       Re: Calling card silliness
               Information Needed on Fax Group IV Standards
                         trimline light bulbs
               Minor correction to Follow Me Roaming Article
                      List being purged: take notice
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Dec 88 22:52:33 EST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: AT&T/Sprint Awarded FTS-2000 Contract

AT&T and U.S. Sprint were picked Wednesday to replace the U.S. government's
aging telephone system, winning a mammoth ten year contract worth between
four billion and fifteen billion dollars, with the actual amount being
detirmined by the extent the service is used by the government over the life
of the contract.

The contract -- and the new phone system -- are called FTS-2000. It is the
largest non-military contract ever awarded by the federal government. FTS-2000
will be a combination voice, data and video transmission service available to
all U.S. government offices worldwide. The federal government already has the
largest private telephone network in the world.

AT&T, and its partner the Boeing Company will receive sixty percent of the
contract proceeds. U.S. Sprint, which bid alone, will receive forty percent
of the action. The third bidder, a consortium which included Chicago-based
Ameritech, Martin Marietta and MCI Communications were the losers.

FTS-2000 will be phased in over three years, with the first users to go online
in the final quarter of 1989. All federal agencies will be online by 1991.
During the interim between phase in and completion, FTS-2000 will be compatible
with the existing, but obsolete and antiquated network.

The winning bidders were selected by the General Services Administration, and
were required to include in their package provisions for high-speed data
transfer, video transmission, electronic mail, teleconferencing and integrated
services digital network (ISDN) capabilities.

The GSA took over three years to study the bids before making a final decision
early this week. Watching the new federal telephone system -- if such an
'old fashioned' term can be used -- take shape should provide much discussion
material in the Digest.

As I receive more press releases and information about FTS-2000, I will of
course post it here, and I hope readers will do the same.

Patrick Townson

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: Dan Chaney <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Calling card silliness
Date: 8 Dec 88 06:53:51 GMT

I've moved several times in the past few years (the joys of student life) but I
have had phone service at each new place.  Sometimes it has been a transfer of
service, other times I have discontinued service and requested service at the
new address. (The difference, explained to me, was due to moving outside of my
service area.)  Each time, regardless whether the actual number changed or not,
the 4-digit extension (aka PIN) stayed the same. The same PIN  used 4 years ago
is the one I currently use.

  What I found most interesting about this was that even when I changed my long
distance carrier (Advantage network - ask me about *them* in EMail, heh heh),
my calling card still worked and still used the same old PIN number.

   --- And now, for something related but completely different  ---

  The on campus phone system here at UK has, as best I can tell, two types of
phones, restricted and not restricted. They have recently switched to Americall
and have allowed credit-card calling from non-restricted phones by dialing 6-0
+ area code-phone number. If you dont include the area code, it defaults to 606
(KY AC) and you get a tone and the nice lady that always asks politely for your
number and then says thank you (I think she is sweet on me.)  However, if you
try a different area code (this won't happen if you include 606), you get an
Americall operator - not the nice-lady tone system.

  Now for the crux of this.  If I dial a number within my area code, get the
tone, enter that and press #, the nice lady comes back and says I can enter a
different number, which I do, and it can be a different area code and she just
says thank you and everything is funky dory (local terminaologists equate that
to fine.)

  Question: It seems to me that if dialing 6-0-ac<>606-xxx-xxxx puts me to a
human and not a computer, then there is some computer link that isnt there, and
if that is the case, what if the billing information isn't passed back?!?!
Horrors!!!)

OK, there is my two cents worth on card-numbers and another log onto the fire
of the calling-card silliness.

--
Dan Chaney
{uunet and the like}!ukma!chaney  [e-mail]  [e-mail]
"As often as I have been amongst men, I have returned less a man" - Seneca

------------------------------

Date: 8 Dec 88 22:23:12 GMT
From: snark![e-mail] (EricS.Raymond)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Information Needed on Fax Group IV Standards


I'm examing options for an application involving databases that must include
images and facsimile transmission support. I have some basic questions about
Fax Group IV.

1. Does it support color?

2. What's the image size? Resolution in dpi?

3. Where can I get standards documents for it?

Replies by email please, except that post of a short, incisive survey of
fax standards might not be a bad idea.
--
      Eric S. Raymond                     (the mad mastermind of TMN-Netnews)
      Email: [e-mail]                       CompuServe: [72037,2306]
      Post: 22 S. Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355      Phone: [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Dec 88 17:55:06 PST
From: Mark Lottor <[e-mail]>
Subject: trimline light bulbs
To: [e-mail]


Does anyone know where I can get replacement bulbs for an
old style trimline?  Is it a standard bulb or a WE special?
-------

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Dec 88 20:55:10 EST
From: [e-mail] (George Goble)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Minor correction to Follow Me Roaming Article


In article <[e-mail]>, I wrote:
>How it works:
>One has to the have call forwarding feature on his home service.
>Upon entering the roaming area, the user dials "*18", gets a
>series of beeps (Indy GTE, Cincinatti Ameritech), or a steady
>800HZ tone (Miami, BellSouth), and hangs up (actually "END")

This was based on very early information. One does not need to
have call forwarding on his home service to use Follow Me Roaming.
The switch sets you up a "temporary" call forwarding class of
service if you do not have it.
--ghg

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Dec 88 23:03:20 EST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator)
To: telecom
Subject: List being purged: take notice


I have not given a lot of attention to maintaining the list since the worm
came up. Sites have been on again, off again, making it imprudent to remove
a name simply because the mail bounced once or twice.

The following consistently undeliverable names are being removed now. If
you see yourself or a friend there, tell me a *good* address for you. This
message is obviously going to be seen by those folks if they read comp.dcom.
telecom as well as (instead of) [Telecom Digest].

   [e-mail]
   [e-mail]
   [e-mail]
   [e-mail]
   [e-mail]

Daemons repeatedly advise that system 'chaos' is no longer available. Fact or
fiction?

   For the several people at Portal Communications who were on the Digest
   mailing list until several issues ago, please be advised that the
   address '[e-mail]' is now being called an unknown host,
   for whatever reason. I am rewriting all those addresses to be
   sun!portal!cup.portal.com!yourname and see if they will go through that way.

Postmaster Pat :)

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************


From [e-mail]  Sun Dec 11 04:14:57 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA20866; Sun, 11 Dec 88 04:14:57 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 88  4:01:54 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #198
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 11 Dec 88  4:01:54 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 198

Today's Topics:

                       Ring Equivalent Numbers (UK)
                     Alternative Operator Services
                              Modem noise
                      Re: 800 service from abroad
                  Re: Touchtone(tm) and Touchtone(sm)
                      Re: Calling card silliness
                        re: Trimline Lightbulbs
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 10 Dec 88 21:54:43 GMT
From: Drew <[e-mail]>
To: TELECOM <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ring Equivalent Numbers (UK)


Here in the UK every phone, and in fact every piece of equipment connected
to  the  phone  network  (modems  etc), has a Ring Equivalent Number (REN)
assigned to it.  Most touchtone phones have a REN of 1.0.    We  are  told
that  we  must  not  use  devices that exceed a total of x RENs on a line,
where x is a number I don't know.  I guess  there  may  be  an  equivalent
notation (if not exactly the same) in the US.

What  I  want to know is, what exactly is REN, how is it measured and what
happens if you exceed it?  What is the maximium REN  total  allowed  on  a
residential  line?    Is  this  the same all over the country?  Are phones
listed as 1.0 REN really that, or are they, say, 0.8 REN?

Yours quizzingly, Drew Radtke.

------------------------------

To: ames![e-mail]
From: claris![e-mail] (Ed Greenberg)
Subject: Alternative Operator Services
Date: 10 Dec 88 00:14:54 GMT



Just a reminder to all of us when staying in hotels or using
(Shudder!) COCOT's.

If you don't hear "Thank you for using AT&T" or "Thank you for
calling, on Pacific Bell" (or your local equivalent), the chances are
that it ain't.  Also, it an Operator answers with "Operator", be sure
to ask "Which one?"

I was recently burned on an intra-LATA credit card call that showed up
on my bill as from "ELCATEL."  The call was $1.68 and should have been
$.86 on Pacific Bell.  I shoulda known.

--
{decwrl|sun|oliveb}!CSO.3com.com!Edward_Greenberg    Ed Greenberg
    -or-                        3Com Corporation
{sun|hplabs}!bridge2!edg                Mountain View, CA
                            415-694-2952

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Bill Chen)
Subject: Modem noise
Date: 11 Dec 88 00:28:10 GMT



We've been having progressively worsening noise problems on our dial
up modem pool for our PBX. It seems to occur mainly at nights and
consists mostly of "{" characters. These { comes periodically, about 1
every 30 secs to 2 minutes. Sometimes we get bursts of noise too.  We
have checked the modems, Racal Vadic VA4492Es and the PBX, IBM/ROLM
9751 and neither seem to be the cause. We don't run error correction
such as MNP although our modems are equipped to do it. The noise
seems to be generally one way, from the host side to the terminal side.
Although recently, noise does seem to get to the host too.

Telco people haven't been too helpful. Calling 611 is useless. Trying
to talk to someone technical within the telephone company is next to
impossible.

Are there any people out there that may have seen this problem? I have
been told by some people that there might be some notch filters that
can cause this kind of noise. I don't know much about telephony
things, but maybe someone out there in netland can shed some light.
Thanks in advance.

Bill Chen

--
_____________________________________________________________________
William Chen        [e-mail]
Network Planning    854-7593, 854-2455, 280-2455
Columbia University

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 10 Dec 88 21:24:48 EST
From: westmark![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: 800 service from abroad



The service that provides a gateway for calls from beyond the USA to reach
domestic 800 numbers depends upon the caller being able to send touch tone
signaling.  While this may be helpful to Canadians (where touch tone is
almost as popular as it is in the USA) I'm not sure how much use this is
to callers from the U.K. or from Europe.  As I recall, tone-dialing is
not widely available there.  Also, does anybody know if the tone-dial
equipment there uses the same tone-pairs as we do here?

Dave Levenson
westmark!dave


------------------------------

Date: Sat, 10 Dec 88 21:29:12 EST
From: westmark![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Touchtone(tm) and Touchtone(sm)



Before the divestiture of the telephone companies by AT&T, Touchtone was
both a registered trade mark, and a registered service mark.  As a trade
mark, it covered the telephone sets which send DTMF signaling.  As a
service mark, it covered the service offered by the telephone companies
who received and processed DTMF signaling.

As a result of divestiture, the trade mark covered AT&T products, while
the service mark covered services offered by seven telco holding companies.
Today, no one owns touch tone... as a trade or service mark.  It has
been dedicated -- which I think is legal jargon for its having been put
in the public domain.

Dave Levenson
westmark!dave


------------------------------

To: vector!telecom
From: daisy![e-mail] (Bob Weissman)
Subject: Re: Calling card silliness
Date: 7 Dec 88 23:48:58 GMT
Organization: Olivetti Software Technology Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
- Three weeks ago, we moved. We moved a total of about 10 blocks; we're
- in the same service area (415-641, Pacific Bell), and kept the same
- number.
-
- What I didn't expect was that my calling card would stop working. Seems
- that any change in service causes them to cancel the current card. If
- you're lucky, they'll automagically order you a new one (with a
- different PIN) -- but usually you have to notice that your card is not
- working and request a new one.

This is interesting.  I also recently moved within my service area
(415-967) and kept the same number, and my Pacific Bell calling card
still works fine, as does my AT&T card with the same number.  Sounds
like someone simply screwed up.

Of course, I only moved about six blocks...

--
Bob Weissman     [e-mail]
Routed UUCP:    [e-mail]
UUCP:        ...!{ ames | decwrl | oliveb | pyramid }!oli-stl!bob
Arpanet:    [e-mail]


------------------------------

Date: 11-DEC-1988 03:15:59.93
From: "DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN)" <[e-mail]>
Subject: re: Trimline Lightbulbs
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]


Mark-

   I believe that the standard bulb for a Bell Trimline phone is a
51A bulb, which is also what they use in 5 line key phone systems with
the red hold button. (IE, if you have any old ones you can use the lights
from there.) From what I recall, the full designation for the bulbs
was II-72/TS-51-A, although I'm sure AT&T and better phone stores will
know what a "51A" is.

   If you have any problem finding them, I can give you the and address
or two where you can order them from.

   -Doug

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Tue Dec 13 01:42:59 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA21993; Tue, 13 Dec 88 01:42:59 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 88  1:11:04 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #199
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 13 Dec 88  1:11:04 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 199

Today's Topics:

                      Touch-Tone around the world
                     Touch-Tone At United Telephone
                  Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
           Finding Someone At Telco Who Will Listen/Understand
                            Re: Modem Noise
                        Re: splitting area codes
                 Re: Toll charges and call forwarding
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John R. Covert)
Date: 11 Dec 88 10:46
To: [e-mail], westmark![e-mail]
Subject: Touch-Tone around the world


>Also, does anybody know if the tone-dial equipment there [U.K. and Europe]
>uses the same tone-pairs as we do here?

Yes.  It is CCITT standard Q.31.

There are now a few (very few) U.K. exchanges which provide DTMF service to
subscribers.  Although System X can do it, very, very few exchanges permit
subscribers to use it.  DTMF is fairly common in PBXs, however, the U.K.
requires the DTMF level to be set quite low to prevent crosstalk, which also
tends to prevent transatlantic end-to-end signalling from working.

DTMF is much more common in France -- there are even DTMF payphones in a few
rare places.

In Germany, there is no DTMF in the public network, but essentially all PBXs
use DTMF.

/john

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 88 08:09:07 est
From: David M. Kurtiak <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Another Name For Touch-Tone
Cc: [e-mail]

I live in an area served by United Telephone (a non-Bell independant
telco - I think th 3rd largest in the USA).  They call thier touch-tone
equivalent of a service mark as "U-TOUCH".  None of the advertisements
for the phones or services refer to it as "touch tone", but always
as "U-TOUCH".  I'm pretty sure that is still a registerd trademark.
Guess somebody in thier marketing department was a real genious for
this one. :-)
--
David M. Kurtiak
Internet: [e-mail]
BITNET: [e-mail]
UUCP: [e-mail]  {gatech,rutgers}!mcnc!ecsvax!dmkdmk

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (John B. Nagle)
Subject: Re: Laser Beam  as a ethernet backbone
Date: 11 Dec 88 23:08:24 GMT




     This comes up every once in a while, and the definitive information is
as follows.

    The FCC has jurisdiction over "Radio", according to the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended.  "Radio Waves or Hertzian Waves" are defined in
47 CFR Ch. 1 part 2 subpart A section 2.1 as "Electronic waves of frequencies
arbitrarily lower than 3,000 GHz, propagated in space without artificial
guide."  So FCC regulation stops at 3,000 GHz.  The 3,000 GHz limit is by
international agreement (Radio Regulations, Geneva, 1982).  This limit is in
the very long infrared range.

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Don Preuss) writes:
>X-Administrivia-To: [e-mail]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 196, message 6
>
>The National Institutes of Health has one of these set up
>between two buildings. It took the company a few
>trys to get it right, and the latest I heard was that they
>are still getting a large number of retransmits.

       Rain and snow are serious problems.  One thing that helps is to
use large collecting optics at both ends, so that the beam occupies a
physically larger diameter but remains collimated.  Usually a large parabolic
reflector is used.  This will improve operation in light rain and snow.
In heavy precipitation, though, optical systems just don't work.  To get
through heavy rain, you must use a wavelength bigger than raindrops.

                    John Nagle

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 88 02:59:00 EST
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Finding Someone Technical To Speak With


Re: Bill Chen 'Trying to talk to someone technical within the phone company
is next to impossible.'

That's because there aren't any technical people in the phone company.  It's
just wall after wall, level after level, layer after layer of "service
representatives" and other bureaucrats.  I have spent continuous hours
on the phone trying to talk to someone who knew any fact not in the inside
few pages of the phone book, and have never had any luck.  My theory is,
with the divestiture, AT&T got all the technical people, and the BOCs were
just left with some pretty foolproof equipment and a whole lot of
middle management.

Miguel Cruz
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 88 05:30:05 PST
From: [e-mail] (Bob Early CSS/NSG dtn 264-6252)
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Modem Noise

>From: [e-mail] (Bill Chen)
>Subject: Modem noise
>Date: 11 Dec 88 00:28:10 GMT
>We've been having progressively worsening noise problems on our dial
:
:
>such as MNP although our modems are equipped to do it. The noise
>seems to be generally one way, from the host side to the terminal side.

Noise is just that. Random impulses being picked up by the telco lines as they
pass through an 'electrically' noisy environment.

Some such causes are elevator shafts; rotary machines (a such as motors,
generators, and 'dynamos'), other wires such as HVAC transmission, poor
grounding of the computer vequipment,; archaic telco equipment (step-and-select
strowger swithches, etc).

If you have the option of using MNP, use it.

>Telco people haven't been too helpful. Calling 611 is useless. Trying
>to talk to someone technical within the telephone company is next to
>impossible.

With most telephone companies you must  be persistent,and give the impression
that you *know* it is in the central office, and they *must* fix it. (I
personally had a defective phone service, and it took three months to get it
fixed.)

>Are there any people out there that may have seen this problem? I have
>been told by some people that there might be some notch filters that

This is a common problem with BELL 212A implementations. The "{{{" or 'curly
bracket' isn't *really* the true character. The curly bracket is the modems
interpretation of the noise impulses it is seeing, in much the same manner if
you privide a string of randoms 'ones and zeros' to a computers operating
system you will see many 'odd' charcters as the CPU attempts to 'parse' the
charcters.

>Bill Chen

Bob Early
"Long live the Scholar-Plus"

[Moderator's note: The phone company seems to think their customers are all
dumb. Remind me to tell you about the time I spent several days convincing
Repair Service that a bummed out interoffice trunk between Chicago-Kenwood
and Chicago-Wabash was not '...a problem with my instrument, which will require
our representative to visit your premises a week from next Tuesday...'. I was
finally able to sneak in through the 'back door' and speak to the supervisor
in night plant about two in the morning. I held up the troubled trunk on one
of my lines while he went in the frames, found me and busied it out. But
should customers have to do this sort of thing for Bell?   Pat Townson]

------------------------------

Date:     Mon, 21 Nov 88 16:47:54 EST
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject:  Re: splitting area codes


Many digests ago, I had a note in about a song lament which included
"when we were 212"!  I also heard of some uproar that outsiders might
not recognize a 718-area number as being a "New York City number".
As has been said earlier, phone co. reserves the right to change phone
numbers (this includes area code, right?) if required in the course of
its operations, and it's only by courtesy that they give some advance
notice to businesses in the affected areas.  The need to minimize such
adverse impact does cause a conservative approach: "Don't change if you
don't have to"; for example, if an area code is split, the local 7-digit
number is not changed (although this was bent in some cases to avoid
splitting some towns along the 213/818 border in California; I don't
know specific cases there).

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: Toll charges and call forwarding
Date: 12 Dec 88 19:19:31 GMT


(The original question was)

    Station A, in area ONE, makes call to station B in area TWO.
    (This is a normal toll call for station A)
    However, station B is set to forward to station C back in area
    ONE, where station C is in the normal free calling zone of
    station A.

    How will this call be charged?
        1> as a local call
        2> as an toll call for the around trip A -> B -> C
        3> other...

Neither 1 or 2.  A pays for a toll call from A -> B and then B gets billed
for the forwarded call from B -> C.

-Ron

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Wed Dec 14 01:58:05 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA16569; Wed, 14 Dec 88 01:58:05 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 88  1:24:54 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #200
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 14 Dec 88  1:24:54 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 200

Today's Topics:

                      IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
               Call for Papers: ACM 28th Annual Symposium
             Re: Modem noise (T1 Trunks from #5 ESS > Analog
                  Re: 613/819 (Ottawa, Ont./Hull, Que.)

[Moderator's Note: Thanks to the several of you who wrote and mentioned
possible solutions to our 'unknown host' mailing problem. JSol is giving
the matter his close attention as time permits. Dial direct to Santa
Claus? Our final message in this issue tells how to do it! :)  P. Townson]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 14 Dec 88 01:16:00 EST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator)
To:   [e-mail]
Subj: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG


International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) announced on Tuesday that it
was selling its Rolm telephone equipment subsidiary to West Germany's
Siemens AG.

Rolm has lost several hundred million dollars since IBM bought it in 1984
for $1.5 billion. Rolm was the first, or one of the first companies to
market digital PBX systems.

As most readers of [Telecom Digest] already know, the PBX market has been
very soft for years. It has suffered from little or no growth and very bitter
price competition.

Siemens, a leading PBX supplier in Europe wants to bolster its sales in the
United States, and believes it can do so by aquiring Rolm's sales and service
operations. Quite obviously, it will also gain access to some of the lucrative
IBM customers in Europe.

Rolm was an early leader in digital PBX's, but they were surpassed in 1984
by AT&T and Northern Telecom Ltd. of Canada. Part of the strategy behind IBM's
purchase of Rolm was IBM's belief that small personal computers would be
linked through digital PBX's. Although this has happened, most businesses
seem to prefer ethernet arrangements; something neither IBM or Rolm had
given much thought to. IBM was certain the late 1980's would see office
computers everywhere hooked up through PBX's.

IBM made a mistake, and at Tuesday's press conference they admitted it and
announced that Rolm was going bye-bye, as part of the corporate restructuring
which has seen IBM divest itself of numerous non-computer related businesses
in the past several months. From its beginning until 1984, Rolm could not run
itself very well; now IBM has washed its corporate hands. Time will tell how
much luck the Europeans have with it.

Patrick Townson

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Call for Papers: ACM 28th Annual Symposium
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 88 17:49:12 -0500
From: [e-mail]


              ***** CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION *****
28th Annual Technical Symposium of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the ACM
            INTERFACES:  Systems and People Working Together
             National Institute of Standards and Technology
                Gaithersburg, Maryland - August 24, 1989
     No computer is an island.  Increasingly, systems are being tied together
to improve their value to the organizations they serve.  This symposium will
explore the theoretical and practical issues in interfacing systems and in
enabling people to use them effectively.
     *** SOME TOPICS OF INTEREST FOR SUBMITTED PAPERS ***
                     * HUMAN FACTORS *
User interfaces              Meeting the needs of handicapped users
Conquering complexity        Designing systems for people
Intelligent assistants       The human dimension of information interchange
                   * SYSTEMS INTEGRATION *
Communications networks      Distributed databases
Data standardization         System fault tolerance
Communications standards (e.g. GOSIP)
                * STRATEGIC  SYSTEMS *
Decision support systems     Embedding expert systems in information systems
Strategic info systems       Computer Aided Logistics Support (CALS)
        * SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION *
Quality control and testing  Designing a system of systems
System management            Conversion and implementation strategies
Software tools and CASE      Identifying requirements thru prototyping
     * ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR APPLICATIONS PORTABILITY *
Ada                          Database management
Open software                Open protocol technology
Operating systems (e.g., POSIX)
==>  DON'T BE LIMITED BY OUR SUGGESTIONS - MAKE YOUR OWN!
     Both experienced and first-time authors are encouraged to present their
work.  Papers will be refereed.  A length of 10 to 20 double-spaced pages is
suggested.
     Those presenting a paper are entitled to register for the symposium at
the early advance registration rate.
     To propose special sessions or noncommercial demonstrations, please send
three copies of an extended abstract to the Program Chairman at the address
below.
     Note: A paper must include the name, mailing address, and telephone
number of each author or other presenter.  Authors of accepted papers must
transfer copyright to ACM for material published in the Proceedings (excepting
papers that cannot be copyrighted under Government regulations).
     The ACM policy on prior publication was revised in 1987.  A complete
statement of the policy appears in the November 1987 issue of Communications
of the ACM.  In part it states that "republication of a paper, possibly
revised, that has been disseminated via a proceedings or newsletter is
permitted if the editor of the journal to which it has been submitted judges
that there is significant additional benefit to be gained from republication."
                            *** SCHEDULE ***
March 2, 1989  Please send five copies of your paper to the Program Chairman:
     Dr. Milton S. Hess
     American Management Systems, Inc.
     1525 Wilson Boulevard
     Arlington, VA 22209
April 13, 1989  Acceptance notification
June 22, 1989  Final camera ready papers are due
August 24, 1989  Presentation at the symposium
     If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact:
     Symposium General Chairman: Charles E. Youman, The MITRE Corporation,
[phone] (voice), [phone] (FAX), or [e-mail] (internet).
     Program Chairman: Dr. Milton Hess, American Management Systems, Inc.,
[phone] (voice) or [phone] (FAX).
     NIST Liaison: Ms. Elizabeth Lennon, National Institute of Standards and
Technology (formerly the National Bureau of Standards), [phone] (voice)
or [phone] (FAX).

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Dave Kucharczyk)
Subject: Re: Modem noise
Date: 13 Dec 88 16:25:15 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill Chen) writes:
>X-Administrivia-To: [e-mail]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 198, message 3
>
>We've been having progressively worsening noise problems on our dial
>up modem pool for our PBX. It seems to occur mainly at nights and
>consists mostly of "{" characters. These { comes periodically, about 1
>every 30 secs to 2 minutes.

  [rest of description deleted]

  I had this problem for a few months when i moved to a place served by a
#5 ESS.  the problem is that the T1 line between two offices is not synced
properly which causes the bit stream to slip (ie the offset between the
two clocks becomes greater than one pulse width and a bit is missed). Why
this causes "{" to appear I haven't figured out yet.  My friend posted
something about this (he got them to fix it), so I'll just repost it.

dave
  [the entire message appears in 187...here are excerpts]

.........forget to install, or improperly configure a board in the T1 carrier
system equipment (this is not the analog switch, but before the
switch) called an "OIU board".  He didn't know what OIU stood for, but
he tells me that it's fairly standard telco terminology.  He said that
this board provides the clocking for the link going from the analog
office to the digital office.  Without the board, the T1 carrier
system uses a different clocking source (presumably an internal clock
within the T1 equipment) which is not always quite in sync with the
correct source.  That's why things appear to work ok for voice, but
not for data......


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: Henry Troup <bnr-fos!bnr-public!hwt>
Subject: Re: 613/819 (Ottawa, Ont./Hull, Que.)
Date: 13 Dec 88 21:57:37 GMT


This is very common.  At the edges of area codes, a system called
'Extended Area Dialling' is used.  The area code is unneccessary for
a local call between area codes.
Thus, peopel in Ottawa are often unaware that they have called into
another area code.

How the revised North American Numbering plan impacts this, I don't
know.

P.S. My Bell Canada map shows that Santa Claus has an 819 number.
utgpu!bnr-vpa!bnr-fos!hwt%bnr-public | BNR is not      | All that evil requires
hwt@bnr (BITNET/NETNORTH)          | responsible for | is that good men do
[phone] (Voice)             | my opinions     | nothing.



------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Thu Dec 15 00:28:33 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA22391; Thu, 15 Dec 88 00:28:33 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 88  0:11:47 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #201
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 15 Dec 88  0:11:47 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 201

Today's Topics:

                  Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG (1)
                  Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG (2)
                      Touch-Tone around the world
                  Re: Toll charges and call forwarding
                            Cellular Modem
                        call waiting signaling
                  Dial Santa automatically (for a fee)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
Date: 14 Dec 88 15:43:38 GMT



If you'd actually used a Rolm phone switch, you'd know
why they lost money on it.  People expect their telephone
service to be reliable.  In addition to horrendous start
up bugs on all the installations I've watched, the thing
managed to scrog traditional modem connections run through
it.  Nearly half of the University Problems session at the
last Share (a independent IBM mainframe users group) was
devoted to ROLM telephone problems.

-Ron

------------------------------

To: bu-cs.bu.edu![e-mail]
From: harvard!cs.utexas.edu!vector!chip (Chip Rosenthal)
Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
Date: 14 Dec 88 20:20:12 GMT



[e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator) writes in v08i0200m01:
>International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) announced on Tuesday that it
>was selling its Rolm telephone equipment subsidiary to West Germany's
>Siemens AG.

I wonder how this will impact the future of NetView,  IBM's communication
network management product.  My understanding is that it's roots come
from SNA network managment, but IBM had big plans of establishing this
as the standard for telecommunication network management.  Although I
have never used it, my impression is that nobody likes it but a lot of
folks were moving to support it because of IBM's muscle in making it a
standard.  I wonder if NetView will continue to be a product, and if so,
how IBM's exit from the PBX market will impact it's attempt to rally
support for NetView as a standard.
--
Chip Rosenthal     [e-mail]    |      Choke me in the shallow water
Dallas Semiconductor   214-450-5337    |         before I get too deep.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 13 Dec 88 12:34:31 EST
From: [e-mail] (Henry Mensch)
To: [e-mail], westmark![e-mail]
Subject: Touch-Tone around the world


   From: [e-mail] (John R. Covert)
   Date: 11 Dec 88 10:46

   >Also, does anybody know if the tone-dial equipment there [U.K. and Europe]
   >uses the same tone-pairs as we do here?

   Yes.  It is CCITT standard Q.31.

   ...

   DTMF is much more common in France -- there are even DTMF payphones in a few
   rare places.

I've used DTMF phones in the Telehouse on Raadhuistraat in Amsterdam,
but I noted that there were *none* on the streets, and none installed
in the places i visited in the Netherlands.

The Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin seem devoid of
touch-tone phones entirely!

# Henry Mensch  /  <[e-mail]>  /  E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
# {decvax,harvard,mit-eddie}!garp!henry   /  <[e-mail]>

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 11 Dec 88 15:24:49 PST
From: sybase!calvin![e-mail] (ben ullrich)
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Toll charges and call forwarding


In article <[e-mail]> you write:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 195, message 3
>    Station A, in area ONE, makes call to station B in area TWO.
>    (This is a normal toll call for station A)
>    However, station B is set to forward to station C back in area
>    ONE, where station C is in the normal free calling zone of
>    station A.
>
>    How will this call be charged?
>        1> as a local call
>        2> as an toll call for the around trip A -> B -> C
>        3> other...

3. the call will be toll for the caller from A -> B , and B will get
a forwarding charge for carrying the call back to ONE (C).The idea is all calls
forwarded from B to C are toll, regardless of where they originate. if B
chooses to forward calls to a number that is a toll call for him/her, s/he
also chooses to pay for such calls. the original caller (A) only gets charged
for the number s/he originally called, not for where the call finally
terminates (why should A have to pay for B's long-distance forwarding
convenience ?)

>The ideal case would be choice 1, but the all the required hooks are
>probably not three and won't be there until IDSN becomes common. The
                         ^^^^ ('ISDN' i bet)
>other thing that almost forces choice 2, is that different carriers
>may be used for each leg of the connection. (i.e. the A->B leg might
>be ATT and the  B->C leg might be MCI)  There might even be some
>non-technical tariff requirements forcing the call to be charged a
>certain way...

Yes, and that's what i described. as it is now, the call physically makes the
round trip, for A's CO won't know where B's CO will be sending the call when it
gets to B. and even if it did, wouldn't A in all fairness have to be charged
for the query to B's CO to find out that the forwarding makes the call
terminate in ONE (the same area as A & C ) ?

It may well be that there will be no change in how the call was charged (your
original question) vs. how it is routed (which may change when the network gets
smarter).

>     ______      ______      ___   ___        ___   ________
>    /  ___ \    /  ___ \    /  /  /   \      /  /  /  _____/
>   /  /__/ /   /  /  / /   /  /  /  /\ \    /  /  /  / ____
>  /  ___  \   /  /  / /   /  /  /  /  \ \  /  /  /  / /_  /
> /  /__/  /  /  /__/ /   /  /  /  /    \ \/  /  /  /___/ /
>/________/   \______/   /__/  /__/      \___/   \_______/
        (this is much more fun than a company name)


...ben
--
--
ben ullrich                    consider my words disclaimed
sybase, inc.        "everybody gets so much information all day long that
emeryville, ca            they lose their common sense." -- gertrude stein
(415) 596 - 3654
[e-mail]        {pyramid,pacbell,sun,lll-tis,capmkt}!sybase!ben

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: mit-amt![e-mail] (Jim Davis)
Subject: Cellular Modem
Date: 12 Dec 88 23:34:10 GMT





Has anyone out there got experience with using modems
via cellular phone?  My experiences thus far have not
been good.  I have been using:
  an NEC P9100 phone with booster (3.0 Watts)
  a Morrison and Dempsey AB1 Cellular Data Adapter
  a Touchbase Worldport 1200 baud battery powered
   Hayes compatible modem on the cellular end,
  a Practical Peripherals 2400 SA modem at the base
   (set to 1200 baud, of course)
  Cellular One (non wireline) service from Cambridge.

My tests thus far have been conducted while stationary.  I have
set the modems Hayes compatible parameters S7 (Wait for Carrier
after Dial) and S10 (Lost Carrier to Hang Up Delay) both to 60
seconds.

I have not done much testing, because air time is costly.  My
tests have been to transfer files and compare characters for
differences.  So far, I've gotten quite a lot of noise on the
line, but the modems have not dropped carrier.

I have been considering getting a pair of Morrison and Dempsey
AB2XT modems, (which are said to use MNP level 4) but lately
they don't answer their phones (or rather, a voice mail machine
takes a message, but nobody calls back)

1) Does anyone know if M&D has closed?

2) Does anyone have experience with cellular modems?

3) Is there any other modem suitable for use in a car which
uses MNP error correction?


--
Internet: [e-mail]
Phone:    [phone]
USMail:   E15-325, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139

------------------------------

To: uunet![e-mail]
From: rob![e-mail] ( Tom Luteran )
Subject: call waiting signaling
Date: 12 Dec 88 22:05:56 GMT




     I am interested in finding information about the various
     call-waiting customer options that some local operating
     companies offer to their customers.

     What frequencies/durations of tones are used for
     this purpose?  Is there more than one way to do this
     (from personal experience, some systems "click" and
     some "beep" different number of times) and are
     there any "standard" ways?  Is there somewhere I can
     find this info?

     Thanks in advance.  I'll post a summary when I get
     responses.


     Tom Luteran
     uunet!rob!toml

     Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Labs                [phone]
     P.O.Box 2000
     Rahway, NJ 07065-0900


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 14 Dec 88 12:04:36 PST
From: [e-mail] (Sam Ho)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Dial Santa automatically (for a fee)


Last week, KTZZ-TV, Channel 22 here in Seattle, broadcast a half-hour
paid advertisement for an information provider called PhoneQuest.  Last
year, about this time, PhoneQuest was showing 30-second ads for dialing
Santa at some 976 number.  This year, not only did they encourage kids
to call Santa, they even dialed the phone, by playing DTMF tones over
the air for a Dial-It number.  Just hold the phone up to the TV speaker,
and pay your $2.00 plus $0.35 for each additional minute.

Part way through, after some outraged phone calls, KTZZ started scrolling a
message across the bottom of the screen to check with your parents first.
PhoneQuest blithely explained that the broadcast tones were to prevent
accidentally dialing the wrong number and getting an adult message.

Merry Christmas and modern technology to you.  This would never have
happened in the good old days of rotary dialing.  :-)

Sam Ho
[e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Fri Dec 16 01:31:14 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA00541; Fri, 16 Dec 88 01:31:14 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 88  1:13:12 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #202
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 16 Dec 88  1:13:12 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 202

Today's Topics:

     An Historic Day: TAT-8 Put in Service; Asimov Makes First Call
              Re: Finding Someone Technical To Speak With (1)
              Re: Finding Someone Technical To Speak With (2)
                   Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
                    Re: Touch-Tone around the world
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 88 01:03:34 EST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator)
Subj: TAT-8!

FIRST LASER PHONE CALL ZIPS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC!
ISAAC ASIMOV DEDICATES TAT-8; MAKES FIRST CALL
------------------------------------------------

A shark-proof undersea cable began carrying laser beam phone calls across
the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday as the first leg of a network designed to
revolutionize service on three continents.

AT&T, British Telecom and France Telecom, the three principal owners of
the cable asked well known author Isaac Asimov to dedicate the new cable
and place the first call.

In his remarks, Asimov said, "Welcome everyone to this historic trans-Atlantic
crossing -- this maiden voyage across the sea on a beam of light..." He noted,
"...our world has grown small, and this cable, which can carry 40,000 calls
at one time is a sign of the voracious demand for communications today.......
.....the clarity is in striking contrast to the crackling first telephone
message from Alex Bell to his assistant Thomas A. Watson 113 years ago..."

Mr. Asimov was the first speaker of several in a video conference in New York
that was transmitted to Paris and London by the new cable.

The fiber-optic cable, which is thinner than a child's wrist, is able to handle
double the capacity of all the trans-Atlantic copper-cable predecessors
combined. It took seven years to design, build and install. The total cost was
$361 million, but the people involved insist that in the long run, it will
mean a continued decline in the price of overseas phone calls.

Ordinary television broadcasts will continue to be carried by satellite because
they would take up too much room on TAT-8. But the cable will be used for video
conferences on a regular basis between the United States and Europe, using a
method to compress the signals and take up very little bandwidth.

American Telephone & Telegraph Company, which will operate TAT-8, said 1988 is
the first year it will handle more than one billion international calls.
Commenting on Asimov's remarks of '...a voracious demand for communications..'
an AT&T spokesperson noted that even this new cable will start running out of
room late in 1991. The fourth quarter, 1991 is when a new fiber-optic cable
with nearly double the new cable's capacity is scheduled to begin operation.

Fiber-optic service to Japan and the far east will start in the second quarter
of 1989 under the name PTAT, and fiber-optic links to the Caribbean and the
Mediterranean will open in 1991 or 1992.

Lasers have revolutionized phone networks by making it possible to transmit
information in the form of rapid pulsesof laser light through hair thin strands
of glass. The lasers transmit information in digital form coded into a series
of ones and zeros. Most long distance calls within the United States are
already carried on optic fibers.

Ownership of TAT-8 is as follows --

      American Telephone and Telegraph, 34 percent
      British Telecommunications      , 15.5 percent
      France Telecom                  , 10 percent

      The remaining 40.5 percent is divided among 26 partners, some of whom
      own up to two percent interest; while others own less than one percent
      interest. The principal partners are --

      Sprint Communications, MCI, Western Union and Northern Telecom.

Will overseas telephone rates go down in the next few years? AT&T says they
will. The exact amount is anyone's guess, but a spokesperson from AT&T said
"....I think within a few years the rates will be *less than half* of what they
are now..."

Wednesday, December 14, 1988: An historic day in telecommunications history,
and one I believe is only third to the invention of the telephone itself; the
second most historic occassion being the completion of the cable which
connected the east and west coasts of the United States in the early 1920's.


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (John B. Nagle)
Subject: Re: Finding Someone Technical To Speak With
Date: 13 Dec 88 21:39:45 GMT




      I never found this to be an insurmountable problem, but the operating
companies do try to protect their technical people.  If you're a commercial
account, paying business rates, and have a clear idea of what you want,
you can usually get it.

                    John Nagle

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Finding Someone Technical To Speak With
Date: 14 Dec 88 20:27:00 PST (Wed)
From: bovine![e-mail] (John Higdon)


I suggest that if Miguel Cruz cannot find technical people in the phone
company, it is because he hasn't tried hard enough, or because he hasn't
convinced the front line people that he knows enough to deserve to speak
with technical people. The operating companies maintain a solid protection
screen that shields the really technical people (and they're there, trust
me) from all the wanabees and jargon speakers that would otherwise totally
waste their time.

In the last year I have spoken with an old-line crossbar tech (who knows
what every single relay is for, what it does, and how it all works together)
when I had a really sticky problem with some lines in a xbar office that had
just had CONTAC installed. The problem was with insufficient loop current
from the originating register upon dial tone acquisiion on ground start lines.
He found fourteen bad originating registers.

Also I have had some interesting conversations with an in-house person who
happens to write generic code for the 1/1AESS in wide-spread use by the
local phone company.

Frankly, to say that the operating companies don't have any technical people
is admission of a serious deficiency on the part of the speaker.

--
John Higdon
john@bovine   ..sun!{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!bovine!john

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 14 Dec 88 15:02 CST
From: [e-mail] (Mark Linimon)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG


In article <[e-mail]> you write:
>From its beginning until 1984, Rolm could not run itself very well; now
>IBM has washed its corporate hands.
>
>Patrick Townson

To represent not my own, but the opinions of (several) ex-ROLMers:
Rolm wasn't doing so badly until IBM starched all the collars.  At
that point many of the "good folks" departed.

Mark Linimon
Mizar, Inc.
uucp: {convex, killer}!mizarvme!linimon
disclaimer: not only not Mizar's opinion but also not necessarily my own.

------------------------------

To: mcvax!cwi.nl![e-mail]
From: mcvax!ruuinf![e-mail] (Piet van Oostrum)
Subject: Re: Touch-Tone around the world
Date: 14 Dec 88 14:54:35 GMT



A few months ago I got a new telephone number (second line). The telephone
(supplied by the telephone company (PTT)) was a new model, with a switch
between touch tone and pulse dialling. It works both ways. I think in
Holland most exchanges are now on touch tone.
--
Piet van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, University of Utrecht
Padualaan 14, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Telephone: [phone]              UUCP: ...!mcvax!ruuinf!piet

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Sat Dec 17 01:02:28 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA21085; Sat, 17 Dec 88 01:02:28 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat, 17 Dec 88  0:29:29 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #203
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 17 Dec 88  0:29:29 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 203

Today's Topics:

      Touchstar(R) Custom Calling Services through Southern Bell
          New Jersey Bell Announces CLASS(SM) Calling Service
                           Next phase of MFJ
              MCI develops revolutionary new technology!
                     Pins for a modular recepticle
                  Hinsdale CO - Is Illinois Bell Cheating?

[In this issue of the Digest, a look at the advanced custom calling
features offered by two telcos: Southern Bell and New Jersey Bell. Even
though much of the test in the first two messages is the same, I have
included both for comparison, since each telco has some variations in
the new offerings.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Touchstar(R) Custom Calling Services through Southern Bell
Date: Thu, 15-Dec-88 19:08:09 PST



I am a Touchstar(R) Custom Services customer from Southern Bell in Athens,
GA.  We recently had these services added to the ESS system here, as well as
in Atlanta and probably many other cities in this LATA.  We have had c
waiting for years, and call-forwarding, and three-way calling.  But these
services are now available:

[from the Touchstar(R) Service User's Guide, 6/88 So. Bell]

CALL RETURN -- "Call return is a simple way to call back the last number
that called you, whether or not you answered the phone.  For those times when
you're in the shower, the garden, etc., and can't get to the phone when it
rings, or when you return home and want to know the last person that called
when you were out, CALL RETURN will automatically call back that last number."

REPEAT DIALING -- "Remember the last time you repeatedly tried to call someone
and their line was busy or there was no answer?  Now REPEAT DIALING makes your
life easier.  It automatically redials the last number you dialed.  If the
line is busy, REPEAT DIALING will keep trying until the line is free,
then signal you.  You can use REPEAT DIALING for more than one busy
number at a time.  During this time you may place and receive other calls."

CALL TRACING -- "CALL TRACING enables you to initiate an automatic trace
of the last call you received.  Your teleohone company Annoyance Cal
Center will automatically receive a message containing the phone number
where the offending call originated, plus the time and date of when the
offending call was placed.  It is necessary, however, for you to
call your telephone company Annoyance Call Center if you wish them to
investigate further...."


CALL SELECTOR -- "Have you ever been waiting for a call from someone in
particular, and didn't really want to answer calls from other people?
CALL SELECTOR lets you know whether that particular person (or one of
several people) is calling.  With CALL SELECTOR, you make a list of
preferred phone number(s), then your phone will signal you with a special ring
(short-long-short ring cycle) when someone from your list is calling."

CALL BLOCK -- "Have you ever had an annoying caller who repeatedly
disturbed you>  Or, are there certain times when you don't wish to speak
with someone in particular?
CALL BLOCK helps you control your phone and rids you of these
inconveniences.  This service prevents the last person who called you from
reaching you again (from the same calling number).  It also rejects phone
numbers you put on your CALL BLOCK list.  In either case, the call is
re-routed to a recorded message and your phone does not ring."

PREFERRED CALL FORWARDING -- "PREFERRED CALL FORWARDING enables you to
select another telephone number where calls are to be forwarded, and
then limits the forwarded calls to just the numbers on your
PREFERRED CALL FORWARDING list."

-----

CALL RETURN and CALL FORWARDING automatically attempt to place the call
every minute for half an hour.  When the line becomes free you will hear
a special (short-short-long) ring cycle.  Picking up the receiver will then
ring the number you are calling.  You may still place and receive calls
normally while using these features.  These features both work with
multiple numbers (six per list).  Note that all of these features will work
even if you are using the phone, as long as you have Call Waiting.

-----
Excerpts from the Touchstar(R) User's Guide, Southern Bell, South Central
Bell, (c)1988 BellSouth Services BSSM 8815  6/88

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 88 09:16:54 EST
To: arpa!bu-cs.BU.EDU!TELECOM
Subject: New Jersey Bell Announces CLASS(SM) Calling Service


I recently received a brochure from New Jersey Bell stating that
the State Board of Public Utilities has given New Jersey Bell
approval to offer CLASS Calling Service.

The services offered are:

Caller*ID
    Lets you know the telephone number of an incoming call
    to your home or business.  The number will be displayed
    on a device that you must purchase from Bell Atlantic
    or another vendor.

Repeat*Call
    Redials the last number you dialed--even if it is busy.
    Now you can continue with your daily routine instead of
    losing time dialing and redialing, only to keep hearing
    a busy signal.  REPEAT*CALL will keep dialing for you
    for 30 minutes while your telephone line is still available
    to receive or make other calls.

Call*Block
    Blocks calls from as many as six telephone numbers, which
    you can select.  Annoyance calls can be easily blocked,
    whether you know the number or not!  Calls may be blocked
    after an incoming call, or you may make a list in advance
    of as many as six telephone numbers.

Return*Call
    Calls back the last person who called, whether you answered
    the ring or not.  No need to rush to answer a call.  When you
    are ready to return the call.  When you are ready to return
    the call, just pick up the receiver, listen for dial tone,
    and use RETURN*CALL to call back the last party who was
    trying to reach you.  If the number is busy, RETURN*CALL
    will keep dialing for you for 30 minutes, leaving your
    phone free for other calls.

Priority*Call
    Alerts you with a special ring or special Call Waiting tone
    for as many as six telephone numbers that you select.  If
    you are a subscriber to Call Waiting and you are on the
    phone, you will hear a special tone.  When you're too busy
    to answer every call--you choose which calls you want to
    answer.

Select*Forward
    Lets you choose as many as six telephone numbers to forward.
    No need to stay at home to wait for a specific call--just
    use SELECT*FORWARD and let that call come to where you are.

Call*Trace
    Initiates a trace of the telephone number of the last call
    you received.  If you have a serious problem with obscene,
    threatening, or harassing calls, you can now trace their
    source.  The number will be retrieved by New Jersey Bell
    and held.  New Jersey Bell will only release trace information
    to legally empowered authorities.  For further action,
    just contact your local Residence or Business Service
    Center.  (In an emergency, call your local law enforcement
    agency.)


It also states that if you call someone who has Caller*ID, your
number will, subject only to equipment limitations, be displayed
on his/her display unit even if Caller*ID is not available yet
in your area.

The monthly cost is $4.00 for one feature plus $1.50 for each
additional one.  If one of the features is Caller*ID, add
$2.50 to the monthly cost.  There is a $1.00 charge for each
Call*Trace.  The Caller*ID display unit may be purchased for $67.55.

More information is available (in New Jersey) at 1-800-772-2184.

------------------------------

From: ames!claris!portal!cup.portal.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Next phase of MFJ
Date: Wed, 14-Dec-88 21:01:33 PST


Because a new rate hike proposal by Illinois Bell has been in the news,
one radio report made a passing mention to something that will come into
effect January 1, 1989, under the terms of the Modified Final Judgment of
the AT&T divestiture.

It involved something concerning competition for local telephone service.
Can anyone supply details of what it really is (and of anything else changing
on 1/1/89 under the MFJ)?

Thanks much,
[e-mail]   ...!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!david_w_tamkin

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Mike Trout)
Subject: MCI develops revolutionary new technology!
Date: 15 Dec 88 21:01:35 GMT




All you wimps that get your long-distance telephone service from AT&T and
Sprint are gonna be real sorry now.  MCI has developed an astounding new
technology that will change life as we know it.  In fact, be on the alert for
shadowy organizations with names like "MCI World Control" or "MCI Global
Domination."

>From the November/December 1988 issue of _MCI_Connections_:

"Faster than the speed of sound...faster than the speed of light...MCI's
[registered trademark] Worldwide Direct Dialing lets your voice travel around
the world in seconds."

--
NSA food:  Iran sells Nicaraguan drugs to White House through CIA, DIA & NRO.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Michael Trout (miket@brspyr1)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BRS Information Technologies, 1200 Rt. 7, Latham, N.Y. 12110  [phone]
"God forbid we should ever be 20 years without...a rebellion." Thomas Jefferson

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey C Honig)
Subject: Pins for a modular recepticle
Date: 16 Dec 88 04:45:24 GMT



I have two phone lines installed at home which I have wired in an RJ14
configuration (both pairs on one modular jack).  I've modified several
phones with a simple switch to select which line to use.  I'm having
problems with an AT&T phone though.  The modular receptacle on the phone
itself only has contacts for two wires.  In the past I have been able to
use two pieces of fairly stiff wire as substitutes, but the contortions
needed to mount this phone on the wall (it's a desk/wall mount) bend the
wires flat in the receptacle so they loose contact with the modular
plug.  Is there any company that markets these contacts seperately?

As a side note, New York Telephone provides a hunt group at no charge,
all I had to do was ask.

Thanks.

Jeff
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: ames!claris!portal!cup.portal.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Hinsdale CO
Date: Fri, 16-Dec-88 05:35:10 PST


Did you hear that Ill Bell has gone back on it's promise to install Halon in
the replacement central office? Now they are saying it will be manned 24 hours
a day. Wonder how long that will last...

[Moderator's note: Yes, I heard it also. I think they will at least keep
someone on the premises now. Our local office, Chicago-Edgewater, has had a
clerk on duty all night since May. They give him/her other work to do so the
eight hour shift is not spent just sitting idly. And the duty personnel are
equipped with hand-held halon units. I suppose it is a reasonable compromise
but a lot of people were unhappy to hear that Hinsdale is now being treated
so casually once again. The few suits that have been filed against IBT as a
result of the May fire have been settled out of court I understand. P. Townson]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Sun Dec 18 01:09:42 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA28111; Sun, 18 Dec 88 01:09:42 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 88  0:53:14 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #204
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 18 Dec 88  0:53:14 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 204

Today's Topics:

                 Microport 3.0e and the Telebit Trailblazer

[Moderator's Note: This special issue of the Digest is devoted to a very
lengthy article submitted by Eric Raymond discussing his recent experience
with a Telebit Trailblazer 9600 baud modem, a device which many Usenet
administrators feel will be the answer to increasing network congestion.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 16 Dec 88 23:31:11 GMT
From: snark![e-mail] (EricS.Raymond)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Microport 3.0e and the Telebit Trailblazer


The good people at Telebit have contributed a Trailblazer to the HyperNews
project. It arrived yesterday morning, so I spent yesterday and this morning
learning my way to 'Blazer expertise. The enclosure in this posting describes
in detail how to mate a Trailblazer to Microport 3.0e. I am cross-posting
this to unix.wizards because, except for two details specified below, the
procedure is generic to any SVr3 port and should thus be of considerable
general interest.

Heartfelt thanks to Mike Ballard at Telebit for the 'Blazer, and credit to
Howard Leadmon (howardl@w3bffv) for having already done the hard work of
tuning dialer script delays to keep uucico from timing out during the PEP
handshake.

After just hours of use I am convinced that the 'Blazer is a hot piece of
hardware that lives up to every bit of its star billing. The command and
register set is comprehensive, clean, and well-thought-out. The documentation
is precise, concise, and programmer-friendly rather than the boring dumbed-down
drivel that comes with too many technical products these days. And with this
contribution the Telebit people have demonstrated once again that they care
about the UNIX community and the USENET culture.

I can't testify to this personally, but my friend Dave Moskowitz the comm
expert (and one of the two co-sysops on CompuServe's UNIX forum) says that
when his old company ran formal torture tests on a bunch of major-brand modems,
the 'Blazer came out way ahead of the pack in robustness under real-world
noisy-line conditions.

Now if it just had V.32 support it'd be perfect :-).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's how to set up your system to use a Telebit Trailblazer modem for uucp,
cu and kermit (almost all of this applies to the Telebit T1000 and T2000 modems
as well). First, we describe how to set up dial-out use; then, how to
enable dial-in.

First, get one of your serial ports to talk to the Trailblazer via kermit.
You'll need to `set line' to the UNIX device associated with the serial port,
`set speed' to 9600, and perhaps `set parity' to N. Then you want to enter the
following commands:

AT &T
AT &F Q6 S51=4 S52=2 S53=3 S54=3 S55=3 S58=2 S66=1 S92=1 S95=2
AT &W
AT &N

Explanation follows:

AT &T        ; Run diagnostics, just to make sure the modem is OK
AT &F        ; Reset to factory defaults
AT Q6        ; Return result codes only on outgoing calls.
AT S51=4    ; Use constant 9600bps speed to modem (but see Note 1)
AT S52=2    ; Reset to configuration memory values on DTR drop.
AT S53=3    ; DCD on carrier detect, DSR on when modem off-hook.
AT S54=3    ; Pass BREAKs transparently.
AT S55=3    ; Don't allow escape to command mode
AT S58=2    ; Use hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control.
AT S66=1    ; Lock CPU-to-'blazer speed at S51 value
AT S92=1    ; Try PEP tones at end of autobauding sequence (see Note 2)
AT S95=2    ; Enable MNP if other side wants it
AT &W        ; Put these parameters in the configuration memory
AT &N        ; Check the configuration values for correctness

What you're doing is setting the modem up to use a fixed speed of 9600bps to
talk to the CPU, but autobaud outgoing calls with PEP tones last (the settings
of registers 51, 66, and 92 accomplish this).

The Q6 command disables generation of some command responses in answer mode.
The S52=2 tells the modem to reset to default values at the end of a call (this
is necessary, because some of the dialer scripts will change settings). The
S53=3 is critical; without it, UNIX will think the modem line is active all
the time and uucico/cu/kermit won't be able to get past a deathless getty
hanging on the port. S54=3 prevents the BREAKS that you put in expect/send
scripts in order to force the callee to autobaud from getting intercepted
by the modem. S55=3 guarantees that your modem won't be dumped into command
mode by an escape sequence showing up in binary data. S58=2 enables the
cleanest kind of RS232C flow control between the modem and your serial card.
The significance of the S92 register is covered in Note 1 below. Finally,
S95=2 enables MNP protocol checks (some dialer scripts turn this off).

These settings make you back-compatible with a Hayes, so that kermit's dial
command will still work through a vanilla ACU/hayes device connected to the
Trailblazer port. Other cases are handled by commands in the Dialers scripts.

Do *not* set S67=1! This looks logical but doesn't work. Also, you don't need
to change S110 or S111 to get compression and 'g' protocol spoofing; by
default, callers can select it, and the Dialer scripts will do the right
things for outgoing calls.

Note 1: if you're willing to give up using kermit(1) 4D (which only supports
a 9600bps maximum) you can jack the CPU-to-modem speed up to 19200 (S51=5).
In that case the `9600' speed fields in your Devices and Systems files should
all change to `19200'.

Note 2: You may well be able to run with S92=0, the default (PEP tones first).
The S92=1 setting is conservative; it guarantees you compatibility with 2400bps
modems that are either too dumb (so they mistake the PEP multi-carrier burst
for a V.22 answer tone) or too smart (so they think it's a human voice and hang
up). V.22 modems built to spec shouldn't do either. The cost of this
conservatism is that 'Blazers running firmware release 2.2 or older, or
with the S7 carrier wait time set to less than 60 seconds, may not be
able to recognize yours; and you impose a longer handshake sequence (with
increased chance of uucico timeout) on all Trailblazers.

Further note: if your installation is outside the U.S.A. you may need to tweak
the S90 and S91 registers, either to new default values or within the dialer
scripts. See the Trailblazer documentation for details.

Add the following lines to your Dialers file:

##########
#     Telebit Trailblazer Plus, T1000 or T2000
#
# assumes Q6 X1 S51=4 S52=2 S53=3 S54=3 S55=3 S58=2 S66=1 S92=1 S95=2 in EEPROM
#
tb1200    =W-,    "" \d\K\dATE0 OK ATS92=0S50=2S95=0DT\T CONNECT\s1200
tb2400    =W-,    "" \d\K\dATE0 OK ATS92=0S50=3S95=0DT\T CONNECT\s2400
tb2400n    =W-,    "" \d\K\dATE0 OK ATS92=0S50=3DT\T CONNECT\s2400
tbPEP    =W-,    "" \d\K\dATE0 OK ATS92=0S95=0S50=255S7=60S111=30DT\T\r\n\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\c CONNECT\sFAST
tbPEPc    =W-,    "" \d\K\dATE0 OK ATS92=0S95=0S50=255S7=60S110=1S111=30DT\T\r\n\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\c CONNECT\sFAST
#

The magic parts of these scripts are the delays after connection, which hold
off handing control to uucico so it won't time out during the PEP negotiation.

Now add the following lines to your Devices file:

# --- Telebit Trailblazer/T1000/T2000 devices ------
#
# Devices for access to a 'blazer on tty00
ACUTB tty00 - 9600 tbPEP
ACUTBC tty00 - 9600 tbPEPc
ACUTB2400 tty00 - 9600 tb2400
ACUTB2400N tty00 - 9600 tb2400n
ACUTB1200 tty00 - 9600 tb1200

If you have more than one Trailblazer, just duplicate the list above once for
each tty device connected to one.

All your Systems file entries that are associated with any of the Trailblazer
devices should have a speed field of 9600 (to match the speed in the Devices
file). You set the actual speed of the connection by which ACU you pick -- note
that the PEP entry corresponding to ACUTB autobauds, so you can usually just
use that.

The ACUTBC entry may be better for mail and news feeds, as it enables data
compression for up to a 2:1 cut in transmission time. Compressed PEP with
g-protocol spoofing running on reasonably clean phone lines can often give
your UUCP a throughput of as much as 14K text characters per second!

The low-speed entries avoid throwing PEP tones at modems that may be confused
by them. ACUTB2400 should fall back to 1200bps if it needs to. ACUTB2400N may
be useful for Telenet MNP access. The N- and C-suffix devices request
compression and MNP modes from the remote respectively.

The above is designed so your ACU entry can be untouched and still work for use
with the kermit dial command (which doesn't know what to do with the tb*
devices). If you don't care about kermit, you can call the tbPEP device ACU.

Now for dial-in access. First, you need to create appropriate gettydefs and
inittab entries. First, add the following to your /etc/gettydefs file:

BLAZER# B9600 HUPCL OPOST ONLCR TAB3 BRKINT IGNPAR ISTRIP IXON IXANY ECHO ECHOE
    ECHOK ICANON ISIG CS8 CREAD # B9600 HUPCL OPOST ONLCR TAB3 BRKINT
    IGNPAR ISTRIP IXON IXANY ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ICANON ISIG CS8 CREAD
    #login: #BLAZER

(whitespace added for clarity; this must be all one line). This instructs a
getty running at BLAZER speed to look for logins at 9600bps only (you can
use 19200 instead if your hardware can handle it and you've set S51=5 as
described above). It differs from a normal entry in that HUPCL is set (this
is generally a good idea for dial-in lines).

Next, add the following line or one like it to your inittab:

M0:23:respawn:/etc/getty ttyM00 BLAZER   # For 'Blazer on COM1, bidirectional

The label `M0' and device `ttyM00' need to change if you're using the modem
on a different tty. For tty01 you would use:

M1:23:respawn:/etc/getty ttyM01 BLAZER   # For 'Blazer on COM2, bidirectional

Now do a `telinit q' from root to start the getty. Finally, use kermit or cu
to tell the modem

AT S0=1 &W

and you're set. This instructs the Trailblazer to auto-answer on the first
ring, using as little as possible of uucico's fixed 3-minute timeout.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two details in the above that may need change on a non-Microport
system:

1) You may not have kermit(1). Don't panic, cu(1) or tip(1) will do as well.
Make sure there is a direct-line device corresponding to the port nn that you
want to hang the Trailblazer off, and do a `cu -s9600 -l/dev/ttynn'.

2) The ttyMnn devices cited in the description of the inittab file are a
Microport-specific hack. Other systems will just use ttymnn, but will
require the getty to be a uugetty with -r and -t options.

Have fun!
--
      Eric S. Raymond                     (the mad mastermind of TMN-Netnews)
      Email: [e-mail]                       CompuServe: [72037,2306]
      Post: 22 S. Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355      Phone: [phone]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Tue Dec 20 01:52:40 1988
Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA14754; Tue, 20 Dec 88 01:52:40 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 88  1:08:19 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #205
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 20 Dec 88  1:08:19 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 205

Today's Topics:

                    Re: Touch-Tone around the world (1)
                    Re: Touch-Tone around the world (2)
                       Re: NJ Bell CLASS Services
                    Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
                   Adult messages (was Dial Santa....)
             Wanted: Device to limit length of phone calls
                   Performance of Interlata Carriers
             Networking in the 90's - TENCON 1989 in India
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: homxb![e-mail]
Date: Sat, 17 Dec  11:48:27 1988
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Touch-Tone around the world



DTMF is widely available in the Netherlands.  I brought a friend in Amsterdam
an AT&T 2500 set 6 years ago, and it worked fine. It is also available in
Japan, Australia, and a few exchanges in Switzerland.  I have also seen
it in Denmark and Norway, but don't know how prevalent it is.

Herman Silbiger  [e-mail]

------------------------------

To: mcvax!cwi.nl![e-mail]
From: mcvax!nikhefk![e-mail] (Henk Peek)
Subject: Re: Touch-Tone around the world
Date: 20 Dec 88 01:02:15 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> you write:
>X-Administrivia-To: [e-mail]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 201, message 3
>
>I've used DTMF phones in the Telehouse on Raadhuistraat in Amsterdam,
>but I noted that there were *none* on the streets, and none installed
>in the places i visited in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands there are about 40% DTMF phones. About 60% of the
lines are "dual mode" and there is no free for DTMF. Only DTMF
will be enabled when you buy a DTMF phone of the PTT. May be this will
change when on 1 Jan 1989 monopoly of the Dutch PTT ends.
After this date they hold only the monopoly of the cables and the
public switches. Today there are also many DTMF payphones on the street.

># Henry Mensch  /  <[e-mail]>  /  E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
># {decvax,harvard,mit-eddie}!garp!henry   /  <[e-mail]>

Henk Peek  ..!uunet!mcvax!nikhefk.UUCP   Amsterdam, The Netherlands


------------------------------

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 88 07:29:46 PST
From: [e-mail] (L Judice / 201-562-4103 / DTN 323-4103)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: NJ Bell CLASS Services



I called the 1-800-772-2184 number to see if CLASS services were available
in my exchange. Not yet, and no schedule, but "a new exchange is being
added every month".

This seems slow to me, since I was under the impression that CLASS
was implemented in software on existing ESS switches... Any NJ Bell
folks out there have a schedule, or currently operating exchanges?

/ljj


------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
Date: Sun, 18-Dec-88 00:35:02 PST


> [Ron Natalie says:]
>If you'd actually used a Rolm phone switch, you'd know
>why they lost money on it.

Everyone in the industry is losing money on PBXs now.

>  People expect their telephone service to be reliable.

Was this a redundant switch?  Multinode? Single node?

>  In addition to horrendous start
>up bugs on all the installations I've watched, the thing
>managed to scrog traditional modem connections run through
>it.

I use data-switching all the time with no problems.  What kind of machines
are you referring to?  Is it a CBX 8000, 9000 or a 9751?  The 9751 is
quite an improvement from a maintenance standpoint.  Also, you must draw
distinctions between attached telecom hardware and the CBX itself.  Could
the problems be with your modem configuration (not the modem itself, but
the way the system is set up)?

Just curious.

Dave Smythe
[e-mail]

N.B.: I speak for myself alone.

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: Dan Chaney <[e-mail]>
Subject: adult messages (was Dial Santa....)
Date: 19 Dec 88 06:16:55 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Sam Ho) writes:
>X-Administrivia-To: [e-mail]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 201, message 7
>
>Last week, KTZZ-TV, Channel 22 here in Seattle, broadcast a half-hour
>paid advertisement for an information provider called PhoneQuest.  Last
>year, about this time, PhoneQuest was showing 30-second ads for dialing
>Santa at some 976 number.  This year, not only did they encourage kids
               ^^^
>PhoneQuest blithely explained that the broadcast tones were to prevent
>accidentally dialing the wrong number and getting an adult message.
                              ^^^^^


Are these 'adult message' recordings still out there?  It was my understanding
that they were ruled a big no-no from Uncle Meese (seemingly an authority on
big no-no's.)

Wasn't there a court-ruling on them that banned them? Details! Facts! Figures!
Numbers even! 0:-)  I know that all the numbers *I* knew don't exist anymore -
at least, the area codes have been changed to protect the innocent and I can't
find the right numbers.....

[Moderator's note: Adult phone services are alive and well, thank you. There
are not as many of them in some places as others; and in some areas they are
on 1-900 type lines, while other communities, like San Fransisco, have them on
976. The "San Fransisco Hot Conference" is an open conversation line, on the
number 1-415-976-4297. Typically, the final four digits, as in this case, will
spell a word with sexual innuendo. This one, which seems to cater to a largely
homosexual audience charges $2 per call (of 2.9 minutes) to intra-state callers
from California. A disclaimer on the front end says, "Welcome to the San
Fransisco Hot Conference! In just a few seconds, you will be connected for up
to two and a half minutes of lively adult conversation. Its just two dollars!!
Have fun!!"

Most of the services like this on 976 get their callers from *out of state*.
The reason is, instead of paying $2 (plus tolls) for the call, they only pay
51 cents, or whatever Reach Out America gets for three minutes in the middle
of the night. The FCC has never permitted special surcharges of this nature
on interstate calls, ergo, the information provider eats the cost. What
advertising appears for these services generally admonishes the reader,
"California callers only!" for the simple reason they would prefer to have
their lines filled up with people paying two dollars to get their jollies
instead of people from other states getting a free ride. Because of a chronic
dispute between MCI and Pacific Tel, attempts to dial a 415-976 or 213-976
number on MCI returns an intercept recording saying "at the present time, MCI
does not connect to 976 numbers. Please dial 10288, plus the desired eleven
digit number to place your call.   P. Townson]


--
Dan Chaney
{uunet and the like}!ukma!chaney  [e-mail]  [e-mail]
"Life is but a state of mind" - Ben Rand

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: mstar![e-mail] (Kim Toms)
Subject: Wanted: Device to limit length of phone calls
Date: 19 Dec 88 16:01:56 GMT



I'd like to locate a device Klligertified to be totally deaf, severely
hearing impaired or both deaf and blind.

Lesli Cohan, director of customer services for the ITAC said that over the next
two years, the telephone companies expect to distribute up to 20,000 's
across the state. The trust fund for the purchase of tchines has about
$5.5 million in reserves at me, collected through a 3 cents per month
surcharge on telephone subscribers inis.

A special model of T will be available to persons who are both deaf and
blind which will output braille punch. In addition, several central locations
in the state will provide operator assistance and directssistance to
users of the machines. Some relay stations already exist which receive
messages from users and repeat them by voice to regular telephone users.

To obtain an application for a at no charge, write to the is
Telecommunications Access ation, PO Box 64509, Chicago, IL 60664. You
will be required to provide proof of your disability from your physician.

IBell presently permits listings in the directories it publishes
which identify a subscriber as a T user. Certain TSPS operator facilities
will be equipped in such a way that an operator receiving a call from a T
machine will be able to respond from the regular terminal at her position
by typing normally, and reading the subscriber's message on her screen.


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Don )
Subject: Telephone ata
Date: 19 Dec 88 23:42:46 GMT


I really need to know how/if long-term backups are made of telephone call
data.  My problem is this:  I have an origination number, a destination
number and an approximate time (January 1 - 9, 1979), but one party
insists that the calls were never made.  The local phone company
tells me that records are only kept for six (6) months then
destroyed.  I just can't believe this has always been the procedure.
Years ago microfilm was used, I know that much.

If there is anyone out there with any information (either relating
specifically to the Winnetka area, I, or generally) please
reply with information or names of those with information.

Thanks
Don McLellan


------------------------------

[e-mail]
From: vrdxhq!verdix.com![e-mail] (Lee Damon)
Subject: Sprint billing errogain.
Date: 288 18:36:06 GMT



Way back in my student days I subscribed to Sprint so I could make distance calls from my dorm room. When I moved out of the dorm I kept
sprint as my ld ca. Then they had their billing problems. When I got
a bill for a call that had been made 6 months before, I paid it and said
unto them, "Stop service. Send me one final bill. I will pay that bill and
that is all. I will not pay any bills received after that final bill."

  They said "ok" and sent me what was labeled "Final Bill" and I paid it.

  Two months later they sent me a bill for $50. I ignored it, as I had
told them I would. Two months after that they sent me one for $100. I
ignored that one.

  Yesterday, about a year after receiving the "final bill," I got a letter
from a collection agen They want me to pay the $102 that Sprint claims I
owe them. I don't , as they sent me a final bill and I paid it.

What I want to know is, do they (Sprint) have a leg to stand on in this
issue? Can I fight this successfully? (In other words, I don't that I
should be responsible for Sprint's bad business practices, and refuse to
patheir (s).)

Comments? (Oh, no, I don't still have the bill that was labeled "Final
Bill" I have moved several times since then and things got n the
shuffel.)

nomad
---------------------
Lee Damon                              UUCP:         verdix!-------
UUCP: verdix!nomad                                          \      \
Internet: [e-mail]         {tektronix,hp-pcd}!orstcs!castle!nomad
FidoNet: 105/302 - The Castle BBS - 503-629-5841            /
                                                      agora!

     "Say w like, the bicycle has a t past ahead of it!"

[Yes, they do have the right to bill you. The tariff allows for bills to
be rendered several months after the call was made if rrors
prevented it being issued earlier. When Sprint responded to your final
bill request, their response was conditional based on your allegations
that no further charges would be incurred. Obviously, new charges came in.]

------------------------------
To: uunet!comp-dcom-telecom
From: [e-mail] (Colin Plumb)
Subject: Re: e of ta rs
Date: 21 Dec 88 02:56:14 GMT

One way to do a good test of the various intercarriers
is to get a couple of Telebit Trailblazers and let them measure the
noise spectrum.  They'll deliver 511 dB readings (to .1 dB, I don't know
how much of that is signi) of line noise at about 7.5 Hz intervals,
and a 0-100 "line quality index" for lower baud rates.

Basically, a (realtively) cheap way of objectively measuring phone line
quality.  And if you'rerned for data transmission reasons, the
mapping onto throughput is direct.

If you want to do it seriously, make at least a dozen connections via each
of the varioarriers, toious places of interest and at vas
times of day.  That should leave you with a ing for who's best.
--
    -Colin (uunet!microsof!w-colinp)


------------------------------

Date: Wed, c 88 04:06:38 EST
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: one Digits ry ow To ister

John Higdon: as a "wanabee" and "jargon speaker" who admittedly has
no right to speak to technical people at the phone company, may I just
take this opportunity to express my appreciation for your constructive
message.

Also: this has bothered me for the longest time.. We have an NT DMS-100
(or something) switch here with an incredibly annoying feature: touch
tone digits take about 75ms to register.  That means my autodial phone
won't work, nor will the redial on my other phone.  I have to
reconfigure my modem each time I use it on this system.
   I have nothing whatsoever to do with the administration of this system
and haven't had a whole lot of luck talking to knowleadgeable people
who work with it (But then again, J.H., I don't "deserve" to...).  Now,
is this touch tone problem a function of the system itself, or is it
something they can adjust?  Why would a system be configured to fall
so short of such an accepted standard?

------------------------------

Date: Wed, c 88 08:44:42 EST
From: [e-mail] (Frank Prindle)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: s. Touch-Tone


I'm curious when the term DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) became synonymous
with one.  As I recall, DTMF once designated the set of dual-tone
frequencies used for in-band signaling on long distance trunks, which used
a completely different set of tones than one, and was always generated
within the CO, not by any phone set (well, except for the "blue boxes").  I
understand that this signaling technology has pretty much faded out, but didn't
realize that TPC now uses the term DTMF to refer to Touch Tone (I can see DTMF is a generic enough term to cover both, but thought they were
historically quite different).  Is my memory bad?

Sincerely,
Frank Prindle
[e-mail]
-----

[e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Alexander Dupuy)
Subject: For Callback Security Use a DLine
Date: 20:16:04 GMT



In a sun-spots article [e-mail] (Dan Franklin) writes:
> X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 7, Issue 70, message 3 of 14

> As more people are trying to beef up sity by having the system call
> them back to log in, it's probably worth a reminder: don't use the same
> telephone line (number) to call in and out.  That would render the
> callback mechanism completely useless.  The reason is that there is no
> reliable indication from the phone company to your modem that a caller has
> actually hung up. [details deleted for brevity]

> Even using a different line is not a defense, if the number can be
> discovered.  The penetrator can just call it ahead of time.  You must use
> a separate, unrelated (and unlisted) set of phone numbers.  It's best if
> the numbers have a different exchange prefix, to make g them really
> difficult.

It seems that the CLASS-type service which is now becoming available from the
BOCs would be ideal for a 'poipatraitor' to use to discover the dialback
numbers beised.  Admittedly, you'd have to have the system dial you back at
least once, so that this only allows a (possibly former) insider to break the
system, but that can be an issue.  Are CLASS-blocking capabilities available?
What if their system has CLASS and yours doesn't, but does provide calling #
information to other exchanges?

I guess the best solution is to use a modem pool for dialouts, and randomly
select one of the modems in the pool.  Ahh, but then if they cracked your
random-number generator.... :-)

@alex
--
--
inet: [e-mail]
uucp: ...!rutgers!columbia!dupuy

[Moderator's Note: Actually, a far better, easier, and cheaper way to handle
the problem of unwanted users who simply hang on the line waiting for the
modem to pick up and 'dial them back' -- only to be re-connected with the
original phreak caller is to install *three way calling* on the incoming modem
lines, agram the outdial activity to always begin with a switchook
flash.

1) Modem answers; accepts information, instructs caller to disconnect.
2) If the caller does in fact disconnect to be called back, when the modem
   goes off hook a few seconds later to make the call, an extra switchook
   flash will do nothing but provide dialtone once, a disconnect, and dialtone
   a second time....then a dialed number.
3) On the other hand, if someoneurking, waiting for the modem to pick
   up the line, that extra switchook flash will bring up the other line, and
   send the call out on it instead. Won't the phreak be suprised when he is
   left 'on hold'!! ha ha!! And if the modem is dialing his true number (which
   is unlikely, considering the games being played) it will get a busy signal
   or (if phreak has call waiting) will knock him off the line with the call
   waiting signalis approach eliminatneed for the system administrator to get a group
of lines for call back purposes and the need to keep them secret. Most modems
can simulate a switchook flash with ! ... at least my US Robotics Courier00
can do it.    P. Townson]

------------------------------

End of TE

From [e-mail]  Thu2 20:09:47 1988
Received: b(5.58/4.7)
    id AA05339; Thu, 22 Dec 88 207 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 88 19:58:02 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
[e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #207
[e-mail]


TELECOM DigeThu, 22 Dec 88 19:58:02 EST me 8 : Issue 207

Today'ss:

               Telecom Business - Your comments, please
                         Tip and Ring reversal
             Another Approach To Call Back Modem Secy
                          AT&T Improvements?
                   Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
                        New Year's Resolutions
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 21 DEC 88 21:39-
From: [e-mail]
To: TELECOM@ct: Telecom Business - Your comments, please


Greetings and Merry Xmas!

I have several  that I would like to ask you and receive your
suggestions/answers by E-Mail.  Upon request, I will summarize the responses
for you in this digest.

Background:

A business in providing telephone services for the hearing- and speech-impaired
callers using a TD (Telecomm Device for the f - device using
5-bit BAUDOT code and at 45.5 WPM -- almost 110 baud) and translate into
voice for hearing person and vice versa.  If you don't understand this,
think of this way: a deperson calls into the Center on their and
tells the Operator that s/he wants to call a hearing person somewhere.
The Operator makes the connection and acts as an translator/interpreter
between them.  A hearing person calls the Center by voice and asks the Operator
to call a deaf person on the and then relay their conversation back
and forth.

The volume of te calls are expected to be in the order of 1-5K a month
with possible increase monthly.  The cost of a tance calls will
be charged to the customer plus a subscription package to use the Center.
A customer will be assigned an account number so the call cost and other
factors can be tracked.

So, here are several  about this:

1)  A PBX system would be necessary in order to track call activity and
costs for each customer?  Or, is there such a key system that can do it?

        a)  If a PBX is recommended, then which system?
            Possible system are: AT&T, Northern Telecom, Siemens,
                NEC, etc.

2)  Since intra-state calls will not be made because there is a service
provided by the state, the Center will focus solely on inter-state calls.
Thus, 800 service would be needed to attract callers out of the state as
well as callers from remote locations within the state.

        a)  What kind of 800 service should I look for?                 ~
            Possible 800 service are: AT&T, MCI, Sprint, etc.

3)  Is there a call accounting system that can be tied to the PBX system
that can track and bill customers?  I heard of one by Moscom.

4)  What about the front end system that announccaller and asks you
to press certain numbers for certain things?  (I forget what this is called
but I'm sure some of you know what I mean.)  Since I want this to identify
whether the person calling is voice or T, when a hearing person hears
the system asking them to press 1 (or whatever) then the system will route
to a certain people.  If the call is by T, then there will be no response
to the , so it will be assumed a T and routes to the appropriate
operator.  If all the operators are busy, can it go to a holding section
until an operator is busy?  If sosystem is that and who makes it?

5)  SCenter would be in business to make inter-state calls, WATS service be emic (if it is!).  Would it be possible to charge the cost back
to customers directly?  Or the customers must use their telephone credit
card to bill it?

6)  This is enough to get started but I must ask this one least of all.
What is the price range based on what I've asked?  A ballpark figure would
be nice.

Thank you to all in advance for your assistance.  I really need your help
and your comments and suggestions are greatly aiated.  Merry Christmas!

                Curtis Reid
                [e-mail]
                [e-mail]


------------------------------

To: bu-cs.bu.edu![e-mail]
Subject: ip and Ring reversal
Date: 21 Dec 88 21:44:38 EST (Wed)
From: harvard!cs.utexas.edu!jetson.UPMA.MD.US!john (John Owens)


Hello!  I need some help from ELECOM readers.  There's a suggestion for
modifying our project's wiring scheme which would result in tip and ring
being reversed for some number of outlets within a house (,
single-pair, POTS usage).  What kind of ll this polarity
reversal cause?  I've heard that a standard, old electromechanical phone
won't have any ble, but what about answering machines, modems, and
other devices?  My intuition is that it will be a problem, but I'm
just a software person - what do I know?  :-)
nks for any help!

--
John Owens        [e-mail]        uunet!jetson!john
[phone]        [e-mail]

    Wed, 2:22:58 EST
From: Bernie Cosell <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Another Approach to Call Back Modem Sity


Re: Cack secy

How about instead of 3-way calling you s get "call forwarding" and
forward all calls to your outgoing lines to some nonexistent place (maybe
back to your incoming trunks :-).
   __
  /  )                              Bernie Cosell
 /--<  _  __  __   o _              BBN Sys & Tech, Cambridge, MA 02238
/___/_(<_/ (_/) )_(_(<_             [e-mail]

Thu, 22:53 EST
From: GREEN <[e-mail]>
Subject: AT&T Improvements?
To: [e-mail]


Sometime in the past month, the sound quality of my AT&T ld calls improved
tremendously - you can practically hear Sprint's pin drop.  Does anyone
know if they've recently upgraded their lines?  My calls (Phila to CA, CT,
NY, GA) are (to my ear) totally without background hiss, so much so that
the first few times I thought the calls were on the way to an interception
recording.

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
Date: 22 Dec 88 18:56:16 GMT



The Rolm switch that I heard the complaints about had redundant
modules.  Evidentally the system decides at 2 AM to switch the
active and back up modules.  Great, but it doesn't do anything
to check to see if the backup module is working and hence the
thing crashes when you switch the load to it.

As far as modems, I'm talking about traditional dialup modems
routed over Rolm voice lines, not the Rolm Data Creature.

-Ron

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 88 19:52:26 EST
From: (TEoderator)u-cs.bu.edu
Subject: New Year's Resolutions


Perhaps some of you might consider writing down some w Year's Resolutions
for the Telecom Industry" and sharing them with other readers in an issue
of [Telecom Digest] to be published sometime weekend next. You might have
some constructive ideas about reform needed in the industry. Perhaps you have
an idea for a new telephone gimmick which has never before been considered.
Maybe you just want to relate an interesting experience you have had with the
'telephone company' and how you would have handled it.

If you send me mail with the subject header w Year's Resolutions" I will
specifically hold it until next weeknd include them all in a special
issue at the end of year.

Depending on who goes to work/school/etc next week, our volume of mail may
drop somewhat, meaning fewer or spier-than-usual issues of the Digest until
wonderful January gets underway. Depending on what arrives, we should get
together at least a couple times next week. This is the eighth holiday season
[Telecom Digest] has been around, and some of you have been around since
the first issue in June, 1981. My best wishes to you all for a very happy
holiday, and a wonderful new year.

Patrick Townson

------------------------------

End of TE********************

From [e-mail]  Sat Dec 24 13:31:40 d: by bu-.58/4.7)
    id AA09125; Sat, 24 Dec 88 13:31:40 EST
Message-Id: <8812241831.AA09125 Sat, 24 Dec 88 12:47:49 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
SLECOM Digest V8 #208
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 24 Dec 88 12:47:49 EST    Vol: Issue 208

Today'sTopics:

                        Re: DTMF vs. Touch-Tone (1)
                        Re: s. Touch-Tone (2)
                        Re: DTMF ouch-Tone (3)
                    Re: Touch-Tone around the world
                 Re: Legality of late billing by Sprint
                        Re: Call-back modem sity
           Re: Wanted: Device to limit length of phone calls
             Re: MCI develops revolutionary new tegy!

[URGENT NOTE: Telenet has s that Monday, December 26 will *NOT* be
an official holiday for PC Pursuit users! Suspend your use of the Telenet
network at the usual time Monday mounless you want to get a hefty
daytime bill. Neither is Monday, January 2 a Telenet holiday. You have
been warned. Chip, please repeat to comp.dcom.telecom. Patrick Townson]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 88 06:03:44 EST
From: swlabs![e-mail] (Jack Bonn)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: DTMF ouch-Tone


Frank Prindle ([e-mail]) writes:

> I'm curious when the term DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) became synonymous
> with one.  As I recall, DTMF once designated the set of dual-tone
> frequencies used for in-band signaling on tance trunks, which used
> a completely different set of tones than ouch Tone, and was always generated
> within the CO, not by any phone set (well, except for the "blue boxes").

The inter-office tone-based signaling system that was (is?) used in the US
is referred to as MF signaling.  It uses 2 out of 6 (2/6) tones to convey
register signaling information between central offices.  It also uses a
2600 Hz in-band supervisory signal on idle (the famous Cap'n Crunch tone)
and was non-compelled and operated on a link-by-link (ather than an
end-to-end) basis.

Although MF's in-band supervisory signaling was vulnerable to fraud,
its link-by-link, non-compelled nature gave it some definite speed
advantages over R2 which was the prevalent trunk signaling system in
most of the rest of the world at the same time.  R2 uses end-to-end
compelled signaling (where each tone is acknowledged) and is notoriously
slow.

I think that an international version of MF was called R1 in the
CCITT <color> books.

DTMF uses 7 or 8 frequencies, depending on the application, and is
used primarily as a subscriber-line signaling system (although it also
includes signaling b the CO and DID PABXs).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that DTMF was ever referred
to as MF or the other way around.
----
Jack Bonn, <> Software Labs, Ltd, Box 451, Easton CT 06612
uunet!swlabs!jack (UUCP)    [e-mail] (INTERNET)

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: DTMF s. Touch-Tone
Date: 23 Dec 88 15:13:06 GMT



> I'm curious when the term DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) became synonymous
> with one.

It has been since day 1, most frequently used because TouchTone is a trademark.

> As I recall, DTMF once designated the set of dual-tone
> frequencies used for in-band signaling on tance trunks, which used

Those are referred to as simply "MF" tones.

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: s. Touch-Tone
Date: 23 Dec 88 18:28:11 EST (Fri)
From: harvard!alobar.att.com!grs (Gregg Siegfried)


>As I recall, DTMF once designated the set of dual-tone
>frequencies used for in-band signaling on ong distance trunks, which used
>a completely different set of tones than Touch Tone, and was always generated
>within the CO, not by any phone set (well, except for the "blue boxes").

Almost.
What you're thinking of are MF, or Multi-Frequency tones.  DTMF has always
referred to "Touch Tone" tones.  Definitely an honest mistake :-)

Gregg Siegfried
[e-mail]


------------------------------

From: mcvax!santra.hut.fi![e-mail]
Date: 23 Dec 88 01:24:28 GMT
To: mcvax!cwi.nl![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Touch-Tone around the world

In Finland, DTMF is pretty common.  For example, in Jyvaskyla where I live
(a small city of around 70k inhabitants) the local telco automatically
provides DTMF for all new numbers (they get connected to their digital
exchange) and old numbers that use the older exchange can still upgrade
for DTMF service.  The payphones are almost all DTMF, and the newer models
also include a cute little LCD display showing your remaining time on your
coin.  The local telco provides also many extra-pay services like dual-
conversation lines, caller alerting etc.

When I've visited Sweden and Denmark, I haven't seen rotary diallers since
...er, I think it was in 1980 in Sweden.  But anyway, it's the hotels and
public places that get the DTMF's first, then the pr subscribers.

As a side show, I've also had problems on long-distance connections in
Finland, and they sound a lot like the slippage problems that were described
here.  When I call Helsinki from Jyvaskyla, I keep getting these {'s almost
every five seconds !  The problem is, there are three (!) companies involved
in the mess: the local telco for Jyvaskyla area, the PTT (as the long-distance
carrier) and the Helsinki local telco.  The problem would seem to in the
PTT/Helsinki telco connection.  A lot on it I can do to it from here...

Otto J. Makela (with poetic license to kill), University of Jyvaskyla

InterNet: [e-mail], BitNet: [e-mail]
BBS: [phone] (V.22bis/V.22/V.21, 24h/d)
Voice phone: [phone]
Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 16:10:24 EDT
From: [e-mail] (Steve Elias)
Subj: Re: Legality of Sprint's late billing
To:   Te

According to a friend of mine who works for US Sprint, the FCC
allows a full two years for a tance company to bill calls.
this applies to billing through local telcos -- I assume it applies
to direct billing as well.

I can confirm the sluggishness of Sprint's billing -- even today.
It has taken the2 weeks to close out (I think!) a phone number
I used to have.

steve elias ([e-mail])

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (John B. Nagle)
Subject: Re: For Cack SecUse a Different Line
Date: 23 Dec 88 16:37:07 GMT




      The moderator's idea can be beaten, but I don't have t explain how
right now.  Maybe next week.

                        John Nagle

[Moderator's Note: I don't believe you! I don't think you can get around my
suggestion for modem call-back secrity. Perhaps you will 'find the time next
week' to show me where I am wrong. P. Townson]
-----

To: uunet![e-mail]!wsccs![e-mail] (Every system needs one)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Device to limit length of phone calls
Date: 23 Dec 88 02:54:46 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Toms) writes:
> We hroblems with some ites
> that won't hap their phone when we're done talking with thend
> I'ke to hang it up ly each hours.

Set your modem up correctly and run a small C program every hours under
cron that ioctl()'s to drop DTR.

| Terry Lambert           UUCP: ...{ decvax, uunet } ...utah-cs!century!terry |
| @ Century Software        OR: ...utah-cs!uplherc!sp7040bie!wsccs!terry    |
| SLC, Utah                                                                   |
|                   These opinions are not my companies, but if you find them |
|                   useful, send a $20.00 donation to Brisbane Australia...   |
|                   'I have an eight user poetic liscence' - me               |


------------------------------

Date: Fri 23 Dec 88 03:41:09-EST
Subject: Re: MCI develops revolutionary new technology!
To: [e-mail]
From: "Robert Gutierrez / MCI ID: 367-9829" <[e-mail]>

 quoting <[e-mail]>
>All you wimps that get your long-distance telephone service from AT&T
and
>Sprint are gonna be real sorry now.  MCI has developed an astounding
new
>ty that will change life as we know it.  In fact, be on the
alert for
>shadowy organizations with names like "MCI World Control" or "MCI Global
>Domination."                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^

>>From the November/December 1988 issue of _MCI_Connections_:
>
>"Faster than the speed of sound...faster than the speed of
light...MCI's
>[rered trademark] Worldwide Direct Dialing lets your voice travel
around
>the world in seconds."

I'm trying not to laugh too hard at this one.

It just means that TAT-8 is up and working, and we have access to almost
all of the world if the number can be direct dialled.

Now our world domination can start..... :-)

     Robert Gutierrez
     MCI Telecommncations
     World Domination Center :-)
     (akaestern ion Trouble ement Center)
     Hayward, California

(the usual disclaimers apply)
["deesclaimers, we don't need no steenking deesclaimers.....ha, ha, ha]

      AND A HO! HO! HO!  MERRY XMAS TO ALL OF YOU FROM TOWNSON & JSOL
      AT TELECOM DIGEST HEADQUARTERS/BOSTON UNIVERSITY/BOSTON/USA.
      DON'T GET GREEDY WITH THOSE PRESENTS OR WITH THE TURKEY DINNER.
-----

End of TELt
***
From [e-mail]  Tue Dec 27 00:39:01 d: by bu-.58/4.7)
    id AA25076; Tue, 27 Dec 88 00:39:01 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 88  0:16:00 Ehe Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Diget V8 #209
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 27 Dec 88  0:16:00 EST    Volume 8e 209

Todays:

                        Re: s. Touch-Tone (1)
                        Re: DTMF ouch-Tone (2)
                        Re: s. Touch-Tone (3)
                        Re: TMF s. Touch-Tone (4)
                        Re: TMF s. Touch-Tone (5)
                       Re: Tip and Ring reversal (1)
                       Re: Tip and Ring reversal (2)
                       Re: Tip and Ring reversal (3)
                       Re: Tip and Ring reversal (4)

[A large number of letters responding to the TMF/Touch-Tone and Tip
and Ring reversal prompt this issue of the Digest devoted to these two
subjects. Please don't orget to send some w Year's Resolutions for
the Telecom Industry" to me in the next day or two to be included in
an issue next weekend.  P. Townson]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: smb@research.
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 88 16:36:05 EST
To: telecom@ct: rs. Touch-Tone


TouchTone is no longer a trademark.  When AT&T was broken up, it wanted to
keep the phrase as a trademark for telephones, and the RBOCs wanted to keep
it to describe their service.  The only solution they came up with was to
release the phrase.  Those with an eye for trivia will note that Radio Shack,
for example, no longer speaks of ``Tone Phones'' -- their trademark for
DTMF equipment -- since they can now say TouchTone.

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: westmark![e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: s. Touch-Tone
Date: 26 Dec 88 14:13:35 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Ron Natalie) writes:

> ... TouchTone is a trademark.

Actually, one _was_ a trademark.
--
Dave Levenson
Westmark, Inc.        The Man in the Mooney
Warren, NJ USA
{rutgers | att}!westmark!dave


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: amdcad!snap.AMD.COM![e-mail] (Jim Hayes)
Subject: Re: TMF s. Touch-Tone (and some good reading)
Date: 25 Dec 88 04:55:03 GMT



[e-mail] (Frank Prindle) writes in article <[e-mail]>:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 206, message 6
>
>I'm curious when the term DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) became synonymous
>with ouch Tone.  As I recall, DTMF once designated the set of dual-tone
>frequencies used for in-band signaling on long distance trunks, which used
>a completely different set of tones than one, and was always generated
>within the CO, not by any phone set (well, except for the "blue boxes").

The in-band signaling is called MTMF. (Multiple Tone-Multiple Frequency),
TouchTone has always been called DTMF.

MTMF is on its way out, but is certainly not gone yet and I doubt it
will fade completely anytime soon.

There is some great reading in _The Bell System Technical Journal_
(which has had several name changes over the years.)  I recently
visited the New York Public Library (the biggy in the mie of te
city) and got a complete tutorial on the evolution of ESS, cellular
phones, signaling, call routing and TSPS.  Free, written by the
designers.

Just find a empty microfilm me and plan to spbout 8 hours reading.


-Jim Hayes                         Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale CA.
                                   [e-mail]
/earth: file system full           {ucbvax|sun|decwrl}!amdcad!hayes
                                   These are not opinions of AMD.

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Chuck Lukaszewski)
Subject: Re: TMF s. Touch-Tone
Date: 25 Dec 88 20:37:57 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Frndle) writes:
> I'm curious when the term DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) became synonymous
> with one.  As I recall, DTMF onesignated the set of dual-tone
> frequencies used for in-band signaling on ong distance trunks, which used
> a completely dset of tones than ouch Tone, and was always generated

Actually, DTMF has always been generated by premises telephones.  The in-band
signalling to which you refer was done wingle MF tones which were on
200-Khz frequency multiples.  The DTMF tones, by contrast, are combinations of
highly unique frequencies to minimize the ptial of duplicating them though
nature (or something lhat - it's been a while).  The whole blue box thing
got started when the Bell System Technical Journal published a paper which
happened to contain the actual MF signalling frequencies.

______________________________________________________________________________
Chuck Lukaszewski          [e-mail]               612 789 0931
-----

To: [e-mail]
From: westmark![e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: TMF s. Touch-Tone
Date: 26 Dec 88 14:11:51 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, swlabs![e-mail] (Jack Bonn) writes:
(in reply to Frank Prindle's question regarding DTMF s MF)
...
> The inter-office tone-based signaling system that was (is?) used in the US
> is referred to as MF signaling.  It uses 2 out of 6 (2/6) tones to convey
> registegnaling information between central offices.  It also uses a
> 2600 Hz in-band supervisory signal ...

rhaps I'm nit-picking, but the MF singaling includes only the 2/6
tone set that conveys addressing information.  The in-band 2600 Hz
supervisory signaling (called SF) was often used on the same trunks
that also used MF, but the two are not related.  MF addressing is
also used on trunks with E&M and other kinds of out-of-band
supervisory signaling.  SF supervision was also used on trunks where
non-MF aing was usI can remember (the 1960's) when electromechanical switches sent
dial-pulse signaling over inter-office trunks.  If SF supervision
was used on the trunks, the 2600 Hz supervisory signal was pulsed on
and off to transmit the pulses.  No MF was used.

The "blue box" only enabled its user to commit toll-fraud on trunks
where both SF and MF were used.  There are very few such circuits
still in use: As the toll networks become digital, supervision is
taken care of with a low-speed digitally-multiplexed channel which
occupies a single bit of the basic PCM timeslot.  As common channel
interoffice signalling (CCIS) is deployed, the a signalling
moves to dedicated channels.

--
Dave Levenson
Westmark, Inc.        The Man in the Mooney
Warren, NJ USA
{rutgers | att}!westmark!dave

-----

Date: Sat, 24 Dec 88 22:33:54 PST
From: [e-mail] (Tim Pozar)
Subject: Re: Tip and Ring reversal


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>X-Adminvia-To: [e-mail]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 207, message 2
>
>I need some help from ELECOM readers.  There's a suggestion for
>modifying our project's wiring scheme which would result in tip and ring
>being reversed for some number of outlets within a house (tial,
>single-pair, POTS usage).  What kind of ll this polarity
>reversal cause?

    Shouldn't cause any hardware dammage.
    You may notice that some answering machines will not
reconize the battery reversal so it may not hangup as soon as
the caller disconnects.  Also the DTMF pad may not work.  On
newer phones this shouldn't be a problem.

       Tim

--
 ...sunptoad!\                                     Tim Pozar
                 >fidogate!pozar               Fido:  1:125/406
  ...lll-winken!/                            PaBell:  [phone]
       USNail:  KKSF / 77 Maiden Lane /  San Francisco CA 94108

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (John B. Nagle)
Subject: Re: Tip and Ring reversal
Date: 25 Dec 88 17:59:36 GMT




      A "classical" Touch-Tone phone (WE 2500) won't work with tip and ring
reversed.  Talk and ring work, but the keypad is dead.  Newer phones have
diode bridges so that polarity is irrelevant.

      Older coin telephones us polarity reversals to control the coin
mechanism, incidentally.

                        John Nagle
-----

To: telecom@bu-csFrom: westmark![e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Tip and Ring reversal
Date: 25 Dec 88 22:31:48 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
>                  ...wiring scheme which would result in tip and ring
> being reversed for some number of outlets within a house...
> ...  What kind of ll this polarity reversal cause?...

Older 2500 sets (single-line touch-tone) will not generate touch
tones when tip and ring are reversed.  Some 2500 and 500
(dial-pulse) sets will not ring when the loop is reversed.  The
newer sets are largely insensitive to polarity.  It has been my
experience (from several years of selling and installing business
telephone systems) that about half of the loops in the country are
reversed an odd number of times between the central office and the
subscriber's equipment.  When installing ground-start or DID equipment
(where loop polais important) we usually had to swap leads on
about half of the trunks serving a typical PBX installation to make
things work right.  For recent-manufacture single-line sets,
r, it will probably make no .

--
Dave Levenson
Westmark, Inc.        The Man in the Mooney
Warren, NJ USA
{rutgers | att}!westmark!dave


------------------------------

To: gatech!comp-dcom-telecom
From: [e-mail] (Michael H. Warfield (Mike))
Subject: Re: Tip and Ring reversal
Date: 26 Dec 88 21:24:19 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>
>Hello!  I need some help from TELECOM readers.  There's a suggestion for
>modifying our project's wiring scheme which would result in tip and ring
>being reversed for some number of outlets within a house (esidential,
>single-pair, POTS usage).  What kind of roblems will this polarity
>reversal cause?  I've heard that a standard, old electromechanical phone
>won't have any trouble, but what about answering mes, modems, and
>other devices?

     Old style "dial" phones won't be aed, r most (if not all)
modern electronic phoneserive power for their "dialing" c
will not be able to call out.  Most will be able to answer an incoming call.
Phones, attachments, and accessories which use an external power supply or
battery (modems, answering machines, speaker phones, memory phones, auto
dialers, etc.) should work just since they are not "line powered" devices.

     This is also a word to the wise - if your touch tone phone won't dial
the phone but will answer a call then tip and ring my have been reversed on
you.  Check for someone working on the phone systems.  Over the last 10 or
15 years this has happened to me a couple of times.  One time the phone man was
still on the pole when I discovered the problem.  He quickly fixed it and was
nice enough to explain to a "technical type like me" what happened.  Generally,
when they're not caught in the act, your phone will magically start working
again but "nobody did anything".

---
Michael H. Warfield  (The Mad Wizard)    | gatech.edu!galbp!wittsend!mhw
  (404)  270-2123 / 270-2098        | [e-mail]
An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds.
A pessimist is sure of it!

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest
*********************

From [e-mail]  Wed8 01:46:25 1988
Received: b.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7AA22494; Wed, 8 Dec 88 01:46:25 EST
Message-Id: <882280646.AA22494 8 Dec 88  1:18:57 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #210
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     We8 Dec 88  1:18:57 EST    Volume 8: Issue 210

Todays Topics:

            Re: For Cllback Sity Use a Different Line
           Re: Another Approach to Call Back Modem Scurity
                 Cack Sity via Call-Forwarding
      Reader Questions Moderator's Attitude (was Callback Sity)
                  Where Do I Find Local Number For ANI?
                      Why Technical People Won't Help
                         Re: AT&T Improvements?
           Reanted: Device to limit length of phone calls
----------------------------------------------------------------------

[e-mail]
From: amdcad!snap.AMD.COM![e-mail] (Jim Hayes)
Subject: Re: For Cack Security Use a Dfferent Line
Date: 25 Dec 88 05:20:33 GMT


[e-mail] (Alexander Dupuy) writes in article <[e-mail]>:
>X-Adminstrivia-To: [e-mail]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 206, message 7
>

>I guess the best solution is to use a modem pool for dialouts, and randomly
>select one of the modems in the pool.  Ahh, but then if they cracked your
>random-number generator.... :-)
>
>[Moderator's Note: Actually, a far better, easier, and cheaper way to handle
>the problem of unwanted users who simply hang on the line waiting for the
>modem to pick up and 'dial them back' -- only to be re-connected with the
>original phreak caller is to install *three way calling* on the incoming modem
>lines, and program the outdial activity to always begin with a switchook
>flash.

Who says you have to dial INTO a modem to get reasonable call-back
service?  Dialing into a de "receiver" that understands
TouchTone works just fine.  Once authentication is complete, the
unit hangs up the de line and instructs a modem somewhere in
the system to call the user back on the modem's individual line.
I've used two systems that implement cack using this method with
great success.


-Jim Hayes                         Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale CA.
                                   [e-mail]
/earth: file system full           {ucbvax|sun|decwrl}!amdcad!hayes
                                   These are not opinions of AMD.
-----
u-cs.bu.edu
From: westmark![e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Another Approach to Call Back Modem Secity
Date: 25 Dec 88 22:34:22 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Bernie Cosell) writes:
> Re: Cack secrity
>
> How about instead of 3-way calling you smply get "call forwarding" and
> forward all calls to your outgoing lines to some nonexistent place (maybe
> back to your incoming trunks :-).hy not order outgoing-only service on your outgoing trunks?  It's
available in most areas, usually for only a one-time charge if it's
done with the service is installed.  Callers who dial your outgoing
trunk numbers get a telco recording, and don't even opy your
circuits.

--
Dave Levenson
Westmark, Inc.        The Man in the Mooney
Warren, NJ USA
{rutgers | att}!westmarke their common sense." -- gertrude stein
(415) 596 - 3654
[e-mail]        {pyramid,pacbell,sun,lll-tis,capmkt}!sybase!ben


[Moderator's note: You are right and I was wrong. Sorry.  PT]

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Serkejh Kereem)
Subject: How Do I Find Local ANI Number?
Date: 25 Dec 88 10:16:14 GMT



Does anyone know of a way to get their local ANI number, without
having to scan a whole area to find it?nks

UUCP: {nosc ucsd hplabs!hp-sdd}!crash!pnet01!kereem
ARPA: crash!pnet01![e-mail]
INET: [e-mail]

-----------------------------

Date: Sun Dec 25 02:57:42 1988
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Why Technical e Won't Help
From: zygot![e-mail] (John Higdon)


On Dec 21 at  9:06, [e-mail] writes:
>
> John Higdon: as a "wanabee" and "jargon speaker" who admittedly has
> no right to speak to technical people at the phone company, may I just
> take this opportunity to express my aiation for your constructive
> message.
>
> Also: this has bothered me for the longest time.. We have an NT DMS-100
> (or something) switch here with an incredibly annoying feature: touch
> [...]
> who work with it (But then again, J.H., I don't "deserve" to...).  Now,

Sorry, my comments were not ided as a personal attack, but Mr. Cruz
himself has illustrated my point. It would first be very helpful to
*know* what the switch in question is. If you don't know that for sure,
it's an iron-clad cinch that no one in the technical dept. will be
interested in discussing the matter.

Second, this is a very unusual problem and is not  known to occur on
any of the DMS switches. Mr. Cruz, if you can reveal the area code and
prefix of the line involved, I would be very happy to tell you exactly
what the equipment is, the generic being run, and how many prefixes are
served by it.

--
John Higdon
john@zygot   ..sun{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!john
-----
To: telecom@bu-csFrom: westmark![e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: AT&T Improvements?
Date: 25 Dec 88 22:38:36 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (GREEN) writes:
> Sometime in the past month, the sound quality of my AT&T ld calls improved
> tremendously - you can practically hear Sprint's pin drop.  Does anyone
> know if they've recently upgraded their lines? ...

AT&T, in the face of competitive press is rapidly replacing most
of its analog toll network with digital facilities.  A very good
signal-to-noise ratio is characteristic of digital transmission.
This is a long-term strategy, and is still in progress.  If you
suddenly noticed an improvement on all of your calls, it is more
likely that a new higher-quality facillity has just been installed
between your local central office and the AT&T switch (point of
presence) serving your area.

--
Dave Levenson
Westmark, Inc.        The in the Mooney
Warren, NJ USA
{rutgers | att}!westmark!dave


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: westmark![e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Device to limit length of phone calls
Date: 26 Dec 88 14:20:56 GMT



In article <[e-mail]>, ccicpg!wsccs![e-mail] (Every system needs one) writes:


> Set your modem up correctly and run a small C program every .5 hours under
> cron that ioctl()'s to drop DTR.

I don't think this will do what the original requestor wanted.  Suppose
this small C program runs at 09:00, when no-one is using the modem.
Nothing much happens.  A UUCP connection begins at 10:28 that should
last about five minutes.  But at 10:30 (two minutes into the five
minute call) the modem gets ly disconnected!

Create a shell script called uucico that gets spawned when a UUCP
transfer is initiated.  That shell script does two things:  It
spawns the real uucico (as a background process), and it sleeps for
1:30 and then disconnects the modem.  If it gets the SIGCLD while
it's sleeping, it may assume that it can disconnect the modem now,
and then terminate itself.

--
Dave Levenson
Westmark, Inc.        The in the Mooney
Warren, NJ USA
{rutgers | att}!westmark!dave


------------------------------

End of TE********************

From [e-mail]  Thu Dec 29 00:20:02 1988
Received: b bu-(
    id AA29022; Thu, 29 Dec 88 00:20:02 EST
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 88  0:00:24 EST
From: The Moderator <telecom@ply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #211u-cs.bu.edu


Telecom Digest     Thu, 29 Dec 88  0:00:24 EST    Volume 8 : Issue 211

Today'sT

                   Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
             Re: Telecom Business - Your comments, please
                   Another Sprint Billing Complaint
                       Re: Tip and Ring reversal
                On Actually ling With Hackers/Phreak            Telephone gizmo for one-line customersupport documentation needed
                          CCITT test-patterns
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
Date: Mon, 26-Dec-88 13:53:31 PST


> - Ron Natalie says:
>The Rolm switch that I heard the complaints about had redundant
>modules.  Evidentally the system decides at 2 AM to switch the
>active and back up modules.  Great, but it doesn't do anything
>to check to see if the backup module is working and hence the
>thing crashes when you switch the load to it.

This still depends upon which switch (I think) but your statement isn't
entirely arate.  If the other side has a history of fail I believe
that the switchover won't occur.  Also, if it fails after the switchover
it will switch back.  In either case, you should not lose existing
telephony while the switchover is in progress, but you won't be able to
place any new calls until it is finished.  (it is possible that the scenario
is a little different on the CBX II 9000 and earlier -- anyone know?).
Unless I'm mistaken this isn't likely the source of te problem

>As far as modems, I'm talking about traditional dialup modems
>routed over Rolm voice lines, not the Rolm Data Creature.

Did your "source" specify why?  Still have never heard of this happening --
(not that that means anything), but there isn't any differentiation that I
know of within the switch between traditional dialup modems and voice calls.
If you were dropping one, you'd be dropping the other.  However, if the
problem was due to external hardware, then it is possible (but then it's
probably not the CBXs fault, is it? :-)

Dave

-Ron

[e-mail]    My opinion is just that.  I speak for no one else!

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: Telecom Business - Your comments, please
Date: 27 Dec 88 19:36:12 GMT



I thinkyou've got your units confused.  There is no popular use
of 45.5 WPM Baudot and even if they were it wouldn't be anywhere
near 110 baud.  What exists is the WE standard 65 WPM which is
45.5 Baud.

-Ron

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Another Sprint Billing Complaint
Date: 27 Dec 88 19:42:02 GMT



Sprint is sleaze.

My brother canceled his SPRINT service from college and listed my
parents house (no phone number given) as the address to send his final
bill.  Two months later a bill for my parents number arrives to my
brother from SPRINT.  Sprint claims that C&P sent in the change order.
C&P says it came from Sprint (seems more likely).  C&P won't credit the
first $5 service change.  Blech.

-Ron

------------------------------

To: uunet!bu-cs.BU.EDU![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Tip and Ring reversal
Date: 28 Dec 88 10:10:41 EST (Wed)
From: [e-mail] (John Owens)


Thanks to all the replies to my question, both in TELECOM and in
pr mail.  The wire people here talked to some telephone people,
and were convinced not to swap polarity.  Intingly, while most of
the responses contained the same basic information, that Touch-Tone
phones without a full-wave bridge won't be able to generate touch
tones, about half the responses said "this is rrible problem -
don't do it", while the other half said "but this shouldn't be a
problem"! :-)  Snce we need to be compatible with existing customer
equipment, we're keeping polarity correct.

    Thanks again,
    -John Owens

------------------------------

Datee8 Dec 88 01:05:38 CST
From: "Kevin Lightner" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Actually ling With Hackers/Phreaks


I noticed t make mention of the terms hacker and phreaker in the digest
and I was wondering if you have ever actually come upon such people, perhaps
even on the nets?  I would be curious as to what kind of situations you have
dealt with and if you have ever ventured into the realms of the computer
bulletin boards.

   Kevin Lightner

8 Dec 88 10:51:17 EST
From: Jerry mph Black <black%ll-micro-vlsi.arpa>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: elephone gizmo for one-line customers



I just read a short review in PC Week about a  $400  gizmo  which
answers your phone, then issues a robot-voice announcement to the
caller requesting that the (hopefully touch-tone-equipped) person
press  the '3' button. The caller is then connected to your voice
phone, which rings as usual.  If '3' is not  pressed,  the  gizmo
box  assumes  that  a  fax  or  modem  is  calling, and your data
equipment receives the incoming call.  Seems like a good  way  to
get double use of one line.

The $400 seems overpriced for what  you  get,  my  $50  answering
machine  can recognize tones and make decisions accordingly.  Are
there seminal components or subsystems you can get to put one  of
these together?? Any other comments on this kind of equipment?

J. mph Black, [e-mail]
------------------------------

To: gatech!comp-dcom-telecom
From: dscatl![e-mail] (Mark Gresham)
Subject: S'port documentation needed
Date: 28 Dec 88 19:0 GMT



Greetings,
  Would someoneplease idey the following serial port?
I would like to idetify it; and I need the documentation for it.
Please e-mil info only; thanks in advance for any info.

The card supports 3 ports: 1 9pin serial, 1 parallel on the card;
1 25pin serial via a ribbon from J1.  The main chip has the serial
number: CIC83747AZ
    8840

FCC ID: FT94UAFT-1100SP
FTC - MADE IN TAIWAN R.O.C.    is on the parallel socket.

FOXCONN
XD10121
S3 8839        is on the 9pin socket

On the ba the cirboard:
02-004
FTC COMPUTER    etched in upper right corner

T1712    on label, upper left side

S/N: E 882515    on label , center

This card was originally in a new ard Bell AT80286.

All help with identification and documentation is appred.
Please e-mil only!  Thanks!!

--Mark Gresham

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mark Gresham              AtlantaA, USA
UUCP:  ...!gatech!dscatl!mgresham
INTERNET: dscatl![e-mail]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

------------------------------

To: nsc!comp-dcom-telecom
From: taux02!yuval (Gideon Yuval)
Subject: CCITT test-patterns
Date: 28 Dec 88 10:17:59 GMT




Are the fax pages, used by CCITT as test-patterns for  Group  III  and  Group
IV transmission, available in digital form?

Thanks
--
Gideon Yuval, [e-mail], [phone] (home) ,-52-522255(work)
 Paper-mail: National Semiconductor, 6 Maskit St., Herzliyah, Israel
                                 WX: 33691, fax: [phone]

------------------------------

End of TEt************

From [e-mail]  Fri Dec 30 00:46:50 d: by bu-c(.58/4.7)
    id AA09319; Fri, 30 Dec 88 00:46:50 EST
Message-Id: <8812300546.AA09319 Fri, 30 Dec 88  0:09:06 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #212
To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 30 Dec 88  0:09:06 EST   Vol: Issue 212

Today's T

           Exploitation of Timing Window (was: Callback Secy)
                        Rolm switchover data
                  Switched 56k information (please!)
                              A Tiny Tim
                         re: s TouchTone
----------------------------------------------------------------------

[e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (John B. Nagle)
Subject: Exploitation of Timing Window (was: Cack Secity)
Date:29 Dec 88 19:44:58 GMT



Last week I wrote:
>>     The moderator's idea can be beaten, but I don't have t explain how
>>right now.  Maybe next week.

       The basic notion of call-back is that the receiver accepts a call,
insely identifies the caller, disconnects the call, and initiates a call
to a previously-determined number to establish a connection b known
points.

       The fundamental insecrity of call-back derives from the assumption
that the call-back does in fact connect to the ided number.  Ignoring
schemes involving tampering with the switching system, the main difficulty
comes from spoofing the call-back system into thinking that it is getting
dial tone from the CO when it is in fact receiving a call from the attacker.
The easy way of doing this involves holding the connection up while the
call-back system tries to disconnect and redial, and then spoofing it by
generating dial tone and perhaps other call-progress tones.  This
can be defended against as the moderator suggests.

       The attacker must then resort to an attack of the class "exploitation
of andow".  The notion here is that the call-back system can't
tell the difference between a incoming call that arrives at very close to
the time that the call-back system goes off-hook, and dial tone received
from the CO because it went off-hook.  So if you can get the timing just
right, it is possible to make a spoofing attack.

       Getting the timing right is possible if both the call-back system
and telephone system offer repeatable timing.  During hours of low load,
this is possible.  The attacker does not have to guess right, but can
servo in on the correct value.  If the attacker obtains a busy signal,
the time waited before dialing up the spoofed connection is too long.
If the attacker obtains a modem answer tone, the time waited is too
short.  Tha simple servoing algorithm will quickly center the
timing around the correct value.  It's possible to exploit very narrow
timing windows using this technique, which is usually used to exploit
time-of-check/time-of-use bugs in operating systems.

       While the attacker is adjusting the timing, the call-back system
is likely to notice that something is wrong, but once the timing is
properly adjusted, the call-back system can be spoofed successfully.
The timing adjustment attempts might precede by several days the actual
attack; this may be necessary if the call-back system only allows a small
number of failed attempts.

       Defenses against this attack include using a different originate-only
line for call-back, randomithe time between dial-in and call-back,
and, perhaps, the use of ground start trunks.

       It's not clear that anyone would bother to do this complicated an attack
but it's possible.

                    John Nagle
-----
From: [e-mail] (Fred R. Goldstein dtn226-7388)
Date:29 Dec 88 10:09u-cs.bu.edu
Subject: Rolm switchovers & data


The topic is no longer Siemens' acquisition of Rolm from IBM, but
Rolm's alleged dropping of calls during a switchover.

A redundant Rolm switch won't switch over if the other CPU is down.
That's pretty obvious, and Rolm's designers aren't really so foolish
as to let a system crash because one of its redundant CPUs is down!
Now it's probably possible to set i wrong so that such things
happen, but it's definitely not the t's designA more likely problem for voice-band data users is the way the Rolm
switch handles "connections".  Imagine, if you will, the way most PBXs
and COs operate.  You pick up the phone, the switch decodes your digits,
the switch tells the matrix which ports to connect together, and the
CPU goes back to doing other things (until you hap or something).
If the CPU were to fall asleep, the connection would remain intact.

Rolm is different.  (I don't know if the 9750 is the same here but
I've worked with the older switches.)  Connections are established
in software, in a "connection table".  Tin program periodically
reads the connection table out onto the bus, causing connections to
be made for a period somewhat longer than the program's loop timing.
(The loop was, I _think_, 150 ms. on the 7000.)  If the CPU stops
operating, though, the connection goes away in a few hundred
milliseconds.  The calls are not torn down or anything, but the
voice path itself drops.

Switchover between CPUs takes a couple of seconds.  During this
interval, voice callers may hear a brief dropout of a second or so.
Calls in progress (dialing,) are lost, but blished calls
remain up, with the dropout.  Modems, however, often have loss of
carrier disconnect on them.  This dropout is of course a loss of
carrier, so they hang up!


Again from memory, switchover isn't supposed to happen automatically
at 2AM IF there are connetions up; it may wait until everything is
idle.  But maybe not, at least in sses.  If you never have all-
idle time, then it may be desirable to force a switchover, for
maintainability reasons, even if somebody is on line.

When I was in charge of these things, I went to great efforts to
discourage modem users from using PBX extensions...
       fred
(speaking for myself, not my employer or anyone else)

------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Brian Jay Gould)
Subject: Switched 56k information (please!)
Date:29 Dec 88 15:54:15 GMT



I sent out a request before for information about switched 56kbps offerings
in the industry.  I really have only one question about each offering, and no
one has been able to even offer a hint as to the solution.

*** How do you send the destination telephone number from
*** the host to the switched-DSU, and from the DSU to the
*** CO?

I am not tg about ISDN, but ts offerings.  I had a switched 56kbps
link from American Long Distance, and had to manually enter the digits on
the DSU.  The DSU then sent pulses (YES, on a digital circuit) to the switch.

What I'd really like is either inband (lhe Hayes AT command set) or
out-of-band (lke a 300bps async port) to give the number to the SU.

Any BOC or IXCs out there?
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Brian Jay Gould  :: INTERNET [e-mail]  BITNET gould@jvncc  -
-                     UUCP rutgers!njin!gould  Teephone ) 329-9616 ------------------------------------------------s

------------------------------

Date: 26 Dec 88 04:40:51 EST (Mon)
From: gmeeca!sb@tis..gov
Subject: A Tiny Tim
To: [e-mail]



My father is in need of information about hooking an automobile accident
victim to a computer (hopefully to give her speech).  retably, there is
not too much to work with, as she is brain damaged enough to make all motion
most complex.  Are there joy sticks that can be operated by tongue?  Is there
someonewho has equipment that can read eye position so that she can look up
words on a screen.  It appears that most of the "smarts" are still intact,
but none of te wiring is hooked to a voluntary controller.

The exact functionality of the lady is unknown to me -- I have asked him for
more information.  If there are any points of contact or research, I would be
most obliged.  Thank you!


                --Bradley Smith
                (lll-tis!gmeeca!sb)
                     - or -
                (gmeeca!sb@tis..gov)

[Moderator's Note: How about it folks? Wouldn't it be a t New Year's
gift for this lady if Mr. Smith was able to get her connected with the
world once again because Telecom Digest readers figured out a way to do it?
This brings to mind the very wonderful work done by the old 'Bell System'
for many decades with physically handicapped people. Some incredible devices
were built to insure that the weakest and most helpless among us would be
able to communicate. Surely we should keep that spirit alive today. Please
go to work on this, and report your results here. Thanks so much. P. Townson]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Dec 88 19:35:38 GMT
From: Mad Nige <[e-mail]>
To: teSubject: re: TMF s TouchTone


Over the last few issues, there has been a lot of discussion about
whether or not TouchTone is a trademark, and if it is the same as DTMF.

Here in the UK, the System-X exchanges will accept tone dialling, and
no charge is made for using it. Unfortunately, there aren't that many
System X exchanges around. Some of the payphones in London use tone
dialling, but I've not come across many more elsewhere.

Initially, British Telecom referred to tone phones as having MF
dialling, and sometimes (especially in their in-house magazine) as
DTMF. The latest range of phones that they have brought out have
stickers on them saying that they are TouchTone(TM) compatible. Perhaps
it's still a trademark in the UK.

Incidentally, although System X has tone dialling (and other nice
features that I can list if anyone's interested), it does seem to
behave rather unpredictably. I lives for about 6 months in a flat with
a line to a local System X exchange, and quite often would come home to
find that the exchange had left messages on my answering me that
said "Sorry. You have dialled incorrectly. Please replace the handset
and try again."

I see we've found a way to bring about the downfall of the USSR. We've
sold them System X...

Nigel Whitfield.
----------------
[e-mail]    [e-mail]
or even.mcvax!ukc!icdoc!mvax.cc.ic.ac.uk!nigel
[e-mail]!ukc!icdoc!zmacz02

------------------------------

Endt

From [e-mail]  Sat Dec 31 00:47:00 d: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7)
    id AA01364; Sat, 31 Dec 88 00:47:00 EST
Message-Id: <882310547.AA01364 Sat, 31 Dec 88  0:31:34 EST
From: The Moderator <[e-mail]>
R: [e-mail]
Sbject: T8 #213
[e-mail]


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 31 Dec 88  0:31:3  Volme 8 : Issue 213

Today'sTpics:

                         New Year's Resolu                        New Year's Resolution              Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
                            Re: A Tiny Ti                         Re: A Tiny Tim
                            Re: A Tiny Tim
                          That's All, Folks!

[DO NOT FORGET that Monday, Jan 02 is NOT a PC Pursuit holiday! Use it
during the day Monday and expect a daytime usage bill sure to please!]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 9:59:23 CST
From: Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject:  New Year's Resolutions


That intrastate LD customers cease to be discriminated againstavor of
interstate LD callers; that a uniform per-mile rate be set uor each LD
carrier or BOC that provides LD service, and that all calls be charged for
based on their mileage at that rate, regardless of whether the call crosses
a state line or not.

That the offensive "access charge" be eliminated and the needed revenue
instead be generated as it should be -- by slightly higher LD rates all
across the industry.

Will Martin

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 388 23:42:26 EST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator)
To: telecom@ct: New Year's Resolutions
t Americans realize we still -- for some reason! -- have the best and
most efficient public telephone network in the world. Despite the several
dramatic changes which have orred in the telephone industry in the past
five years, getting a phone installed in days instead of weeks or months is
still the norm, keeping it maintained is relatively easy, and making calls
around the world or next door in seconds is still possible.

That the AOS companies come under much closer scrutiny by regulators; or
better still, simply go out of s altogether.

That people who like to vandalize payphones (at the rate of better than a
dozen per day in large cities like Chicago) have the opportunity to search
for one that's working in the subway at two in the morning.



------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Ron Natalie)
Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG
Date: 388 14:32:04 GMT



Hey, I'm just relating what I heard at the "University Problems"
on at the last Users' Group meeting.   Since IBM no longer
has ROLM, I doubt that the subject will ever come up again.  There
were exactly two issues that arose at that meeting.  One was why
IBM won't consider certain products (MVS and the XA versions of
their operating systems) under the new University discount program
(Universities don't do that, we were told) and th Rolm
phone switches.  Nobody spent more than 2 minutes talking about
anything else.

-Ron
-----
To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (Marc T. Kaufman)
Subject: Re: A Tiny Tim
Date: 30 Dec 88 16:38:58 GMT



In article <[e-mail]> gmeeca!sb@tis..gov writes:

>My father is in need of information about hooking an automobile accident
>victim to a computer (hopefully to give her speech)...

>The exact functionality of the lady is unknown to me -- I have asked him for
>more information.  If there are any points of contact or research, I would be
>most obliged.  Thank you!

To get things started:  I have a reference to a woman named Martine Kemp, who
invented a speech recognition system especially for interfacing handicapped
persons to computers.  Her company is Katalovox (sp?), and I thought it was
in the San Francisco Bay area, but I can't find the a or phone number
by searching the local directories.

Marc Kaufman ([e-mail])


------------------------------

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail] (John B. Nagle)
Subject: Re: A Tiny Tim
Date: 388 19:38:28 GMT




      Try contacting Dr. Larry Leifer of the Center for Design Research,
Stanford, who is involved with various VA-supported rehab programs.
He can be reached at "[e-mail]".

                    John Nagle
-----
Date: Fri, 388 18:13:45 -0500 (EST)
From: "Kurt A. Geisel" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: A Tiny Tim


I always thought one of the fastest and most high-resoluion systems
for a disabled person to select items on the computer screen was the
"laser-reflected-off-the-eye" idea.  It was originally developed for
the military as a rapid aiming system.  A low power laser is aimed at
the eye.  The beam is reflected onto a sensing array and the
computer can determine exactly what point the eyes are looking at on
a calibrated screen.  Then, the advertising industry used it to seeif the viewers ever really did take their eyes off the woman in the
bathing suit and see the cola label.  I'm sure if it hasn't already
been adapted to the disabled, it could be with t success.

Once the computer knows which item on the screen is beig
concentrated on, we merely need a "select" button.  This could be a
tounge-activated switch.  Then, all the patient cn select options on
the screen as quickly as they can look at it and click.

The drawback is it is probably expensive, and it probably would
require a lot of custom "menu-driven" software written for operating
system and applications (word procg or voice synthesizer.)

- Kurt

Kurt Geisel                       SNAIL :
Carnegie Mellon University            65 Lambeth Dr.
ARPA : [e-mail]           Pittsburgh, PA 15241
UUCP : uunet!nfsun!kgeisel    "You mean, I could have... THUNDERBOLT FISTS?"
BIX  : kgeisel                                   - Infra Man

------------------------------

Date Sat, 31 Dec 88 00:25:06 EST
From: teBU.EDU (TELECOM Moderator)u-csSubject: That's it, folks! (or, Our Digest in Ages Past)

My trusted advisor jsol is vacationing in California. Fortunatly, the
Digest has gone out day after day with no problems in recent weeks. It
seems like 'only yesterday' I became the Moderator of this electronic
forum for telecom enthusiasts and industry professionals. Actually, it
has been about 57 issues, and two and a half months. I was honored to
be given the task, and hope I've continued to maintain the Digest in
the style to which you long-time readers have become accustomed.

What's even more incredible than my tenure as Moderator (smile) is the
longevity of the Digest itself. What began as an offshoot of another
conversation group has now been around 7.5 years; and according to the
latest [Arbitron] has a readership of about 10,000 Arpa/Usenet/Bitnet
people worldwide. Jsol's baby has certainly matured.

Lookihe telecom-archives file the other d found something
I thought would make a fitting close to the current year and volume 8
of this journal --


>25-Aug-81 01:35:31-EDT,0013963;000000000001
>Date: 25 Aug 1981 0135-EDT
>From: JSOL
>SLt V1 #1
>To: Telecom: ;
>
>TELECOM AM Digest     Tuesday, 24 Aug 1981       Volume 1 : Issue 1
>
>Tss:     Administrivia - Welcome Aboard
>            USRNET - Alternative to A. T. & T.
>           Problems with Dimension - One Persons Views
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Date: 24 Aug 1981 0118-EDT
>From: the Moderator <JSol at Rutgers>
>Subject: Adminstrivia
>
>Welcome to TELECOM. This digest is a spinoff from the HUMAN-NETS
>sion on the telephone network and switching equipment.  Parts of
>this digest are in fact sissions to HUMAN-NETS which were never
>published, and are presented here to spark the discussion.
>
>The archive for this is in the usual place, DUFFEY;_DATA_ TELCOM at
>MIT-AI, and we will shortly be adding to the archive the discussions
>that have taken place in HUMAN-NETS relating to telecomms.
>
>I will be moderating this list from Rutgers, as I do with POLI-SCI,
>but you can still send mail to TELECOM@MIT-AI, or TELECOM@RUTGERS.
>If you want to communicate with the maintainers then you should
>send mail to TELECOM-REQUEST@MIT-AI, or TELECOM-REQUEST@RUTGERS.
>
>Enjoy,
>JSol

Oh, we will; we have, and we will continue to enjoy the DIGEST. The archives
from the past are now installed at bu-cs.bu.edu in the public ftile,
where they occupy *merely* 9200+ blocks. You should really ft over and
visit us for some fascinating reading from past issues.

See you next year!

Patrick


------------------------------

EndCOM Digest
********************