Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/back.issues/1989.volume.9/vol9.iss451-500

Text File | 1990-01-14 | 740.6 KB | 18,137 lines

Date:     Sun, 15 Oct 89 23:49:03 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #451
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 15 Oct 89 23:45:00 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 451

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    A Letter From Australia (Jon D. Kendall)
    A Bit of Repeater History (Larry Lippman)
    Request: Small Key-System Recommendations (Kent Hauser)
    Request: Information On Gateway Services  (Dadong Wan)
    Fun With Fonz (John Higdon)
    The Day The Bell System Died (Lauren Weinstein)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 15 Oct 89 15:42:20 EST
From: kendall <munnari!diemen.cc.utas.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: A Letter From Australia
Organization: University of Tasmania
Reply-To: [e-mail] <Jon D. Kendall>

Dear Pat:

Your moderated newsgroup is addicting, to say the least.  I have spent
the past four hours reading almost 200 articles of comp.dcom.telecom.
But, then what better use of my time would there be on this windy,
rainy Spring day? Anyway I understand a lot of the Chicago humour
(Hudson 2-2700, etc) having lived in St Joseph, Michigan 15 years ago.

By the way, I brought with me one of those great 2500 telephones.  In
Australia there is no touch-tone service, but fortunately the
university has a PABX which accepts tones locally, converting them to
dec. (pulses) for outside calls.  Also, everyone else in the
department has electronic warble ringers which contrast nicely with my
bell ringer.

Rich Zellich's story about a wrong number to Australia reminds me of
something that I did whilst ringing for international operator
assistance.  I was living Davis, California at the time.  I needed to
find out the telephone number of friends in Tasmania so I naively
dialled 011-6102-5551212 thinking that the domestic method of
directory assistance would generalise to overseas directory
assistance.  Instead I rang a private residence. From her irritated
explanation, I readily discerned that this was not the first wrong
number the lady had received from North America.

When I received the next month's Sprint 'phone bill I was very
surprised to see that I had been charged the directory service fee for
the call, not the usual per minute charge.  I suppose that it was a
bug in the software.  I reckon that might be useful to the lady if she
had any friends in North America.

Jon [e-mail]

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

Subject: A Bit of Repeater History
Date: 15 Oct 89 13:03:19 EDT (Sun)
From: Larry Lippman <kitty![e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Art
Gentry) writes:

> We use repeaters, spaced anywhere from 1 to 30 miles, depending on the
> type of carrier technology.  These repeaters are powered by DC current
> carried down the same pairs of the transmission.  Each direction takes
> one pair, one for the E->W and the other for W->E (no, I'm sorry, but
> AT&T does not go N->S or S->N <smile>) Actually, all repeaters will
> show an East/West transmission, just to keep things easy.

    The E/W designation on repeaters is carried over from the
early days of telegraphic communication where the concept of a
"repeater" originated, although in those days repeaters were of the
relay-variety for morse code traffic.  Most long telegraphic routes
were in fact East-West in direction, and the arbitrary designation of
E/W for the ends of a repeater remained throughout the telegraph era
into that of the telephone.

    Also, lest someone feel that the concept of a PCM regenerator
is *new*, consider that the morse telegraphic systems were in fact
both digital and PCM, and thus such PCM regenerators were in use over
150 years ago!  Furthermore, some of the early telegraphic systems,
especially those used with submarine cable, were in fact bipolar in
nature - not unlike that of a T1 line, although admittedly the data
rates were a bit slower than 1.544 megabits/sec.

    :-)

<> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp.
<> UUCP  {allegra|boulder|decvax|rutgers|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry
<> TEL [phone] | 716/773-1700  {hplabs|utzoo|uunet}!/      \uniquex!larry
<> FAX [phone] | 716/773-2488      "Have you hugged your cat today?"

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

From: Kent Hauser <tfd![e-mail]>
Subject: Request: Small Key-System Recommendations
Date: 15 Oct 89 18:09:32 GMT
Organization: Twenty-First Designs, Wash, DC

We need to replace our 1A2 KSU because our new location has only
2-pair wiring.

My question is who makes good electronic key systems?

Our requirements are modest:

2-4 co lines.
8 or so extensions.
Intercom.
Speakerphone available.
Some way to hook in answering maching on first line.

Recommendations for equipment & good suppliers gratefully accepted.

Kent Hauser            UUCP: {uunet!cucstud, sun!sundc}!tfd!kent
Twenty-First Designs        INET: sundc!tfd![e-mail]

[Moderator's Note: Would you be wanting an electronic key system or a mini-
PBX? The latter will accomplish much of the same, and might even be more
flexible, depending.  PT]

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

Date: Sun, 15 Oct 89 15:45:45-1000
From: Dadong Wan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Request: Information On Gateway Services
Reply-To: Dadong Wan <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Hawaii


I am looking for information on gateway services, which allow one
point access to various information services, public as well as
commercial, e.g. Dialog, CompuServe.  The State of Hawaii has recently
awarded DEC a contract for setting up such a service.  I've heard that
some regional Bell companies (eg, Nynex, Bellsouth) have been
experimenting in this area, and am wondering if any of you out there
know anything about how they have been doing on that.  Please email me
if you have some information to share.  Many thanks.


  Dadong

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Fun With Fonz
Date: 15 Oct 89 21:22:57 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


One of my clients has an ITT 3100 PBX whose routing tables I keep
updated. It is a lot of fun playing with a switch that has Automatic
Route Selection. Here are some examples of things that I have done
with their system.

Naturally, the customer wanted 976 blocking in their switch. No
problem. The switch intercepts all 976-XXXX and NXX-976-XXXX calls and
puts the caller through to a Pac*Bell number that returns the
following recording:

"The call you have made requires a twenty-cent deposit. Please hang
up, listen for dialtone, deposit twenty cents, and try your call
again."

This is better than just returning reorder or some such, since when a
person complains to management about how they get this recording "when
they try to place a call", management knows what's going on.

I have 611 routed to my home number. No one there is supposed to call
telco direct, so this little trick saves unnecessary expensive calls
to telco repair. For a while there was a joke line that did a satire
on the Pac*Bell automated repair that was hilarious and I had 611
routed there instead!

My cellular phone number is quite restricted since it can get rather
expensive if people call to chat. For a while I had my portable phone
number in their system speed dial, but when I changed my number
another idea came to mind. I set up the system to intercept my old
cellular number and translate it to my new one and put the call
through. Then I gave out my old (out of service) number to everyone at
that company.  Had it printed on employee lists and everything.

The fun began when certain people started complaining that my cellular
phone had been disconnected. This could only mean that they were
calling my number from somewhere other than the office. My
explanation?  "I'm sorry, my cellular phone can only be reached from
the office." No other comment was offered. The psuedo phone
knowledgeables still haven't figured that one out.

In our area, a "1" is optional for long distance. It is not required,
but won't interfere if used. The PBX however will send any long
distance call prefixed by a "1" to "It is not necessary to dial a one
for this call. Please hang up and try your call again." The amusement
comes from watching the people from out of the area using the lobby
phone.

The company has Sprint Advance Plus WATS, which are dedicated WATS
lines. However, when a user dials 0+ the system places the call on a
POTS line and prefixes it with "10288" to ensure that an AT&T path
will be taken. I don't trust default anymore.

Actually the list of possibilities is endless and implementation is
limited only by the amount of available free time. Fortunately, this
particular system is progammable remotely, so whenever the whim
strikes, so shall it be!

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 00:12:30 EDT
From: Lauren Weinstein <vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM>
Subject: "The Day Bell System Died"
Return-Path: <vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM>

[Moderator's Note: It was good the first time it appeared, and since
many of you were not reading the Digest in 1983, I thought it would be
good to run it again. This originally appeared in TELECOM Digest on
July 12, 1983.  Enjoy.  PT]

Greetings.  With the massive changes now taking place in the
telecommunications industry, we're all being inundated with seemingly
endless news items and points of information regarding the various
effects now beginning to take place.  However, one important element
has been missing: a song!  Since the great Tom Lehrer has retired from
the composing world, I will now attempt to fill this void with my own
light-hearted, non-serious look at a possible future of
telecommunications.  This work is entirely satirical, and none of its
lyrics are meant to be interpreted in a non-satirical manner.  The
song should be sung to the tune of Don Mclean's classic "American
Pie".  I call my version "The Day Bell System Died"...

Lauren

**************************************************************************

           *==================================*
           * Notice: This is a satirical work *
           *==================================*


                    "The Day Bell System Died"


              Lyrics Copyright (C) 1983 by Lauren Weinstein

                      (To the tune of "American Pie")

             (With apologies to Don McLean)


  ARPA: vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM
  UUCP: {decvax, ihnp4, harpo, ucbvax!lbl-csam, randvax}!vortex!lauren

**************************************************************************

Long, long, time ago,
I can still remember,
When the local calls were "free".
And I knew if I paid my bill,
And never wished them any ill,
That the phone company would let me be...

But Uncle Sam said he knew better,
Split 'em up, for all and ever!
We'll foster competition:
It's good capital-ism!

I can't remember if I cried,
When my phone bill first tripled in size.
But something touched me deep inside,
The day... Bell System... died.

And we were singing...

Bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die?
We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI,
"Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry.
Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die?
Ma Bell why did you have to die?

Is your office Step by Step,
Or have you gotten some Crossbar yet?
Everybody used to ask...
Oh, is TSPS coming soon?
IDDD will be a boon!
And, I hope to get a Touch-Tone phone, real soon...

The color phones are really neat,
And direct dialing can't be beat!
My area code is "low":
The prestige way to go!

Oh, they just raised phone booths to a dime!
Well, I suppose it's about time.
I remember how the payphones chimed,
The day... Bell System... died.

And we were singing...

Bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die?
We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI,
"Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry.
Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die?
Ma Bell why did you have to die?

Back then we were all at one rate,
Phone installs didn't cause debate,
About who'd put which wire where...
Installers came right out to you,
No "phone stores" with their ballyhoo,
And 411 was free, seemed very fair!

But FCC wanted it seems,
To let others skim long-distance creams,
No matter 'bout the locals,
They're mostly all just yokels!

And so one day it came to pass,
That the great Bell System did collapse,
In rubble now, we all do mass,
The day... Bell System... died.

So bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die?
We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI,
"Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry.
Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die?
Ma Bell why did you have to die?

I drove on out to Murray Hill,
To see Bell Labs, some time to kill,
But the sign there said the Labs were gone.
I went back to my old CO,
Where I'd had my phone lines, years ago,
But it was empty, dark, and ever so forlorn...

No relays pulsed,
No data crooned,
No MF tones did play their tunes,
There wasn't a word spoken,
All carrier paths were broken...

And so that's how it all occurred,
Microwave horns just nests for birds,
Everything became so absurd,
The day... Bell System... died.

So bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die?
We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI,
"Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry.
Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die?
Ma Bell why did you have to die?

We were singing:

Bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die?
We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI,
"Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry.
Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die?

<End>

[Moderator's Note: I knew you would like it! And my thanks to Lauren for
having submitted it to the Digest now over six years ago.  PT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #451
*****************************










Date:     Mon, 16 Oct 89 0:57:27 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #452
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Mon, 16 Oct 89 00:55:43 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 452

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Phonavision at the University of California (Henry Mensch)
    Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count (Colin Plumb)
    Re: Making a Line Busy (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Measured Service: What Does It Cost? (John Higdon)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Steve M. Bellovin)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Patrick A. Townson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 15 Oct 89 18:35:34 -0400
From: Henry Mensch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Phonavision at the University of California
Reply-To: [e-mail]

(Pinched from the [New York Times] w/o permission:

Calif. -- Students at two campuses of the University of California, at
Berkeley and Los Angeles, have become the test market for a new public
video-telephone booth called Phonavision.

Its developers claim that it is the world's first video telephone for
the general public.

Each of the campuses has one of the large, silver-color phone booths
in its student union. Phonavision opened last Monday for a week of
free demonstrations. Starting Monday, video phone calls from one
campus to the other will cost $10 for three minutes.

"We view all this semester as a test," said Stephen Strickland, chief
executive officer of the Los Angeles-based company, Communications
Technologies, that developed the video phones. "We want to be sure
that when we do go to market with this service, it's as good as it can
be."

"We feel we're probably six months to a year away from having a system
that we can go out and market," Strickland said. "I see them in
airport lobbies, hotel lobbies, shopping centers, indoor high-traffic
locations." Video telephones are already widely used in business, he
added.

Phonavision callers speak to each other on standard telephone
receivers.

A snapshot-size image of their own face is projected on one half of a
small screen, and the other half shows a picture of the person to whom
they are talking.

As a caller talks, the video screen shows small movements of the mouth
or face. But sudden movements mean a distorted picture.

With a tilt of a caller's head, for example, the image will move to
the side in separate parts, starting with the top of the head and
moving down in a wavelike motion.

Annalee Andres, a sophomore from Santa Ana, Calif., who has not yet
selected a major, was one of the first students to try out Berkeley's
new video phone. She and her friends crowded around the phone booth in
the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center, taking turns talking to a
student from UCLA.

"I think it has a long way to go yet, but it's really cool," she said.
"I can really see where it's leading."

Ms. Andres speculated on the effects that widespread use of video
phones would have. "What if they catch you and you're just out of the
shower?" she asked. "It'll change dating."

Daniel Ciruli, a junior from Tucson, Ariz., majoring in computer
science, was enthusiastic about his trial session, but he said the fee
would keep him away in the future.

"It's a new toy," he said. "But at $10 for three minutes, with only
one other Phonavision, it's not going to be something that students
are beating down the door to use."

The video phone booth offers other services: recording and dealing in
videotapes and a place to send and receive fax messages.  The booth
accepts $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills, as well as Mastercard and Visa.

Gary Li, a senior from Beijing, who is majoring in electrical
engineering, started setting up Berkeley's phone booth in April.
Since then he has spent about 20 hours a week repairing kinks in the
system.

Berkeley and UCLA were chosen as tryout spots for the new service
because most students know somebody at the other campus, said
Strickland, the company's chief executive.

"That's a place where we can get novelty use," he said, adding that
"Berkeley and UCLA have a reputation for being front-runner schools --
places that are innovative, that like new technology."

Strickland said his company has spent almost three years developing
Phonavision. He would not disclose total costs, but priced the video
phone booths at $50,000 each.

# Henry Mensch    /   <[e-mail]>   /   E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
# <[e-mail]-relay> / <[e-mail]> / <[e-mail]>

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

From: Colin Plumb <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count
Date: 16 Oct 89 00:08:13 GMT
Reply-To: Colin Plumb <[e-mail]>
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (VLD/VMB)
writes:

> You write:
>> 416 recently removed the has allowed the implementation of NXX where
>> previously only NNX was allowed.

> Did you mean to delete "removed the"?  Also, you are sure you are
> referring to 416 (Ontario) instead of 415 (Calif.)?  (If 416, it's new
> info for me.)

New to me, too, and while not at university I live in 416.  One thing
I rather like about the local phone service is that all LD calls must
be prefixed with "1".  If you try to dial an exchange in 416 that's
not in the local calling area (i.e. metered call), you get a recording
"You have dialled a number to which long distance charges apply"
followed by dial-1-first instructions.  I suppose you could do it if
you changed the current 1+NNX-XXXX to 1+416+NXX-XXXX, but I'd think
I'd have heard about it.

 From other discussions, I gather that in some places, normal 7-digit
calls can be long distance, so you have to dig through the phone book
to figure out whether it costs you anything.  I prefer "leading 1
means special billing."  I've never tried dialling an 800 number
without the 1 to see if it works.  I should sometime.

    -Colin

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Making a Line Busy
Date: 16 Oct 89 02:43:54 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, owens-christopher@YALE.
EDU (Christopher Owens) writes:

> I have a two-line residential installation in which calls hunt to the
> second line if the first line is busy.  Periodically I want to force
> all calls to the second line.  What is the correct way to make a line
> busy? ...

There is a local number available in most central offices that is
always busy.  Here in NJ, we dial almost any prefix followed by 9970.
You could place a call to that number, and then leave your set
offhook.

There is a tariffed service available in NJ called hunting cut-off
controlled by customer.  With this service, you get a key switch at
your premises connected to an extra pair from the CO.  When you close
the switch, hunting is disabled.  (Don't know what it costs.)

I realize that what you want is not to disable hunting but to force it
on all calls.  Perhaps the telco has another service offering up its
sleeve?


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Measured Service: What Does It Cost?
Date: 15 Oct 89 18:17:29 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, comcon![e-mail]
(Roy M. Silvernail) writes:

> Do you have measured service? What are the actual rates? Do you have
> to juggle zones? Do you have a free-call area? If you were there for
> the beginning of measured service, what was the introduction like?
> (was there a public outcry? Was the public even consulted?)

About 20 years ago, mandatory measured service was introduced to
Pacific Telephone business customers. All new service orders went in
as measured and existing customers were all converted over a year or
two later. Back in those days, no one seemed very interested in the
PUC hearings and this tarrif went through without any problem.

People at PacTel fielded the calls from irate customers by responding
that some customers would actually save money, since the monthly rate
had been lowered (cut in half). But of course the vast majority of
business customers started paying through the nose.

Since that time, residence service has had the option of being
measured. Unmeasured residence service is about $8.50/month while
measured is about $4.50 with a $3.00 call allowance. A local call is
$.05 for the first minute and $.01 each additional, with evening and
night discounts.

Pac*Bell has been trying to push the idea of universal measured
service for years. They have offered various plans to the PUC (such as
a service that includes 130 untimed calls/month and 15 cents for each
call over--price: same as current unmeasured), but so far the PUC
hasn't bought any of it. Now that Pac*Bell is unregulated for all
intents and purposes, we may now probably count the days for
unmeasured residence service.

In my home I have a mix of measured and unmeasured lines (all in the
same Commstar group). Any lines used exclusively for incoming calls
are measured while out call lines are unmeasured. (Yes, they will mix
measured and unmeasured lines in Commstar -- it is a common myth that
they won't.)

My prediction is that when they make all local calls measured, there
will be some consumer groups that snort a bit but it will mostly
happen without a wimper.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 89 12:49:13 EDT

I'd promised myself I wouldn't comment on this subject any more, but
this latest posting is much too inflammatory....

     From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>

I'm not sure if you can do this, given the login available to you, but
you should distinguish between your role as moderator and poster.  Most
of the time this doesn't matter, but when it does -- i.e., when there's
a controversial topic being discussed -- you should try to grant everyone
equal access to the debate.

     For those of you who think Caller ID is the worst scourge to ever come
     to the telephone industry, consider this case from Van Nuys, CA about
     three weeks ago:

     [deleted]

     The autodialer was programmed to simply dial 911, which conneced to
     the Emergency Services dispatcher at the Van Nuys, CA, Police and Fire
     Department.

911 Caller ID service is conceptually very different than ordinary
Caller ID.  Note that I'm not speaking of the technical differences --
of which there are many -- I'm simply speaking of the benefit to society
of having the facility available.

     [deleted]

     He noted that prior to the installation of Caller ID, there had been
     several objections to the service; 'violation of privacy' being the
     major complaint.  Some people apparently felt they had the 'right' to
     talk to the police anonymously, and that this 'right' superceded the
     rights of the police and fire departments to administer their duties
     effeciently and effectively.

     "We think caller ID was responsible for saving Mrs. Rodgers' life."

``Efficiently.''  A marvelous word.  There are parts of the world
where the police can operate much more ``efficiently'' because there
are no (enforced) prohibitions against, say, beating suspects.  And
the ``legislature'' makes life even easier for the police by requiring
internal passports to travel within the country, official permission
to live in certain areas, and lots of nice vague ``crimes'' suitable
for arresting just about anyone.  Efficient, certainly.  But I don't
think I'd like to live there.

My point is not that Caller ID is or is not a good thing for emergency
services.  My point is that the issue is not that clear-cut.

Factual premise 1: A number of big cities, and the federal DEA, have
prosecuted numerous police officers for narcotics-related corruption.
Factual premise 2: Many drug dealers have shown no hesitation in
ordering the murder of community activists who have tried to shut down
their activities.  Question 1: if 911 calls have Caller-ID recorded
(and all such calls are recorded in most cities, I might note), what
are the odds on such a drug dealer bribing a cop to find out who made
a particular call?  Question 2: how many lives might that cost?

Please note carefully what I did and did not say above.  I did not say
there are no benefits to Caller ID for the police.  I did not say
anything at all about Caller ID for other purposes.  And I said
nothing at all about the desirability, or the lack thereof, of current
drug laws and policies.  All I said is that the issue is very far from
clear-cut, and that we should not blindly accept official
pronouncements on the subject.

        --Steve Bellovin
        [e-mail]

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

Date:     Mon, 16 Oct 89 0:34:06 CDT
From:     Patrick A. Townson <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!

I printed all of the above message not because this is the Social
Issues Digest, but because I would not want Mr. Bellovin to think he
was being censored. He implies in his first paragraph that one is
unlikely to get a fair hearing or a chance to reply to a message since
I did not botber to run the 'change name' program here and convert
myself to Patrick Townson for the occassion.  Everyone who reads this
little Digest knows how bad I am about not allowing my critics the
time of day or space in the Digest to reply.

The item in particular appeared in several newspapers last week,
including both the [Chicago Tribune] and the [Chicago Sun Times]. In
addition, it was sent to me by the press clip service I use (yes, I
take this Digest rather seriously, and I keep up on news relating to
telecommunicatons.)  I feel as moderator I would be derelict in not
printing an item when it had been considered newsworthy by other
media. It was a story that I, in my editorial judgment, considered
worth repeating here.

Mr. Bellovin, and another recent correspondent who forbade me to print
his letter or mention his name point out rightfully that Caller ID
when offered as a CLASS feature is different than when the same
information is afforded the police in a 911 conversation. Yes and no.
There are some technical differences, but the end result is the same:
The caller is identified to the callee. And there are some remarkable
similarities between the two as well. Some of you must surely recall,
in your own communities, as I do in Chicago, how bitterly the concept
of E-911 was fought by the same people who are fighting caller ID now
in the public realm. Just as some organization now is fighting in the
courts against Caller ID as a CLASS offering, the *very same
organization* (through its Chicago branch) fought in the courts to
prevent the police from having the name and number of the calling
party back in 1973.

So I think we split hairs and pick nits when we say caller ID as a
CLASS offering is 'not the same as' caller ID when emergency services
get the information. Caller ID is caller ID is caller ID. Either the
caller is identified in some way to the callee, or he is not. It may
be some folks who otherwise disapprove of caller ID for the public do
not object to it when the police have the information, but we are
still talking about the same basic thing.

In community after community, when Enhanced 911 service has been
installed or regular 911 converted to E-911, there have been
complaints regarding violations of privacy, just as today the
complaints are made. Van Nuys, CA was no exception. There were people
there (maybe still are?) who strongly objected to it.

I do not make Official Pronouncements here. I quote news, offer my own
opinions, and *usually* entertain the views of others. I think I
posted that story Sunday morning by prefacing it saying, "this has
been in the papers lately'.....so what would Mr. Bellovin have me to
do? Print nothing that might express an opinion? His complaint, along
with Nameless, who forbade me to identify him should direct their
comments about the matter to the authorities in Van Nuys, CA....that
is who was in the news.

TELECOM Digest is here to provide a forum for *all aspects* of
telephones.  Technical, social, political, consumer-oriented. The day
I metamorphose into God on High and refuse to print alternative
viewpoints is the day Mr. Bellovin and Nameless have valid complaints,
with me at least.


Patrick Townson
------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #452
*****************************










Date:     Mon, 16 Oct 89 22:51:37 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #453
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Mon, 16 Oct 89 22:50:06 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 453

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Cable Repair, Splicers and a Cable "Environmental Problem" (Larry Lippman)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Cable Repair,  Splicers and a Cable "Environmental Problem"
Date: 15 Oct 89 13:04:57 EDT (Sun)
From: Larry Lippman <kitty![e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Art
Gentry) writes:

> > 2. When one of those lines is damaged out in the middle of nowhere,
> > and the damage is _inside_ the cable, how do they locate it?
> > Moreover, how do they splice in a new piece of cable?  In other
> > words, how do they connect up those hundreds of individual lines?
> > It would be like trying to rewire a spinal cord.

> Ahhhh, back in the good-ol-days....:-} All the wires within a cable
> are color coded, in pairs.  In larger cables, pairs were grouped into
> bunches, which in turn, were color coded themselves.  So while tedious,
> it was not overly difficult to match pairs in a splice.

    Many Telecom readers are, to some extent, familiar with the
color code used on polyethylene insulated cables (PIC) in which each
pair is individually color-coded and arranged in groups of 25-pairs,
with these groups in turn being identified with colored binder
strings.  The above color code uses ten colors, and begins with
white/blue for pair 1, white/orange for pair 2, white/green for pair
3, etc., ending with violet/slate for pair 25; binder group
identification is made with colored tape or string using the above ten
colors.  The complete color code has already been posted by others to
Telecom, and it is not my intent to repeat it here.

    The above color code with individual pair identification is
used on both inside station wiring and outside PIC distribution cable.
However, pulp-insulated cable does NOT have identification of
individual pairs.  There is still a significant amount of
pulp-insulated cable in service, especially with high pair counts of
1,500 to 2,700 pairs.

    Pulp-insulated cable uses only three pair colors: white/green,
white/red and white/blue.  Binder groups within the cable come in
sizes of 25, 26, 50, 51, 100 and 101 pairs, depending upon the wire
gauge, pair count and style of the pulp-insulated cable.  For cables
with 400 or more pairs, the binder group size is generally 100 or 101
pairs.

    Each of the pairs in such a binder group has the SAME color
code!  As an example, a 404-pair pulp-insulated cable will typically
have four binder groups: (1) 100 pairs of white/green plus a red/blue
tracer pair; (2) 100 pairs of white/red plus a red/blue tracer pair;
(3) 100 pairs of white/blue with a red/blue tracer pair; and (4) 100
pairs of white red with a red/blue tracer pair.  The total pair count
in this example is 404 pairs, and note that there are 200 pairs which
have a white/red color code.  The tracer pairs are generally reserved
as spare or maintenance pairs.

    To make matters even more confusing, many pulp-insulated
cables have no binder strings or tape!  The binder groups have a twist
which allows their identification as a unit, and the relative position
of the binder groups when the cable is viewed in cross-section allows
the identification of the particular binder group.  Such binder groups
are therefore arranged in concentric layers, with each layer being
divided into binder segments.  There are also umpteen different binder
coding schemes used for pulp-insulated cable.  For the sake of
simplicity, while I am using the term "binder group" in this article,
in reality I am referring to a cable "unit", which may in fact not
have any binding strings or tape.

    As a result of the above, believe me, a damaged pulp-insulated
cable is a real mess!  Also, bear in mind that PIC cable did not come
into general use until the 1950's, so prior to that time
pulp-insulated cable was the ONLY type of outside plant cable.

    Restoration of a damaged pulp-insulated cable is performed by
tone tracing or other electronic identification means on EACH AND
EVERY pair.  Restoration starts by picking a red/blue tracer pair as a
means of establishing telephone communication between the cable
splicer and the central office.  At least there aren't that many
tracer pairs to choose from. :-)

    The cable splicer cuts back the cable and attempts to identify
the binder groups, starting with the CO-side FIRST.  Picking one
binder group at a time, a craftsperson in the CO sends tracing tone on
the first pair in a binder group.  A test probe with a sensitive
amplifier is used at the cable site to detect this test tone and
therefore identify the pair.  Such a tone tracing arrangement works by
capacitive coupling between the test probe and the cable pairs, so a
cable splicer can rapidly scan for tone by merely brushing the test
probe against fanned-out cable pairs.

    As soon as the CO-side of a pair is identified, the pair is
placed in a numbered slot on a "restoral board", and a connection is
made to the pair using insulation-piercing clips.  A restoral board
consists of two boards (a CO-side and a subscriber-side) with 100
pairs of insulation-piercing connections on each board, with several
feet of cable between the two boards.  The restoral board has two
functions: (1) to temporarily tag the identified conductors of a
binder group; and (2) to provide a temporary electrical connection
prior to splicing of the CO and subscriber sides of the severed cable.
More than one set of restoral boards may be used in a cable break, but
it does get crowded around the splice area pretty fast!

    Identifying the CO side of the severed cable is the EASY part,
made even easier with the use of a "front tap shoe" which connects to
a protector block in the CO.  A front tap shoe may make contact with
as many as 100 pairs at a time, and using a test cable will
conveniently terminate the pairs on a test panel used to apply tracing
tone.  There are also semi-automatic cable identification devices,
like those made by Automation Products, which send a coded signal on
each of 100 pairs, so that no craftsperson is necessary in the CO
other than to change the front tap shoe to another 100 pairs.  A cable
splicer uses a field identifier unit with a digital readout to
identify the pair number on a given pair in the binder group under
test.

    After the CO side of the binder group has been identified
using the above method, next comes the NOT SO EASY part.  A second
cable splicer then heads for the closest cross-connection box on the
subscriber side of the severed cable.  The first task is to establish
a talk pair to the cable splicer at the break.  Local battery for
talking is provided by a cable-splicer's test set, traditionally the
WECO 76C, although newer devices are now available.

    The second cable splicer then successively sends tracing tone
across each pair at the cross-connection box, which the first cable
splicer identifies at the site of the cable break.  The identified
pairs are then placed on the subscriber-side of the restoral board,
which not only tags their identity, but makes a temporary electrical
connection.

    What makes identification of the pairs on the subscriber-side
of the cable break difficult is that it is unlikely that the full pair
count of the cable will terminate at just one cross-connect location.
A high pair-count cable may in fact have its pairs terminated at a
dozen or more different cross-connection points, EACH of which will
have to be visited in order to send tracing tone to the cable break
site and identify the full pair count.  Sometimes pairs never even
terminate at a cross-connect location, but instead terminate directly
at a large customer location - which is yet another place that may
have to be visited.

    In most instances, none of the above tracing effort is
necessary in the case of a PIC cable break, since each pair in PIC
cable is by its very nature self-identifying through its own color and
that of its binder group color.  One does not truly appreciate this
"feature" of PIC cable until one experiences the effort necessary to
repair a pulp-insulated cable.

    Installing new pulp-insulated cable was not so difficult since
at intermediate splices pairs in a binder group were merely joined at
random.  Identification was only necessary at termination points.

    An additional problem is that in most cases it is not possible
to pull enough slack in a damaged cable to reconnect the severed
pairs.  A length of jumper pair wire is therefore placed in the
splice, and now one has TWO splices for every pair: one for each side
of the jumper.

    Yet another problem is that the sheath must be cut back at
least a foot in each direction of the cable break in order to
"visualize" and therefore identify the binder group placement.  For a
badly mangled cable it may be necessary to splice a complete length of
cable between the severed ends since 2-feet is about the limit to the
length of any one splice case.

    And to make matters even worse, how would you like to be a
cable splicer doing this work 15 feet above the ground working in a
small tent in sub-zero weather?  A motor vehicle accident that knocks
down a utility pole will create this exact situation!

    While a cable splicer's job has little glamor, it does have
some excitement and some hazards, and it is just as essential as that
of a switchman in the CO.  One of the most common hazards in working
with aerial cable today is electric shock from streetlight fixtures
with a broken ground that are attached to a utility pole.  In large
cities with extensive underground distribution, telephone cables may
often share manholes with high-voltage electric power distribution
cables.  The ultimate nightmare of a cable splicer is to accidentally
cut into a power cable instead of a telephone cable; a lead-sheathed
power cable is indistinguishable from a lead-sheathed telephone cable.
Such an accident has in fact happened on more than one occasion over
the years.

    In previous years the job of a cable splicer was more artisan
in nature, especially involving the working of lead used to join the
lead sheaths of cables and make splice cases.  The ultimate display of
"lead craftsmanship" was in the "wiping of a joint" which formed the
rounded end of a splice case where the cable entered the larger
diameter splice.  While many lead-sheathed cables still exist, today
there is very little hot lead work; lead cables are usually fitted
into conventional two-part separable splice cases using sealing tape
and a compression-type closure.  In previous years, many a cable
splicer has been burned from spilled molten lead or spilled hot
paraffin (used to "boil out" moisture from damaged pulp-insulated
cable).

    I'll close this article with an interesting bit of "cable
trivia".  First, some background.

    Many CO buildings still in use in large cities were
constructed between 1915 and 1930.  Such buildings have seen many
generations of telephone apparatus and have been "modernized" on a
number of occasions.  New apparatus is always installed and wired
before old apparatus is removed.  Telephone cable in CO buildings is
supported on "cable rack", which may be as wide as 24 inches.  Cable
is built up in layers, with the oldest cable being at the bottom of
the cable rack; the bottom layer is laced to the cable rack with waxed
twine ("12 cord", for the benefit of any WECO people reading this who
have "paid their dues" :-) ).  Each successive layer of cable is laced
to the previous layer.  It is not unusual in a large CO to have a
SOLID mass of cable 2 feet wide by 2 feet high on a single cable rack.

    In the above situation, much of the lower "layers" of cable in
a cable rack will be non-working cable which connected apparatus that
was removed years ago.  The labor necessary to remove such old cable
is significant, so usual practice is to just leave the lower layers in
place.  As a shortage of wiring space develops, an operation referred
to as "cable mining" is performed to remove the bottom layers of cable
and re-stitch the upper, working layers back to the cable rack,
thereby freeing up space for new cable layers.

    Cable mining is only done when absolutely necessary, so if
space is still available it is not unusual for a cable rack to have
bottom layers of cable that are 60 or more years old.  Such a
situation still exists today in many older metropolitan CO buildings.

    An interesting "environmental" problem has been "discovered"
in the past 10 to 15 years which now dictates that cable mining be
conducted with the utmost care.  There are actually two problems:

1.    Plastic sheaths for central office power and signal cable did
    not come into general use until the 1950's.  Prior to this time
    cable sheaths were made from cotton or silk.  In the case of
    power cable, some styles of cable were covered with an asbestos
    sheath to prevent accidental fires.  While asbestos-sheathed
    power cable has not been used since the 1950's, much of this
    cable still remains on cable racks.

2.    While it may be hard to imagine today, large CO's were periodically
    plagued with mice during the 1920's and 1930's.  These mice would
    chew on cable, thereby causing faults.  Mice particularly loved
    the area around cord positions at DSA and toll operator facilities;
    the mice like to run on the inside multiples of such cord boards.
    Crumbs of food brought in by operators would attract such mice.

    In an effort to control this mice problem, some brilliant WECO
    engineer (who in all fairness did not know any better) during the
    1920's came up with the clever idea of impregnating the cloth
    sheath of central office and switchboard cables with ARSENIC in
    order to deter the mice from chewing the cables.  As a result,
    some CO cable installed during the 1920's and 1930's contains
    arsenic.

    So, today, some cable mining must be carried out with the
utmost caution in order to avoid the hazards of asbestos and arsenic!

<> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp.
<> UUCP  {allegra|boulder|decvax|rutgers|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry
<> TEL [phone] | 716/773-1700  {hplabs|utzoo|uunet}!/      \uniquex!larry
<> FAX [phone] | 716/773-2488      "Have you hugged your cat today?"

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #453
*****************************










Date:     Tue, 17 Oct 89 0:15:46 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #454
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 17 Oct 89 00:15:32 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 454

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Roger B.A. Klorese)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (John Higdon)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (John R. Levine)
    Re: Caller ID saves A life! (William Berbenich)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Eliot Lear)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Lang Zerner)
    911 Improvement Surcharge In Chicago (David W. Tamkin)
    Re: The Hottest Answering Machine (Peggy Shambo)
    A Light Touch (Dave Horsfall)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Roger B.A. Klorese" <mips!mips.com![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: 16 Oct 89 21:46:05 GMT
Reply-To: "Roger B.A. Klorese" <mips!mips.com![e-mail]>
Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Sunnyvale, CA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Patrick A. Townson) responds sarcastically to Steve Bellovin:

>He implies in his first paragraph that one is
>unlikely to get a fair hearing or a chance to reply to a message since
>I did not botber to run the 'change name' program here and convert
>myself to Patrick Townson for the occassion.  Everyone who reads this
>little Digest knows how bad I am about not allowing my critics the
>time of day or space in the Digest to reply.

I don't know, I read the following paragraph and didn't notice
anything like what you claim you see, Patrick:

>> I'm not sure if you can do this, given the login available to you, but
>> you should distinguish between your role as moderator and poster.  Most
>> of the time this doesn't matter, but when it does -- i.e., when there's
>> a controversial topic being discussed -- you should try to grant everyone
>> equal access to the debate.

Steve made the simple request that you should change your login name,
if possible, when participating in a discussion, so that your opinions
don't seem like the blessed consensus of the Digest.  Nowhere was he
anywhere near as condescending as you, and you trivialize his
concerns.  He was not claiming that you were denying access (although
your little explanation, which I omitted, about why you forwarded
Steve's message indicates that you are in fact doing so: his message
should not have appeared so he shouldn't think you were stifling him,
it should have appeared because it is important).

As for the subject matter, your entire thesis seems to reduce that the
concern of individuals for their constitutional rights is trivial in
the face of a facility that saves lives.

The case can be made that everything from in-home police surveillance
to drunk-driver roadblocks to searches of random black men walking
through white suburbs either has or could potentially save lives.  The
truth is that the cost factors are often the other way around: not
that freedoms must be sacrificed to save individual lives, but that
sometimes and unfortunately, lives are the necessary cost of
maintaining our freedoms, even innocent lives.

ROGER B.A. KLORESE
MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.  phone: [phone] E. Arques Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086 [e-mail] {ames,decwrl,pyramid}!mips!rogerk
"I want to live where it's always Saturday."  -- Guadalcanal Diary

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: 16 Oct 89 06:33:03 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(TELECOM Moderator) writes:

> He noted that prior to the installation of Caller ID, there had been
> several objections to the service; 'violation of privacy' being the
> major complaint.  Some people apparently felt they had the 'right' to
> talk to the police anonymously, and that this 'right' superceded the
> rights of the police and fire departments to administer their duties
> effeciently and effectively.

This, of course, is a bogus argument of the first order. From the San
Jose Pac*Bell telephone directory under the heading "911" (and I'm sure
included in every directory issued from Pac*Bell):

"Notice!

_Dialing 9-1-1 and Your Privacy_

When reporting an emergency by dialing 9-1-1, your number (including
non-published number) and address may be automatically displayed on a
viewing screen. This information enables the emergency agency to
quickly locate you if the call is interrupted.

If you do not wish to have your telephone number and address
displayed, use the appropriate 7-digit emergency number."


Very simply, if you want to remain anonymous, don't dial 9-1-1.


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Segue Software, Cambridge MA
Date: 15 Oct 89 17:41:01 EDT (Sun)
From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>

In article telecom-v09i0450m01 our Moderator writes:

>For those of you who think Caller ID is the worst scourge to ever come
>to the telephone industry, consider this case from Van Nuys, CA about
>three weeks ago [in which a small child dialed 911 and the dispatcher
>sent help based on the address display that E911 provides.]

Some of us left wing wackos who dislike the way that telcos are
introducing Caller ID think that 911 is a fine example of how Caller
ID should work.  If you dial 911, your call gets IDed.  If you dial
the cops' regular seven-digit number you don't get IDed.

Many people have made technically straightforward proposals to allow
ID to be turned on and off per call and per line.  I believe that if
the telcos implemented them you would see the opposition to Caller ID
disappear.  If you want not to answer calls from phones that don't
provide ID, that's fine, I'll send a postcard.

As has been noted here before, Enhanced 911 is technically different
from the Caller ID that has caused all of the argument.  As far as I
know, no telco proposes to provide the calling phone number's address
to Caller ID users like they do to 911.

By the way, I called American Express last week to argue about my
bill.  Amex has been reported to have an 800 version of Caller ID that
looks up the phone number of each call and translates it to the
caller's card number.  When the person who answered asked me for my
card number, I asked whether she could tell it from my phone number
and she said she couldn't.  Either she was lying or they've turned it
off.

Regards,
John Levine, [e-mail], {spdcc|ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl

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

Date: 16 Oct 89 09:57:06 EDT
From: [e-mail] <William Berbenich>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!

   For those who wish to phone anonymously, most emergency services
still maintain a regular CO line. Here in Atlanta, where 911 does not
yet have full metropolitan area coverage, that option is still
possible. Prior to my move to Atlanta from Mountain View, California,
that option was possible <but not publicized by Pac Bell or EMS>. The
way I was able to obtain the number was by calling Pac Bell and
explaining that I wanted to program my autodialer with the number -
the only trouble was that the autodialer would only accept either 7,
10, or 11 digits into its storage <three digit 911 would not store>
and I therefore needed the 7 digit number. Pac Bell gave it to me, I
dutifully programmed it in, and the autodialer was ready to summon
help for my household - however, were I able to call EMS but not able
to speak, help would have been seriously delayed.

[e-mail]
Georgia Inst. of Technology

[Moderator's Note: If your autodialer's only objection is the lack of
seven digits -- as opposed to the digits '911' themselves (for
example, IBT speed dialing won't permit 911, 411 and certain others), --
then you can use filler digits of the form, '911-1111' or '911-####'
to make the quota required. The network will start processing the call
after the 911 is dialed, and the last four filler digits will have been
given out long before the PD comes on the line anyway; no one will be
offended by extra beeps in their ear.  PT]

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

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 13:42:53 -0700
From: Eliot Lear <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!

I'd like to commend Steve for once again demonstrating that one of the
hottest issues of the early seventies is still with us today - the
individual's ``right'' to privacy.  I don't propose to argue those
rights, now.

How can Caller ID be offered so that it does not intrude on the
individual's right to privacy?  When in doubt, allow configurability.
Avoid making policy decisions in implementation, but allow for them in
the future.  It would be nice if phone companies would give the
individual the option, up to any particular phone call, whether caller
id should be given, as well as what the default should be.

The win, here, is that individuals will be able to decide which is
more important, and when.  The lose, of course, is that if they pick
the wrong default and forget about it, Van Nuys would be just another
tragedy; or in Steve's example, some cop would end up a little richer
at the expense of another's well being.

Eliot Lear
[[e-mail]]

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

Date: Mon Oct 16 01:24:55 1989
From: Lang Zerner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Organization: The Great Escape, Inc

Patrick--

Unlike some who object to the idea of a moderator editorializing, I
support your position that your opinion is as valuable to a discussion
as is anyone else's, and that therefore you have not only the right,
but a moral obligation to state your views (so long as you are
cognizant of and responsibe with the added weight they carry by virtue
of your position).  As long as you are careful not to take action
which might curtail others' expression of their (possibly opposing)
views, there is little sound argument against your expressiion of your
own.

However, after your recent request that telecom readers refrain from
posting on the merits and disadvantages of Caller ID, I opine that it
was irresponsible of you to post your "Caller ID Saves A Life!"
article.  While it is an interesting news story, it is fairly obvious
that you posted it to advocate your personal position that Caller ID
is in the main a good thing.

By using your authority as moderator to enable the broadcast of your
personal view on a topic, after using that same authority to curtail
the broadcast of others' views, you have carelessly (I hope) neglected
you responsibility as moderator to maintain a realistic and honest
presentation of the views of the Usenet telecom community.

If you feel it beneficial (as I agree it was in the case of the Caller
ID debate) to request curtailment of a discussion here, I hope that in
the future you will take the pill along with the rest of us.

With respect,
Lang Zerner

[e-mail]   UUCP:bionet!asylum!langz   ARPA:[e-mail]
"...and every morning we had to go and LICK the road clean with our TONGUES!"

[Moderator's Note: Yes, I know I said Caller ID had occupied a huge
amount of space here; and yes, I did suggest some time back it was
time to move on to other things. But frankly, if the microcosm of
society which makes up Digest readership is any indication, Caller ID
is going to be a hot topic for the next few years. I really don't know
which way to go with the discussion. It does seem a shame not to touch
on 'Caller ID in the news' -- and we *will* be seeing more and more of
it in the news -- yet the very real practical limitations of a Digest
such as this preclude having the discussion go on and on forever. Be
assured though, that for every position or posture taken here, ample
space will be given to the 'loyal opposition'...whichever side of the
argument that is.  Thanks for writing.  PT]

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

Subject: 911 Improvement Surcharge in Chicago
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 13:57:58 CDT
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

Monday morning, October 16, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced
that he would submit to the city council a plan to increase city
telephone taxes by 95c per line per month, earmarked for improvements
to 911 service.  Currently there is no such flat charge, simply a
percentage tax rate on local telephone service.

Daley's spokespeople commented that 911 service here has been a mess
for years, and that many of the suburbs charge $1.00 per line per
month, so 95c should not be unreasonable.  There were no details about
what is currently wrong or about what specific improvements Daley has
in mind.

(Despite the address, I live in Chicago; the Rosemont post office is
more convenient for my location and travel patterns than any inside
the city.)


David W. Tamkin    [e-mail]   {attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois  60018-0813  [phone]  [phone]

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

From: Peggy Shambo <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat Oct 14 19:46:50 1989
Subject: Re: The Hottest Answering Machine
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Peggy Shambo)
Organization: ddsw1.MCS.COM Contributor, Mundelein, IL


In article <[e-mail]> Lee_C._Moore.WBST128@
xerox.com writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 440, message 5 of 12

>Because of a service person who went wild in my house, I am now
>shopping for a new answering machine.  I am taking this opportunity to
>by a top-of-the-line machine.  Is there any machine that is currently
>considered the best, hottest or most feature-full (consumer) answering
>machine?

>If there is sufficient interest, I will summarize for the group.


Well, I don't know a heck of a lot about top-of-the-line answering
machines, but my curiosity has been piqued as to the nature of this
"service person" and what really happened to the old answering
machine.

Enquiring minds want to know.  Does this qualify for the "sufficient
interest" clause?  :-)

Peg Shambo           | Anybody know of any IDMS/ADSO positions in
[e-mail]  | the South of England? (London, Southampton,
             | Portsmouth, Bournemouth would all be nice)

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

From: Dave Horsfall <munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: A Light Touch
Date: 13 Oct 89 02:00:05 GMT
Reply-To: Dave Horsfall <[e-mail]>
Organization: Alcatel STC Australia, North Sydney, AUSTRALIA


I found this in the "Sydney Morning Herald", 10th October 1989:

A Light Touch

  The State of Missouri is suing a company that sells light bulbs over
  the telephone, alleging the company claims that all its employees are
  handicapped whereas they may have nothing more disabling than hang-
  nails or hay fever.  The lawsuit said workers for Local Handicapped
  Workers Inc had phoned thousands of people since April, asking them to
  buy light bulbs for up to $7 each (!) from its all-handicapped
  employees.

  Investigators said that when they posed as job applicants at the
  business, supervisors told them they could earn up to $770 a week and
  that "handicaps" could include pregnancy, hangnails, allergies or the
  need for eyeglasses.  Applicants without handicaps were advised to come
  back when they "had thought one up".

Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel STC Australia,  [e-mail]
[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #454
*****************************















Date:     Tue, 17 Oct 89 1:06:58 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #455
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 17 Oct 89 01:05:33 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 455

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Projections for V&H Table Coordinates (David W. Tamkin)
    Re: V&H Table Coordinates (Joel B. Levin)
    Re: PC Sytems to Handle Phone Inquiries? (Tom Wiencko)
    Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count (Carl Moore)
    Re: AT&T as a "Backup" For US Sprint et al (Dave Levenson)
    Re: What is SONET? (Paul Elliott)
    Re: 7 khz Technology for ISDN (Vladimir Taft)
    Re: SW56, ISDN Comm Cards For Macintoshes (Vladimir Taft)
    Re: Measured Service: What Does It Cost? (Fred Goldstein)
    Re: Some Comments on the History of Repertory Telephone Dialers (F. Linton)
    Re: The Day The Bell System Died (Stan M. Krieger)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: Projections for V&H Table Coordinates
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 89 17:04:19 CDT
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

John R. Levine contributed to issue 450, volume 9:

| The V&H tape uses some other projection that I expect is intended to
| make equal distances equal.

Intended, perhaps, but not successful.  A projection that makes equal
distances on the earth's surface equal on a plane map is impossible
unless the area being mapped is a mesa top.

As long as the distances between points are to be calculated as
Pythagorean diagonals, something has to break down somewhere.  My
guess is that the coordinates are based on many projections of small
areas; there would still be a problem in joining these smaller maps,
but perhaps the theory is that with greater distances the error is
less significant as rate bands become larger and fewer.

With Illinois Bell, though, the coordinates are gospel: there is an
eight-mile band for local calls, and the Chicago-Irving and Schiller
Park CO's are a few feet more than eight miles apart.  Illinois Bell
dutifully charges a call between those two districts in the
eight-to-fifteen mile band.  On the other hand, the Chicago-Canal East
and Chicago-Canal West switches, being in the same building, have the
same coordinates assigned, so the distance between them never comes
into consideration, though it is perhaps almost as great as the excess
over eight miles in the distance between the Schiller Park and
Chicago-Irving switches.

David W. Tamkin [e-mail]
{attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier P. O. Box 813 Rosemont, Illinois 60018-0813
[phone] [phone] BIX: dattier GEnie:
D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 The opinions above are mine.

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

From: Joel B Levin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: V&H Table Coordinates
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 13:24:23 EDT

 From [e-mail]:

>The V&H tape uses some other projection that I expect is intended to
>make equal distances equal.  Any given projection is tuned to the area
>that it is intended to display; the Albers projection is tuned for the
>lower 48  . . .

I also have no definitive answer.  I have seen the map of the
contiguous 48 states displayed against the grid, and an explanation
that comes to mind is that the grid is tilted to allow the map to
occupy the greatest amount of space within its bounding box, i.e., to
maximize the scale used with certain coordinate limits.  I don't know
why this might be important, though.

    /JBL

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

From: Tom Wiencko <stiatl![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: PC Sytems to Handle Phone Inquiries?
Date: 16 Oct 89 02:27:23 GMT
Reply-To: Tom Wiencko <stiatl![e-mail]>
Organization: Wiencko & Associates, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> Jim Henry <jhenry@rand.
org writes:

>I would like to design a system which allows a telephone caller to
>check the status of an order by telephone without human intervention.

I recently researched a similar application, and found a company which
seems to handle this type of requirement very well.  The vendor is
Innovative Technology, Inc. in Roswell Georgia.  They make a clever
little board (which is not really cheap, but gets the job done) and
better yet, there is a lot of software out there written by this
company and by other companies to handle all sorts of touch-tone
response applications.

I have not used their product myself, but have talked to people who have
used it and have demo-run some applications using it.  Seems pretty slick.

They are at 404/998-9970.

Disclamer: I am not associated with Innovative Technology.

Tom Wiencko                                            (w) [phone]
gatech!stiatl!tom                                  Wiencko & Associates, Inc.

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

Date:     Mon, 16 Oct 89 9:29:52 EDT
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re:  Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count

Yes, there are some cases where 7D call can be long distance (within
your own area code).  This exists in California at least in 213, 818,
415, 408; New Jersey (201,609); and recently it was noted in the
Digest that 1+7D within 313 area in Michigan will reduce to 7D
(preparing for N0X/N1X there?).

I noted years ago that 1+ was not necessary on pay phones on 475
and 478 in Delaware (302).

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: AT&T as a "Backup" For US Sprint et al
Date: 14 Oct 89 23:29:09 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
writes:
 ...
>      Such outages are usually reported as "SPRINT fiber cut, AT&T
> circuits overloaded" as if each were equally to blame!.  The fact that
> the OCCs routinely use AT&T facilities to complete calls to remote
> locations is equally unknown to press and public.

When an excavation project severed a fiber optic link here in New
Jersey last year, the AT&T customers noticed a huge increase in
circuits-busy conditions.  The AT&T network managed to complete a few
calls, but the blocking probabilty went way up.  MCI customers, on the
other hand, were unaware of the outage, and experienced normal circuit
availability.


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: Paul Elliott x225 <optilink![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What is SONET?
Date: 16 Oct 89 16:55:12 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA


In article <[e-mail]>, gamiddleton@watmath.
waterloo.edu (Guy Middleton) writes:

> I read in the newspaper today about some Northern Telecom fibre-optic
> equipment that uses a signalling technology called SONET.  Does anybody know
> what SONET actually is?

SONET is an acronym for Synchronous Optical NETwork.  It is not really
a signaling technology, but rather is the North American fiber optic
transmission standard.  The SONET standard is described in Bellcore
TA-TSY-000253 (Issue 3, July 1988).

SONET transports telephony signals as payloads of multiple DS0
(Dee-Ess-Zero) channels, each DS0 being 64 Kbit/s arranged as 8
bits/channel with an 8000 Hz channel repetition rate.  24 channels are
grouped (with one frame bit) into a frame; the resulting signal is
called a DS1, and is the basic T1 signal.  I won't go into the various
signaling and framing formats here (unless someone really twists my
arm).

SONET provides for several optical transmission rates; these are:
STS-1, OC-1: 51.840 Mbit/s, 672 DS0 channels
STS-3, OC-3: 155.52 Mbit/s, 3x OC-1
 ... and on, up to:
STS-48, OC-48: 2488.32 Mbit/s, 48x OC-1

(STS-N = Synchronous Transport Signal level N, the signal description)
(OC-N  = Optical Carrier level N, the STS-N after conversion to light)

Note that the data rates above do not correspond exactly to the number
of DS-0 channels being transported.  This is due to additional
overhead data in the SONET signal.

The SONET signal uses laser light sources and single-mode fiber.

Here at Optilink, we were amused to see the Northern Telecom press
release (in which they claimed to be the first), as we have had a
SONET digital loop carrier system in field-trials at several sites for
a few months now.  The article in the paper was a bit sketchy, so
perhaps they are indeed first at _something_SONET_, but certainly they
are not alone in the field.


Paul M. Elliott      Optilink Corporation     [phone]
         {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!elliott
"I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure."


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

From: Vladimir Taft <hplabs![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 7 khz Technology for ISDN
Date: 13 Oct 89 22:57:22 GMT
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA


7 kHz audio standard uses a more sophisticated encoding algorithm
which provides better quality than the older standard (8-bit PCM) at
the same bit rate of 64 Kbps.

As far as the rest of your questions - sorry, I have not seen the article.

Vladimir Taft

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

From: Vladimir Taft <hplabs![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: SW56, ISDN Comm Cards For Macintoshes
Date: 13 Oct 89 22:52:17 GMT
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA


I would recommend to call Sofcom Inc. (division of Hayes) in San
Francisco.  The name of the president of the division is Mr. M.
Drabkin.  Get the number by calling [phone] (Sorry, I do not
have it handy).

Regards,

Vlad Taft

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Measured Service: What Does It Cost?
Date: 16 Oct 89 19:19:27 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton MA USA


In article <[e-mail]>, comcon![e-mail]
(Roy M. Silvernail) writes:

> Do you have measured service? What are the actual rates? Do you have
> to juggle zones? Do you have a free-call area? If you were there for
> the beginning of measured service, what was the introduction like?
> (was there a public outcry? Was the public even consulted?)

Here in Mass., there are measured residence options but mostly it's
flat-rate.  Business is measured-only IF there are more than 160k
local lines, otherwise you can get either.  I.e., the boonies are
flat, but Boston is measured.

Measured local service, particularly for residence, is a truly awful
idea.  The usual justification is that it's "fair" that people who use
more should pay more.  But what is fair about monopoly rates that
don't correspond to costs?  Most local measured service plans don't
have any relationship to costs whatsover.

The classic study was done in Denver in the mid-1970s, where local
calls can go up to 53 miles.  The cost of the typical local call
turned out to be under a mill a minute.  Only the longest were around
2c/minute.  It's no doubt part of the Colorado PUC's public record,
but I don't have a reference.

New York State is fairly rigorous about cost-based rates.  New York
City, with its extremely high percentage of tandem switching, is all
measured.  Costs vary with time of day, and there are multiple
distance zones.  Residence can be timed or untimed.  Untimed is about
8c/call peak hour, timed about 7c plus a penny a minute after the
first five.  I don't have the details handy.  But in any case, NYC is
NOT typical of the rest of the country!

I once worked at a firm whose major business was intervening in telco
rate cases.  Measured local service was a common telco ploy to raise
rates.  The cost of measurement typically exceeded the cost of the
calls being measured!  Thus it was actually padding the rate base,
costing the ratepayers money, and not buying any actual benefit.  If
overpriced local calls cause people to talk less, then the actual
cost/minute of the network will go up.  That's terribly
counterproductive and makes poor public policy.  Typically 80% of
telco local cost is fixed, 20% usage-sensitive.  What usage sensitive
pricing plan was like that?  Usually it gets more than 50% of revenue
from usage.

Local calls, especially within a short distance (not the
Atlanta/Denver multi-office extended local areas) are incredibly
cheap, on a marginal usage cents per minute basis.  If the telco could
really justify the rate on the grounds of cost, it would be
economically valid and "fair".  But then it would be too cheap to
bother with.  Which means they really shouldn't bother, but they
always come back again and again...

     fred

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

From: "Fred E.J. Linton" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Some Comments on the History of Repertory Telephone Dialers
Date: 16 Oct 89 19:38:40 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>,
    kitty![e-mail] (Larry Lippman) writes:
>
>     A few years later year came Son of Rapidial, more commonly
> known as Magicall.
>
    Ah, yes, the Magicall!  I picked one of these up at the New
Haven Boulevard flea market a few (ten?) years ago, only to learn that
the thing needs a power supply (P/S) and a dialer unit (D/U) (all I
got was the box with the four-inch-broad tape ribbon and R/PB head).

Has anyone any suggestions regarding the voltages and current ratings
that missing power should produce, and which voltage is applied where
in the tape box?

Alternatively, can anyone suggest a source for either P/S or D/U?

Respond directly, and I can supply relevant part numbers w/o boring
everyone else.  Many thanks!


                                    -- Fred

ARPA/Internet:  [e-mail]
Bitnet:         FLINTON%eagle@WESLEYAN[.bitnet]
from uucp:      ...!{research, mtune!arpa, uunet}!eagle.Wesleyan.EDU!FLinton
on ATT-Mail:    !fejlinton
Tel.:           + 1 203 776 2210 (home)  OR  + 1 203 347 9411 xt 2249 (work)
Telex:          <USA> + 15 122 3413   FEJLINTON
CompuServe ID:  72037,1054
F-Net (guest):  [e-mail]    OR    ...!inria.inria.fr!linton

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

From: [e-mail] (Stan Krieger)
Subject: Re: The Day Bell System Died
Date: 16 Oct 89 19:50:08 GMT
Organization: Summit NJ


>                     "The Day Bell System Died"

>               Lyrics Copyright (C) 1983 by Lauren Weinstein

>                       (To the tune of "American Pie")

>              (With apologies to Don McLean)


About the time of divestiture, there was a show on PBS about the AT&T
breakup, and over the closing credits there was a satire on "Breaking
up is Hard to Do" (I think it was "Breaking up is Hard on You").

Does anyone have the words to that one?


Stan Krieger
Summit, NJ
 ...!att!attunix!smk

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #455
*****************************










Date:     Tue, 17 Oct 89 7:50:55 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #456
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 17 Oct 89 07:50:08 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 456

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    708 Prefixes To Be Removed From 312 (Doug Blair)
    Potpourri: Thoughts About 708 (David W. Tamkin)
    Touch-Tone service in Australia (Henry Mensch)
    Cellular Phone Antenna Question (Wayne Folta)
    New Book: The Cuckoo's Egg  (Alain Arnaud)
    Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles (Joel B. Levin)
    Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles (Mike Morris)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: 708 Prefixes To Be Removed From 312
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 16:26:04 CDT
From: Doug Blair <[e-mail]>

Patrick:

Just got through typing in all the prefixes that are going to move to
708. Gotta drive a little awk script to make that move on 11/11/89. Now
there's no sense in everyone all typiing it in is there? So, if it
hasn't been sent into the dcom.telecom file yet, please do so with the
appended list. If you'd like the script too, let me know.

 ___  _           _  _             _
|   || |_  ___  _| ||_| ___  __  _| |_  Doug Blair    Obedient Software Corp.
| | ||  .\/ ._\/.  || |/ ._\|  \|_   _| 1007 Naperville Rd, Wheaton IL  60187
|___||___/\___/\___||_|\___/|_|_| |_|   obdient!blair [e-mail]


The following prefixes will move from area code 312 to area code 708
on November 11, 1989. Note that 555 (directory assistance) and 591
(high volume calls - radio stations etc) and 976 (dial-it phone
programs and recordings) will remain in both 312 and 708. This info
typed from an Illinois Bell pamphlet dated 5/15/89 and is subject
to change!


201     206    206    208    209    210    213    215    216
218    223     228    231     232    234    240    244    246
249    250     251    253    255    256     257    258    259
260    272     279    289     290    291    293    295     296
297    298    299    301    303    304    305    307    310
314    317    318    319    323    325    328    330    331
333    335    336    339    343    344    345    349    350
351    352    354    355    356    357    358    359    360
361    362    364    365    366     367    369     371    377
381    382    383    385    386    387    388    389    390
391    392     393    394     395    396    397    398    402
403    405     406    409    412    416    418    420    422
423    424     425    426    428    429    430    432    433
437    438    439    441    442    446    447    448    449
450    451    452    453    455    456    457    458    459
460    462    464    466    469    470    473    474    475
479    480    481    482    484    485    490    491    492
495    496    497    498    499    501    503    505    506
510     512    513    515    516    517    518    519    520
524    526    529    530    531    532    534    535    537
540    541    543    544    546    547    551    552     553
554    555     556    557    560    562    563    564    566
570    571    572    573    574    575    576    577    578
579    584    587    590    591    593    594    595    596
597    598    599    603    605    612    614    615    617
619    620    623    627    628    629    632    634    635
636    639    640    647    652    653    654    655    656
657    658    662    665    668    669    671    672    673
674    675    676    677    678    679    680    681    682
683    687    688    689    690    691    692    695    696
697    698    699    705    706    709    713    717    719
720    724    729    730    739    740    741    742    746
747    748     749    754    755    756    757    758    759
766    771    773    780    788    789    790    795    796
798    799    801    803    806    810    816    817    818
820    823    824    825    827    830    831    832    833
834    835     837    839    840    841    843    844    848
849     850    851    852    857    858    859    860    862
863    864    865    866    867    868    869    870    872
877    879    882    884    885    887    888    891    892
893    894    895    896    897    898    904    905    910
913     916    920    926    931    932    934    937     940
941    945    946    948    949    952    953    954    956
959     960     961    963    964    965    966    967    968
969    971    972    974    976    979    980    981    982
983    985    986    990    991    998    ---     ---     ---

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

Subject: Potpourri: Thoughts About 708
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 89 17:46:49 CDT
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

Just a few stray thoughts after reading some recent issues:

Yes, Boushelle Carpet Cleaners still advertise in metropolitan Chicago
that their phone number is "HUdson three, two seven hundred."  The
rugs you are having cleaned by Boushelle might have been purchased
from Lincoln Carpeting, whose jingle includes "NAtional two, nine
thousand, NAtional two [ring ring], nine thousand."  The video for
Lincoln's commercial reads "NA2-9000" but I think Boushelle's spells
out "HUdson" or "Hudson".  Neither displays the prefix as "483" or
"622".  However, with the upcoming area code split, the videos for
both now show a small, silent "(312)" to the upper left.

Business cards, outdoor signs, and trucks are beginning to show the
708 area code here, and business in the city of Chicago are beginning
to include the (312) instead of just naming seven digits.  No
advertising that I've seen in newspapers or on television or heard on
radio as yet gives 708 for any suburban business.

Our choke prefix here is 591.  It will be seven-digit dialable from
both 312 and 708 (708 callers will still be charged for a call to
Chicago-Canal East), but I believe that outside area code 708 one will
have to dial appropriately to reach area code 312: +1 708 591 XXXX
will not work.

There are only two local telcos in 312 and 708 (not counting cellular
companies).  Illinois Bell covers almost everything, but Central
Telephone has two CO's whose areas both straddle the 312/708 border.
The two companies are handling directory assistance rather
differently:

If you are calling from Illinois Bell service in Chicago and want DA
for a 708 suburb or are calling from Illinois Bell service in a 708
suburb and want DA for Chicago, you'll have to dial 1-NPA-555-1212,
but it will be charged only 30c, same as the cost to call 411 for your
own area code.  I'm not sure about calls from IBT-owned payphones to
DA for the other side of the city limits; they currently do not charge
for 411.  (Of course, from a COCOT, it's whatever the traffic will
bear.  I seriously doubt that any COCOT, even those along the 312/708
borders, will treat an eleven-digit call to DA for the other side any
differently for a call to DA in another state.)  Presumably, during
the grace period, 411 will be acceptable for requesting numbers in the
other area code; Illinois Bell could not give me a definite answer on
that nor on the cost of DA calls from payphones to the other side of
the line.

 From Centel service, however, DA for 708 and 312 will be maintained
in a single location, and you will dial 411 for either.  The operator
or the recording will include the area code when he/she/it tells you
the number.  DA will still be 30c per call (but with two free calls
per line per billing cycle, free from Centel-owned payphones).

708 will, quite unnecessarily, be the first disjointed NPA: of the
four geographic holes in the city of Chicago, one will be in 312, one
is a tiny patch condemned for a future highway interchange that has no
phones, but the other two will be partly in 312 but mostly in 708.
Thus 708 will be in three pieces.  The mess could have been avoided by
keeping in 312 five of the prefixes that are going into 708 (covering
four suburbs), and I don't know whether this lame-brained notion was
IBT's or Bellcore's idea, but as with the way IBT is handling
directory assistance, the people at Centel just shake their heads and
sigh.  I live a block's walk from each of these two extra borders
between the codes and a half mile from the outer perimeter of Chicago
(where the bulk of 708 begins); if anyone will be in the area and
wants a tour of places where adjacent houses or stores will be an
eleven-digit call apart or where it will require an eleven-digit call
to reach the police or fire department, let me know.  Included will be
two shopping plazas in Harwood Heights that have stores in alternating
area codes.  I do know of one business in Chicago that realized they'd
been assigned a Niles prefix and howled at IBT about it; they now have
a new number and will stay in 312 with their neighbors.  I hope they
are making IBT pay for their new stationery, new advertising, and
notice to existing customers.

One curiosity is that as a Centel customer in Chicago I can dial two
area code 708 numbers with three digits: 411 reaches a Des Plaines
number (probably on the 699 or 391 prefix) and 611 reaches (708)
698-9955 in Park Ridge.  Likewise, Illinois Bell's area code 708
customers will dial 611 and reach [phone] [at least from
suburbs along the northern edge and the northern part of the western
edge of Chicago].

David W. Tamkin [e-mail]
{attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier P. O. Box 813 Rosemont, Illinois
60018-0813 [phone] [phone] BIX: dattier GEnie:
D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 Jolnet is a public access system, where
every user expresses personal opinions.

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

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 05:36:16 -0400
From: Henry Mensch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Touch-Tone service in Australia
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Mr. Kendall states in his recent item that there is no touch-tone
service in Australia; I must disagree.  I lived on Australia's Gold
Coast from January until June of this year, and the only phones I saw
there which were *not* touch-tone were coin-operated payphones.

In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, I found that touch-tone service was
non-existent; it did seem to be an up-and-coming thing for many
regions, though.  From Mr. Kendall's network address, I see he is in
Tasmania, which may be regarded as something of an outpost (with
respect to new features) as far as Telecom Australia is concerned.

# Henry Mensch    /   <[e-mail]>   /   E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
# <[e-mail]-relay> / <[e-mail]> / <[e-mail]>

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

From: [e-mail] (Wayne Folta)
Subject: Cellular Phone Antenna Question
Date: 16 Oct 89 22:37:04 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Wayne Folta)
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science,
Lines: 18

The price of cellular phones has been dropping recently, so I got a
reconditioned phone for $230 (Fed. Expressed to my door).  It comes in
a backpack, with a magnetic-mount antenna.  I'd like to put a little
work into it and make a nicer, more permanent set-up, so:

Can anyone tell me about cellular phone antennas?  Why the little
curly part of the antenna (does it have something to do with
horizontal v. vertical polarization?)?  Why is the Radio Shack window-
mount antenna so much smaller than my magnetic mount?  And why does
the Radio Shack antenna have such a large passive coupler (I think)
base?

I would like to disguise the antenna, to avoid break-ins, as the rest
of the system will be hidden.  Any clever ideas here?  Maybe use the
FM antenna?  Maybe an antenna in the back window?


Wayne Folta          ([e-mail]  128.8.128.42)

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

From: Alain Arnaud <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Book: The Cuckoo's Egg
Date: 16 Oct 89 14:05:34 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


I picked up a new book over the week-end, titled "The Cuckoo's egg or
Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage". It is by
Clifford Stoll, and the publisher is Doubleday. Here's a synopsis of
the write-up on the inside flap.

"For months a computer intruder moved through a maze of American
military and research computers like an invisible man - until Clifford
Stoll saw his footprints. Over a year later, to the delight of the
baffled CIA, FBI and NSA, Stoll nailed him, and wound up on the front
page of the New York Times. With all the supense of a classic spy
novel.

Clifford Stoll was an astrophysicist turned Unix systems administrator
at Lawrence Berkeley lab when his discovery of a 75-cent accounting
error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on the
system. Instead of simply expelling the intruder, Stoll let him wander
through the system while carefully rewcording every keystroke.  Thus
began a year of stalking an elusive, methodical hacker who was
prowling the nation's conputer network, (Arpanet, Milnet...) using
numerous techniques- from simply guessing passwords, to exploiting
software bugs in gnu-emacs, to setting up bogus programs, to gain
umauthorized access to American computer files on several military,
government and academic computer systems..."

Excellent book, a real page turner with lots of details on Unix systems and
the Internet.

This book is as good if not better than Tracy Kidder's "The Soul of the
Machine".

Alan Arnaud

Std Disclaimer + Just a consultant
Guest Account: [e-mail]
Permanent Account: uunet!ecla!arnaud

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

From: Joel B Levin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 13:18:44 EDT

>Picture it: a small boy next to a huge pile of cookies with chocolate
>around his mouth, and the jingle

>"How many cookies did Andrew eat?
>
>     ANdrew 8-8000"

Wow.  You don't say what that was for, or where, it was used, but I
remember that phone number from radio commercials for a Boston area
carpet cleaner (or maybe seller).  Was that it?  Or were there more
than one metro areas with commercials plugging that same number for
local firms?

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

From: Mike Morris <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles
Date: 16 Oct 89 20:42:28 GMT
Reply-To: Mike Morris <[e-mail]>


(John Boteler) writes:

>In discussing how our analog brains work, the subject of telephone
>number jingles in advertisments came up. She pointed out how such a
>simple device could jog our memories.

>It must have worked because I have never forgotten this one.

>Picture it: a small boy next to a huge pile of cookies with chocolate
>around his mouth, and the jingle

>"How many cookies did Andrew eat?
>
>     ANdrew 8-8000"

While not a telephone number, or even a jingle, it reminded me of a
gag "memo" that was on the San Diego PD watch commanders bulletin
board one April 1st a number of years ago...

     Before I type what it said, a little info is necessary: Most
police departments use a "ten-code" on their 2-way radio: 10-1 means
"You're in a bad radio transmission location, I can't hear you",
"10-2" means "Your radio signal is good, go ahead", "10-4" is
"affirmative", "10-7" means "out of the car, away from the radio",
"10-8" means "In the car, available for assignment", etc.  There are
also the "Code" signals such as "Code 3" meaning that red lights and
siren are in use, "Code 4" meaning "Everything's OK, no assistance
required", "Code 7" meaning "Out of the car for lunch or dinner", etc.

The memo went something like:

     Units going 10-8 from Code-7 will use proper grammar!  No longer
will we be "10-8" we will be "10-EATEN"!

Since I was in San Diego only for one day (the April 1st of the memo),
I have no idea if "10-eaten" was used on the air...

Mike Morris                      UUCP: [e-mail]
                                 ICBM: 34.12 N, 118.02 W
#Include quote.cute.standard     PSTN: 818-447-7052
#Include disclaimer.standard     cat flames.all > /dev/null

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #456
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 18 Oct 89 1:00:20 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #457
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 18 Oct 89 01:00:07 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 457

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    San Fransisco Horror (TELECOM Moderator)
    Update on 415 Area Code (Linc Madison)
    Noise Problems from "Metering Pulses" in Europe and Asia (Larry Lippman)
    Small Phone System (David C. Troup)
    Dialing Procedures in Dallas (Linc Madison)
    Payphones and Calling Cards (Linc Madison)
    Voice Mail & Ringmaster (Richard S. Walker)
    Billing of Yore (Johnny Zweig)
    Re: NUA for Compuserve? (Rupert Mohr)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:     Wed, 18 Oct 89 0:08:45 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  San Fransisco Horror

At the time this is written, chaos is reigning in the Bay Area, and
all telecommunications are knocked out. The latest death count is
about 200 people, and this may be a low estimate. A large fire is
burning out of control and has destroyed much property.

I wish nothing but the best to our readers in the San Fransisco and
Oakland area, and I hope that as communications are restored we will
receive detailed reports of the disaster, particularly in reference to
telecom activities.

Berkeley is totally off line at this time, and email contact is not
possible with the sites in the San Fransisco area.

We seem to have been hit with so many disasters recently. First came
the storm on the east coast; then a few days ago, the storm in the
south which affected Texas and Louisiana.....and now this new horror.


Patrick Townson

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 01:51:36 PDT
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Update on 415 Area Code
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

I had a little time to kill this weekend, so I did a little research,
with a little help from two Oakland directories (June 1988 & 1989) and
one San Francisco (Sept. 1989).  In the one-year span between the two
Oakland books, 29 prefixes were added.  At that rate of consumption,
the supply of NNX prefixes would've been exhausted by mid-1992.  If
415 weren't being split, the supply of NXX codes would run out by
about 1996.

I went a bit deeper, though.  Area 415 includes one area north of San
Francisco, Marin County.  Everything else north to the Oregon border
is 707.  Seemed logical to me that Marin should've been thrown in with
the relatively uncrowded 707.  It turns out that out of 30-odd
prefixes in Marin and about 130 in A/C 707, there are only 7
duplications -- *all* in San Rafael on the 415 side.  Neither area has
significant growth in number of prefixes assigned.

The other interesting thing to note is which N0X/N1X prefixes are
coming on line first.  The first three were 302, 502, and 709.  The
next few include 506, 516, 601, 705, and 706.  The interesting part
comes from looking at the NPAs corresponding to these combinations:
Delaware, western Kentucky, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Long Island,
Mississippi, northern central Ontario, and northwest Mexico (hack).
All except for 516 are areas of low population where people in this
area are relatively unlikely to call.  (In fact, the way I found the
last five is that if you dial, for example, 214-XXXX, the system waits
for you to dial the last three digits so it can give you its "You
moron, dial 1 first" recording.)  I'm just curious why Pac*Bell
decided to pick on Lawn Guy Land ;-)

Linc Madison   =   [e-mail]

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

Subject: Noise Problems from "Metering Pulses" in European and Asian Countries
Date: 16 Oct 89 20:05:29 EDT (Mon)
From: Larry Lippman <kitty![e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> H.Shrikumar{[e-mail]}
writes:

> >> ... The usual system of billing
> >> calls elsewhere is with "metering pulses". Each pulse is worth so much
> >> money. On a local call, the pulses go by very slowly and on an
> >> international call the pulses come rapid-fire.

> In India too, where we have these metering pulses, most places dont
> not get itemized billing. However, the new electronic exchanges that
> are now being set up provide metering pulses only as a sort as
> "backward compatibility" to the local exchanges that demand it.

> BTW, these metering pulses cause havoc with dial-up data-comm. They
> are audible right through the subscribes phone set. We have spent a
> good amount of time with various combinations of modems and metering
> pulse rates.

    Metering pulses generated by central office apparatus in
various European and Asian countries may be a problem for data
communication users.

    There are different metering pulse schemes in use throughout
the world, but I believe the most common method uses simplex pulses of
50 Hz AC.  Using a repeating coil in a trunk circuit, 50 Hz is pulsed
through a single primary winding.  There are two secondary windings,
one of which is placed in series with the tip side of the line, and
the other is placed in series with the ring side of the line.  The
secondary windings are arranged so that their phases are *opposed*,
which means that no 50 Hz tone will be audible in the station
instrument.

    The meter is an electromechanical counter which is sensitive
to 50 Hz signals, and is connected with one side to ground, and the
other side connected to BOTH tip and ring using two series capacitors.
While the meter is located in the central office, the system is
intended that "private meters" can be used at subscriber premises.

    The effective method of signaling as described above is
simplex.  However, the inaudibility of the 50 Hz metering pulse is
only as good as the longitudinal balance of the cable plant.  Cable
plant in poor condition, especially that which may be subject to
effects of moisture will result in a longitudinal imbalance, thereby
increasing the detected level of these metering pulses.

    An appropriately designed impedance network located at the
station may be used to correct for longitudinal imbalance of the cable
plant and thereby reduce the level of the metering pulse.  I have an
off-the-wall suggestion for such a crude, but perhaps effective
balance network.  Obtain a 2,500 ohm wirewound potentiometer and two
0.22 uF non-polarized capacitors rated for 200 WVDC.  Connect the
wiper arm of the potentiometer to a GOOD earth ground.  Connect the
tip side of the telephone line to one side of the potentiometer using
the first 0.22 uF series capacitor; connect the ring side of the
telephone line to the other side of the potentiometer using the second
0.22 uF capacitor.  Adjust the potentiometer for minimum audible level
of the metering pulses.

    While I have not had firsthand experience with metering pulses
in the U.S. (where they are not used), I did acquire some knowledge of
the topic back in 1977 when I was involved with a project for the
government of Egypt.

<> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp.
<> UUCP  {allegra|boulder|decvax|rutgers|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry
<> TEL [phone] | 716/773-1700  {hplabs|utzoo|uunet}!/      \uniquex!larry
<> FAX [phone] | 716/773-2488      "Have you hugged your cat today?"

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

From: "David C. Troup  -  Skunk Works : 2600hz" <carroll1![e-mail]>
Subject: Small Phone System
Date: 17 Oct 89 03:22:27 GMT
Organization: Carroll College Dept of Artificial Intelligence


I have stumbled across a box about the size of a Telebit Trailblazer
which reads:

    TelExpand (system 1)
    R.M. Fuller Company

    The front has l.e.d.'s for...

    In use; Privacy mode; delayed response; priority response; call
    forward; pager alert; answer machine; remote access.

    The back panel has two phone jacks - wall and phone.
    a program and single/multi switch.

    And on the bottom, the sticker reads:

    TeleExpand
    Advanced features telephone system

    R.M. Fuller Company
    902 industry Drive
    Seattle, Wa
    98188

So! Anyone know how to use this? Anyone ever HEARD of  this unit?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.


"We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, knowin' that ain't allowed"__
        _______  _______________    |David C. Troup / Surf Rat

        _______)(______   |         |[e-mail] : mail
   _____________________________|414-524-6809___________________________

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 02:11:48 PDT
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Dialing Procedures in Dallas
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

Various contributors have referred to the horrible situation in
Dallas.  As a former resident who still visits frequently, I can tell
you it's quite confusing, and largely needlessly so.

First of all, Dallas (and all of Texas, at least the Bell parts) have
had MANDATORY 1+ dialing since the introduction of DDD.  It has never
been possible to dial NPA-NNX-XXXX.  Dallas and Fort Worth are toll to
one another, but there are some prefixes in the area that are desig-
nated "Metro", meaning calls to/from both Dallas and Fort Worth are
local.  Until quite recently, a subscriber with a Metro number could
call from or be called by any telephone in the expanded area with just
the 7-digit number.

As a result of the recent introduction of NXX prefixes and the
upcoming new area code, several changes have occurred:

1) To dial from Dallas to Tyler (both 214), you must dial 1+214+NXX-XXXX.
   However, to dial from Fort Worth to Waco (both 817) you dial only
   1+NNX-XXXX.  Same applies with 0+ calls.

2) To call from a regular Dallas number to a Fort Worth Metro number,
   you MUST dial 817-NNX-XXXX.  If you dial just the 7 digits, you get
   an error message.  If you dial 1+817-NNX-XXXX, you get error msg.

3) To call from a regular Dallas number to a Dallas Metro number, you
   MUST dial 214-NXX-XXXX, *even though* it's a local call in the same
   area code!!  Same error messages as above.

4) To call out from any Metro number, I believe (I'm not certain) you
   must dial only the area code for local calls, but 1+ if it's toll
   and so on.

The upshot is that you MUST dial 1 if it's toll, and you MUST NOT dial
1 if it's not toll.  You must dial the area code whenever dealing with
a Metro number, though.  However, to make things even WORSE, in
Houston, along the border between 713/409, some local calls are
1+713-NNX-XXXX or the same with 409 from 713.

Got that?  There'll be a quiz later....

Linc Madison   =   [e-mail]

P.S. (dead thread, I know, but...)  My all-time favorite call sign,
which I didn't see in the discussion here, is a TV station in Chicago:
WTTW, your Window To The World.  A station here in San Francisco is
now using that slogan (KTSF-26), so I wonder what's happened to the
Chicago WTTW.

[Moderator's Note: WTTW-Channel 11 is still operating in Chicago. It
is our Public TV station, and they still use 'Window To The World' as
their slogan. My main concern now, Link, is what happened to YOU in the
earthquake. Communications with Berkeley have been lost for several
hours. Let us know you are safe, and what's happening out there.  PT]

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 02:22:35 PDT
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Payphones and Calling Cards
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

I've recently had occasion to make a few long distance calls from
payphones, and have a few of my own stories to add to the collection.

The local COCOTS payphone intercepts as "invalid number" 10288, 10222,
10333, and 10777.  It also tried to charge me out-of-state DA charge
for an in-state DA call.  (I was just testing it -- in-state DA is
free from Pac*Bell payphones.)  However, it allowed 950-XXXX and 800
access numbers and didn't disable the keypad.

I tried (from a *real* payphone == Pac*Bell) to make some calls on my
MCI and Sprint calling cards.  Dialing 10XXX-0-NPA-NXX-XXXX and then
punching in my card number at the tone gave me "invalid card"
responses on both carriers.  (No, I *didn't* switch them around.)  The
Sprint intercept particularly surprised me, because it cut in
immediately after the fourth digit.  Since they now assign random
14-digit numbers (instead of the old YOUR-HOME-PHONE+XXXX), I was
surprised that they intercepted as soon as they saw that I wasn't
dialing the XXXX of the target number.  Both of my cards work fine
with the appropriate 950/800 number, and the Sprint operator who came
on-line after I punched my number in twice was able to enter it from
his console without problem, but their computers don't accept their
own calling cards.  I was calling from Sunnyvale, Calif., and other
places in the San Francisco LATA.

Linc Madison   =   [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 09:02:19 edt
From: "WALKER,RICHARD S" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Voice Mail & Ringmaster


I have a Voice Mail card (PC Systems) in my 286 and I'd like to set it
up to recognize different rings that Southern Bell's Ringmaster
service offers.

Does anyone know if a programming solution is possible?

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

From: Johnny Zweig <[e-mail]>
Subject: Billing of Yore
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: U of Illinois, CS Dept., Systems Research Group
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 16:43:53 GMT

I am curious if people know how long-distance billing used to be
handled in days of yore. In particular, how did it evolve as
technology went from patch cords to SxS to *ESS? I mean, in 1921 I
gather you placed a long-distance call by telling the local operator
to patch you through -- where did the billing information reside?

I am also curious about how hotels have charged for phone-usage in the
days since they started doing so. Before PBX's, it seems like they
would either have had to guesstimate the charges or have some
complicated arrangement with the phone company to inform them at the
time the call is made how much it costs.

Johnny Curious

[Moderator's Note: Years ago, operators kept manual paper tickets which
they wrote up as they placed each call. These tickets were stamped in
a clock when the connection started, and stamped again when it ended. The
tickets were collected by clerks who went around to each operator position
picking them up every few minutes. The clerks computed the time and charges
for each ticket, and when the subscriber had requested this information
they were called back with details. The tickets were sorted by calling
number and placed in each subscriber's folder where they were held for
billing. Other clerks continually kept pulling these folders and posting
tickets on the appropriate ledger card. Like today, subscribers were on
cycle billing; that is, a certain number were billed each working day of
the month. There were 22 billing cycles per month. I have in my grandparent's
papers a phone bill from Illinois Bell dated May 13, 1931. The statement
has a *handwritten* list of the long distance calls, plus a handwritten
cover sheet showing the total bill for the month was $3.60.

Hotels had an arrangement with telco which was that they (hotel) guarenteed
payment for all guest calls in exchange for a commission for handling the
call, as well as billing and collecting. Following a long distance call,
the hotel was notified, usually within minutes and always within an hour
of the charges for the call. They added this to the guest's bill and the
guest paid when checking out, or immediatly, depending on his credit. The
telco billed the hotel once a month, and gave typically a 10-15 percent
discount on the total bill. If as sometimes happened, telco failed to
quote time and charges in a timely way and the guest checked out without
paying -- because the amount was not known by the cashiers when he paid
his bill -- then telco had to absorb those charges.  Usually in high
traffic locations, telco would call the hotel every few minutes to quote
time and charges for the calls just completed. Sometimes they used a
telex machine to transmit this information.   PT]

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

From: Operator <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: NUA for Compuserve?
Date: 16 Oct 89 15:23:00 GMT
Organization: RMI Net Aachen * W. Germany


CompuServe has 3132 as NUA for its network and then
asks
Host name:

Rupert

*****************************************************************
   ___  ____  ___    _  _ ___ ___   ___ ___ ___     ___ _  _
  /__/ / / /   /    /\ / /__   /   /__//__//   /__//__ /\ /
 / \  /   / __/_   /  / /__   /   /  //  //__ /  //__ /  /

*****************************************************************
* addresses:  uucp   [e-mail]  [e-mail]    *
*             cis    72446,415            Fax    [phone]   *
*****************************************************************

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #457
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 18 Oct 89 2:02:25 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #458
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 18 Oct 89 01:59:41 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 458

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Caller ID at American Express (John Croll)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Bob Jacobson)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Roger B.A. Klorese)
    Re: Technical Specifications of TTY Machines (Michael S. Cross)
    Re: Wrong Number (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Telecommunications in Belgium - Part 2 (Alain Fontaine)
    Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question (Brian Kantor)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Scott D. Green)
    Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count (Stephen Tell)
    Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (Dennis Brophy)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 06:35:59 -0700
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Caller ID at American Express

At the risk of being the straw that broke the camel's back...

In Telecom V9:454, John Levine ([e-mail]) writes:

>By the way, I called American Express last week to argue about my
>bill.  Amex has been reported to have an 800 version of Caller ID that
>looks up the phone number of each call and translates it to the
>caller's card number.  When the person who answered asked me for my
>card number, I asked whether she could tell it from my phone number
>and she said she couldn't.  Either she was lying or they've turned it
>off.

I remember reading in Forbes (I think, it was some time ago) that
American Express Customer Services folks used to greet callers by name
as they answered the phone, taking advantage of the features of the
800 version of Caller ID to automatically look up the caller's
account.  They no longer do this, because it was so disconcerting to
their customers.  They received so many complaints from enough people
that they either turned it off, or instructed their people to no
longer say anything about it.  The article didn't say explicitly
whether they had turned it off, however.

 From this, my own conclusion is that the reaction to caller ID isn't
so much the explicit invasion of privacy as the fear that Big Brother
is always watching.  I know that this is just about the same thing,
but there is a difference between the abstract feeling that your
privacy isn't perfect and having your nose rubbed in it every time you
make a phone call.  After all, many times when you call someone you
wind up telling them who you are, anyway; having them greet you with
your name before you even get a word out is, to say the least,
disconcerting.  It puts the control of the conversation immediately
into the callee's hands, instead of the caller's.

John

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

From: Bob Jacobson <well![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: 17 Oct 89 07:52:08 GMT
Reply-To: Bob Jacobson <well![e-mail]>
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA


Caller ID for 911-E (enhanced) services has never been a source of
controversy.  California state law explicitly provides for the
sharing of personal telephone information, including telephone
numbers, with emergency service providers via the 911 service.
Regrettably, in many rural areas, telephone providers -- particularly
the larger firms, Pacific Bell and GTE California -- have not yet
upgraded their systems to provide 911-E.

It is unlikely that a call to Sears or American Express is going
to save someone's life.  Oh, wait:  I can just envisage a teenage
girl now, screaming at her parents, "I've just got to call and
order those new jeans or I'm going to die!"  Thank goodness for
Call ID: next time, the department store can anticipate this need
and mail out a solicitation to the family.  How nice.

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

From: "Roger B.A. Klorese" <mips!mips.com![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: 17 Oct 89 21:33:10 GMT
Reply-To: "Roger B.A. Klorese" <mips!mips.com![e-mail]>
Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Sunnyvale, CA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
boston.ma.us writes:

>Some of us left wing wackos who dislike the way that telcos are
>introducing Caller ID think that 911 is a fine example of how Caller
>ID should work.  If you dial 911, your call gets IDed.  If you dial
>the cops' regular seven-digit number you don't get IDed.

 ...but in many areas it is difficult, if not impossible to reach an
Emergency Services Dispatch Center with a seven-digit number.  In
Boston, for example, we were told that if we called the seven-digit
number for the local police station, they could not guarantee
emergency response.

ROGER B.A. KLORESE
MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.
phone: [phone]
928 E. Arques Ave.  Sunnyvale, CA 94086
[e-mail] {ames,decwrl,pyramid}!mips!rogerk "I want to live
where it's always Saturday."  -- Guadalcanal Diary

[Moderator's Note: But the theory is, if you have a dire emergency --
which is the *only* valid reason for calling 911 -- then you obviously
will want the police/fire/paramedic people to be able to immediatly
locate you with your emergency circumstances. If all you want to do is
call 911 to snitch on your neighbors, or report your car stolen, these
are not *emergency* problems, and you should be using the seven digit
administrative number.  Here in Chicago a huge number of calls to 911
are not *emergencies* at all, but simple complaints or requests to
file police reports, etc. 911 is only to be used when *immediate*
intervention is required to save a life or report a crime in progress,
or a fire going on *now*, etc.  And for those conditions, how could
anyone object to being immediatly identified and assisted?  PT]

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

Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 08:14:09 CDT
From: [e-mail] (Michael S Cross)
Subject: Re: Technical Specifications of TTY Machines
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

[Moderator's Note: Michael Morris passed along this letter received from
Mr. Cross, in response to an earlier article in the Digest.  PT]

I just finished reading your description of the TTY machines and just
wanted to say hello.  The building I am in now is one of the last
TELETYPE buildings left standing.  Just after divestiture we became
AT&T TELETYPE then just AT&T, we are now AT&T Bell Laboratories (for
about 1 1/2 years).  We don't make printers anymore :-(  Now our
standard products are the 6500 Multifunction Communications Controller
(IBM 3270 Market) and the 630 MTG.

We are moving to Naperville IL next Feb. providing the building is
complete.  The land has been sold to developers who are erecting a
shopping center as we "speak".  About the only things left to remind
us of TELETYPE are the Water Tower and our computer names.  My main
machine, ttrdc, was shutdown last week and we have aquired a
mail-server named 'ihc' for Indian Hill Court, the name of our new
building.  (this is a NetNews-server, cbnewsc) I feel sad that we are
loosing our "heritage", but data communications just ain't what they
used to be.  Gotta go now, take care!


        Michael S. Cross  ([e-mail])  (312)-982-2018
     AT&T Bell Laboratories, 5555 Touhy Ave., Skokie, IL  60077

  ______________________To Live is to risk Dying____________________________


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

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 14:14:18 edt
From: Bob Goudreau <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:  Wrong Number
Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (VLD/VMB)
writes:

>61 is the Australia country code, and 8 is the city code for
>Adelaide.  In taking some notes from a recent New York Times
>Magazine, I had to catch myself confusing 61_2 (city code is
>that of Sydney) with area 612 in Minnesota, where I have been
>to this year.

This seems to be not-uncommon practice for Australian firms.  I've
seen some ads for various other Australian companies where the same
thing was done: the country code and city code are run together and
displayed inside parentheses.  For example, (617) xxx xxxx.  This is
*extremely* misleading for North American readers, who are used to
North American numbers in exactly the same format, but where the
3-digits-inside-parens refers to the area code.  (In particular, the
above example parses out to a number in the Boston vicinity.)

Readers will naturally assume that the number in the ad (which being
placed in a US magazine was obviously intended for a US audience)
refers to a US office of the company.  Of course, such companies are
getting exactly what they deserve: less business because potential
customers can't reach them.  This will continue until they list their
numbers according to internationally accepted standards: +61 7 xxx
xxxx, for example.


Bob Goudreau                [phone]
Data General Corporation        ...!mcnc!rti!xyzzy!goudreau
62 Alexander Drive            [e-mail]
Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

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

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 16:34:57 +0100
From: "Alain FONTAINE (Postmaster - NAD)" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Telecommunications in Belgium - Part 2 - Numbering and dialing

On 9 Oct 89 16:03:46 GMT you said:

>This is an historical artifact.  Some (ten?) years ago all telephone
>numbers in Belgium were changed.  Before that time a telephone number
>consisted of a two digit area code (including leading zero) and a 6
>digit local number, or a three digit area code plus a 5 digit local
>number.  So a telephone number was always 8 digits including area
>code.  This changed overnight throughout Belgium to a telephone number
>of 9 digits including area code.  In most places the local number got
>an additional digit.  The exceptions were the cities with area codes
>(at that time) of 04, 07 and 09; there the area code was changed and
>the local number unchanged.

The historical note is correct (it was done nicely, if I remember
correctly).  And since then, no new area number has been attributed.
And I still believe that we could see a 04, 07 or 09 zone again some
day...

>When I was in Belgium this summer I checked it, but as far as I know
>all special numbers are 3 digits starting with either 1 or 9.  I
>remember something like 985 information in French and 995 information
>in Dutch.  But I believe this is different for the different areas.
>I.e. some areas do not have information in French, while others do not
>have it in Dutch while a few in the German speaking part have also
>German numbers.

Three digit numbers for special services were replaced on October 30,
1987 by the new numbers I described, all over the country. It may be
that the 995 (French) and 975 (Dutch) for information did remain as
aliases for those poor stangers who come in Belgium once in a while,
and insist on relying on their old notes instead of getting up to date
information from, say, a telephone directory. Is that not nice of us???
There is no technical reason to explain the fact that service is
not available in any language all over the country : pure politics: _(.

>Like most places in Europe letters were not used very much.  I
>remember a Belgian telephone that had the French layout for letters
>(that was some 30 years ago), but these letters were never used.  The
>only reason was probably that the telephone was French made.  (The
>French layout is similar to USA/UK layout, except for the position of
>letter O, which was, together with Q and Z, positioned with digit 0.)

The letters have been used much more in France. When, in the early
sixties, we were listening to some French radio stations, we always
heard telephone numbers (in Paris) starting with three letters
(exchange name) and then, uh, four digits.

 /AF

[Moderator's Note: My favorite Paris exchange was 'OPEra'.    PT]

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

From: Brian Kantor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question
Date: 17 Oct 89 20:35:54 GMT
Reply-To: Brian Kantor <[e-mail]>
Organization: UCSD Network Operations


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Wayne Folta) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 456, message 4 of 7

>Can anyone tell me about cellular phone antennas?  Why the little
>curly part of the antenna (does it have something to do with
>horizontal v. vertical polarization?)?

A non-technical explanation:

The cellular antenna is really two vertically-polarized antennas of
approximately 1/2 wavelength, and the curly part can be viewed as a
delay line to cause the two sections to work in phase.  Thus the
antenna has an effective "gain" (i.e., works better) than a simple
antenna.

I have a similar antenna for my ham radio equipment, except that as
it's for a frequency that is about half that of the cell-phone band,
my antenna is about twice the size.

          - Brian

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

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 10:10 EDT
From: "Scott D. Green" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves a Life

A great human interest story, but is this news?  This is exactly what
Enhanced 911 was designed for.  Doesn't the dispatcher, in addition to
displaying the calling phone number, also get a location on the
display?

Those callers requiring anonymity CAN call a non-emergency standard 7D
number in most communities.

Anyway, we could be on the verge of another CallerID go-round, if we're
not careful.


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

From: [e-mail] (Stephen Tell)
Subject: Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count
Date: 17 Oct 89 21:11:51 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Stephen Tell)
Organization: University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill


I notice from this list that our NPA (919, North Carolina) is 8th from
the top.  In my last bill from Southern Bell was an insert saying that
shortly we will be required to dial the whole 1+10 digits for long
distance calls.

I suspect that these observations are related; does anyone know if 919
is in for a split or are NXX prefixes now going to be assigned here?
I've notice no N0X/N1X prefixed yet; but don't have definite
information.


Steve

"If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and is in black and white,
chances are, it's a MACINTOSH!"

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 21:27:10 PDT
From: Dennis Brophy <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service

How does the phone service work during an earthquake?

I had to send a fax to San Jose this evening, and AT&T would not
complete the call, but MCI was able to reach my destination in San
Jose with out a problem.  Why would AT&T stop service while MCI
permits inbound calls to the Bay Area?

It is also intersting to note that Portland has NO local operator
assistance this evening: "All circuits are busy."  I guess if I wanted
to make a collect call from a pay phone I would not get a Portland
operator either.  (Is there such a thing as a local Portland operator,
or is the call being routed to another site in the nation which would
explain this?)

I've heard from others in Portland, that they have been performing
three-way-calls using MCI (not AT&T) from their homes to connect
people in the Sacramento area with people in South San Francisco
cities.

So, what is happening here?  Why can "little" MCI make its way into
the Bay Area while AT&T cannot?

[Moderator's Note: This issue of the Digest was prepared and ready for
transmission when this message arrived in the queue. The Digest was held
and this message was 'pasted on' the end.   PT]

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


End of TELECOM Digest V9 #458
*****************************












Date:     Wed, 18 Oct 89 19:57:52 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #459
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 18 Oct 89 19:50:27 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 459

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Disaster Communications (Ihor J. Kinal)
    Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (Evelyn C. Leeper)
    Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (Antonio Desimone)
    Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (Ken Jongsma)
    The Big One (Hector Myerston)
    Re: San Fransisco Horror (Louis A. Mamakos)
    PacBell Disaster Press Release (PacBell, via TELECOM Moderator)
    Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (Krishna Prasad)
    San Jose Report (Tom Ace)
    Twenty Miles South on 880 When It Hit (Doug Faunt)

[Moderator's Note: This issue of the Digest is devoted entirely to news
and views about the tragic events of Tuesday night in San Fransisco. I
am sorry to report that some of our regular participants from the Bay
Area still have not notified me of their present circumstances.  PT]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Ihor J Kinal <[e-mail]>
Subject: Disaster Communications
Date: 18 Oct 89 11:56:27 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


Watching the news reports, it was interesting to note that ABC managed
to have power and communciations sufficient to broadcast out.  It was
obvious that power was out, since the blimp shots showed no lights,
except for autos on the highways, so it wasn't unexpected that most
phone lines were down or overloaded.

One of the networks called the CHiP, and they stated that they had
lost phone communications with most of their sites in the area, so
they were unable to give damage estimates.

I WAS SURPRISED THAT THE STATE POLICE DON'T HAVE BACKUP COMMUNICATIONS.

Something on the nature of meteor-bounce communications [I've read
recent articles that even trucks on their cross-country trips can
communicate back to their base with something like this].  It's low
band-width, so you store a message, and the equipment waits for a
short time period until a meteor shower occurs, but aparently the wait
is never long.  It would appear to be the ultimate backup, as long as
the radio itself is not buried.

Speaking of communications, ABC constantly showed us the same picture
from the blimp that was there to cover the ball game.  My wife asked a
very good question - why not send the blimp south towards the
epicenter, to give a direct report???  Given the state of highways,
etc, it would obviously get there quicker than anything except a
helicopter, and presumably most of those were engaged in local
disaster relief.


Ihor Kinal
att!cbnews!ijk
<include standard disclaimers>

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

From: Evelyn C Leeper <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service
Date: 18 Oct 89 16:02:48 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Dennis Brophy) writes:

> How does the phone service work during an earthquake?

> I had to send a fax to San Jose this evening, and AT&T would not
> complete the call, but MCI was able to reach my destination in San
> Jose with out a problem.  Why would AT&T stop service while MCI
> permits inbound calls to the Bay Area?

We got through via AT&T to our in-laws in Mountain View at 5:40 PM PDT
last night.  I believe at some point AT&T started blocking inbound
calls in order to save the trunks for outbound calls, which seems
reasonable.  Whether this blocking was total or whether some number of
calls were let through isn't clear.

I find it a bit of a miracle that my in-laws who have no power, no
gas, and probably no water service, have a phone that worked
throughout all this--my father-in-law called home right after the
quake to say he was okay and the phones worked fine.  And it's not MCI
who installed all those working lines and phones either.  I admit to a
certain bias, but I am proud of how well AT&T's installations have
performed through the crisis.


Evelyn C. Leeper  |  [phone]  |  att!mtgzy!ecl or  [e-mail]
If I am not for myself, who is for me?  If I am only for myself what am I?
And if not now, when?  --Hillel

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

From: Antonio Desimone <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service
Date: 18 Oct 89 17:07:38 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


 From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail].
com (Dennis Brophy):

> How does the phone service work during an earthquake?

> So, what is happening here?  Why can "little" MCI make its way into
> the Bay Area while AT&T cannot?

First, let me tell you that I don't *know* the answer, and second,
that I know only a little about how the long-distance network is run
(and of course don't represent AT&T...).

BUT, I can speculate.  If an emegency developed and generated focussed
overload in my (hypothetical) network I would block calls destined for
the emergency so that those circuits would be available to those
calling out from the affected area (if I had the ability to exercise
such controls).

A better question might be, how successful is MCI/AT&T in
completing calls out of the Bay area?

(But these are only my opinions and uninformed speculations!)


Tony DeSimone
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Holmdel, NJ 07733
att!tds386e!tds

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

Subject: Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service
Date: Wed Oct 18 10:15:52 1989
From: Ken Jongsma <wybbs![e-mail]>

My primary mail system is through Portal near Cupertino and of course
I had no sucess in reaching it this morning. Sprint just reports all
circuits busy.  AT&T alternates between all circuits busy and an
interesting message with words to the effect of "Due to the earthquake
in the area you are calling, your call could not be completed."

Early this morning calls were going through ok. I suppose as people
are waking up and trying to call friends, the system is jamming up.

[e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 18 Oct 89  14:36 PST
Subject: The Big One
Organization: SRI Intl, Inc., Menlo Park, CA  94025  [[phone]]

     Small sampling of the effects of the Big One in the SF Bay
(mid-peninsula and the City):

     Our 4000 line PBX come through unscathed, all earthquake-braced
gear didn't miss a beat, late-install T-1 Mux "walked" about 18 inches
but stayed upright and within the slack in the cable.  Local service
was amazingly unaffected, emergency calls within the first 1/2 hour
(before the 1st after-shock) went through on 1 or 2 tries.  Outgoing
LD not much problem.  When I called out-of-state numbers I invariably
found they had been trying unsuccessfully to call this way.

      AT&T has implemented some kind of "flow-control" giving us (NPA
415 and 408) a better Outgoing GOS.  Most people I have spoken to have
lost, at most, A/C power.  Those with limited battery backup may go
down soon.  Some major hotels in SF are in this boat.  Cellular was
jammed as a result of resulting (road) traffic jams.  I had not
problems calling my home from outside the area but got fast-busies on
almost every other call.  All-in-all Disaater Recovery Planning seemed
to pay off.

     (Personal Note: If you have cable TV at home keep a residual
antenna around.  Cable was out, most local TV stations came up in
fairly short order).


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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 09:42:12 EDT
From: "Louis A. Mamakos" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: San Fransisco Horror
Organization: The University of Maryland

While there were news reports regarding telephone problems in the SF
Bay Area, connectivity via the NSFNET and BARRNET existed to at least
NASA/Ames and Stanford.  I fingered a bunch of likely machines looking
for people that I know, but it seems as if most of them had left their
machines.

I noticed that later on in the early morning NASA/Ames dropped off the
network.. perhaps their UPS finally gave up the ghost?

louie

[Moderator's Note: Berkeley was off line from loss of power early in the
evening. I don't know when they came back up.  PT]

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 12:18:19 PDT
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject: PacBell Disaster Press Release

[Moderator's Note: Pacific Bell has issued the following press release
relating to communications in the San Fransisco area.  PT]

    PACIFIC BELL WITHSTANDS SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE; HOWEVER PUBLIC
             URGED NOT TO CALL BAY AREA TO AVOID 'GRIDLOCK'

    SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Bell's
telecommunications network has withstood Tuesday's devastating
earthquake with minor damage, however, the extraordinary numbers of
people calling in and out of the Bay area are causing sporadic delays
in service.

    "Pacific Bell's precautionary efforts demonstrated that despite
the strength of a 6.9 earthquake, the local telecommunications system
remains, essentially, intact," said Jerry Sinn, chair of the company's
Emergency Operating Center in San Ramon.

    The majority of telephone service delays are due to an overload of
the network caused by customers picking up their telephones and
calling friends and loved ones following the quake.

    "We are joining with other telephone companies throughout the
country in urging the public not to call into the Bay area for at
least 24 hours, so that the network can handle emergency calls without
delay," said Sinn.

    Within hours telephone crews on site were assessing damage,
relaying information to the Emergency Operating Center which in turn
began coordinating restoral efforts.  Technicians and telephone
operators are standing by in Los Angeles and Sacramento to join in the
restoral efforts if necessary.

    "Preplanning is the key word here," Sinn continued.  "Since the
1971 Sylmar earthquake, Pacific Bell has instituted a number of
measures to minimize damage to its telecommunications network."

    They include:

    o The modernization of telephone switching equipment which allows
fast restoral due to its solid state components;

    o Telephone central offices which now have reinforced flooring and
mechanical braces above equipment frames and steel reinforcements in
the underground vaults;

    o A computerized network monitoring system that enables managers
to re-route calls going to and from affected areas;

    o Fiber optic cables which have been installed with 25 feet of
extra cable.  This slack absorbs the pulling strain that an eartquake
generates;

    o Pacific Bell has participated in a number of local, state and
national emergency preparedness drills to ensure our effectiveness.

    Telephone customers can also do some "pre-planning" by looking
through their Pacific Bell White Pages directory.  In the front of
each directory is a Survival Guide which outlines basic emergency
procedures and preventative measures, including earthquake assistance.

                              10/18/89

    /CONTACT:  Lissa Zanville of Pacific Bell, 213-975-5547/


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

From: houdi![e-mail]
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 16:26 EDT
Subject: Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service


Dennis Brophy <[e-mail]> writes about the Bay Area
earthquake:

> How does the phone service work during an earthquake?

> I had to send a fax to San Jose this evening, and AT&T would not
> complete the call, but MCI was able to reach my destination in San
> Jose with out a problem.  Why would AT&T stop service while MCI
> permits inbound calls to the Bay Area?

> I've heard from others in Portland, that they have been performing
> three-way-calls using MCI (not AT&T) from their homes to connect
> people in the Sacramento area with people in South San Francisco
> cities.

> So, what is happening here?  Why can "little" MCI make its way into
> the Bay Area while AT&T cannot?

To begin with, it seems that all the telephone networks deserve to be
congratulated for doing as well as it did considering the magnitude of
the quake.  But to answer the specific question that Dennis asks...

   In emergency situations like this, it is far more important for
people in the area to be able to call out for help than for people to
call in.  It is also far more efficient -- for example, my brother in
Mountain View, (near San Jose) called me in NJ (and he got through
easily) , and I called everyone else who might have been concerned
about him, which is far more efficient than everyone trying to call
him.

Therefore, AT&T has sophisticated network management controls and
trunk reservation, which were selectively blocking calls into the Bay
Area last night, and giving priority to calls coming out.  So while
there were some difficulties calling in on AT&T, I am yet to see a
report that calling out was difficult.

I have no idea if the OCCs have such controls, but I suspect that they
don't, which would explain why Dennis could call in.  I will bet that
calling out was much harder on any OCC, though.


Krishna Prasad
[e-mail]
AT&T Bell Labs
Holmdel, NJ 07733
[phone]

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 11:55:11 PDT
From: "Tom Ace @ PCB x2021" <sje![e-mail]>
Subject: San Jose Report


A short report about phone service in San Jose after the earthquake:

Dial tone took a while to get, often 10 seconds or so during Tuesday
evening, sometimes more.  Toll calls often got reorder or "busy
circuits" recordings, but some went through.  I only made a couple
important ones and didn't talk for too long.  From my small sample of
calls, the system appeared to have bent under the tremendous load but
didn't break.  (I use AT&T for long distance).

We didn't lose our T-1 line from here (Mentor Graphics San Jose) to
our headquarters in Oregon.

 From telecom digest #458, about AT&T not completing incoming calls:

>So, what is happening here?  Why can "little" MCI make its way into
>the Bay Area while AT&T cannot?

It wasn't a question of inability, it was a conscious decision.  I
heard on the news that AT&T deliberately chose to block incoming toll
calls except emergency ones (presumably placed by an operator).  I
assume the reasoning was that people here were better able to choose
which calls were important than people outside who wanted to call in.
Considering how overloaded the network was, it didn't sound like a bad
decision to me.

Tom Ace
[e-mail]
...!mntgfx!sje!tom

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 17:35:53 -0700
From: Doug Faunt N6TQS 415-688-8269 <[e-mail]>
Subject: Twenty Miles South on 880 When It Hit

This telecom reader survived. I was on 880, about 20 miles south of
the Cypress Structure, when it hit.  Since I normally bypass that
section, anyway, I got home to verify that all the effect I had was
books on the floor, and then went to the Oakland EOC to provide
amateur radio communications.

The telecom related issue is: I was actually able to get through to
Florida and Boston last night, about 7:00PM.  Today the message I get
when trying to call Boston is: "RA3 Channel 1" repeated.  What does
this mean?

Grateful to be OK,

Doug

[Moderator's Note: Thanks for writing. I suspect many people in the Bay
Area are grateful and have much to give thanks for this evening.  PT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #459
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 18 Oct 89 21:34:19 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #460
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 18 Oct 89 21:30:15 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 460

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Yet Another Area Code Split (David Kuder)
    Fun With NJ Bell Customer Service (Steve Buyske)
    Itemized Billing (was Re: Long Distance Indicator) (Dave Horsfall)
    Automated Operator Assistance (Ken Jongsma)
    How Do You Complain About Call Blocking? (James Olsen)
    Re: Touch-Tone Service in Australia (Jon D. Kendall)
    Re: Caller ID at American Express (Bill Cerny)
    Breakin' Up is Hard on You ([e-mail])
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 13:15 PDT
From: David Kuder <[e-mail]>
Subject: Yet Another Area Code Split

This appeared in the Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1989 [Los Angeles Times].
Typed in without permission.  All views are those of Robert A. Jones.
One editorial observation, East L.A. is largely Hispanic,
South-Central is largely black.  Both are lower income areas.  The
Westside is an upper income area where the only color that counts is
the color of your money.

"Forget Signs - What's Your Area Code?" by Robert A. Jones

There is a building in Pasadena where they make new area codes for
Southern California.  If you call directory assistance, the operator
will not admit this building exists.  Its number is unlisted.  But
somewhere in the dungeons of this Pac Bell office, right now, a new
area code is being planned for L.A.

Not all of L.A., of course.  Just certain parts.  Once again, the city
has outgrown 213 and some neighborhoods must be marked for exile to a
new number, a new identity.  Eventually, in the next three or four
years, a visitation will take place in the dark of night.  Whole
blocks, small cities, will be taken away, never to see 213 again.

If you don't understand the repercussions, think of it this way: there
are only three area codes that mean anything in this country.  They
are 212 in Manhattan, 202 in D.C., and our own 213.  Everyday, from
dawn to midnight, 212 gets on the horn to 213 and vice versa.  In
turn, both 212 and 213 light up the fiber-optics to 202.  These three
form a troika of codes; they run the country, and you're either in
this troika or you're out.  Soon, a big chunk of L.A. will be out.

Take a look at a map of 213 and you will see how hard the choice will
be.  Compared to this, the 818 thing was easy.  With 818, Pac Bell
simply ran the boundary down the ridge line of the Hollywood Hills.
Everyone to the north was out.  Ther was such a logic to it that the
whining of the 818's was fruitless.

This time there is no geography to use.  That means the company has to
make its decision on cultural grounds.  Should the Westside be lopped
off?  Just picture the wailing.  Or should downtown become the
cultural amputee, cut off from its telephonic roots?

In truth, Pac Bell could go after the smaller players, like East L.A.
or South-Central.  There's one major problem with this strategy: it
would leave the company vunerable to the charge that Latinos and
Blacks had been gerrymandered out of the code, leaving 213 to the rich
whites.  As I say, this could get ugly.

And there's the matter of the new number itself.  This country has
been gobbling areas codes so fast that only a few remain available.
The phone company won't reveal these numbers, but that's O.K.  We've
made a our own calculations, based on the arcane rules of area code
formation.  This list of possibilites looks pretty much like this:
310, 410, 903, 909, 910.

In my mind, there is only one choice.  The numbers ending in 10 are
entirely too friendly for L.A.  They're codes for suburbs.  And 903 is
nowhere, a nebbish.  That leaves 909, a great code.  Nine-Oh-Nine has
dark power, it's sort of a Darth Vader number.  Nine-Oh-Nine could
carry on the struggle with New York.

All of which leads me to my modest proposal.  As we know, show biz has
always existed as a separate community in L.A., a world that's hidden
and unavailable to the minions.  Swell.  Let's recognize that, draw a
circle around the show biz neighborhoods and give them this new power
code, 909.  Then the rest of the city, with the old 213, could
disengage and go its own way.
                 ===========================

[Moderator's Note: I won't even bother to correct some of his errors, but
I have to wonder where he gets the impression that 212/202/213 is all that
matters in the network. And I suppose the same sort of sinister implications
could be made about our impending 312/708 split: Chicago (the minority is
in the majority; blacks and latinos are about 2/3'rds of our population)
gets 312, and the rich, white people in the suburbs get 708. To me, they
are just numbers, and frankly, I think the author of this piece in the
El Lay Times is one doughnut short of a full dozen.   PT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Fun With NJ Bell Customer Service
Date: 16 Oct 89 13:25:43 EDT (Mon)

    I thought the Digest's readers might be amused by this story:

    A friend of mine, a new graduate student at Princeton, manages
to actually get new phone service during the strike.  The only problem
is that the number NJ Bell told her is actually the number of some
office at the Princeton Seminary. Well, by good fortune she gets a
wrong number, asks the person what number they dialed, and so
discovers her true number.

But since information is giving out the seminary number to people who
ask for her number, she calls NJ Bell to straighten things out.

NJ Bell: No, we can't change your listing to the number that actually
reaches you, because that number belongs to someone else.  We'll
adjust the switching so that you can be reached at the number we
originally told you.

Friend: But that number is an office at Princeton Seminary.

NJ Bell: Oh, you're right.  In that case I'll have to disconnect your
service immediately.  We will call you as soon as we have your new number.

    Needless to say, after two weeks she still doesn't have
service, although she calls NJ Bell regularly.  We're all looking
forward to seeing her first bill.


Steve Buyske                    uucp    : rutgers!lehi3b15!lafcol!buyskes
Mathematics Department          Bitnet  : BUYSKES@LAFAYETT
Lafayette College
Easton, PA  18042

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

From: Dave Horsfall <munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Itemised Billing (was Re: Long Distance Indicator)
Date: 18 Oct 89 03:10:16 GMT
Reply-To: Dave Horsfall <[e-mail]>
Organization: Alcatel STC Australia, North Sydney, AUSTRALIA


In article <[e-mail]>,
    [e-mail] (John Higdon) writes:
|
| I wonder how many of the readers out there are really aware of the fact
| that the itemized billing that we have in the US and Canada is somewhat
| unusual in the world telephonic community.

Not as unusual as you think.  We have it Down-Under as well, but only
on the later exchanges.  Naturally, Telecom charge for it.  Local
calls aren't shown (but the number of calls made is, since they cost
money), and STD/ISD (long distance) are broken down by date, time,
destination, number, tariff, duration and cost.  Nice!  Enables me to
say "Oi!  I didn't make any phone calls to Auckland!  I don't even
*know* anyone in New Zealand!" and get the charge reversed.


Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel STC Australia,  [e-mail]
[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave

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

Subject: Automated Operator Assistance
Date: Wed Oct 18 10:05:37 1989
From: Ken Jongsma <wybbs![e-mail]>

Ohio Bell Telephone is implementing automated operator assistance in
the Cleveland area in the next few weeks. It appears to be the same
system that Michigan Bell is using in Western Michigan.

Callers from Touch Tone phones are given directions on which button to
press for collect or third party billing, then asked to record their
name. The switch then plays the name back to the billed party and asks
for confirmation of billing.

[e-mail]

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

From: James Olsen <[e-mail]>
Subject: How Do You Complain About Call Blocking?
Date: 18 Oct 89 15:24:21 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (James Olsen)
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, Cambridge, MA. 02139

[e-mail] writes:

>Nashville, TN - Tried to make a AT&T calling card call from a
>payphone in the airport.  10288 did not work, so I tried 00.  That
>got me a local operator ... she transferred me to the AT&T operator
>... I explained that I was at the airport and calling from a COCOT
>that would not accept 10288 ...  she was surprised to hear of the
>problem because "they aren't supposed to block access anymore".

I've noticed a lot of expensive call-blocking COCOT's being installed
in this area (usually replacing honest New England Tel. units).  We
all know that the goverment will do nothing about it, unless people
raise a big enough stink.

My questions are:

  To whom should we complain about call blocking?
    (The FCC and the state PUC?)

  What's the best way to make a complaint?
    (Is there some formal complaint procedure which
     will have more effect?)

Thanks.

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 14:29:40 EST
From: kendall <munnari!diemen.cc.utas.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Touch-Tone Service in Australia
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Dr. Jon D. Kendall)
Organization: University of Tasmania


I was surprised to hear from Mr. Mensch in his recent article that the
Gold Coast has touch-tone service. A quick ring to one of my friends
in Telecom-Australia revealed that I was quite mistaken.  Indeed,
Telecom is gradually phasing in touch-tone service and hopes to have
all major urban areas covered by 1991 or so.  Even here in Hobart,
Tasmania the service is available for a few exchanges.

On the Gold Coast up in Queensland where a lot of new development is
taking place, it is relatively easy to build new exchanges with the
touch-tone capability.  It is much more costly to replace exchanges as
will be done here. Nevertheless I am quite content to wait for the
service, preferring to live in a much more pleasant climate and less
corrupt (according to the newspapers) environment than Queensland.
Here in Tasmania we move through life at a sure and steady pace.
Don't take this last part too seriously -- just a bit of interstate
rivalry, ha, ha.

In any case I have touch-tone service as does almost any organization
here with its own PABX.  The University of Tasmania has an ASB 900 SPC
PABX which has been adequate for our needs.

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Cerny)
Subject: Re: Caller ID at American Express
Date: 18 Oct 89 15:03:51 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, John R. Levine writes:

> By the way, I called American Express last week to argue about my
> bill.  Amex has been reported to have an 800 version of Caller ID that
> looks up the phone number of each call and translates it to the
> caller's card number.  When the person who answered asked me for my
> card number, I asked whether she could tell it from my phone number
> and she said she couldn't.  Either she was lying or they've turned it
> off.

When American Express starting routing their Megacom traffic over the
primary rate interface (PRI), they also subscribed to Calling Number
Delivery (no monthly, just 3 cents per number delivered).  When the
agents answered, "Good morning Mr. Goldberg, how may I help you?" the
customers were awestruck, and wanted to know how they knew their
identity before answering the call.

This resulted in much more time wasted than was saved thru
auto-retrieval of the account with CND.  I was told that AmEx changed
the script for their agents: greet, ask for the acct. number (verify
it with what's already on the screen), and say, "Yes Mr. Goldberg, I
have your records right here..."  The agents are discouraged to
discuss any of the wizardry of the new system, since AmEx's purpose
for subscribing to CND is to save time.


Bill Cerny        "The cost of living just went up another $1 a fifth."
Internet: [e-mail]                    - W. C. Fields


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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 15:00:44 -0400
Subject: Breakin' Up is Hard on You

Someone asked about this, so I dug it out of my archives.
                    -Mark

    Date: 28 Jan 84 00:55:06 EST
    From: Don <[e-mail]>
    Subject: Breakin' Up is Hard on You

    "Breakin' Up is Hard on You"


    Doo doo doo down doobie doo down down,
    The deal is going down, doobie doo down down,
    The rates are going up, uppy, up, up, up,
    Breakin' up is hard on you.

    Don't take Ma Bell away from me,
    I've gotten used to monopoly,
    When they divest, then I'll be blue,
    Yes breakin' up is hard on you.

    Remember when you'd make a call,
    And you'd get through -- no sweat at all,
    Now you'll wait the whole night through,
    Cause breakin' up is hard on you.

    They say that breakin' up is hard to do,
    And so they put the screws to you,
    Don't say it's fate my friend,
    Including breakin' up,
    They're also jackin' up the rates again.

    A. T. and T.,
    Don't say goodbye,
    Don't wanna use no MCI,
    You'll pay bills out the wazoo,
    Cause breakin' up is hard on you.

    They say that breakin' up is good to do,
    But then they send six bills to you,
    Don't say it's fate my friend,
    Including breakin' up,
    They're also jackin' up the rates again.

    I beg of you, don't take my phone,
    I want to lease, don't want to own,
    Reach out and touch some other fool,
    Yes breakin' up is hard on you.

    Doo doo doo down doobie doo down down,
    The deal is going down, doobie doo down down,
    The rates are going up, uppy, up, up, up,
    Breakin' up is hard on you.

    (repeat and fade as in song)


    Written by The American Comedy Network
    (C) Copyright 1984

    If you'd like to obtain a copy of the single, call
    ACN at 203/384-9443

    (Reprinted here without permission)

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #460
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 19 Oct 89 0:06:04 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #461
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Oct 89 00:05:09 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 461

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Area Code NineOhNine (Jon Solomon)
    Damage Report (Tom Limoncelli)
    Earthquake and Berkeley (Jim Haynes)
    Re: 10 Cent Pay Phones (Fred E.J. Linton)
    Re: Dialing Procedures in Dallas (Eric Schnoebelen)
    Re: Measured Service: What Does It Cost? (Edward S. Sachs)
    Re: Cable Repair, Splicers and a Cable "Enviromental Problem" (Tad Cook)
    Re: What is SONET? (Tad Cook)
    Re: Touch-Tone Service in Australia (Jim Breen)
    Re: Small Phone System (Jim Gottlieb)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:  Wed, 18 Oct 89 23:20:44 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Area Code NineOhNine

Yes, Patrick, that's exactly what I feel too, however I must point out
that the average number of donuts per capita income per person is
about 2.  It seems there is also a gaping hole around 12; some get
more, some get less.

In any case, Los Angeles politics is a big deal. I'm fairly sure that
Beverly Hills won't get out of 213. Just too much money there. And
Hollywood? Think about it. All those Hollywood types who have to use
area code 909 or 818 or 213......... Hmm, maybe it would make sense to
use 909 in downtown LA, but they're essentially right. Just like New
York City, area code 213 has a larger saturation than area code 818.
Even in Boston, 617 is getting nearly full; even though they just
split the code already. It poses a real problem: How do you evenly
split an area code so that the growth flows nearly evenly in both
codes?

I suspect 617 will go to NXX codes before it splits again, at least
now that there is no non-Electronic/Digital switching in 617, so
changing that shouldn't be much of a problem. However, I will miss the
dial-1-is-a-toll-call feature of this area, meaning that if I call a
number, I won't know if I have to pay for it or not.

jsol

[Moderator's Note: Jon Solomon was the founder of TELECOM Digest and the
moderator for several years.  PT]

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

From: "Tom Limoncelli @ Drew Univ." <[e-mail]>
Subject: Damage Report
Date: 18 Oct 89 21:18:59 GMT


I hope this is useful, it was posted on soc.motss.  It's not phone
related, but you might report that SRI and Menlo Park have been
reported to be ok.

  Newsgroups: soc.motss
  Subject: Re: Motsser Quake Report
  Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
  From: [e-mail] (Arnold M. Zwicky)
  Date: 18 Oct 89 15:20:34 GMT
  Summary: not so bad in menlo park

  Elizabeth Zwicky ([e-mail]) reported by phone
  last night that she was fine, that SRI suffered no serious
  damage, and that the surrounding area in Menlo Park was not
  in bad shape.

  arnold


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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 19:46:12 -0700
From: Jim Haynes <[e-mail]>
Subject: Earthquake and Berkeley


[Moderator's Note: Berkeley was off line from loss of power early in the
evening. I don't know when they came back up.  PT]

Small nit - Berkeley was off the line before the quake because of some problem
with the T-1 circuits.  It came back midday today.

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

Date: 18-OCT-1989 15:57:08.10
From: "Fred E.J. Linton" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 10 Cent Pay Phones

I post the attached because I failed thrice when trying to reply directly
to Mark Holtz (Wesleyan depends on well-connected UUCP mailers in the big
wide world).  Forgive, please, this trespass.

> From: [e-mail] (Mark A. Holtz)
> I am kinda wondering. . . . is there still some areas in this country
> that still have payphones for a dime?

Well, yes, New Haven (CT) is one such place; so is Middletown (CT).

                                    -- Fred

ARPA/Internet:  [e-mail]
Bitnet:         FLINTON@WESLEYAN[.bitnet]
from uucp:      ...!{research, mtune!arpa, uunet}!eagle.Wesleyan.EDU!FLinton
on ATT-Mail:    !fejlinton
Tel.:           + 1 203 776 2210 (home)  OR  + 1 203 347 9411 xt 2249 (work)
Telex:          <USA> + 15 122 3413   FEJLINTON
CompuServe ID:  72037,1054  (OR, maybe,  [e-mail] )
F-Net (guest):  [e-mail]    OR    ...!inria.inria.fr!linton

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

From: Eric Schnoebelen <convex![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Dialing Procedures in Dallas
Date: 18 Oct 89 21:53:14 GMT
Reply-To: Eric Schnoebelen <convex![e-mail]>
Organization: Convex Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx.


In article <[e-mail]>
    [e-mail] (Linc Madison) writes:

-Various contributors have referred to the horrible situation in
-Dallas.  As a former resident who still visits frequently, I can tell
-you it's quite confusing, and largely needlessly so.

    To add some additional comments and confusion to the Dallas
calling situation, here are my comments.  For the record, I have a
personal metro line from GTE, at my home in Lewisville ( a far north
Dallas suburb, actually closer to downtown Ft. Worth than downtown
Dallas...ten minutes to DFW, forever to anywhere else :-)

    I originally got my metro line because I was frequently
calling a girlfriend who lived in southwest Ft Worth, and the long
distance charges were killing us.

-3) To call from a regular Dallas number to a Dallas Metro number, you
-   MUST dial 214-NXX-XXXX, *even though* it's a local call in the same
-   area code!!  Same error messages as above.

    This is not true, at least not with my metro number
(214-434-1329, to be disconnected at the end of the month :-( ) I and
my friends call my number as 434-1329 all the time, from all over
Dallas.

-4) To call out from any Metro number, I believe (I'm not certain) you
-   must dial only the area code for local calls, but 1+ if it's toll
-   and so on.

    To call Ft Worth, I have to dial 817-NXX-XXXX, to call Dallas,
I just dial NXX-XXX.  In Ft Worth, people must dial me at 214-434-XXXX.

-The upshot is that you MUST dial 1 if it's toll, and you MUST NOT dial
-1 if it's not toll.  You must dial the area code whenever dealing with
-a Metro number, though.

    I get the impression that at least one prefix in 214/817 is
still reserved for true metro service.  I hear the radio stations and
Ticketron/Rainbow tickets advertising thier call in lines in the 787
exchange, with out listing the NPA.  787 is also ( obviously ) the
choke exchange for Dallas/Ft Worth.

-Got that?  There'll be a quiz later....

    Did I pass?  [ picking on teacher time :-) ]


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

From: Edward S Sachs <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Measured Service: What Does It Cost?
Date: 18 Oct 89 14:11:44 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
dec.com writes:

> That's terribly
> counterproductive and makes poor public policy.  Typically 80% of
> telco local cost is fixed, 20% usage-sensitive.  What usage sensitive
> pricing plan was like that?  Usually it gets more than 50% of revenue
> from usage.

I think that this breakdown is not quite true, because the phone lines
typically feed into concentrators at switching centers, which can
provide service to only a fraction of the phones (typically 1/8 or
1/16 for residential lines) at a time.  High usage lines need to be
fed in at 1/2 (or even 1/1), resulting in higher equipment cost at the
telco.  Thus, the 'fixed' cost quoted above needs to include a
component indicating the usage (% of time phone is in use).  --

            Ed Sachs
            AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL
            att!ihlpb!essachs, [e-mail]

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

From: amc-gw!ssc![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Cable Repair, Splicers and a Cable "Environmental Problem"
Date: 19 Oct 89 01:56:04 GMT
Organization: very little

I enjoyed Larry Lippman's description of cble splicing and mining.
Wasn't it a cable mining operation that set off the Hinsdale fire?

Tad Cook
[e-mail]

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

From: amc-gw!ssc![e-mail]
Subject: Re: What is SONET?
Date: 19 Oct 89 02:00:07 GMT
Organization: very little

Seriously....I always thought SONET referred to Southern New England
Telephone Co!

Tad Cook
[e-mail]

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

From: Jim Breen <munnari!cit5.cit.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Touch-Tone Service in Australia
Organization: Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melb., Australia
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 23:32:38 GMT

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Henry Mensch) quotes earlier correspondent:

> In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, I found that touch-tone service was
> non-existent; it did seem to be an up-and-coming thing for many
> regions, though. ...............

You can't have looked too hard. Most exchanges (CO's) in the larger
cities have had DTMF capability for several years. It is there for the
asking, however most telephone customers are prepared to go on using
their good old rotary-dial telephones.

Part of this is due to the Australian regulatory system. Telecom
Australia, the PTT, is the sole provider of exchange lines and has the
right to provide , as part of the package, the first 'phone in each
site. For most people, getting the touch-phone service means either
buying a new phone, or getting Telecom to change over (for a fee),
plus paying Telecom to change the line from Decadic to DTMF. Small
wonder most people stay with rotary dialling.

My Institute has a modern ISDN-compatible PABX network. All our
handsets, and all our exchange lines, are DTMF.

        _______           Jim Breen ([e-mail]) Department of Robotics &
       /o\----\\     \O      Digital Technology. Chisholm Inst. of Technology
      /RDT\   /|\   \/|   -:O____/         PO Box 197 Caulfield East 3145
     O-----O        _/_\    /\ /\          (p) 03-573 2552 (fax) 572 1298

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

From: Jim Gottlieb <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Small Phone System
Date: 19 Oct 89 03:21:58 GMT
Reply-To: Jim Gottlieb <denwa![e-mail]>
Organization: Info Connections, West Los Angeles


In article <[e-mail]> carroll1![e-mail].
net (David C. Troup  -  Skunk Works : 2600hz) writes:

>I have stumbled across a box about the size of a Telebit Trailblazer
>which reads:

>    TelExpand (system 1)
>    R.M. Fuller Company

>So! Anyone know how to use this? Anyone ever HEARD of  this unit?
>    Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

That's a great little unit!  I'm not familiar with all of its
features, but we use it in a mode where it answers a line and asks for
a security code.  It then allows you to enter a number and it uses
3-Way Calling on that line to conference you and that party.  We use
them to check some of our 976/900/0990 lines in distant
cities/countries since those numbers can often not be dialed from
outside.

Unfortunately, it seems that the company that manufactured them has
gone out of business and we are unable to get a hold of any more units
or find another product with the same functionality.  Any information
to the contrary would be welcomed.

                              Jim Gottlieb
  E-Mail: <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy>
         V-Mail: [phone]  Fax: [phone]  The-Real-Me: 824-5454

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #461
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 19 Oct 89 22:27:04 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #462
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Oct 89 22:25:47 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 462

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Telesphere Came Through; AT&T/Sprint Let Me Down (John Higdon)
    Phone Service at Monterey Peninsula (Jeffrey M. Schweiger)
    What Works in a Disaster (Ole J. Jacobsen)
    Re: Disaster Communications (Kenneth Illgen)
    Re: Disaster Communications (Jim Budler)
    Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (Gary Segal)
    Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (John Higdon)
    Re: Blimp Use and Eathquake Coverage (Will Martin)
    Re: San Fransisco Horror (Daniel M. Rosenberg)

[Moderator's Note: Another issue of the Digest devoted to the Event.  PT]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telesphere Came Through; AT&T/Sprint Let Me Down
Date: 19 Oct 89 03:55:46 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


Last night, a night that will live in infamy, I finally arrived at a
friend's house in the Mojave desert. I was supposed to leave on
Saturday, but because of one thing and another the trip got delayed.
It's about a seven-hour drive from the Bay Area to the High Desert, so
to kill the time I listen to my favorite CDs.

I let myself in, my friend not being at home, and proceeded to check
my machine for messages. Reorder. Again and again. Thinking that the
800 translations might be messed up for some reason, I dialed the POTS
number (you should always know the POTS number for 800 service!).
Again, reorder. So I made a "thing" of it and dialed over and over.
Finally I got an "all circuits are busy" recording. At that point, I
just figured that Contel was messing up and looked elsewhere for
entertainment.

On went the TV, and it comes up with scene after scene of collapsed
buildings, freeway structures, and then suddenly a shot of a very
familier structure--the Bay Bridge. It seemed that while I was driving
through Bakersfield, it was the "big one". With mouth hanging open, I
watched all of the damage footage. Then they revealed the epicenter.
No it was not SF or Oakland but in the Santa Cruz Mountains --
thirty-five miles CLOSER to my house than to the area so badly
damaged.

At that point I became a little anxious. How were my relatives in
town?  Was my house still standing? How were my clients faring (that I
had left in the hands of an assistant)? No amount of dialing could
break through. Then I realized that my desert friend had a 950
Telesphere account. SUCCESS! I made call after call using that
account, noting the sluggishness of the Bay Area COs, which were
probably completely overloaded.

But the point is that I got through and determined that everyone was
OK, my house was OK, but my clients were hit hard. I came home.

On the way home, I listened to SF radio to get a feeling for what was
going on and at one point spokepersons for AT&T and Sprint were
crowing about how they were blocking calls from outside the area so
that the local Bay Area network would not be overworked. Well, I am
about to write a letter of appreciation to Telesphere and a show-cause
request why I shouldn't cancel my AT&T and Sprint accounts. Thanks to
Telesphere, I was able to handle some emergencies over the phone (not
to mention putting my mind at ease). That was NO THANKS to AT&T and
Sprint. Now, who is backing up whom?

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 11:59:00 PDT
From: "Jeffrey M. Schweiger X2502" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Phone Service at Monterey Peninsula

Thought I'd pass along a few personal observations on phone service
following the earthquake, from the southern portion of the affected
area, the Monterey Peninsula (actually we were closer to the epicenter
than San Francisco, and while not downplaying the tragedy of the
damage in the San Francisco/Oakland area, the physical damage in and
around Santa Cruz is extensive).

I have MCI dial 1 service.  I was initially unable to call the east
coast (to inform family of my status), using my dial-1 MCI service.
I, instead received a 'circuits busy' recording.  I thought I would
then try AT&T via 10288 - I wasn't even able to finish dialing.
Announcements were made over the radio stations operating (not having
a battery operated TV, I didn't know or care whether any TV stations
were transmitting), that AT&T was intentionally restricting long
distance service in and out of the affected areas, in order to support
emergency communications.  I was finally able to reassure my family by
switching back to MCI, but using 950-1022, as opposed to dial-1.  This
worked without much difficulty.

I realize that my above experiences are not described to the level of
technical detail normally seen on this group, but thought they might
be of interest.

Jeff Schweiger

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

Date: Thu 19 Oct 89 15:39:33-PDT
From: "Ole J. Jacobsen" <[e-mail]>
Subject: What Works in a Disaster


After the big quake here Tuesday night, it was understandably difficult
to make both local and long-distance calls. Dialtone was not the ever-
present commodity that we're used to. The radio adviced people to use
the phone as little as possible. Pac Bell reported handling one million
calls per minute in the hours following the disaster

I helped a friend contact her worried parents in New York, and finally
succeeded after some 10XXX hacking, the carrier which worked was 311
which I believe is AllNet.

In answer to someone's question to this list: The reason big carriers
like AT&T are somtimes unable to provide service in situations like
this is quite simple: Overload. The "little" guys are nice to use as
backups (like my 10311 hack) in such situations, how many people have
AllNet as their default carrier anyway?

Ole

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

From: "Keneth..Illgen" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Disaster Communications
Date: 19 Oct 89 12:15:19 GMT
Reply-To: "Kenneth..Illgen" <hq![e-mail]>
Organization: Air Force HQ, The Pentagon


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ihor
J Kinal) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 459, message 1 of 10

>One of the networks called the CHiP, and they stated that they had
>lost phone communications with most of their sites in the area, so
>they were unable to give damage estimates.

>I WAS SURPRISED THAT THE STATE POLICE DON'T HAVE BACKUP COMMUNICATIONS.

     I can't speak for CHiP but in most instances emergency services
backup communications systems are prioritized. Radio traffic is
initialy used for determining injuries and hospiital space. While the
networks are rightfully interested in physically damaged areas the
police, fire and medical departments have to use their limited
frequency range to coordinate rescue efforts.

>Speaking of communications, ABC constantly showed us the same picture
>from the blimp that was there to cover the ball game.  My wife asked a
>very good question - why not send the blimp south towards the
>epicenter, to give a direct report???

     I was very frustrated with all the network coverage being focused
on S.F. and Oakland. My loved ones are in San Jose and Palo Alto. I
understand that S.F. is the major media center and naturally the best
base of operations. Regarding the blimp; it's a slow moving craft and
would not have made it far enough south before darkness set it. I
think ABC and/or Goodyear made the right decision to keep it in the
S.F/Oakland area.

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

From: Jim Budler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Disaster Communications
Organization: EDA Systems,Inc. Santa Clara, CA
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 15:09:53 GMT

[e-mail] (Ihor J Kinal) writes:

} One of the networks called the CHiP, and they stated that they had
} lost phone communications with most of their sites in the area, so
} they were unable to give damage estimates.

} I WAS SURPRISED THAT THE STATE POLICE DON'T HAVE BACKUP COMMUNICATIONS.

I don't know about the CHP themselves, but the general emergency
services backup system for the area was based on cellular telephones.
It didn't work.

Ref: Two local TV interviews with members of the Emergency Services.


Jim Budler    [e-mail]    ...!{decwrl,uunet}!eda!jim
compuserve: 72415,1200     applelink: D4619
voice: [phone]     fax: [phone]

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

From: Gary Segal <motcid![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service
Date: 19 Oct 89 15:31:50 GMT
Organization: Motorola Inc. - Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Heights,
 IL 60004


On the eve of Tuesday's quake, I was able to get through to a friend
at Stanford on MCI.  I was about to try AT&T after getting re-order a
couple of times, but the call went through on what would have been my
last try on MCI.  The number was (415)328-xxxx.  I believe my friend
said that he lives in Menlo Park.  Damage there was minimal, his area
was suffering only from a power outage.

I was quite amazed at the ease I had getting through!  I succeded at
about 10pm Pacific time.


Gary Segal @ Motorla C.I.D.
 ...motcid!segal or uunet!motcid!segal

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 23:03:24 PDT
Reply-To: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Dennis Brophy) writes:

> How does the phone service work during an earthquake?

Around here, not very well. Cheap shot, sorry.

> I had to send a fax to San Jose this evening, and AT&T would not
> complete the call, but MCI was able to reach my destination in San
> Jose with out a problem.  Why would AT&T stop service while MCI
> permits inbound calls to the Bay Area?

According to AT&T spokespeople, they were doing this as a "service" to
keep the traffic on the Bay Area's phone system down. I guess it never
occurred to anyone that there might be reasons for people from outside
an area to call in during a disaster. I was able to get through on
Telesphere from the Victorville exchange (California High Desert) but
not on AT&T or Sprint.

> It is also intersting to note that Portland has NO local operator
> assistance this evening: "All circuits are busy."  I guess if I wanted

This was happening in Victorville, also. My theory is that there are
many more people than usual calling the operator because their dialed
calls don't go through. You called the operator, no? So did I.

> So, what is happening here?  Why can "little" MCI make its way into
> the Bay Area while AT&T cannot?

Policy, mainly. But it is also interesting to note that since the
quake, my little teapot computer has only been able to contact other
teapots. My big neighbors (except for pacbell) either don't answer at
all, or if their modem does answer it appears that the computer is
dead. All my news at the moment is coming from a small neighbor (who
is somehow still getting a feed.)

It has been said that a communications network is better served by a
lot of small entities rather than one behemoth one. I never believed
it; maybe it's true.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !


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

Date:     Thu, 19 Oct 89 12:53:51 CDT
From: Will Martin <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re: Blimp Use and Eathquake Coverage

Glad you posted that note that mentioned your wife's query about the
blimp not moving South.  I asked the same thing at the time (to the
wall and to my wife; unfortunately I could think of no way to ask
anyone who really could do anything about it) -- it was an obvious way
to get info out of the more-severely-affected regions and there were
plenty of other sources of aerial coverage of the SF area.

I did notice that the blimp was by far the best camera platform,
giving the most stable images.  Perhaps ABC felt that having those
better pictures of the SF area was a "competitive advantage" in its
coverage and did't want to lose them, trading them off for unknown
results that the blimp might get further South.  Also, I don't know
the blimp's ground speed -- it might have been that it couldn't get
far enough before dark to provide any viewable images.

One aspect of the total earthquake coverage has been bothering me -- the
reports had mentioned "silicon valley" in passing, but gave it no real
attention. I thought that each of those semiconductor fabrication plants
and other electronic industries in that area had underground tanks of
various toxic or lethal chemicals used in the manufacture and cleaning
of their products.

I had thought that a lot of the waste or used chemicals had to be
stored on-site because of difficulties in their disposal, also. (There
were legal restraints on trucking them out, or limited numbers of
firms who provided toxic-waste disposal services.)  So there would be
large amounts of both fresh, unused, but still dangerous chemicals,
and also toxic waste, sitting in tanks all over that area. If the
earthquake ruptured even a relatively small percentage of those tanks,
the pollution would be severe. It would contaminate the ground water
and be like Love Canal spread out over the whole silicon valley area.
Does anyone know if these fears are justified, or am I imagining
nonexistent dangers?

Regards, Will Martin

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

From: "Daniel M. Rosenberg" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: San Fransisco Horror
Date: 19 Oct 89 23:07:16 GMT
Organization: Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford U.


[e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator) writes:

>At the time this is written, chaos is reigning in the Bay Area, and
>all telecommunications are knocked out. The latest death count is

>Berkeley is totally off line at this time, and email contact is not
>possible with the sites in the San Fransisco area.

>From Stanford, Internet service was available clear to everywhere
within hours of the quake. (Well, I made it to Pennsylvania anyway a
few hours later.) This was well before the phone service came back in.

Pacific Bell had -- I believe -- no physical damage to the phone
network, but it was way overcrowded. I believe that when the quake hit
they switched over the to A/B/C setup discussed here a while back,
where A phones (emergency, police, fire, etc.) got dial tone, and B
and C phones -- everyone else -- were switched back and forth as to
who got dial tone. The Stanford campus telephone network worked
continuously with no problems.

Long distance outward via AT&T, Sprint and MCI was scrambled. It
turned out that Telesphere was useful for something; their network was
quite clear and turned out to be an easy way to calm my nervous
parents.  ITI (10488) also worked. I am hoping this was ITI (aka ITT)
and I didn't have everyone in my dorm make a $50 3 minute
transcontinental or cross-state call.

Long distance inward was clogged full until last night (Wednesday).
Today, everything seems to be back to normal.


# Daniel M. Rosenberg    //  Stanford CSLI  // Eat my opinions, not Stanford's.
# [e-mail] // decwrl!csli!dmr // [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #462
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 19 Oct 89 23:32:00 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #463
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Oct 89 23:30:00 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 463

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Yet Another Area Code Split (David Kuder)
    Re: Yet Another Area Code Split (Joel B. Levin)
    Re: Yet Another Area Code Split (Carl Moore)
    Re: Area Code NineOhNine (Jon Solomon)
    Re: A Letter From Australia (Dave Horsfall)
    Re: PC Systems to Handle Phone Inquiries (Macy Hallock)
    Re: The Hottest Answering Machine (Gary L. Crum)
    Re: Fun With NJ Bell Customer Service (Mark Robert Smith)
    Call Waiting Override (Jean-Pierre Radley)
    Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes (Carl Moore)
    AT&T Supplies Sourcebook (David Dodell)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 11:57 PDT
From: David Kuder <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:  Yet Another Area Code Split

    Date:     Thu, 19 Oct 89 10:22:38 EDT
    From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
    To: David Kuder <indetech.com!david>
    Cc: eecs.nwu.edu!telecom
    Subject:  Re:  Yet Another Area Code Split
    Message-Id:  <[e-mail]>

    According to earlier articles in Telecom, 903 is already set
    aside for upcoming split of 214 in Texas.  And when N0X/N1X
    area codes run out, area codes will have to generalize to the
    NXX form.  Also, I believe it's Bellcore that assigns new area
    codes (but it's the local companies that draw the
    boundaries?).

I guess I wasn't clear enough in the header of my news article.  That
was a transcription of a L.A. Times article.  All the first person
references are those of Robert A. Jones, the author of the article.  I
am aware (from reading the Telecom Digest) that his list of area codes
was incorrect.  Forgive me for not editorializing the transcription.

Let me reiterate for the readers of the digest that other than the
first paragraph of my message, the article was the work of and the
opinions of and the knowledge of Robert A. Jones.


David A. Kuder                              Comp.lang.perl, the time is now!
415 438-2003  [e-mail]  {uunet,sun,sharkey,pacbell}!indetech!david

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

From: Joel B Levin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Yet Another Area Code Split
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 12:10:10 EDT

>Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 13:15 PDT
>From: David Kuder <[e-mail]>
>
>This appeared in the Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1989 [Los Angeles Times].
>"Forget Signs - What's Your Area Code?" by Robert A. Jones
  ...
>[Moderator's Note: I won't even bother to correct some of his errors, but
>I have to wonder where he gets the impression that 212/202/213 is all that
>matters in the network. . . . I think the author of this piece in the
>El Lay Times is one doughnut short of a full dozen.   PT]

David does not say whether this is an [op-]editorial or other column
or a news story.  I thought it was meant as a humorous column, and not
bad at that.  That's not a place I believe actual facts necessarily
have any use.

    Regards / JBL

[Moderator's Note: Interesting you mention it. Some of my detractors say
the same thing about this Digest: the part about the actual facts having
any use.  PT]

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

Date:     Thu, 19 Oct 89 10:22:38 EDT
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re:  Yet Another Area Code Split

According to earlier articles in Telecom, 903 is already set aside for
upcoming split of 214 in Texas.  And when N0X/N1X area codes run out,
area codes will have to generalize to the NXX form.

Also, I believe it's Bellcore that assigns new area codes (but it's
the local companies that draw the boundaries?).

Also, 917 is unused.

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

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 89 18:17:52 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Area Code NineOhNine

   Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 18:04:38 -0400
   From: [e-mail]


   Sorry, I think we are having a basic misunderstanding...

   > From Lexington you can call 508 numbers, but from Cambridge you can't.
   > I can't call Concord or Framingham or any of the other areas outside of
   > the "don't dial 1" area....

   > Note that if you don't have Metropolitan service, you get charged message
   > units for calls placed to areas outside of your immediate local calling
   > area but inside the metropolitan service boundary. You don't dial 1 for
   > these calls either.

   I know all that.

   These seem to be examples of what I was saying, namely that there
   is NOT and has not recently been the "feature" that you can tell
   what is a free call by whether you have to dial a "1".

   But in your telecom posting, I thought you were saying that there
   WAS such a feature and that you would miss it when it goes away:

      "However, I will miss the dial-1-is-a-toll-call feature of this
      area, meaning that if I call a number, I won't know if I have
      to pay for it or not."

   ?????

   /Rcc


In Cambridge, Somerville, and Everett and Boston this is the case.  It
is not the case in Lexington. I had forgotten about the case of the
numbers that are either in 508 or can dial 508 numbers included in
metropolitan service.

Let me point out that my experience with Metropolitan service is the
cities listed above. Those are places where I have actually lived and
have had dial-1-means-toll-call service for about 6 years.

It is true that in many cases, particularly in outlying areas of
Mass., that dial-1-means-toll-call is not implemented. Here it is, and
therefore I will miss it when it goes away.

  jsol


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

From: Dave Horsfall <munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: A Letter From Australia
Date: 19 Oct 89 01:41:06 GMT
Reply-To: Dave Horsfall <[e-mail]>
Organization: Alcatel STC Australia, North Sydney, AUSTRALIA


In article <[e-mail]>,
    [e-mail] <Jon D. Kendall> writes:
|
| In Australia there is no touch-tone service....

Speak for yourself, Taswegian!  It's being introduced in many parts of
the mainland, but I can't speak for the funny little island to the
south of us.... :-)  :-)  :-)


Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel STC Australia,  [e-mail]
[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave

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

From: fmsystm![e-mail]
Date: Thu Oct 19 07:50:47 1989
Subject: Re: PC Sytems to Handle Phone Inquiries?
Organization: F M Systems  Medina, Ohio USA


In article <[e-mail]> you write:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 455, message 3 of 11

>In article <[e-mail]> Jim Henry <jhenry@rand.
>org writes:

>>I would like to design a system which allows a telephone caller to
>>check the status of an order by telephone without human intervention.

>I recently researched a similar application, and found a company which
>seems to handle this type of requirement very well.  The vendor is
>Innovative Technology, Inc. in Roswell Georgia.  They make a clever
>little board (which is not really cheap, but gets the job done) and
>better yet, there is a lot of software out there written by this
>company and by other companies to handle all sorts of touch-tone
>response applications.

This product is sold in its unmodified form as the "Nita"
auto-atendant and voice mail system.  Nita is sold by authorized
contract dealers nationwide (of which I am one).  And it works very
well.

Nita is also sold on an OEM basis by ITI to VARS with a set of
development tools for development tools for enhanced applications such
as the voice response application described.

Based on my installation of several of these systems, I can attest to
the quality of the product and ITI.  I'm very impressed.  I have not
purchased or installed any of the enhanced versions by VARS for
"value-added" applications.  I'm told the Nita makes an execellent
platform, though, and these enhanced applications work well.  (Like
most products of these types, the quality of the VAR and testing
behind it determines the ultimate quality of the enhanced product)

ITI publishes a booklet giving the names, addresses, phone no.'s and a
brief description of the enhanced product's application.

When you call ITI at [phone] you will get a Nita, dial 411 for
a directory.  The name of the national sales manager is Jim Shriver.
ITI will not sell to end users directly, but they will help you get
information on dealers and/of VARS.

Be aware that the Nita requires a stable, quality hardware platform to
operate.  It will operate on a XT or AT platform.  Several clones
work, but there are many issues concerning BIOS and disk operation
that need to be addressed if you intend to use you own machine to run
this system (if the dealer will even permit it...)

One of the principal obligations of a dealer is hardware configuration
and setup.  Initial setup of the software is a bit complex, as well.
Nita is made to work with darn near any phone system that will support
single line (2500) phones as stations.

And there's so much more, but I've taken up too much net bandwidth
already.

Disclaimer: I am a satisfied independent ITI dealer.  I like this
product.  As a courtesy to the net, I will answer e-mail questions,
time permitting.  I would prefer not to sell this product outside my
service area (Ohio).  I do not receive any payment, commission, or
even recognition for sales or promotion, other than my own sales.
Just trying to do right by the net...there's a lot of stuff out there
that _doesn't_ work nearly as well...


Macy Hallock     150 Highland Dr.     [e-mail]
F M Systems Inc. Medina, OH 44256     {uunet|backbone}!hal.cwru.edu!ncoast!macy
[phone]  Fax [phone]  uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy


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

From: "Gary L. Crum" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Hottest Answering Machine
Date: 18 Oct 89 23:09:08 GMT
Organization: University of Southern California


 From reading literature, it seems to me that a "hot" answering system
would be Teleflex, a "telephone handling system" that works with
Macintosh computers to interact with callers using touch-tone, sound
digitizing, voice synthesis and modem signaling.  Teleflex costs about
$3000 not including a host Macintosh.  It is programmable using a
graphical method -- a flow diagram with icons is created.  I don't
have one for my residence yet, but I would like to see such
sophisticated systems in homes.  You know, "Crum residence.  To page
Gary press 1.  To leave a voice message press 2.  To begin FAX
transmission press 3.  To connect with Gary's UNIX system press 4."

Do you people think that things like UUCP and FAX machines can deal
with pauses in their dialing sequences?  I hope so.  Call
[phone] for more information about Teleflex, and please tell
them that Gary Crum of USC referred you to them.  I am not currently
affiliated with the Magnum, the developer of Teleflex, but I would
really like to work on such products.

Gary

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

From: Mark Robert Smith <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Fun With NJ Bell Customer Service
Date: 19 Oct 89 15:35:21 GMT
Organization: Rutgers - The Police State of New Jersey


I too have had difficulties with NJ Bell Customer Service.

I, being a Rutgers student, had to apply by mail for service.  The NJ
Bell form contained some service options, but not the CLASS services
which I wanted for my line.  So, I called the Customer Service number,
and was forced to ask my question in response to the question "Is this
an emergency".  I was told to call after the phone was turned on, and
request those services.

After the strike ended, I got my service on a Saturday.  I called the
Operator and asked her for the number (the form said to do this).
Then, on Monday, I called to have the services added to my line.  At
that time, my connection wasn't in the billing computer yet, so I had
to wait a week.  I called back a week later, and successfully had the
services added.  At that time, I was told that the $21 connection
service charge for those services would be waived, since I couldn't
order them on the form.

So, two weeks later, my phone bill arrives.  Yup, a $21 connection
charge for the CLASS services.  I called the phone company, and after
waiting for 5 minutes for a human, got one.  I explained the process,
and the fact that I was promised a waiver, and the woman (a very rude
woman) on the other end said "Well, Why didn't you write those
services in on the form?"  I told her I was told not to, and could a
please speak to a supervisor.  After a 10 minute hold, she returned
and said "the $21 will be adjusted, Mr. Smith".

I paid the bill minus the $21, so it will be interesting to see what
happens next.


Mark Smith, KNJ2LH                All Rights Reserved
RPO 1604               You may redistribute this article only if those who
P.O. Box 5063                 receive it may do so freely.
New Brunswick, NJ 08903-5063              [e-mail]

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

From: Jean-Pierre Radley <cmcl2!dasys1![e-mail]>
Date: 17 Oct 89 21:15:56 GMT
Subject: Call Waiting Override
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jean-Pierre Radley)
Organization: TANGENT

Sorry, I know this be an old topic. Am I correct that *70 is not the
universal method to override call waiting, that different telcos have
other codes or methods?


Jean-Pierre Radley                          [e-mail]
New York, NY                          [e-mail]

[Moderator's Note: You are correct. Some use 70#; most allow use of 1170
for rotary dial phones, and sometimes 1170 will work from touchtone lines
as well. Some CO's using older generics don't even have this option. An
example is Morton Grove, IL; about the only place in the Chicago area
without this capability.  David Tamkin, is that correct?   PT]

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

Date:     Thu, 19 Oct 89 15:29:53 EDT
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes


Based on notes arriving via TELECOM Digest, I have the following to
pass along:

416, Ontario, 1989? (need area code on toll calls within it)
919, North Carolina, 1989?  (need area code on toll calls within it)
313, Michigan, 1989? (1+ removed from 1+7D for toll calls within it)

When N0X/N1X area codes run out and NXX area codes become necessary, I
take it that that will be known, too.  (For example, 1+7D is still in
use in Delaware.  Where area codes and prefixes can use the same 3
digits, it is necessary for leading 1 to mean that "what follows is an
area code", and use of NXX area codes would force that meaning of
leading 1 into use in areas not already having it, right?)

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 07:50:32 mst
From: David Dodell <[e-mail]>
Subject: AT&T Supplies Sourcebook


I was recently in my local AT&T Phone Center and noticed a booklet
entitled "The AT&T Supplies Sourcebook" Thought the individuals on
this mailing list might be interested.

First, the order number is 1-800-451-2100 (Mon to Fri, 8 am to 8 pm EST)

Contents:

Telecommunications
        - Telephone Accessories
        - Telephone Sets
        - Thermal FAX Paper
        - Headsets
        - Headset Jacks and Adapters
        - Headset Accessories
Cords, Cables and Adapters
        - 4 conductor wiring, 8 conductor wiring and associated jacks
          and adapters
        - Headset cords/supplies for 4/8 conductor equipment
Special Needs
        - Hearing and Speech Amplification
Special Services
        - 800 directories, Long Distance Certificates
        - ATT Card, ProAmerica, Readyline


Overall, a few interesting things.  I'm sure you could get a free copy
of the catalog by calling the 800 number and asking.

David

   -------------------------------------------------------------------------
               uucp:  {decvax, ncar} !noao!asuvax!stjhmc!ddodell
        uucp:  {gatech, ames, rutgers} !ncar!noao!asuvax!stjhmc!ddodell
    Bitnet: ATW1H @ ASUACAD                    FidoNet=> 1:114/15
                  Internet: [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #463
*****************************










Date:     Sat, 21 Oct 89 0:56:34 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #464
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 21 Oct 89 00:55:51 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 464

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    1ESS Call Forwarding Problem (Jeff Glassman via Julian Macassey)
    More on Apartment Door Answering Systems (Richard Snider)
    Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains (Eric Wagner)
    Routing, Boxing, etc. (Ninja Master)
    Re: Caller ID at American Express (Ben Ullrich)
    Re: Caller ID at American Express (Lang Zerner)
    Re: AC 617, was Area Code NineOhNine (John R. Levine)
    Re: What is SONET? (John R. Levine)
    Re: Call Waiting Override (George Wang)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: julian macassey <[e-mail]>
Subject: 1ESS Call Forwarding Problem
Date: 20 Oct 89 00:31:26 GMT
Organization: The Hole in the Wall  Hollywood CA U.S.A.


    I received the following from Jeff Glassman, WA6ENI via amateur
radio; via tcp/ip for the curious. Jeff is the night manager of a GTE
CO. He is responding to a tale I sent him (yes, via ham radio) that
ran here a couple of weeks ago about DMS100 CPC problems:

 From [e-mail] Thu Oct 19 15:38:09 1989
Received: from wa6eni.ampr.org by n6are.ampr.org with SMTP
 id AA3045 ; Thu, 19 Oct 89 15:38:00 PDT
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 15:45:09 GMT
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
 From: [e-mail] (Jeff Glassman)
To: [e-mail]


    I work in a WECO 1AESS owned by GTE. Actually it is a very nice
switch and very well behaved. We are going to be upgrading to G
feature package for our 911 folks.

    That story about the DMS 100 really brought a smile to my face. As
an equipment maintainer who is usually the only person who is in the
CO I can appreciate the goings on.

    I have a similar story to relate. There is a customer out of my CO
who happens to want to call forward his phones at the exact time that
we are doing a translation data assembler back up tape. There is a
period of time when a customer cannot execute any recent changes to
their line (call forwarding variable, speed call variable etc.) while
the verificaton between the primary and secondary translators os
occurring.

    This only takes about 5 min. but it just happens to occur at the
time that he leaves his premises. He thought his call forwarding was
broken and kept reporting to 611 who would always find it to be a
Test-OK when they checked it. This went on for months with no
resolution.

    Supervisors had been out to insure him that there was no problem
and kept showing him the proper ws to use call forwarding. (HE ALREADY
KNEW HOW TO USE THE @#$% CALL-FOWARDING!!) In desperation he watched
one of the outside plant persons dial up the CO and noted the number.
He called into the CO, got the day shift person who informed him what
the problem was and that there was no way that anything could be done
about it. ("I just do my job - I don't set policies...")

    When he called me at the CO (at 3:30am) and gave me his story with
all the names of who he had contacted and what he had tried, I was
amazed!  NO ONE had ever explained to him that the situation occured
for only five minutes at a time and only once or twice a week.  He had
never even thought of trying it after a few minutes because he thought
that it was repeatedly breaking and being repaired in the morning.
Needless to say I was able to straighten him out on what the situation
actually was in just a few minutes.

    The whole incident just showed me how important communications is
within a communications company, and how little information actually
makes it through from one section to another of the company. If that
customer had not taken matters into his own hands and gotten hold of
me there is no telling what it would have taken to get his "problem"
solved. I hope that incidents such as this are rare and isolated but I
fear that they are getting more common all the time.
             ===============================

Yours,

Julian Macassey, n6are  julian@bongo    ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian
n6are@k6iyk (Packet Radio) n6are.ampr.org [44.16.0.81] voice [phone]

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

From:    [e-mail]
Subject: More on Apartment Door Answering Systems
Date:    Fri, 20 Oct 89 14:37:37 EDT

Dave Levenson writes:

>This may mean that the 5ESS supports ADAS.  It may also be a CPE-based
>version of the same service.  Perhaps the armored panel phone in the
>foyer detects the touch tone from the resident's set and unlocks the
>door?  I don't remember seeing any brand name on the set.

>When I visit, the directions on the phone tell me to dial # and their
>appartment number.  When I lift the handset, there is no battery or
>sound in the receiver.  When I enter the #, I hear what sounds like CO
>dialtone.  I then enter their three-digit appartment number, and hear
>the three touch-tones in the receiver.  As soon as I have entered
>three digits, the phone dials their 7-digit number, using
>pulse-dialing (I hear the pulses in the handset).  The microphone is
>dead (i.e. no side-tone) until after dialing is complete, but is
>enabled during ringing.

>When they answer, they dial 9 to admit me.  I hear the first few tens
>of milliseconds of their tone signal, and then silence.  About 500
>msec later, the entry door goes "thunk-buzzzzzz" and I am given
>access.

>Does anyone recognize this system?

I don't think that this is CO based at all.  I have seen many of these
types of devices on apartment buildings from various different
manufacturers which function in this manner.

When new tenants move into a building, the Super will get their phone
number and program it into the machine.  When someone comes to visit,
they key in a number (Apartment number or other) and the device then
picks up an ordinary phone line and calls that apartment.  It
recognizes certain DTMF frequencies from the remote end to unlatch the
door.  These devices are becoming quite popular since it is easier to
pay for 1 phone line over many years than it is to run intercom wire
to every apartment and then have to pay for service when it breaks.

  Richard Snider

Where: ..uunet!mnetor!yunexus!xrtll!rsnider    Also:  [e-mail]
An unbreakable tool is useful for breaking other tools.

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

From: Eric Wagner <asuvax!gtephx!bladder![e-mail]>
Subject: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains
Date: 18 Oct 89 17:12:16 GMT
Organization: gte


Is there any truth to the rumor that the emissions from the newer
cellular phones can be unhealthy?  In particular, I have heard that
hand-held models (with their antennae located right next to the head)
have been responsible for brain/eye damage.

When I did some calculations, this damage didn't seem impossible.  I
think the newer models operate on 800MHz (?).  If that is true, then
the wavelength would be:

   c / f = 186000 mi/sec  /  800000000/sec  x  5280 ft/mi = 1.2 feet

This results in a halfwave of about 7 inches (just about the size of
the skull).  Is this true?  Can this cause real damage?  Did anyone
consider this before approving the 800MHz frequency?


Eric Wagner (wagnere@gtephx)
AGCS (formerly GTE), Phoenix     [phone]
UUCP: {ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!hrc | att}!gtephx!wagnere

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

From: Ninja Master <[e-mail]>
Subject: Routing, Boxing, etc.
Date: 19 Oct 89 21:49:01 GMT
Organization: The P.L.O.

Two Questions.....

One, would someone mind describing how and what equipment is used to
detect false winks (i.e. Blue Boxes).

Two, I was recently told by a member of WisBell that routing codes are
a function of AT&T.  When did this start? I thought the local BOC's
set the routing codes......

Thanks.......

            -=+NINJA MASTER+=-

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

Subject: Re: Caller ID at American Express
Organization: sybase, inc., emeryville, ca.
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 23:08:29 -0700
From: ben ullrich <[e-mail]>

> By the way, I called American Express last week to argue about my
> bill.  Amex has been reported to have an 800 version of Caller ID that
> looks up the phone number of each call and translates it to the
> caller's card number.  When the person who answered asked me for my
> card number, I asked whether she could tell it from my phone number
> and she said she couldn't.  Either she was lying or they've turned it
> off.

I doubt they've turned it off.  They'll always ask for your account
number for identity verification, just as they ask for your name after
getting your account number.

I've noticed that most of the time, I don't hear any typing or delays
as I give them my account number, as if they are reading it on their
screen instead of typing it in.  I should test this by calling in on
my unlisted number sometime, and see if the response is any different
from when I call from my other, listed number, the one that appears on
their records.


ben ullrich           consider my words disclaimed,if you consider them at all
sybase, inc., emeryville, ca    "When you deal with human beings, a certain
+1 (415) 596 - 3500            amount of nonsense is inevitable." - mike trout
[e-mail]                   {pyramid,pacbell,sun,lll-tis}!sybase!ben

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

From: Lang Zerner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID at American Express
Date: 20 Oct 89 10:15:38 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Lang Zerner)
Organization: The Great Escape, Inc


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
boston.ma.us writes:

>[American Express] has been reported to have an 800 version of Caller ID that
>looks up the phone number of each call and translates it to the
>caller's card number.  When the person who answered asked me for my
>card number, I asked whether she could tell it from my phone number
>and she said she couldn't.  Either she was lying or they've turned it
>off.

I recall having read a few little "FYI" type articles in various
technical and marketing trade rags that said Amex got a lot of nasty
letters and calls from customers who were startled, perplexed, and/or
annoyed at Amex about the addition of the "service."

Apparently, someone at Amex marketing thought it would be friendlier
to answer the phone, "Good morning Mr. Zerner."  A lot of people
(myself included) thought it was pompous and not beneficial.  At least
one person encountered communication difficulties because he was
calling from another cardholder's phone.  Enough of these dissatisfied
customers wrote and called in nastygrams expressing their dislike of
Amex' use of the technology that Amex ended up pulling the idea.

I still have one or two of the articles floating around somewhere.  If
you're really interested, though, you'll probably get a faster
response from a commercial text-retrieval service or library CD
periodicals index.


Be seeing you...

Lang Zerner
[e-mail]   UUCP:bionet!asylum!langz   ARPA:[e-mail]
"...and every morning we had to go and LICK the road clean with our TONGUES!"

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

Subject: Re: AC 617, was Area Code NineOhNine
Organization: Segue Software, Cambridge MA
Date: 20 Oct 89 11:12:43 EDT (Fri)
From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> you write:
>Even in Boston, 617 is getting nearly full; even though they just
>split the code already. ...

Is that really true?  A recent message shows 330 prefixes, which looks
to me like it's less than half full.  There are 339 in 508.  Or am I
missing something?


Regards,
John Levine, [e-mail], {spdcc|ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl

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

From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What is SONET?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Segue Software, Cambridge MA
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 16:39:36 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> amc-gw!ssc![e-mail].
washington.edu writes:

>Seriously....I always thought SONET referred to Southern New England
>Telephone Co!

No, that's SNET, pronounced snet, or perhaps SNET Co., pronounced
snetco.  When I lived in New Haven, all sorts of events happened at
the SNET Co.  auditorium.  Since SNET was an AT&T affiliate rather
than a subsidiary, they are not subject to all the restrictions on the
RBOCs and they set up a subsidiary sonorously named Sonecor which
attempts without notable success to make big bucks in unregulated
businesses.

SNET lives in my memory as the only phone company ever to send me a
"pay or we'll turn off your phone" letter before they even sent the
bill.


John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, [phone]
[e-mail], {ima|lotus|spdcc}!esegue!johnl
Massachusetts has over 100,000 unlicensed drivers.  -The Globe

[Moderator's Note: I might add that SNET Financial Services, Inc. is a big
lender of money for people who buy computer systems. In my real life work,
they are a client of ours. They lend *huge* amounts of money to commercial
borrowers, and function as a factor for computer brokers.  PT]

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 15:08:23 -0500
From: George Wang <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Call Waiting Override
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

>[Moderator's Note: You are correct. Some use 70#; most allow use of 1170
>for rotary dial phones, and sometimes 1170 will work from touchtone lines
>as well. Some CO's using older generics don't even have this option. An
>example is Morton Grove, IL; about the only place in the Chicago area
>without this capability.  David Tamkin, is that correct?   PT]

Well, I'm not Dave, but I do know from first hand experience that
Morton Grove's switching station does NOT allow call waiting override
with *70.... Although I live in Skokie, Skokie is spilt into service
by Skokie's switching station and Morton Grove's switching station...
Unfortunately, we got stuck with Morton Grove's switching station and
using the modem with call waiting is a real pain!!  Disconnects
galore!! BTW, does anyone know why Morton Grove doesn't have this
ability?? Does it have to do with the station's switching technology??

Is there anything we can do as telephone service customers?
A petition? Hmmmm......


George Wang
University of Illinois
[e-mail]


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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #464
*****************************










Date:     Sat, 21 Oct 89 1:52:12 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #465
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 21 Oct 89 01:50:13 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 465

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Earthquake - Lessons Learned (Hector Myserston)
    Amazing Quake Stories (Guy A. Finney)
    Re: Blimp Use and Eathquake Coverage (John G. De Armond)
    Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service (Marc T. Kaufman)
    Re: Disaster Communications (Brian Kantor)
    Re: What Works in a Disaster (Fred R. Goldstein)
    Re: Telesphere Came Through; AT&T/Sprint Let Me Down (Edward Greenberg)
    Re: San Fransisco Horror (Kent Borg)

[Moderator's Note: Coverage of the Event continues in the Digest.  PT]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: 20 Oct 89  08:50 PST
Subject: Earthquake - Lessons Learned
Organization: SRI Intl, Inc., Menlo Park, CA  94025  [[phone]]

     The following is my opinion of the earthquake aftermath based on
talking to many fellow Telecom folks in the area (SL-1 Users, TCA and
many vendors):

o I found 0 instances of properly installed PBXs and other gear
suffering major damage.  I am sure there are some but either the whole
building has been evacuated or the damage has not been discovered.

o MANY people had power-related problems beyond the capacity of the
battery backup.  Many PBXs do not handle power loss and subsequent
restoral well.  Many cards fail shortly after the event.

o Traffic has to be controlled in the Network or at the Central
Office.  No amount of training or lecturing is going to stop users
from checking on their family and friends immediately after an event.

o Central dispatch/Trouble Numbers, usually 800- numbers are useless
in a major event.  Even when you can call in to them, they cannot call
IN to the appropriate people in your area.  Same for remote paging.
LOCAL contacts are a must.

o Cellular overloaded worse than land lines.

o Carriers who controlled traffic took (in my opinion) a bum rap.  The
resellers mentioned in previous messages were able to complete calls
only because the underlying carrier maintained some measure of Network
Discipline.

o One interesting side effect of telecom problems was the issue of
ATMs.  Many people really on them almost exclusively for ready cash.
Loss of service (computer or line) is attributed to "the phone lines".

o I was called by several present (and former!)  interconnect
contractors offering help within 24 hours.  Most had more man-power on
hand than required.  MITEL is running large ads offering 24-hour
turn-around on repairs.

o Radio, I think, did great.  Not to much panic or exageration.
Amazingly enough from the time I got home about two hours after the
earthquake I was able to watch local TV coverage using an outside
antenna.  While some stations came and went, at least one was on the
air at all times.  [I live in the South Bay 20 - 30 miles from the
epicenter, we lost stuff from shelves etc but did NOT lose power
through all of this].

     All-in-all it seems like telecom was more part of the solution
than of the problem.  Of the people I know I would say almost all are
now fully operational including the ones in SF after power restoral.

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 12:18:27 MST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Amazing Quake Stories

We heard from one of the traffic monitoring people at US West who
noticed something peculiar around 5:05 PM Tuesday.  He called his AT&T
counterpart in Oakland to see what was happening.  The call was
answered, and the conversation went something like:

"Hey, what's happening there?"

"We've got an earthquake here, and, .....  oh .....  there's a big
crack in the wall now .....  <buzzzzz>"

I'd heard that AT&T was on the 10th floor of some building in Oakland,
so I don't know how apocryphal this is.  Haven't heard of any
buildings that tall sustaining that kind of damage.


Guy Finney                    It's that feeling of deja-vu
UUCS inc.   Phoenix, Az                all over again.
ncar!noao!asuvax!hrc!uucs1!gaf    sun!sunburn!gtx!uucs1!gaf

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

From: "John G. De Armond" <rsiatl![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Blimp Use and Eathquake Coverage
Date: 20 Oct 89 19:15:10 GMT
Reply-To: "John G. De Armond" <rsiatl![e-mail]>
Organization: Radiation Systems, Inc. (a thinktank, motorcycle, car and
gun works facility)


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
mil (Will Martin) writes:

>Glad you posted that note that mentioned your wife's query about the
>blimp not moving South.

>I did notice that the blimp was by far the best camera platform,
>giving the most stable images.  Perhaps ABC felt that having those
>better pictures of the SF area was a "competitive advantage" in its
>coverage and did't want to lose them, trading them off for unknown
>results that the blimp might get further South.

Before we attribute too much malice to ABC, we should note the
technical reason the blimp stayed in the SF area.  The blimp, which is
strictly a camera platform in these circumstances, must stay within
short-haul microwave range of the ground station that services it.  In
this case, the ground station was at the stadium.  Remember, the blimp
does not normally carry recording equipment or long distance microwave
gear.  There is a defined limit on weight and power consumption.


John De Armond, WD4OQC                     | Manual? ... What manual ?!?
Radiation Systems, Inc.     Atlanta, GA    | This is Unix, My son, You
gatech!stiatl!rsiatl!jgd  **I am the NRA** | just GOTTA Know!!!


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

From: "Marc T. Kaufman" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bay Area Earthquake Phone Service
Date: 20 Oct 89 04:15:25 GMT
Reply-To: "Marc T. Kaufman" <[e-mail]>
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Dennis Brophy) writes:

> How does the phone service work during an earthquake?

Right now (9pm, Thursday 10/19), I can call ALMOST everywhere,
including San Francisco, which was inaccessable from Woodside (also in
415) until this morning.  The only place I can't currently reach is
Los Gatos, which is GTE.  Santa Cruz never went away.

I don't know how I'll be able to tell when Los Gatos is back, since
this is one of GTE's worst service areas even without an earthquake. :-)

My wife is currently out of state, and she has more trouble reaching
me than I have reaching her.

Marc Kaufman ([e-mail])

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

From: Brian Kantor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Disaster Communications
Date: 20 Oct 89 11:33:03 GMT
Reply-To: Brian Kantor <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of California, San Diego Network Operations


There is a statewide police radio service in California, but it can
get congested easily and I recall seeing bulletins asking that it not
be used for anything but the highest-priority traffic in times of
emergency.

Much of it piggybacks on microwave circuits, some of which were not in
operation because of fallen or twisted towers and power problems.

The CERFnet, BARRNet, Calinet, and associated computer networks mostly
kept running throughout much of this, although there were some outages
due to power failures at a few key points, and coincidently a circuit
between Stanford and Berkeley had failed a couple of hours before the
quake hit.

We had communications from San Diego to Stanford and UC Santa Barbara
at all times; UC Santa Cruz came back online in a couple of hours once
they had their emergency power up, and UC Davis and UC Berkeley were
back early in the morning.  UC San Francisco was back on-line before
noon the following day.  The UC Office of the President in Oakland was
never offline.

Most of this network is T1, much of it over PacBell and MCI fiber,
with a few microwave links.  None of it is dialup, so this traffic did
not impact congested voice circuits.

The E-mail community was passing "health and welfare" sort of traffic
using electronic mail for much of the night, and I know that many
families slept easier that night because of the electronic mail
capabilities of the various computer networks.

Although I handled little of this traffic myself, I certainly saw lots
of it go through to the quake area.  In the last day or so, we've seen
a peak of more than 20% over our normal E-mail load, and we're as far
south in California as you can get - more than 400 miles away from the
quake.  I expect that's because we're well-connected and much of the
normal E-mail routing into the Bay Area is still in the process of
coming back online.

    - Brian

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

From: "Fred R. Goldstein" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What Works in a Disaster
Date: 20 Oct 89 16:23:41 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton MA USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Ole J. Jacobsen) writes...

>I helped a friend contact her worried parents in New York, and finally
>succeeded after some 10XXX hacking, the carrier which worked was 311
>which I believe is AllNet.
>Ole

According to the list that was posted here some time ago, 10311 is
SaveNet.

I tried to call my sister in Berkeley at 11:40 EDT the night of the
quake.  AT&T and Sprint had recordings, MCI a fast busy.  10444
(Allnet) got through with no problems.  Their transmission still
sounds analog noisy, and I don't know anybody who actually uses them
as 1+ (around here), and they probably didn't do anything about the
quake, but they got through.

Amazing how few people know about 10xxx.

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

From: Edward Greenberg <claris!netcom![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Telesphere Came Through; AT&T/Sprint Let Me Down
Date: 21 Oct 89 00:36:14 GMT
Reply-To: Edward Greenberg <claris!netcom![e-mail]>
Organization: NetCom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 997-9175}


I kinda think that it's a good idea to divide traffic capability
between incoming and outgoing during a disaster.  John H. suggests
that he should have gotten through on ATT or Sprint, but if this was
true, not only would we have a massive jam incoming, but no outgoing
service either.

As it was, I made one outgoing ATT call and reassured everybody
outside the area by notifying my parents.

Someone put it well: Better to let the people in trouble call out for
help.
                -edg

Ed Greenberg
uunet!apple!netcom!edg

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

From: Kent Borg <lloyd!sunfs3![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: San Fransisco Horror
Date: 20 Oct 89 18:26:58 GMT
Reply-To: Kent Borg <lloyd![e-mail]>
Organization: Camex, Inc., Boston, Mass USA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (TELECOM Moderator) writes:

>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 457, message 1 of 9
>At the time this is written, chaos is reigning in the Bay Area, and
>all telecommunications are knocked out. The latest death count is

Maybe at the time you wrote that, but by some time near 8PM PDT (11PM
EDT) there where some phones with working long distance service--both
incoming and outgoing.

I was at a friend's house when the earth rumbled.  Being near Boston
we didn't feel it, and not watching TV or listening to the radio, we
didn't know it happened.

We found out when we got a call from another friend.  She was calling
from her apartment in San Francisco.  She had no electricity and
didn't have a battery powered TV or radio, so she phoned us to find
out what was going on.

We turned on the TV to find out.  Later we called her back to tell her
what we knew.  The call to SF took a few tries to go through (maybe 10
minutes worth).

We were impressed.

Our call to SF was made by AT&T, I am told the sound quality was
normal (I didn't talk to her myself).

Kent Borg                "Then again I could be foolish
[e-mail]                 not to quit while I'm ahead..."
or                         -from Evita (sung by Juan Peron)
 ...!husc6!lloyd!kent

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #465
*****************************










Date:     Sat, 21 Oct 89 16:49:28 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #466
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 21 Oct 89 16:45:38 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 466

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Introduction to SONET (Stephen Fleming)
    Keep at Least One Rotary Phone (Ole J. Jacobsen)
    NATA Unicom '89 (TELECOM Moderator)
    717-564 Discrepancy (Carl Moore)
    Code-a-Phone 2600 (Otto J. Makela)
    Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains (Kenneth Illgen)
    Re: Cellular Telephone Prices (Kenneth R. Jongsma)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Rune Henning Johansen)
    Re: Parsing Dialed Digits (Jeff DeSantis)
    Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles (Jeff DeSantis)
    Sprint Shoots Itself in the Foot on the Radio (Jay Maynard)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: portal!cup.portal.com![e-mail]
Subject: Introduction to SONET
Date: Tue, 17-Oct-89 07:24:41 PDT

>10/13/89 17:04 3/171 [e-mail] (Guy Middleton)
writes:

>I read in the newspaper today about some Northern Telecom fibre-optic
>equipment that uses a signalling technology called SONET.  Does anybody know
>what SONET actually is?

SONET stands for Synchronous Optical Network.  It is not a signalling
technology (as the term would normally be understood in this
newsgroup) but rather a new international standard for transmitting
very-high-bit-rate signals (up to 13 gigabits per second) over
single-mode fiber; Northern Telecom has also extended the system to
work over digital microwave radio.  Current announcements include 2.4
Gb/s products, which will be the fastest in the world when they ship
next year.

The major advantages of SONET are:

*  Multi-vendor compatibility (allowing optical mid-span meets between
   equipment from different vendors... e.g., Northern Telecom and AT&T.
   This has been an ongoing scandal for years, with an explosion in
   proprietary formats coinciding with divestiture and rapid advances
   in fiber optic technology)

*  Capability to extract one or more constituent signals in mid-stream
   (all asynchronous systems require full demultiplexing to DS1 or
   sometimes to analog VF, which is INCREDIBLY awkward, expensive,
   and prone to mistakes)

*  Standardized operations, administration, and maintenance.  If you're
   not involved in the day-to-day business, it's not obvious that, with
   the massive growth of fiber optic capacity, the major technical
   challenge is no longer getting the bits into the pipe... it's making
   sure the right bits go in the right place and get billed to the
   right customer.  (A massive oversimplification.)

*  Provision of new services to be named later.  For example, some of
   the extensions to SONET now being negotiated relate to fiber to the
   home and switched multi-megabit data services for corporations.
   Unlike previous systems, where you would have to rip out the entire
   terminal electronics to provide a new service, SONET allows new
   services to be provisioned without disturbing the synchronous
   structure.  Some new services will be provisionable purely via
   downloaded software, with no change in terminal electronics.

SONET began its life at Bellcore in 1984.  After a tortuous approval
process, it is now accepted by the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Europe (at
least... perhaps others as well).  It is the first major transmission
standard to be PROACTIVELY determined, rather than the old method of
"well, let's see what AT&T shipped and make that a standard."  As
such, it bids fair to revolutionize the transmission and (to some
extent) switching portions of the public network.

One of the best tutorials I have seen on SONET is by Ballart and Ching
in the March 1989 issue of IEEE Communications.  I added a
more-accessible introduction in my article published in the June 15th
issue of TE&M.  I'd also be happy to reply to questions of general
interest via E-mail or over the net.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Stephen Fleming                 |  Internet: [e-mail]   |
| Director, Technology Marketing  |  Voice:    [phone]           |
| Northern Telecom                +-------------------------------------|
| Federal Networks Division       |    Opinions expressed are not       |
| Vienna, Virginia  22182         |    those of Northern Telecom.       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date: Sat 21 Oct 89 07:56:00-PDT
From: "Ole J. Jacobsen" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Keep at Least One Rotary Phone


In the wake of the earthquake I have been having problems getting
through to a friend in Ben Lomond near Santa Cruz. Dialling the number
usually results in a fast busy. One trick I learned from the UK is to
dial the number slowly with a rotary phone. Amazingly it seems to work
here too.  Perhaps the slow dialling results in a "pass on" to the
next switch, the way the UK phone system was described here a while
ago. I am not insisting that this is the case here, I honestly do not
know, but what I report is true. Any explanations would be much
appreciated, and I will always keep a rotary dial phone handy.

Ole

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

Date:     Sat, 21 Oct 89 1:31:44 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  NATA Unicom '89

The North American Telecommunications Association (NATA) will host the
17th Annual Expo and Conference for telecom professionals December 5-7
in Dallas, TX at the Infomart Exhibition and Conference Center.

Entitled 'Spanning the Networks', this year's presentation will have
over 400 exhibitors; 8000 people in attendance; over 30 conference
sessions co-sponsored by TeleStrategies; and a special interest
seminar for the Pay Telephone Industry sponsored by the American
Public Communications Council.

Special events and guests include --

Monday, December 4  "Public Communications Industry Forum". (pre-session)
This forum will address legal and regulatory issues at the state and
federal levels which affect all members of the public communications
industry. Admission to the forum will be by special invitation only.

Tuesday, December 5 will be given over to conference sessions and
the Exposition.

Wednesday, December 6 features special guest Malcolm S. Forbes, Jr.

In addition, a special closed-door seminar will be offered entitled,
"Toll Fraud - How to Spot It; How to Prevent It". Admission will be by
invitation only, and is open only to members of the COPT industry.
Inquire at the time of registration.

Thursday, December 7 brings Harry Newton to the exposition, in a
special presentation entitled "The Harry Newton Extravaganza". This is
open to all.

Admission for the full package of events is $395 for Non-Members of
NATA if received before November 17, or $495 if received after that
date. NATA members will pay $250/350.

Admission to the exhibit hall only is $25 prior to November 17, and
$35 after that date.

Luncheon with Malcolm Forbes on December 6 is $25 if purchased
separately.

For more information, to register or receive a copy of the conference
information booklet and complete schedule of seminars and events, contact
the North American Telecommunications Association as follows --

NATA Unicom '89
333 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60601

Phone: [phone]  or 312-332-2037

Hotel arrangements can be made through the same number.

The main office of NATA is --

North American Telecommunications Association
200 'M' Street NW  - Suite 550
Washington, DC 20036

If any of our readers decide to attend -- at least the Exposition
portion -- please write a report afterward for the Digest.

Patrick Townson

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

Date:     Fri, 20 Oct 89 15:11:34 EDT
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  717-564 Discrepancy

What about this discrepancy?  I called the Bellcore number and got PAXTANG
for 717-564, but when I asked AT&T operator (by using 00 on an AT&T phone)
what the place name for 717-564 was, I got Harrisburg.  I do know Paxtang
to be part of the Harrisburg (Pa.) area, but what databases are involved?

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

From: "Otto J. Makela" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Code-a-Phone 2600
Date: 20 Oct 89 15:38:55 GMT
Organization: Justice HQ, Mega-City One


I've been looking around for a phone answering machine to use for call
screening and message recording.

I have a sales blurb for a device called the Code-a-Phone 2600, which
would seem to be what I need: 16s of digital outgoing message, micro-
casette for message recording and remote message retrieve with 3-digit
security code (gives 512 combinations, if the salesperson had it
right) plus a few more.  The price tag over here in Finland is around
US$230, which makes it pretty resonable.

Does anyone have hands-on experience with these devices ?

* * * Otto J. Makela ([e-mail], [e-mail]) * * * * * * *
* Phone: [phone], BBS: [phone] (CCITT, Bell 2400/1200/300) *
* Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE             *
* * * freopen("/dev/null","r",stdflame); * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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

From: "Keneth..Illgen" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains
Date: 21 Oct 89 14:35:41 GMT
Reply-To: "Kenneth..Illgen" <hq![e-mail]>
Organization: Air Force HQ, The Pentagon


In article <[e-mail]> asuvax!gtephx!bladder!
[e-mail] (Eric Wagner) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 464, message 3 of 9

>Is there any truth to the rumor that the emissions from the newer
>cellular phones can be unhealthy?  In particular,...hand-held models...
>have been responsible for brain/eye damage.

     I read about the same thing. I personally don't think it would
have any effect on an individual unless they had a 7" antenna stuck in
their skull. I wonder (seriously!) about individuals that have pins
and such in their bodies and the half-wave matching effects around a
particular frequency.

Any ideas?
ken

*******************************      ******************************
* "Maybe we should drop an H- *      * Kenneth Illgen             *
*  bomb on them".. Hawkeye    *      * HQUSAF Air Staff LAN       *
*                             *      * The Pentagon, Washington   *            * "Don't try to get on my     *
*  good side".. Col Flagg     *
*                             *      [e-mail]
*******************************

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Cellular Telephone Prices
Date: Tue, 17-Oct-89 09:53:40 PDT

Someone mentioned that the cost of a cellular telephone had dropped to
the $200 range in their area. (Not to be confused with airtime rates)

Anyway, several local electronics stores in the area have been
advertising transportables for $87. The catch is that you have sign up
for 6 months of service with one of the local carriers.

These may be refurbished units, but they did have the full 832
channels and were 3 watt transmitters.

They did want an "installation" fee of around $50. Presumably to
activate the account, since their can't be anything to installing a
portable!

I assume the carriers are paying a kickback to cover the low cost of
the units - at least that's a practice mentioned in one of the
business magazines.

[e-mail]

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

Date: 20 Oct 89 16:11 +0100
From: Rune Henning Johansen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!

I'm quite sure that the fire department in Oslo uses "caller ID" for
emergency calls. In addition to the obvious safety-reason already
mentioned, there is another advantage: They can also avoid and/or
detect false alerts.

    <[e-mail]>

[Moderator's Note: When 911 was implemented here over ten years ago,
the false-alarm rate (at least the malicious ones) dropped to almost
zero. For many years, the Chicago Fire and Police Departments were
plagued with malicious false-alarms. Typically the Fire Department
responded to over two dozen false (or do you say phalse? [smiling
sweetly :-)] ) alarms *daily*. Police responded to many more, some of
which were simply malicious attempts to lure a police officer into a
dangerous situation. As some people began finding out the hard way
that there were no more games with the phone, these ugly activities
virtually ceased. We still get a tiny number of false-alarms, mostly
from people unaware of how it works; usually children playing.  PT]

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

From: Jeff DeSantis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Parsing Dialed Digits
Date: 20 Oct 89 14:13:45 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jeff DeSantis)
Organization: NEC Information Systems, Acton, MA


In article <[e-mail]> vrdxhq!pbs!PCRABLE@eecs.
nwu.edu (VAX WIZZ) writes:

> How can I tell whether to take the next two or the next three
>digits as the country code ?

It depends on the first two digits.

If the first two digits are a valid country code, then you do not have
to look at the third digit.

For example, if the first two digits are 44, you know you have a call
to the United Kingdom.

Another approach would be to consider all country codes to consist of
three digits.  In this case all 44X (440-449) country codes would be
calls to the United Kingdom.

Either approach requires maintaining a list of country codes against
which you can verify the call's country code.

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

From: Jeff DeSantis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles
Date: 20 Oct 89 19:00:24 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jeff DeSantis)
Organization: NEC Information Systems, Acton, MA

>"How many cookies did Andrew eat?
>
>     ANdrew 8-8000"
>
>Was that it?

Adams & Sweet, South Boston, Carpet Cleaners & Used Carpet Sales

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

From: Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard <[e-mail]>
Subject: US Sprint Shoots Itself in the Foot on the Radio
Date: 21 Oct 89 17:07:17 GMT
Reply-To: Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard <[e-mail]>
Organization: Confederate Microsystems, League City, TX


The Texas-Arkansas football game is being broadcast on KTRH radio even
as I write this. The sound quality is awful: lots of static, narrow
bandwidth, and fading. I wondered what kind of string they were using on
their tin cans. The rotten quality was due to the network feed; local
commercials sound as good as ever.

Imagine my surprise when I heard a US Sprint commercial:
"You don't know it, but you've been sampling the high quality of US
Sprint's fiber optic network. ...only our fiber optics could make this
broadcast as high quality as it is."

Yeah, right.

Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL   | Never ascribe to malice that which can
[e-mail]       (eieio)| adequately be explained by stupidity.
{attctc,bellcore}!texbell!splut!jay +----------------------------------------
   Send [e-mail] your NO vote on sci.aquaria; it belongs in rec.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #466
*****************************










Date:     Sun, 22 Oct 89 12:36:52 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #467
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 22 Oct 89 12:35:39 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 467

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Risk of CO Fires (Larry Lippman)
    Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes (Dik T. Winter)
    Earthquake Phone Service (Anthony E. Siegman)
    Earthquake Report, Berkeley (Linc Madison)
    Re: Earthquake - Lessons Learned (John Higdon)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Risk of CO Fires
Date: 20 Oct 89 00:11:27 EDT (Fri)
From: Larry Lippman <kitty![e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> amc-gw!ssc![e-mail].
washington.edu writes:

> I enjoyed Larry Lippman's description of cable splicing and mining.
> Wasn't it a cable mining operation that set off the Hinsdale fire?

    It could be, but I am not certain; I have encountered different
versions of an explanation for the Hinsdale fire, both from public and
"inside" sources, so I don't know what to believe.

    In any event, cable mining DOES INDEED provide an opportunity
for a fire under some circumstances if care is not exercised.

    The problem is that in older CO buildings the -48 volt office
battery is distributed using wires having RH and RHW insulation types.
This insulation is rubber, and covered with varnished cloth.  Prior to
1950, the rubber used was natural, with newer cable using neoprene or
butyl rubber.  Over the years much of this rubber will age and
devulcanize, especially on cable which has been subject to excess heat
from overload conditions.  As a result, the insulation will
deteriorate such that movement of the cable would cause the rubber and
outer cloth covering to literally crumble to dust - thereby exposing
bare conductor.

    DC power distribution in large electromechanical CO's results
in some serious current.  In WECO CO's, most major battery feeders use
750 MCM copper conductors, in which the copper is almost one inch in
diameter.  A heavy conductor is also used to keep the battery feed
impedance to a minimum, thereby reducing impulse noise and crosstalk.
A 750 MCM conductor may intermittently carry with safety about 750
amperes, and hence will be fused between 500 and 1,000 amperes,
depending upon the power distribution design.

    Such a 750 MCM conductor has the capability of a *SERIOUS*
amount of short-circuit current.  Almost all battery feeders in older
CO's are protected by fuses which have a certain amount of thermal
delay before opening on an overload condition.  The ability of such an
exposed conductor to strike and maintain an arc - all before blowing a
fuse - is simply *AWESOME*.  While I did not witness the event, I have
seen the aftermath of a 750 MCM conductor carrying -48 volts burn
through a 5/8" steel threaded rod cable rack support - like a knife
through butter, but instead spewing molten metal - BEFORE the fuse
ever opened the circuit!  Power cables run directly on cable rack,
protected from the supporting metal only by a small, thin piece of
fibre insulation.

    I have also, ahem, personally destroyed my share of small
tools in past years due to accidental short circuits between -48 volt
battery and ground.  It is EASY to start a fire if one is careless.

    The risk associated with cable mining is that old power
cables, whose insulation is being held together on a wing and a
prayer, will then crumble upon being disturbed, thereby exposing the
conductor to potential short-circuit.  Power feeders will usually
survive more than one generation of telephone apparatus, which is why
power feeder cables many years old will still be in service.  While
ESS apparatus is usually installed with new batteries, power apparatus
and power distribution wiring, older power feeders often remain to
supply trunk circuits, carrier, transmission and ancilary facilities.

    As I see it, the former Bell System and present RBOC's must
shoulder some responsibility for the risk of CO fires.  It has only
been in recent years that smoke detectors have been commonplace in
CO's.  The traditional method of fire detection - still in service in
many CO's - is to run "fire wire" around cable rack and apparatus
which is deemed to be vulnerable to fire.  Fire wire is a low-melting
point wire similar to solder; it is about 10 AWG in size.  When the
temperature reaches a certain point (I don't remember the setpoint),
the fire wire melts and opens a circuit.  The problem with fire wire
is that it is fragile, easily damaged and the fire wire splices are
often intermittent.  The result is that fire wire causes many a false
alarm - which is then ignored.  Also by the time fire wire melts due
to an actual fire, one is in *deep* trouble since this is hardly an
early warning detection system.

    Another problem is that the Bell System has traditionally
sought to "take care of its own" and has thereby tried to avoid any
embarassment with a fire department due to false alarms.  The net
result is that it has been rare for a CO fire alarm to be called into
a fire department without a craftsperson investigating the matter
first - a situation which can lead to serious delay and damage in the
event of a real fire.

    The above attitude of avoiding "embarassment" and "adverse
publicity" still exists.  I personally know of an example which rather
shocked me.  A few years ago an employee of a contractor accidentally
fell off a truck at the New York Telephone Franklin St.  CO in
Buffalo, NY.  The employee was knocked unconscious.  The security
guard (this is the main CO in Buffalo, so there are full-time guards)
did NOT call 911 for an ambulance, but instead called a *private*
ambulance service which resulted in a significant delay in response as
opposed to 911.  The security guards apparently have standing
instructions to call a private ambulance, and NOT to call 911 unless
it is a "dire emergency".  Why a private ambulance?  Because then
there will be no public record of any accident and no risk of a police
report.  Not a good attitude.

<> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp.
<> UUCP  {allegra|boulder|decvax|rutgers|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry
<> TEL [phone] | 716/773-1700  {hplabs|utzoo|uunet}!/      \uniquex!larry
<> FAX [phone] | 716/773-2488      "Have you hugged your cat today?"

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

Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 01:48:05 +0100
From: "Dik T. Winter" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes

Some time ago there was some discussion on this list about access
codes in different countries to dial international numbers.  Going
through my archive I found a booklet from the Dutch PTT which shows
them.  I repeat the list here.  Note, the list is from December 1987,
so things might have changed.

If you are in another country and have to dial [phone] (my
office phone number) you replace the + by the digit sequence indicated
below.  A minus sign indicates that you have to wait for a second dial
tone.  A period indicates no country code should follow.

Albania        unknown
Austria        00
        00432.    For Luxembourg in stead of 00352
        030.    For Yugoslavia for areas with codes starting with
            4, 5 or 6
        040.    For Italy in stead of 0039
        050.    For Switzerland in stead of 0041
        060.    For Germany in stead of 0049
        900    For Sovjet Union and Turkey from Eisenstadt, Graz,
            Innsbruck, Kitzbuehel, Klagenfurt, Reutten, Vienna
            and Wattens (possibly needed for more countries)
Belgium        00-    (wait only needed on some extensions.)
Bulgaria    00
Danmark        009
DDR        06
        000    In Dresden, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Rostock and Schwerin
Cyprus        00
Czechoslovakia    00
Finland        990
France        19-
Germany        00
Gibraltar    00
Greece        00
        09.    For Cyprus in stead of 00357
Hungary        00-
Iceland        90
Ireland        16
Italy        00
Luxembourg    00
        050.    For Germany in stead of 0049, but a change is announced
Malta        0    (Yes a single zero)
Netherlands    09-
Norway        095
Poland        0-0
Portugal    00
        07    In Porto
        09790.    For Turkey in stead of 0090 or 0790
Roumania    unknown
Spain        07-
        9567.    For Gibraltar in stead of 07-350, except in Cadiz
Sovjet Union    6
Sweden        009    Wait for second dial tone after country code
Switzerland    00
Turkey        9-9
United Kingdom    010
        0001.    For Dublin in stead of 0103531
United States    010
Yugoslavia    99
                =====================================

Who said that 00 was the most natural?

The Dutch PTT booklet did not explain dialling from Ireland to the
United Kingdom.  That follows here (in the same format):

Ireland        16
        030    To United Kingdom (the 0 of the areacode is
            dialled, as I show here) in stead of 1644
        031    To London in stead of 16441
        032    To Brimingham in stead of 164421
        033    To Edinburgh in stead of 164431
        034    To Glasgow in stead of 164441
        035    To Liverpool in stead of 164451
        036    To Manchester in stead of 164461
        080    To Northern Ireland (remark as above) in stead of 1644

I do not know what the dialling instructions become when London splits
into 071/081.  There is no short dialling for 091 (Tyne & Wear), that
is from Ireland 03091 and not 039.  This is all from a 1988 Dublin
telephone directory.

This booklet handled also only within Europe dialling (I entered the
US as an extra).  I speculated on the use in Austria of 00 vs. 900 (in
some cities for some countries 900 is international access).  From an
Austrian telephone directory I have the following information: in the
cities I mentioned 00 is international access if the country code
starts with 3 or 4 (i.e. it is in Europe) otherwise international
access is 900.

Is it complicated enough already?  What about South- and Central-America,
Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Africa?

Good luck with international dialling!

dik t. winter, cwi, amsterdam, nederland
INTERNET   : [e-mail]
BITNET/EARN: dik@mcvax

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

From: "Anthony E. Siegman" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Earthquake Phone Service
Date: 22 Oct 89 00:22:32 GMT
Reply-To: "Anthony E. Siegman" <[e-mail]>
Organization: Stanford University


A not totally trivial point is that the quake shook a lot of handsets
off their receivers (or should that be the other way round?).  Anyway,
this can cut off phone service to a lot of residences and offices even
without real physical damage, especially if you have a lot of phones
and don't realize this has happened.  Also, you can't use any of the
phones 'til you get 'em all back on hook.

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

Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 04:36:07 PDT
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Earthquake Report, Berkeley
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

Thanks for your concern, Patrick.  I and most of Berkeley came through
unscathed.

FIRST OFF, I WANT TO **SQUELCH** A RUMOR that has spread
internationally.  The library system of the University of California
at Berkeley DID NOT burn down!  There was a fire at Hustead's Towing
Co., which is across the street from Berkeley High School and one
block down from the city's main public library.  Speculation got
garbled into "UC Berkeley Library on fire."

OK, on to telecom-related issues.  Here at my home, I had
uninterrupted service on all utilities, including telephone and hot
water (the latter much the envy of my friends across the bay).  I was
out and about at the time of the quake, and didn't realize how big it
had been until about 6:30.  I promptly tried to call my parents.  My
roommate (who has his own line) was trying my line because his line
was "dead."  Not true; we just had to wait up to a minute for
dialtone.  (I guess maybe one of the transbay pipelines carrying the
raw dialtone from the wells or mines broke ;-) I dialed Texas on my
default carrier, US Sprint, to a fast busy.  I redialed 10288-1+ and
got through on the first try.  My parents were then able to field
calls from and place calls to at least a dozen concerned
relatives/friends across the country.

I, for one, think that giving outgoing calls priority was a good move.
Even as late as yester- day (Friday) there were major problems getting
connections Transbay.  Areas of S.F. and Santa Cruz County are just
now getting phone service.  (For those unfamiliar with the area, San
Francisco is opposite Berkeley and Oakland.)  Ole's comment about slow
dialing was true, but you didn't need to dial slowly *pulse*, just
slowly.  Dialing at my normal clip got a fast busy 9 times out of 10,
but pausing three to five full seconds between digits greatly improved
things.  Pulse was easier only because it built in a certain level of
delay.

Phone service into Santa Cruz, even from within this area, was dicey
Tuesday evening until nearly midnight.  The usual hacks of dialing a
950 number to use a long distance company other than Pac*Bell didn't
work.  Friends have told me they had problems dialing in even Friday
and Saturday from outside California.  Call volume this weekend is
expected to be quite heavy, as all the people who just got "I'm alive"
messages out Tuesday call back with all the details.

I'm still reeling in disbelief: I frequented both collapsed freeways
and have been to many other of the devastated areas.  I called my
parents out of pure reflex before I even realized the state of things.
I've only yesterday and today managed to contact some people in S.F.

I haven't logged on earlier because I haven't been on campus since
Tuesday at about 4:35 pm. and I had my Macintosh disconnected to guard
against aftershocks and power irregularities.

I'm sorry if this is rambling, but perhaps my incoherence even this
many days afterwards tells something of its own story.

   Linc Madison   =   [e-mail]

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Earthquake - Lessons Learned
Date: 22 Oct 89 00:37:57 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
writes:

>      The following is my opinion of the earthquake aftermath based on
> talking to many fellow Telecom folks in the area (SL-1 Users, TCA and
> many vendors):
> [...]
> o Cellular overloaded worse than land lines.

Not GTE Mobilnet. In fact, I found my handheld to be much more useful
than any of the landline telephones that were at the various sites. It
*never* failed to complete a call at anytime after the event. In fact,
some of my initial info obtained before I returned to the area was
from calling people with cellular phones.

I understand that Cellular One (PacTel Mobile) had some major problems
and was asking people through the media to avoid using their cellular
phone except for emergencies.

> o Carriers who controlled traffic took (in my opinion) a bum rap.  The
> resellers mentioned in previous messages were able to complete calls
> only because the underlying carrier maintained some measure of Network
> Discipline.

Unfortunately, it's the results that count. If you can't make calls on
one carrier and you can on another, all of the reasons, justifications,
self-congratulations, reputations, and press relations don't count for
one damn. The carrier that completes my calls when another won't gets my
thanks and deserves my patronage.

> o Radio, I think, did great.  Not to much panic or exageration.
> Amazingly enough from the time I got home about two hours after the
> earthquake I was able to watch local TV coverage using an outside
> antenna.

Shortly before I returned to the area, I watched KABC-TV out of LA.
They were in "continuous coverage" mode and were switching to
sister-station KGO-TV for periods of time. The San Francisco anchor
people were professional, calm, informative and even under adverse
conditions and a lack of commercial power, were able to produce an
on-the-fly report with continuity and smoothness. When they would cut
back to the Ken and Barbie anchors in LA, they talked in over-dramatic
tones, and were almost a parody of themselves. As a southland resident
later said, "You would have thought the quake was in LA."

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #467
*****************************










Date:     Sun, 22 Oct 89 13:43:30 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #468
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 22 Oct 89 13:41:28 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 468

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Code-a-Phone 2770 Answering Machine (David G. Cantor)
    Re: Call Waiting Override (David W. Tamkin)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Bob Jacobson)
    Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains (John Higdon)
    Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question (Kent Borg)
    Re: Keep at Least One Rotary Phone (John Higdon)
    Re: 911 Improvement Surcharge in Chicago (Roger Clark Swann)
    Re: 717-564 Discrepancy (Lang Zerner)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Code-a-Phone 2770 Answering Machine
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 16:54:53 PDT
From: [e-mail]

In Telecom digest #464 Otto J. Makela <[e-mail]> asks:

      . . .  I have a sales blurb for a device called the Code-a-
      Phone 2600, which would seem to be what I need: 16s of digital
      outgoing message, micro-casette for message recording and
      remote message retrieve with 3-digit security code (gives 512
      combinations, if the salesperson had it right) plus a few
      more.  The price tag over here in Finland is around US$230,
      which makes it pretty resonable.

      Does anyone have hands-on experience with these devices ?

We have a Code-a-Phone 2770 which has all of the features described
plus a time/day-of-week "stamp" which leaves that information at the
end of each message.  It uses a 9-volt battery, in case of power
failure (useful with the "Banana Republic" power company that serves
us -- Southern California Edison), which maintains the clock and
outgoing message, but the machine doesn't answer when there's no
power.

It operates on 10 volts AC, from a little plug-in transformer (so with
a different transformer, it would probably run on 240 volts in Europe,
unless it really needs 60 Hz).  We've had it for about 6 months, and,
as I recall, it cost slightly over $100.00.  So far it's worked well.
It's reliable and easy-to-use (if you read the instruction manual and
get used to the multi-function keys).  I would recommend it.

David G. Cantor
Department of Mathematics
University of California at Los Angeles
Internet:  [e-mail]

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

Subject: Re: Call Waiting Override
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 15:29:28 CDT
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

In volume 9, issue 463, Jean-Pierre Radley asks:

| Sorry, I know this be an old topic. Am I correct that *70 is not the
| universal method to override call waiting, that different telcos have
| other codes or methods?

and Patrick Townson replies:

| [Moderator's Note: You are correct. Some use 70#; most allow use of 1170
| for rotary dial phones, and sometimes 1170 will work from touchtone lines
| as well. Some CO's using older generics don't even have this option. An
| example is Morton Grove, IL; about the only place in the Chicago area
| without this capability.  David Tamkin, is that correct?   PT]

Patrick asked me because I live in the same city as he but have a
different local telco with a few differences in the way custom calling
features are implemented.  For example, where he lives Illinois Bell
has call waiting superseding hunt-from.  A second call into a
hunt-from line with call waiting will give the call waiting beep
instead of hunting; if call waiting has been overridden, however, it
will hunt.  But where I live, Centel has hunt-from superseding call
waiting, and call waiting is useless on any line in a rotary except
the last one.

I'm not sure that overriding call waiting is still unavailable in
Morton Grove.  Anyhow, here is the way the codes work from Centel
phones in northeastern Illinois (except from Des Plaines prefixes 298
and 82[VAnderbilt]7, on which custom calling and equal access are not
yet available: customers wishing equal access or custom calling
features must get a new phone number):

x below is just what you expect: 0 to suspend call waiting, 2 to
establish call forwarding, 3 to terminate call forwarding, 4 to
program Speed Call 8 [Centel prefers the terms "Speed Call" and "Touch
Call" to those used by BOC's], 5 to program Speed Call 30; n is a
digit from 2 through 5:

7x <pause> works, tone or pulse
117x works, tone or pulse, but 1170 sits and thinks for several seconds
first

Tone only:
7x# works, even for 70#
*7n works, but *70 returns fast busy (!)
#70 suspends call waiting; otherwise #7n returns fast busy

It seems that *70 was misprogrammed by Centel as #70.

One thing I have noticed with call forwarding here is that you can
pull it off without getting charged for the set-up call.  If you dial
72# (or *72, or 1172, or whatever) and the number to forward to and
get no answer (because you hung up before the party COULD answer, with
luck before they heard ringing) and then do it a second time, then on
the second try Centel does not connect you; it simply gives confirming
beeps and a fresh dialtone, and call forwarding functions.

Sometime in the last month they reprogrammed call forwarding to work
when the forwarding line is busy with an outgong call, even if it
doesn't have call waiting or if call waiting is suspended, and for 72#
and its variants to return fast busy if call forwarding is already in
effect (you have to cancel the previous forwarding number with 73#
first).

David W. Tamkin     [e-mail]   {attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois  60018-0813   [phone]  [phone]
BIX: dattier  GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN  CIS: 73720,1570   The opinions above are mine.

[Moderator's Note: I think the reason the use of '1170' causes the
network to sit and wait for more input is because of the various 7x
codes, 70 is the only one which could conceivably be an area code. 71
isn't used. Telco figures some people hit the '1' twice by accident,
intending to dial 1-70x-yyy-zzzz. So on 1170 it waits to see what else
you have in mind.  PT]

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

From: Bob Jacobson <well![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: 22 Oct 89 00:50:18 GMT
Reply-To: Bob Jacobson <well![e-mail]>
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA


If Caller ID is such a hog in a conference dedicated to discussions of
telephone technology, why not put it in a soc.privacy conference?  On
the other hand, maybe because it is the central issue in the developing
telecom industry, putting *everything* in another conference would
really turn us into policy ostriches, no?

I don't think it's "splitting hairs" to note that Caller ID as a
commercial service is quite different from 911-E emergency service.
Technology is more than the sum of its parts, and how a technology is
used determines what we think about it and how we regulate its use.
This type of critical discrimination is essential to wise technology
assessment and the moderator of a conference so much in the middle of
things should be able to exercise it well.

The new Caller ID law recently enacted in CA permits a user to block
ID display on a call by call basis.  However, it only blocks display,
not carriage of the identifying information.  Thus, the local pizza
delivery boy may not get your phone number if you block, but the
telecom manager at Mr. Pizza will be able to provide corporate HQ with
a list of all calls made to all of the local shops, with identifying
data.  Pretty soon we're gonna have pizzas designed by neighborhood
taste.  I hope I live among the pepperoni lovers.
                  ==============================

[Moderator's Note: Responding specifically to the third paragraph of
Mr. Jacobson's letter, and in general to the rest, I would remind all
readers that a series of articles in the Telecom Archives discusses
Caller ID in a pizza delivery application. During September, 1988,
RISKS published a series of articles, including two from myself,
debating the merits of Caller ID. Will Martin kindly forwarded this to
the Archives on 9-14-88, and it is filed as 'pizza.auto.nmbr.id'. Use
'ftp cs.bu.edu' to get your copy. Log in anonymous, use a non-null
password, then 'cd telecom-archives' and pull the file.  PT]

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains
Date: 22 Oct 89 00:00:30 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, asuvax!gtephx!bladder!
[e-mail] (Eric Wagner) writes:

> Is there any truth to the rumor that the emissions from the newer
> cellular phones can be unhealthy?  In particular, I have heard that
> hand-held models (with their antennae located right next to the head)
> have been responsible for brain/eye damage.

Everything is harmful today if you ask the right (wrong) person. I
have been working around high RF fields of every wavelength for a
quarter century. As my posting should reveal, my brain is only
moderately messed up, and as of this writing, I have yet to grow my
third horn:-)

> When I did some calculations, this damage didn't seem impossible.  I
> think the newer models operate on 800MHz (?).  If that is true, then
> the wavelength would be:

>    c / f = 186000 mi/sec  /  800000000/sec  x  5280 ft/mi = 1.2 feet

> This results in a halfwave of about 7 inches (just about the size of
> the skull).  Is this true?  Can this cause real damage?  Did anyone
> consider this before approving the 800MHz frequency?

So if you had done a little more homework, you would have found that
the minimal transfer of energy occurs when the transferee is exactly
one wave length. The Federal government considers 100 MHz to be the
most harmful frequency since the human body is just over 1/2
wavelength, where the most energy is transferred.

Now, getting to reality. I work almost daily around FM transmitters of
the 20KW variety and effective radiated powers of around 100,000
watts.  Using inverse square law, the energy being absorbed by my body
is enormously greater than anything you could get from a cellular
phone at any distance and is at the more harmful frequency of 100 MHz.
I also spend a lot of time in front of STL antennas that emit hundreds
of watts ERP at 950 MHz.

In short, those of us who have spent our adult life around megawatts
of RF are somewhat amused by those that are so upset over the .6 watt
from a handheld cellular phone.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: Kent Borg <lloyd!sunfs3![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question
Date: 20 Oct 89 18:52:40 GMT
Reply-To: Kent Borg <lloyd![e-mail]>
Organization: Camex, Inc., Boston, Mass USA


In article <[e-mail]> Brian Kantor <brian@ucsd.
edu> writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 458, message 7 of 10

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
>(Wayne Folta) writes:
>>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 456, message 4 of 7

>>Can anyone tell me about cellular phone antennas?  Why the little
>>curly part of the antenna (does it have something to do with
>>horizontal v. vertical polarization?)?

>The cellular antenna is really two vertically-polarized antennas of
>approximately 1/2 wavelength, and the curly part can be viewed as a
>delay line to cause the two sections to work in phase.  Thus the
>antenna has an effective "gain" (i.e., works better) than a simple
>antenna.

I always thought the main reason the center loading coil was there to
let everybody know that you have a cellular telephone, i.e., that it
was put there for marketing reasons, to give cellular telephones an
identity and to look cool.  How much gain is it really worth?

One good reason for getting rid of the open coil would be so bits of
outdoors don't get stuck in there, changing the inductance of the
coil, and screwing up the performance of the antenna.

Another reason would be so that people won't know you have a cellular
telephone.  This might not be a good thing.  How easy is it to change
the serial number on these puppies?  They certainly would have very
little fence value if it were impossible to make calls because the
radio identifies itself and has been reported stolen.  Maybe they
don't get stolen much...  Anybody know?


Kent Borg                "Then again I could be foolish
[e-mail]                 not to quit while I'm ahead..."
or                         -from Evita (sung by Juan Peron)
 ...!husc6!lloyd!kent

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Keep at Least One Rotary Phone
Date: 22 Oct 89 09:21:17 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Ole J. Jacobsen) writes:

> In the wake of the earthquake I have been having problems getting
> through to a friend in Ben Lomond near Santa Cruz. Dialling the number
> usually results in a fast busy. One trick I learned from the UK is to
> dial the number slowly with a rotary phone. Amazingly it seems to work

This might work *from* a SXS (which is what I believe Ben Lomond still
is) but would have absolutely no effect from any crossbar or
electronic office, digital or analog. Touch tone is converted to
rotary pulses for a SXS office and it is remotely possible that things
could be busy enough that vacant levels would be found only at the end
of switch travel and the converter might not wait long enough whereas
your slow dialing might. But when dialing into a SXS office from a
common control office, you have absolutely no control over the pulse
rate.

If you were dialing from the metro Bay Area, you were using a common
control office, there being no SXS left anywhere in the greater Bay
Area. And if so, what you experienced was coincidence.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: Roger Clark Swann <ssc-vax![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 911 Improvement Surcharge in Chicago
Date: 22 Oct 89 06:04:44 GMT
Organization: Boeing Aerospace & Electronics, Seattle WA


I was shocked to read the posting recently about the $0.95 and $1.00
surcharges being placed on phone lines in the Chicago area for 911
service. Here in the Seattle area the 911 surcharge is only $0.30 per
line, per month. When E-911 service was installed county wide about
seven years ago, the surcharge was $0.50, but after a couple of years,
the County and US West ( then Pacific Northwest Bell ) said the
administration of the system, was costing much less than expected
and the rate was reduced.

As for the issue of privacy, I don't remember ANY outcry regarding
privacy at the time. The installation of the system and the method of
payment were put to a county wide vote and the margin of passage was
overwhelming.

    Roger Swann               |    uucp:  uw-beaver!ssc-vax!clark
         @                    |
The Boeing Company            |


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

Subject: Re: 717-564 Discrepancy
Date: 20 Oct 89 14:49:22 PDT (Fri)
From: Lang Zerner <[e-mail]>

I know nothing.  I got the number from a hacker BBS a couple of years ago, and
the source was a random scan of the Bellcore exchange.  Sorry.

Lang


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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #468
*****************************










Date:     Mon, 23 Oct 89 0:55:47 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #469
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Mon, 23 Oct 89 00:55:08 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 469

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Quake Kudos to PacBell, Finger to Idiots Phoning Relatives (John Gilmore)
    TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (John Gilmore)
    Re: What is SONET? (Michael Hui)
    Re: What is SONET? (Tad Cook)
    Re: Caller ID at American Express; How Do THEY Know Your Phone? (J Gilmore)
    Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question (John Higdon)
    Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question (Brian Kantor)
    Re: Disaster Communications (Tad Cook)
    Re: Earthquake - Lessons Learned (Eliot Lear)
    AT&T Building in Oakland Damaged; 'cpsc6a' Dead (Roger Taranto via Gilmore)
    Ringing SFCA From Australia (Jon D. Kendall)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Quake Kudos to PacBell, Finger to Idiots Phoning Relatives
Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 15:27:25 -0700
From: [e-mail]

[also posted to ca.earthquakes, can't crosspost since this is a modgroup.]

[e-mail] (Mark Bergman) wrote:
>     I would like to personally salute all of the city planners,
> architects, and engineers for creating such incredible newer buildings
> and skyscrapers [that survived the earthquake without damage].

The folks I would like to thank are:

==> Pac Bell <== Their equipment worked throughout, as far as I could
tell!  That must have taken great planning and good engineering.
Nobody on our block had dialtone, but our phones rang four or five
times on the night of the quake (friends calling to check on us, who
we quickly told to hang up).

Even the lack of trunks and dialtone could be prevented.  The problem
was the obnoxious people who all tried to call their relatives, tying
up trunks and dialtones for days.  A possible solution when in an
overload situation is to only allow one outgoing call per hour at
ordinary phones.  Don't even let someone compete for dialtone if they
have made a call in the last 60 minutes.  This would limit the
overload to the local central offices rather than tying up trunks, and
would offer dialtone to a lot more callers.  It would also
automatically throttle autodialers like Unix machines.  Exemptions for
the emergency lines around PBXes; locations that need emergency comm
(police, hospitals, utilities, media); pay phones (so real emergencies
can be reported even if every idiot on your block has used up their
one call -- social pressure will push emergency callers to the front
of the line at a pay phone, and keep call duration way down).

Of course, education would help, but people have already been told to
only use the phones for emergency calls.  They just think it is an
emergency if they haven't heard from brother or sister since the
quake.  Get real!

Does it really matter if you find out how your friends or relatives
are TODAY, or next week?  They will end up in the same shape anyway.
Meanwhile people calling to report fires, get ambulances, or tell the
local radio station what is going on are SOL, while you chat about how
the stars are pretty with all the lights out and how much emergency
liquor you have.


John Gilmore      {sun,pacbell,uunet,pyramid}!hoptoad!gnu      [e-mail]
        "Watch me change my world..." -- Liquid Theatre


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

Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 16:41:12 PDT
From: John Gilmore <[e-mail]>
Subject: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate

I am interested in hooking up SPARCstations over ISDN.  The machine
comes standard with an ISDN terminal interface chip (the "sound" chip,
really an ISDN speakerphone chip).  The problem is data encoding; I
have seen no documentation of standard ways to encode data passing on
the 8000 byte/sec channel for IP.  I have seen references to ways of
encoding e.g. 9600 baud async "RS232" traffic over ISDN, but I will be
talking ISDN-to-ISDN, so can use the full bandwidth.  Rumor has it
that somebody had standardized bit-oriented protocols (HDLC) over ISDN
links, which is ridiculous since they are byte oriented links, sort of
like storing data in main memory with bit stuffing just in case you
ever need to do clock recovery on main memory.  My preference would
just be something like "PPP".

Can anyone on Telecom provide details on upper level ISDN
standardization efforts?  All I have found was low level protocols;
once you get to the 8000 bps byte stream, it's left up to the user to
define.  (I could go ahead and do this, but I can't get Sun to support
it since they want to go with standards even if they are brain dead
standards.  They say Suns talking to Suns is not interesting.  I say
getting ANY two pieces of data equipment talking over ISDN would be a
miracle at this point.)

Please reply by email since I usually don't have time to read Telecom.

[Moderator's Note: But please cc: telecom so all of us can share.  PT]

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

From: Michael Hui <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What is SONET?
Date: 22 Oct 89 19:44:15 GMT
Reply-To: "Michael M.Y. Hui" <[e-mail]>


I was on the hardware design team of NT's new SONET product line.

I designed two ASICs for that product, both involved intimately with
the SONET protocol.

Currently I am _not_ with Bell-Northern Research anymore. BNR was the
R&D arm of NT that actually did the product development.

In order to keep myself out of hot water, please only ask (if you
want) questions of a nonproprietary nature.

This much I will share with you all:

The NT offering implements nearly EVERYTHING in the SONET standard. It
is very unlikely that it won't be able to work with any other
manufacturer's equipment.

Yes, it was designed by a very competent team of engineers. It's also
very unlikely that we have overlooked subtleties in the standard. The
system was subject to extensive chip level, multi-chip level, system
level simulation, using our mainframes and Zycad hardware simulation
engine.

There were still changes to the standard during our development time
frame. Most of those have been incorporated into the hardware.

The inclination is strong at this point for other telecom engineers to
come on stream and debat how/whether/what parts of the standard we
implemented. Please keep in mind the proprietary nature of your
company's projects, as well as my former employer's rights to their
trade secrets. If you really want to know the whole story, please
apply for a job in the SONET development group at BNR. It's a good
company to work for. I heartily recommend it.

Now, if only I could get my hands on the silly sales brochure ...

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

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: What is SONET?
Date: 23 Oct 89 00:21:56 GMT
Organization: very little


In article <[e-mail]>, amc-gw!ssc!tad@beaver.
cs.washington.edu writes:

> Seriously....I always thought SONET referred to Southern New England
> Telephone Co!

OOPS!

I just realized that I must have been thinking of SNET, and entirely
different animal, of course!

Never mind.


Tad Cook
Seattle, WA
[e-mail]
MCI Mail: 3288544

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

Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 16:22:50 PDT
From: John Gilmore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID at American Express -- How Do THEY Know Your Phone #?

[e-mail] said:
>                                  I should test this by calling in on
> my unlisted number sometime, and see if the response is any different
> from when I call from my other, listed number, the one that appears on
> their records.

Why would your phone number appear on the records of a credit card company?
Or is that just one more blank on the application form that you filled in
without thinking?  It's certainly none of their business...

[Moderator's Note: None of their business you say? Maybe they never
have to call *you* to get you to pay your bills, but it is a common
enough thing. Credit is not a lawful entitlement or a right -- it is a
privilege you are given. In exchange for the credit grantor considering
you worthy of credit and a minimal financial risk, you agree to provide
a phone number and other information. You provide what the creditor wants;
the creditor provides what you want.  Why do you assume the creditor has
bad motives with your phone number?  PT]

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question
Date: 23 Oct 89 02:27:48 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, lloyd!sunfs3!kent@husc6.
harvard.edu (Kent Borg) writes:

> One good reason for getting rid of the open coil would be so bits of
> outdoors don't get stuck in there, changing the inductance of the
> coil, and screwing up the performance of the antenna.

> Another reason would be so that people won't know you have a cellular
> telephone.  This might not be a good thing.

If you really don't want people to know you have a cellular phone, use
a handheld. I had a standard cellular car phone for a couple of years.
When it died, rather than pay a fortune to have it repaired I decided
to move to a handheld.

I never expected it to work very well in the car, particularly while
in motion, and was certainly surprised to find that it worked better!
There had obviously been some improvement in the transceiver
technology in those intervening years. Needless to say, I find that my
handheld is all I need for mobile communications and there is no
unsightly antenna on my truck. Not really yuppie-approved, but such is
life.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: Brian Kantor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question
Date: 23 Oct 89 04:00:59 GMT
Reply-To: Brian Kantor <[e-mail]>
Organization: The Avant-Garde of the Now, Ltd.


In article <[e-mail]> Kent Borg <lloyd!kent@
husc6.harvard.edu> writes:

>I always thought the main reason the center loading coil was there to
>let everybody know that you have a cellular telephone, i.e., that it
>was put there for marketing reasons, to give cellular telephones an
>identity and to look cool.  How much gain is it really worth?

Roughly 6dB (~4x signal strength, or given all else equal, about twice
the range) over an equivalent 1/4-wavelength stub, which would be
about 3 inches long.  You can use the little 3-inch whip if you don't
mind the reduced range.  There is another factor: the radiation angle
of the curly-whip antenna is lower and tends to hit the cell-sites
better, whereas the 1/4wave has a real high radiation angle and the
signal tends to shoot off into space.  If you happen to live in an
area where the cell sites all are on top of good tall mountains (like
the 6,000 ft ones around San Diego and Los Angeles), the 1/4wave
antenna will actually work better close in to the foothills.

>One good reason for getting rid of the open coil would be so bits of
>outdoors don't get stuck in there, changing the inductance of the
>coil, and screwing up the performance of the antenna.

Older design antennas had the coil encapsulated in a plastic tube,
which broke every time it went through the car wash, and had much more
wind resistance so that the antenna bent away from the vertical at
highway speeds.  Lack of verticality is a SERIOUS range killer; if the
antenna were to fall over horizontal, you'd face a theoretical 20dB
loss in signal strength.

>Another reason would be so that people won't know you have a cellular
>telephone.  This might not be a good thing.  How easy is it to change
>the serial number on these puppies?  They certainly would have very
>little fence value if it were impossible to make calls because the
>radio identifies itself and has been reported stolen.  Maybe they
>don't get stolen much...  Anybody know?

They get stolen a lot.  You can buy a disguise whip which doesn't look
much like anything, but it's got poorer range.  Hide the handset,
since it's the glittering attractive thing.  And you might want to
drill a hole in the center of your car roof and put in a real antenna
instead of the glass-mount type.  Not only will it look less like a
typical cellphone install, but it'll also have better range.

Changing the serial number of a stolen cellphone theoretically
shouldn't be terribly hard, since it's just burned into a ROM chip,
but I'm told that they stopped putting the ROM in a socket and started
covering the soldered-in chip with epoxy to make it much much harder
to do.  My friend at a local two-way shop says they have to exchange
the main circuit board on the rare occasion when the ROM goes bad,
since there's no way to get the chip loose without destroying the
board.  Apparently that didn't used to be the case.

    - Brian

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

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: Disaster Communications
Date: 22 Oct 89 18:55:56 GMT
Organization: very little


Ihor Kahal asked why ABC didn't send the blimp south to survey damage.
I'll be that the blimp had to be line-of-site with a stationary truck
with a dish that could not track it over the horizon.

Tad Cook
[e-mail]
MCI Mail: 328-8544
KT7H @ N7HFZ


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

From: Eliot Lear <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Earthquake - Lessons Learned
Date: 22 Oct 89 23:43:01 GMT
Organization: Natl Computer Resource for Mol. Biology


It's true that GTE Mobilenet didn't appear to suffer any damage.
However, they certainly did max out shortly after the quake.  My guess
is that they were having problems getting PacBell circuits, like the
rest of us.  HOWEVER!  I *was* able to call long distance almost
immediately after the quake, from my Celphone.

Eliot Lear
[[e-mail]]

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

Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 17:23:40 PDT
From: John Gilmore <[e-mail]>
Subject: AT&T Building in Oakland Damaged - 'cpsc6a' Dead

[e-mail] wrote:
> I'd heard that AT&T was on the 10th floor of some building in Oakland,
> so I don't know how apocryphal this is.  Haven't heard of any
> buildings that tall sustaining that kind of damage.

     Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 20:00:47 pdt
     From: rtech!rtech!rog (Roger Taranto)
     Subject: cpsc6a

    According to one of our employees, whose husband works at AT&T
in Oakland, cpsc6a won't be back for awhile.  It seems that the AT&T
building is structurally okay, but the insides have been condemned.
Everything inside will have to be gutted and rebuilt.  This includes
the machine, cpsc6a.  I know you two talk to cpsc6a; please forward
this information to anyone else you know of who talks to cpsc6a.

    It's interesting that it is one of the newer buildings in
downtown Oakland.

-Roger

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 14:29:23 EST
From: kendall <munnari!diemen.cc.utas.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Ringing SFCA From Australia
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jon D. Kendall)
Organization: University of Tasmania


In reference to Dennis Brophy's article I must say that I find it
amazing that telephone service to the SF Bay area continued as well as
it did given the magnitude of the disaster. I rang friends in Los
Altos Hills (between SF and San Jose) around 06:30 hrs. CA time with
minimal effort.  Granted it did take a few times to finally get past
the 'OTC circuits busy to that area' message but I did get through.

The Australian OTC connects to AT&T in America so, as far as AT&T's
service is concerned, it was working very well for us.  For that
matter, I rang a friend earlier in Davis (916) at around 0:30 hrs. CA
time Wednesday morning who could not ring anybody on MCI because the
MCI access was out. Is this because MCI's access comes from the Bay
Area?

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #469
*****************************










Date:     Tue, 24 Oct 89 0:27:56 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #470
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 24 Oct 89 00:25:04 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 470

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Earthquake Report from Berkeley and Elsewhere (Joe Konstan)
    Comments on Payphones (Ken Jongsma)
    Apartment Door Answering System at Duke University (Stephen Tell)
    Caller ID Boxes ([e-mail])
    Unequal Service (John Higdon)
    More on Amex and Caller ID (John R. Levine)
    Re: Parsing Dialed Digits (Dr. T. Andrews)
    Re: 10 Cent Pay Phones (Dr. T. Andrews)

[Moderator's Note: Just one issue of the Digest this morning.   PT]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 19:01:54 -0700
From: Joe Konstan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Earthquake Report from Berkeley and Elsewhere


This is a bit late, since I flew out of SFO Thursday, returning only
this afternoon (Monday).  I will focus predominantly on
Telecom-related issues, though I'd like to update a few remarks made
by others in prior submissions.

1.  I was at my office in the CS Division at UCB when the quake
happened.  Most computers here were never down; the building shook; but
it stood.  Someone in the next office had a small TV (we did not lose
power) and we watched the coverage for a while as the TV stations came
on the air.  One thing I noticed was that TV reception was MUCH BETTER
THAN USUAL, I speculate that this could be because the Twin Peaks (SF)
transmission tower was not usable, so those of us in the East Bay
received only an Oakland broadcast, rather than two transmissions.

2.  One thing I haven't seen mentioned here was the continuous reference
made by the TV anchors to the phone book.  Earthquake emergency information
is printed in all the Pac Bell phone books I've seen, and was a quick source
of information.

3.  From UCB, I phoned a number of places.  I called my fiancee (about two
miles away, in Berkeley).  I needed an average of 3-4 tries per completion,
with some calls getting reorder, others "circuits busy."  The first time I
got a ring, I realized that power was out (our answering machine did not
pick up).  Later that evening (about 11pm) we found out that our power was
back on by calling the answering machine again.  Useful machine.

    I found I was able to place calls much more effectively than
others in the area (University Centrex?  415-642-xxxx).  As a result, I
relayed messages out of the area for many people.  I was able to reach NY,
Sacramento, Davis, and most of the Bay Area except for SF itself pretty
consistently.  In all cases, I was relaying quick "your family is fine"
messages since most of the people I spoke with had trouble calling out.
(My own guess is that many had never had to wait for dial tone, plus the
fact that few people stayed at the University, so our exchange was
relatively free).

4.  My grandmother (in Washington D.C.) managed to get through to my home
just minutes after the quake.  This was the last call in from outside the
area that we received for many hours, but she was able to tell everyone
that we were fine.

    As a side note, I agree with what AT&T did.  The one exception to the
"If I need help, I'll call" is the case of a person living alone who might
not be able to get to a phone.  I think this can be handled as a special
case or locally.  BTW, why doesn't AT&T retain "disaster authority" over
its lines, to prevent resellers from mishandling the situation and from
using capacity that AT&T customers could use?

5.  Note that at all times, even with blackouts in Berkeley a few miles
from the I-880 collapse and the Bay Bridge, the phones worked.  In a
previous local blackout, our phone was the only source of light we could
easily find (used it to find candles).  This time we were better prepared,
but the reliability of the phones always amaze me.

6.  The death count Patrick cited seems to be overly high (not his fault,
that was the best knowledge at the time).  At present, under 60 are confirmed
dead, with expectations around 100-150.  All-in-all, we were very lucky,
especially for the fact that the quake struck before dark.

7.  TV coverage (not quite telecom, but related) really helped get the
nation aware.  The fact that this occurred during the World Series created
a tremendous instant awareness, and that led to a great deal of aid.  I
feel sorry for the other disasters which are not being given the great press
coverage (apparently another huricane or tropical storm, according to
Nightline), but am grateful for the help we are getting.

8.  Two quick things.  Public transit has really picked up the slack.  BART
is running tremendously (a couple of short closing of the Trans-Bay tube, but
otherwise regular service, extended to help people compensate for the bridge
closing.  The busses and ferries are indispensible, and are really doing
a wonderful job.

Finally, I have a lot of stories (I took a bus ride through most of SF
trying to get to the airport, and saw the crowds of tourists leaving the
city (even spoke with many)) which don't belong here, but I'm happy to
talk with anyone who isn't already innundated with stories about the Quake!

Joe Konstan
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Comments on Payphones
Date: Mon, 23-Oct-89 08:21:07 PDT

A few comments on some payphone experiences I had on a recent trip:

  1) Most people do not understand that they may not get AT&T when
     making a call from a payphone. I sat and watched one person
     try 4 or 5 times to make a credit card call. He was trying 0+,
     1+ and a few other ways and kept hanging up when he got NTS
     operators. I finially got up and showed him how to dial 10288.
     At least he realized he wasn't getting AT&T. Another grandmotherly
     looking lady was happily punching in her card number for several
     calls. I hope she doesn't have a heart attack when the bill comes.

  2) Somebody other than AT&T has the 0+ concession at Atlanta. The
     card on the bottom of the phone makes this reasonably clear, but
     you have to know what they are trying to say. There was a statement
     to the effect: Dial 1-800-288-xxxx for rates. Maybe it's my
                               ^^^
     suspicious mind, but they could have selected a different prefix.

  3) Back in the days of the Bell System, AT&T would not let you advertise
     funny names as numbers (i.e. 1-800-car-rent) in the Yellow Pages.
     Or at least if you did that, you were told to put the corresponding
     number in the ad also. I happen to agree with that philosophy, as I
     find it very hard to dial such numbers. Times Change. I was in several
     airports this week that did not have AT&T as the 0+ concessionare. At
     each airport there were large lighted signs that said, "To use AT&T,
     you must first dial 10-ATT." The number 10288 did not appear anyplace
     on the ad.

  4) In Milwaukee, the 0+ concessionare is MCI. I wanted to use Sprint
     but rather than dial the 800 number to make a credit card call,
     I thought I'd try dialing 10333+0+NPA+NXX+XXXX and entering my foncard
     number. After three recordings saying my card number was wrong, I got
     a Sprint Operator. She already had my card number, but asked me to
     repeat it just to verify it. She said it should have worked, but it
     took her several tries before the computer would approve the number.
     This being the first time I had tried calling this way, I have no
     idea if it was a one time glitch or a problem with Sprint's card
     authentication procedures.

  5) Also at Milwaukee, MCI is perfectly happy with my AT&T card number,
     but Sprint won't take it.


  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Stephen Tell)
Subject: Apartment Door Answering System at Duke University
Date: 24 Oct 89 00:51:05 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Stephen Tell)
Organization: University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill


At Duke University, where I was a student until recently, they are
installing a similar system designed by fellow EE and friend.
Briefly, here's how it works.

A weatherproof phone is installed by the front door; its line runs
through the custom hardware located down in the basement.  These
are speakerphones of some sort, with DTMF dial and large buttons
for 'on' and 'off.'  A delay in the on/off hook makes manual pulse-
dialing impossible, which is important (see below).  The phone line
is restricted to local calls only.

A visitor calls a resident's 7-digit phone number, and asks to be let in.
The resident presses '#' and a solenoid unlocks the door.

The box down in the basement designed by my friend works somthing like
this.  It has a DTMF decoder, and listens as the visitor dials.
Stored in EPROM are the phone numbers of all of the residents of that
dorm.  If there's a match, it listens for the resident to dial '#'.
When it hears a '#', it breaks the line on the speaker-phone side, and
makes sure that it is still hearing the '#', so only the resident and
not the visitor can trigger the lock.  Pulse dialing is forbidden
because someone could pulse dial any number in town, then dial a
number in the dorm in DTMF, and convice the person who answered to
press the '#' key.

Storing the number list in EPROM is ok because phone numbers are fixed
in rooms by the Duke Telephone system, and don't change from year to
year.  (Duke owns a 5ESS, and is the largest private phone company in
North Carolina, I'm told.  Somthing like 15,000 lines) If phone
numbers ever did change, they could run the thing over to the EE
department and burn a new EPROM.


Steve Tell                    [e-mail]
CS Grad Student, UNC Chapel Hill.
Former EE/CS student, Duke University, Durham, NC

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

Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 10:48:55 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Caller ID Boxes


I am looking into getting CallerID, and wanted to know if there were
any other boxes for it other than the standard one that they try to
sell you.  If you have see any of the other boxes, please respond and
Ill summarize.

                    /Bob...
{...}!rutgers!mende      [e-mail]       [e-mail]

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Unequal Service
Date: 23 Oct 89 19:09:28 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


Even for days following the 5:04 pm shock, dialtone was agonizingly
slow in the crossbar offices, while electronic offices seemed to be
unaffected. This brings up an issue: even for basic service, there are
unequal levels even though customers pay equally.

As an incentive to upgrade, I would propose that anyone served out of
an electromechanical office be charged some fixed amount less than
"equivalent" service out of an electronic office. For those of you
served by real telcos who upgraded long ago, this is not an issue. But
there are many prefixes in San Jose alone still "served" (term loosely
used) by #5 grossbar. Pac*Bell needs some kind of incentive to get its
act together.

My mother's telephone is connected to crossbar and she thought that
her phone was knocked out for days. She didn't know that she could
have used it by simply waiting the two or three minutes for dialtone.
And we're talking days after the event.

Are there any other telcos out there that seem to feel that crossbar
is appropriate for telephony as we move into the '90s?

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

Subject: More on Amex and Caller ID
Date: 23 Oct 89 22:04:41 EDT (Mon)
From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>

I mentioned in a previous message that I had heard that American
Express had a Caller ID-like feature on their 800 number, and had tied
it into their computer so they could guess who you were based on your
phone number; but that when I called Amex a while ago the rep claimed
they couldn't do that.

Several private messages have opined that Amex still gets the caller's
number, but they'd retrained their reps to act as though they couldn't
tell since customers found it creepy and identifying a caller by the
number he is calling from is unreliable and confusing.  ("Hello, Mrs.
Smith!"  "No, this is Ms. Jones, and you can just forget where I'm
calling from.")

So when I called Amex this month (Compuserve keeps billing me for
usage on an account that I cancelled six months ago) I called from my
computer's phone line.  The rep asked me if my phone number had
changed.  Hmmn.

Regards,
John Levine, [e-mail], {spdcc|ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl

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

Subject: Re: Parsing Dialed Digits
Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 8:04:58 EDT
From: "Dr. T. Andrews" <[e-mail]>
Organization: CompuData, Inc. (DeLand)

)> How can I tell whether to take the next two or the next three
)> digits as the country code ?
) It depends on the first two digits.
) If the first two digits are a valid country code, then you do not have
) to look at the third digit.

Sorry, this doesn't work.  Some country codes (mainly for toy
countries) are special cases of others.  Consider "countries" like the
Vatican (looks like a particular exchange in Rome Italy) or San
Marino.  You have to examine rather a lot of digits to decide whether
the call is to Rome Italy or the Vatican.

I believe that the list of country codes posted here some time ago
also listed several French-speaking island countries as having country
codes which started with the French 2 digits and were followed by
another digit or two to specify the country.

 ...!bikini.cis.ufl.edu!ki4pv!tanner  ...!bpa!cdin-1!ki4pv!tanner
or...  {allegra attctc gatech!uflorida uunet!cdin-1}!ki4pv!tanner


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

Subject: Re: 10 Cent Pay Phones
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 9:57:19 EDT
From: "Dr. T. Andrews" <[e-mail]>
Organization: CompuData, Inc. (DeLand)

I have been out of town for a while, and found a 10-cent pay phone.
North Bilerica, MASS seems to have them.  I found one right at the
remains of the station there.  (They don't take very good care of
their stations up there.  Shame on them.)

 ...!bikini.cis.ufl.edu!ki4pv!tanner  ...!bpa!cdin-1!ki4pv!tanner
or...  {allegra attctc gatech!uflorida uunet!cdin-1}!ki4pv!tanner

[Moderator's Note: That seems to be the case everywhere. The Lawrence
Avenue CTA station in Chicago is absolutely the *pits*. Ceiling falling
in, and total filth. The Amtrack Union Station downtown is bad also.  PT]

------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V9 #470
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 25 Oct 89 0:01:15 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #471
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 25 Oct 89 00:00:38 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 471

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Torsten Dahlkvist)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Fred Goldstein)
    Re: What is SONET? (Paul Elliott)
    Re: Risk of CO Fires (Jay Maynard)
    Re: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes (Tom Hofmann)
    Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question (Danial Hamilton)
    CPA 1000 w/Computer (David C. Troup)
    Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles (David A. Cantor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Torsten Dahlkvist <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 24 Oct 89 09:55:32 GMT
Reply-To: Torsten Dahlkvist <[e-mail]>
Organization: Ellemtel Utvecklings AB, Stockholm, Sweden


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John
Gilmore) writes:

>I am interested in hooking up SPARCstations over ISDN.  The machine
>comes standard with an ISDN terminal interface chip (the "sound" chip,
>really an ISDN speakerphone chip).  The problem is data encoding; I
>have seen no documentation of standard ways to encode data passing on
>the 8000 byte/sec channel for IP.  I have seen references to ways of
>encoding e.g. 9600 baud async "RS232" traffic over ISDN, but I will be
>talking ISDN-to-ISDN, so can use the full bandwidth.  Rumor has it
>that somebody had standardized bit-oriented protocols (HDLC) over ISDN
>links, which is ridiculous since they are byte oriented links, sort of
>like storing data in main memory with bit stuffing just in case you
>ever need to do clock recovery on main memory.  My preference would
>just be something like "PPP".

>Can anyone on Telecom provide details on upper level ISDN
>standardization efforts?  All I have found was low level protocols;
>once you get to the 8000 bps byte stream, it's left up to the user to
>define.  (I could go ahead and do this, but I can't get Sun to support
>it since they want to go with standards even if they are brain dead
>standards.  They say Suns talking to Suns is not interesting.  I say
>getting ANY two pieces of data equipment talking over ISDN would be a
>miracle at this point.)

O.K. let's see. First of all, you must bear in mind the basic
differrence between ISDN and TCP/IP (apart from the speed). TCP/IP is
packet-oriented.  ISDN is still circuit-switched in the normal
operating modes (i.e. unless you connect via some interworking unit in
the exchange for hooking up with other networks).

This means that in order to connect one Sun to another via ISDN you
have to create a link between them - in a fashion similar to when two
modems connect: sending the dialling information to the exchange which
then offers the call to the other machine which responds if it finds
the call compatible.  This also means that you are subject to all the
normal "telephony" hassles, like the receiving party (your
file-server?!) beeing busy with another call and refusing to talk to
you...

All the information to set up and disconnect calls is transferred on
the D-channel and this is already completely standardized, if rather
complex.  The compiled binaries to handle these things in our ISDN
equipment are about 150 kByte large and the work to write the stuff
took a couple of man-years.  As far as I know, the hardware available
in the SPARCstations is roughly equivalent to the stuff we used. If
you really want to go through with this you won't have to worry about
what to do for a while. ;-)

Once the call is set up you have your 64 kbit data link. What you do
with it is basically up to you. If you're content to go at <64 kbit
speeds you can adopt the standardized rate-adaption scheme with frames
providing sync patterns and some additional data (not likely to be
usable in your case). If you go for the full 64 kbit speed you do
indeed have an 8 kByte/sec byte-oriented link.  The ISDN standard
doesn't go any further than that. The upper layers of the OSI-model
are _not_ included in the standard!

You can compare a SPARCstation with built-in ISDN-chip with a PC with
a built-in modem chip. What you have is roughly equivalent to the
hardware of a modem but no software. After you decide what kind of use
you need you can set it up accordingly. Write the "auto-dialling"
software and you can connect it to another machine with a similar
interface. After that you can use any old protocol for the data
transfer. Regard the ISDN port as basically similar to a serial port
and make it login-able (start a getty on it) to allow remote users
and/or semi-manual protocols like Kermit or UUCP.

If you want to use the ISDN link as an alternative to TCP/IP, you're
probably best off using it to TCP/IP-connect a remote machine to an
Ethernet system at some other location. (You still have to write the
ISDN software to connect the link.) That way you could use the
existing TCP/IP software with fairly few and simple changes to route
through the ISDN terminal interface chip.  That solution would
probably please Sun too. It uses a standard... :-)

I'm sorry if this doesn't sound too cheery. I'm afraid that until some
ISDN protocol software goes public (ours is NOT!) there's little you
can realistically do, unless you're in a position to start a
university project or something similar to get a large team to help
you. The work is HUGE! My suspicion is that the reason Sun put that
chip in the SPARCstations is that they hope some university will rise
to the bait. It would certainly boost ISDN if it happened (and that
chip is cheap compared to the cost of a SPARC :-).

Please get in touch if there's anything else I can answer for you.

 Torsten Dahlkvist
 ELLEMTEL Telecommunication Laboratories
 P.O. Box 1505, S-125 25  ALVSJO, SWEDEN
 Tel: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 23 Oct 89 16:12:49 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton MA USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John
Gilmore) writes...

>I am interested in hooking up SPARCstations over ISDN.  The machine
>comes standard with an ISDN terminal interface chip (the "sound" chip,
>really an ISDN speakerphone chip).  The problem is data encoding; I
>have seen no documentation of standard ways to encode data passing on
>the 8000 byte/sec channel for IP.  I have seen references to ways of
>encoding e.g. 9600 baud async "RS232" traffic over ISDN, but I will be
>talking ISDN-to-ISDN, so can use the full bandwidth.  Rumor has it
>that somebody had standardized bit-oriented protocols (HDLC) over ISDN
>links, which is ridiculous since they are byte oriented links, sort of
>like storing data in main memory with bit stuffing just in case you
>ever need to do clock recovery on main memory.  My preference would
>just be something like "PPP".

Okay, it's like this.  ISDN provides "circuit mode" and "packet mode"
data services.  The "packet mode" is essentially X.25, with call setup
either inband (after making a circuit call to the X.25 switch) or
modified to use ISDN out of band signaling (i.e., Q.931).  In any
case, CCITT X.31 tells you all about packet mode.

Circuit mode is just like modems, but faster.  You get 64 kbps per
second.  It's "raw bits" (oat hulls, wheat chaff...) and no more.
It's isochronous (sync) so you need to have some framing technique.
It is NOT byte oriented at this point!  So HDLC is quite natural, but
byte-oriented protocols (i.e., DDCMP) are technically possible too.
HDLC chips do all the work anyway, you don't ever put stuff-bits in
main memory.

To run async or lower speeds, you use rate adaptation.  Two standards
exist: V.120 is new and HDLC_based, while V.110 is older and more
popular among Europeans than Americans.  And you can of course create
your own if you want, since it's end-to-end.  (Northern Telecom has
one called T-link that's widely used.)

So to do framing, you can use essentially any L2 protocols.  I
wouldn't advise SLIP on my worst enemy (well, maybe if I really didn't
like him and wanted his errors to go undetected) but ISDN isn't
anything special in that regard; you just use whatever L2 that both
ends agree to.

    fred

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

From: Paul Elliott x225 <optilink![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What is SONET?
Date: 24 Oct 89 20:58:36 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Michael Hui) writes:

> ....
> The NT offering implements nearly EVERYTHING in the SONET standard. It
> is very unlikely that it won't be able to work with any other
> manufacturer's equipment.
> ....
> The inclination is strong at this point for other telecom engineers to
> come on stream and debate how/whether/what parts of the standard we
> implemented.
> ....

In my posting answering (some of) the SONET questions, I mentioned my
"amusement" at the NT press release (or used words to that effect).  I
don't know if Michael is referring to my posting here, but if so, I
never intended to imply that NT's implementation was anything but
superb.  Actually, I have no info on the NT design other than the few
paragraphs I saw in the newspaper.

 ... I just re-read my original post, and find that I used the phrase
"_something_SONET_", and this looks suspiciously like what his
comments were referring to.  What I meant was that the transport of
SONET requires many pieces of equipment at various places in the
network, and that the NT product may be the first in it's area, but
was not the first SONET equipment to hit the field.

I did not intend to imply that it only implemented a subset of SONET
or anything like that.  Anyway, enough humble apology from me for now.

On the other hand, if this wasn't referring to my posting....never mind.


Paul M. Elliott      Optilink Corporation     [phone]
         {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!elliott
"I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure."

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

From: Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Risk of CO Fires
Date: 23 Oct 89 11:49:35 GMT
Reply-To: Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard <[e-mail]>
Organization: Confederate Microsystems, League City, TX


In article <[e-mail]> kitty![e-mail]
(Larry Lippman) writes:

>    The above attitude of avoiding "embarassment" and "adverse
>publicity" still exists.  I personally know of an example which rather
>shocked me.  A few years ago an employee of a contractor accidentally
>fell off a truck at the New York Telephone Franklin St.  CO in
>Buffalo, NY.  The employee was knocked unconscious.  The security
>guard (this is the main CO in Buffalo, so there are full-time guards)
>did NOT call 911 for an ambulance, but instead called a *private*
>ambulance service which resulted in a significant delay in response as
>opposed to 911.  The security guards apparently have standing
>instructions to call a private ambulance, and NOT to call 911 unless
>it is a "dire emergency".  Why a private ambulance?  Because then
>there will be no public record of any accident and no risk of a police
>report.  Not a good attitude.

(paramedic mode on)

This kind of thing kills people.

That security guard, unless he is an experienced street EMT, has
little to no concept of the necessity of getting fast qualified help
to seriously injured people. Anyone who is knocked unconscious for any
period of time is seriously injured. He needed an emergency ambulance,
right then. There are any of a number of serious injuries that can
kill within the time it takes to get a non-emergency ambulance there,
most of which are not obvious as such.

Wouldn't OSHA have something to say about that?

I do know that if such a thing were to happen at either of GTE's COs
in League City, there'd be charges filed...


Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL   | Never ascribe to malice that which can
[e-mail]       (eieio)| adequately be explained by stupidity.
{attctc,bellcore}!texbell!splut!jay +----------------------------------------
   Send [e-mail] your NO vote on sci.aquaria; it belongs in rec.

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

From: Tom Hofmann <cgch![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes
Date: 23 Oct 89 07:32:43 GMT
Organization: WRZ, CIBA-GEIGY Ltd, Basel, Switzerland


 From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail]
(Dik T. Winter):

> Austria        00
>         00432.    For Luxembourg in stead of 00352
>         030.    For Yugoslavia for areas with codes starting with
>             4, 5 or 6
>         040.    For Italy in stead of 0039
>         050.    For Switzerland in stead of 0041
>         060.    For Germany in stead of 0049

0041 for Switzerland and 0049 for Germany works as well, at least in a
small village near Innsbruck where I have tried it.  Anyway, the whole
system, especially dialling the OWN country code for Luxembourg, looks
extremely Austrian :-)

> Germany        00

 From West-Berlin (and only from there) the country code for East
Germany is 037 instead of 0037.

> United States    010

Wasn't it 011 (resp. 01 for operator assistance/phone card)?

Tom Hofmann        [e-mail]

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

From: Danial Hamilton <motcid![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question
Date: 24 Oct 89 15:03:54 GMT
Organization: Motorola Inc. - Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Heights,
 IL 60004

> If you really don't want people to know you have a cellular phone, use
> a handheld. I had a standard cellular car phone for a couple of years.
> ...
>                                    ... Needless to say, I find that my
> handheld is all I need for mobile communications and there is no
> unsightly antenna on my truck. Not really yuppie-approved, but such is
> life.

I don't care who says it's safe, I just can't feel comfortable about
radiating 800 MHZ RF energy 3-4 inches from my brain.

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

From: "David C. Troup  -  Skunk Works : 2600hz" <carroll1![e-mail]>
Subject: CPA 1000 w/Computer
Date: 23 Oct 89 17:35:04 GMT
Organization: Carroll College Stealth Rock Climbing Club


Does anyone know if one can send the output of the Radio Shack
CPA-1000 (phone accountant) to a computer instead of the little
printer in the unit itself? (for REAL computerized call accounting).
Has anyone tried this sort of thing before?

In case you don't know about the unit, the CPA-1000 will keep track of
all calls made outgoing and incoming. Outgoing, time of call, number
dialed, any flash-switchhook(for pbx), time completed. Incoming-number
of rings, if picked up, time, any number pressed, switchhook and time
completed.

Currently, it prints out all information on a 1.5 inch width paper...I
would like to have the output go to my computer (apple IIgs) for call
accounting storage.

Thanks in advance!


   "We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, knowin' that ain't allowed"
        _______________________    |David C. Troup / Surf Rat
    _______)(______   |        |[e-mail] : mail
    ___________________________|414-524-6809_________________________

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

Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 06:01:12 -0700
From: "David A. Cantor  24-Oct-1989 0857" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles

 From Telecom Digest vol 9 iss 466:

>>"How many cookies did Andrew eat?
>>
>>     ANdrew 8-8000"
>>
>>Was that it?

>Adams & Sweet, South Boston, Carpet Cleaners & Used Carpet Sales

No, it is Adams & Swett.   Two t's, one e.

Dave C.

------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V9 #471
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 26 Oct 89 4:18:48 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #472
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 26 Oct 89 04:15:09 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 472

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Experiencing the Earthquake From the 12th Floor (Philip Stanhope)
    Earthquakes and Telephones  (Anthony E. Siegman)
    Hacker Caught by Caller-ID? (J. Philip Miller)
    Whither Telidon? (Was: What is SONET?) (Gary L. Dare)
    Long Distance Carrier Info Sought (Phil Howard)
    Dialling Luxembourg from Austria via 00432 (Wolf Paul)
    Re: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes (Dik T. Winter)
    Re: 1ESS Call Forwarding Problem (Jeff Woolsey)
    Re: California Junk Fax Bill (Dell Ellison)
    Cartoon (Ron Higgins)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 09:33:46 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Experiencing the Earthquake From the 12th Floor

> From: [e-mail]
> Subject: Amazing Quake Stories

> We heard from one of the traffic monitoring people at US West who
> noticed something peculiar around 5:05 PM Tuesday.  He called his AT&T
> counterpart in Oakland to see what was happening.  The call was
> answered, and the conversation went something like:

> "Hey, what's happening there?"

> "We've got an earthquake here, and, .....  oh .....  there's a big
> crack in the wall now .....  <buzzzzz>"

> I'd heard that AT&T was on the 10th floor of some building in Oakland,
> so I don't know how apocryphal this is.  Haven't heard of any
> buildings that tall sustaining that kind of damage.

I was on the 12th floor of a hotel in Emeryville at the time of the
quake.  The hotel was about 3/4 mile from where a section of the
bridge collapsed and a 1/2 mile from the 880 collapse. It was not
possible to move during the quake (I would have loved to at least get
to the door frame but barring crawling I wouldn't have made it there.)

As far as damage, the hotel had its exit stairwells exposed to the
outside so each landing could be seen from the outside. Once outside
you could see that there was a crack in the landing of every floor but
more so on the lower floors.  Walls in my room did crack - the
interior bathroom walls in particular.  Every piece of furniture was
turned over (or on it's side) except for the chair that I was sitting
in and the king size bed. The nightstand, sitting table, TV, and
bureau were all toppled.

I had never been a quake before so this was quite an experience. My
best estimate was movement of a foot up and down and side to side.
I've since heard that the area I was in was built on land fill (or
should I say bay fill) and suffered ground movement of around a foot
as opposed to a few inches in the Berkeley hills.

The first question that I asked after getting out of the building was
if this was a normal quake. That was perhaps the most frightening
aspect of the whole thing - not knowing how to gauge the event with no
reference point.

Needless to say, I don't want to be on the top floor of a building the
next time. I'll see what happens in two weeks when I'm back in the bay
area.

As far as communications goes, I was able to make calls into SF
without any problem at around 7:30 west coast time. They completed as
if nothing had happened. Dial tones came quick, however, completion of
a call took many many tries.

I was able to get to an international operator who then routed me
somewhere (I don't know what she did) and was able to get to my wife
in Boston around 8:00 west coast time. After that call I called my
travel agent's 800 number and got through after two tries. I then had
them get me a flight from Sacramento to LA the next morning (I was
supposed to fly out of SF).

Philip Stanhope
Manager of Product Engineering
Gold Hill Computers, Inc.
Cambridge, MA.
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 14:32:21 PDT
From: "Anthony E. Siegman" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Earthquakes and Telephones

One thing the earthquake did in my house was to shake the receivers
off the handsets (or should that be the other way around?) of every
one of the half-dozen or so phones in my house, even though the phones
themselves stayed on the counters or tables.  Had to track 'em all
down and put 'em all back on hook before I could have any phone
service, or anyone could reach me.  Expect this was not uncommon in
other homes and offices, and could be a major reason for busy signals
for some time after the quake.

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

From: "J. Philip Miller" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Hacker Caught by Caller-ID?
Date: 25 Oct 89 20:22:57 GMT
Reply-To: "J. Philip Miller" <[e-mail]>
Organization: Washington University (St. Louis)


MIS Week (10/9) reports the aprehension of a 15-year old hacker who
used his Amiga personal computer to tap into two mincomputers at
Grumman.  The youngster was from Levittown, Long Island and stumbled
into the computer by using a random dialing device [sic] attached to
his computer.  Grumman security was able to detect the intrusions, and
the computer's recording of the boy's telephone number led police to
his home.

Does this imply that there are modems which will record Caller-ID, or does
anyone know what technology was used here?

While speaking of Caller-ID implementations, I have wondered whether paging
services utilize Caller-ID to send to digital pagers so that the callers do
not need to key their number in for display on the pager.

     J. Philip Miller, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Box 8067
     Washington University Medical School, St. Louis MO 63110
[e-mail] - Internet  [phone]   [e-mail] - bitnet
uunet!wucs1!wubios!phil - UUCP              C90562JM@WUVMD - alternate bitnet

[Moderator's Note: Yes, I think there are modem/Caller-ID devices in
one neat little box. A hackerphreak here in Chicago (six blocks down
the street from me, on Artesian Avenue to be exact!) was caught
burglarizing a computer at Bell Labs/Naperville about a year ago
because his phone number was captured by the equipment out there. Some
places *do* have this capability now, even if Caller-ID as such is not
being marketed to the public in many areas of the country. Its not
that the Sisters Bell don't treat all their subscribers equally; its
just that some subscribers are more equal than others. Bell Labs; AT&T
offices; all the in-laws get juicy extras not yet available to the
general public; as do some very large subscribers who ask nicely.
Regards using Caller-ID to feed digital pagers, I think it is a great
idea. I wonder if anyone has thought of it?  PT]

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

From: Gary L Dare <[e-mail]>
Subject: Whither Telidon? (Was: What is SONET?)
Date: 25 Oct 89 21:29:57 GMT
Organization: Columbia University, New York


Since we touched a bit on Canadian technology efforts in telecom, can
someone give us an update on Telidon?  When I left Winnipeg in 1983,
there was a big deal over a testbed for an interactive video service
using Telidon technology.  Test site was Headingley, just outside of
Metro Winnipeg limits and the site for Manitoba's largest provincial
jail. (-;

Has any of this survived and gone into the Canadian ISDN efforts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare                "No matter where you go,
> [e-mail]          there you are!
> [e-mail]                -- Buckaroo Banzai

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

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 15:32:44 -0500
From: Phil Howard KA9WGN <[e-mail]>
Subject: Long Distance Carrier Info Sought

I'd like to find out what the access codes (and corporate names, if
different) are for the following companies doing long distance carrier
business in the state of Illinois (and anywhere else):

    Tele-Sav
    TeleConnect

Thanks.

[Moderator's Note: The first one I don't know. Teleconnect is a/k/a
Telecom USA. 10835 is their access code, however at least here in
IBT-land you must make prior arrangements with Teleconnect; else calls
through 10835 will fail.  PT]

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

From: wolf paul <iiasa![e-mail]>
Subject: Dialling Luxembourg from Austria via 00432
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 9:21:09 MET DST

Tom Hofman writes:
>  From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail]
> (Dik T. Winter):
> > Austria        00
> >         00432.    For Luxembourg in stead of 00352

> 0041 for Switzerland and 0049 for Germany works as well, at least in a
> small village near Innsbruck where I have tried it.  Anyway, the whole
> system, especially dialling the OWN country code for Luxembourg, looks
> extremely Austrian :-)

Well, if they wanted to make some special arrangement for dialling
Luxembourg, even though the reasons for this escape me, their own
country code offers itself as the best candidate: it will never be
needed, in Austria, to dial Austria; thus they can re-use it for some
other purpose without fearing that it may be reassigned by the CCITT
at a later date.

If they pick any other 00XX combination, at some later time it may be
assigned to some other country, which currently shares a country code
with some other country, i.e. if Canada should ever be given its own
country code, or some of the Carribean island nations.

There are some other features of the Austrian phone system which look
much more typically Austrian, such as the fact that it has the
second-most expensive fee structure in Europe; that while they have
finally introduced "toll-free" numbers (really they are charged as
local calls from everywhere in Austria) they have not restricted these
to one special area code (like 800 in US, 0800 in UK, etc.), so you
can't easily tell from looking at the number whether it is toll-free
or not: I have seen numbers advertised as toll-free with at least
three different area codes.

Call Forwarding is finally available, at a cost of AS 420/month --
that is $35. My entire phone bill (overseas calls excluded, but
including unlimited local calling and all the extras like Call
Forwarding and Call Waiting, etc.) was rarely as high as that while
living in Dallas, TX.


Wolf N. Paul, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Schloss Laxenburg, Schlossplatz 1, A - 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe
Phone: (Office) [43] (2236) 71521-465      (Home) [43] (1) 22-46-913
UUCP:   uunet!mcvax!tuvie!iiasa!wnp      W.U.ESL: 62864642
DOMAIN: iiasa![e-mail]               TLX/TWX: 910-380-8748 WNP UD

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

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 09:21:37 +0100
From: "Dik T. Winter" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:  Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes

Tom Hofmann <cgch![e-mail]> writes:
> > United States    010

> Wasn't it 011 (resp. 01 for operator assistance/phone card)?

How embarassing.  Of course.  Rereading my original posting I saw also
that one line was dropped somewhere; to dial Belfast from Ireland you
dial 084, and not 080232.

dik t. winter, cwi, amsterdam, nederland
INTERNET   : [e-mail]
BITNET/EARN: dik@mcvax

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

From: Jeff Woolsey <apple!netcom![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 1ESS Call Forwarding Problem
Date: 25 Oct 89 09:22:56 GMT
Reply-To: Jeff Woolsey <apple!netcom![e-mail]>
Organization: NetCom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 997-9175}


I'm having an odd call forwarding problem on a DMS-100 (209-832).  If
I try to forward to a number out of the LATA, then, having no-pick, I
must prefix with 10XXX.  If I don't wait for the number to answer, and
attempt to set it up again, it "takes", but forwards through it get
either reorder or the last successful forward.  All other forwarding
permutations work, including allowing the 10XXX-dialed number to
answer.  Bizarre!  Pac*Bell repair took two weeks to isolate it this
far, and I haven't followed it up for a while.


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

From: Dell Ellison <gtephx!phobos![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: California Junk Fax Bill
Date: 25 Oct 89 16:05:17 GMT
Organization: gte


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John
 Higdon) writes:

> If you support legislation against junk fax, then I would assume that
> our elected representatives are already aware of the problem, their
> fax machines being overrun with unsolicited advertisements.

> What I'm trying to say is that either there is a problem or there
> isn't. If there is, you don't need to create a situation with faxing
> campaigns. If there isn't, then those who are so concerned with junk
> fax need to get a life and move on.

What if the problem of junk fax is wide-spread, BUT the 'elected
representatives' just happen to not have the problem???

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

From: Ron Higgins <carroll1![e-mail]>
Subject: Cartoon
Date: 25 Oct 89 22:24:36 GMT
Reply-To: Ron Higgins <carroll1![e-mail]>
Organization: Lightning Systems, Inc.


     _____                                    _____
    / . . \                                  / . . \
   !   :   !                                !   :   !
    \__o__/                                  \__o__/
       !________Bill, have you gotten           !_______You bet, Joe.  I
                into ISDN yet?                          have 3500 lines.

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

     _____                                    _____
    / . . \                                  / . . \
   !   :   !                                !   :   !
    \__o__/                                  \__o__/
       !________Well, you lucky devil.          !_______Heck, I don't know.
                You have 1500 more than                 How about you?
                I do.  What do you use
                yours for?

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

     _____                                    _____
    / . . \                                  / . . \
   !   :   !                                !   :   !
    \__-__/                                  \__-__/
       !________Hmmmmmm......                   !_______Hmmmmmm......

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

Reproduced without permission from the Oct. 15th 1989 issue of TE&M
Original cartoon by John Reed, director-engineering, Turnkey Engineering,
Richardson, Texas

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #472
*****************************











Date:     Thu, 26 Oct 89 5:20:08 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #473
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 26 Oct 89 05:15:00 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 473

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    "Disaster Authority" (Jeff Frontz)
    Cordless Phone Search (Matt Simpson)
    Cheap Cellular Phones ([e-mail])
    Re: Unequal Service (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Unequal Service (Tad Cook)
    Re: Caller ID Boxes (Tad Cook)
    Re: Allowing NXX Prefixes and Area Codes (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question (John Higdon)
    Cellular Phone Hook-up (Gerald E. Yingling)
    Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles (Robert Wier)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 09:59 EDT
Subject: "Disaster Authority"

In TELECOM Digest V9 #470, Joe Konstan <[e-mail]> writes:

>BTW, why doesn't AT&T retain "disaster authority" over
>its lines, to prevent resellers from mishandling the situation and from
>using capacity that AT&T customers could use?

I don't think this is very feasible.  My understanding is that
"resellers" buy trunks that are "nailed up" via a DACS (or something
similar).

In order to reclaim capacity, AT&T would have to disconnect the
reseller in question.  I doubt this would sit very well with the FCC.

One thing that might change this is a new (to me, anyway) philosophy
that I've heard: all types of service should be handled by the normal
message network.  This would (I think) allow customers to use a
software defined network that would mimic a network of "nailed up"
trunks.  With an SDN, a customer would fall under the reign of network
controls.


Jeff Frontz                                              Work:  [phone]
AT&T-Bell Labs (CB 1C-356)                               Cornet:       353-2797
att!jeff.frontz           [e-mail]            Home:  [phone]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 09:11:39 EDT
From: "Simpson, Matt" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cordless Phone Search


I'm looking for a phone for my barn. Instead of burying underground
cable from the house to the barn, I decided to get a cordless phone,
with the base unit in the house. Since I don't want to (won't remember
to) take the handset back to the house for recharging, I need a unit
with a separate recharge cradle. I would also like to have 2-way
paging/intercom capability between base and handset.

I have been able to find phones with one or the other of these
features, but not both.  Does anyone have any suggestions? One store
told me they sold a Sony model with the intercom capability which did
not come with a separate recharge cradle, but one could be ordered for
it however they were temporarily out of stock. I found that model at
another location, but the salesperson there could find no info about
ordering a recharge cradle.

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

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 11:36:54 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Cheap Cellular Phones

In the Rochester NY area there have been several vendors selling
cellular car phones in the $90 price range. Part of the agreement is
that you subscribe to a particular cellular service for 12 months. The
rates have just been reduced to $10/month and 17.5 to 25 cents a
minute for local (several county area) airtime. I contacted one of the
vendors and they do receive a "kickback" from the cellular company but
I don't know how much it is.  With some of the tales I hear about
other areas (75 cents a minute!!) I think we are very fortunate here.

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unequal Service
Date: 26 Oct 89 02:26:47 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John
 Higdon) writes:

> As an incentive to upgrade, I would propose that anyone served out of
> an electromechanical office be charged some fixed amount less than
> "equivalent" service out of an electronic office. For those of you
> served by real telcos who upgraded long ago, this is not an issue. But
> there are many prefixes in San Jose alone still "served" (term loosely
> used) by #5 grossbar. Pac*Bell needs some kind of incentive to get its
> act together.

The cost of providing service with an electromechanical office is
higher than the cost of providing service with an electronic office.
Revenues for electronic offices are already higher than for
electromechanical offices, because some percentage of the subscribers
buy the extra-cost custom calling features.  It would seem that the
incentive is already there!

But the real cost of either office depends upon how long it lives.
Swapping out a central office switch before its time plays havoc with
a delicate balance of rate-of-return and depreciation schedules.  The
schedule for a given central office may be pushed one way or another
by the demands of the major business subscribers in its serving area;
the over-all schedule is probably pretty well cast in stone by the
telco _and_ the regulators.


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: Unequal Service
Date: 26 Oct 89 01:01:13 GMT
Organization: very little


John Higdon proposes that customers served by crossbar COs be charged
less than those served by digital offices.

Actually, it costs MORE to maintain a crossbar switch.  In many cases
the telco would love to scrap out the old switch, but the PUC claims
that it still has years of service left and is not ready to be written
off.

In Washington State, US West shocked me and a lot of other folks by
scrapping ALL of their electomechanical switches, even in the tiniest
of communities.  Some Northern Telecom salesman showed them how even
with the big up front cost, they could save so much on maintainence
and get so much more revenue from new services that there was a very
quick payback.

Tad Cook
[e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: Caller ID Boxes
Date: 26 Oct 89 00:55:15 GMT
Organization: very little


San/Bar makes an ANI display for CLASS services.

(This is in response to a request for sources of these things)

Tad Cook
[e-mail]

[Moderator's Note: And the Hello Direct people offer one in their
catalog also. I don't know who manufactures it for them.  PT]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 18:34:53 edt
From: Bob Goudreau <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (VLD/VMB)
writes:

>Based on notes arriving via TELECOM Digest, I have the following to
>pass along:

>919, North Carolina, 1989?  (need area code on toll calls within it)

A blurb I saw in the local paper a while ago mentioned that 11-digit
intra-NPA long-distance dialing would replace 8-digit LD in all of NC
starting early in 1990.  This supposedly applies to *both* 919 and
704, and to all telcos (Southern Bell, GTE, Carolina Telephone, and a
host of little Mom & Pop operations).

No mention of when 919 (which is getting fairly full) is scheduled to
split, or how it would be split.  Anyone care to speculate on who will
get left out in the cold (i.e., the new NPA) when this does happen?
It isn't an obvious split (like, say, 617/508) since 919's two largest
urban areas (Raleigh/Durham and Greensboro/Winston-Salem) have roughly
the same population but are about 80 miles apart.  If one urban area
has to get assigned to the new NPA, which one is it?  The alternative
would be to leave *both* of them in 919, thus potentially making both
919 and the new NPA exceedingly contorted, perhaps like 619 in
California.

Now, on a completely different note...

Does anyone out there know why "011" was chosen as the international
access code here in the North American Numbering Plan?  If it were up
to me, I'd probably pick "11" instead (i.e., "1" for long distance and
"11" for *very* long distance, the way many European countries use "0"
and "00").  Is there currently some special meaning assigned to "11"?


Bob Goudreau                [phone]
Data General Corporation        ...!mcnc!rti!xyzzy!goudreau
62 Alexander Drive            [e-mail]
Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Antenna Question
Date: 26 Oct 89 03:35:54 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, motcid!hamilton%cell.
[e-mail] (Danial Hamilton) writes:

> [regarding handhelds]
> I don't care who says it's safe, I just can't feel comfortable about
> radiating 800 MHZ RF energy 3-4 inches from my brain.

Those of us using handhelds and other cellular phones appreciate those
who don't like using them for whatever reason. It means less traffic
for the rest of us :-)

Seriously, I can respect those who are cautious. What really gets to
me is when our government decides that we must be protected from all
manner of harmful influences and passes laws that prevent those who
are willing to take the risks from doing so.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: Gerald E Yingling <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cellular Phone Hook-up
Date: 25 Oct 89 17:54:16 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


I have a question about hooking up a cellular phone.  First the
problem.  My wife bought a transporter car phone that has a cigarette
lighter plug for "in car" use.  Most of the time she keeps it plugged
into her cigarette lighter, however, apparently there is enough drain
on the car battery that if she does not use the car for several days
and forgets to unplug the phone, the car battery goes dead.  I think
this is the problem:

    The cigarette plug is wired this way:

        ----------------------
     <   o     o     o     o  |   "Molex" type plug
        ----------------------
             |    |     |     NC
         |-----      |
             |  ^        |
             |  jumper   |
             +           -
               to cigarette
               lighter plug

Note only two wires from car battery to the phone.

I think this is the way a "permanent" phone would be hooked up:

             o     o     o     o
             |     |     |
             |     |     |
        ignition   |     |
          switch   |     |
             |     |     |
             +     +     -
              car battery

I believe two sources of power are needed, one unswitched (hot all the
time) to keep the electronic lock active and some minimum reset
circuitry alive, and a switched source (from ignitition switch) to
provide transmit power.  This would prevent battery going dead with
the "cigarette" lighter approach.  This might account for the jumper
in the cigarette lighter/phone plug (first diagram).

I would like to wire a new plug in the car so that my wife could
unplug it, plug in the "internal" battery and have a portable phone.
However before I messed around with this, I thought I would tap the
expertise of the net and solicit advice.  Assuming my assumptions are
correct about two power sources, I'm not sure which terminal is
switched and which is not switched (without trying and risking
damage?).  I traced the battery polarity so that is not a problem.
The phone is a GE CF1000.

Thanks for any help.

Jerry Yingling
312-979-1639

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

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 21:44:26 mst
From: Robert Wier <utah-cs!arizona!naucse![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles

I remember a widely run tv commercial about 20 years ago (?)  by the
Sheraton Corporation advertising their toll-free reservation --> 800
325 3535.

There wasn't anything particulary humorous about this, they just had a
REALLY catchy tune to which the numbers were sung.  Plus since the
number was so redundant (lots of 3's and 5's) it could also be sung
somewhat in a round-robin fashion (like row, row, row your boat).  My
choral group in high school liked to sing this to get our music
teacher upset :-).

Coincidentally enough, I currently have one number which has a 325
prefix (although not the same suffix), and also one that has a 523
prefix.

I believe that the number is still in use, for Day's Inns now.  But
they don't use the old commercial (a shame...)

  - Bob Wier                             Northern Arizona University
   summer:Ouray, Colorado                 winter:Flagstaff, Arizona
   USENET: ...arizona!naucse!rrw  | BITNET: WIER@NAUVAX  | WB5KXH

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #473
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 26 Oct 89 23:03:32 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #474
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 26 Oct 89 23:00:44 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 474

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Proposed Tariff for Billing Name & Address Service by NY Tel (Curtis Reid)
    1-800-US-INFO-1 ext. 901 (AT&T Information On Call) (Lenny Tropiano)
    Quake Stats (Ken Jongsma)
    Centrex Strikes Again (John Higdon)
    Caller-ID for Pagers? (Robert E. Seastrom)
    Caller-ID for Pagers? (Christopher K. Davis)
    Tones on International Calls (Holly Aaron)
    Re: Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes (Carl Moore)
    Re: Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes (Joel B. Levin)
    Re: Caller ID Device (Louis J. Judice)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Jim Breen)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 14:14 EDT
From: "Curtis E. Reid" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Proposed Tariff for Billing Name & Address Service by NY Tel

I read a notice of proposed tariff filing for billing name and address
service by New York Telephone in the legal section of the newspaper
yesterday.  I quote:

Notice is hereby given that a proposed tariff has been filed with the
Public Service Commission, to be effective December 1, 1989, to
introduce Billing Name and Address (BNA) Service.

BNA Service is the provision of the complete billing name, street
address, city or town, state and zip code for a telephone number
assigned by New York Telephone.

BNA Service is provided for the sole purpose of permitting the
customer to bill its telecommunications services to its end users.

                [ Rates shown here ]

Further, an amendment to the offering of Non-Published Service has
been filed to specify that BNA information on a non-published number
will be provided to a BNA subscriber when a call utilizing the BNA
subscriber's service originates from that non-published number.

End quote.  Now, my question is this similar to reverse directory that
readers has been discussing here?  Or, is this similar to the way that
AT&T pass the number to another telephone company for the purpose of
billing?  This tariff is a bit unclear as to what the real purpose is
for.

                        Curtis Reid
                        [e-mail]
                        [e-mail] (Internet)
                        [e-mail]              (NYSernet)

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

From: Lenny Tropiano <think!ames!icus.islp.ny.us![e-mail]>
Subject: 1-800-US-INFO-1 ext. 901 (AT&T Information On Call)
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 00:00 EDT


In my mail today (US mail that is), I received my AT&T Information "On
Call" catalog.  It basically is a service, run by AT&T, that offers
free advice and information on various amounts of topics...  Some
which are, but not limited to...

        AT&T Information
         "On call" catalogs   (Item #8777) free
        Club Med Vacations    (Item #3534) free
        Car Buyers Guide      (Item #3538) free
        Moving                (Item #3556) free
        JC Penney's catalog   (Item #3549) $4.00 (includes shipping)
        Learning to Fly       (Item #3509) free
        "Shopper's Advantage" (Item #3516) free
        Microwave Cooking     (Item #3517) $9.95 (includes shipping)
        ...etc...

Call up 1-800-USINFO-1 (1-800-874-6361), with a touch tone phone and
type in ext. 901 when prompted. (Or with rotary only phones wait and
speak your choices).  Then key in the item numbers (8777 will get you
more AT&T Information On Call catalogs, so order that...).

Chargable items are put on AMEX, Discover, MasterCard or VISA.  They
said, 7-10 days for shipping.  I haven't received anything yet, but
ordered a few free items.


| Lenny Tropiano            ICUS Software Systems      [w] [phone] |
| [e-mail]     Telex; 154232428 ICUS      [h] [phone] |
| {ames,pacbell,decuac,hombre,sbcs,attctc}!icus!lenny     attmail!icus!lenny |
+------- ICUS Software Systems -- PO Box 1;  Islip Terrace, NY  11752 -------+

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Quake Stats
Date: Thu, 26-Oct-89 13:01:46 PDT

Communications Week had some hard info on communications right
after the quake. Here are some extracts:

     The quake hit at 5:04PM.

     Within hours, Pac Bell was seeing 1 million call attempts
     *per minute*!

     AT&T reported 17 million call attempts between 2AM and 10AM
     the following day.

     Pac Bell Cellular reported 10 times normal calling volume.

     AT&T reported 144.7 million calls nationwide for the 24 hour
     period starting midnight. 27.8 million were directed into the
     bay area with 9.5 million completed.

     AT&T let 70% of the outgoing calls complete giving the rest a
     recording. AT&T let 30% of the incoming calls complete.

     MCI blocked 50% of the incoming calls to the three area codes
     affected. MCI has a system network capacity 120-150% higher than
     average peak loading.

     Sprint blocked dynamically with the blocking adjusted at a 5 minute
     rate. Switches generating the most traffic were blocked at 60%. Less
     busy switches were blocked at 10, 20 and 45% levels.

     Seven out of 60 Pac Tel Cellular cells were knocked out. Four were
     restored quickly - the rest are still out.

     GTE Mobilnet had only 2 cells down out of 80.


All in all, I think all the carriers performed admirably. Pac Bell had
completed a quake drill Aug 3. Ironically enough - they simulated a
7.0 quake in San Jose. The actual quake was 6.9 with a center only 20
miles away.

MCI's capacity surprised me (120-150% of peak). I rather suspect
AT&T's is much high than that.


[e-mail]

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Centrex Strikes Again
Date: 27 Oct 89 02:12:10 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


I had lunch today with an engineer who works with the San Francisco
School District. We were discussing matters earthquake and he
confirmed something that I brought up some time ago in this forum for
which I was soundly dismissed. He was cursing the decision of the
school board to go with centrex.

For two days following the earthquake, prople in the school offices
(and the associated radio station, KALW) were unable to so much as
phone down the hall. It seems the CO serving the area had sustained
some damage and dialtone was extremely slow for an abnormal period of
time.

So while those people with those "unreliable" on-site PBXs were having
difficulty making outside calls, those with "the most reliable phone
system in the world" (Pac*Bell advertising hype) couldn't so much as
talk to their secretaries at the front desk.

There was another major Pac*Bell embarassment: The Bush-Pine office
(SF's main downtown CO). It seems that no one bothered to test the
fancy turbine standby generators under load. They regularly powered
them up, but just let them spin. Under load following the earthquake,
they broke down. The CO ran on its batteries until they went dead,
then it was good-night. The downtown financial district CO and the
tandem were dead. Fortunately, they were able to get a portable unit
connected shortly thereafter. I'm sure there were some downtown
business that were delighted they went with centrex, also.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

[Moderator's Note: Well, it is not like an earthquake happens every
day or a central office is overloaded for several days running as a
routine thing. Everything has disadvantages. *In general*, my belief
is that centrex is superior to PBX almost anytime. I've also seen
PBX's break down and disrupt communications in a company for an entire
day or two pending repairs. Those people were angry they did not have
centrex. You really just have to make an informed choice and go with
it.  PT]

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

Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 13:19:44 EDT
From: "Robert E. Seastrom" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller-ID for Pagers?


In TELECOM Digest V9 #472, J. Philip Miller writes:

> While speaking of Caller-ID implementations, I have wondered whether paging
> services utilize Caller-ID to send to digital pagers so that the callers do
> not need to key their number in for display on the pager.

In TELECOM Digest V9 #472, Patrick Townson (Telecom Moderator) comments:

> Regards using Caller-ID to feed digital pagers, I think it is a great
> idea. I wonder if anyone has thought of it?  PT]

I would be really unhappy if the pager companies were to do this and
not allow for an override.  To give a few examples:

At Worldcon '89, I would page my roommate to see about plans for
dinner.  Since it wasn't terribly urgent, I didn't include a priority
code (see below) and paged him with *my* pager number.  Then, I didn't
have to stay right next to a particular pay phone and keep other
people from using it (I'd stay in the vicinity, so that I could call
back promptly, when he returned my page.  This would not be possible
if Caller-ID automatically ID'ed my phone for me...

In the main circle that I associate with, we have a set of agreed-upon
three-digit codes that can be appended to a phone number.  The 100
series identifies specific people; other codes mean specific things
(411=need information, 611=something's broken, 911=run, don't walk, to
the nearest phone and call immediately), unallocated 3-digit codes are
priority codes that tell how urgent it is that the call be returned,
200s meaning at your leisure, 800s meaning call ASAP.  If there
weren't an override on the number that Caller-ID sent out, it would be
impossible to add these codes to the end of the number we were paging
with.

                                        ---Rob

[Moderator's Note: Granted, it might be better to have the switch
answer and say, 'To default, press # now; else enter the desired
digits.'  PT]

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

Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 17:49:38 EDT
From: Christopher K Davis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller-ID for Pagers?

>>>>> On 25 Oct 89 20:22:57 GMT, The Moderator (Patrick Townson) said:

PT> [Moderator's Note: [...]  Regards using Caller-ID to feed digital
PT> pagers, I think it is a great idea. I wonder if anyone has thought of
PT> it?  PT]

It's not really that great.  For example, I often used my mother's
pager to tell her things she didn't need to call for -- (or couldn't, as
with pay phones that won't take incoming calls) like "The track meet's
over, come pick me up" or the like.  Usually I'd punch in my birthday
so she'd know it was me, and the "context" would make the message
clear.

Neat idea, but in practice, it's more useful to use arbitrary numbers.

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

From: Holly Aaron <[e-mail]>
Subject: Tones on International Calls
Date: 26 Oct 89 21:50:39 GMT
Reply-To: Holly Aaron <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA


When I make international calls sometimes I hear an odd sequence of
tones right before the call goes through.  Does anyone know what these
are for?

[e-mail]

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

Date:     Thu, 26 Oct 89 9:02:10 EDT
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re:  Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes

So 704 is far less full than 919?  Also requiring 11-digit intra-NPA
long-distance in 704 is along the "statewide uniformity" lines of what
was done in New Jersey (in NJ, there is a case of 7D local calls from
609 area to an exchange area having N0X/N1X in 201).

But in Virginia, 703 has 11-digit intra-NPA long-distance and 804
still has 8-digit.  703 (and 301, which covers all of Maryland)
includes DC area suburbs, and the DC area had to get N0X/N1X prefixes.

Afterthought: I believe San Diego, CA is a big urban area in its
own right.  However, it was put in area 619 when 714 was split.

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

From: Joel B Levin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 16:50:59 EDT

>From: Bob Goudreau <[e-mail]>

>Does anyone out there know why "011" was chosen as the international
>access code here in the North American Numbering Plan?  If it were up
>to me, I'd probably pick "11" instead (i.e., "1" for long distance and
>"11" for *very* long distance, the way many European countries use "0"
>and "00").  Is there currently some special meaning assigned to "11"?

In olden days (e.g. the sixties), in many places Information (remember
that?) was 113, Repair was 114, and Long Distance was 110... as I
recall.  Probably when 011 was selected some areas were still using
these older numbers, or at least they were still reserved.

    /JBL

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

Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 08:50:14 -0700
From: "Louis J. Judice 26-Oct-1989 1007" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Device

Hi Patrick - the Caller ID Display Device in the Hello Direct catalog is
branded "AT&T" - and if I recall is $99.95.

Unfortunately, NJ Bell tells me that my C.O. (Peapack) is not
scheduled for CLASS Calling Services until JANUARY, 1991!!!

Lou Judice
DEC

[Moderator's Note: A full year yet! That's a pity. Ours in Chicago-
Rogers Park is set for fourth quarter '89, but so far nothing
has been publicized.  PT]

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

From: Jim Breen <munnari!cit5.cit.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Organization: Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melb., Australia
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 01:06:59 GMT


[e-mail] asks, of ISDN
>   The problem is data encoding; I
> have seen no documentation of standard ways to encode data passing on
> the 8000 byte/sec channel for IP.  I have seen references to ways of
> encoding e.g. 9600 baud async "RS232" traffic over ISDN, but I will be
> talking ISDN-to-ISDN, so can use the full bandwidth.  Rumor has it
> that somebody had standardized bit-oriented protocols (HDLC) over ISDN
> links, which is ridiculous since they are byte oriented links.......

They are NOT byte-oriented 8000 byte/sec; it is BIT oriented 64000
bps. You can put any protocol you like on an ISDN B-channel. Protocols
have been standardized for the D-channel, as this is for signalling
and packet traffic.

There *are* ISDN standards for mapping lower speeds onto a B-channel.
Check out standards I.460-464 from the CCITT Red Book for starters.

> Can anyone on Telecom provide details on upper level ISDN
> standardization efforts?  All I have found was low level protocols;
> once you get to the 8000 bps byte stream, it's left up to the user to
> define........

This is how it should be! There are standards for various things to
intercommunicate over ISDN, such as Group 4 Fax, etc., buter there
must NEVER be a standard protocol above Layer 1. ISDN is to be a
bit-pipe service.

        _______           Jim Breen ([e-mail]) Department of Robotics &
       /o\----\\     \O      Digital Technology. Chisholm Inst. of Technology
      /RDT\   /|\   \/|   -:O____/         PO Box 197 Caulfield East 3145
     O-----O        _/_\    /\ /\          (p) 03-573 2552 (fax) 572 1298

------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V9 #474
*****************************











Date:     Fri, 27 Oct 89 0:05:08 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #475
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 27 Oct 89 00:01:09 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 475

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Ameritech Dissolves Bell Boards of Directors (TELECOM Moderator)
    Overseas Modem Transfer Request (Max Feil)
    Re: Amazing Quake Stories (Joel B. Levin)
    Re: 011 vs. 11 (John R. Levine)
    Re: The Hottest Answering Machine (Cyril Bauer)
    Re: California Junk Fax Bill (John Higdon)
    Re: Caller ID at American Express (Kim Greer)
    Re: Unequal Service (John Higdon)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:     Thu, 26 Oct 89 23:32:56 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Ameritech Dissolves Bell Boards of Directors

In an effort to streamline decisionmaking, the directors of Ameritech
dissolved the boards of directors of the five Bell operating companies
under its jurisdiction at a meeting held last week, I have learned.

The directors of Illinois Bell, Indiana Bell, Michigan Bell, Ohio Bell
and Wisconsin Bell will step down on the day they would have stood for
re-election, Ameritech spokesman Mike Brand said Wednesday. In the
case of Illinois Bell, that date is February 22, 1990.

The five Bell boards are vestiges of the old days, when telephone
companies were tightly regulated utilities with partial public
ownership, Brand said. For example, when AT&T was the *majority* owner
in the Bells, there were still a few minority stockholders. Illinois
Bell for example was 97 percent owned by AT&T, and 3 percent by
private individuals.

Ameritech now feels the individual boards are cumbersome and not needed
because the Bell companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Ameritech,
which is based here in Chicago, and don't have their own shareholders.

The dual system of boards created fractured reporting responsibilities
for executives who were directly supervised by the Board of Directors
of one of the Bell companies; Ameritech's senior management and the
Ameritech Board of Directors.

Brand explained that dissolving the Bell company boards is 'part of an
effort started in July to create a structure in the company that
promotes integration, streamlines decision making and speeds
implementation of decisions.....'

In July, Ameritech announced a realignment of corporate executives and
reporting lines in an effort to create a more competitive corporate
structure. At last Wednesday's meeting, the decision to dissolve the
boards of the other non-Bell subsidiaries was also made. In the case
of the non-Bell companies which are subsidiaries of Ameritech, those
boards are comprised entirely of inside managers, and will be
dissolved by the end of this year.

No Bell company executives are affected by the move and the companies'
operations are not affected in any way.

Illinois Bell directors who will be stepping down include:

 William Bunn III, chairman of Marine Bank, Springfield, IL.
 Franklin Cole, chairman of Croesus Corporation.
 Dr. John Corbally, retired president of the MacArthur Foundation.
 Daryl Grisham, president of Parker House Sausage Company.
 Alan Hallene, president of Montgomery Elevator, Rockford, IL
 Donald Nordlund, chairman of Multi-Fresh Systems.
 Barbara Proctor, chairman of Proctor & Gardner Advertising.
 Arthur Velasquez, president of Azteca Foods.


Patrick Townson

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

From: Max Feil <[e-mail]>
Subject: Overseas Modem Transfer Request
Date: 26 Oct 89 23:12:07 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada


I would like to find the best way of transmitting fairly large amounts
of data from overseas. I need to transfer a minimum of 4-5 megs daily
of heavily compressed binary data via modem on public overseas dialup
lines. The system is basically meant to replace standard fax
transmissions with a more cost-effective system that will use a PC for
image scanning and data compression at one end and a similar PC for
uncompression/printout at the other.  I would appreciate any and all
help in finding a suitable modem or transfer mechanism for this task.

The connection will be from Toronto Canada to Hong Kong in order to
take advantage of discounted Canadian toll charges.  (Hong Kong to
North America and U.S. to Hong Kong seems to be more expensive).  From
Toronto the information will pass into the continental U.S.  To be
feasible, I need a data rate of at least 9600 bps with full error
detection/correction via a protocol such as MNP.  I have heard of
>30Kbps rates with such modems, but is this only for local lines?

How does the potentially reduced bandwith & increased noise/dropouts
of overseas connections affect the maximum data rate I can achieve?  I
have heard that some high speed modems degrade excessively in noisy
conditions. I need the fastest rate possible. Daily transfer will be
at least 4-5 megabytes, with 2 or 3 connections made per day. What are
my options for modems I can connect to a PC?

I am currently getting 30% compression on my scanned text/drawings
using Pkarc compression software (widely used on bbs's). I have heard
of other schemes that can be used to highly compress image data, but I
need to know what's commercially available.

I have investigated the use of public packet networks, but the connect
and per kilopacket charges are much to high. I am very interested in
any help somebody from the telecommunications/modem/ibm pc world can
give me.

Thanks in advance.

Max Feil     [e-mail]  or  utgpu!bnr-vpa!bnr-rsc!max
Bell-Northern Research  [phone]
P.O Box 3511 Station C, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y 4H7.

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

From: Joel B Levin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Amazing Quake Stories
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 16:02:13 EDT

>From: [e-mail]

>We heard from one of the traffic monitoring people at US West who
>noticed something peculiar around 5:05 PM Tuesday.  He called his AT&T
>counterpart in Oakland to see what was happening.  The call was
>answered, and the conversation went something like:

>"Hey, what's happening there?"

>"We've got an earthquake here, and, .....  oh .....  there's a big
>crack in the wall now .....  <buzzzzz>"

In 1971, when the Arpanet, the original component of the Internet, was
still young (approximately 16 IMPs, or packet switching nodes),
monitoring its state was still very ad hoc-- another engineer and I
periodically checked to see if any line states were changed or if any
IMPs had failed to send their one line status message to our local
teletype.  Remember, this was when networking-as-we-know-it was mostly
unheard of and remotely monitoring a private data circuit from a
location thousands of miles away from either terminus of the circuit
was a thing of the future.

One morning in August, around 9:05 am several of the lines terminating
in Los Angeles died, and with symptoms indicating it was not an IMP
that crashed.  After performing our usual tests, we called the Long
Lines number in Los Angeles.  We were informed that they had had an
earthquake, there were some cracks in the building, and it would be a
while before service was restored.  (It was only a few hours.)  Though
we had no details, we in Cambridge knew about the earthquake well in
advance of the news bulletins!

    /JBL

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

Subject: Re: 011 vs. 11
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Segue Software, Cambridge MA
Date: 26 Oct 89 17:41:16 EDT (Thu)
From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Bob Goudreau) writes:

>Does anyone out there know why "011" was chosen as the international
>access code here in the North American Numbering Plan?  If it were up
>to me, I'd probably pick "11" instead [analogous to 00 in most of Europe.]

It seems to me that misdialing 11-number for 1-number is a very likely
sort of dialing mistake, either because your finger bounces, or if you
have a rotary dial some random click on the line sounds like a 1.
Using 11 for international would mean lots of mistaken non-revenue
international calls.  (Recent messages have reported how even with the
current scheme people have dialed Australia instead of Minneapolis
when numbers start with 612.)  Besides, there are probably still
places where you don't have to dial 1 before long distance, and in
places like that they usually ignore any leading 1 digits.

If I were Bellcore I'd permanently reserve 11 as an error.  On the
other hand 011 is pretty hard to dial deliberately and nearly
impossible to dial by mistake.

Regards,
John Levine, [e-mail], {spdcc|ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl

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

From: [e-mail] (Cyril Bauer)
Subject: Re: The Hottest Answering Machine
Date: 26 Oct 89 17:05:04 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.


I would sugest the Panasonic unit. I have tried a few and the easiest
and most reliable I have found is the Panasonic.  They make models
that do most everthing that you could possibly want to do. Take your
pick, they work.

UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, crash}!orbit!pnet51!cy
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]
INET: [e-mail]


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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: California Junk Fax Bill
Date: 27 Oct 89 03:30:17 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, gtephx!phobos!ellisond@
asuvax.EAS.ASU.EDU (Dell Ellison) writes:

> What if the problem of junk fax is wide-spread, BUT the 'elected
> representatives' just happen to not have the problem???

 From all evidence presented so far, nobody seems to be having a
problem. Ergo, no problem. At least it's not widespread.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: [e-mail] (Kim Greer)
Subject: Re: Caller ID at American Express
Date: 26 Oct 89 12:08:30 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Kim Greer)
Organization: Academic Computing, Duke University, Durham, NC


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Lang
Zerner) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].

>>[American Express] has been reported to have an 800 version of Caller ID that

>I recall having read a few little "FYI" type articles in various
>technical and marketing trade rags that said Amex got a lot of nasty
>letters and calls from customers who were startled, perplexed, and/or
>annoyed at Amex about the addition of the "service."

>Apparently, someone at Amex marketing thought it would be friendlier
>to answer the phone, "Good morning Mr. Zerner."  A lot of people
>(myself included) thought it was pompous and not beneficial.  At least
>one person encountered communication difficulties because he was
>calling from another cardholder's phone.  Enough of these dissatisfied
>customers wrote and called in nastygrams expressing their dislike of
>Amex' use of the technology that Amex ended up pulling the idea.

  Actually, I would prefer that a company that is dealing with my
money, would be able to be able to tell who I am.  With phone fraud as
rampant as it is, I encourage technology that will allow Amex or
whoever to filter out spooks trying to weasal out info/money of mine.
I prefer that a company that I'm dealing with to have instantly
available information concerning my address/phone#/etc.  (NOTE: I did
not say that I prefer every XYZ Corp. to have it, just the ones I deal
with).  This saves having to waste time having someone re-type in my
name/address/location/ account#/etc every time I call them.

Kim Greer
Duke Univ Med Ctr
[e-mail]


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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unequal Service
Date: 27 Oct 89 03:53:04 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, westmark![e-mail].
net (Dave Levenson) writes:

> The schedule for a given central office may be pushed one way or another
> by the demands of the major business subscribers in its serving area;
> the over-all schedule is probably pretty well cast in stone by the
> telco _and_ the regulators.

Ah-hah! That explains a lot. Up until recently, we had the "big four"
crossbar offices: ALpine, serving Cupertino, west San Jose, and
Campbell; ANdrews, serving Willow Glen and upper Almaden; CLayburn,
serving the east side and foothills; and AXminster, serving a small
part of San Jose and southeast Santa Clara.

ALpine just went DMS. And guess which famous computer company has its
think-tank and corporate offices in Cupertino. As someone said, some
customers are more equal than others.

All those other areas mentioned above are bedroom districts. Where I
live in Willow Glen, the highest tech business you are likely to find
is a grocery store. Our crossbar should be replaced around 2015, if
we're fortunate. Those other areas are the same way: nothing but
houses and shopping centers. I suppose crossbar is here to stay in San
Jose!

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #475
*****************************










Date:     Sat, 28 Oct 89 1:40:20 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #476
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 28 Oct 89 01:35:04 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 476

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Telesphere Came Through; AT&T/Sprint Let Me Down (Kim Greer)
    Re: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes (Daniel Karrenberg)
    Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains (Steve Forrette)
    Re: 10 Cent Payphones (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Unequal Service (Marvin Sirbu)
    Re: 011 for International (Linc Madison)
    Re: Caller-ID for Pagers? (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Caller ID for Pagers? (Gary Segal)
    Re: Caller ID Device (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Ameritech Dissolves Bell Boards of Directors (Lang Zerner)

[Moderator's Note: Remember, we return to standard time Saturday night.
Clocks should be set back one hour at 2:00 AM Sunday morning.  PT]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Kim Greer)
Subject: Re: Telesphere Came Through; AT&T/Sprint Let Me Down
Date: 26 Oct 89 11:39:55 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Kim Greer)
Organization: Academic Computing, Duke University, Durham, NC


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(John Higdon) writes:

+   [stuff deleted about finding out there was an earthquake]
+At that point I became a little anxious. How were my relatives in
+town?  Was my house still standing? How were my clients faring (that I
+had left in the hands of an assistant)? No amount of dialing could
+break through. Then I realized that my desert friend had a 950
+Telesphere account. SUCCESS! I made call after call using that
+account, noting the sluggishness of the Bay Area COs, which were
+probably completely overloaded.

+On the way home, I listened to SF radio to get a feeling for what was
+going on and at one point spokepersons for AT&T and Sprint were
+crowing about how they were blocking calls from outside the area so
+that the local Bay Area network would not be overworked. Well, I am
+about to write a letter of appreciation to Telesphere and a show-cause
+request why I shouldn't cancel my AT&T and Sprint accounts. Thanks to
+Telesphere, I was able to handle some emergencies over the phone (not
+to mention putting my mind at ease). That was NO THANKS to AT&T and
+Sprint. Now, who is backing up whom?

John, I sympathize with you.  I really do know the feeling - I had the
same experience trying to call my parents and brother in Charlotte in
the aftermath of Hugo (the hurricane, not the car :^).  I was mad at
"the phone company" for not letting me through.  Little did I know at
the time that it really wasn't their fault, as there were thousands of
lines down, as the eye of Hugo went right over Charlotte.  (My
neighbor who works at Duke Power told me that they had replaced over
4500 utility poles in Charlotte, to say nothing of Rock Hill,
Gastonia, etc., and they still weren't through.)  My folks got their
power back seven days later, and the phone was back working on the
eighth day.

  Anyway, what has this got to do with the Digest and your posting?  I
think the thing to remember is that AT&T and Sprint were not
"crowing"; they were trying to do exactly what was the best option
under the circumstances: prevent the network from crumbling under the
weight of NON-EMERGENCY calls.  I head on ABC at one point in a 5
minute period, there were over a million calls that were logged trying
to get into San Francisco.  (I think I got those numbers right).  The
tv networks were telling people not to call in, explaining the
problem.  Let's face it, the vast majority of incoming calls would do
nothing the help the situation in the face of big time destruction.
The system *had* to be alive to respond to outgoing EMERGENCY calls
that had to do with saving lives and getting outside help in.  I agree
with the decision to block incoming calls, even if the lines were not
down.

Again, I sympathize with you, but I think you are wrong.  What is the
alternative? - letting literally millions of people trying to call
into SF, SJ, etc. with little or no chance of getting through tie up
the circuits?  Most incoming calls were low priority; the outgoing
were the most critical at the time.

Kim Greer
Duke Univ Med Ctr
[e-mail]


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

From: Daniel Karrenberg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes
Date: 27 Oct 89 10:09:12 GMT
Organization: European Unix sytems User Group


cgch![e-mail] (Tom Hofmann) writes:

>> Austria        00
>>         060.    For Germany in stead of 0049

>0041 for Switzerland and 0049 for Germany works as well, at least in a
>small village near Innsbruck where I have tried it.  Anyway, the whole
>system, especially dialling the OWN country code for Luxembourg, looks
>extremely Austrian :-)

0049 didn't work in Vienna last time I tried. Confused me a lot!


Daniel Karrenberg                    Future Net:  <[e-mail]>
CWI, Amsterdam                        Oldie Net:  mcvax!dfk
The Netherlands          Because It's There Net:  DFK@MCVAX

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

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 04:00:48 PDT
From: Steve Forrette <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

In article <[e-mail]> you write:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 464, message 3 of 9

>Is there any truth to the rumor that the emissions from the newer
>cellular phones can be unhealthy?  In particular, I have heard that
>hand-held models (with their antennae located right next to the head)
>have been responsible for brain/eye damage.
> ......
>Is this true?  Can this cause real damage?  Did anyone consider this
>before approving the 800MHz frequency?

I have a rear-window capacitive-mount antenna for my cellular phone,
and the instructions that came with it stated that people should keep
all parts of themselves at least 6 inches from the antenna whenever
the phone was in use!

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

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 04:46:13 PDT
From: Steve Forrette <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 10 Cent Payphones


Last time I checked (year or so ago), Roseville Telephone (near
Sacramento, CA) still charged 10 cents for local calls.  An
interesting corollary is that Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, CA,
happens to straddle the service boundary between Roseville Telephone
and the *real* telephone company (Pacific Bell) - so, local calls cost
20 cents at the south end of the mall and 10 cents at the north!

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

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 14:17:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Marvin Sirbu <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unequal Service


Besides large corporate customers, other factors which affect the
decision to replace a switch include the rate of growth and the growth
in the use of data.  The marginal cost of adding capacity to a
crossbar is very high; if growth in lines or call holding times is
fast enough, it is cheaper to put in a new switch than continue to
upgrade an old one.  In addition to being the home of a large computer
company, Cupertino has experienced rapid growth as well.

Marvin Sirbu
CMU

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

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 14:42:29 PDT
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 011 for International
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

In article <[e-mail]>, Bob Goudreau:

>Does anyone out there know why "011" was chosen as the international
>access code here in the North American Numbering Plan?  If it were up
>to me, I'd probably pick "11" instead (i.e., "1" for long distance and
>"11" for *very* long distance, the way many European countries use "0"
>and "00").  Is there currently some special meaning assigned to "11"?

As has been noted in a couple of recent articles, "11" is reserved for
certain custom calling features from pulse-dial phones.  For example,
I can dial 70* to cancel call waiting, or I can dial 1170.  This
scheme is in wide use across much of the country.

The one thing I would've changed is that it seems logical to me to
say, "Dial 01 for international, and then 1 if it's direct-dial or 0
for operator assistance," to make it more analogous to domestic calls.
Thus we would have 011/010 instead of 011/01.

  Linc Madison   =   [e-mail]

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller-ID for Pagers?
Date: 28 Oct 89 01:50:40 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, RS%AI.AI.MIT.EDU@
mintaka.lcs.mit.edu (Robert E. Seastrom) writes:

> In TELECOM Digest V9 #472, J. Philip Miller writes:

> > While speaking of Caller-ID implementations, I have wondered whether paging
> > services utilize Caller-ID to send to digital pagers so that the callers do
> > not need to key their number in for display on the pager.

> In TELECOM Digest V9 #472, Patrick Townson (Telecom Moderator) comments:

> > Regards using Caller-ID to feed digital pagers, I think it is a great
> > idea. I wonder if anyone has thought of it?  PT]
 ...

> [Moderator's Note: Granted, it might be better to have the switch
> answer and say, 'To default, press # now; else enter the desired
> digits.'  PT]


No!!!  Use the Caller-Id default if the caller enters nothing at all.
Otherwise, let the caller enter the digital message to be displayed.
Believe it or not, there are still a few telephone subscribers who use
pulse-dial equipment.  Some smart business telephone systems prevent
their users from dialing extra digits for end-to-end signalling --
primitive but effective toll-diversion.  With the present radio paging
equipment, they cannot send any message at all!

Automatically-generated Caller*Id would be better than no ID at all,
wouldn't it?


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: Gary Segal <motcid![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID and Pagers
Date: 27 Oct 89 21:33:05 GMT
Organization: Motorola INC., Cellular Infrastructure Division


Two comments:

First;

Using caller ID to automaticlly key pagers sounds like a good idea,
however I see one problem with it.  Sometimes you want to leave a
number other than the number that you are calling from, perhapes even
some pre-aranged code.  (One of my co-workers likes to "spell" his
name in numbers - remember spelling "Shell Oil" - 710.77345 on your
first calcualtor?)

If we're going to have caller ID key into a pager system, the system
should have an option to enter a different number.  Of course, all of
this is moot with voice pagers.

Second;

>[Moderator's Note: Yes, I think there are modem/Caller-ID devices in
>one neat little box. A hackerphreak here in Chicago (six blocks down
>the street from me, on Artesian Avenue to be exact!) was caught
>burglarizing a computer at Bell Labs/Naperville about a year ago
>because his phone number was captured by the equipment out there.

It would be interesting to know what happened in this case.  Did the
caller-ID constitute an illegal wire-tap here in Illinios?  If the
phreak had a good laywer, that could have been part of his defense.

As far as I know, IBT doesn't give residential subscribers the option
of disabling caller-id; at least I've never been given the option nor
have I seen any mention of it in my bill.


Gary Segal @ Motorla C.I.D.            1501 W. Shure Drive
 ...!uunet!motcid!segal                Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Disclaimer: The above is all my fault.        [phone]

[Moderator's Note: 'What happened in that case', as reported here in the
Digest at the time was the phreak was indicted by a federal grand jury;
was found guilty; was placed in the custody of the Attorney General or
his authorized representative for a period of one year which was served
concurrently with three years federal probation.

No, there was no 'illegal wire-tap'. That is a crock, and the judge over
east who thought it up will be overruled on appeal. When you observe some
person intruding onto your property, burglarizing your property or stealing
from you and you report what you have witnessed, you are not 'guilty' of
spying on the burglar or invading his privacy.  PT]

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Device
Date: 28 Oct 89 01:54:42 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
 (Louis J. Judice 26-Oct-1989 1007) writes:
 ...
> Unfortunately, NJ Bell tells me that my C.O. (Peapack) is not
> scheduled for CLASS Calling Services until JANUARY, 1991!!!

That's interesting -- when a subscriber in Peapack calls us in
Warren, we get their caller id number NOW.  They send it, but they
don't receive it.


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: Lang Zerner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Ameritech Dissolves Bell Boards of Directors
Date: 28 Oct 89 03:23:52 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Lang Zerner)
Organization: The Great Escape, Inc


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(TELECOM Moderator) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 475, message 1 of 8

>In an effort to streamline decisionmaking, the directors of Ameritech
>dissolved the boards of directors of the five Bell operating companies
>...the Bell companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Ameritech

Wow!  I never knew this.  Ameritech owns every basic service provider
in the country?  Why isn't this in violation of antitrust laws?  How is
it any different than before, when AT&T had a big "monopoly" (I hope
there's *some* difference!).

Be seeing you...
Lang Zerner
[e-mail]   UUCP:bionet!asylum!langz   ARPA:[e-mail]
"...and every morning we had to go and LICK the road clean with our TONGUES!"

[Moderator's Note: Ameritech does NOT 'own every basic service
provider in the country.' They own FIVE telephone companies in the
midwest part of the United States. In the past, AT&T owned almost two
dozen telcos across the country operating under the 'Bell' name. And
at the time of divestiture, no one said *how* AT&T had to go about
divesting itself; just that it had to. In other words, AT&T could have
created one large company called "Bell Telephone", and as long as it
was separated from AT&T it would have met the requirements of the
decree, although it is likely such a new entity soon would itself have
been sued for anti-trust violations. GTE owns more telephone operating
companies than Ameritech, or for that matter, any of the other newly
formed holding companies previously part of AT&T.  PT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #476
*****************************










Date:     Sat, 28 Oct 89 2:47:44 CDT
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #477
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 28 Oct 89 02:45:30 CDT    Volume 9 : Issue 477

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes (Linc Madison)
    Re: 919 Split (And What We're Seeing in 312) (David W. Tamkin)
    Re: California Junk Fax Bill (Richard R. Grady, Jr.)
    Re: Cheap Cellular Phones (Thomas E. Lowe)
    Re: Code-a-Phone 2770 Answering Machine (Al Donaldson)
    Re: Cordless Phone (Cyril Bauer)
    Re: Cartoon (Cyril Bauer)
    Writing Specifications of Call Forwarding & Retry Busy (CCBS) (Anthony Lee)
    Net Address of US Sprint in Kansas City? (Peter J. Dotzauer)
    Accessing the Federal Reserve Network (Peter J. Dotzauer)

[Moderator's Note: Remember that we return to standard time tonight.
Clocks must be set back one hour at 2:00 AM Sunday. PT]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 14:49:25 PDT
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Allowing NXX Prefixes & Area Codes
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

In the list of area codes and NXX's posted here recently, the number
given for 312 was 769.  I'm rather shocked by this figure if it's
correct -- even if the figure of 769 includes reserved NXX's like 555,
950, etc., that leaves only 15 available.  That sort of brinksmanship
with the phone system is rather unusual.  Are you sure it wasn't 679
instead of 769?

[784 NXX's are possible = 8*10*10 - N11/N00; as I said, this doesn't
account for other "special case" reserved prefixes like 555, 950, 976,
and in some areas 970, 540, etc.  All the N11 and N00 are reserved.
Here in California, for example, we can dial 811-4094 from any
Pac*Bell phone in the state and talk to Pac*Bell billing for Berkeley
numbers, toll-free.]

  Linc Madison   =   [e-mail]

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

Subject: Re: 919 Split (And What We're Seeing in 312)
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 22:38:35 CDT
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

Bob Goudreau wrote in Digest Volume 9, Issue 473, about area code 919:

| It isn't an obvious split (like, say, 617/508) since 919's two largest
| urban areas (Raleigh/Durham and Greensboro/Winston-Salem) have roughly
| the same population but are about 80 miles apart.  If one urban area
| has to get assigned to the new NPA, which one is it?  The alternative
| would be to leave *both* of them in 919, thus potentially making both
| 919 and the new NPA exceedingly contorted, perhaps like 619 in California.

Or like 409 in Texas, which completely circumscribes the part that
kept 713?

"Same population" means comparable numbers of residences.  Here in
northeastern Illinois, more prefixes are switching to 708 than
remaining in 312, and more population will be switching to 708 than
staying in 312.  Even though the prefixes remaining in 312 tend to be
fuller, there are more actual telephone lines going to 708.

The key, I think, is not Illinois Bell's fable that "area code 312 is
historically associated with the city of Chicago" but that once the
312/708 boundaries were drawn, there were more business customers on
the city side than on the suburban sides.  It is a greater annoyance
for a business to get an involuntary telephone number change than for
a residence.  Compare the backlash against changing the name of a
sidestreet to that against changing the name of a commercial
thoroughfare.  (The result here is not very good: a large majority of
the prefixes and of the growth potential are on the same side of the
line [indicating that the line should have been drawn differently],
and moreover that side that is getting the new code.)

The choices in North Carolina are either to draw a small area
encompassing the larger cities a la Houston and let the surrounding
band get the new code, or to separate the two metropolitan clusters
and assign the new code to the side of the line with fewer business
customers.

David W. Tamkin     [e-mail]   {attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois  60018-0813   [phone]  [phone]

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

From: "Richard R Grady, Jr" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: California Junk Fax Bill
Date: 27 Oct 89 17:47:01 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (richard.r.grady..jr,54354,mv,3a018,508 960 6182)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(John Higdon) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]>, gtephx!phobos!ellisond@
>asuvax.EAS.ASU.EDU (Dell Ellison) writes:

>> What if the problem of junk fax is wide-spread, BUT the 'elected
>> representatives' just happen to not have the problem???

>From all evidence presented so far, nobody seems to be having a
>problem. Ergo, no problem. At least it's not widespread.

Whenever a law is proposed to ban junk fax, everyone who opposes the
ban informs the elected representatives about his/her opposition, via
an unsolicited fax (How dumb can you get?).  So *only* elected
representatives have a junk fax problem!!!


Dick Grady              [e-mail]             ...!att!mvuxd!r4
The above opinions are mine, and not necessarily those of my employer.

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

From: Thomas E Lowe <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cheap Cellular Phones
Date: 27 Oct 89 13:16:11 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (thomas.e.lowe,ho,)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


I have seen ads here in NJ for Novatel Car phones for 88 dollars.
Has anyone out there had any experience with Novetel phones?

I'm sure there are very few fancy features in this model, but how
about the quality?  Is the range as good as more expensive models?
How about sound quality and reliability?

The company offering this deal is Jersey Cellular.  Has anyone in NJ
had experience with this outfit?

Thanks!


Tom Lowe    [e-mail] or  att!hound!tel     [phone]
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Room 2E-637A
Crawfords Corner Road,  Holmdel, NJ  07733
(R) UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T  (keep them lawyers happy!!)

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

From: Al Donaldson <vrdxhq!escom.com![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Code-a-Phone 2770 Answering Machine
Date: 26 Oct 89 04:36:42 GMT
Organization: ESCOM Corp., Oakton, VA


> Otto J. Makela <[e-mail]> asks:
>   . . .  I have a sales blurb for a device called the Code-a-
>   Phone 2600, which would seem to be what I need: ...
>   Does anyone have hands-on experience with these devices ?

When I saw this message I recalled my somewhat embarrassing encounter
with my new 2650.  Following is from my mail folder earlier this year.
(By the way, I think I paid US$65 at a discount store.)

Al
                         ================
  You'd commented that my answering machine sounded really muffled,
  and today I found out why.

  The machine is a Code-A-Phone 2650 combined answering machine-phone,
  with the outgoing message recorded in memory rather than on tape.
  Since Code-A-Phone has a good reputation for quality, I was really
  disappointed when I heard the outgoing message played back.  At first
  I'd thought it was because it was next to the Sun, and the fan noise
  might be affecting the recording.  Nope.  Then I played around with
  holding the handset various ways (my, what a neat idea, using the
  handset as the microphone for the answering machine..), but that
  didn't make any difference either.  Then I just sort of gave up and
  figured that it was a result of a poor design, not enough memory to
  store the voice properly, or such.

  Finally, today I called Code-A-Phone (no 800 number...) and spoke
  with a lady there.  I explained I was really disappointed with the
  voice quality, and unless they had some answer I was going to get
  rid of the machine.  She asked if I had any music or other equipment
  on in the background, and I told her about the computer but said
  that turning it off didn't make any difference.  She asked how close
  I was to the mike and I said I'd tried holding the handset at various
  distances and angles but that didn't seem to make any difference either.
  Then she told me that I'm not supposed to use the handset, but am
  supposed to talk into the microphone.  Microphone??

  Sure enough, hidden in the base of the machine is a tiny little hole,
  not labeled, for the microphone.  The user manual doesn't mention where
  the microphone is; it just says "When the message light starts flashing,
  speak toward the microphone."  So I was talking into the handset,
  the only obvious microphone on the beast, which was about 3 ft away from
  the real microphone.  Sheesh.  What would it have cost them to to stamp
  the word "microphone" next to the hole and/or print a line explaining
  that the microphone is separate from the handset?


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

From: [e-mail] (Cyril Bauer)
Subject: Re: Cordless Phone
Date: 27 Oct 89 17:47:11 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.


How about an alternative? I saw someplace a jack that a person cold
put into the a.c. power. Transmission takes place over the a.c. line
along with the supervisory commands for on and off hook. I don't know
how well it works or if and where you can find it. I'll look around in
the books that I have and leave another note on here when I find it.
This is if you so desire. Paging could be done with the ringback
feature in your area if the telco allows it. Otherwise another device
could be added with very little cost using the f.m. over the power
lines too.

UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, crash}!orbit!pnet51!cy
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]
INET: [e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (Cyril Bauer)
Subject: Re: Cartoon
Date: 27 Oct 89 17:46:46 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.


I like the cartoon. I have been wondering myself what the end user has
been doing with them.

UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, crash}!orbit!pnet51!cy
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]
INET: [e-mail]


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

From: Anthony Lee <munnari!batserver.cs.uq.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Writing Specifications of Call Forwarding & Retry Busy (CCBS)
Date: 26 Oct 89 03:04:02 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


As part of my PhD work, I am trying to write formal specifications of
supplementary services.  I don't even have informal specifications
of simple services such as Call Forwarding or Retry Busy.

There are many questions about access: With Call Forwarding, does the
subscriber have to subscribe to CF before using it or are there cases
where it is just generally available?  To use Call Forwarding, a
subscriber lifts off the handset and dials the appropriate code.  If
it is OK for the subscriber to use CF then would he/she receive a
confirmation tone?  What is the term for the process of making CF
available on one's telephone?.  Is it called "enable" ?  Within the
switch itself what is the general term for actually forwarding the
call?  Would it be called "activation" ?

In general what is the term for making a supplementary service
available for a telephone ?  And what is the general term for actually
executing that service?

To make this even more complicated, in the Retry Busy service, when
the subscriber hears an engaged tone and dials the code for Retry Busy,
is that the "enable" part of the service ?  And when the switch next
scans the destination, would that be called the "activation" part of
the service?

Even better would some kind soul who works for a telco like to post
their specification for supplementary services?  I realize a lot of
documents must be proprietary but surely supplementary services have
been around long enough such that there must be some old docoument
lying in the bottom of some filing cabinet.

I like those stuff posted about Starline Services but they seem to
aim at the customer not the programmer.

Anyway thanks in advance.

Cheers, Anthony
Anthony Lee (Humble PhD student) (Alias Time Lord Doctor)
ACSnet:    [e-mail]    TEL:[phone]
Internet: [e-mail]        ([phone] (w)
SNAIL: Dept Comp. Science, University of Qld, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia

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

From: "Peter J. Dotzauer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Net Address of US Sprint in Kansas City?
Date: 28 Oct 89 01:18:00 GMT
Organization: Ohio State Univ IRCC


Does anyone know the net address of US Sprint, specifically its
Kansas City offices?

I have been told US Sprint is on Telenet, but how is that accessible
from the internet or uucp?


Peter Dotzauer: Numerical Cartography Lab, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
        VOICE: [phone]  FAX: [phone]  DATA: 293-0081
        BITNET: ts3285@ohstvma UUCP: ...!osu-cis!hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu!pjd
        FIDO: 1:226/50       ARPA: [e-mail] [128.146.1.5]

[Moderator's Note: If Sprint is 'on Telenet' what this probably means
is they have an electronic mailbox on the Telemail Mail Service of
Telenet. Maybe someone who recalls the messages some time ago about
the use of gateways to get from Internet to elsewhere will recall the
way it is done with Internet <==> Telenet. I don't remember. It might
also mean one or more of their computers is connected to the Telenet
data network, in which case you are probably not invited. PT]

------------------------------
From: "Peter J. Dotzauer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Accessing the Federal Reserve Network
Date: 27 Oct 89 20:29:21 GMT
Organization: Ohio State Univ IRCC


What are the prerequisites to access the Federal Reserve network for
initiating financial transactions between accounts (e.g. between my
checking account and the account of a utility to pay an electric
bill)?

I have read that Checkfree, Inc., a company that provides certain home
banking and electronic bill paying services, uses the Federal Reserve
network, that is also used by banks to transfer funds. Banks are
compelled to cooperate with that company, or otherwise they would
violate federal banking regulations.

If a non-bank entity like Checkfree can access the Federal Reserve
network to transfer funds, why can I not do that myself, or can I?


Peter Dotzauer: Numerical Cartography Lab, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
        VOICE: [phone]  FAX: [phone]  DATA: 293-0081
        BITNET: ts3285@ohstvma UUCP: ...!osu-cis!hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu!pjd
        FIDO: 1:226/50       ARPA: [e-mail] [128.146.1.5]

[Moderator's Note: I believe Checkfree *is* considered a bank for the purpose
of routing and funds transfer through the Fed. And I suppose if the banks
and the FRB were willing to accept you as a 'bank' you would be
permitted to use the network also. But calling yourself one does not
make you one; and I suspect Checkfree has substantial reserves on deposit
which guarentee its performance, in the same way the check-printing companies
have to have an excellent relationship with the banks, in order to be given
access to account numbers, customer names, etc.   PT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #477
*****************************










Date:     Sun, 29 Oct 89 9:45:02 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #478
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 29 Oct 89 09:42:18 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 478

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Rate Comparison to Hong Kong (John R. Covert)
    Re: Cheap Cellular Phones (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Cheap Cellular Phones (John Higdon)
    Re: Unequal Service (David Lewis)
    Re: Unequal Service (David Lesher)
    Re: Caller ID at American Express (David Lewis)
    Re: Caller-ID for Pagers? (John Higdon)
    Re: Hacker Caught by Caller-ID? (Jim Gottlieb)
    Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US? (Dan Sahlin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 09:00:38 -0700
From: "John R. Covert  27-Oct-1989 0929" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Rate Comparison to Hong Kong

>The connection will be from Toronto Canada to Hong Kong in order to
>take advantage of discounted Canadian toll charges.  (Hong Kong to
>North America and U.S. to Hong Kong seems to be more expensive).  From
>Toronto the information will pass into the continental U.S.

Although I expected calls from Hong Kong to either the U.S. or Canada
to be more expensive than the reverse direction, the assertion that
calls from Canada to Hong Kong were less expensive than from the U.S.
surprised me, since I knew that Canadian rates to Europe were
drastically higher than U.S. rates to Europe.

Canada has recently lowered overseas rates.  Rates to, for example,
West Germany are still quite a bit higher from Canada than from the
U.S.  Canadian rates to Hong Kong are only lower for the first minute;
additional minute charges from the U.S. are lower.  You will save
money originating the calls from Canada only if they are fairly short
calls.  And unless you also need the data to be in Canada, too,
anyway, or have private circuits, you'll lose that savings on the
additional call transmitting it across the border.

Here is the comparison:

Canada:

4p-12a    8a-4p    12a-8a        Don't forget tax.  Canadian tax
                is significant:  19% (11 Fed, 8 Prov).
2.19    1.76    1.53
1.46    1.17    1.02        U.S. tax is only 3% Federal, and most
                states do not tax out-of-state calls.
AT&T

5p-11p    10a-5p    11p-10a        Notice the time differences.  Canada
3.62    2.72    2.17        and AT&T are similar, but Sprint has
1.35    1.03     .81        reversed the peak and medium periods.

Sprint                And finally -- there are new digital
                circuits to Hong Kong.  I've gotten
8a-6p    6p-12a    12a-8a        some _wonderful_ connections on AT&T.
3.3666    2.5840    1.8445        Other carriers may have them as well.
1.2825     .9888     .7938

/john

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cheap Cellular Phones
Date: 29 Oct 89 03:18:50 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Thomas E Lowe) writes:

> I have seen ads here in NJ for Novatel Car phones for 88 dollars.
> Has anyone out there had any experience with Novetel phones?

> I'm sure there are very few fancy features in this model, but how
> about the quality?  Is the range as good as more expensive models?
> How about sound quality and reliability?

> The company offering this deal is Jersey Cellular.  Has anyone in NJ
> had experience with this outfit?


I have been driving around NJ with a Novatel cellular phone since
1986.  It has never required maintenance, and works pretty well all
over the state.  Yes, there are a few "dead spots" -- mostly in the
less-travelled areas and in the "hill country" of western Morris and
northern Somerset counties.

Novatel makes a large product line.  The model 1260 (which I have) is
a 3-watt unit (the max allowed) and is no-longer manufactured.

Remember that the company who sells and installs your mobile phone
gets to activate your service with Cellular One, or Metro One, or
Bell Atlantic or Nynex (depending upon where you live).   They get
a piece of the action for every minute of air time you use.  Their
loss-leader price usually requires that _they_ activate your
service, and that you keep it for some minimum period.  They make
back on your air time what they probably lose selling it at that
price.  They also have to make a monthly quota of new service
activations, to keep their service reseller status.  The deal is
probably not bad, all things considered.  Back in '86 they sold for
about $1,500 plus installation!

Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cheap Cellular Phones
Date: 29 Oct 89 06:11:50 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Thomas E Lowe) writes:

> I have seen ads here in NJ for Novatel Car phones for 88 dollars.
> Has anyone out there had any experience with Novetel phones?

A friend was trying out one of their handhelds. He brought it by and
we did an informal comparison with my GE Mini (made by Mitsubishi),
also a handheld. The audio quality was terrible; the voice was almost
unintelligible because of a weird peak in the audio spectrum. In
places where my GE was solid, the Novatel was experiencing severe fade
on the same system. It's possible that it was, for some reason,
working a different cell, but overall the performance was unimpressive
and it certainly didn't hold a candle to the GE.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: David Lewis <nvuxr![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unequal Service
Date: 28 Oct 89 18:21:54 GMT
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(John Higdon) writes:

] In article <[e-mail]>, westmark![e-mail].
] net (Dave Levenson) writes:

] > The schedule for a given central office may be pushed one way or another
] > by the demands of the major business subscribers in its serving area;
] > the over-all schedule is probably pretty well cast in stone by the
] > telco _and_ the regulators.

] Where I
] live in Willow Glen, the highest tech business you are likely to find
] is a grocery store. Our crossbar should be replaced around 2015, if
] we're fortunate.

Actually, it shouldn't be that bad.  Crossbars stopped being installed
in about 1970, if memory serves correctly.  The longest depreciation
schedule I know of is 40 years, so you should be able to get rid of it
by, oh, about 2010...  ;-)

] I suppose crossbar is here to stay in San Jose!

Well, a good solid 8.0 earthwake with the epicenter directly under
your CO should be able to encourage the telco to modernize... ;-) again!

David G Lewis                ...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej

            "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

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

From: David Lesher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unequal Service
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 89 14:06:26 EDT
Reply-To: David Lesher <[e-mail]>

For a long time, Cleveland {has} had unequal service, in the reverse
direction. 471-1212 got you a time recording, which in crossbar, panel
or step offices timed out after about 2 minutes (unless it was New
Year's Eve).

But if you moved into a ESS, you got 20 seconds - two annoucements. If
you called as the second call of a threeway, you got one. Bang.

Needless to say, this made it hard to set your digital watch.  I
complained. OBT denied there was a problem, but said if there was, it
must be in my CPE,{;-)} and they would check it for a $40.00 visit
charge. I countered with a $40.00 charge for MY time if their visit
turned up zilch. They announced again there was no problem, said the
tariffs forbit me from charging them, and threatened to disconnect my
service for not registering my answering machine.

About this time I moved elsewhere. But I did learn something.  Always
write letters to the business office. They HATE that. (I am not sure
if only the supervisers can read, or they have an elite section....)
Further, each letter I got back came signed by     "your service rep."

                       ===================
A host is a host & from coast to [e-mail]
no one will talk to a host that's close..............(305) 255-RTFMG
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335

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

From: David Lewis <nvuxr![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID at American Express
Date: 28 Oct 89 18:18:31 GMT
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Kim
Greer) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Lang
> Zerner) writes:

> >In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
>
> >>[American Express] has been reported to have an 800 version of Caller ID

> >Apparently, someone at Amex marketing thought it would be friendlier
> >to answer the phone, "Good morning Mr. Zerner."  A lot of people
> >(myself included) thought it was pompous and not beneficial.  At least
> >one person encountered communication difficulties because he was
> >calling from another cardholder's phone.  Enough of these dissatisfied
> >customers wrote and called in nastygrams expressing their dislike of
> >Amex' use of the technology that Amex ended up pulling the idea.

First, technical commentary.  AT&T offers a service which I believe is
called Account Match (although I wouldn't swear to it, and it may be a
Service Mark if it is).  Customers who subscribe to AT&T 800 service
and who have an AT&T PBX can get a direct trunk connection from the
AT&T Point of Termination to their AT&T PBX.  Over this trunk
connection AT&T will deliver the ANI (Automatic Number Identification)
of the calling party.  The AT&T PBX can then send the ANI to an
attached application processor (which, surprise surprise, AT&T will be
happy to provide) which will do a database lookup and fetch the
account record corresponding to the calling ANI.

This is not *exactly* calling number delivery; instead, it's a service
built on ANI delivery.  Calling number = ANI for almost all
residential numbers; however, calling number != ANI for a large number
of moderately sized business numbers -- ANI is the *billing* number,
and many businesses have a single billing number defined for
centralized accounting.  Therefore, if you're calling from a Centrex
line, or from a PBX trunk, the ANI may be irrelevant to the calling
party number.  (If you're calling from a PBX, of course, the calling
number itself may be irrelevant unless the PBX sends it to the CO, and
I don't know if any do.)

Another note; I've heard that MCI is sponsoring/has sponsored an "ANI
Developer's Conference".  MCI will begin providing ANI to 800
customers in the near future, and wants to build a base of
applications like the above to offer as well.

In the anecdote I heard (from an unnamed source at AT&T Naperville),
the customer didn't cancel their service; they just instructed their
operators to stop greeting callers by their name and collecting their
name *first*, so they would present the appearance of using the name
to look up the account...

This story also allows us to launch into an exciting discussion of
bypass, if anyone is so moved...  Like, I hear from sources that AT&T
is offering ISDN PRI access from its long distance point of
termination to customers with AT&T PBXs and trying to steal a march on
the LECs...

Disclaimer:  AT&T?  What do I know from AT&T?  I work for Bellcore, and
*everyone* knows that there's no connection between AT&T and Bellcore.
(Hello, Judge Green!)


David G Lewis                ...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej

            "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller-ID for Pagers?
Date: 29 Oct 89 06:01:03 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, westmark![e-mail].
net (Dave Levenson) writes:

> No!!!  Use the Caller-Id default if the caller enters nothing at all.
> Otherwise, let the caller enter the digital message to be displayed.

This would solve one of the most frustrating problems a pager user can
face. How many times have you suddenly found your pager going off
repeatedly with no number in the display? Someone mistakenly gets your
pager number thinking it is perhaps an ordinary telephone number or
even someone else's pager number. Sometimes this can go on for days
and it renders your pager useless.

If the caller's number was put in the display as the default, you could
call them and inform them that they have a wrong number. As it is now,
you can only hope that they will figure out that the number they have
isn't doing them any good. And find it out soon!

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

[Moderator's Note: Of course John, your plan, which sort of hints at using
a self-remedy to cure the problem would likely be rejected by those who
dislike or hate Caller-ID. They would say you have no right to know the
identity of the caller, particularly since the call was not intended
for you anyway. They would probably suggest you should be asking the telco
to trace those calls; and that the telco would then, in their good time
deal with the problem. Are you sure that finding out the identity of the
caller not-intending-to-reach you wouldn't be a violation of their privacy
or (ahem!) an 'illegal wire tap'?  PT]

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

From: Jim Gottlieb <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Hacker Caught by Caller-ID?
Date: 29 Oct 89 01:45:00 GMT
Reply-To: Jim Gottlieb <denwa![e-mail]>
Organization: Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan


In article <[e-mail]> "J. Philip Miller"
<[e-mail]> writes:

>Does this imply that there are modems which will record Caller-ID, or does
>anyone know what technology was used here?

If a company is experiencing hackers, they can request the telephone
company to track all incoming calls to their modem lines (just like
other annoyance calls).  I suspect that this is how the hackers were
found, rather than through some Caller-ID/Modem device.

Jim Gottlieb                     Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
       <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy>
Fax: (011)[phone]           Voice Mail: (011)[phone] ID#82-42-424

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

From: Dan Sahlin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US?
Organization: SICS, Swedish Inst. of Computer Science
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 89 11:02:57 GMT

As I understand it, "011" is used as the international prefix in the
US, whereas the international recommendation is "00". Are there some
other numbers starting with 00 preventing it to be used as
international prefix?

In Sweden, we have some numbers starting with 00 (for instance 000 for
the operator), so we cannot follow the international standard.  Here,
no number may be a prefix of another, but in the US the operator is
reached by "0" and international calls start with "011".  How is that
possible?

    /Dan Sahlin   ([e-mail])

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #478
*****************************










Date:     Sun, 29 Oct 89 20:34:23 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #479
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 29 Oct 89 20:30:12 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 479

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    High-voltage Cable Theft (Seattle Times via Roger Clark Swann)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (John Gilmore)
    Re: California Junk Fax Bill (Tad Cook)
    Re: Whither Telidon? (Was: What is SONET?) (Bill Cerny)
    Re: 10 Cent Payphones (David Lesher)
    Re: Cordless Phones (Tad Cook)
    Re: Caller-ID and Pagers (ficc![e-mail])
    Computerwise, Where's Duke University? (Enice E. Bradley)
    Telephone Wars (David Lesher)
    How to Disable Call-Waiting (Amitabh Shah)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Roger Clark Swann <ssc-vax![e-mail]>
Subject: High-voltage Cable Theft
Date: 27 Oct 89 04:51:33 GMT
Organization: Boeing Aerospace & Electronics, Seattle WA


I know that the following is not directly phone related, but is
utility related and it is a followup to some of the recent postings
here.
            Reprinted without permission

The Seatle Times - Thursday, October 26, 1989

High-voltage Theft Cuts Lester's Power

It was a high-wire act of the high voltage variety. During recent
weeks, thieves scaled a utility tower in a desolate area of
southeastern King County, disconnected cables - some of which were
live - and made away with 11,000 feet of copper wire worth $14,700 to
the company, although far less if sold to a scrap metal dealer.

  "It is one of the dumbest things I've heard of," said Puget Power
spokeswoman Jude Noland. Coming into cantact with the 7,200-volt
current of the power lines would be like experiencing "your own
personal San Francisco earthquake," Noland said. "It is extremely
risky."

  Police and Puget Power officials speculate that the thieves are
experienced line workers. They also had to be well equipped: The wire
weighed several tons and would require a commercial winch to roll, a
Puget Power official said.

  Noland said the theft was discovered late last week when a worker
sought the cause of an outage that affected customers in Lester and
the National Weather Service station nearby.

    Roger Swann               |    uucp:  uw-beaver!ssc-vax!clark
         @                    |
 The Boeing Company           |


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

Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 12:59:19 PST
From: John Gilmore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate

It seems clear that either nobody is doing IP over ISDN, or they don't
read Telecom!  My thanks to the authors of the several useful
responses; however, there seem to be some misconceptions about ISDN in
general among Telecom readers.

[e-mail] wrote (others said similar things):
>                                                You get 64 kbps per
> second.  It's "raw bits" (oat hulls, wheat chaff...) and no more.
> It's isochronous (sync) so you need to have some framing technique.
> It is NOT byte oriented at this point!

I beg to differ.  First, the rate is 64000 bits per second; "64kbps"
implies 65536 bits per second (at least to me!).  Second, the frame
sent between the on-premises ISDN interface and the terminals (phones)
contains its own framing, and individual BYTES of data for the two D
channels are contained in the frame.  The AMD speakerphone chip
provides byte oriented access to all ISDN B-channels and routes
*bytes* among the different interfaces (audio in, audio out, two
B-channels, microprocessor port, and serial interfaces).

But we don't even have to refer to the standards; we have brains.  If
you are sending raw audio data over this link, the network had better
retain byte synchronization, or the 8-bit audio samples would quickly
garble into unintelligibility (7 chances out of 8 to get the wrong
byte sync, unless the network maintains it for you).

> Two standards exist...  And you can of course create
> your own if you want, since it's end-to-end.

This begs the question of interoperability, which was my whole point.
If I "create my own" IP-over-ISDN standard, and you implement it
another way, we can't talk to each other even though we can dial each
others' computers.

Someone else said "what's the point -- ISDN only runs for two or three
miles anyway".  I don't know where they got that idea.  Last I heard,
ALL of the >500-mile AT&T switching centers went to digital
transmission years ago, and they have been pushing digital encoding
back toward the CO's ever since.  ISDN is the standard for the stretch
between the CO and the customer.

(There *is* this problem with the idiots who designed the AT&T T1
relays not putting in enough frame sync, so they had to steal the
bottom bit of one 8-bit subchannel as frame sync -- leading to "56K"
(8000 7-bit samples) rather than "64K" (8000 8-bit samples) service.
But I read that they have a plan in place to upgrade those bogus
relays -- and meanwhile, they could just software-route the real 8-bit
ISDN traffic through one of the subchannels that doesn't get its low
order bit munged by the relays.  Technical corrections welcomed.)

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

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: California Junk Fax Bill
Date: 28 Oct 89 08:18:28 GMT
Organization: very little


Dell Ellison says "what if the problem of JUNK FAX is widespread"...

Don't forget....I am still looking for a single verifiable first
person account from someone actually victimized by abusive junk fax.
So far all of the stories I have tried to track down have been "friend
of a friend" (FOAF) urban legend type stuff.

All I have found is evidence of the ocassional ad from a fax paper
seller in California.

With all of the legislation concerning this "problem", can't just ONE
victim step forward?

(OOPS....I said "don't forget" above, and realized I may not have
posted this stuff here before...just on alt.fax and various BBS
echoes.  I am trying to determine if the type of abusive junk fax
publicized by the media is for real, or just urban legend).


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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Cerny)
Subject: Re: Whither Telidon? (Was: What is SONET?)
Date: 29 Oct 89 04:32:18 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
edu (Gary L Dare) writes:

> Since we touched a bit on Canadian technology efforts in telecom, can
> someone give us an update on Telidon?

The (Canadian) gov't sponsored Telidon trials of the early 80's have
spawned commercial offerings in Bell Canada ("Alex") and SaskTel
("Agritex").  The Canucks are pretty proud of their Telidon efforts,
which they claim delivered the present-day North American Presentation
Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS, pronounced "nap-lips").

Now here's the twist: Bell Canada will offer Alex in Toronto next
spring, in addition to Montreal where Alex was launched a couple years
ago.  SaskTel reports that the "Grass Roots" program available over
Agritex (at a mere $0.10[Canadian]/min.) is quite popular.  How do
these companies justify the continued operation of these videotext
services when American companies (viz., Pacific Telesis) cite
exhorbitant investment and poor public interest as reasons for
avoiding similar videotext gateways in the U.S.?

Contacts:
Ross Richardson, SaskTel [phone]
Alex Marketing Group, Bell Canada [phone]

Bill Cerny
bill@toto    |    attmail: !denwa!bill    |    fax: [phone]


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

From: David Lesher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 10 Cent Payphones
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 89 13:47:53 EDT
Reply-To: David Lesher <[e-mail]>


For a LONG time, and maybe still today, Wapaconeta {sp} OH, a small
burg south of Toledo, had a 5 cent payphone. This town's claim to fame
was being Neil Armstrong's birthplace. It seem to me the telco said
they got enough dimes and quarters already that they didn't need to
change the phone out.


A host is a host & from coast to [e-mail]
no one will talk to a host that's close..............(305) 255-RTFM
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335

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

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: Cordless Phone
Date: 29 Oct 89 19:29:38 GMT
Organization: very little


In his posting, Cyril Bauer talks about a system using carrier current
transmission on the power line for telephone extensions.  Although
this can work, there are a couple of problems with this.

One is with all of the powerline noise filters and spike blockers that
we have on our computers and electronic gear now.  The ones with just
an MOV are not a problem, but the better quality ones with filtering
act as a big bucket for all the RF.

Another problem is that power wiring at a premise is divided between
the two legs of the 220 VAC line.  A signal transmitted on one leg
wont go to the other very well.  One way around this is to hook a cap
between the two 220 VAC legs at the service entrance to couple the
signal between the two legs.

One mod that may work with the noise filters is to put series
inductors between the noise filter and the line.  This would present
high impedance to the RF.  Many noise filters already have inductors,
but if there is a capacitor on the line side, there would still be a
problem without external inductors.

Tad Cook
[e-mail]


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

From: ficc![e-mail]
Subject: Caller-ID and Pagers
Date: Sun Oct 29 09:31:36 1989

When you call one of these fancy automatic operators, they generally
say something like "to select a service, enter 1 now, or hold and an
operator will take your call". This way if you can't generate tones
you go back to the default action. So a smart paging service would
respond with something like "to enter a number, enter 1 now, or hang
up and your number will be automatically generated".


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

From: Enice E Bradley <[e-mail]>
Subject: Computerwise, Where's Duke University?
Date: 28 Oct 89 14:37:47 GMT
Reply-To: Enice E Bradley <[e-mail]>
Organization: Rutgers University, Newark, NJ


Hello!!!

Does anyone know the BITNET or UUNET address for Duke University?

Thanks.

Eugene Bradley

I can be reached at either of the following addresses

SLOW:            FAST(recommended):
Eugene Bradley
P.O. Box 774        [e-mail]
Orange, NJ  07052

<<<<<<<<<< "What you gonna do...when the Hulkster runs wild on you?" >>>>>>>>>>
                    -Hulk Hogan, Champion
                     of the World Wrestling Federation

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

From: David Lesher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telephone Wars
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 19:07:42 EDT
Reply-To: David Lesher <[e-mail]>

A subject not mentioned here recently is that of telephone wars.  A
friend of mine spent some time in Lawrence, KS in the mid 50's.
He told me there was a full fledged WAR going on between the existing
rural system and the {?} BOC that was trying to move in.

This meant cable cutting, pole sawing and even fistfights between
employees! I don't recall the exact outcome, but I feel sure that the
big guns must have won.

One side effect was the PILES of magneto wall phones left over from
the upgrade to common battery service. The telco piled them up outside
the {only} CO, for the garbage man to cart off.  Lee at that time
drove a 56 Caddy ambulance. He FILLED it up, while the employees
laughed at him. "Who could want that old junk?", they said. Of course,
20 years later, he sold them for $100.00+ each.

                     =====================
A host is a host & from coast to [e-mail]
no one will talk to a host that's close..............(305) 255-RTFM
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335

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

From: Amitabh Shah <[e-mail]>
Subject: How to Disable Call-Waiting
Date: 29 Oct 89 20:44:54 GMT
Reply-To: Amitabh Shah <[e-mail]>
Organization: Cornell University Computer Science Department


I saw a couple of articles here about using "#70" or "1170" to disable call
waiting, but it wasn't exactly clear to me as to WHEN does one push those
buttons? Is it before making a call, or while on the call? Also, is there a
way to disable call-waiting while using your computer to dial out?

I'd appreciate a general answer, as well as the specific sequence to use in
the 919 area code.

Thank you in advance.

Amitabh Shah                                    [e-mail]--(INTERNET)
Dept. of Computer Science                       shah@cornell------------(CSNET)
Upson Hall -- Cornell University                { ... }!cornell!shah-----(UUCP)
Ithaca NY 14853-7501                            [phone]----------(VOICE)

[Moderator's Note: Here is your general answer: [Whatever 70] works in
your community goes at the start of whatever you are dialing; for
example, you would enter *70 (beep,beep,beep) 123-4567. If your
computer is doing the dialing out, then just add the [whatever 70] to
the front of the string being dialed. Here we get three beep tones to
acknowlege it, but it is *not* necessary to build in a pause between
the 70 and the rest of the string; that is, you can dial right on
through the 'beep,beep,beep' if you wish.

Call-Waiting then remains cancelled or suspended for the remainder of
that call only. Once you go on hook, normal Call-Waiting is restored.
If you otherwise have a valid reason for flashing your hook in the
middle of a call -- that is, if you have three way calling -- without
cutting yourself off, then you can also suspend Call-Waiting on an
incoming call, or at some point in the middle of an outgoing call:
When you flash, and get the tone spurts, dial [whatever 70]. It should
suspend Call-Waiting and immediatly return you to the call in progress
you left on hold. You obviously cannot use this second method on a
modem call, since the temporary loss of carrier would make the modem
disconnect.

For *specifics* in your community, ask your business office.  PT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #479
*****************************










Date:     Mon, 30 Oct 89 23:17:28 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #480
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Mon, 30 Oct 89 23:15:38 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 480

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Sci.crypt Is Asking About Phone Scramblers (John Gilmore)
    Technical Session Ideas Wanted for ICA (David J. Buscher)
    7Khz Digital Channels (Hector Myerston)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Peter Joseph Desnoyers)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Torsten Dahlkvist)
    Re: Caller ID Device (David Lewis)
    Re: Caller ID Device (Fred E.J. Linton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 13:38:24 PST
From: John Gilmore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Sci.crypt Is Asking About Phone Scramblers

 From pacbell!ames!ncar!unmvax!ariel!hydra.unm.edu!ee5391aa Fri Oct 27
 21:34:05 1989
 From: [e-mail] (Duke McMullan n5gax)
Newsgroups: sci.crypt,sci.electronics
Subject: Retitle: Voice scrambling/encryption
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 28 Oct 89 04:34:05 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM


I don't remember who posted this -- rn bombed every time I tried to
followup, so this is coming from pn.

Quote:
I've seen a device that fits over your phone advertised in this last
summer's issues of High Times (what? You don't read HT?) .  Basically
you have one at each end and it fits over the handset.  It has a
keypad and allows some fairly large number of possible codes.  The
person on the other end must be using the same code.

I'm pretty certain it was digital.  I believe that each handset device
was about $100.  It seemed fairly reasonable.
:Unquote

No, I don't read HT, not being a druggie, and preferring to keep a low
profile (LP). Howsowhatyoumayever, this sounds like the "scrambler
telephone" advertised in the latest cataloguette from Phoenix Systems.

To wit:

"Protect your phone conversations from eavesdropping techniques and
devices.  Our Scrambler Phone Attachment converts ordinary
conversation into unintelligible sounds and then the receiving unit
reconverts it back to ordinary conversation that is as clear as the
original transmission. Protects against taps, recorders, extension
pick-ups, linesman's handsets, phone company monitoring or scanners
that pick up mobile cellular phone transmissions. Works with almost
any shape or type of phone -- including cellular phones and pay
phones! Portable -- take it with you anywhere you go to protect your
private phone conversations. Scrambling can be controlled by code,
with up to 52,488 possible code combinations. No wires to connect,
simply strap it to the phone with its elastic strap and it is ready to
use. Runs on the standard 9-volt battery. One unit must be used for
each phone engaged in the conversation (minimum of two phones).
Conference calls can be made with the Scrambler Phone attachment
provided all participants are using one."

They ask $299.95 each, and they don't even pay the postage. But then,
who does?

I dunno. It might constitute reasonable short-term security, but
52,488 combinations aren't gonna scare off any experienced
cryptanalysts, or even any stubborn private investigators.

I suspish (I've never worked with these models, so I don't KNOW) that
it wouldn't take terribly long to decipher a good recording of a
"secure" conversation made with these units.

How about it? Is anyone out there familiar (as in hands-on) with this
type of gear, and has anyone any experience in penetrating them?
(Assuming, of course, that you're permitted to talk about it.)

Phoenix Systems, if anyone's interested, is a macho supply company of
the sort that seems popular out here in the West, not unknown in the
Southeast, but is far too politically incorrect to be permitted in the
Northeast. They are:

    Phoenix Systems, Inc.
    P.O. Box 3339
    Evergreen, CO 80439
    303-277-0305

I'm not connected with them; I've never even ordered from them. They
musta gotten my name from a purchased mailing list.

I think I'll move to Phoenix, and start a mail-order macho supply
house called Evergreen Systems...nah, I guess I won't.

                Let's keep it going; it's getting interesting,
                        d


    I've been to Australia, so now I know what
        the inside of a kangaroo's pouch feels like. -- Anon.
     Duke McMullan n5gax nss13429r phon505-255-4642 [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 09:02:45 EST
From: "David J. Buscher" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Technical Session Ideas Wanted for ICA

As a member of the International Communications Association (ICA)
Technial Program Committee I would like to solicit ideas from Telecom
Digest readers about possible topics/speakers for the 1991 Conference
technical sessions.

The ICA is an organization of over 600 companies represented by their
telecommunications managers. At one time the ICA was viewed as a
"voice" organization, but in recent years has been transitioning to a
voice and data organization. Technical sessions should be of interest
to all levels of telecommunications professionals. The categories of
sessions include 2 hr. tutorials, 1 hr. mini-tutorials, Feature
Sessions with "Name" speakers, special open sessions, moderated
discussion sessions and case studies given by member companies.

This year's conference, 1990, is scheduled for May 22-24 in New
Orleans and has adopted a track format for technical sessions. The
tracks are:

    1990 Technoligies
    Telecom Risk Management
    Connectivity
    Management of the Telecom Function
    Regulation
    Network Management
    International
    Basics of Telecommunicatiions

E-Mail ideas to [e-mail] or mimsy!aplcen!aplvax!dave and
I'll summarize to the Digest.

Dave Buscher            [phone] / [phone]
Johns Hopkins Univ. APL        Milnet [e-mail]
Johns Hopkins Rd.        USENET mimsy!aplcen!aplvax!dave
Laurel, MD 20707


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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 30 Oct 89  09:32 PST
Subject: 7Khz Digital Channels
Organization: SRI Intl, Inc., Menlo Park, CA  94025  [[phone]]

     "Normal" telephone channels have, since Day 1, carried a portion
of spectrum of human speech consisting roughly of from 300 to 3500
Hertz.  In transmission consider a channel to be 4KHz in the analog
world or 64Kbps in the digital world.  The 64Kbps are arrived at by
the PCM technique of sampling at twice the highest frequency and
coding into 8 bit bytes.

     Obviously PCM is not the only way of coding and other, more
innovative and effective techniques of A/D conversion exist.  Typical
is ADPCM which permits coding of the 4KHz channel at 32Kbps giving
(roughly) a 2 for 1 gain.

     Recently there has been movement (in the form of CCITT
recommendations and a Bellcore Technical Advisory) to use similar
techniques not to increase channel capacity but to provide higher
fidelity channels specifically a 7KHz audio channel which:

     o  Uses "standard" 64Kbps transport, signalling and interfaces
     o  Provides data capability in addition to the improved audio

     The question is: Does anyone have further information on this?
(applications, products, plans).

     The specs are     Bellcore Tech Advisory TA-TSY-000948
                       CCITT Recommendations  H.221  and  G.725
                       ANSI Draft             T1Y1/88-050 R2

      Any information, opinion, speculation, even flames will be
welcomed!.


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

From: Peter Joseph Desnoyers <well![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 30 Oct 89 02:45:45 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA


In article <[e-mail]> Torsten Dahlkvist
<[e-mail]> writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 471, message 1 of 8

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John
>Gilmore) writes:

>>I am interested in hooking up SPARCstations over ISDN.  The machine
>>comes standard with an ISDN terminal interface chip (the "sound" chip,
>>really an ISDN speakerphone chip).

Could someone set my mind to rest? I have heard several times that the
SparcStation has an ISDN basic rate interface on-board. Other people,
including people who should know, have insisted that Sun is not
shipping any products with a basic-rate interface. Or does it have (as
implied above) no ISDN interface, but just a CODEC for sound input
that could be used in an ISDN system?

                Peter Desnoyers

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

From: Torsten Dahlkvist <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 30 Oct 89 11:23:08 GMT
Reply-To: Torsten Dahlkvist <[e-mail]>
Organization: Ellemtel Utvecklings AB, Stockholm, Sweden


In article <[e-mail]> munnari!cit5.cit.oz.au!
[e-mail] (Jim Breen) writes:

>[e-mail] asks, of ISDN
>>   The problem is data encoding; I
>> have seen no documentation of standard ways to encode data passing on
>> the 8000 byte/sec channel for IP.  I have seen references to ways of
>> encoding e.g. 9600 baud async "RS232" traffic over ISDN, but I will be
>> talking ISDN-to-ISDN, so can use the full bandwidth.  Rumor has it
>> that somebody had standardized bit-oriented protocols (HDLC) over ISDN
>> links, which is ridiculous since they are byte oriented links.......

>They are NOT byte-oriented 8000 byte/sec; it is BIT oriented 64000
>bps. You can put any protocol you like on an ISDN B-channel. Protocols
>have been standardized for the D-channel, as this is for signalling
>and packet traffic.

Ah, maybe we should realize that there are more and less absolute
truths in these matters.

The basic ISDN-frame is byte-oriented and the hardware (in this case
the ISDN-chip in the SPARCstation) ALWAYS provides a frame sync to
allow you to read the bit stream byte by byte. Why? Because the
TELEPHONY transmission is byte oriented. If you've ever listened to
bit-shifted PCM you will realize that some way of syncing your codec
is essential to the function of a phone.

In the bit-oriented datacomm standards specified, this frame sync is
simply ignored, as far as the interface to other equipment is
concerned. It is still likely to be used internally, however, since
all chipsets I've seen so far were intended for both telephony and
datacomm.

It is possible that the SPARCstation hardware doesn't provide any way
for user software to use the frame sync. In that case you may indeed
have to go bitwise. If the frame sync is available, though, there's
nothing to prevent you from designing your own, BYTE-oriented standard
and try to get the world to accept it. (:-)

>[...] there
>must NEVER be a standard protocol above Layer 1. ISDN is to be a
>bit-pipe service.

Aren't there ANY byte-oriented protocols around that could be used to
form a basis for a bytewise link over ISDN? There are obvious
advantages.

  Torsten Dahlkvist
  ELLEMTEL Telecommunication Laboratories
  P.O. Box 1505, S-125 25  ALVSJO, SWEDEN
  Tel: [phone]

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

From: David Lewis <nvuxr![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Device
Date: 30 Oct 89 13:49:20 GMT
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ


In article <[e-mail]>, westmark![e-mail].
net (Dave Levenson) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
dec.com (Louis J. Judice 26-Oct-1989 1007) writes:

> > Unfortunately, NJ Bell tells me that my C.O. (Peapack) is not
> > scheduled for CLASS Calling Services until JANUARY, 1991!!!

> That's interesting -- when a subscriber in Peapack calls us in
> Warren, we get their caller id number NOW.  They send it, but they
> don't receive it.

If a central office is connected to the SS7 network (requiring
hardware additions and software modifications), but does not have the
CLASS software (more software additions, which cost more $$), the CO
will transmit the calling party number with the SS7 Initial Address
Message, so another CO with the CLASS software will be able to provide
the appropriate CLASS services using the number, but the CO without
CLASS software will, appropriately, not be able to provide CLASS
services.

Since it's SS7 connected, the CO without CLASS software (which I'm
guessing is the case in Peapack) actually does receive the calling
party number -- it just can't do anything with it...


David G Lewis                ...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej

            "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

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

From: "Fred E.J. Linton" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Device
Date: 30 Oct 89 20:18:26 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
dec.com (Louis J. Judice 26-Oct-1989 1007) writes:

> Hi Patrick - the Caller ID Display Device in the Hello Direct catalog is
> branded "AT&T" - and if I recall is $99.95.

I can confirm that.

> Unfortunately, NJ Bell tells me that my C.O. (Peapack) is not
> scheduled for CLASS Calling Services until JANUARY, 1991!!!

Here in SNETCO-land (CT), sample responses by various phone reps to my
inquiries whether there's any signal present at my phone between the
first and second rings of an incoming call (for this box to decode)
have included:

    "Well, if it's an AT&T-built device, it won't work unless AT&T
is your primary carrier"    -- SNET billing questions service-person;

    "Caller-ID?  Never heard of it.  May be in developmental stages."
 -- another SNET billing questions service-person;

    "Oh yes, that, we were getting ready to beta-test it, but
we're gonna wait until we see how those court cases turn out." -- SNET
public affairs rep;

    "Yes, that box should work, those signals are part of all the
calls we handle, we couldn't do our billing if they weren't there."
 -- MCI service rep;

    "You'll have to ask your local phone company."  -- HelloDirect rep.

Other sources (thanks John Higdon and friend) have suggested that
until SNET offers CLASS services, there may indeed be no signal AT MY
PHONE for the HelloDirect/AT&T box to decode.

If I had reason to think such a signal might indeed be there after
all, that box would tempt me -- any other CT-specific advice, please?

Thanks.
                                    -- Fred

ARPA/Internet:  [e-mail]           (preferred)
Bitnet:         FLINTON%eagle@WESLEYAN[.bitnet]     (also works)
from uucp:      ...!{research, mtune!arpa, uunet}!eagle.Wesleyan.EDU!FLinton
on ATT-Mail:    !fejlinton                     ( ...!attmail!fejlinton )
Tel.:           + 1 203 776 2210 (home)  OR  + 1 203 347 9411 x2249 (work)
Telex:          <USA> + 15 122 3413   FEJLINTON
CompuServe ID:  72037,1054     ( OR, maybe:  [e-mail] )
F-Net (guest):  [e-mail]    OR    ...!inria.inria.fr!linton


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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #480
*****************************










Date:     Tue, 31 Oct 89 0:15:26 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #481
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 31 Oct 89 00:15:04 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 481

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Partners to Tackle Telecom Software ("Computing" via Kevin Hopkins)
    Charging Teleco For Your Time (Kevin Hopkins)
    Anti-junk-call Laws in Oregon ("Governing" via Will Martin)
    NYC Time and Weather (Yoram Eisenstadter)
    312/708 Prefix Lookup (Greg Monti via John R. Covert)
    LEC Bypass (Jeff Frontz)
    Re: Tones on International Calls (Douglas Scott Reuben)
    Re: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes (Dolf Grunbauer)
    US Sprint on Telenet (Steve Forrette)
    No Nx0 in DC? (Carl Moore)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Partners to Tackle Telecom Software
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 14:34:23 +0000
From: Kevin Hopkins <[e-mail]>


Hot on the heals of AT&T buying the UK software and communications
house ISTEL, which used to be part of the Rover Group (makers of the
Sterling, one of the most successful cars ever in the US market :-),
another US-UK link up in the software/telecoms industry:


"PARTNERS TO TACKLE TELECOMS SOFTWARE

Hull telephone operator Kingston Communications and US company
Cincinnati Bell joined forces last week to attack the European market
in software applications for the telecommunications industry.

The joint venture company, CBIS-Kingston, will be based in London and
aims to become a 100 million dollar concern over the next four to five
years, with acquisitions likely to boost growth.

CBIS, the information system subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell, sees the
UK as a beach-head into Europe, according to president David Cook.  "A
disadvantage for CBIS was we didn't have a presence in Europe, so we
started to look for a joint venture partner," he said.

Kingston managing director Ray Matthews said the company's partner's
plans matched its own strategy to broaden the base of its activity, as
less than 10% of its revenue comes from outside the Hull area. CBIS
and Kingston will each own half of the joint company.

Software applications for customer management, billing systems,
inventory control, operational support systems and network management
will be brought from the US and adapted to the European market, said
Cook.

CBIS serves 80% of the the US cellular market in billing and customer
management systems."

(Reproduced without permission from "Computing", dated 19th October 1989.)

+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| [e-mail] | Kevin Hopkins,              |
| or    ..!mcvax!ukc!nott-cs!K.Hopkins         | Department of Computer Science,|
| or in the UK: [e-mail]         | University of Nottingham,      |
| CHAT-LINE: [phone] x 3815         | Nottingham, ENGLAND, NG7 2RD   |
+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+

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

Subject: Charging Teleco For Your Time
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 17:21:48 +0000
From: Kevin Hopkins <[e-mail]>


In v9i478 David Lesher <[e-mail]> said:

-> ... they would check it for a $40.00 visit
-> charge. I countered with a $40.00 charge for MY time if their visit
-> turned up zilch. They announced again there was no problem, said the
-> tariffs forbit me from charging them, ...

Over here  someone  took British Telecom  to  the  courts  to recover "lost
earnings".   BT had given the subscriber  two separate occassions  on which
their engineer would turn  up to fix a  problem, but the engineer failed to
show. As the subscriber  had stayed off  work on both occassions  the court
awarded him 100 pounds, which was  all he applied  for as he just wanted to
make the  point. Since  then BT have  been offerring  bill  credits if your
phone is not repaired within  2 working days or the  engineer fails to turn
up.  The current credit  is  5 pounds, against   a quarterly rental   of 15
pounds.

I think all utilities have taken note of the court's judgement  as it set a
precedent over here.

+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| [e-mail] | Kevin Hopkins,              |
| or    ..!mcvax!ukc!nott-cs!K.Hopkins         | Department of Computer Science,|
| or in the UK: [e-mail]         | University of Nottingham,      |
| CHAT-LINE: [phone] x 3815         | Nottingham, ENGLAND, NG7 2RD   |
+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+


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

Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 12:27:02 CST
From: Will Martin <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Anti-junk-call Laws in Oregon

The following article is in the Nov '89 issue of GOVERNING (a magazine
for state and local government topics), p. 16:

OREGON LETS YOU UNPLUG PHONE SOLICITORS

To people who hate being interrupted during dinner by a surprise phone
caller with a once-in-a-lifetime offer, the state of Oregon says it
understands.  Since October 3, junk phone calls are illegal in the
state if a phone customer has asked not to receive them.

The package of four related laws was the result of hundreds of
consumer complaints, says John MacKellar, information director of the
Oregon Public Utility Commission.

"The legislature attempted to respond to the concerns of the citizens
who were receiving the calls and not liking it, and at the same time
allow the telemarketing industry to operate," MacKellar says.

One law encourages telephone companies to offer customers a "no
solicitation calls" symbol in telephone directories. The symbol,
placed beside the customers name, would tell telemarketers that they
would waste their time calling and risk penalties as well.

Customers may seek damages of $200 or more plus legal costs from those
who violate the new laws. Repeat offenders may receive an additional
fine of up to $25,000. The symbol idea is modeled after a trial
program in the current Salem, Oregon, phone directory. The Salem
experiment, approved last summer by the commission, allowed rsidents
ot have the symbol placed by their names at a cost of $5.

Florida was the first state to enact such a law, followed by
Washington state, says Leah Durall, state legislative assistant for
the Direct Marketing Association.

Another Oregon law requires telemarketers whose businesses are not
already regulated by another agency to register with the state
Department of Justice.

The third law prohibits the use of automatic dialling and announcing
devices, known as ADADs, except for certain purposes such as use by
doctors and dentists to remind patients of appointments. The same law
forbids "junk faxing" of unsolicited advertisements. Durall says 29
states have laws regulating ADADs.

The fourth law allows businesses to seek damages if they receive
defective goods or none at all after doing business with a telephone
solicitor.

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

Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 17:45:26 EST
From: Yoram Eisenstadter <[e-mail]>
Subject: NYC Time and Weather

An enterprising company has devised a cheap alternative to the usual
976 numbers for time and weather in New York City.  For the price of
listening to a brief ad at the beginning of the message, you can get
both the time and weather for the cost of a normal local call.  I
called several times, and got an alternating sequence of two ads: one
giving an 800 number for a travel agency, and the other giving the
number to call to place an ad on this service (the number is in area
code 404, i.e., the Atlanta area).

For those who are interested, the number for NYC Time an Weather is:
212-753-TIME (753-8463).

(This service seems to be especially useful for those of us whose PBXs
disable calls to 976 numbers.)

Cheers..Y

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

Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 17:10:25 -0800
From: "John R. Covert  30-Oct-1989 2010" <[e-mail]>
Subject: 312/708 Prefix Lookup (from Greg Monti)

    FOR TELECOM DIGEST

    From:  Greg Monti
    Date:  30 October 1989
    Re:  Automated 312/708 Prefix Lookup

For those interested, Illinois Bell has a nice little do-it-yourself prefix
lookup for the 312/708 area code split.  You must have a true tone generating
phone.  Dial 800 234-6876 (this DOES work outside Illinois, works from DC).  A
recording summarizes the split and it effects on Chicago area dialing
procedures.  Then, you are allowed to punch in up to five currently-active
prefixes in area code 312.  An automated device reads back the prefixes you
punched in and tells you what area code they will be in after 11 November
1989.  Handy.

Greg Monti, Arlington, Virginia.  Work [phone]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 13:07 EST
Subject: LEC Bypass

In TELECOM Digest V9 #478, David Lewis <nvuxr![e-mail]>
writes:

>This story also allows us to launch into an exciting discussion of
>bypass, if anyone is so moved...  Like, I hear from sources that AT&T
>is offering ISDN PRI access from its long distance point of
>termination to customers with AT&T PBXs and trying to steal a march on
>the LECs...

I don't think that the customer in question has to have an AT&T PBX.
According to my copy of the Switching Products/CCS7 Information Guide*
dated June, 1988, there are nodes on the CNI ring called "D-channel
signaling link nodes":

    The D-channel signaling link node provides the network
    connection interface for L[ink] Access Protocol D (LAPD)
    protocol users (Q.931 protocol).  The LAPD protocol is
    the 64-Kb/channel DS1 signal having 23 B-channels (data
    and voice) and one D-channel (signaling).  D-channel
    signaling link nodes are connected to the private branch
    exchange and local area network, which use the primary
    rate interface for signaling to the 4 ESS switch.


* This publication is available from the AT&T Customer Information
Center at 800-432-6600.  The select code is 256-002.


Jeff Frontz                                              Work:  [phone]
AT&T-Bell Labs (CB 1C-356)                               Cornet:       353-2797
att!jeff.frontz           [e-mail]            Home:  [phone]

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

Date: 30-OCT-1989 17:33:35.95
From: "DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN)" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Tones on International Calls


In response to the posting from 10/27/89 from "[e-mail]":

I'm not sure exactly what tones you mean, but I've heard tones myself
when making international (as well as some domestic) calls.

I think what you are hearing are "MF", or multi-frequency tones. These
are similar to Touch Tones (2 tones), but at a different pitch. They
were, and to a smaller extent are used as a signalling mechanism
between switching equipment. Since these tones are audible, they are
refered to as "in-band", ie, you hear it on the voice channel.
"Out-of-band" signalling, sometimes using the acronym "CCIS" (Common
Channel Interoffic Switching) uses a separate (data?) channel to send
information between switches, so you don't hear the tones. (The calls
usually go through faster as well.)

Depending on where you call from and where you are calling to, you may
hear the MF tones, especially if you call a very rural area, although
there are plenty of routes for in-state Connecticut calls that I hear
MF tones on as well, so it's really hard to predict until you try it.

You may also hear MF tones when you call some non-working number (ie,
the number you dialed is being signalled, via MF tones, to the
eqipment that says "The number you have reached xxx-xxxx has been
changed.." (I think this is called "AIS"). 215-987-4444 is a good
example of this, but you don't always hear the MF on that one...

Also, if you are in a Crossbar exchange that has been converted to
Equal Access (ie, you can actually dial 10xxx to route your calls, and
NOT just being able to choose a 1+ carrier : 718-793 is an example of
the former and 718-268 is an example of the latter...) you may hear MF
tones if you make an AT&T Op. Assist call by dialing 0+A/C+number.
(At least 718-793 does this..)

This is also true in a few rural exchanges near Poughkeepsie, NY,
where a 0+ call from an (1ESS?)  payphone will give lots of MF before
you get the AT&T "boing". (It seems to go in two bursts: The first one
seems to be the number of the payphone, and the second one seems to be
the 0+ number dialed in...I can't decode MF tones by hearing them, so
I'm not too sure about this...)

Anyhow, so to answer your question, I think this is what you are
hearing, and they are not only restricted to international calls. I
sometimes hear a LONG tone (sounds just like a DMS-type call wait, but
a bit longer) when I make international Calling Card calls (ie, 01+),
but I doubt that's what you are talkling about...

I'm sure some of the more knowledgeable readers of the Digest would be
able to fill you in on how MF tones are used - I'm sure I couldn't
explain international routing codes very well. (What is an "international
sender", anyhow?)

Hope this was of some help...

Doug

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
(and just plain old "dreuben" to locals!! :-)   )

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

Organization: Philips Telecommunication and Data Systems,
Subject: Re: Dutch PTT Booklet: International Access Codes
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 11:44:53 MET
From: Dolf Grunbauer <[e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> you write:

>Some time ago there was some discussion on this list about access
>codes in different countries to dial international numbers.

>Albania        unknown

You cannot make direct calls from Albania to the outside of the
country.  You have to go to the post office and ask for a call abroad.
They cannot deal with it right away, but they call Italy and the Italians
make the call for you (if you are lucky :-). It helps when you know
Italian, so you can help the telephone operator to make the
connection. Otherwise it may take hours.

The above was true at least until July, 1985 (which happened to be
within one year after the death of Envir Hoxha), and it may be changed
by now.

Dolf Grunbauer          Tel: [phone]  Internet [e-mail]
Philips Telecommunication and Data Systems  UUCP ....!mcvax!philapd!dolf
Dept. SSP, P.O. Box 245, 7300 AE Apeldoorn, The Netherlands

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

From: Steve Forrette <[e-mail]>
Subject: US Sprint on Telenet
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 00:00:00 CST

(responding to the person who asked for Sprint's 'network' address)

I believe that US Sprint *owns* Telenet...

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

Date:     Mon, 30 Oct 89 9:21:59 EST
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  No Nx0 in DC?


I notice several prefixes ending in 0 in Md. & Va. suburbs,
but none in DC itself.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #481
*****************************










Date:     Tue, 31 Oct 89 1:41:47 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #482
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 31 Oct 89 01:35:51 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 482

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    The Strange Boundaries of 312/708 (TELECOM Moderator)
    AT&T Strikes Back: Countersues MCI (TELECOM Moderator)
    Time to "Disconnection" (Louis J. Judice)
    Re: 10 Cent Payphones (Mike Trout)
    Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles (David A. Cantor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:     Tue, 31 Oct 89 1:23:08 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  The Strange Boundaries of 312/708

David Tamkin has written in TELECOM Digest regarding the unusual
characteristics of the new area 708, and he has pointed out that it
will be in three disconnected parts, surrounded in part by 312, and
surrounding 312 in another area.

Saturday evening, David took me on a most unusual tour of the
northwest side of Chicago and the adjoining suburban area, and pointed
out just how ragged the boundary line will be.

This is not entirely the fault of Illinois Bell: Unlike most areas of
Chicago, where the boundary line between Chicago and a neighboring
community is well-defined, with the boundary being down the middle of
a major street, or at a clearly defined intersection, the boundary
line between Chicago, Harwood Heights and Norridge (two towns
completely surrounded by Chicago), Park Ridge, Rosemont and Ohare
Airport (politically part of Chicago, but geographically in Rosemont)
and Unincorporated Norridge Park Township is difficult at best to
discern.

We simply drove along the boundary as much as possible, except that on
several occasions it literally cut through middle of a block between
houses, went through back yards, skipped around in funny ways, at one
point cuts through the woods and across a river, and in general is
very elusive. One house had *two* sets of street numbers on it, a four
digit number in the Chicago style and a three digit number in the Park
Ridge style. Apparently the boundary between Chicago and Park Ridge
runs through the house! I asked David if per chance the people had an
extension in their bedroom if it would have to be changed to 708!

Unincorporated Norridge Park Township sits squarely in the middle of
it all and does not 'belong' to any city, but is governed only by Cook
County.

Not only will there be two area codes beginning in a few days, but
there are already two telephone companies, and the difference between
them is sometimes just between two houses sitting side by side. Both
telcos will have both 312 and 708 prefixes. These are not places
across the street from each other, mind you -- that would be sort of
easy to figure out and get used to -- these were cases of houses next
to each other on the same side of the street, in an area where the
same street is known by one name on one side of the street (whatever
town it is) and by another name on the other side of the street in a
different town!

All Illinois Bell service in the area comes from the Chicago-Newcastle
central office. *Chicago* service via Centel comes from Newcastle
also, but from the Centel CO on Minor Street in Park Ridge known also
as Newcastle.

Where the real fun begins is the way Illinois Bell's Newcastle office
has gotten sloppy in assigning prefixes over the past two or three years.
There are prefixes intended only for the people politically in Chicago.
There are prefixes intended only for the people in Harwood and Norridge.
There are prefixes intended only for the unicorporateds and some for
the people in Rosemont.

Ohare Airport has its own Chicago prefixes, and is served by Illinois
Bell, but the perimeters of the airport have Centel service with
prefixes out of Park Ridge. Go across the street into (politically
and in actuality) Rosemont, IL and Illinois Bell has the service on
708....leaving Ohare Airport on 312.

Although Newcastle serves several little areas, as noted above, one
reason for the distinction in prefixes is where 911 service will go.
In the unincorporated area, for example, the residents get Chicago
phone service, but have a distinct exchange on which 911 will *not*
ring the Chicago PD, since they don't get the same police.

On Harlem Avenue around Lawrence Avenue (7200 West at 4800 North)
David pointed out two shopping malls -- little shopping strips
actually, with a parking lot in front of them -- where about half the
stores in the group will remain 312 and the other half will be
708....in no particular order; i.e. the first store is 708, the next
two are 312, the next one is 708, etc.

In this area, which *eventually* turns into Harwood Heights for a few
blocks and once again becomes Chicago a bit further south, the street
name and numbering system remain the same: four digit numbers running
consecutively as on any 'normal' street. One could never tell that one
had left Chicago, entered Harwood Heights and walked back into Chicago
on crossing the street a couple blocks down.

When those people ordered phone service in the past, apparently they
said their address was 4xxx North Harlem in *Chicago*, or 4xxx North
Harlem in *Harwood Heights* when in fact it was the opposite
community!  Now in theory, the Bell service rep who took the order
should have consulted the street address book and told the subscriber,
'well, you are actually in community X'.....or at the very least when
the CO got the order to wire the service they should have looked at
the street guide and selected the appropriate prefix, community-wise.
I can't really blame the new-comers for not knowing for sure at first
what exact *political* territory they were in; David even got me dizzy
driving up and down all those side streets following imaginary (or
sometimes real) markers.

So the people who *said* they were in Harwood Heights (whether they
were or not, and when IBT did not verify it) are stuck with 708
starting in a couple weeks. Those who *said* they were in Chicago
(whether they were or not, and when IBT did not verify it) get to stay
in 312. Ergo, an eleven digit call between the shoe store at the front
of the mall and the clothing store next door! Centel on the other hand
seems to have pretty well verified all their addresses and number
assignments.

And you have Centel service on 312, but your neighbor next door or
across the alley has Illinois Bell on 708. An eleven digit dialing
sequence to call the lady next door. Not just one or two of these
instances mind you, but <all over> an area of several blocks on the
northwest side of (for all practical purposes) Chicago.

Even the 213/818 situation at the dividing line is not this bad. David
says it is....that the split in El Lay is just as confusing around the
boundary line as the one here on the northwest side, but I don't see
how it could be.

Patrick Townson

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

Date:     Tue, 31 Oct 89 0:35:29 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  AT&T Strikes Back: Countersues MCI

AT&T struck back last Thursday at advertising claims made by MCI
Communications Corporation and received two rulings from the Federal
Communications Commission affecting regulation of its long distance
services.

AT&T said in a countersuit against MCI filed in Washington, DC that
MCI was misleading consumers through false and deceptive advertising
in its business and residential long distance service. AT&T's filing
denied similar allegations made by MCI in a suit filed October 10.

Victor Pelson, AT&T group executive, said MCI unfairly compared its
discount service with AT&T's regular long distance service rather than
its discount service. Pelson also denied claims that the quality of
MCI voice service was superior to AT&T's, or that its facsimile
service featured fewer garbled transmissions than AT&T's.

"We intend to clarify any misconceptions in the market," said Merrill
Tutton, AT&T Vice President for consumer marketing.

MCI spokeswoman Kathleen Keegan Thursday responded that, "our ad
claims are accurate....We will soon be filing a motion for a
preliminary injunction to cause AT&T to cease its advertising
campaign."

Also on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission upheld a
decision giving AT&T greater freedom to compete for big corporate
customers but rejected another pricing plan by AT&T.

The FCC voted unanimously to uphold a pricing plan known as Tariff 12,
which lets AT&T offer corporate customers a package of communications
services. AT&T contends it is at a disadvantage because MCI does not
have to submit detailed filings to the FCC before they can serve
customers. MCI had challenged Tariff 12, asking the FCC to overrule it
and prohibit AT&T from offering full service communications packages
to its customers.

In the second item, the FCC declared unlawful a pricing plan known as
Tariff 15, that AT&T had applied solely to a single customer, the
Holiday Corporation, owner of the largest hotel chain in the United
States. The FCC said AT&T could no longer justify the special rates to
a single customer to meet competition when MCI was making the same
service available to customers generally.

Patrick Townson


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

Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 06:25:59 -0800
From: "Louis J. Judice  30-Oct-1989 1021" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Time to "Disconnection"


I never realized this until it was demonstrated to me, but at least in
NJ on the Peapack Central Office, if you call person "A", person "A"
can hang up, and pick up their phone up to about 15 seconds later
without disconnecting "B". This is without any phone features, etc.

If the calling party hangs up, of course the conversation is over. I
also suspect that if the "called-party" is on a PBX, etc., that this
"grace period" is not given.

What is this, why does it exist? It is "dependable" or just a fluke?
Is the 15 second limit a standard of some sort?

/ljj

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

From: Mike Trout <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 10 Cent Payphones
Date: 30 Oct 89 19:20:58 GMT
Organization: BRS Info Technologies, Latham NY


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
edu (Steve Forrette) writes:

> Last time I checked (year or so ago), Roseville Telephone (near
> Sacramento, CA) still charged 10 cents for local calls.  An
> interesting corollary is that Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, CA,
> happens to straddle the service boundary between Roseville Telephone
> and the *real* telephone company (Pacific Bell) - so, local calls cost
> 20 cents at the south end of the mall and 10 cents at the north!

It's been pointed out in this group before, but I figured I'd mention
again that payphones of the Taconic Telephone Corp. (upstate New York
between Troy and Poughkeepsie) charge a nickle for local calls.


NSA food:  Iran sells Nicaraguan drugs to White House through CIA, SOD & NRO.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Michael Trout (miket@brspyr1)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BRS Information Technologies, 1200 Rt. 7, Latham, N.Y. 12110  [phone]
"Who watches the watchmen?" --Epigraph of the Tower Commission Report, 1987

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

Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 09:39:11 -0800
From: "David A. Cantor  30-Oct-1989 1236" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles

Re Telecom  Volume 9 : Issue 473

>Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 21:44:26 mst
>From: Robert Wier <utah-cs!arizona!naucse![e-mail]>
>Subject: Re: The Lighter Side: Phone Number Jingles

>I remember a widely run tv commercial about 20 years ago (?)  by the
>Sheraton Corporation advertising their toll-free reservation --> 800
>325 3535.

[...]

>I believe that the number is still in use, for Day's Inns now.  But
>they don't use the old commercial (a shame...)

No, Sheraton is still using that number, but Days Inns uses a similar
number; viz., 800-325-2525.

Dave C.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #482
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 1 Nov 89 0:56:55 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #483
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 1 Nov 89 00:55:55 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 483

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Martin B. Weiss)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Paul Elliot)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Peter Desnoyers)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (H. Shrikumar)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Johnny Zweig)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Giridhar Coorg)
    Standardized Software Interfaces to ISDN PC Cards (Michael L. Robins)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Martin B Weiss <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 31 Oct 89 14:42:46 GMT
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh, Comp & Info Services


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John
Gilmore) writes:

> . . .  First, the rate is 64000 bits per second; "64kbps"
> implies 65536 bits per second (at least to me!).

In the context of ISDN, 64Kbps means 64000 bits per second.  It is
derived from 8 bits/sample*8000 samples/sec=64,000 bits/sec.

> (There *is* this problem with the idiots who designed the AT&T T1
> relays not putting in enough frame sync, so they had to steal the
> bottom bit of one 8-bit subchannel as frame sync -- leading to "56K"
> (8000 7-bit samples) rather than "64K" (8000 8-bit samples) service.

The problem is not the lack of frame sync, but the need for a
signalling mechanism to send "off-hook" and "on-hook" signals (as well
as pulsing digits).  The original T1 carrier was developed in an era
of in-band signalling, so this "bit robbing" approach was the
preferred choice.  Nobody in the early 1960's ever imagined using
T-carriers in the way they are used today.  64Kbps channels will be
available with the widespread implementation of out-of-band (or common
channel) signalling, such as CCIS and CCITT Signalling System 7.

   Martin Weiss
   Telecommunications Program, University of Pittsburgh
   Internet: [e-mail] OR [e-mail]
   BITNET: mbw@pittvms

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

From: Paul Elliott x225 <optilink![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 31 Oct 89 16:48:39 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA


In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (John Gilmore) writes:

> (omitted)
> I beg to differ.  First, the rate is 64000 bits per second; "64kbps"
> implies 65536 bits per second (at least to me!).  Second, the frame

It is my experience that when referring to _communications_ data
rates, Kb/s and Mb/s refer to the decimal Kilo and Mega, so these are
used as power-of-ten multipliers.  (I am trying to ignore the
capitalization issue here, but have to ask anyway: can anyone out
there tell me what the rule is for 1000-based vs. 1024-based
suffixes?).

> (There *is* this problem with the idiots who designed the AT&T T1
> relays not putting in enough frame sync, so they had to steal the
> bottom bit of one 8-bit subchannel as frame sync -- leading to "56K"
> (8000 7-bit samples) rather than "64K" (8000 8-bit samples) service.
> But I read that they have a plan in place to upgrade those bogus
> relays -- and meanwhile, they could just software-route the real 8-bit
> ISDN traffic through one of the subchannels that doesn't get its low
> order bit munged by the relays.  Technical corrections welcomed.)

T1 has a couple of problems in the transport of 64Kb/s data, but the
poor, overloaded frame bit isn't one of them.  There are two reasons
for the 56Kb/s requirement (these being eliminated in newer
equipment):

1) Robbed-bit signaling -- In most circuits (meaning either
connections or equipment, take your pick), per-channel,
connection-state signaling is sent one frame in six.  One bit of the
eight bits ("octet", in telecom parlance) in each channel is "robbed"
to carry this signaling.  This only causes a minor increase in noise
for a voice (or analog modem signal), but the one bit in 48 hit
obviously precludes full use of the channel, hence the 7 bit, 56 Kb/s
rate.  Several techniques are used to eliminate the robbing of the
bit; one method is DMI BOS (Digital Multiplexed Interface, Bit
Oriented Signaling), in which one channel in the T1 frame is
appropriated to carry the signaling for the remaining 23 channels
(this is similar to the method used by the European 2.048 Mb/s digital
trunk, which by the way, we _do_ call "2 Megabit", throwing my earlier
comment into question -- I guess useage is a matter of history and
culture, your mileage may vary).

Of course, the B-channel in the ISDN connection eliminates the
robbed-bit requirement as well.

2) Ones Density -- The T1 signal format is AMI (Alternate Mark
Inversion), so the clock must be recovered from the data transitions.
This necessitates a minimum ones-density (15 consecutive zeroes max).
Much T1 equipment "features" a zero-suppression method in which an
all-zero channel has a bit (or bits) set to insure that "bad data" in
one channel does not impair the performance of the remaining channels.
Naturally, the receiving equipment cannot differentiate the resulting
data pattern from one that had been purposely sent, so a data error
results.  Again, a reason for 56 Kb/s.  Newer equipment provides
methods of encoding an all-zero channel that are reversable.  One
method, called B8ZS (Bipolar Eight Zero Substitution) sends a special
pattern of BPVs (Bipolar Violations, violations of the AMI line code
rules) for the zero-byte.  Another is called ZBTSI (Zero Byte Time
Slot Interchange) and is too involved to explain here (I can! Trust
me!).

The frame bit has problems of it's own, and has been the subject of
much baroque engineering, and the butt of many nerdy engineer's jokes
(we're a riot at parties).  In defense if the F-bit, the T1 format was
designed a _long_ time ago, and it was actually rather elegant for the
hardware implementations at the time.


Paul M. Elliott      Optilink Corporation     [phone]
         {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!elliott
"I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure."


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

From: Peter Desnoyers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 31 Oct 89 18:01:30 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John
Gilmore) writes:

> >                                                You get 64 kbps per
> > second.  It's "raw bits" (oat hulls, wheat chaff...) and no more.
> > It's isochronous (sync) so you need to have some framing technique.
> > It is NOT byte oriented at this point!

> I beg to differ.  First, the rate is 64000 bits per second; "64kbps"
> implies 65536 bits per second (at least to me!).  Second, the frame
> sent between the on-premises ISDN interface and the terminals (phones)
> contains its own framing, and individual BYTES of data for the two D
> channels are contained in the frame.

The prefix for 10^3 (kilo) is k. Lowercase. Hence 64kb/sec. Anyway, on
the subject of ISDN data framing:

  ISDN circuit-switched data calls guarantee "8 kHz integrity". (as
compared, for instance, to "service data unit integrity" for packet
switched calls. I take this to imply that octet boundaries are
preserved from one end to the other.

  However, this is sort of a moot point. First, none of the protocols
standardized for transmission over ISDN are byte-oriented, so if you
are talking to someone else it doesn't matter. Secondly, unless there
has been a sudden glut of byte-oriented comm chips for ISDN
applications in the last couple of weeks, you're either going to be
hooking a bit-oriented comm chip to your ISDN B channel, or you're
going to be suffering an interrupt every 125 microseconds. Kind of
puts such an interface out of reach of any UNIX-based workstations I
can think of.

Anyway, does anyone have an answer to my previous question:

  Does the SparcStation actually contain an S/T interface? If so, why
don't they ship Q.931 software and provide a comm chip?


                                      Peter Desnoyers
                                      Apple ATG
                                      [phone]

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

From: "H.Shrikumar{[e-mail]}" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 31 Oct 89 20:24:47 GMT
Reply-To: "H.Shrikumar{[e-mail]}" <[e-mail]>
Organization: NCST, Bombay, Indian, currently at UMass, Amherst


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
 (John Gilmore) writes:

>It seems clear that either nobody is doing IP over ISDN, or they don't
>dont read Telecom ...

Yup, seems so. I had expected to learn much from this thread.

BTW, a related thing came to my mind. (though it works on primary rate)

The people at Rutherford Labs, UK, are using ISDN to bridge two
Cambridge Fast Rings.  Of course, they always have to use the
Cambridge ring, and the others always have to use TCP/IP :-) but they
have an interesting gadget that they have designed.

They call it a RAMP.

It connects to a primary rate ISDN coax pipe. and to the LAN on the
other. When any connect requests arrive that need the bridge to work,
a B channel call is requsted to a similar box at the other end.
Additional B channels are allocated and dropped as traffic needs vary.
(neat, also explains the name). This works well as the ISDN call setup
times are found to be acceptably small.

But it is not so easy as that, because ISDN guarantees byte ordering
in the channel, but a connect request on channel number 12 here may
materialise is any of 1-30 at the other end. They have some suitable
protocol to sync this.

I remember they had also mentioned running X-windows and NFS over it,
so they have some TCP experience with it as well (foggy here).

This was presented at the recent SIGCOMM '89 in Austin, TX,
this September. I can dig up the reference if need.

   shrikumar ( [e-mail], [e-mail] )

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

From: Johnny Zweig <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: U of Illinois, CS Dept., Systems Research Group
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 03:05:20 GMT


Maybe I'm less well-informed than I believe myself to be, but I can
see no reason why one couldn't configure a host to run SLIP over an
ISDN channel.  All SLIP says is "we'll use a few special characters
and a naive escaping mechanism to delimit packets on a serial line".
That's it. So if two hosts agree to send ordinary IP-packets over the
serial lines using SLIP, it should be a snap. If one of those hosts
gateways packets onto the Internet, presto!

The issues of addressing and routing are still troublesome and need a
bit of head-scratching. But if host W.X.Y.Z (Internet address) wanted
to place an ISDN call directly to host I.J.K.L and send IP-packets
between themselves (i.e. let the phone-network do the routing), there
should be no problem patching existing software to accept the packets.
One trick would be to have gateways with a number of ISDN-based serial
lines and a set of public-use IP addresses so that someone could
dial-in and talk to the Internet as host public7.isdn.uiuc.edu for
example -- similar to some dialups that are run nowadays. Certainly
all the authentication and whatnot is done at a higher layer than IP,
so it should be no problem.

I have heard rumors of brain-damaged ISDN lines that clobber bit 7,
and do other byte-mangling (for example, if you treat a serial channel
as PCM and recode the data as MPCM for long-haul and reconvert to PCM,
you will make garbage out of the bits), but I think the ISDN is
evolving toward a "byte pipe" architecture, at least at the physical
and data-link layers. I can think of at least one implementation of IP
that will be configurable to take advantage of such an ISDN-based
transport mechanism (the one I'm writing ;-).

 Johnny TCP+IP+ISDN=Happy Folks

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

Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 15:14:36 EST
From: Giridhar Coorg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate

>Someone else said "what's the point -- ISDN only runs for two or three
>miles anyway".  I don't know where they got that idea.  Last I heard,
>ALL of the >500-mile AT&T switching centers went to digital
>transmission years ago, and they have been pushing digital encoding
>back toward the CO's ever since.  ISDN is the standard for the stretch
>between the CO and the customer.

I would imagine that just like digital transmission, ISDN would
encompass any stretch because as far as the system goes, all it needs
to know is a series of 0's and 1's(of course, it is very crudely put).

Basically, the stretch between the CO and the customer needs to be
digital under the ISDN requirements.  Depending on the type of system
design, whether it is a T1 or T2(European and also in India), a
multiplexed PCM link (a 24 or 30 channel ) would be extended.

One of the major requirements of ISDN is the compatibility to CCITT #
7 (a signalling specification) for inter CO signalling.

>(There *is* this problem with the idiots who designed the AT&T T1
>relays not putting in enough frame sync, so they had to steal the
>bottom bit of one 8-bit subchannel as frame sync -- leading to "56K"
>(8000 7-bit samples) rather than "64K" (8000 8-bit samples) service.
>But I read that they have a plan in place to upgrade those bogus
>relays -- and meanwhile, they could just software-route the real 8-bit
>ISDN traffic through one of the subchannels that doesn't get its low
>order bit munged by the relays.  Technical corrections welcomed.)

I would say that there are two different standards based on T1 or T2,
these being the Primary Rate Interface and the Basic Rate Interface.
The basic rate interface for T2 systems has the 2B+D characteristics
totalling 144kbps with each B channel accomodating 64kbps and the D
channel accomodating 16kbps(for signalling and now slow speed packet
switching), the primary rate interface for T1 systems has 30B+D
characteristics.


====Giridhar====

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

From: Michael L Robins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Standardized Software Interfaces to ISDN PC Cards
Date: 1 Nov 89 04:55:35 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


I am posting a feeler to see how many users on the 'net' are
interested in the concept of a standardized interface for software
applications.

Specifically, the North American ISDN User Forum has an expert group
looking at an Application Software Interface so that applications can
talk to smart ISDN co-processor boards. The market has typically seen
these devices in the MS-DOS arena, but more are coming along that will
be using OS/2 and the UNIX(tm) Operating System.

The problem today, is that each hardware vendor has supplied their own
interface, thus a given software application will usually only work
with a single vendors' hardware.

The ASI Working Group is trying to get agreement among vendors to
supply a standard set of functionality (primitives) as well as a
standard way to access the functionality.

Having a standized method will promote new ISDN applications, and
promote the ISDN marketplace.

The ASI Working Group is not a standard body, but has many
representatives from the ISDN arena (hardware and software vendors)
participating, and in the future will be presenting it's work to some
formal standards body.

The NIU Forum is sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST); formally the National Bureau of Standards, and open
to all.

Interested parties can contact me vial e-mail.

                Mike Robins
                att.com!houtz!mlr

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

--End of TELECOM Digest V9 #483
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 1 Nov 89 1:51:15 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #484
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 1 Nov 89 01:50:59 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 484

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Unequal Service (John Higdon)
    Re: Unequal Service (Macy Hallock)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Ellen Keyne Seebacher)
    Re: Caller ID Use by Pagers (David W. Tamkin)
    Re: Caller ID Question (John R. Levine)
    Strange Recording (Mike Koziol)
    ANI In Use by Radio Station? (Thomas Lapp)
    Re: Anti-junk-call Laws In Oregon (Henry Mensch)
    Re: California Junk Fax Bill (Michael H. Warfield)
    Re: NYC Time and Weather (Seth Robertson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unequal Service
Date: 31 Oct 89 18:03:34 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
edu (David Lesher) writes:

> About this time I moved elsewhere. But I did learn something.  Always
> write letters to the business office. They HATE that. (I am not sure
> if only the supervisers can read, or they have an elite section....)
> Further, each letter I got back came signed by     "your service rep."

Letters at least used to be the biggest guns you could fire. Years ago
in Pacific Telephone days, a client chose to venture into the brave
new world of CPE. They had a ComKey 1432 and upgraded to a PBX from an
independent vendor. This was in 1977 or so. Our "service" rep was
supposed to handle the conversion of the lines to ground start trunks,
add additional lines, etc.

 From the beginning, it was a mess. The lines were not converted
properly, or on time; the hunting was messed up; and there were
numerous other problems. Throughout all of this, our rep was
unavailable, or uncooperative. The customer and I were so fed up that
I wrote a letter to the "manager" of the business office. This
triggered a response from someone who was very apologetic and who said
things would be made right.

In the meantime, our "rep" called me and whined about the letter I
wrote. He said that he was now taking considerable heat and tried to
lay a guilt trip on me. I reminded him how we had repeatedly tried to
get him to perform and asked that he look at it from our perspective.
A day or two later, a supervisor called to tell me that our "rep" had
been properly processed and would I be so kind as to tell them if I
had any further trouble. At that point I related the conversation with
the rep in which he whined about my letter. This supervisor was aghast
and got off the phone. Later that day, the sup called back to tell me
that our rep had been let go (!) and that we would have a new one.

I wasn't really too happy about causing someone's termination, but I
was certainly impressed with the action that my humble little letter
seemed to trigger.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: [e-mail] (Macy Hallock)
Subject: Re: Unequal Service
Date: 31 Oct 89 01:49:57 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Macy Hallock)
Organization: F M Systems  Medina, Ohio USA


In article <[e-mail]> westmark![e-mail].
net (Dave Levenson) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 473, message 4 of 10

>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John
> Higdon) writes:

>> As an incentive to upgrade, I would propose that anyone served out of
>> an electromechanical office be charged some fixed amount less than
>> "equivalent" service out of an electronic office.

>But the real cost of either office depends upon how long it lives.
>Swapping out a central office switch before its time plays havoc with
>a delicate balance of rate-of-return and depreciation schedules.  The
>schedule for a given central office may be pushed one way or another
>by the demands of the major business subscribers in its serving area;
>the over-all schedule is probably pretty well cast in stone by the
>telco _and_ the regulators.

Of course, the replacement Central Office had better work, too.

GTE replaced our SXS office in Medina, Ohio (a class 4 office with POP
for the IXC's) with a Automatic Electric No. 1 EAX a few years ago.
The thing could barely handle the load, it seems.  It went down
several times.  GTE apparently ordered a GTD-5 digital switch a few
months after the EAX went in, and installed it less then two years
after the 1 EAX went into service.  Now I'm no fan of the GTD-5, but
it was a real improvement over the 1 EAX.

If it weren't for the SXS office's SATT (Stowger Automatic Toll
Ticketing), I would say the the SXS would have been best left in place
until the GTD-5 became available.

I'll post some GTD-5 stories to this group shortly, along with a
description.  Hint: its a bunch of intel 8086 processors working
together.  Kinda like an AT&T 6300 PC, but less reliable.

Anyway, the Ohio PUC asked a few questions about this early CO
replacement (about 23 years early...) and was told the CO was reused
as pieces parts in other No. 1 EAX offices in Ohio.  The way I heard
it, from my sources, most of it was recycled indirectly to a scrap
recycler.  A fitting fate...but paid for by us ratepayers in the end.

Such is the price paid by ratepayers for a company that tried to beat
Bell at vertical integration.


Macy Hallock     150 Highland Dr.     [e-mail]
F M Systems Inc. Medina, OH 44256     {uunet|backbone}!hal.cwru.edu!ncoast!macy
[phone]  Fax [phone]  uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy


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

From: Ellen Keyne Seebacher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: 31 Oct 89 17:12:25 GMT
Reply-To: Ellen Keyne Seebacher <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Chicago


Our moderator writes, in response to Roger B.A. Klorese,

>Here in Chicago a huge number of calls to 911
>are not *emergencies* at all, but simple complaints or requests to
>file police reports, etc.  911 is only to be used when *immediate*
>intervention is required to save a life or report a crime in progress,
>or a fire going on *now*, etc.  And for those conditions, how could
>anyone object to being immediatly identified and assisted?  PT]

Patrick, there is a very good explanation for this.

On a number of occasions, I have called the police to make a report of
some sort: drag racers at the Museum of Science & Industry keeping the
neighbors awake; a followup on at least one of the occasions our car
was stolen; a request for officers to take a report on the time I was
assaulted on the El platform (no longer urgent, since the incident was
over long before I arrived at work to make the call).  I could think
of several other examples, but these are a start.

On *every* single occasion, I called the local police HQ -- and was
told to *CALL 911* to make the report.  This is not only outrageous,
it's potentially life-threatening to those who are trying to get
through while I'm reciting the details of a minor crime.

I have complained repeatedly, especially to the police and, of course,
to my aldercreature.  I have never, ever received any indication that
anybody gives a damn (the alderman's staff keep promising to call me
back), or that new guidelines (or legislation) will be introduced to
try to correct the problem.

What can we do, as common grunts, to get the situation changed?

A frustrated,

Ellen Keyne Seebacher                    University of Chicago Computing
[e-mail]                    Instruction/Research/User Svcs.

[Moderator's Note: Unfortunatly, you are correct, at least here in Chicago.
I've gotten the same rap from Police HQ, however the supervisors in the
actual 911 dispatch area tell me I am correct and the brass upstairs is
wrong for pushing my call back to them. Its a case of some people not wanting
to do their job, and pushing it off on someone else.  PT]

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

Subject: Re: Caller ID Use by Pagers
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 10:56:45 CDT
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>


J. Philip Miller asked in Telecom Digest, volume 9, issue 472:

| While speaking of Caller-ID implementations, I have wondered whether paging
| services utilize Caller-ID to send to digital pagers so that the callers do
| not need to key their number in for display on the pager.

Patrick Townson responded:

| Regards using Caller-ID to feed digital pagers, I think it is a great
| idea. I wonder if anyone has thought of it?

Like the American Express customer who called from a public phone (or
from work/home when the phone number on the account was home/work) and
got misidentified, consider the person calling into a pager from a
phone other than the one where he or she will be reachable.  There has
to be a way to override the automatic sending of the number dialed
from and to leave a message with a different number for returning the
call.


David W. Tamkin     [e-mail]   {attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois  60018-0813   [phone]  [phone]
BIX: dattier  GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN  CIS: 73720,1570   The opinions above are mine.

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

Subject: Re: Caller ID Question
Date: 31 Oct 89 17:40:51 EST (Tue)
From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>

Does Caller ID provide the calling number or the billing number?
Seems to me that it probably provides the billing number, since that's
what ANI is already set up to collect.  Besides, for calls originating
from a PBX the PBX never identifies the originating extension anyway.

Just another reason why Caller ID is misnamed.

Regards,
John Levine, [e-mail], {spdcc|ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl

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

Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 10:07:43 EDT
From: Mike Koziol <[e-mail]>
Subject: Strange Recording

Last night I received a call at work. It was a female computer
generated voice that said "Plese wait while I try to connect you". A
few seconds of silence (approximately 10), then "I am still trying to
connect you, please wait", another period of silence then "I am still
unable to connect you, are you still there?", to which I replied yes.
Then a five second delay with the last message "I am sorry that I was
unable to connect you, thank-you", at which point the caller hung up.

Anyone have any clues to who or what had called me?

[Moderator's Note: I do think you got an automated junk-call and somehow
the telemarketing reps all got behind in their work and the machine was
unable to find anyone available in a reasonable timto give you whatever
the pitch was. And you cannot hang up on those things; if you do without
it completing its cycle of obnoxiousness, it will call back in a few minutes
and start over again. A human being has to feed information to it saying
'this number has been successfully contacted'.  PT]

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

Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 21:45:28 edt
From: Thomas Lapp <[e-mail]>
Subject: ANI In Use by Radio Station?
Reply-To: mvac23![e-mail]

Here in the Wilmington, DE area a local radio station is running a
contest in which they announce three digits in a period of a half-hour
or so.  If the three numbers are contained in the phone number OF THE
PHONE YOU ARE CALLING FROM, by being the "correct" caller to the
station, you win.

Several times while listening I hear the Dee Jay say that you can only
call in IF THE NUMBER YOU ARE CALLING FROM matches.  It got me to
wondering if the radio station uses ANI to verify winners.

                         - tom

internet     : mvac23![e-mail]  or  [e-mail]
uucp         : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas
Europe Bitnet: THOMAS1@GRATHUN1
Location: Newark, DE, USA
Quote   : Virtual Address eXtension.  Is that like a 9-digit zip code?

[Moderator's Note: It may be the people at the station verify by calling
back with some nondescript question such as 'did you just call our office?'
which only the *correct* originating caller would understand.  PT]

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

Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 07:42:28 -0500
From: Henry Mensch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Anti-junk-call Laws in Oregon
Reply-To: [e-mail]


We have them here in MA also ... they don't do you any good if the
calls are placed from outside the state, though.


# Henry Mensch    /   <[e-mail]>   /   E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
# <[e-mail]-relay> / <[e-mail]> / <[e-mail]>

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

From: "Michael H. Warfield (Mike" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: California Junk Fax Bill
Date: 31 Oct 89 15:17:07 GMT
Reply-To: "Michael H. Warfield (Mike" <wittsend![e-mail]>
Organization: Lanier Network Knitting Circle - Thaumaturgy & Speculums Division


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(John Higdon) writes:

>From all evidence presented so far, nobody seems to be having a
>problem. Ergo, no problem. At least it's not widespread.

    Here's an interesting side note though.  In a recent
newsletter to their subscribers, Compuserve has been touting the ease
of setting up and customizing marketing and advertising strategies
through their fax mailing services and databases.

    Are we just beginning to see the junk fax problem?  If
services like Compuserve start making mass "fax mailings" convenient
(although not exactly cheap) is the real weight of the junk fax
problem just around the corner?  As with anything, as the popularity
of this strategy increases, the cost will, no doubt, come down, as
more services like Compuserve start competing for this advertising
money.  Considering the obscene weight of junk mail in the U.S.  mail
system and the expense of fax supplies, this would seem like a good
problem to prevent before it becomes a problem.

If you wait until operations like Compuserve have a large vested
interest in preserving this annoyance, you'll play h*ll getting rid of
it.  If you try taking away something that a bunch of "Mega-corps"
already abuse, they'll have you right in court protecting their right
to go on abusing it.  It's always easier to prevent it in the first
place than it is to stop it once it's started.


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!

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

From: Seth Robertson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: NYC Time and Weather
Reply-To: Seth Robertson <[e-mail]>
Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 02:31:51 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
edu (Yoram Eisenstadter) writes:

>An enterprising company has devised a cheap alternative to the usual
>976 numbers for time and weather in New York City.

>For those who are interested, the number for NYC Time an Weather is:
>212-753-TIME (753-8463).

I called and checked the time given against my computer's WWVB
synchronized time (synchronized using ntp, Network Time Protocol, to
within 2 ms) and it was around 12 seconds fast.  Not too surprising,
perhaps, but interesting nevertheless.  To be fair, I also called
Illinois Bell's time and they were within the granularity of the
program I was using to check it.

                                        -Seth Robertson
                                         [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #484
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 1 Nov 89 23:51:36 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #485
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 1 Nov 89 23:50:46 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 485

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    A Kind Reply (Was: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Bernard Mckeever)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Fred Goldstein)
    Re: NYC Time and Weather (Dave Fiske)
    Re: NYC Time and Weather (John R. Levine)
    Re: Caller ID Boxes (Phantom)
    Re: Caller ID Question (Dave Levenson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Bernard Mckeever <[e-mail]>
Subject: A Kind Reply (Was: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate)
Date: 31 Oct 89 16:19:20 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (bernard.mckeever,54236,mv,3b045,508 960 6289)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


At first I was going to post a strong reply to the following
paragraph, but rather then start an argument decided to quickly review
how the original T1 framing and bit robbed signaling came into use,
and how it got to todays form.

Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.

>   (There *is* this problem with the idiots who designed the AT&T T1
>   relays not putting in enough frame sync, so they had to steal the
>   bottom bit of one 8-bit subchannel as frame sync -- leading to "56K"
>   (8000 7-bit samples) rather than "64K" (8000 8-bit samples) service.
>   But I read that they have a plan in place to upgrade those bogus
>   relays -- and meanwhile, they could just software-route the real 8-bit
>   ISDN traffic through one of the subchannels that doesn't get its low
>   order bit munged by the relays.  Technical corrections welcomed.)

T1 carrier was first used in the Bell System in the 1960s' and has
undergone several major changes while still maintaining the original
1.544 Mb/s bit rate. Early systems connected to D1 banks and the
design intent was to provide local exchange service on existing cable
for distances up to 25 miles. Before T-carrier local exchange service
was provided by one of several vintages of N-carrier [another story].
The channel bank provided a means to convert 24 voice frequency
signals into 24 digital channels [time slots] that were combined using
Time Division Multiplexing [TDM]. Each VF signal was sampled 8000
times per second and encoded into a 7 bit word [remember this is a D1
bank] and one more bit was added to the 7 bit word to indicate the
signaling status of the trunk or circuit contained in the time slot.
To each group of 24 channels a framing bit was added so the system
could distinguish each channel.

So 24 time slots X 8 bits per slot + 1 frame bit = 193 bits/frame, and
so it remains today. 1.544 Mb/s is the frame rate [8000/s] times the
bits in a frame. For D1A and D1B banks signaling information was sent
in every frame, the encoding of the voice signal was linear and used a
Mu 100 coding scheme. This was enough for exchange service but was not
good enough for toll grade service.

Later systems were developed to provide toll grade service and to
improve special service applications. Changes to the bit rate were not
practical because of the embedded plant, something else had to be
done. Some idiot :-) figured out that you did not have to send
signaling information 8000 times a second, maybe every 6th frame was
enough. Witness the birth of the 12 frame Super Frame [SF].  Now each
channel used a non-linear encoding scheme [Mu 255] and 8 bit encoding
was provided for 5 of every 6 frames. In the 6th [signaling] frame the
least significant bit was robbed to provide on hook off hook
information. In frame 6 the A signaling bit information is sent, in
frame 12 the B bit.  This system can be referred to as 7 and 5/6ths
encoding. Digital Data [Dataport] was never a big item in the network
of the 60s' and early 70s'.

Because of bit robbing, digital service only has access to 7 bits
[56kb/s] per time slot per frame. That does not mean that the 8th bit
is wasted, it is used for network control. In fact for subrate digital
data only 6 bits are available. Anyway without clear channel no bit
rate higher than 56 kb/s are allowed over the network.  [this does not
include secondary channel capabilities] To provide clear channel,
several changes had/have to be made.  All maintenance signals have to
be performed out of band.  No loopback or yellow alarm codes are
allowed in the bit stream.

The customer has total control over all 8 bits. For this to be allowed
and still meet line code restrictions, several new zero code
suppression schemes have been developed.  Bipolar 8 Zero Substitution
[B8ZS] inserts a unique code for every consecutive 8 zeros detected.
Zero Byte Time Slot Interchange [ZBTSI] uses a data link to tell the
far end that a BYTE of 8 zeros has been substituted for.

What data link? The latest framing scheme uses a 24 frame Extended
Super Frame [ESF] to derive, framing, signaling, CRC6, and a data
link, So now we have signaling in frame 6=A, 12=B, 18=C, and 24=D. The
4 kb/s data link also contains yellow alarm information, and is
capable of other maintenance functions.  The CRC6 code is used for
PATH performance monitoring.  One thing to remember ESF does not mean
clear channel you must have zero code suppression that may or may not
require ESF.  None of this comes cheap. B8ZS can not be used with many
older multiplexers [M1C] and ZBTSI and ESF require new or additional
equipment. D5 banks have provided B8ZS and ESF since 1984, D4 now
provide both functions. ZBTSI requires a translator and ESF.

The bottom line is that NOW the customer can use the full 64 kb/s
capability of each and every channel. ISDN will be transported over
the network using clear channel capabilities that have been installed.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 1 Nov 89 14:46:33 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton MA USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John
Gilmore) writes...

>[e-mail] wrote (others said similar things):
>>                                                You get 64 kbps per
>> second.  It's "raw bits" (oat hulls, wheat chaff...) and no more.
>> It's isochronous (sync) so you need to have some framing technique.
>> It is NOT byte oriented at this point!

>I beg to differ.  First, the rate is 64000 bits per second; "64kbps"
>implies 65536 bits per second (at least to me!).

My mistake was saying "kbps per second", which is redundant.  But a
lower case k means "1000" and an upper case K means "1024" in the Byte
Magazine Style Sheet (or did when I was there in 1975).  The telco
world is not based on 1024s anyway.  It is always called 64 kbps
meaning 64000 bps.  Wires aren't chips.

>Second, the frame
>sent between the on-premises ISDN interface and the terminals (phones)
>contains its own framing, and individual BYTES of data for the two D
>channels are contained in the frame.  The AMD speakerphone chip
>provides byte oriented access to all ISDN B-channels and routes
>*bytes* among the different interfaces (audio in, audio out, two
>B-channels, microprocessor port, and serial interfaces).

The Layer 1 framing allows you to recognize bytes or bits.  The HDLC
protocols are bit oriented and don't align with layer 1 bytes, yet the
D channel is HDLC (LAPD) and the B channel is often HDLC.  Even async
terminal adaptation using V.120 is HDLC bit-stuffed.  Many ISDN chips
include HDLC processing too.  But you retain the option of taking
eight bits at a time and, as is done with HDLC, ignoring any implicit
byte alignment.

>But we don't even have to refer to the standards; we have brains.  If
>you are sending raw audio data over this link, the network had better
>retain byte synchronization, or the 8-bit audio samples would quickly
>garble into unintelligibility (7 chances out of 8 to get the wrong
>byte sync, unless the network maintains it for you).

Yes, if you're doing audio, you retain the byte synchronization.  That
doesn't mean you have to for data, but it's there.  What's your beef?
ISDN lets you have it your way, and even McDonalds uses it.

>> Two standards exist...  And you can of course create
>> your own if you want, since it's end-to-end.

>This begs the question of interoperability, which was my whole point.
>If I "create my own" IP-over-ISDN standard, and you implement it
>another way, we can't talk to each other even though we can dial each
>others' computers.

In context of IP, what else is new?  IP never specifies a single
subnetwork.  You want X.25?  LAPB?  SLIP, gag, cough?  ISDN doesn't
care, it is a subnetwork or a physical layer but no more.

>(There *is* this problem with the idiots who designed the AT&T T1
>relays not putting in enough frame sync, so they had to steal the
>bottom bit of one 8-bit subchannel as frame sync -- leading to "56K"
>(8000 7-bit samples) rather than "64K" (8000 8-bit samples) service.

They made that mistake in 1959, but it was a doozie.

>But I read that they have a plan in place to upgrade those bogus
>relays -- and meanwhile, they could just software-route the real 8-bit
>ISDN traffic through one of the subchannels that doesn't get its low
>order bit munged by the relays.  Technical corrections welcomed.)

There are two ways to solve the restriction (one's density and
consecutive 0's, both met by 7/8 coding or inverted HDLC).  One is
called ZBTSI (zero byte time slot inversion) which is a weird and
complex hack that runs over Extended Superframe T1s and is implemented
edge-to-edge.  The other, preferred one (in the network) is B8ZS
(bipolar 8 zero substitution) which substitutes a specific bipolar
violation pattern for a string of 8 0's on the T1.  New transmission
equipment uses B8ZS but there's some old T1 around, so if you have no
alternative route you'll be unable to make a "64k clear" call, but may
be able to make a "64k restricted" call.  That's only in America;
Europeans always had a bit transparent equivalent of T1 (E1).

    fred

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

From: Dave Fiske <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: NYC Time and Weather
Date: 1 Nov 89 19:29:17 GMT
Organization: BRS Info Technologies, Latham NY


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
edu (Yoram Eisenstadter) writes:

> An enterprising company has devised a cheap alternative to the usual
> 976 numbers for time and weather in New York City.  For the price of
> listening to a brief ad at the beginning of the message, you can get
> both the time and weather for the cost of a normal local call.  I
> called several times, and got an alternating sequence of two ads: one
> giving an 800 number for a travel agency, and the other giving the
> number to call to place an ad on this service (the number is in area
> code 404, i.e., the Atlanta area).

> For those who are interested, the number for NYC Time an Weather is:
> 212-753-TIME (753-8463).

I can't speak for NYC, but this was the way Time/Temperature
information was handled in Conn. prior to the big divestiture.  As
part of divestiture, the BOCs were forbidden to run Dial-It services,
right?

In the old days (old meaning the '60s and '70s), you looked in the
white pages under Time or Temperature or Weather, and you dialed the
number and you heard either a message reminding you to use the Yellow
Pages for your shopping, or an ad for a local bank or someplace who
had sponsored the service.  Then you heard the time and/or
temperature.  (Naturally, it would make no sense to have the ad at the
end!)

So, anyway, now we've come full circle.

Actually a new phenomenon has appeared: TV and radio stations offering
recorded weather information.  These are handy, except for the fact
that nobody cares what the weather is going to be, unless they expect
nasty weather, in which case the numbers are always busy.

"MAN CHOKES TO DEATH --              Dave Fiske  ([e-mail])
 ON A SNAKE!"
                                     Home:  [e-mail]
Headline from Weekly World News             CIS: 75415,163  GEnie: davef

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

Subject: Re: NYC Time and Weather
Organization: Segue Software, Cambridge MA
Date: 1 Nov 89 14:30:40 EST (Wed)
From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> you write:

>[In New York City] ... for the price of listening to a brief ad at the
>beginning of the message, you can get both the time and weather for the cost
>of a normal local call.  ...

Not a bad deal, considering that the last time I called the 976
weather number in New York, I got an ad as well.

Regards,
John Levine, [e-mail], {spdcc|ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl

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

Subject: Re: Caller ID Boxes
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 18:29:50 EST
From: phantom <csense![e-mail]>

The Calling Line ID display unit advertised in the 'Hello Direct'
catalog is made by none other than AT&T, The Right Choice (TM).

I wonder if the $99 price tag is comparable to the San/Bar unit
mentioned in Tad Cook's article. Perhaps some particulars or pointers
to San/Bar would help?

Thanx.

Bote
going away soon: uunet!cyclops!csense!bote
changing soon: {zardoz|uunet!tgate|cos!}ka3ovk!media!cyclops!csense!bote
to this: ...!media!csense!bote

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Question
Date: 2 Nov 89 03:01:50 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes:

> Does Caller ID provide the calling number or the billing number?
> Seems to me that it probably provides the billing number, since that's
> what ANI is already set up to collect.  Besides, for calls originating
> from a PBX the PBX never identifies the originating extension anyway.

> Just another reason why Caller ID is misnamed.

In NJ Bell's service area, Caller*ID provides the originating number,
not the billing number.  This is true if the originating number is
unlisted.  It is true if the originating number is one that is
originate-only.  It it true if the originating number is an outgoing
PBX trunk, or a centrex station.  It's also true if the originating
number is an ADAD or other telemarketing machine.

I don't know which (if any) PBXs make use of it, but AIOD
(automatically idendified outward dialing) is available as a tariffed
service from NJ Bell.  If your PBX uses AIOD, then the billing number
includes your PBX extension number.  I don't know what Caller*ID does
if AIOD is in use. (If anyone in NJ who is behind an AIOD-equipped PBX
would like to experiment, give me a call at 201-647-0900 and I'll tell
you what my Caller*ID display says.)


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #485
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 2 Nov 89 4:49:12 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #486
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 2 Nov 89 04:45:24 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 486

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Nynex and Speech Recognition (Dave Fiske)
    Automating Speed Selection in Kermit (Terence J. McKiernan)
    Touch-tone Fee (Kim Ciula)
    Local Inter-NPA Calls and Number Conservation (Phantom)
    AT&T's ACUS Service (Bill Fenner)
    Emergency Communication Service Denial (David Bank via Mark Robert Smith)
    NTT Challenges Hackers ([e-mail])
    Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer (Bennett Broder)
    PABX Communications With Local Telco (Mike Bunnell)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Dave Fiske <[e-mail]>
Subject: Nynex and Speech Recognition
Date: 31 Oct 89 14:25:34 GMT
Organization: BRS Info Technologies, Latham NY


This is from the New Technologies section of the 4th quarter issue of
Voice Processing magazine:

   Nynex Corp.  will use speech recognition software to replace live
   operator assistance on certain calls to Maine, New Hampshire and
   Vermont, according to Network World.  With speech recognition, the
   system will intercept calls made to disconnected or changed telephone
   numbers in areas served by electromechanical switches and will ask
   callers to speak the number they dialed, one digit at a time.  Other
   applications will include setting up conference calls and call
   forwarding and adding recognition capabilities to software packages
   Nynex sells to end users, such as automated telemarketing and
   call-handling centers.


And the great part is:  machines don't need health insurance!


"ANGRY WOMEN BEAT UP SHOE SALESMAN   Dave Fiske  ([e-mail])
 WHO POSED AS GYNECOLOGIST"
                                     Home:  [e-mail]
Headline from Weekly World News             CIS: 75415,163  GEnie: davef

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

Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 08:17:46 PST
From: "Terence J. McKiernan" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Automating Speed Selection in Kermit


Help!

Can someone out there in netland help me with a Kermit problem?

I am using Kermit 2.32/A on an IBM PC, connected through COM1
to a Bytcom 24/12ADH 2400/1200 baud Hayes-compatible modem.

I am trying to implement speed selection in a Kermit script.  The
modems I call are a mixture of 2400 and 1200 baud.  The 2400 baud
modems are connected to a Sun 3/280 running 4.3 BSD UNIX.  Its ttys &
gettytab are set up so that the ports connected to the 2400 baud
modems initially pick up at 1200.  They are speed selectable by
sending a break; successive breaks rotate the ports through speeds of
2400, 300, and back to 1200.

The problem: I can manually speed select, i.e. if I call one of these
modems at 2400 baud by using the Kermit "connect" command and entering
"atdt number", I can get the Sun to go up to 2400 by pressing
Ctrl-Break.  Alternately, I can assign a key to send Ctrl-Break with
the Kermit SET KEY command.  For example,

     SET KEY \315 \KBreak

allows be to send breaks using F1.  This works fine.

However, I want to be able to automate this process.  I wrote a
bit of Kermit script:

output at dt (number) \13
input 20 CONNECT

:loop
output \Kbreak
input 5 login
if success goto done
goto loop

:done
echo This thing finally worked!

Unfortunately, it never reaches the "done" part -- the breaks sent by
the script don't seem to be the same as those sent through the
keyboard, even with SET KEY.  Using the long break \Klbreak has
similarly disappointing results.  However, even if I interrupt this
script in the middle, connect, and send the breaks by hand, it
suddenly works, and I get the login prompt.  I have run the above
script with SET INPUT ECHO ON and all I see coming through is garbage
like "xf''f''''", a sure indicator of a baud problem.

I have written a modem-testing program in Kermit script that connects
and logs in at 1200 baud on these same modems, so they're recognizing
something Kermit sends.

So.... Does anyone know what's wrong?  Are the \Kbreaks somehow
different in a script?  Any suggestions?  Please reply by e-mail; I
will post a summary and send results and my modem tester to anyone who
wants it.

Thanks!

Terry McKiernan
[e-mail]

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

From: Kim Ciula <[e-mail]>
Subject: Touch-tone Fee
Date: 31 Oct 89 19:45:11 GMT
Reply-To: Kim Ciula <[e-mail]>
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept of Computer & Information Science


Monday I called Ohio Bell to ask them to remove touch-tone service on
my phone and was told I'd have to pay a $9.30 service fee to do so!
Is this common?  What is involved in removing touch-tone service from
a line?  (Not much, I expect...)
                                                     Kim Ciula


 ..and on Wall St., the Tao is unchanged in moderate trading...

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

Subject: Local Inter-NPA Calls and Number Conservation
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 17:19:57 EST
From: phantom <csense![e-mail]>

I have been reading articles from others around the U.S.  describing
the various schemes used to split Number Plan Areas.

Am I going video-blind or are they really serious about local calls to
a new NPA using 11 digits??  1+ dialing???

WHY?!

I help operate a ham repeater in the Washington D.C. area, and we are
thanking our lucky stars that we didn't get shafted with this
inconsistent scheme. We now restrict toll calls on our repeater simply
on the presence of a leading '1' or '0'. That's it. The scheme D.C. is
going to will preserve this sensible arrangement.

With the '1+' scheme for some local calls, we would be forced to
maintain a list of exchanges, both existing ones and new ones as they
come on line (sometimes on a weekly basis it seems!), which is simply
impracticable for a volunteer group.

This doesn't even consider the PBX maintainers who are strapped with
unnecessary reprogramming burdens from this brain-damaged scheme. Nor
does it take into account the additional routing burden on the BOCs
for intra/inter-LATA routing or local/LD routing. I find that mapping
all '1+' calls to toll and all others to local facilities makes sense;
perhaps too much sense to be implemented, huh?

My 2 cents, plus 25 cents for each additional minute.

Bote
going away soon: uunet!cyclops!csense!bote
changing soon: {zardoz|uunet!tgate|cos!}ka3ovk!media!cyclops!csense!bote
to this: ...!media!csense!bote

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

Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 11:48:49 EST
From: Bill Fenner <[e-mail]>
Subject: AT&T's ACUS Service

AT&T announced a new service at Penn State's University Park campus
this fall, called ACUS long-distance service.  With this service, each
student gets their own PSC (Personal Security Code).  The PSC
identifies the student, no matter which room he is calling from.  Each
student gets their own bill, with only their calls on it.  No more
roommates squabbling over who made what calls!  Finally, I think, the
nightmare is over.

Hardly.

You get a generous $150 credit limit.  If you exceed your limit, your
account is immediately suspended, pending (partial) payment.  You also
get a service charge if you don't pay your bill right away.  So I get
this bill, for $3.01, right?  If I don't pay it right away, it says,
I'll get charged an extra 25 cents for the finance charge, plus the
long-distance service will be *immediately disconnected.*  For $3.01!
Thanks, AT&T, I love ya.

Fortunately, 10xxx works (10288 gets you a normal AT&T line, without
the ACUS on it, and everything else works as usual.)  I was able to
get the standard Sprint, MCI, ITT and Telesphere recordings from
700-555-4141.  I didn't try any others (didn't have my handy dandy
TELECOM Digest list o' numbers around)...

Anyway, I've been trying to spread the wisdom of the 10xxx around...
I've been suggesting that one roommate uses AT&T, the other use
Sprint, or some combination thereof... that way, one roommate can pay
one LDco bill, the other can pay the other.

Unfortunately, not very many people know about the 10xxx yet... (I've
been thinking of putting up posters and holding a seminar on the evils
of ACUS :-)

Are there any other students out there who have ACUS service on their
dorm lines?  Does 10xxx work?  Any horror stories to share?


Bill Fenner                   [e-mail]             ..!psuvax1!psuhcx!wcf
[e-mail] (1:129/87 - 814/238-9633)     ..!lll-winken!/

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

Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 12:20:53 EST
From: Mark Robert Smith <[e-mail]>
Subject: Emergency Communication Service Denial

[Moderator's Note: The following was noted in the group indicated, and
Mr. Smith kindly sent it along to the Digest.  PT]

  >From: [e-mail] (David Bank)
  >Newsgroups: misc.emerg-services
  >Subject: Emergency Communication Service Denial
  >Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
  >Date: 1 Nov 89 06:05:49 GMT
  >Reply-To: [e-mail] (David Bank)
  >Organization: NCSU Computing Center

    I was recently driving to work on I-40 when I encountered a knot
of cars and trucks on an overpass. As the grouping cleared, I noticed
a gray American sedan on the shoulder, shoved up against the guard
rail.

    I went past, pulled over on the shoulder, put on my hazards, and
went on investigate. Out of this car comes this 25+ish woman. She says
a tractor-trailer ran her off the road and into the guard rail. She
was a bit shaken, bit otherwise OK. He car sustained body damage only.
The rig driver had simply driven right on down I-40 and never stopped.

     At her request, I went to summon the State Highway Patrol. I knew
of some pay phones about 2 miles down the road, so I hopped into my
car and headed there.

     When I got to them, I pressed "0" to get the operator. A
middle-aged woman answered "GTE" and I responded "Please connect me
with the State Highway Patrol, I need to report a traffic accident"

     Now the fun starts.

     She says "Please deposit a quarter"

     Yes, that's right. I'm trying to make an admittedly not serious
emergency call and she's asking me to deposit a quarter. When I say
"Why? This is an emergency call!" she simply says "Yes, please deposit
a quarter"

     Now on the front of this phone is a GTE label. Also, it says
"Free Calls: Emergency (Dial "0") - 911 is not available in RTP. I
mention this to her and she says "I haven't been instructed to do
that" and then hangs up on me. I was struck speechless.

     I pressed "0" again and said to the operator, when she answered,
"Your supervisor......PLEASE" When that worthy came on the line, I
explained what had just happened. She apologized profusely and said
"Hold on a minute, we'll connect you"

    FIVE minutes later, I finally heard "Emergency" from a State HP
dispatcher.

     In summary, I sure am glad there was no one seriously injured
back at that accident scene. I'd hate to think of some poor slob
bleeding to death or dying of internal injuries as GTE played musical
policies on emergency calls and took 5 minutes to contact the bloody
State HP.

     Have they ever heard of liability???? Jesus Christ, what kind of
idiots do these people hire for them to request payment for an
emergency call.

     Granted, in this situation, there was no pressing need for police
response. It was quite a routine accident. But at NO time should a
citizen be required to pay to contact a police or other emergency
service dispatcher!

     That first operator, wherever she is, needs a firing to set her
straight on that. As well as her supervisor, who can't seem to train
those under her in the proper way to handle emergency calls.

Unky Dave
[e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: NTT Challenges Hackers
Date: 1 Nov 89 21:59:29 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Unisys Defense Systems, Great Valley Labs, Paoli, Pa


[A copy of the following article appeared on one of our bulletin boards here
 at work. I have no idea when or where it was originally published - MHW]

NTT: Calling All Hackers

Tokyo - Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. has issued a provocative
challenge: the Japanese communications giant will give 1 million yen
($6803) to any computer hacker anywhere in the world who can break its
FEAL-8 data communications security code by August 1991. Why the
unusual move? The company wants to debunk a rumor circulationg in
Europe that its security code has been cracked. The FEAL-8 code,
developed by NTT in 1986, is widely used in Japan and overseas to
protect datacom systems and integrated circuit cards from illegal
access.

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

From: Bennett Broder <moncol![e-mail]>
Subject: Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer
Date: 1 Nov 89 20:11:27 GMT
Organization: Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, N.J. 07764


Most modern answering machines will get off the line when you pick up
the handset of a phone connected to them.  Some will even do this for
any extention on the line.  Unfortunately, my older Panasonic
answering machine (circa 1985) just keeps on talking and recording.

I understand that it is relatively simple to build an outboard device
to perform this functionality.  The 'DAK' catalogue has one listed
called the 'phone slasher' selling for $9.90 + $2.00 shipping and
handling.  This looks like a nice device, with led indicators to show
(I presume) which device is active.  But, being a hobbiest by nature,
I would like to build one myself.

Does anyone have such as circuit that they have (successfully) built?

Bennett Broder               Monmouth College
 ..princeton!moncol!ben       Computer Services
 ..rutgers!petsd!moncol!ben   W. Long Branch, NJ 07764


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

Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 20:56 EDT
From: Nutsy Fagen <[e-mail]>
Subject: PABX Communications With Local Telco


        In a relatively simple manner, could someone explain how a
local telco communicates with a PABX in terms of incoming/outgoing
phone numbers?  I realize there usually isn't one discrete wire for
every extension available on the PABX.  I've also noticed, when using
a calling card from my dorm room, that one of two numbers will appear
for the origin.  Does this mean anything spectacular (one 'number' can
only run so many lines, or maybe we have several separate services
entrances, for backup)?

        I'd also heard that our ATT System 85 was capable of
communicating with Rochester Tel regarding what phone number was being
called FROM, but it was not implemented.  (I know that all calls from
campus to 911 show up as the same source and address)

        Thanks in advance for any answers.

Mike Bunnell
mjb8949 @ RITVAX


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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #486
*****************************











Date:     Thu, 2 Nov 89 5:36:45 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #487
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 2 Nov 89 05:35:07 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 487

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Centrex Strikes Again (Macy Hallock)
    Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US? (Edward Greenberg)
    Re: 100th Anniversary of Coin Phones (David Lesher)
    Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count (Phantom)
    Re: Strange Phone Call (Louis J. Judice)
    Re: The Strange Boundaries of 312/708 (Edward S. Sachs)
    Re: What is SONET? (John Clarke)
    Terminal Emulator Packages - Which is Best? (Gary Nome)
    'Pulse' Dialing (Mike Bunnell)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: fmsystm![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Centrex Strikes Again
Date: 31 Oct 89 13:59:14 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Macy Hallock)
Organization: F M Systems  Medina, Ohio USA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(John Higdon) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 474, message 4 of 11

>So while those people with those "unreliable" on-site PBXs were having
>difficulty making outside calls, those with "the most reliable phone
>system in the world" (Pac*Bell advertising hype) couldn't so much as
>talk to their secretaries at the front desk.

>There was another major Pac*Bell embarassment: The Bush-Pine office
>(SF's main downtown CO). It seems that no one bothered to test the
>fancy turbine standby generators under load. They regularly powered
>them up, but just let them spin. Under load following the earthquake,
>they broke down. The CO ran on its batteries until they went dead,

That is odd.  In my telco days, we tested the CO standby generators
weekly without load and monthly with a load.  We would pull the main
breakers to the power room and do a "cold startup".  At my suggestion,
the CO's I worked on had the generators started up, and then were
loaded when they were warmed up (after two-three minutes) on all
"warm" tests.  The reason all tests were not done "cold" was explained
to me as related to excessive wear on the engines occured on "cold"
startups.

At another CO I worked at (in an urban area), the decision was made to
add gas-turbine generator because the diesels were overloaded, and
there was no more space in the basement to put in more diesels
generators.  The turbines generated very little vibration, and could
be mounted on the roof, while the diesels had to have a special,
isolated foundation poured due to the noise and vibration.

I always wanted to like the turbines, they seemed more space-age.
Practical experience was different.  The turbines did not like to take
a load "cold", they had to have timing controls to allow them to
start, get up to speed and a bit warm before being loaded.  And did
they ever use fuel!  Mechanical repair was more frequent and more
complex.  I guess they did what they were supposed to, but the diesels
had my confidence.

>[Moderator's Note: Well, it is not like an earthquake happens every
>day or a central office is overloaded for several days running as a
>routine thing. Everything has disadvantages. *In general*, my belief
>is that centrex is superior to PBX almost anytime. I've also seen
>PBX's break down and disrupt communications in a company for an entire
>day or two pending repairs. Those people were angry they did not have
>centrex.

{Soap box mode on}

Well, I'm not sure I can agree...  In Ohio, at least, Centrex is more
expensive, has less features, allows less flexibility and reliquishes
control of your communcations to an outside agency that often has
revenue "enhancement" instead of customer service on its mind.  In GTE
CO's reliability is much poorer than Bell CO's, as well.

We've also run into several situations where the customers's special
services (WATS,FX's,Tie trunks) were not correctly installed into
Centrex systems as well.  In one instance, we found a customer was
paying for 12 CCSA trunks into his centrex, but we could only put up
nine outgoing CCSA call at 3:00 AM (office was closed, too).  Bell
called it a paperwork error from six years ago!  The customer never
knew, 'cause he had no trunk lights on his console, and no on site tech
could tell him (or test for it easily).  He had reported "too many
busy's on dial 8" to the telco several times.  The Corporate
Communications Dept. back at headquarters relied on the telco for
info.

Mind you, though I've worked on both sides of the fence, I am most
likely prejudiced.  My company sells telephone systems, and we spend a
great deal of time fighting the Telephone Co's attitiude (we know
telephones and you don't) and bureauracracy. Centrex, IMHO, just gives
them more control and revenue, with little added responisbility (just
read the tarriffs).  Most of the organizations I run into that have
Centrex are those that do not want to know anything about
communcations and the managers are "CYA"ing.  Most of these same
organizations would never do the same thing with their data
proccessing.

>You really just have to make an informed choice and go with
>it.  PT]

Actually, that's the greatest truth of all.  Getting that information
to make the choice is the tough part...and it seems as though too many
people still do not want to take responsibility for the very thing
they often call the "lifeblood" of their organization.

Centrex is too often an excuse or cop-out rather than an informed
decision, IMHO.  And the Telco's do their best to promote this kind of
thinking.  Shades of 1967!

Centrex does have a place, and will always have applications it does
better, but it is only a part of the many choices available today with
modern telecommunications.

{End Soap Box mode}

Macy Hallock     150 Highland Dr.     [e-mail]
F M Systems Inc. Medina, OH 44256     {uunet|backbone}!hal.cwru.edu!ncoast!macy
[phone]  Fax [phone]  uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy


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

From: Edward Greenberg <apple!netcom![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US?
Date: 31 Oct 89 18:06:33 GMT
Reply-To: Edward Greenberg <apple!netcom![e-mail]>
Organization: NetCom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 997-9175}


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dan Sahlin)
writes:

>in the US the operator is reached by "0" and international calls start
>with "011".  How is that possible?

In the US, calls to "0" don't immediately cut to the operator, but the
central office waits for additional digits, then decides what to do.

If you dial 011 + country code + number, it sends the call to
international direct dialing with whatever long distance company
you're presubscribed to.  When you dial 0 + area code + number, it
sends the call to either a machine or and operator, who gets your
billing, then puts up the call.  Only by dialing operator and waiting
for a timeout (or sometimes dialing 0#) do you get an operator by her
(him) self.

Note that to make a credit card or third party billed overseas call,
US customers dial 01 + country_code + number.

It's a complex decision tree, and it's a wonder that people understand
it at all.
                -edg

Ed Greenberg
uunet!apple!netcom!edg

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

From: David Lesher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 100th Anniversary of Coin Phones
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 21:47:10 EDT
Reply-To: David Lesher <[e-mail]>


PT: Why not share your ex-employee knowledge re: the coin collection
department? In Cleveland, the "nickle-snatchers" drove special
"nickle-wagons" around and brought all the (full) boxes back to the
"nickle works", a highly secret location :-} next door to the area's
largest surplus electronics store. I was never inside, but friends who
were said it made the Federal Reserve Bank look like swiss cheese.

The nickle wagon, sagging under the weight, drove into the 'airlock'.
The outer door closed, then the inner door opened. It continued
inside. Then someone unlocked the special racks full of locked coin
boxes, and rolled them into a room full of women (no sexism here, just
the facts) wearing special smocks with no pockets. A camera in the
ceiling watched while they open, counted, sorted and bagged the money.
Brinks was a regular visitor.

Emptied boxes were reset, and sent over to section that stacked the
racks full of empty boxes, for the next day's runs.

And you wondered why that call cost a quarter;-} No wonder they want
you to use your calling card.


A host is a host & from coast to [e-mail]
no one will talk to a host that's close..............(305) 255-RTFM
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335

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

Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 17:34:42 EST
From: phantom <csense![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count


VLB/VMB writes:

>"You" write:
>> 202 and 301 will have more room now that they must dial a 1 to other
>> DC area codes.

>This wording is confusing.  The upshot of earlier notes in & out of
>Telecom is that Md. & Va. suburbs are being removed from area code
>202; therefore, 202 will have more room.

Of course, if NNXs are removed from 202 giving it more space, the
converse must be true for both 703 and 301. Since those NNXs previous
verboten in those two because they formerly were in use in D.C. will
be available soon, 703 and 301 will be able to use them in suburbs
like Silver Spring, Tyson's Corner, and other bustling officeburbs.

>Local calls in the DC area will require 10 digits
>if crossing area code boundary (no leading 1, which is required on
>toll calls from there), thus permitting some current 11-digit local &
>extended area calls in the DC area to reduce to 7 digits later.

There is no case in the Washington Metropolitan calling area in which
a call of 11 digits ('1+') is local or toll-free.  If you pick the
phone up and dial a seven digit TN it will cost you the local rate,
whatever your service plan is. If you dial 11 digits it will cost you
whatever your carrier of choice charges you for toll calls. Simple,
for now.

My father can't understand why he has to put 1+301 in front of a
number which is a toll call to Gaithersburg now. I can't wait to hear
him hit the ceiling when he has to add NPA to make a local call across
the creek to his brothers!

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

Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 07:06:40 -0800
From: "Louis J. Judice  01-Nov-1989 0959" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Strange Phone Call


The voice asking you to "please hold", "unable to connect you", etc.
sounds like the auto-notification option of a voicemail system like
ASPEN.

When a message is received in your "in" box, you can establish a list
of phone numbers where ASPEN will call you to notify you that you've
received voicemail.

When ASPEN does this, it opens with a very generic message, assuming
that a switchboard operator or receptionist may answer the call, and
possibly not know who in the world YOU are...

   "Stand by... Stand by...  Stand by... this is an automated
   message handling system, with a message for < your name prerecorded >
   If <your name> is available to receive a message, press 1. etc..."

It's a pretty strange message, and very few people around here even know
about this.

Lou Judice
Digital Equipment Corp.
Piscataway, NJ

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

From: Edward S Sachs <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Strange Boundaries of 312/708
Date: 1 Nov 89 15:45:06 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(TELECOM Moderator) writes:

> When those people ordered phone service in the past, apparently they
> said their address was 4xxx North Harlem in *Chicago*, or 4xxx North
> Harlem in *Harwood Heights* when in fact it was the opposite
> community!

In a similar vein, I recall an article in the newspaper (I believe
that it was the Chicago Tribune) some time back which reported that
businesses were paying sales taxes to the wrong municipalities, for
similar reasons (not just Chicago/Suburb, but also Suburb/Suburb).

            Ed Sachs
            AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL
            att!ihlpb!essachs, [e-mail]

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

From: Stripper <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What is SONET?
Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Date:     Tue, 31 Oct 89 19:05:30 EST

   Someone (I lost the original message) asked "Northern Telecom
talked about SONET.  What is SONET?  Well, allow me to quote directly
from the NT press release:

    The new products are compatible with international
    Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) standards for
    high-speed transmission of information on fiber optic
    networks.  SONET standards were designed to exploit
    the virtually unlimited bandwidth of end-to-end fiber
    optics transmission and assure industry-wide compatibility
    of transmission equipment throughout the network

This was all part of NT's announcement of FIBERWORLD, a set of
products that are completely fiber dependent, which include access,
transport and switching products.

John Clarke
McMaster U.
Hamilton, Canada

Disclaimer :  I have no relation to NT, and am only a student.  Of course,
if NT sees this, and wants to hire an up and coming young engineer ... :-)

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

From: Gary <[e-mail]>
Subject: Terminal Emulator Packages - Which is Best?
Date: 31 Oct 89 18:05:10 GMT


I am in the process of evaluating different terminal emulator packages
in order to adopt one as a standard within the company.

What I'd like to know is -
 Which package are you using?
 What rev-level is it?
 What do you like about it?
 Where can it be found?

Thanks!
Gary
[e-mail]
(hplabs,ames,sun,pyramid)oliveb!oliven!gnome

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

Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 21:08 EDT
From: Nutsy Fagen <[e-mail]>
Subject: 'Pulse' Dialing


        During pulse dialing, what exactly happens to the line?  I've
been led to believe that each pulse is actually shorting out the phone
line, which then registers at the switch.  If so, doesn't this cause
an excessive amount of wear and tear on the equipment?

        Along the same lines, is it probable that pulse dialing will
be dropped by any telcos BEFORE actually switching over to full
digital.

        And while I'm at it, is there a rough timeline for having a
completely digital telephone network, including residential
telephones?

        Thanks.

Mike Bunnell
MJB8949 @ ritvax

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #487
*****************************










Date:     Fri, 3 Nov 89 0:00:28 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #488
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 3 Nov 89 00:00:05 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 488

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Charging Teleco For Your Time (Mike Morris)
    Re: Charging Teleco For Your Time (Jim Gottlieb)
    Re: Caller ID Question (Mark Robert Smith)
    Re: Caller ID Question (David Lewis)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Scot E Wilcoxon)
    Re: Caller ID Boxes (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Caller ID for Pagers (Phantom)
    Re: NYC Time and Weather (Dr. T. Andrews)
    Re: Time to "Disconnection" (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count (Carl Moore)
    Re: Anti-junk-call Laws in Oregon (Bob Clements)
    Recent Overview ISDN Cite Needed (Dr. Bruce C. Klopfenstein)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Mike Morris <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Charging Teleco For Your Time
Date: 1 Nov 89 07:43:20 GMT
Reply-To: Mike Morris <[e-mail]>


[e-mail] writes:

>In v9i478 David Lesher <[e-mail]> said:
>-> ... they would check it for a $40.00 visit
>-> charge. I countered with a $40.00 charge for MY time if their visit
>-> turned up zilch. They announced again there was no problem, said the
>-> tariffs forbit me from charging them, ...

>Over here someone took British Telecom to the courts to recover "lost
>earnings".  BT had given the subscriber two separate occassions on which
>their engineer would turn up to fix a problem, but the engineer failed to
>show.  As the subscriber had stayed off work on both occassions the court
>awarded him 100 pounds, which was all he applied for as he just wanted to
>make the point. Since then BT have been offerring bill credits if your
>phone is not repaired within  2 working days or the  engineer fails to turn
>up.  The current credit is 5 pounds, against a quarterly rental of 15
>pounds.

>I think all utilities have taken note of the court's judgement  as it set a
>precedent over here.

A friend who runs a small business has 4 lines as a 3-line hunt group
plus one line.  A while back she lost the last hunting line and the
isolated line for 3 days.  I suggested that she call Pacific Telephone
and ask for credit, as PT could verify that she had reported the
outage to 611 the same day.  PT quite readily granted her a credit of
1/30 of the monthly charge per line per day (it was a 30-day month).
While she didn't ask, she told me that the service representative
reacted to her request as if it was standard procedure.

In reference to the above item from the UK, I wonder if anybody in the
US has taken the telco to small claims court.  And what would the
telco do about the no-attorneys rule?

Mike Morris                      Internet:  [e-mail]
                                 Misslenet: 34.12 N, 118.02 W
#Include quote.cute.standard     Bellnet:   818-447-7052
#Include disclaimer.standard     Radionet:  WA6ILQ

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

From: Jim Gottlieb <[e-mail]>
Subt(ject: Re: Charging Teleco For Your Time
Date: 2 Nov 89 08:56:12 GMT
Reply-To: Jim Gottlieb <denwa![e-mail]>
Organization: Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan


>In v9i478 David Lesher <[e-mail]> said:

>-> ... they would check it for a $40.00 visit
>-> charge. I countered with a $40.00 charge for MY time if their visit
>-> turned up zilch. They announced again there was no problem, said the
>-> tariffs forbit me from charging them, ...

When I was in the interconnect business (back until 1984), there were
cases when Pacific Bell was having trouble tracking down a problem and
asked for our help.  We would bill them for our time in such cases,
and they would pay.

  Jim Gottlieb
  Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
       <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy>
Fax: (011)[phone]           Voice Mail: (011)[phone] ID#82-42-424

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

From: Mark Robert Smith <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Question
Date: 2 Nov 89 17:07:18 GMT
Organization: Rutgers - The Police State of New Jersey


I get a lot of calls from what I believe is a Centrex system in my
area code (in NJ), and I get varying results for Caller ID.

Most of the time, I get ??? (no ANI available), but a few times I have
gotten the extension's direct number, and once I got the "main
number", which is a different exchange from the extension direct
numbers.


Mark Smith, KNJ2LH                All Rights Reserved
RPO 1604               You may redistribute this article only if those who
P.O. Box 5063                 receive it may do so freely.
New Brunswick, NJ 08903-5063              [e-mail]

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

From: David Lewis <nvuxr![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Question
Date: 2 Nov 89 18:13:15 GMT
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes:

> Does Caller ID provide the calling number or the billing number?
> Seems to me that it probably provides the billing number, since that's
> what ANI is already set up to collect.  Besides, for calls originating
> from a PBX the PBX never identifies the originating extension anyway.

> Just another reason why Caller ID is misnamed.

Caller ID, and all the other CLASS (SM) feature package, use the
calling number, not the billing number.

ANI is, indeed, set up to collect the billing number.  The billing
number is sent by an Equal Access End Office (EAEO), via Equal Access
Multifrequency (EAMF) signaling, to an Access Tandem (AT).  The AT
sends the billing number -- ANI -- to the interexchange carrier,
either via MF signaling or via Common Channel Signaling (CCS).

ANI is available just about everywhere, because the vast majority of
end offices in the ex-Bell System have been converted to EAEOs.

Caller ID and the other CLASS features don't use MF signaling;
instead, they use CCS -- Signaling System #7, or SS7.  SS7 has fields
to transfer *both* the billing number and the calling party number.
Therefore, CLASS features act on the calling party number, and the
billing number can be delivered to the interexchange carrier.

CLASS isn't available in a whole lot of places, because many end
offices in the ex-Bell System haven't yet been upgraded to handle SS7.
Unless the end office is SS7 connected, CLASS won't work.

I don't know if any PBX offers a SS7 interface, or if any LEC offers
SS7 connectivity to CPE.  I also don't know how PBXs handle ANI
delivery and such (CPE?  CPE?  We're not allowed to do CPE!).


David G Lewis                ...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej

            "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

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

From: Scot E Wilcoxon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!
Date: 2 Nov 89 17:21:21 GMT
Reply-To: Scot E Wilcoxon <[e-mail]>
Organization: Data Progress, Minneapolis, MN


Our moderator writes, in response to Roger B.A. Klorese,

>Here in Chicago ...  911 is only to be used when *immediate*
>intervention is required to save a life or report a crime in progress,

The purpose of 911 varies, the only common use is that it is an easily
remembered and quickly dialed emergency number.  Here in Minneapolis,
any call which requires a police car is directed to 911 because it is
answered by the police dispatchers.  Citizens are encouraged to report
suspicious activities to 911, as the dispatchers are aware of calls in
progress and assign priorities.  When most dispatchers are busy, calls
do get answered with "911, is this an emergency?".

Minneapolis does use Enhanced 911, with dispatch information routinely
sent to radio-linked terminals in each police car.  CLASS services are
not available yet in this area (a council member was recently shown on
TV getting yet another harrassing phone call, and she did not seem
able to stop it :-).

Scot E. Wilcoxon [e-mail]
{amdahl|hpda}!bungia!datapg!sewilco Data Progress      UNIX masts &
rigging [phone] uunet!datapg!sewilco
    I'm just reversing entropy while waiting for the Big Crunch.

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Boxes
Date: 2 Nov 89 21:48:11 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, csense![e-mail].
net (Phantom) writes:

> The Calling Line ID display unit advertised in the 'Hello Direct'
> catalog is made by none other than AT&T, The Right Choice (TM).

Actually, the Caller*ID unit in 'Hello Direct' looks a whole lot like
the one they sell over the counter at Sears in NJ for $79.00.  This
unit has the AT&T name and logo on it, but on the bottom, it says it
is made by Colonial Data Technologies (of Connecticut) and that the
AT&T name an logo are used under license from AT&T.  (It also says it
was made in Hong Kong.)


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

Subject: Re: Caller ID for Pagers
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 18:18:33 EST
From: Phantom <csense![e-mail]>

Professor Miller asks whether anyone knows of a paging installation
using Calling LINE ID to display the number called from for
convenience.

I submit that this is impractical since there are many occasions when
the number to be called back should be completely different from the
number called from. Nice idea, but not in many situations.


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

Subject: Re: NYC Time and Weather
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 7:19:02 EST
From: "Dr. T. Andrews" <[e-mail]>
Organization: CompuData, Inc. (DeLand)

) ... For the price of listening to a brief ad at the beginning of
) the message, ... both the time and weather ... a normal local call.

I don't think that this is very unusual.  Advert and then time is an
Established Institution(tm) here in Florida.  Banks and car dealers
are the usual providers.

They have made some advances, though.  Those curious about the time in
DeLand may call 904 734 7300; it sounds like the announcement of time
and weather are both provided with voice insertion.

Weather announcements won't replace looking out the window.

....!bikini.cis.ufl.edu!ki4pv!tanner  ...!bpa!cdin-1!ki4pv!tanner
or...  {allegra attctc gatech!uflorida uunet!cdin-1}!ki4pv!tanner


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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Time to "Disconnection"
Date: 1 Nov 89 16:27:00 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
com (Louis J. Judice) writes:

> I never realized this until it was demonstrated to me, but at least in
> NJ on the Peapack Central Office, if you call person "A", person "A"
> can hang up, and pick up their phone up to about 15 seconds later
> without disconnecting "B". This is without any phone features, etc.


This is generally true throughout NJ Bell territory.  If the calling
party goes on-hook, the call is disconnected (the called party is left
high-and-dry for about 20 seconds, and is then given dial tone).  But
if the called party goes on hook, the call remains up for about 20
seconds.  If the called party goes back off hook during this "grace
period" the conversation may continue.  I'm not sure this is
_universally_ true.  It is certainly not true where the called party
is behind PBX, unless the PBX implements the same "grace period"
feature.

Some ACD equipment makes use of this feature.  When a call is
(finally) transferred from the "please hold on..." recording to a live
agent, it is momentarily placed on-hook (usually for less than one
second).  If the call is still present, it is then connected to the
live agent.  If not, it is dropped, and the abandoned call counter is
advanced.  This saves considerable agent time, in cases where the CO
does not send forward disconnection to the ACD in a timely manner.


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

Date:     Thu, 2 Nov 89 9:29:41 EST
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re: Numerical List of NPA's and NXX Count

Where is your father located?  "toll call to Gaithersburg" would seem
to indicate southern Prince George's County (Md.) or Virginia,
assuming the DC area.

Earlier notes in Telecom point out some 11-digit local calls which
might be reduced to 7 digits later in the DC area:

o   from 621,261,858 etc. in Maryland to 569 at Severn, Md.; this is
    because 569-xxxx at those "from" points currently gets that prefix
    in Springfield, Va.

o   extended area calling from Va. suburbs to some Prince William (Va.)
    points; this is because the latter duplicates some DC and Md.
    suburban points. The other way around, it's already been reduced
    to 7 digits.

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

Subject: Re: Anti-junk-call Laws in Oregon
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 89 09:39:53 -0500
From: [e-mail]

>[ [e-mail] ]
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 484, message 8 of 10

>We have them here in MA also ... they don't do you any good if the
>calls are placed from outside the state, though.

If "them" means junk calls, yes, we have them.  It "them" means
anti-junk-call laws, well, not much.  We have a law that says you can
be added to a list which it is illegal to place AUTOMATIC calls to.
No protection against the human slime.  And, as Henry says, no
protection against out-of-state slime.


Bob Clements, K1BC, [e-mail]

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

From: Bruce Klopfenstein <[e-mail]>
Subject: Recent ISDN Overview Cite Needed
Date: 3 Nov 89 04:04:31 GMT
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.


I am updating my telecom files and am seeking a recent intro/ overview
of ISDN and B-ISDN article from the periodical press.  This is for an
intro to new media technologies course I am teaching.

Please email your replies, and thanks very much for your help!


    Dr. Bruce C. Klopfenstein      |  [e-mail]
    Radio-TV-Film Department       |  [e-mail]
    Bowling Green $tate University |  [e-mail]
    Bowling Green, OH  43403       |  [phone]; 352-4818
                                   |  fax [phone]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #488
*****************************










Date:     Fri, 3 Nov 89 0:46:00 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #489
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 3 Nov 89 00:45:24 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 489

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains (John Higdon)
    Re: California Junk Fax Bill (John Higdon)
    Re: Parsing Dialed Digits (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! (Donald L. Ritchey)
    Re: NYC Time and Weather (Charles Balan)
    Re: Strange Recording (Thomas E. Lowe)
    Re: Caller ID Device (Dave Hsu)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains
Date: 2 Nov 89 17:42:11 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
edu (Steve Forrette) writes:

> I have a rear-window capacitive-mount antenna for my cellular phone,
> and the instructions that came with it stated that people should keep
> all parts of themselves at least 6 inches from the antenna whenever
> the phone was in use!

I'm sure you're aware that this warning is undoubtedly required by
some government agency (EPA?) and is not there because they have some
experience with brain-frying of people in the back seat!

Golly, no such warning came with my (client's) 40KW FM transmitter and
its associated 5 bay antenna (100KW ERP), but you won't find me
climbing the tower with the system energized. Somehow, even with the
"warning" I'm not terribly afraid of the 3 watts coming from the
cellular antenna. The FM antenna? That's another matter.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: California Junk Fax Bill
Date: 2 Nov 89 17:58:05 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
com (Michael H. Warfield) writes:

> If you wait until operations like Compuserve have a large vested
> interest in preserving this annoyance, you'll play h*ll getting rid of
> it.  If you try taking away something that a bunch of "Mega-corps"
> already abuse, they'll have you right in court protecting their right
> to go on abusing it.  It's always easier to prevent it in the first
> place than it is to stop it once it's started.

Not really. There are several problems with this whole thread. First,
look at the Subject line. Even if every state in the Union passed a
really "tough" fax bill, it would mean absolutely nothing. No state
has any control over messages that originate in another state. You
would end up with the same success that has been seen controlling junk
phone solicitations (none, for those of you who have been asleep).

So what we need to discuss is a *Federal* junk fax bill. With the
number of laws on the books at the federal level, unless there is a
damn compelling reason for its existence, I'm against it. Even if a
bunch of "Mega-corps" start doing this (and, mind you, this is all
still a "just suppose"--with people wanting to pass laws before any
need is really demonstrated, the ultimate in prior restraint), if
people hate it and refuse to respond or buy products pushed by junk
fax, those perpetrating it will stop. No one is going to purposely
alienate his audience. If, on the other hand, it works, then it may
not be the big terror that people have supposed it to be.

There are already enough laws in the country without people dreaming
up "what-ifs" as justification to pass more of them.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 12:44:03 est
From: Bob Goudreau <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Parsing Dialed Digits
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Dr. T. Andrews) writes:

>)> How can I tell whether to take the next two or the next three
>)> digits as the country code ?
>) It depends on the first two digits.
>) If the first two digits are a valid country code, then you do not have
>) to look at the third digit.

>Sorry, this doesn't work.  Some country codes (mainly for toy
>countries) are special cases of others.  Consider "countries" like the
>Vatican (looks like a particular exchange in Rome Italy) or San
>Marino.  You have to examine rather a lot of digits to decide whether
>the call is to Rome Italy or the Vatican.

Apparently then, you consider both the USA and Canada (along with much
of the Caribbean) to be "toy countries", since they are both special
cases of the country code "1".  In fact, by this logic, there is not
just one country code for the US, but many: +1201, +1202, ..., +1919
(along with much, but not all, of +1809xxx for Puerto Rico and the US
Virgin Islands).

The problem with the use of the term "country code" is that it
misleadingly gives the impression that there is a one-to-one mapping
between nations and international dialing codes, which is false.
Remember, the original question was "How can I tell whether to take
the next two or the next three digits as the country code?", not "How
can I determine which political entity is the destination of this
call?" The poster you quoted was therefore correct in his assertion
that country codes are limited to a maximum of three digits.  The
allocation and distribution of numbers within a country code is a
matter left to the authority (or authorities) within the code area
itself, not to the authority that establishes country codes (named
something like CCITT, I believe).


Bob Goudreau                [phone]
Data General Corporation        ...!mcnc!rti!xyzzy!goudreau
62 Alexander Drive            [e-mail]
Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

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

Date: Thu,  2 Nov 89 16:47:42 CST
From: Donald L Ritchey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life!

 Re: (Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>):
 X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 484, message 3 of 10

> Our moderator writes, in response to Roger B.A. Klorese,
[ deleted ]
> Patrick, there is a very good explanation for this.

> On a number of occasions, I have called the police to make a report of
> some sort: drag racers at the Museum of Science & Industry keeping the
> neighbors awake; a followup on at least one of the occasions our car
> was stolen; a request for officers to take a report on the time I was
> assaulted on the El platform (no longer urgent, since the incident was
> over long before I arrived at work to make the call).  I could think
> of several other examples, but these are a start.

> On *every* single occasion, I called the local police HQ -- and was
> told to *CALL 911* to make the report.  This is not only outrageous,
> it's potentially life-threatening to those who are trying to get
> through while I'm reciting the details of a minor crime.

> I have complained repeatedly, especially to the police and, of course,
> to my aldercreature.  I have never, ever received any indication that
> anybody gives a damn (the alderman's staff keep promising to call me
> back), or that new guidelines (or legislation) will be introduced to
> try to correct the problem.

> [Moderator's Note: Unfortunatly, you are correct, at least here in Chicago.
> I've gotten the same rap from Police HQ, however the supervisors in the
> actual 911 dispatch area tell me I am correct and the brass upstairs is
> wrong for pushing my call back to them. Its a case of some people not wanting
> to do their job, and pushing it off on someone else.  PT]

Another explanation for this apparent discrepancy between the Bosses
and the Workers is that the Bosses probably want the usage of 911 to
be as high as possible.  This would provide high usage figures for the
administrative budget hearings (where everyone wants a larger slice of
the pie) to justify increases in staff or for equipment upgrades.  We
are getting ready to go through an election out in Kane County over
the Enhanced 911 (E911) issue, to justify a $0.50 per month line
charge for each phone line in the county.  I suspect that emergency
services supervisors in city or county government need high usage peg
counts to justify the need for the rather expensive equipment,
services, and staff required to provide this service.

Also, salary paid to supervisors in many of the these government
agencies may depend upon the number of employees under said supervisor
(a boss with 20 employees would like to add 10 or so more so that
he/she can get promoted to the next step on the salary scale).  This
is a very powerful incentive for a headquarters official to tell you
to use 911 when the Admin number would do as well.

An additional reason for the request to use 911 (a little less
sinister) is that if the call would involve the dispatch of a patrol
car, then the 911 service bureau would provide a central place for
monitoring the status of all dispatched patrol cars.  A subversion of
the 911 system, but it could be another case of the users (the police
headquarters) of the system making it fit their needs, instead of
using it as it was designed.

#include <std/disclaimer.h>

Don Ritchey       [e-mail]
(or in real life) [e-mail]
AT&T Bell Labs IH 1D-409
Naperville, IL 60566
[phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Charles Balan)
Subject: Re: NYC Time and Weather
Date: 2 Nov 89 20:29:09 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Charles Balan)
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine


>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
>edu (Yoram Eisenstadter) writes:

>>An enterprising company has devised a cheap alternative to the usual
>>976 numbers for time and weather in New York City.

>>For those who are interested, the number for NYC Time an Weather is:
>>212-753-TIME (753-8463).

This is interesting.  When I moved from Fla. area code (305) [It has
since changed to some other] I was used to calling the time/temp line,
but there was none here in the (919) Chapel Hill area.  But about 2
years ago, some enterprising person decided to make a "free" number
available, with advertising.  It was very popular with students and it
incorporates the weather forecast taken from *another* local number.
I often want to know what the expected high or low is going to be and
usually call when I am waking up in the a.m.  to see what I need to
wear that day. :-)

But I have never heard that they used the expensive 976 numbers for
this item.  Incidentally, I never checked the time against the
standard time.  It is close enough for government work :-) BTW: the
number is [phone] easy to remember, eh?


Charles Balan
[e-mail]   ,    [e-mail]    ,   [e-mail]
%%%%%  They're from Aliens.....I seen 'em!    %%%%%%%%%%%%

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

From: Thomas E Lowe <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Strange Recording
Date: 2 Nov 89 13:28:42 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (thomas.e.lowe,ho,)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Mike Koziol) writes:

>Last night I received a call at work. It was a female computer
>generated voice that said "Plese wait while I try to connect you". A
 ...
>[Moderator's Note: I do think you got an automated junk-call and somehow
>the telemarketing reps all got behind in their work ...

American Express uses such a system to call their customers who are
late in paying their bills.  Every night, their mainframes generate
lists of clients to call and download them to smaller systems.  During
the day, these smaller systems dial the customers numbers.  As soon as
an answer is detected, the customer information is displayed on the
next available agent's screen and the customer is connected to that
agent.

If no agents are available, I would assume it plays some sort of
announcement, but I don't think they have that problem too much.  They
spent big bucks in traffic engineering studies and programs to
determine when to make calls and not to make calls.  An interesting
legal consideration is that once the phone is answered FOR ANY REASON,
they must make their speach, and cannot call back for another 30 days
(I think 30).  This includes answering machines, kids, dogs, anything.
(don't know about modems/faxes).

It is a fascinating, non junk-call use of automated outbound
telemarketing systems.  I forget the numbers, but it do believe it has
improved agent productivity more than a couple fold.

Disclaimer:   This is all what I have heard from unofficial sources
outside of AT&T and as far as I know, none is proprietary.  If any
numbers or facts are wrong, please correct me.


Tom Lowe    [e-mail] or  att!hound!tel     [phone]
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Room 2E-637A
Crawfords Corner Road,  Holmdel, NJ  07733
(R) UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T  (keep them lawyers happy!!)

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave "bd" Hsu)
Subject: Re: Caller ID Device
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Dave "bd" Hsu)
Organization: Merriversity of Uniland, College Purgatory
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 20:26:17 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Louis J. Judice 26-Oct-1989 1007) writes:
X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 474, message 10 of 11

>Hi Patrick - the Caller ID Display Device in the Hello Direct catalog is

How do you get a Hello Direct catalog?  Could somebody email me the relevant
phone number?

>Unfortunately, NJ Bell tells me that my C.O. (Peapack) is not
>scheduled for CLASS Calling Services until JANUARY, 1991!!!
>[Moderator's Note: A full year yet! That's a pity. Ours in Chicago-
>Rogers Park is set for fourth quarter '89, but so far nothing
>has been publicized.  PT]

Caller ID goes into operation in my area (Potomac, Maryland) starting
Thursday, October 2.  Local residential rate is $6.50 per month, no option
to conceal your phone number planned.


Dave Hsu    UMd EE Computer Facility    [e-mail]

"When a man with a katana meets a man with a [GAU-8] Avenger,
   the man with the katana dies."    - Samurai Cat

[Moderator's Note: If it started October 2, I assume you have signed
up? Can you give us any specifics of how it works in your application?
Regards 'Hello Direct': 1-800-HI-HELLO should get you what you want.
Please mention TELECOM Digest when calling.  PT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #489
*****************************










Date:     Fri, 3 Nov 89 1:52:32 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #490
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 3 Nov 89 01:50:50 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 490

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Three Press Clips: British TMA Convention ("Computing" via Kevin Hopkins)
    More Phone-card Phraud (Jim Gottlieb)
    NTT Baits Hackers (David Gast)
    CT-2 - A Low-cost Mobile Phone in the UK (Phil Herlihy)
    FAX Switch Box (David Dodell)
    Cryptic Abbreviations (Daniel, of Melbourne Australia)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: British TMA Convention (01/03).
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 89 18:41:47 +0000
From: Kevin Hopkins <[e-mail]>


It seems  the Telecommunications Managers Association  had a  convention in
Brighton, on the  south  coast of England, last  week.  As ever "Computing"
was there  to report on  it and Kev is  here to  type it  in for you. These
three articles are  reprinted without permission from the   issue dated 2nd
November 1989 and cover talks by all three "sides".

My comments inside ().


"SERVICE FAILS TO SATISFY USERS' NEEDS
by Rupert Widdicombe

User views on what constitutes good service are in stark  contrast to those
of   British Telecom  (BT)    and Mercury, it   emerged  at    last  week's
Telecommunications Managers Association (TMA) convention.

The TMA, representing over  800 telecommunications professionals in  UK and
international companies, which account  for a significant proportion  of BT
and Mercury's national  revenues,  surveyed its members  and found   BT and
Mercury wanting.

TMA representative  Adrian Squires commented: `BT  and Mercury target their
own businesses on self-set benchmarks that don't match user needs'.

The survey  concluded that BT's  targets  are insufficiently stretching and
the company is  not  addressing the needs  of the business  user very well.
Mercury, as sole national competitor, is not  providing a level  of service
to stimulate true competition.

(This is  more  so true in the  residential  market  where Mercury are only
serving the  major cities and towns,  usually only in England, and ignoring
the rest of the UK.)

BT marketing and sales director Nick Kane gave delegates a  progress report
on the  Total Quality Management  initiative,  which has so far re-educated
20,000 managers, and relayed the latest improved performance figures.

`However, we also know that your perception  is different and that there is
a  discrepancy between our measurements  and  those of the customer',  Kane
concluded.

BT, Mercury and the TMA will meet again later this year.

BT's ambitions to become a global player and its increasing IT activity are
also causing the association some concern.

`There is too  much emphasis on developing the  worldwide business, not  in
terms of money  but in  people, when there  should be  much  more focus  on
national service issues', Squires said.

`Until  BT has sorted  out the problems  on  its own network, there must be
some doubt over its credibility as an IT player', he added."

(BT seem to have greatly improved the reliability of their network over the
last year  or two, in  response to some  very  bad press.  BT  now  need to
improve the range of services offered over their network.)

                         ====================
My comments inside ().

"BT LAYS DOWN ITS PLANS TO GROW ABROAD

British Telecom is planning more overseas acquisitions in a bid to become a
worldwide telecoms company.

BT  chairman Iain  Vallance  said  at the   convention:  `British Telecom's
specific goal is,  quite simply, to  become the  most  successful worldwide
telecoms group'.

Vallance said acquisition of the X.25 network Tymnet from McDonnell Douglas
in  the US,  a  20% stake  in the US   mobile communications company  McCaw
Cellular,  and  a 25% stake in  Network Information  Services in Japan will
pave the way for BT.

(Can people in the States  tell  us how big/important  are Tymnet and McCaw
Cellular?  These might   be  "nice little   earners"  for BT but are   they
important companies? The same for   NIS in  Japan,   I  believe there is  a
contributor to the digest from that part of the East.)

`Investing in such acquisitions is vital, and we  shall continue with these
strategic moves', he said.

He added  that companies from large  multinationals  down  to  much smaller
enterprises   were demanding one-stop   shopping for  telecommunications to
serve their global operations.

Vallance    identified three  building   blocks  to  strengthen BT's global
position: mobile communications,  value added network services and  systems
integration.

`Developments in mobile  communications are making  it easier to bypass the
fixed  link networks' Vallance  said. BT  will  not  let  regulations which
prevented it  from  bidding for one of  the  new mobile licences   stop the
company from supplying equivalent services under its existing licence.

The BT  chairman said the company's role  in open systems  through its open
network architecture was the route to systems integration.

                         ===================

My comments inside ().


"MERCURY PLEDGES STIFF COMPETITION

Mercury will take on  British Telecom in  all sectors in  the 1990s, making
the option   of  a  third national  operator  unnecessary, Mercury managing
director Gordon Owen said last week.

A review of the two company national policy is  due to start  next year and
one of the  options telecom watchdog Oftel will  consider is increasing the
number of licences.

`A third operator is not the way way to go forward, but there  is a need to
look at competition in the local loop', Owen  told the TMA  conference last
week.

Licensing cable  television operators to  supply communications services to
the home or office  would be one way  of increasing competition in a sector
dominated  by BT,  but  Mercury will  use  the new  generation    of mobile
communications to bypass the fixed local links.

`In 1984, as far as our customers  were concerned we did  not exist. We now
offer  the only all digital network  in Europe. By the  1990s we will be  a
complete competitor to BT', Owen told delegates.

(Mercury  had better  pull  their  socks up  then  because  according to my
calendar the 1990s are only 59 days away!  As far  as most people in the UK
are concerned the only telephone company is BT. The government gave Mercury
a  license to stop people complaining  of BT  becoming  a private monopoly,
rather than a public one, when it was sold off in 1984.  Since then Mercury
has picked and  chose the most lucrative  markets and places to  serve.  It
would  be  in the interest of   the UK customers  if  more competition were
allowed from 1991 when the new  telecommunications licenses are  issued, or
else compel BT to provide  complete  equal access  for long distance  calls
across the whole of  the  UK  rather than parts,  and Mercury to pride  the
alternative service for the whole of the UK.)

Mercury will move into the higher levels  of IT, as BT is  currently trying
to do. However it is not going to rush in. `A  number of computer companies
have  tried to  get  into  telecoms and  failed,    and vice versa,'   Owen
commented, citing IBM and AT&T as two examples.

+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| [e-mail] | Kevin Hopkins,              |
| or    ..!mcvax!ukc!nott-cs!K.Hopkins         | Department of Computer Science,|
| or in the UK: [e-mail]         | University of Nottingham,      |
| CHAT-LINE: [phone] x 3815         | Nottingham, ENGLAND, NG7 2RD   |
+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+


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

From: Jim Gottlieb <[e-mail]>
Subject: More Phone-card Phraud
Date: 2 Nov 89 10:17:06 GMT
Reply-To: Jim Gottlieb <denwa![e-mail]>
Organization: Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan


Stolen from The Japan Times, 10/31/89:

"Two men were convicted by Tokyo District Court Monday for tampering
with NTT telephone cards to increase the number of calls they can
make.
 ...  [They] violated the Securities Transaction Law, the court ruled.

Kawai was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and Sakaki was given an
18-month suspended sentence.

Two presiding judges ruled that using falsified telephone cards in pay
phones is tantamount to using securities.

However, another judge ruled in a separate case in September that
tampering with a telephone card does not constitute use of a security,
so legal observers say it will be up to the Supreme Court...

According to Monday's ruling, Kawai changed about 1,600 telephone
cards, each good for 500-yen worth of telephone calls, into cards
worth 20,000 yen.  He sold the altered cards to acquaintences for as
much as 3,500 yen.

Sakaki also sold about 320 tampered cards for about 2 million yen.

One of the presiding judges ruled that using tampered telephone cards
on public telephones is the same as misleading Nippon Telegraph and
Telephone Corp. into believing the cards--false securities--are
genuine."

   Jim Gottlieb                     Info
Connections, Tokyo, Japan
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
       <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy>
Fax: (011)[phone]           Voice Mail: (011)[phone] ID#82-42-424

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

Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 19:26:51 -0800
From: David Gast <[e-mail]>
Subject: NTT Baits Hackers


> Tokyo - Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. has issued a provocative
> challenge: the Japanese communications giant will give 1 million yen
> ($6803) to any computer hacker anywhere in the world who can break its
> FEAL-8 data communications security code by August 1991. Why the
> unusual move? The company wants to debunk a rumor circulationg in
> Europe that its security code has been cracked. The FEAL-8 code,
> developed by NTT in 1986, is widely used in Japan and overseas to
> protect datacom systems and integrated circuit cards from illegal
> access.

This offer seems pretty naive.  First, it's an invitation for anyone
to try to crack the code, so they couldn't be prosecuted for trying.
Secondly, if someone did crack it, do you really expect them to reveal
it for $7000?  I would guess they might try to take significantly
larger amounts.

NTT should watch out for former S&L sleaze attempting another rip off
of the public.  :-(


David Gast
[e-mail]
{uunet,ucbvax,rutgers}!{ucla-cs,cs.ucla.edu}!gast

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

Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 12:28:46 GMT
From: Phil Herlihy <[e-mail]>
Subject: CT2 - A Low-cost Mobile Phone in the UK

Here in the UK we are seeing the launch of a low-ish cost alternative
to cellphones: a roaming cordless phone.  The technology is referred
to as 'CT2'; brand names of Phonepoint and Zone Phone are being
promoted.

The user carries a small handset (some fold up!) which can make
*outgoing* calls when within range (a few yards) of a static base
station.  Stations, which can handle multiple calls, are being
installed in the walls of a number of well-sited buildings in
high-streets, shopping centres and railway stations.

They are still fairly rare, although I found I have one within 5
minutes walk of my home in NE London.  Compatible base stations are
available for use in the home or office; eventually - the idea is -
you carry the same handset around wherever you go, and all calls you
make end up on the same bill.  A limitation is that you can't take
incoming calls; a pager may be used to get round this.

This may be the first implementation of CT2 in the world.  If it
catches on, (there has been eager talk of a big market gap between
POTS and cell-phones) maybe I'll be able to ring Auntie in Australia
on the office phone - at home?

{My employer has an interest in one of these ventures, although I'm not
 working in any connected area.  From the advertising, "our" handset
 (Phonepoint) looks to be half the bulk of the other one, so it looks like
 we can expect to *stuff* the competition once again!}

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

Date: Thu, 02 Nov 89 00:26:43 mst
From: David Dodell <[e-mail]>
Subject: FAX Switch Box

Being the recent purchaser of a FAX machine for my office, I've now
reached the point of deciding if I need a seperate phone line for the
FAX machine.

95% of the traffic from the FAX is outbound, which at the moment, sits
on a back private line in my office.  To get inbound faxes, I manually
turn on the machine.

Since almost all of the FAXs are outbound, I can't seem to justify the
expense of another phone line, so the thought of the switchboxes come
to mind.

However, I have seen them advertised in all shapes and prices.

Can anyone offer some feedback on "best" choice, or on these items in
general?

David
   -------------------------------------------------------------------------
               uucp:  {decvax, ncar} !noao!asuvax!stjhmc!ddodell
        uucp:  {gatech, ames, rutgers} !ncar!noao!asuvax!stjhmc!ddodell
    Bitnet: ATW1H @ ASUACAD                    FidoNet=> 1:114/15
                  Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Cryptic Abbreviations
Date: 3 Nov 89 13:12:56 (UTC+11:00)
Organization: The University of Melbourne


Could someone please explain some North American abbreviations:

COCOT
NXX-XXXX   (why 'N' )

Thanks,

Daniel
[e-mail]  (University of Melbourne)

[Moderator's Note: COCOT = 'Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone'
however sometimes it is stated in reverse as, 'Coin Operated Customer
Owned Telephone'. In other words, a 'private pay-phone', something
that's been plaguing the United States since about the time Judge
Greene delivered himself of his ruling; in his wisdom, of course.

'NXX-XXXX' is just a way of describing a theoretical phone number, but
I don't think it is quite the way you described it. Perhaps readers
will comment on how we have come to describe phone numbers with 'N' and
'X', etc.    PT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #490
*****************************










Date:     Sat, 4 Nov 89 0:14:19 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #491
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 4 Nov 89 00:13:18 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 491

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Jim Breen)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (John Gilmore)
    Re: Cryptic Abbreviations (John Higdon)
    Re: Cryptic Abbreviations (Carl Moore)
    Re: AT&T's ACUS Service (Linc Madison)
    Re: Touch-tone Fee (John Higdon)
    Re: CT2 - A Low-cost Mobile Phone in the UK (Will Martin)
    Re: The Hottest Answering Machine (Mark Feblowitz)
    Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US? (Dave Horsfall)
    Industry Nicknames (Bernard Mckeever)
    What Does NAM Mean? (Ben Thornton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Jim Breen <munnari!cit5.cit.oz.au![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Organization: Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melb., Australia
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 06:29:23 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, euatdt@euas11c05.
ericsson.se (Torsten Dahlkvist) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> munnari!cit5.cit.oz.
> au![e-mail] (Jim Breen) writes:

> >They are NOT byte-oriented 8000 byte/sec; it is BIT oriented 64000
> >bps. You can put any protocol you like on an ISDN B-channel. Protocols
> >have been standardized for the D-channel, as this is for signalling
> >and packet traffic.

> Ah, maybe we should realize that there are more and less absolute
> truths in these matters.

> The basic ISDN-frame is byte-oriented and the hardware (in this case
> the ISDN-chip in the SPARCstation) ALWAYS provides a frame sync to
> allow you to read the bit stream byte by byte. Why? Because the
> TELEPHONY transmission is byte oriented..........

Ok I'll bite. WHERE in the Red or Blue books does it say the B
channels are byte oriented. Of course, the networks will go to a lot
of trouble to maintain synch, which they do out of band, i.e.  using
the F bits on the S bus, and timeslot 0 on the primary access. If
SPARC terminals are adding a frame synch, that's terrific for them;
provided they are always talking to other SPARC terminals.

> In the bit-oriented datacomm standards specified, this frame sync is
> simply ignored, as far as the interface to other equipment is
> concerned......................

I'll say they they ignore them; they never see them. I maintain synch
info is NOT sent on the B channel.

> >must NEVER be a standard protocol above Layer 1. ISDN is to be a
> >bit-pipe service.

> Aren't there ANY byte-oriented protocols around that could be used to
> form a basis for a bytewise link over ISDN? There are obvious
> advantages.

Sure, there are several: HDLC, LAPB, etc. etc. Different pairs of
users make up their own minds. Of course, if you are using your B
channel to access a service, such as a packet-switched network, you
will have to fall into line with that network. Here in Australia
Austpac access will be available through the B channel, with LAPB as
the link protocol. It will be available for BRA users over the D
channel, in which case LAPD will be used.


   _______           Jim Breen ([e-mail]) Department of Robotics &
  /o\----\\     \O      Digital Technology. Chisholm Inst. of Technology
 /RDT\   /|\   \/|   -:O____/         PO Box 197 Caulfield East 3145
O-----O        _/_\    /\ /\          (p) 03-573 2552 (fax) 572 1298

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

Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 23:46:05 PST
From: John Gilmore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate

well![e-mail] (Peter Joseph Desnoyers) wrote:

> Could someone set my mind to rest? I have heard several times that the
> SparcStation has an ISDN basic rate interface on-board. Other people,
> including people who should know, have insisted that Sun is not
> shipping any products with a basic-rate interface.

The Sun SPARCstation-1 contains an AMD 79C30 ISDN speakerphone chip.
This chip has an ISDN basic rate interface on chip, but requires some
passive components (e.g. transformers and a "TransZorb" surge
protector) to couple it to the phone line.

In early SPARCstation-1's, there are locations on the circuit board
for these components, but the components themselves are not provided.
You can buy them and solder them in yourself, though.  The actual
wires that would plug into the wall come out of the "audio" DIN jack
(the same one where you can cable up a microphone).

However, later versions of the SPARCstation-1 board do not even have
for these components.  There is no convenient way to make such a
SPARCstation-1 talk ISDN.

The engineers who built in the ISDN chip would like very much to see
it used for ISDN.  The holdup is in the software people at Sun, who
don't see much use in supporting it.  This has resulted in the
hardware people saying "well then we won't even bother putting it in".
The result is that *maybe* in a few years you will be able to spend
hundreds of dollars for an S-bus board and software to do ISDN, which
but for a lack of cooperation and two bucks a machine, would have been
a standard feature in today's machines.

If *you* would like to see ISDN support in Sun's desktop machines,
please send email to your Sun sales rep.  They can forward it to the
SPARCstation-1 product marketing folks, who will see if there really
is a customer desire for this.  I think it'd be the cat's pajamas for
interconnecting a home Sun with an office network, or connecting up
multiple small offices within a city (e.g. real- estate offices
networking to a common database of properties & maps & photos).  Not
to mention being 4x as fast as a Telebit modem for good old email and
netnews.

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cryptic Abbreviations
Date: 3 Nov 89 21:06:03 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
unimelb.edu.au writes:

> NXX-XXXX   (why 'N' )
[Moderator's Note:]
> 'NXX-XXXX' is just a way of describing a theoretical phone number, but
> I don't think it is quite the way you described it. Perhaps readers
> will comment on how we have come to describe phone numbers with 'N' and
> 'X', etc.    PT]

C'mon Patrick. It's just that way. 'N'=2...9 (or any digit on the dial
with exchange letters associated with it) and 'X'=0...9 (or any digit,
period).

A valid LA area phone number could be '200-1010' or, if you will,
'NXX-XXXX'. Yes? (FYI, 200 is a cellular prefix.)

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

Date:     Fri, 3 Nov 89 15:08:06 EST
From:     Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re: Cryptic Abbreviations

N means any single digit EXCEPT 0 or 1.
X means any single digit.

No two of any of these symbols necessarily represent the same digit.
As to how the symbols N and X were chosen for this, I don't know.

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

Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 01:51:12 PST
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: AT&T's ACUS Service

In article <[e-mail]> Bill Fenner
([e-mail]) writes:

>AT&T announced a new service at Penn State's University Park campus
>this fall, called ACUS long-distance service.  With this service, each
>student gets their own PSC (Personal Security Code).  The PSC
>identifies the student, no matter which room he is calling from....

This sounds very similar to the system used in the dorms at
UC-Berkeley, although my understanding was that it was more the
University than the telco or LD Co that put this into place.  There
was one HUGE hitch: if you ever accepted a collect call, you were hit
with a HEFTY surcharge, to the tune of $20 or some such absurdity, to
cover the administrative cost of manually assigning the charge to your
account.

I don't have first-hand experience with the system, though, 'cause I'm
a CO-OPER!  In the co-ops, we just have Centrex nightmares....  but
I've already written about those here.

   Linc Madison    =   [e-mail]

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Touch-tone Fee
Date: 3 Nov 89 18:11:56 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Kim Ciula) writes:

> Monday I called Ohio Bell to ask them to remove touch-tone service on
> my phone and was told I'd have to pay a $9.30 service fee to do so!
> Is this common?  What is involved in removing touch-tone service from
> a line?  (Not much, I expect...)

Depends. In an electronic office, it is a simple matter of typing in
the new feature (or denial thereof) at the control console. Obviously,
there is some paperwork involved, but at least in California, there
are very few times you are charged for "removal" of a service. A
notable exception is removal of lines from hunting, where there is a
$20 charge for any hunting change including removal.

On a crossbar office, hard wiring in your vertical file determines
whether you get a tone receiver-equipped originating register or not.
This is really the only way they have of restricting TT in that type
of switch. Some crossbar COs are fully TT equipped and are incapable
of denying TT service. I suspect, not being in Pac*Bell territory,
that you have an electronic office, however.

In any event, a charge to remove service is usually designed to make
the customer think twice about his action. No telco wants to give up
the free money that things like TT charges generate and if they can
convince you that keeping the service would be cheaper in the long
run, they have successfully protected their revenue. Charges for
activation/deactivation of non-essential features are usually rubber
stamped by state utility commissions.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

Date:     Fri, 3 Nov 89 12:57:09 CST
From: Will Martin <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re: CT2 - A Low-cost Mobile Phone in the UK

Since pagers appear to be the normal complement to these outcall-only
totable phones, why not save the user the need of carrying two
separate boxes and just build the pager into the portable phone unit?
It could be designed so that the number to call was not only shown on
the pager display, and stored in its memory, but was also made
available to the telephone part of the unit.  Then the user would only
have to press one button -- something marked "Return Call" or the like  --
and the phone would automatically dial that number.

If the pager has a memory and lets you display the last "n" numbers it
received messages on, that display circuit could be linked to the
phone so you can hit "Return Call" and automatically dial whatever
number is currently shown in the display.

This sounds like a good "next-step-up" for the product line.

Regards, Will Martin

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

Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 10:06:06 EST
From: Mark Feblowitz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Hottest Answering Machine

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Cyril Bauer) writes:

> I would sugest the Panasonic unit. I have tried a few and the easiest
> and most reliable I have found is the Panasonic.  They make models
> that do most everthing that you could possibly want to do. Take your
> pick, they work.

I second that strongly: 5 years ago, the 3-family in which my sister
rented an apartment burned. Her apartment was on the first floor and
suffered substantial water and smoke damage. Her 3 year old Panasonia
answering machine was soaked. She gave it to me and bought a new one.
I cleaned the circuit board, record/playback heads, and the drive belt
with alcohol, and replaced the incoming and outgoing tapes. Five years
later, it still works flawlessly. About 3 years ago, I replaced the
speaker, whose diaphragm was also soaked in the fire, so that I could
hear the messages better. If and when I need a new one, I'll go get a
Panasonic.

The standard disclaimer: I have no relationship to the aforementioned
company except for that of "satisfied customer".

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

From: Dave Horsfall <munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US?
Date: 4 Nov 89 02:27:29 GMT
Reply-To: Dave Horsfall <[e-mail]>
Organization: Alcatel STC Australia, North Sydney, AUSTRALIA


In article <[e-mail]>
    [e-mail] (Dan Sahlin) writes:

| As I understand it, "011" is used as the international prefix in the
| US, whereas the international recommendation is "00". Are there some
| other numbers starting with 00 preventing it to be used as
| international prefix?

For starters, Australia uses 000 as the emergency number (like 911 in
USA and 999 in GB).

By the way, we have a whole swag of operator-assist numbers, depending
on the service.  For example, 1100 is "Service difficulties and
faults", 013 is (local) directory assistance etc.


Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel STC Australia,  [e-mail]
[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave

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

From: Bernard Mckeever <[e-mail]>
Subject: Industry Nicknames
Date: 3 Nov 89 19:12:35 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (bernard.mckeever,54236,mv,3b045,508 960 6289)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


All industries use jargon or nicknames that are well accepted in work
related conversations. The telephone field has some of the most
unique. What follows is a "short" list of nicknames for common devices
found in and around a central office. I've left plenty of items off
the list so that others can add any that they find interesting.

Telephone Test Set used by almost all technicians to place calls
and check switch operations ....AKA..Butt Set/Buttinski/Goat

21A Transmission Test Set.......AKA..Juke Box

D3/D4 Portable Test Set.........AKA..Foot Stool

Orange Stick/Spudger   .........AKA..Nose Picker

72 Type [?] Projection Meter....AKA..Mickey Mouse

Contact Cleaning Spray..........AKA..Instant Switchman

35 Type Fuses...................AKA..Grasshopper

A Point To Ponder: Why is it that the Bell System referred to any test
set with a handle as portable? I mean a Volkswagon has handles.  Some
of those test sets rivaled a Volkswagon in size and weight.

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

From: Ben Thornton <val![e-mail]>
Subject: What Does NAM Mean?
Date: 4 Nov 89 01:20:42 GMT
Organization: Video Associates Labs, Inc.


A friend asked me recently if I knew what the acronym NAM means in the
context of telecommunications.  Can anyone hazard a guess on this one?


Ben Thornton             packet:  WD5HLS @ KB5PM
Video Associates Labs      uucp:  ...!cs.utexas.edu!oakhill!val!ben
Austin, TX              fidonet:  1:382/40 - The Antenna Farm BBS

------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V9 #491
*****************************










Date:     Sat, 4 Nov 89 13:31:18 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #492
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 4 Nov 89 13:30:55 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 492

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Toll Calls in Australia ([e-mail])
    T1 Test Equipment Info (Bob Steinbeiser)
    Internet Address for Telemail (Gerald H. Orita)
    Is This V&H Data? (Dave Levenson)
    1-700-NXX-XXXX (David W. Tamkin)
    Re: PABX Communications With Local Telco (Lars J. Poulsen)
    Re: Cryptic Abbreviations (Eric Schnoebelen)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Toll Calls in Australia
Date: 3 Nov 89 12:55:25 (UTC+11:00)
Organization: The University of Melbourne


With all the discussion about how to tell whether a call is toll or
local, I thought I would let everyone know the Australian system.

In Australia, the network is divided into zones.  Several zones are
grouped into areas with the necessary area codes.  Intra-area calls do
not require the area code.  Inter-area calls always require an area
code.

Calls within a zone, or to an adjoining zone are considered local and
are charged 21c, untimed.  Zones meeting at a point are considered
adjoining.

Calls to a non adjoining zone are toll, and to signify this five short
pips are heard at the beginning of the call.  Charging begins when the
pips have ended.

This allows both the caller and the called to know that the call is
toll (called 'STD' in Oz, for 'Subscriber Trunk Dialling').

Australia also uses meter pulses, with each unit equal to a local call
fee, 21c.  This has the advantage that if you want to ring Perth from
Sydney to say,"Hi, I made it safely" and you can do it in less than 20
seconds it will only cost 21c even in peak times.  Messages less than
7 seconds can be sent overseas for the cost of a local call, since
there is no minimum time, just the 7 second metering.  ( 10.59 seconds
for off peak to USA ).

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

From: steinbeiser <bbt.uucp![e-mail]>
Subject: T1 Test Equipment Info
Date: 3 Nov 89 14:25:12 GMT
Reply-To: steinbeiser <bbt.uucp![e-mail]>
Organization: BroadBand Technologies


I am looking for any information on T1 testing gear.  I need to test a
SLC 96 type system, and need a tester that can detect and inject the
variety of errors that are common to T1 testing (BPVs, logic, frame,
CRC errors, slips etc.).  I also need to check the state of the
signaling and data link channels, and would like to be able to examine
the data in each DS0.

Some kind of data interface to this tester is required for future test
automation and logging (IEEE 488 or RS232).

I am familiar with the TBERD from Telecommunications Techniques, and
Model 802A DS1 Frame Simulator from Tekelec, but I,m sure the must be
a better one out there for my application.

Any specific recomendations, or general T1 testing info would be
great.  Thanks in advance for your help!

Bob Steinbeiser
BroadBand Technologies
RTP, NC 919-544-6850 X255
[e-mail]

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

From: "Gerald H. Orita" <boulder!ngdc2![e-mail]>
Subject: Internet Address for Telemail
Date: 3 Nov 89 17:42:58 GMT
Reply-To: "Gerald H. Orita" <boulder!ngdc2![e-mail]>
Organization: National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado


I would like to know if there is an Internet address for Telemail.  We
would like to excess Telemail through Internet instead of through
modems.

I would like suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Gerald H. Orita
E-mail - [e-mail]

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Is This V&H Data?
Date: 4 Nov 89 04:04:52 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


I have come upon a copy of a database -- about 8 Mbytes -- which I
think is a recent dump of the "V & H tape" mentioned in this
newsgroup.  It consists of tens of thousands of records of 168 bytes
each.  A random slice of three lines (folded to fit on your 80-column
display) looks like:

0563402564NORTHEATON05634025640216748070111011003200563702569NORTHEATONOH
062281YY1NETNOHXARS1RM 0565902594BB000000OBRLOHXA01T0565902594BDOBRLOHXA0
1TCLEVELAND 0615560561

0557402543CLEVELAND 05574025430216749070101011003200558802539CLEVELAND OH
062281YY1CLEVOH7474EERA0557502544BB000000CLEVOH620GT0557502544BDCLEVOH620
GTCLEVELAND 5150000082

0555702353YOUNGSTOWN05557023530216750070101011003220556102340YOUNGSTOWNOH
062281YY1STRTOH7575AERC0556502350BB000000YNTWOH780GT0556502350BDYNTWOH780
GTYOUNGSTOWN5150082050

It appears that columns 1-5 are probably the `V' co-ordinate, and that
columns 6-10 are `H'.  The city name appears columns 62-71, and in a
shorter form, in columns 11-20.  The state is in columns 72-73.  The
area code is in columns 32-34, and the exchange code is in columns
35-37.

This would decode the last of the above three lines as:

  v     h     city     st    alt-city  npa nnx
05555 70235 YOUNGSTOWN OH (YOUNGSTOWN) 216-750

Can anybody tell me what the rest of this stuff is?  Is there a
Bellcore tech ref that gives the full format for this tape?

I think this is public information -- part of somebody's tariff
filing, if I'm not mistaken.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  If it
is public, then I'm willing to share it, but don't ask me to transfer
8 Mbytes over the net!  I have it on 8 MS-DOS high density 5 1/4"
diskettes.  I can probably compress it and save some space, but it
will still take several days at 2400 bps!


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

Subject: 1-700-NXX-XXXX
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 10:30:40 CST
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

My primary long-distance carrier (Telecom*USA) treats calls to
1-700-NXX-XXXX as a request to use them to reach a number in your own
area code, even if it is in the same LATA as the calling point.
1-700-555-4141 gets their carrier identification recording, but
555-4141 reaches local directory assistance, so I guess there is at
least one exception.

A call to 312-830-1210 appeared on my long distance bill, and
Telecom*USA explained to me that since it was within my LATA and I
knew I hadn't dialed 10835-1-312-830-1210, I must have dialed
1-700-830-1210.  I'm already in the habit of dialing 1708 before calls
to the Chicago suburbs (yes, it has worked from my exchange since
August at least), and apparently I doubled the 0 in trying to reach
jolnet at 1-708-301-2100.

Is this true of any other carriers?

<While the original submission was bouncing about the mail system, I
received the next bill from Telecom*USA.  It had an insert about
1-700-NXX-XXXX, specifying in a footnote that it wouldn't work for
inter-NPA, intra-LATA calls (but I imagine 10835-1-NPA-NXX-XXXX might,
depending on how the local telco handles such things). -- DWT>


David W. Tamkin     [e-mail]   {attctc,netsys}!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois  60018-0813   [phone]  [phone]
BIX: dattier  GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN  CIS: 73720,1570   The opinions above are mine.

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars J Poulsen)
Subject: Re: PABX Communications With Local Telco
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Lars J Poulsen)
Organization: Advanced Computer Communications, Santa Barbara, California
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 17:48:07 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>
    [e-mail] (Nutsy Fagen) writes:
>        In a relatively simple manner, could someone explain how a
>local telco communicates with a PABX in terms of incoming/outgoing
>phone numbers?  I realize there usually isn't one discrete wire for
>every extension available on the PABX.

Unlike many other contributors here, I'm not a "pro", so my
explanation may be simplistic; on the other hand you may find it more
readable ...

A PABX (Private Automatic Branch eXchange) is a smaller version of
what the phone company has in the central office. As the technology
moves down the price scale, it is very likely that many families will
soon have one in their home, and the following explanation will be in
terms of such an installation.

Our hypothetical house has 5 phones, a modem and an answering machine,
each of which has a number:
- 21 kitchen
- 22 livingroom
- 23 master bedroom
- 24 teenage daughter's room
- 25 study: desk
- 26 study: modem line
- 27 study: answering machine

It also has two lines to the outside world, each of which has been
assigned a phone number by the phone company.

To call from any phone in the house to any other phone, you pick up,
get dial tone and then dial the 2-digit number shown above. To dial
from any phone in the house to any outside number, you dial an access
code (usually a single digit) and then the outside number.

What happens to incoming calls is programmable. Uusually, each outside
line is programmed to ring at one particular number, and if not
answered there, forward to a different one. So you may have line 1
ring the study and forward to the answering machine if there is no
answer. And have line 2 start in the teenage daughter's room and
forward to the answering machine.

Note in all of this, that as far as the phone company is concerned,
this is an ordinary house with two phone lines. There is no special
handling in the central office for these two numbers.

> I've also noticed, when using
>a calling card from my dorm room, that one of two numbers will appear
>for the origin.  Does this mean anything spectacular (one 'number' can
>only run so many lines, or maybe we have several separate services
>entrances, for backup)?

The PBX programming ability varies widely. PBX's used to be VERY
expensive and not very programmable, until the computerized telephone
technology scaled down. Today, a PBX has a PC-class computer built in,
and the amount of programming ability that is built in is generally
limited by what the manufacturer thinks the customers can handle
without being confused. Remember that in a small office, these things
are generally handled by a secretary (or a lawyer, or an accountant)
who has no computer programming background. It is more cost effective
to limit the functionality than to have support people on the
telephone training people in using the features of the system. And
peopel who misprogram the things will be complaining about how
"unreliable" the things are.

In general, a small system will EITHER have one access code which
picks outgoing line A if it is open, line B if line A was busy. OR it
will have two access codes: One for line A or one for line B.

It sounds like your system uses the first of these options.

>        I'd also heard that our ATT System 85 was capable of
>communicating with Rochester Tel regarding what phone number was being
>called FROM, but it was not implemented.  (I know that all calls from
>campus to 911 show up as the same source and address)

Larger systems have many more features than described above. This is
justified because they will be managed by professionals with specific
training in programming telephone systems, who can therefore be
expected to understand more complicated features. They also tend to be
able to talk to the central office about things that do not make sense
on normal subscriber lines. Such access trunks are more expensive than
ordinary lines.

Among the things that the feature-rich trunks can handle, are DID
(Direct Inward Dialing) and its counterpart, ANI (Automatic Number
Identification). DID is used in a situation where you have been issued
a "real" phone number for each extension (each phone in the house)
instead of one for each line you have to the central office. When the
call comes in, the central office tells the PBX which number was
called.  ANI is the opposite: On an outgoing call, the PBX tells the
CO which extension the call came from.

What you are describing above, sounds like the PBX's on campus have
hardware and software to do these things, but the central office they
are connected to is not set up for using these features.

And now for the more confusing part. Some customers like the features
of a PBX, but they don't want the hassle of maintaining it. So the
phone company gives them a line for each instrument, and SIMULATES a
PBX in software at the central office. This is called CENTREX.

A large CENTREX system is often ACTUALLY implemented by the phone
company installing a PBX on the customer's premises. In such a case,
they may also serve some other customers out of that switch but with a
software "firewall" preventing use of the centrex features for the
ordinary subscriber lines. Such a phone-company owned "PBX" (I put it
in quotes, because being phone-company-owned, it is not "private") is
called a TANDEM switch.


/ Lars Poulsen <[e-mail]>   [phone]  or [phone] ext 358
  ACC Customer Service              Affiliation stated for identification only
                My employer probably would not agree if he knew what I said !!

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

From: Eric Schnoebelen <egsner.cirr.com![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cryptic Abbreviations
Date: 4 Nov 89 06:12:40 GMT
Reply-To: Eric Schnoebelen <egsner.cirr.com![e-mail]>
Organization: Central Iowa (Model) Railroad, Dallas, Tx.


- [Moderator's Note:
-
- 'NXX-XXXX' is just a way of describing a theoretical phone number, but
- I don't think it is quite the way you described it. Perhaps readers
- will comment on how we have come to describe phone numbers with 'N' and
- 'X', etc.    PT]

        Well, it is my understanding (coming from my former boss, and
ex-AT&T network design engineer) that the Bell system (Bell Labs,
Bellcore, etc ) used/uses N to represent the digits two (2) through
nine(9), but not the digits zero (0) or one (1), while X represents
the entire range.

        As an example of this, we have old documents around that
discribe the phone numbers as being of the format NPA-NNX-XXXX, which
all needed to be changed to NPA-NXX-XXXX when the Bellcore, and the
operating companies started allowing such..  (and to be honest, there
is much code that thinks the format should be NNX, at least in
comments and variable names..  :-)

    As to the NPA, well, that stands for Numbering Plan America,
or Numbering Plan Area, depending upon who is doing the talking. (That
company has employees with a wealth of experience, from switch
installation to network management to network design, so the answer
usually varied a little, depending upon who you were talking to.  But
the basic information was always the same.)


Eric Schnoebelen                    [e-mail]
"My other computer is a Convex"                [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #492
*****************************










Date:     Sun, 5 Nov 89 13:38:45 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #493
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Sun, 5 Nov 89 13:35:40 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 493

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: The Strange Boundaries of 312/708 (David W. Tamkin)
    Area Code Splits Make Even Tabloid News (Thomas Lapp)
    Re: What Does NAM Mean? (Dave Levenson)
    Re: What Does NAM Mean? (John Higdon)
    Re: Industry Nicknames (Dave Levenson)
    PBX Use in Residences (TELECOM Moderator)
    New Tutorial in Archives (TELECOM Moderator)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: The Strange Boundaries of 312/708
Date: Sat, 4 Nov 89 11:39:13 CST
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

In volume 9, issue 497, Edward Sachs quotes Patrick Townson:

| In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
| (TELECOM Moderator) writes:
|
| > When those people ordered phone service in the past, apparently they
| > said their address was 4xxx North Harlem in *Chicago*, or 4xxx North
| > Harlem in *Harwood Heights* when in fact it was the opposite
| > community!
|
| In a similar vein, I recall an article in the newspaper (I believe
| that it was the Chicago Tribune) some time back which reported that
| businesses were paying sales taxes to the wrong municipalities, for
| similar reasons (not just Chicago/Suburb, but also Suburb/Suburb).

On tour night Pat and I discussed the possibility that some of these
entrepreneurs in Harwood Heights had given their addresses to Illinois
Bell as "Chicago" but that IBT should have found the truth out from
their street guides.  Since then I've noticed that several of the
stores with Chicago prefixes clearly state "Harwood Heights, Illinois
60656" on their business cards or "4xxx N. Harlem, Harwood Heights" in
their ads.  And I guarantee you that they know damn well to charge
only 7% sales tax, not the 8% rate applicable in Chicago.

The only cases I know where a Chicago location was assigned a suburban
prefix were a security agency (assigned a Niles prefix despite being
nowhere near the city limit) who got their number changed to a Chicago
prefix; a florist shop on the Chicago side of a border street (I
refuse to believe that the florists told IBT that they were in Harwood
Heights, but clearly it was a case of some IBT employee's being unable
to read their street guide correctly); and one insurance agent on
another border street, who might have a Chicago line as well but shows
only a suburban number on the outdoor sign.

All the other anomalies are Chicago prefixes in suburbs, most of which
(except for that one strip along Harlem Avenue) were probably assigned
at customers' requests in the first place.  I'm not counting
businesses that have both a Chicago line and a suburban line; they're
covered.

What happened with IBT is that when they switched to charging by CO
distance instead of by service area, IBT employees lost track of
political boundaries and seemed to understand only CO districts: to
them, any location is in the same town as the CO from which its phones
are wired.  (One of them swore to me that a Chicago address in the
area wired from the River Grove CO, with a 589 prefix on its phone [a
prefix intended for Chicago, one that will remain in 312] was *in*
River Grove, for example.)  Another stuck an "Area Code 708" sticker
on a Chicago coin phone in the same area; the tenant on the property
is thoroughly convinced that he'll be in area code 708, and I couldn't
persuade him otherwise (prefix 625 for anyone interested).

On a related note, Cellular One here announced that all its service
will remain in 312, but that they will be opening additional prefixes
for area code 708; any customer wishing to have cellular service from
them in 708 instead of 312 must return to the dealer to get the phone
rekeyed.  (Cellular One picks up the tab and has specified in its
announcement that the dealers are NOT to charge the customers.)
Ameritech Mobile [the only other cellular provider I know of here]
uses blocks of numbers on Illinois Bell land prefixes, I think, so
those will be in whichever area code the prefix normally serves.

David W. Tamkin       [e-mail]      ...!attctc!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois  60018-0813   [phone]  [phone]
BIX: dattier  GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN  CIS: 73720,1570   The opinions above are mine.

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

Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 13:20:20 est
From: Thomas Lapp <[e-mail]>
Subject: Area Code Splits Make Even Tabloid News

 From the USA WEEKEND (a nationally distributed supplement to Sunday
newspapers):

WINDY CITY BREAKS UP

Can't remember your phone number now? Uh-oh.

   With the soaring number of telephone lines, for homes, offices,
cars and fax machines, we're running out of number combinations.  So
more of the USA is being separated by area codes: Chicago gets hit
Nov. 11 when its outlying suburbs become 708.  Next in line: Texas,
New Jersey.

   Soon you might have to dial an area code even if you're on the edge
of a city and just phoning across the street.

                         - tom

internet     : mvac23![e-mail]  or  [e-mail]
uucp         : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas
Europe Bitnet: THOMAS1@GRATHUN1
Location: Newark, DE, USA
Quote   : Virtual Address eXtension.  Is that like a 9-digit zip code?


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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What Does NAM Mean?
Date: 4 Nov 89 13:21:56 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, val![e-mail]
(Ben Thornton) writes:

> A friend asked me recently if I knew what the acronym NAM means in the
> context of telecommunications.  Can anyone hazard a guess on this one?

In a cellular telephone set, the telephone number, and a number of
other installer-administerable parameters, are generally stored in a
rom chip.  This chip is called a Name and Address Module, or NAM.


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What Does NAM Mean?
Date: 5 Nov 89 05:21:00 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


In article <[e-mail]>, val![e-mail]
(Ben Thornton) writes:

> A friend asked me recently if I knew what the acronym NAM means in the
> context of telecommunications.  Can anyone hazard a guess on this one?

It's a term from cellular service which means "number assignment
module". It was originally a prom that was "blown" by the vendor of
the phone for the customer. It contains the assigned telephone number
of the cellular phone, as well as the system ID number and a lot of
other information pertaining to the home system. The NAM also contains
the allowed features for the phone itself such as dial out capability,
whether or not roaming is allowed, end-to-end DTMF signaling, etc.

Nowadays, a prom is no longer used but rather things like EEPROMs or
low-drain memory hold the information. The advantage of this is that
NAM data can be easily changed without having to re-burn and
re-install a physical component.

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Industry Nicknames
Date: 4 Nov 89 13:20:02 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Bernard Mckeever) writes:

> All industries use jargon or nicknames that are well accepted in work
> related conversations...

> A Point To Ponder: Why is it that the Bell System referred to any test
> set with a handle as portable? I mean a Volkswagon has handles.  Some
> of those test sets rivaled a Volkswagon in size and weight.

Perhaps they followed the Army's nomenclature here.  When I did some
contract work at a large aerospace firm on a Department of Defense
project, we built a `portable' device -- it was big and heavy, and had
six handles around it.  On the sides, we had to paint, in three-inch
letters: "SIX-MAN CARRY".  I guess anything can be considered
`portable' if enough people get involved in the carrying!


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

Date:     Sat, 4 Nov 89 14:35:48 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  PBX Use in Residences

In the last issue of the Digest, Lars Poulsen mentioned the use of
small PBX equipment in a residential setting. I had such an
arrangement for about four years and found it very flexible and
useful.

I used a device called Melco 212, from the company by the same name
out in the Seattle, WA area. The 212 had, appropriatly, 2 outside
trunk lines and 12 internal extensions, which was ample for my
application.

The extensions were numbered 21 to 32. Zero ('0') was an alternate
address for extension 21.

If I recall the extension assignments correctly (this was about four
years ago I quit using it), they were --

21 (or 0) my office at home, first line (21 & 22 were on a two line phone)
22 my office at home, second line (it did not hunt)
23 near the sofa in my office, for use by guests
24 my bedroom
25 living room (first line, on a two line, turn button phone)
26 kitchen
27 basement workshop area (27 & 28 were on a two-line turn button phone)
28 basement furnace/water/utility meters area
29 my brother's bedroom
30 bathroom wall phone
31 living room (second line on a two line, turn button phone)
32 9th floor elevator machinery room (outdoor phone in a locked, weather
   proof box; I had an 'antenna farm' on the roof, with owner's blessings).

I lived on the first floor of a nine story building; the phones to the
basement and to the ninth floor went through building house-pairs.

The extensions dialed each other with the assigned two digit code. The
two outside lines were accessed by dialing 9 to select a line at
random, or by 81 and 82 to specifically select line one or line two.
The two lines from the CO were set up so the first would hunt the
second when busy.

The PBX could be programmed to shunt the incoming lines to any
extensions of choice --

51 + ext. caused all incoming calls on line 1 to ring <ext>.
52 + ext. caused all incoming calls on line 2 to ring <ext>.
If <ext> was otherwise engaged, then a 'call waiting' tone was given.
Normal call-waiting rules applied; just flash, and get waiting outside
call. Call-waiting was NOT available from extension to extension however.
By default, after a power shutdown, or during a power shutdown, incoming
calls rang extensions 21 (line 1) and 22 (line 2) respectively. Extension
21 & 22 were fixed to go straight through to the CO in the event of a
power shutdown, and to ring for incoming calls in the same way.

'Do Not Disturb' was available as follows --

60 silenced bells and common audible on all incoming calls, both lines.
61 silenced bell and common audible on incoming calls, line 1.
62 silenced bell and common audible on incoming calls, line 2.
63 silenced common audible only, but allowed assigned extension to ring.
64 cancelled all silent conditions previously assigned with 60 ==> 63.
65 from any extension busied out the extension until the next time that
   extension went off hook; except that if incoming CO calls were
   assigned to that extension, they would ring through; inside calls would
   receive a busy.

Conditions 60 == > 64 could be restricted -- or made unavailable -- by
use of a dip switch on the unit, to prevent people from inadvertently
creating a Do Not Disturb status.

7 was assigned to Universal Pickup. Any incoming CO call could be
picked up by dialing 7 from any extension when you heard the actual
bell ringing or the common audible.

Up to 4.0 ring equivilance could be loaded on the unit in the form of
common audibles. We used two pleasant 'bird chirp' sounders; one in
the basement and one in the elevator roof-top area. These were places
where the normal bell ringing would not be heard otherwise.

39 was a ringback, when dialed from any extension, to test the line.

A dip-switch on the unit restricted the use of '9' if set; forcing
outgoing calls to be specifically dialed over 81 or 82, provided you
told people how to use those codes. Calls to 9 got a re-order tone if
this switch was set.

Dialing 4 fed your audio to a paging device and closed (a normally
open) or opened (a normally closed) relay. So you could have
background music and cut the music off when paging if desired. I used
4 in a different way: I fed it to a third CO line for my personal,
outgoing only modem call use. I used the normally open relay to keep
that line 'on hook' when not in use. Dialing 4 took that line 'off
hook' and gave dial tone to the modem.

By using a beehive lamp tied into that third line, if I was at my
terminal and saw the beehive flashing, I would dial 4 and answer that
line, but since it was for modem use, whether or not the line got
answered was not a priority. Thus if I was not there, the flashing
beehive lamp disturbed no one.

The Melco 212 unit was a small device. It weighed about ten pounds,
was only about twelve inches high by about six inches wide, and three
inches deep. It mounted on the wall right at the place where the three
CO lines entered our building. It operated on 110 AC; required a
grounded outlet. Everything on it was modular. Installation time is
usually about fifteen minutes, however it took me longer because I had
to chase down some idle house-pairs in a dusty, poorly labeled
cabinet, and make sure they went where I wanted them.

So why did I change to Starline/centrex? When we moved about four
years ago, I no longer had control over/easy access to a couple
hundred house pairs as in the past, and I did not feel like wiring my
new apartment. But I would recommend the Melco 212 and other small
mini-PBX units to people who have a lot of area geographically to
cover while needing only one or two actual CO lines.

Patrick Townson

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

Date:     Sun, 5 Nov 89 13:07:04 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  New Tutorial in Archives

An excellent new addition to the TELECOM Digest Archives is an article
by Julian Macassey entitled "How Telephones Work".

Mr. Macassey wrote this originally for publication elsewhere, but has
given it to the net for safekeeping in the Archives.

To read this article, or review other materials in the Archives, you
must have the ability to use ftp at your site.

Enter 'ftp cs.bu.edu'.
When Boston responds, enter password 'anonymous'.
Enter a non-null password of your choice.
Enter 'cd telecom-archives'.
Enter 'ls' to review the files, which include Volumes 1,8 and 9 of the
Digest; several other articles of interest and reference materials.

Macassey's article is filed under 'tutorial'.

Patrick Townson

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #493
*****************************










Date:     Mon, 6 Nov 89 1:56:30 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #494
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Mon, 6 Nov 89 01:55:04 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 494

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Breakdown of 312/708 Prefixes (David Tamkin)
    Some Residents Can't Beat the Rap (Thomas Lapp)
    Caller ID and Cellular Systems (Louis J. Judice)
    A New Use For Caller-ID (David Lesher)
    Caller ID in Chicago (Bob von Borstel)
    Unusual Subscriber Equipment (David Lesher)
    Re: Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer (Richard H. Gumpertz)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: David Tamkin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Breakdown of 312/708 Prefixes
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 15:57:12 CST

This is a breakdown of all prefixes in 312 and what is becoming of them upon
the split November 11.  There are a few changes since the May 15 listing that
Illinois Bell has been mailing out.

==============

13 prefixes that will be served by both codes (either because, like 591, 611,
796, and 976, they will have aliases in 708 or because like 411 and 911 their
current service will be partitioned between 312 and 708):

200   340   411   555   591   611   796   911   950   958   959   970   976

============

31 NXX patterns that are not valid prefixes:

 7 of form N00:  300  400  500  600  700  800  900
 5 of form N11:  211  311  511  711  811
 6 that match the NPA codes in Illinois:  217  309  312  618  708  815
 2 that match intra-LATA NPA codes from other states:    219  414
 11 available:   203  212  320  415  494  514  760  809  903  912  999

==============

345 prefixes that will remain in 312 (covering the city of Chicago; Section 2
of unincorporated Norwood Park Township; Acacia Park, Mt. Greenwood, and
Westlawn Cemeteries; and Cellular One mobile service: Chicago Zone 3 service
on prefix 867, traditionally treated the same as locations inside Chicago,
covers suburban areas and will be in area code 708):

202  204  207  214  220  221  222  224  225  226  227  229  230  233  235
236  237  238  239  241  242  243  245  247  248  252  254  261  262  263
264  265  266  267  268  269  271  273  274  275  276  277  278  280  281
282  283  284  285  286  287  288  292  294  302  306  308  313  315  316
321  322  324  326  327  329  332  334  337  338  341  342  346  347  348
353  363  368  372  373  374  375  376  378  379  380  384  399  401  404
407  408  410  413  417  419  421  427  431  434  435  436  440  443  444
445  454  461  463  465  467  468  471  472  476  477  478  483  486  487
488  489  493  502  504  507  508  509  521  522  523  525  527  528  533
536  538  539  542  545  548  549  550  558  559  561  565  567  568  569
580  581  582  583  585  586  588  589  592  601  602  604  606  607  608
609  613  616  621  622  624  625  626  630  631  633  637  638  641  642
643  644  645  646  648  649  650  651  659  660  661  663  664  666  667
670  684  685  686  693  694  701  702  703  704  707  712  714  715  716
718  721  722  723  725  726  727  728  731  732  733  734  735  736  737
738  743  744  745  750  751  752  753  761  762  763  764  765  767  768
769  770  772  774  775  776  777  778  779  781  782  783  784  785  786
787  791  792  793  794  797  802  804  805  807  808  812  813  814  819
821  822  826  828  829  836  838  842  845  846  847  853  854  855  856
861  871  873  874  875  876  878  880  881  883  886  889  890  899  901
902  906  907  908  909  914  915  917  918  919  921  922  923  924  925
927  928  929  930  933  935  936  938  939  942  943  944  947  951  955
962  973  975  977  978  984  987  988  989  992  993  994  995  996  997

==============

The remaining 411 prefixes will be in NPA 708, including prefix 867, whose
place name is Chicago Zone 3, but which serves suburban locations.  (All
other prefixes of Chicago Zone 3 will stay in 312.)  If anyone wants a
specific list of those 411 NXX's, I'll be happy to email it.

The following Central Offices will be divided after the split:

Chicago-Newcastle: 569, 631, 763, 774, 775, and 792 in 312
                   457, 647, and 867 to 708

Des Plaines: 694 in 312
             296, 297, 298, 299, 390, 391, 635, 699, 803, 824, and 827 to 708

Frankfort: 720 from 312 to 708; 469 in 815

Park Ridge: 380, 399, 693, and 714 in 312
            318, 518, 692, 696, 698, 823, and 825 to 708

Plainfield: 904 from 312 to 708; 254, 436,and 439 in 815

River Grove: 589 and 625 in 312; 451, 452, 453, 455, and 456 to 708

Schiller Park: 992 in 312; 671 and 678 to 708

Summit: 229 and 586 in 312; 458, 496, 563, 594, and 839 to 708

Otherwise, land-line prefixes wired from Chicago CO's will remain in 312 and
those wired from suburban CO's currently in 312 will be in 708.

David Tamkin  P.O Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois 60018-0813 |      BIX: dattier
[e-mail]  [phone] [phone] | GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN
Everyone on Chinet has his or her own opinion about this.|   CIS: 73720,1570

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

Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 13:35:46 est
From: Thomas Lapp <[e-mail]>
Subject: Some Residents Can't Beat the Rap
Reply-To: mvac23![e-mail]

 From the Associated Press.  It appeared in our Sunday paper here on
Nov. 5:

LOS ANGELES -- The heavy beat of rap music is resounding in two
neighborhoods near a powerful radio transmitter, with songs like,
"Wild Thing" following some residents even into the bathroom.

   "You can walk in my yard when it rains and hear 'rap, rap, rap'
music on the chain link fence," said Tanya Busko, a 27-year resident
of the affluent hillside community of Silver Lake, about 10 miles
north of downtown Los Angeles.

   "It's awful.  It's unbelievable.  At night, it's unbearable," she said.

   Residents of Silver Lake and adjacent Echo Park grumble that
KDAY-AM is too loud and even brags about the potency of its 50
000-watt signal.  They cite promotional ads boasting that the
station's rap music is everywhere -- "in cars, at the beach, in living
rooms, even in the shower."

   KDAY President Edward J. Kerby said his station has broadcast from
its 3 1/2-acre site for 24 years, focusing its signal toward downtown
with a narrow beam that keeps it from interfering with other
broadcasters.

   As a result, KDAY's rap music -- the format since 1982 -- can
sometimes be heard as far away as Hawaii and Japan.

   Busko says no room in her house is free from the signal.

   "In the bathroom, you can hear it coming through the toilet plumbing,"
she said.  "I can go in my bedroom, which has no appliances or radio, and
hear the rap music coming from the wiring in the walls."

   Kerby said inexpensive, low-quality household electronics equipment
act as makeshift radio receivers in residents' homes.  He said the
volume of complaints, roughly 250 a year, prompted the station to hire
a technician to help mute unwanted signal reception.

   "Over in the artsy Silver Lake area, every time somebody puts in a
new home recording studio, I can count on losing my guy for two or
three days," Kerby said.

   Katherine Deaton, an official at the Federal Communication
Commission's Long Beach office, said KDAY has been checked for illegal
power boosting but none was found.

   Pacific Bell officials said they are fielding increasing complaints
about rap music interference from telephone customers in the two
neighborhoods.

                 -- end of story as printed --

                         - tom

internet     : mvac23![e-mail]  or  [e-mail]
uucp         : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas
Europe Bitnet: THOMAS1@GRATHUN1
Location: Newark, DE, USA
Quote   : Virtual Address eXtension.  Is that like a 9-digit zip code?


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

Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 09:20:11 -0800
From: "Louis J. Judice  05-Nov-1989 1211" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID and Cellular Systems


I wonder how/if Caller-ID and related service can/will be handled on
cellular systems. My Novatel mobile phone certainly has the "ability"
to display things, one would think that manufacturers could provide
the intelligence in a cellular phone's logic to provide the proper
decoding to support Caller-ID.

Incidentally, I've often thought that a REALLY neat feature for
cellular would be for cell-sites to transmit a bit of data on the
control channel that could be decoded by phones such as:

        - Location of Cell Site
        - Area Code you're in
        - In-bound roamer access number

Maybe in the next generation digital system???

Lou Judice
Digital Equipment Corp.
Piscataway, NJ
201-562-4103

PS: The C.O. adjacent to Peapack (Somerville/Bridgewater), now offers
CLASS calling services, according to announcements included in bills
this month. I am now trying to concince my freind to order it so I can
play with it. ;)


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

From: David Lesher <[e-mail]>
Subject: A New Use For Caller-ID
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 14:32:27 EDT
Reply-To: David Lesher <[e-mail]>

It seems to me that a good use of CID would be answering services. At
least in those {civilized} areas of the country without mandatory
measured/metered service an option to an expensive OPX line to the
service is call forwarding. The problem is, how does the service know
who was being called? If they have a dedicated 'forward to' line for
each client, costs go way up, and if not, they must resort to the "may
I help you" bs typical of 800 order-takers.

But if you made a simple software change (all software changes are
simple--ask any hardware man :-} ) so the calls forwarded to the
service showed the FORWARDING number, then the service could answer
with "Dr Frankenstein's office" or such.


A host is a host & from coast to [e-mail]
no one will talk to a host that's close..............(305) 255-RTFM
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335

[Moderator's Note: Actually, a lot of the answering services here use
a form of DID (direct inward dialing) to get the information. The
service may have hundreds of numbers assigned to them which they hand
out one by one to customers. They do *not* have a line for each
number. Maybe they have only a couple dozen lines from the CO, along
with a pair which functions sort of like a control pair. This control
pair sends information about the caller, i.e. 'the call on pair 16
arrived in the CO looking for TRansylvania 6-8000. Then the answering
service computer pulls that file and sees that TRansylvania 6-8000 is
Drs. Jeckell and Frankenstein, Brain Surgeons. The computer then looks
for an answering service position which is not busy, and puts the
information about these gentlemen on the attendant's screen. It gets
pair 16 inbound and hands it to the appropriate attendant who can then
use the appropriate answer phrase. Assuming only a few subscribers are
receiving calls at any given time, a handful of CO trunks can serve
several hundred subscribers. You can get a block of numbers from telco
without actual pairs to go along quite cheaply.

Essentially the answering service has no idea who is being called
until the CO tells them a call came in to a certain number; here it is
on one of your common trunks; and the service looks up the record to
see who would be getting calls on that particular CO number.  And it
takes less time than perhaps half of one ring to go from the CO to the
answering service computer and on to the attendant's terminal. PT]

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

Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 16:28:06 -0600
From: Bob von Borstel <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID in Chicago


Being a fellow resident in Chicago, I'm curious.  Does Illinois Bell
support 'Caller-ID' now, if only un-officially?  Meaning if I buy
this AT&T Caller-ID box and hook it up to my phone will it work?
Our house is served by the Mitchell CO which I think has a #5ESS.

[Moderator's Note: The Mitchell CO? My, you *are* way out far south.
I think Mitchell is a remote office served by Chicago-South Chicago. I
dunno what you get there. Yes, IBT does 'support Caller-ID
unofficially', meaning they use it in CO's thus equipped for their own
purposes. I will pass this question to David Tamkin. Perhaps he knows
a bit more about it than I, and can tell you what is what, re:
Mitchell specifically and Chicago in general.  PT]

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

From: David Lesher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Unusual Subscriber Equipment
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 14:19:39 EDT
Reply-To: David Lesher <[e-mail]>

The story from Larry Lippman about old equipment brings back
memories. A friend of mine and I went to a hamfest about 10
years ago. He bought what looked to be a 55B 3A speakerphone
control unit for $1.00. It wasn't. It said 51A on the back.

Now JB and, between us, own or have seen a LOT of subscriber
equipment.  (Maybe not as much as Macy, but still a lot) We were
baffled. We looked in every BSP we owned. We asked various friends
elsewhere in the country. Nobody know anything.  I finally gave up,
and asked a fellow ham who worked for OBT (This was considered
cheating, as they were the ENEMY ;_} ) about it. It took him several
weeks, but he came up with a (xeroxed) BSP. It was, of course, the
home interphone unit.  It still works for JB's front door, with a t-1
element in the mailbox, inspired no doubt by Maxwell Smart.


A host is a host & from coast to [e-mail]
no one will talk to a host that's close..............(305) 255-RTFM
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335

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

From: "Richard H. Gumpertz" <cpsolv![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer
Date: 6 Nov 89 03:45:49 GMT
Reply-To: "Richard H. Gumpertz" <cpsolv![e-mail]>
Organization: Computer Problem Solving, Leawood, Kansas


In article <[e-mail]> moncol![e-mail]
(Bennett Broder) writes:

>I understand that it is relatively simple to build an outboard device
>to perform this functionality.  The 'DAK' catalogue has one listed
>called the 'phone slasher' selling for $9.90 + $2.00 shipping and
>handling.  This looks like a nice device, with led indicators to show
>(I presume) which device is active.  But, being a hobbiest by nature,
>I would like to build one myself.

>Does anyone have such as circuit that they have (successfully) built?

I have purchased a few of the DAK devices.  They are a clever device.
For the best explanation of how they work, go to a local BIG library
and get a copy of US Patent 4726048 -- it explains it in great detail
along with several variations on the device.

To sum things up, it includes a thyristor that is biased to fire when
no other devices are on the line and drop out if another phone
(without such a devioce) picks up.  By using such a device on EACH
phone in the house, it can be used as a mutual-exclusion device,
allowing only the first phone to go off-hook access to the line.  I
use them with multiple modems on a single line -- they work great!

===============================================================================
| Richard H. Gumpertz [e-mail] -or-
...uunet!amgraf!cpsolv!rhg | | Computer Problem Solving, 8905 Mohawk
Lane, Leawood, Kansas 66206-1749 |
===============================================================================

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #494
*****************************










Date:     Mon, 6 Nov 89 23:45:40 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #495
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Mon, 6 Nov 89 23:44:16 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 495

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Danny Wilson)
    Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate (Jim Breen)
    Re: Time to "Disconnection" (Dave Horsfall)
    Re: PBX Use in Residences (Joe Talbot)
    Re: NYC Time and Weather (Mark Anderson)
    Re: T1 Test Equipment Info (Brian Woodroffe)
    Re: British TMA Convention (Jim Gottlieb)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Danny Wilson <idacom![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Date: 5 Nov 89 22:48:37 GMT
Organization: IDACOM Electronics Ltd., Edmonton, Alta.


In article well![e-mail] (Peter Joseph Desnoyers) writes:

# >In article [e-mail] (John # Gilmore) writes:

# >>I am interested in hooking up SPARCstations over ISDN.  The machine
# >>comes standard with an ISDN terminal interface chip (the "sound" chip,
# >>really an ISDN speakerphone chip).

# Or does it have (as
# implied above) no ISDN interface, but just a CODEC for sound input
# that could be used in an ISDN system?

 From Sun's description, the chip is simply a CODEC (a dual channel
analog/digital converter).  The fact that this CODEC is the same one
as used in a piece of ISDN equipment (the AT&T phone) is a red herring
to imply some kind of ISDN compatibility.

They could have chosen _any_ kind of A/D (almost) but having a common
CODEC to an ISDN phone doesn't make an ISDN interface.

(My decades old Apple II has the same kind of 7404 hex inverter
as the latest CRAY XMP/S super computer -- my apple must be compatible

In article <[e-mail]>, euatdt@euas11c05.
ericsson.se (Torsten Dahlkvist) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> munnari!cit5.cit.oz.au!
> [e-mail] (Jim Breen) writes:

> >[e-mail] asks, of ISDN
> >>   The problem is data encoding; I
> >> have seen no documentation of standard ways to encode data passing on
> >> the 8000 byte/sec channel for IP.  I have seen references to ways of
> >> encoding e.g. 9600 baud async "RS232" traffic over ISDN, but I will be
> >> talking ISDN-to-ISDN, so can use the full bandwidth.  Rumor has it
> >> that somebody had standardized bit-oriented protocols (HDLC) over ISDN
> >> links, which is ridiculous since they are byte oriented links.......

Most of the equipment development for ISDN today is slanted towards
BOP's over the B-Channels for _data transmission_.  Voice traffic has
been standardized to use a frame-aligned coding scheme that is
supported by standard CODEC chips.  mu-law is used in Japan and North
America, while A-law is used in the ROW (rest of world)

Data transmission over the B-Channels is mostly X.25 at this point,
however, _massive_ developments are underway in Japan for porting the
Telematics protocols (CCITT T.series) to run.

The obvious reason for this is not to run germany's infamous Teletex,
but rather ISDN Group IV fax.  These protocols are all bit oriented
and use an HDLC subset as the layer 2 (what we are all talking about).

Another interesting development I just heard about is a ISDN-based
remote floppy disk copier: you put the disk in here, push a button,
and it is transmitted over "there" over the ISDN.  It is also based on
a HDLC varient -- BOP.

> >[...] there
> >must NEVER be a standard protocol above Layer 1. ISDN is to be a
> >bit-pipe service.

> Aren't there ANY byte-oriented protocols around that could be used to
> form a basis for a bytewise link over ISDN? There are obvious
> advantages.

I don't personally see the advantages to using a byte oriented
procedure for this kind of communications...  The most widespread
byte-protocol, BSC3270 (bisync), is very much a dead horse - aside
from being a pretty gross protocol.  Other ASYNC based, byte protocols
are really not that useful or widespread to support any kind of
advantage over the BOP's.


Danny Wilson            [e-mail]
IDACOM Electronics        alberta!idacom!danny
Edmonton, Alberta    X.400    [e-mail]
C A N A D A        Voice    [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jim Breen)
Subject: Re: TCP/IP over ISDN Basic Rate
Organization: Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melb., Australia
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 21:52:32 GMT

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Giridhar Coorg) writes:

> One of the major requirements of ISDN is the compatibility to CCITT #
> 7 (a signalling specification) for inter CO signalling.

This is so, but its not a problem that concerns users. The mapping
between the ISDN signalling packet standard (I.450/1) and the ISDN
User Part of CCS#7 (Q.700+) is messy, but fortunately an internal
Telco problem.

BTW, every time I look at the wierd link standard for CCS#7, I give
thanks for LAPD, which is really just good old HDLC. Thank heavans
CCS#7 was kept off the D channel.

   _______           Jim Breen ([e-mail]) Department of Robotics &
  /o\----\\     \O      Digital Technology. Chisholm Inst. of Technology
 /RDT\   /|\   \/|   -:O____/         PO Box 197 Caulfield East 3145
O-----O        _/_\    /\ /\          (p) 03-573 2552 (fax) 572 1298

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

From: Dave Horsfall <munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Time to "Disconnection"
Date: 6 Nov 89 01:41:54 GMT
Reply-To: Dave Horsfall <[e-mail]>
Organization: Alcatel STC Australia, North Sydney, AUSTRALIA


In article <[e-mail]>, westmark![e-mail].
net (Dave Levenson) writes:

| If the calling
| party goes on-hook, the call is disconnected (the called party is left
| high-and-dry for about 20 seconds, and is then given dial tone).  But
| if the called party goes on hook, the call remains up for about 20
| seconds.  If the called party goes back off hook during this "grace
| period" the conversation may continue.  I'm not sure this is
| _universally_ true.

It's certainly true in Australia anyway, and we ain't exactly at the
forefront of technology.  A handy way to continue the conversation
away from screaming kids, spouse, pets etc :-)

Note that in Oz, when the calling party hangs up, the callee just gets
BEEP BEEP BEEP..... and NO eventual dial tone.

Trivia time: it used to be a lark to call someone from a public phone,
then walk away leaving the phone off-hook.  Said callee was then
denied service until the exchange got around to un-blocking it.
'Course, you had to find another phone to notify them...  With the new
AXE switches this is no longer true - the callee merely hangs up for a
few seconds (20 I think) to clear the call.  Ahh, the fun of
stagger-by-stumble and cross-bar exchanges...


Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel STC Australia,  [e-mail]
[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave

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

Subject: Re: PBX Use in Residences
Date: 6 Nov 89 01:42:41 PST (Mon)
From: Joe Talbot <[e-mail]>

PBX's are wonderful in the home! I use a Panasonic KX-T61610 (6 line x
16 stations) with a mix of Electronic display phones, 2500 sets, some
strange phones (my Taiwaneese coin phone, my AT&T coin phone, a
dialless "Prison" charge a call) and a cordless phone for backyard
use.  It's equipped with 4 "real" outside lines and two PBX stations
from the other PBXs in the house, one Harris 110, and my prized
Stromberg-Carlson XY "compact" (100 lines, 8 trunks).

I have a Watson board in my XT clone that answers the phone, plays
automated attendant/call screener transferring appropriate calls
(emergencies) to my bedroom while sleeping. It also pages (through the
phone speakers) reminder messages (Sunday 10PM "trash reminder") and
does wake up calls. It also sets the day or night mode on the
Panasonic so that the UNIX machine can start answering the 800 number
at midnight and silence all of the ringers on that line.Even the door
has a full duplex speaker that rings specific phones (even the
answering machine!).

The combination of the Panasonic and the Watson really solves all of
my unusual communications needs. Panasonic also has a 3 line/8 station
system (KX-T30810), and a 12 line/32 station system. The 61610 is
around $650. Mine is loaded and a 1232 is in my future.


joe@mojave
I finally changed my dumb signiture. People were always telling me what
a great signature I had.

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

Date:  3 Nov 89 23:27 -0800
From: Mark Anderson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: NYC Time and Weather

[e-mail] (Yoram Eisenstadter) writes:

> For the price of listening to a brief ad at the beginning of the message,
> you can get both the time and weather for the cost of a normal local call.

Here in Vancouver, there is a free service called "In Touch" that
seems to be a part of the Talking Yellow Pages.  It offers local and
national weather along with news, business and sports information,
soap opera updates, local entertainment information, and community
events.

These recordings are accessed just like advertisers' Talking Yellow
Pages messages, by dialing a local number and entering or speaking the
appropriate 4-digit code.  The service seems to be offered by the
Dominion Directory Company Ltd., who publish the phone books and who
run the TYP, I assume.  I'm not sure how Dominion is related to B.C.
Tel.  (In general, how are directory-publishing companies related to
phone companies?)

The few In Touch numbers I've tried have no advertising at all,
although one new Tourist Information service is apparently sponsored
by a local tourist guide.


Mark                                            "Am I suspended in Gaffa?"

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

From: Brian Woodroffe <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: T1 Test Equipment Info
Date: 6 Nov 89 11:53:07 GMT
Organization: HP, Queensferry Telecomms (UK)


Might I suggest the Hewlett-Packard 3787B digital data test set.

The HP3787B covers testing at DS1, DS0 (A and B) and DS1C; it combines
TX and RX in one box.

I think it covers all your stated needs. Some idea of what it does can
be gained from the HP catalogue entry, summarised :-

Drop & Insert: (assuming suitable framing)
    An individual timeslot (64k or 56kbit/s)
    DDS, 2.4k, 4.8k, 9.6k, 19.2k and 56kbit/s primary and secondary

channels (DS0A or DS0B).
    4kbit/s Datalink (DS1-ESF)
    4kbit/s Fs channel (DS1-Ft)
    8kbit/s R channel (DS1-T1DM)

Measurement Capability:
Frequency:    DS0 (64kbit/s), DS1 (1.544Mbit/s), DS1C (3.152Mbit/s).
Framing:    DS1(SF,ESF,T1DM & Ft only), DS1C and DS0B.
Line codes:    B8ZS, AMI.
Error types:    Logic (Binary), BPV, Frame Word, CRC-6 Word.
Error results:    Error count, Error Ratio, Error Seconds, Error Free Seconds,
        %Error Free Seconds.
Error Analysis:    %Availability, %Unavalability, %Severely Errored Seconds,
        %Error Seconds, %Degraded Minutes, Count Consecutive SES,
        Count SES, Count ES, Count Deg Min.
Alarm Seconds:    Instrument Power Loss Seconds, Signal Loss Seconds, AIS
        seconds, Frame Loss Seconds, Test Pattern Loss seconds.

Frame Slips (Controlled): Duplicate frames == positive slips, deleted == neg.

Protocol Analyser INterface:    RS232 4-wire synchronous interface. DDS
        primary or secondary channels, ISDN 'B' & 'D' channels
        (64k, 56kbit/s), ESF datalink, T1DM R, or D4 Fs channel.

DS1/DS1C signal voltage:    Positive & Negative peak voltage.

DS0 Bit Monitor:    Selected received customer bytes.

Signaling Bits:    A,B (SF) or A,B,C,D (ESF) signalling bits can be set or
        displayed for a 56kbit/s circuit.

Jitter measurement:    (opt001):    0.00 to 10.0UI
            Filters:    LP, HP1, HP2.
            Measurements:    Hit Count, Hit Bit Count, Hit Bit
                    Ratio, Hit Seconds, Hit Free Seconds.


The HP3787B is available with an option to run from a DC supply.
The HP3787B is fully programmable by either RS232 or HPIB (IEEE-488).
The HP3787B incorporates a printer for logging of results.

+--------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Brian Woodroffe                | HPDESK: Brian Woodroffe/HP1400/B1 |
| Hewlett Packard Ltd            | ARPA:   bww@hpsqf                 |
| Queensferry Telecomms Division |         [e-mail]   |
| South Queensferry              | UUCP:   ..!hplabs!hpqtdla!bww     |
| West Lothian                   | JANET:  [e-mail]  |
| Scotland EH30 9TG.             | PHONE:  [phone]           |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

Disclaimer: You are advised to check the specifications and applicability
yourself.

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

From: Jim Gottlieb <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: British TMA Convention
Date: 6 Nov 89 04:49:40 GMT
Reply-To: Jim Gottlieb <denwa![e-mail]>
Organization: Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan


In article <[e-mail]> K.Hopkins%computer-
[e-mail] writes:

>Vallance said acquisition of the X.25 network Tymnet from McDonnell Douglas
>in  the US,... a 25% stake in  Network Information  Services in Japan will
>pave the way for BT.

>(Can people in the States  tell  us how big/important  are Tymnet and McCaw
>Cellular?  These might   be  "nice little   earners"  for BT but are   they
>important companies? The same for   NIS in  Japan,...

NIS is a major player (don't know if it's THE major player or not) in
the packet-switching business here in Japan.  They link up with
Tymnet's system in the U.S.  I don't have any sales figures, but I
know that they are worried about future growth potential.
Coincidentally, I met with their president about two weeks ago, and
they are very worried that the availability of point-to-point digital
connections (like ISDN) will eliminate the need for packet services.
They are looking for new businesses to expand into, but at this time
they rely solely on selling packet services.

The intelligence of BT's investment will not be known for some time.

Jim Gottlieb                     Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
       <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy>
Fax: (011)[phone]           Voice Mail: (011)[phone] ID#82-42-424

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #495
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 8 Nov 89 0:38:55 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #496
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 8 Nov 89 00:37:23 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 496

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Zone Phone (Johnny Zweig)
    Dreams of the Phone System (Peter da Silva)
    Funny Incoming Calls, Fax? (Chris Schmandt)
    Music On Hold For Merlin (Gabe Wiener)
    Local Calls in the UK & Recovering STD Codes (Kevin Hopkins)
    The Daily Centrex Bummer (John Higdon)
    Re: Caller ID and Cellular Systems (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Caller ID and Cellular Systems (Gary Segal)
    Re: What Does NAM Mean? (W. T. Sykes)
    New Telecom Expansion List in Norway (TELECOM Moderator)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Johnny Zweig <[e-mail]>
Subject: Zone Phone
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: U of Illinois, CS Dept., Systems Research Group
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 19:35:32 GMT

I saw on a TV show called "Byond Tomorrow" a bit about a product in
England called a Zone Phone. Evidently the thin is cheap, portable,
only capable of placing outgoing calls, and only works when within 100
meters of a base station (though according to the story, there are
plenty of them around London so they come in handy).  I guess the idea
is to be a poor-man's cellular.

It also mentioned that the technology was digital.

Anyway, does anyone know more about Zone Phones? I am particulalrly
interested in _how_ much cheaper they are than portable, and whether
there are provisions for security (i.e. DES encryption of the outgoing
PCM data would be slick, no?).

-Johnny Curious

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

Subject: Dreams of the Phone System
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 7:12:53 CST
From: Peter da Silva <[e-mail]>

A respite from the NPA/ANI/COCOT/AOS flames...

Last night I had a dream in which I was making a call from a pay
phone. I stuck my credit card in the slot, and the dialtone was
interrupted by a computer generated voice:

    "Mister <da Silva>, you have a message from <Stephanie>.  Please
     push 1 if you would like to take it now."

The <> mark what sounded like sampled inserts.

OK, you telecom futurists... when will this service be available? You
better hurry... it was a 15-cent payphone.

(aside: my subconscious is pretty trusting: it didn't even wait for me
to enter any sort of ID code)


`-_-' Peter da Silva <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>.
 'U`  --------------  [phone].
"*Real* wizards don't whine about how they paid their dues"
    -- Quentin Johnson [e-mail]

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

From: Chris Schmandt <mit-amt![e-mail]>
Subject: Funny Incoming Calls, Fax?
Date: 7 Nov 89 02:34:53 GMT
Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA


I got a funny call; or rather, 3 of them, today.  Answer the line.
Silence, beep, silence, beep.  About once every 3 (4?)  seconds.  I
figure its a fax or modem waiting for carrier (which I can't
whistle!).  But why the occaisional beeps?  I seem to recall something
about faxes identifying themselves as faxes?

This repeated 3 times in a few minutes.  On the third call I got wise
and transferred the call to our fax number.  But when I went to the
machine, nothing had come out.

Any ideas?
chris

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

From: Gabe Wiener <[e-mail]>
Subject: Music On Hold For Merlin
Reply-To: Gabe Wiener <[e-mail]>
Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 23:30:17 GMT

Hey folks.  I just had a Merlin Plus system put in and I have one
technical question that neither the AT&T installer nor the 800
"customer service" # could answer.

For the Music-On-Hold input, what kind of signal level does it expect?
Does it want a line-level signal such as that which comes right out of
a tuner?  Or does it want an amplified speaker-level signal?

Thanks,


Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ.     "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings
[e-mail]             to be seriously considered as a means of
[e-mail]       communication. The device is inherently of
[e-mail]         no value to us."  -Western Union memo, 1877

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

Subject: Local Calls in the UK & Recovering STD Codes
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 07 Nov 89 17:46:19 +0000
From: Kevin Hopkins <[e-mail]>

In the UK most calls, if not all, within your STD (area) code are
classed as local, but there is no easy way to determine which other
calls are also classed as local.  A few years ago most local calls
used a special local code (usually starting with a 9) instead of the
STD code, so that helped.

This method has been scrapped in the larger metropolitan areas and is
being phased out in other areas, so as to free up codes for new
exchanges.  As an example, here in Nottingham (STD 0602) the local
call area consists of all calls to 0331, 0332, 0509, 0602, 0607, 0623,
0636, 0664, 0773 and 0949 numbers.  Calls to 0331, 0607, 0623, 0636,
0773 and 0949 need a local code, and will not connect with the STD
code (at my last attempt), whilst some calls to 0509 need the local
code - but not all. Easy to remember, no.

All calls in the UK are measured in units, including local calls. A
unit is 4.4p (5.06p including VAT) and the amount of time you get for
your unit varies with distance of the call and the time of day during
which you place your call.

Also BT are phasing out the least populous STD codes and placing their
subscribers on the exchanges in the nearest large town, so as to
recover some spare STD codes. Thus 0331 STD code is being phased out
and 0332 used instead of it in the Derby area, and in Nottingham 0607
STD code is being phased out and 0602 used instead. The 0331 and 0607
codes seem to serve the outlying districts of the above towns.  Here's
the list I have (some place names approximate):

0221  becomes    0225 (Bath)         0605  becomes   0603 (Norwich)
0230        0234 (Bedford)        0607            0602 (Nottingham)
0231        0232 (Belfast)        0657            0229 (Barrow-in-Furness)
0240        0494 (Amersham)        0660            0434 (Hexham)
0251        0252 (Aldershot)    0696            0430 (Market Weighton)
0275        0272 (Bristol)        0701            0705 (Portsmouth)
0281        0753 (Slough)        0735            0734 (Wokingham)
0321        0323 (Eastbourne)   0755            0752 (Plymouth)
0331        0332 (Derby)        0774            0772 (Preston)
0336        0975 (Strathdon)    0781            0782 (Stoke-on-Trent)
0338        0339 (Braemar)        0791            0273 (Brighton)
0391        0253 (Blackpool)    0804            0803 (Torquay)
0402        0708 (Romford)        0826            0382 (Dundee)
0421        0703 (Southampton)  0838            0631 (Oban)
0441        0792 (Swansea)        0853            0768 (Penrith)
0448        0539 (Kendal)        0867            0865 (Oxford)
0486        0483 (Guildford)    0906            0903 (Worthing)
0498        0434 (Hexham)        0907            0902 (Wolverhampton)
0537        0533 (Leicester)    0927            0923 (Watford)
0541        0387 (Dumfries)        0930            0768 (Penrith)
0566        0822 (Tavistock)    0940            0946 (Whitehaven)
0587        0539 (Kendal)        0965            0697 (Aspatria)
0596        0768 (Penrith)        0966            0539 (Kendal)
0601        0604 (Northampton)  0990            0276 (Camberley) and
                                    0344 (Bracknell)

Also, the following are unused STD codes in the UK, according to the
BT Phone Book. I know that 0831 is used for something, though I know
not what (BT paging ?).  Can anyone help me with that code, and any of
the others that are used. The will most likely be used for special
services such as pagers rather than as true area codes.

0201, 0374, 0385, 0390, 0401, 0426, 0447, 0459, 0500, 0552, 0585, 0589, 0632,
0640, 0645, 0649, 0682, 0739, 0741, 0783, 0802, 0831, 0839, 0850, 0881, 0891,
0893, 0894, 0897, 0901, 0921, 0941, 0956, 0958, 0961, 0973, 0976, 0979, 0987,
0996, 0998 and 0999

+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| [e-mail] | Kevin Hopkins,              |
| or    ..!mcvax!ukc!nott-cs!K.Hopkins         | Department of Computer Science,|
| or in the UK: [e-mail]         | University of Nottingham,      |
| CHAT-LINE: [phone] x 3815         | Nottingham, ENGLAND, NG7 2RD   |
+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+

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

From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: The Daily Centrex Bummer
Date: 7 Nov 89 23:59:41 GMT
Organization: Green Hills and Cows


As those of you outside the Bay Area may not be aware, we have had
aftershocks from the Loma Prieta quake almost daily. And after each
one, dial tone is very slow.

A while back, I mentioned that right after the "big one", my
Centrex-using friends were out of luck for two days while the CO was
restored. In a moderator's note, Patrick mentioned that an earthquake
was a rare enough occurance that one would have to consider Centrex to
be generally reliable.

Well, I just got a follow-up call. It seems that after every single
one of these "major" aftershocks, dialtone disappears for about an
hour.  This means no calls to the front desk, no calls to the
mailroom, not even activation/deactivation of forwarding or features.
I suspect that this particular customer is going to be having some
serious conversations with Pac*Bell about "the most reliable business
phone system in the world".

Still think that Centrex is so reliable/wonderful?

        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]
    [e-mail]      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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

From: Dave Levenson <westmark![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID and Cellular Systems
Date: 7 Nov 89 03:42:24 GMT
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
com (Louis J. Judice  05-Nov-1989 1211) writes:

> I wonder how/if Caller-ID and related service can/will be handled on
> cellular systems. My Novatel mobile phone certainly has the "ability"
> to display things, one would think that manufacturers could provide
> the intelligence in a cellular phone's logic to provide the proper
> decoding to support Caller-ID.

Here here!!!  I think that's an excellent use for Caller*ID.  This is
because on a cellular phone, a large part of the cost of the incoming
call is paid by the recipient of the call, and only if the call is
answered.  When the phone rings in my car, I sometimes wonder who is
calling -- it's often a wrong number, and it often costs me about 55c
to find that out.

Unfortunately, however, the cellular companies apparently use DID
trunks into their switch from the C.O. and the current CLASS services
are only available on standard loop-start and ground-start trunks.
The ring power that is present on these trunks during incoming call
alerting is what triggers the Call Identifier box to enable its modem.
On DID trunks, there is no ring power applied, so some other kind of
signalling would be needed.

When the technology is available, though, I'd pay extra for a
cellular phone that provides a Caller*ID display, and even trade in
my present phone (also a Novatel) that doesn't!


Dave Levenson                Voice: [phone]
Westmark, Inc.               Internet: [e-mail]
Warren, NJ, USA              UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
[The Man in the Mooney]      AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave


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

From: Gary Segal <motcid![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID and Cellular Systems
Date: 7 Nov 89 16:31:44 GMT
Organization: Motorola INC., Cellular Infrastructure Division


[e-mail] (Louis J. Judice  05-Nov-1989 1211) writes:

>Incidentally, I've often thought that a REALLY neat feature for
>cellular would be for cell-sites to transmit a bit of data on the
>control channel that could be decoded by phones such as:

>        - Location of Cell Site
>        - Area Code you're in
>        - In-bound roamer access number

>Maybe in the next generation digital system???

Actually, the phone does know which cell site it is on, but only as a
channel number.  Since each channel is used only on one cell within a
given reuse pattern, it's not to hard to figure out which cell the
phone is on.  Of course, you need to have access to the channel
allocations that the service provider uses, as well as the locations
of the cells.  Which is not something easily obtained.

Note that which cell your phone is one it not nessecarly the cell the
phone is IN.  Because of all those fun radio effects such as
multi-path reflections and Ralyeigh fading, a base station that is
actually further from the phone may have a BETTER signal, which would
cause the network to switch the phone to that base.  Of course a
downtown area with lots of tall building is going to have lots of
bizzare radio effects.  In addition, cell size varies widely depending
on the anticipated traffic density of the area.  Therefore when you
are driving allong I-94 in downtown Chicago, you may change cells
every 0.5 mile (an hour drive :-), but outside of the city cell size
is much larger.

Add to this confusion the fact that in an active market, new cell
sites are being added rather frequently to increase system capacity.
(Just last month, Ameritech added another switch to double overall
system capacity.  To bad it wasn't a Motorola switch :-( )

What this all boils down to is that phone location can be estimated,
but accuracy depends on the size of the cell it is in as well as the
current radio conditions.  If you really need to know where you are,
your better off with a satellite based positioning system :-)


Gary Segal @ Motorla C.I.D.            1501 W. Shure Drive
 ...!uunet!motcid!segal                Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Disclaimer: The above is all my fault.        [phone]

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

From: W T Sykes <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What Does NAM Mean?
Date: 6 Nov 89 14:07:33 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (wts)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


In article <[e-mail]> val![e-mail]
(Ben Thornton) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 491, message 11 of 11

>A friend asked me recently if I knew what the acronym NAM means in the
>context of telecommunications.  Can anyone hazard a guess on this one?

NAM - often means "National Account Manager" in AT&T parlance.

William T. Sykes  AT&T Bell Laboratories  Burlington, NC att!winken!wts

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

Date:     Tue, 7 Nov 89 23:42:15 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Subject:  New Telecom Expansion List in Norway

Effective as of today, readers of TELECOM Digest in Norway will be
serviced from a new expansion list maintained by Erik T. Naggum. A
copy of each Digest is forwarded to the gateway there, and is
re-distributed to anyone who asks to be added to the list.

For more information on receiving TELECOM Digest at a site in Norway
contact:

Erik T. Naggum   <[e-mail]>

And my thanks to Mr. Naggum for making this arrangement possible.


Patrick Townson

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #496
*****************************










Date:     Wed, 8 Nov 89 1:34:34 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #497
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 8 Nov 89 01:33:28 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 497

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Caller ID in Chicago (David W. Tamkin)
    Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US? (Linc Madison)
    Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US? (Brandon S. Allbery)
    Re: Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer (Linc Madison)
    Re: NYC Time and Weather (Scott D. Green)
    Re: PABX Communications With Local Telco (David Lewis)
    Re: The Hottest Answering Machine (John Tsang)
    Re: Caller ID Device (Dave Hsu)
    Re: PBX Use in Residences (Dave Speed)
    Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains (David L Kindred)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: Caller ID in Chicago
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 10:43:16 CST
From: "David W. Tamkin" <[e-mail]>

Bob von Borstel wrote in volume 9, issue 494:

| Being a fellow resident in Chicago, I'm curious.  Does Illinois Bell
| support 'Caller-ID' now, if only un-officially?  Meaning if I buy
| this AT&T Caller-ID box and hook it up to my phone will it work?
| Our house is served by the Mitchell CO which I think has a #5ESS.

Patrick Townson replied:

| [Moderator's Note: The Mitchell CO? My, you *are* way out far south.
| I think Mitchell is a remote office served by Chicago-South Chicago. I
| dunno what you get there. Yes, IBT does 'support Caller-ID
| unofficially', meaning they use it in CO's thus equipped for their own
| purposes. I will pass this question to David Tamkin. Perhaps he knows
| a bit more about it than I, and can tell you what is what, re:
| Mitchell specifically and Chicago in general.  PT]

It baffles me that Pat would think I'd know, but here is what I can tell you.

Chicago-Mitchell is a CO in the southeasternmost part of the city,
opposite corner from Newcastle (where I live).  Its only prefix is
MItchell 6, and it serves roughly the Hegewisch area (southeast of
Lake Calumet), the only part of Chicago where the earth is legally
round, just past the area where pigeons are forbidden to fly under
criminal penalty.

Until 1954 or 1955 the area was served from the Chicago-South Chicago
CO.  Then the area was cut to the newly opened Mitchell office and all
phone numbers there changed to the MItchell 6 prefix.  The two
districts together make up Chicago Zone 9.

Illinois Bell has been providing caller ID on calls to 0perator and to
911 for several years, and on calls to their service representatives
for business customers.  I don't think that they've been including the
information in regular subscriber-to-subscriber calls.

My guess is that the box wouldn't work yet in Mitchell.  You might
want to try one out in Summit, however, where Ameritech is doing some
experimenting.

David W. Tamkin        [e-mail]     ...!attctc!jolnet!dattier
P. O. Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois  60018-0813   [phone]  [phone]
BIX: dattier  GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN  CIS: 73720,1570   The opinions above are mine.

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

Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 02:43:10 PST
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US?
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

In article <[e-mail]> Dave Horsfall writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>
>    [e-mail] (Dan Sahlin) writes:

>| As I understand it, "011" is used as the international prefix in the
>| US, whereas the international recommendation is "00". Are there some
>| other numbers starting with 00 preventing it to be used as
>| international prefix?

>For starters, Australia uses 000 as the emergency number (like 911 in
>USA and 999 in GB).          ^^^

>Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU),  Alcatel STC Australia,  [e-mail]
>[e-mail],  ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave

Oy!  I found that surprising, since in Australia the digit to dial for
calls outside a Centrex or similar system is "0" instead of "9" in
U.S.  Thus, a call to the U.S. from an Australian Centrex is
0-0011-1-etc.  To then have "000" as emergency seems it could have
high potential for misdials.  "Emergency?  No, I'm trying to reach
France!"

   Linc Madison    =    [e-mail]

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

From: "Brandon S. Allbery" <telotech![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US?
Reply-To: "Brandon S. Allbery" <telotech![e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 18:05:52 GMT

I just saw an AT&T ad in USN&WR that claimed that "00" is international
directory assistance.

++Brandon

-=> Brandon S. Allbery @ telotech, inc.   (I do not speak for telotech.) <=-
Any comp.sources.misc postings sent to this address will be DISCARDED -- use
[e-mail] instead. My boss doesn't pay me to moderate newsgroups.
** [e-mail] ** uunet!hal.cwru.edu!ncoast!{allbery,telotech!bsa} **

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

Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 03:05:39 PST
From: Linc Madison <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

In article <[e-mail]> Richard Gumpertz writes:
>>Does anyone have such as circuit that they have (successfully) built?

>I have purchased a few of the DAK devices.  They are a clever device.

>To sum things up, it includes a thyristor that is biased to fire when
>no other devices are on the line and drop out if another phone
>(without such a devioce) picks up.  By using such a device on EACH
>phone in the house, it can be used as a mutual-exclusion device,
>allowing only the first phone to go off-hook access to the line.  I
>use them with multiple modems on a single line -- they work great!

I bought two of them, even though my phone line has a single jack.  I
have them in cascading precedence order: the answering machine picks
up if nothing else is on the line.  If I pick up my phone, that knocks
the answering machine off-line (otherwise I would have to manually
kill the machine before it would let me have the line).  Lastly, if I
am using the modem and thoughtlessly pick up or kick over my
telephone, I don't lose the modem connection.

The modem goes into the high priority slot of the first box, and then
the second box goes into the low priority slot of the first.  The
second box then has phone and answering machine, respectively, on high
and low ("phone" and "ans" as labelled).  (I tried to make a diagram,
but vi won't cooperate.)  No more fumbling for the stupid machine if I
pick up on the 4.00001st ring, and no more tearing my hair out because
I knocked the phone over in the middle of a 300K file transfer.

One other thing about the device I bought (called "Message Stopper").
I opened it up, and it looked like would work only on the primary line
of a two-line jack.

   Linc Madison   =   [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 10:08 EDT
From: "Scott D. Green" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: NYC Time and Weather

Both free in Philly, just like you remembered it:

TIme 6-1212
WEather 6-1212.

Both from Bella PA, time seems to be pretty darn close to what it
should be; the weather is NWS, updated hourly.

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

From: David Lewis <nvuxr![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: PABX Communications With Local Telco
Date: 7 Nov 89 15:28:19 GMT
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Lars J Poulsen) writes:

> A large CENTREX system is often ACTUALLY implemented by the phone
> company installing a PBX on the customer's premises. In such a case,
> they may also serve some other customers out of that switch but with a
> software "firewall" preventing use of the centrex features for the
> ordinary subscriber lines. Such a phone-company owned "PBX" (I put it
> in quotes, because being phone-company-owned, it is not "private") is
> called a TANDEM switch.

Um, no it's not.  A tandem switch is a switch which is used "in
tandem" with two other switches to connect a call.

To try to explain...  You pick up your phone and dial 765-4321.  The
switch that your phone is connected to analyzes the number and
determines that the exchange 765 is not one it directly serves -- the
phone at 765-4321 is connected to some other switch somewhere else.

The switch then goes to a "routing table", basically a lookup table.
It finds the exchange 765, and an associated "trunk group" -- a set of
trunks (wires, or coaxial cables, or fiber optic cables, or digital
microwave links, or whatever) which run from "your" switch to another
switch.

In some cases, the routing is such that there is a direct trunk link
between your switch and the switch which serves the 765 exchange.  If
so, the trunk group found in the routing table will be one
corresponding to that direct link, and your call will be sent over
that direct trunk group.  This is the case if there's a large volume
of traffic between the two switches.

In other cases, there is no direct link between the two switch.  In
this case, the call will be sent to a switch which is, in some sense,
a "hub" -- it has trunk links to a large number of local switches.
This switch will examine the 765 exchange in its routing table, and
route the call to the proper local exchange.

This second switch, the "hub", if you will, therefore works "in
tandem" with the other two switches -- the source and destination end
offices -- to complete the call.  It's therefore known as a tandem
switch.

(I could get into a discussion of Class 5 Offices and Class 4 Offices
and Heirarchical versus Non-Heirarchical Routing and Access Tandems,
but that would just unduly confuse the issue... :-))

Meanwhile, back at the main thread...  A phone company has a number of
options for providing a large Centrex customer with service.  They
may, in some cases, locate a switch on the customer premises.  It's
not usually a PBX, more often a CO switch, but the lines between the
two are blurring sufficiently that it's not a distinction worth making --
save to say that a CO switch often has more stringent availability
requirements, and therefore often (*though not always*) is more reliable.

Another approach often used, instead of running 7000 wire pairs, is to
locate a Remote Switching Unit, or RSU, on the customer premises.  An
RSU is a "module" of a central office switch which has a control link
and a transport link to the main switch.  The control link is
essentially an extension of the switch control bus, usually running
over fiber these days; the transport link is a high-capacity fiber
link.  The RSU isn't a switch in that it has no standalone
"intelligence", instead being directly controlled by the central
processor in the main switch, but it has a switch fabric which can
connect two lines which both subtend it or can route a call to the
main switch for further routing.  This reduces the need for cable
plant to a remote location.


David G Lewis                ...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej

            "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

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

Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 06:57:29-1000
From: John Tsang <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Hottest Answering Machine
Reply-To: John Tsang <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Hawaii

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Mark Feblowitz) writes:
>X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 491, message 8 of 11

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
>(Cyril Bauer) writes:

>> I would sugest the Panasonic unit. I have tried a few and the easiest
>> and most reliable I have found is the Panasonic.  They make models
>> that do most everthing that you could possibly want to do. Take your
>> pick, they work.

>I second that strongly: 5 years ago, the 3-family in which my sister
>rented an apartment burned. Her apartment was on the first floor and
>suffered substantial water and smoke damage. Her 3 year old Panasonia

I also strongly agree particularly to the fact that they have a lot of
features: (If I don't remember incorrectly) the KT-1427 or some higher
model # has almost all kinds of things and remote control you can
think of -- including Remote Room Monitor -- however, only bad thing
are the outgoing message seemingly is too short of 1/2 min., which may
not be enough for business operation announcement of operation hours
and introduction, and, the annoying beep during 2-Side-Conversation-
Recording.

    But, there should be much more new models now?  Anyone knows
any better one -- for business or for home use?  (I need to get one
for my restaurant and one at home ASAP.)

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave "bd" Hsu)
Subject: Re: Caller ID Device
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Dave "bd" Hsu)
Organization: Merriversity of Uniland, College Purgatory
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 20:38:00 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Dave "bd" Hsu) writes:

>Caller ID goes into operation in my area ... Thursday, October 2.
>[Moderator's Note: If it started October 2, I assume you have signed
>up? Can you give us any specifics of how it works in your application?

Duhhhh.  I meant to say *November* 2.


Dave Hsu    UMd EE Computer Facility    [e-mail]

"When a man with a katana meets a man with a [GAU-8] Avenger,
   the man with the katana dies."    - Samurai Cat

[Moderator's Note: Well in any event, have you signed up? Please give
us all the details.  PT]

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

Subject: Re: PBX Use in Residences
Date: 7 Nov 89 15:37:59 PST (Tue)
From: Dave Speed <[e-mail]>

Patrick -

Where might these be available from ?  Any *used* units avail ?
Would they handle a Telebit ?

  David L. Speed - warp speed inc ; data purveyors since 1989
    <<    When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.    >>
 (known universe) !ames!pacbell!sactoh0!dspeed or dspeed @well.uucp
 8908 Van Gogh Circle, Fair Oaks, CA 95628 BELL: [phone]
 Attn: this message is CopyLeft 1989 : %include standard disclaimer

[Moderator's Note: Sorry to say, I don't have any of the paperwork
from my old Melco 212 system around here. They are (were) in
Washington State. But Mitel makes the same thing. If someone has the
address of Mitel or Melco, please mail it to Mr. Speed.  PT]

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

From: "David L Kindred (Dave" <moscom!pyrite.telesci![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains
Date: 8 Nov 89 00:28:25 GMT
Organization: Telesciences CO Systems, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(John Higdon) writes:

   In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
   edu (Steve Forrette) writes:

   > I have a rear-window capacitive-mount antenna for my cellular phone,
   > and the instructions that came with it stated that people should keep
   > all parts of themselves at least 6 inches from the antenna whenever
   > the phone was in use!

My $.02 -- is the through glass antenna warning because of harm to a person
sitting too close, or because the inherent equivalent circuit of the
human body would interfere with the through glass coupling??


EMail: [e-mail] (...!princeton!telesci!kindred)
Phone: [phone] x222
Snail: TeleSciences C O Systems, 351 New Albany Rd, Moorestown, NJ 08057-1177

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #497
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 9 Nov 89 0:18:47 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #498
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 9 Nov 89 00:18:11 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 498

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Time to "Disconnection" (Al L. Varney)
    Caller ID On My FAX Machine? (Richard P. Gruen)
    KERMIT Problem Response Summary (Terence J. McKiernan)
    Need E-Mail Information for Michelin (Mathew Zank)
    Televideo 925 Terminal User's Manual (Jeffrey M. Schweiger)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Al Varney)
Subject: Re: Time to "Disconnection"
Date: 6 Nov 89 21:04:19 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Al Varney)
Organization: AT&T Network Systems


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Louis J. Judice) writes:

>I never realized this until it was demonstrated to me, but at least in
>NJ on the Peapack Central Office, if you call person "A", person "A"
>can hang up, and pick up their phone up to about 15 seconds later
>without disconnecting "B". This is without any phone features, etc.

>If the calling party hangs up, of course the conversation is over. I
>also suspect that if the "called-party" is on a PBX, etc., that this
>"grace period" is not given.

>What is this, why does it exist? It is "dependable" or just a fluke?
>Is the 15 second limit a standard of some sort?

See "DISCONNECT" below:

And in article <[e-mail]>, westmark!dave@uunet.
uu.net (Dave Levenson, 1 Nov 89) writes:

>This is generally true throughout NJ Bell territory.  If the calling
>party goes on-hook, the call is disconnected (the called party is left
>high-and-dry for about 20 seconds, and is then given dial tone).  But
>if the called party goes on hook, the call remains up for about 20
>seconds.  If the called party goes back off hook during this "grace
>period" the conversation may continue.  I'm not sure this is
>_universally_ true.  It is certainly not true where the called party
>is behind PBX, unless the PBX implements the same "grace period"
>feature.

DISCONNECT: change from off-hook to on-hook that persists beyond a
            prescribed time limit and can last indefinitely thereafter.
            (Bellcore LSSGR,6.3.5.2)

But you want details?  OK.

    "True" disconnect (no Flash allowed):
   0-200 ms  Hit { "false" disconnect?}
 200-400 ms  Hit or disconnect {each switch draws the line within this range}
   > 400 ms  TRUE Disconnect

    Disconnect (Flash allowed - e.g., line has 3-way calling)
   0-200 ms  Hit
 200-300 ms  Hit or Flash
300-1100 ms  Flash
1100-1550ms  Flash or disconnect
   > 1550ms  TRUE Disconnect

These apply to caller and called parties.  When CALLER disconnects,
the CALLED party gets no dial tone for 10-12 seconds because, in most
cases, they don't want to make another call.  Good switch design tries
to give dial tone to the lines most likely to be able to complete a
call.  Most of the time the CALLED party doesn't disconnect right
away, the party either missed the switch-hook or is still scribbling
down the message, etc.

When CALLED party disconnects first, a 10-12 second "timed-release"
period starts.  The connection to the CALLER remains, such that a
CALLED party off-hook will result in a stable talking connection
again.  Why?  Don't know, but a good guess is historical.  The party
answering might answer, realize it's for another household/business
associate, hang up and yell for them to answer their extension.
Alternatively, the answering party could hang up and run to another
extension.  The reason could also be related to false disconnects when
operators dropped off or bridged on to TOLL or COIN calls via
switchboards.

For old-timers, the term DISCONNECT applied to only the CALLER and the
term HANG-UP was reserved for the CALLED party.  For inter-office
trunks:

   0-150 ms  Hit {in talking state, shorter in other states}
 150-500 ms  Hit or disconnect
   > 500 ms  Disconnect

The above is a condensation and re-write of information in the
Bellcore LSSGR, TR-TSY-000506, a Module of TR-TSY-000064; the AT&T
Practice 781-030-100, "Notes on Distance Dialing", Iss. 1, 1975, later
called "Notes on the Network" and then re-titled/edited as "Notes on
the Intra- LATA Network" by Bellcore after you-know-what.  PLEASE
don't design any equipment or program based on the above information.
BUY Bellcore's documents (and AT&T's, if they apply).  I've left out 4
pages of exceptions, extensions and special cases that will allow you
to almost work in the real world, but not quite.

And finally, in <[e-mail]>,
    [e-mail] (Lars J Poulsen, 3 Nov 89) reads:

>In article <[e-mail]>
>    [e-mail] (Nutsy Fagen) writes:
>>        In a relatively simple manner, could someone explain how a
>>local telco communicates with a PABX in terms of incoming/outgoing
>>phone numbers?  ....

and he (lars) writes:

> ANI (Automatic Number Identification) ... On an outgoing call,
> the PBX tells the CO which extension the call came from.
> ... a phone-company owned "PBX" (I put it in quotes, because being
> phone-company-owned, it is not "private") is called a TANDEM switch.

In #1/1A ESS(tm), it's called CENTREX-CU [CUstomer premises, vs. the
more "normal" CENTREX-CO [Central Office].  It's still mostly a
class-5 switch, just on non-TELCO property.  One of the major
differences between the PBX ANI (used to be called AIOD-Automatic
Identified Outward Dialing(?)) and REAL ANI (sent only between Central
Offices and other TELCO equipment) is the PBX could be slow or broken
or just plain lie!  The older AIOD data link basically indicated the
low-order digits of the last outgoing call -- too many calls at once
and the "last" call and associated digits could be confused.

It's major purpose is in generating Call Detail records for the PBX
customer: The AMA Billing still goes to the designated Billing Address
for the PBX.  Most "modern" PBXs generate Call Detail records locally,
along with more data than most administrators could possibly use.
(This applies to switches also.)

> A PABX (Private Automatic Branch eXchange) is a smaller version of
> what the phone company has in the central office. ....

#small flames
Common misconception; a PBX/PABX is not a central office switch
stripped- down.  PABXs don't follow most of the rules of central
offices (like the DISCONNECT stuff above) and almost none of the rules
of trunking.  Each vendor can do as they please as long as the
customer is happy and the TELCO (or by-pass carrier) doesn't object.
The rules in the LSSGR, etc. are there for a reason (too bad Bellcore
doesn't give the reasons), and many of the reasons are there because
of Operator/Emergency Services, TOLL requirements, outside plant
facilities, CAMA, AIS and a requirement to be compatible with things
that exist in only a few places (and in requirements).

If PABXs could operate with minimum customer complaints, accurate Call
Records and maximum reliability in the real world of backhoe fade,
lightning, open wire facilities, digital facilities that fail and fade
Off-hook, cheap phones /answering machines/ modems/other PBXs, EMR,
foreign voltages, abusive customers, World Series overloads, two-party
lines, 8-party lines, cord boards, COIN lines, earthquakes, heat,
humidity, dry heat, cold and non-stop operation, maybe they would
approach a central office in capabilities, even if they don't have the
size to support 90,000 lines.  #flames off

  Sorry, I realize PABXs are complex and do some things a central
office would have a hard time doing (including meeting the National
Electric Code), but all those standards for REAL switches aren't in
there just to fill space.  One MAJOR casualty of divestiture is the
knowledge base that knew WHY the specs said a particular thing.

 Al Varney, AT&T Network Systems, CCS7 Network Services Customer Support,
  Lisle, IL     This note and I are NOT official spokespersons for AT&T

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

Date: Mon 6 Nov 89 14:34:44-PST
From: "Richard P. Gruen" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID On My FAX Machine?

My FAX machine (a Murata M1200) reports on the last 20 calls, be they
transmit or receive, placed or received.  There's a space in the call
log for "Location" which in about a third of the cases shows a
ten-digit phone number.  This is true for local calls which I dial
with 7-digit numbers; for intra-LATA 10-digit calls; for genuine long
distance calls (although if I dial a leading 1, the log doesn't show
it); and even a 10-digit translation of the telephone number i reached
after i used an 800 number which showed the actual area code and phone
number instead of the 800 number.

I've gotten a number back even when the other party's header line (the
one with their time and date and logo) didn't have an included FAX
number.

So the question is, am i seeing Caller ID, or is there some part of
the G3 FAX protocol which provides these numbers?  If it's caller ID,
can I suppress it?

[Moderator's Note: I think what you are seeing is simply the phone
number programmed into the handshaking routine on the other modem.
This is just whatever the other party decides to put in there. We have
the same thing on the faxes in our office. You could as easily program
the phrase '000-000-0000 Not Your Business, Inc' in there as you could
give the true phone number and your company name.  PT]

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

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 10:12:16 PST
From: "Terence J. McKiernan" <[e-mail]>
Subject: KERMIT Problem Response Summary

Light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who live in a
KERMIT-only world: ...

A few weeks ago I posted a plea for help with a KERMIT script problem.
I was trying to cycle a remote port up to the proper connect speed by
sending breaks.  I was trying to send \Kbreaks, which was wrong
because \Kbreak is a KERMIT verb, not a character.  \B was the proper
output character, as pointed out by Eric Boehm in Albany.  Thanks,
Eric!

Here is a summary of responses.  Thanks to all who wrote in.

Terry McKiernan
[e-mail]
                        ----------

 From [e-mail] Wed Nov  1 11:23:40 1989

Here's a script fragment that I use to cycle a data switch:

:LOOP
PAUSE 1
INPUT 1 login:
IF FAILURE OUTPUT \B
REINPUT login:
IF FAILURE GOTO LOOP


Eric M. Boehm
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

                            ----------

 From [e-mail] Thu Nov  2 09:22:05 1989

One suggestion to try (yes, it's a hack, but hey... if it works)

If you can, do the following:

Change the baud rate to the lowest available (75 is preferable, but 300
might just cut it), and send a NUL ('\0') character. That may look like
a break to the getty on the SUN - it works for our Integrated Solutions
BSD4.3 system. Of course, it goes without saying that you change it back
after sending it. :-)

            Yours,

    [e-mail] - David Goodenough        +---+
                        IHS    | +-+-+
    ....... !harvard!xait!lakart!dg            +-+-+ |
AKA:    [e-mail]              +---+

                      ----------

 From [e-mail] Thu Nov  2 14:50:54 1989

Have you tried sending this problem to the Kermit Distribution folks
at Columbia University?  They may have an answer for you or may send
the question on to the author of C/kermit who might have an answer.

Let me know if you don't have an address.  I can come up with the
address of the Kermit-Digest which answers questions just like yours.

                         - tom

internet     : mvac23![e-mail]  or  [e-mail]
uucp         : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas
Europe Bitnet: THOMAS1@GRATHUN1
Location: Newark, DE, USA
Quote   : Virtual Address eXtension.  Is that like a 9-digit zip code?

                        ----------

 From [e-mail] Mon Nov  6 10:55:52 1989

Thank you for the information.  We have a similar configuration to
yours - but ours has a Gandalf PACX (a digital switch) between the
modem and host mini.  We can't use 2400 bps speed even though
everything is capable of it.  The powers don't choose to set up the
configuration files for it yet.

You can program a break for any length of time (at lease in kermit).
Some terminal emulators have two breaks (like the vt100): short and
long.  Short is .232 sec and long is 3.5 sec according to the manual
for our vt100 lookalike terminal.  Break is defined as "the space
state" as in mark/space to define the bits in a character.  I think
the rest state for the line is mark.  You can get a very short break
for some purposes by typing a null character (eg ^@).

Well that's the end of my expertise.  Good luck.


Marty Cohen [e-mail]  {uunet|rutgers}!brl!mcohen
Custom House Rm 800, Phila. PA 19106 [phone]

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

From: Mathew Zank <apple!netcom![e-mail]>
Subject: Need E-Mail Information for Michelin
Date: 8 Nov 89 05:08:14 GMT
Organization: NetCom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 997-9175}


Can anyone send me the Telex number for the Michelin Company in
France. A Fax number can do also.

[Moderator's Note: Have you consulted the Telex Directory and/or telex
directory assistance?   PT]

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

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 18:58:29 PST
From: "Jeffrey M. Schweiger X2502" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Televideo 925 Terminal User's Manual


I have a friend who is trying to use a Televideo 925 terminal with a
2400 bps modem to access a Defense Data Network (DDN) Terminal Access
Controller (TAC) node running at 1200 bps.  The terminal is presently
set for 2400bps operation.  She needs to reset the terminal's dip
switches to allow 1200bps operation, but has misplaced the user's
manual.  She received a 'brush off' when calling Televideo's customer
service, and we have been unable to locate a Televideo 925 User's
Manual around here.  We'd appreciate it if any comp.dcom.telecom
readers could be of help in locating such a manual.

Thanks,
Jeff Schweiger
([e-mail])

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #498
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 9 Nov 89 1:51:28 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #499
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 9 Nov 89 01:50:59 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 499

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Chicago Cellular Prefixes and the 312/708 Split (John R. Covert)
    Re: Chicago Cellular Prefixes and the 312/708 Split (David Tamkin)
    Small PBXs (Larry Rachman)
    D4 Channel Banks (Doug Faunt)
    T1 vrs. T2; and Info (Lance Ellinghouse)
    Re: Cheap Cellular Phones (Thomas E. Lowe)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 14:53:08 -0800
From: "John R. Covert  06-Nov-1989 0932" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Chicago Cellular Prefixes and the 312/708 Split

I just talked to both Chicagoland cellular providers, and got the
following information:

Ameritech currently has the following Chicago (312) prefixes:
    415 909 914* 805 802 718        [Summit, see below.]
These, of course, remain 312.

The following Ameritech prefixes will remain in area code 312, although
they are in suburban rate centers:
    550 (LaGrange), 590 (Arlington Heights), 502, 919 (Northbrook)

For one year, they will still have suburban rate centers.  At the end
of that time they will be changed to Chicago rate centers.

Ameritech customers who would like to keep suburban rate centers may
change their numbers to 708-710 (LaGrange) or 708-370 (Northbrook).

Cellular One has a "area-code split hotline" which required me to wait
ten minutes.  Then the person really didn't want to give me a list of
prefixes.  She told me that all of their prefixes are Schaumburg
prefixes, although it turns out that there are two Chicago prefixes
(+) among them.  The rest are Rozelle.

659, 504, 815(?), 569(+), 401, 613, 315, 608, 203, 316, 607, 618, 320(+).

As was previously mentioned; these remain in 312.  The A/C split
person said "we're working on moving them to Chicago."  815 doesn't
exist, even though Cellular One had it on their list.

708-217 will be the only new Cellular One suburban prefix for now.

Ameritech included 914 in the codes which are Chicago codes.  However,
914 is currently a Summit rate center.  Landline phones in Summit in
prefixes 458, 496, 563, 594, 839 are moving to 508.  However, 229 and
586 numbers are Chicago rate centers and are not moving.  (I think
Summit has been a topic of discussion in the past.)

/john

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

From: David Tamkin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Chicago Cellular Prefixes and the 312/708 Split
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 10:44:25 CST

Pat Townson solicited my input on a submission by John Covert about
the effect of the 312/708 split on cellular service.  OK, here goes
(the citations are from John Covert):

> I just talked to both Chicagoland cellular providers, and got the following
> information:

Information at which I only guessed, and John has cleared up.  Thank
you, Mr.  Covert, for completing the task.

> Ameritech currently has the following Chicago (312) prefixes:
>     415 909 914* 805 802 718        [Summit, see below.]
> These, of course, remain 312.

According to Illinois Bell, 415 is not in use.  Calls to the others
are treated by IBT as calls to Summit and by Centel as calls to
Chicago Zone 8 (except to 914, which both treat as a call to Summit).
I believe these are in the Hickory Hills cellular switch: IBT's
landline CO in Hickory Hills is considered part of the Oak Lawn rate
center, but it's possible that the cellular switch in Hickory Hills is
on the other side of town.  Illinois Bell tends to list cellular
prefixes' locations as the CO whose landlines cover the location of
the cellular center.

> The following Ameritech prefixes will remain in area code 312, although
> they are in suburban rate centers:
>     550 (LaGrange), 590 (Arlington Heights), 502, 919 (Northbrook)

550 is listed by IBT as being in Wheaton (but staying in 312);
however, La Grange makes more sense.  More on 590 down below: it's a
problem.

> For one year, they will still have suburban rate centers.  At the end of that
> time they will be changed to Chicago rate centers.

> Ameritech customers who would like to keep suburban rate centers may change
> their numbers to 708-710 (LaGrange) or 708-370 (Northbrook).

> Cellular One has a "area-code split hotline" which required me to wait ten
> minutes.  Then the person really didn't want to give me a list of prefixes.

Nova Cellular (who resells service from both Ameritech Mobile and
Cellular One [the Cellular One name here is used by Southwestern Bell,
not by Bell South as I may have said before] as well as selling
equipment) are offering information on how the split will affect
cellular customers at (312 becoming 708) 571-4200.  Perhaps someone
less shy than I can probe their soources as Mr. Covert did with the
cellular providers themselves.

What was the hotline number at Cellular One?  (312 becoming 708)
882-2181?  1-800-CELL-ONE?  Those are their regular customer service
numbers, but I too have heard them advertised as a source for area
code split information.  Mr.  Covert might have reached someone who
had no special designation for providing area code split information.

> She told me that all of their prefixes are Schaumburg prefixes, although it
> turns out that there are two Chicago prefixes (+) among them.  The rest are
> Rozelle.

The Roselle (with an S) rate center includes the towns of Schaumburg,
Hoffman Estates, and Bloomingdale as well as Roselle and parts of
others.  All IBT landline prefixes from the Roselle, Schaumburg, and
Schauburg North CO's, plus those prefixes in the Willowcrest CO that
are assigned to subscribers south of I-90 and Cellular One service
from Schaumburg, make up the Roselle rate center. Cellular One's
installation is in Schaumburg, so it can easily be Schaumburg to them
but Roselle on the rate center list.

> 659, 504, 815(?), 569(+), 401, 613, 315, 608, 203, 316, 607, 618, 320(+).

According to IBT, 203, 618, and 815 are not in use.  569 is a landline
prefix from Chicago-Newcastle (formerly wired from the Elk Grove CO)
used for foreign exchange service to the northwestern suburbs, but
apparently Cellular One has a block of numbers on it.  (The same is
true of Ameritech Mobile's space on 590: Illinois Bell confirmed that
590 is a landline prefix in Arlington Heights.  A friend mentioned
that a friend of hers had service on 569, and my brother's car phone
is on 590.)  All telephone numbers I've seen on 569 are from 2000 on
up, so possibly the lower numbers are used for cellular service or the
highest one's above the top of the block beginning at 569-3000, used
by United Airlines' reservation agents.

[Flash: I just checked with IBT's audio response service again, and
there are these changes since yesterday: 309 (!) and 320 will be in
312, 217 (!) and 999 will be in 708, and 590 "will be 312 for cellular
customers and 708 for all other customers."  That leaves 203, 212,
415, 494, 514, 618, 760, 809, 903, and 912 available, assuming that
state boundaries mean nothing but that LATA boundaries still do.

Having a specific question to ask, I swallowed my shyness and called
both Illinois Bell and Ameritech Mobile to ask about 590.  Each
claimed to be unaware that it was shared with another provider; each
concurred that whatever 590 phones they controlled would go the the
respective area code (708 for IBT and 312 for Ameritech Mobile);
neither could provide me any guide, say by groups of specific
thousands, to which 590-XXXX's were theirs and which were from the
other company.  569 is not a problem because its land lines as well as
its cellular lines will be in 312.]

320 is apparently in the Chicago-Congress cellular CO or divided
between there and the Chicago-Wabash landline CO a couple blocks away.
The other prefixes on that list (besides 203, 569, 618, and 815) are
Cellular One service from Schaumburg; maybe the cellular lines on 569
are in Schaumburg too.  IBT lists them as Willowcrest because the
Schaumburg cellular installation is in the area where landlines come
from the Willowcrest CO.

> As was previously mentioned; these remain in 312.  The A/C split person said
> "we're working on moving them to Chicago."  815 doesn't exist, even though
> Cellular One had it on their list.

Neither do 203 and 618, as far as I can tell.

> 708-217 will be the only new Cellular One suburban prefix for now.

So much for the sanctity of prefixes that match NPA's in the same
state.  309 has also been assigned, it turns out.

> Ameritech included 914 in the codes which are Chicago codes.  However, 914
> is currently a Summit rate center.  Landline phones in Summit in prefixes
> 458, 496, 563, 594, 839 are moving to 508.  However, 229 and 586 numbers
> are Chicago rate centers and are not moving.  (I think Summit has been a
> topic of discussion in the past.)

John's division of IBT landline prefixes from the Summit CO is
correct, but the suburban ones will be in 708; they are not moving to
Massachusetts.


David Tamkin  P.O Box 813  Rosemont, Illinois 60018-0813 |      BIX: dattier
[e-mail]  [phone] [phone] | GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN
Everyone on Chinet has his or her own opinion about this.|   CIS: 73720,1570

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

Date: 08 Nov 89 07:53:57 EST
From: Larry Rachman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Small PBXs

Recent comments on the topic of residential/small business PBXs have
encouraged me to share my experience with the Panasonic KX-T61610.

I installed one here about 6 months ago (replacing a two year old
KXT-616) and have found it to be *wonderful*. The nicest feature is
that you can freely mix and match propriatary Panasonic keyphones and
ordinary single line stations, without any special hardware or
configuration. The feature/key phones use the second cord pair to pass
key and lamping information between the station and the PBX; if the
PBX looks for the data and can't find it, it assumes you've attached a
plain phone.

I operate my business from my home, so its handy to be able to
configure for the house line to ring everywhere *but* the office, and
for the office lines to ring only in the office, but for everything to
be answerable everywhere. If the kids ever beat an 85% average,
they'll get extensions, and I'll have a chance to use the toll
restriction and SMDR capabilities.

You need at least one proprietary featurephone to configure the
system, which is done through the station keyboard and LCD screen. You
can dump the entire configuration to the SMDR printer for easier
reading, or archiving.

Between the phones, modems, fax, and so forth, I'm using 12 of the 16
station ports. I'm sure that the rest will find homes fairly soon. At
(New York Telephone) Centrex rates, the switch pays for itself every 6
month or so, and I get both Key and PBX features!

TeleCom Products (somewhere in California: 1-800-888-PHON) will ship
one of these for about $650 (or its little brother, the KXT30810, for
about $375). Tell them you're a phone store, and ask for the catalog.

                                         -Larry Rachman


[--I don't own or work for either Panasonic or TeleCom -- my
only relationships with these firms are the usual 'Capitalist
acts between consenting adults'.]

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

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 09:06:43 -0800
From: Doug Faunt N6TQS 415-688-8269 <[e-mail]>
Subject: D4 Channel Banks

I'm looking for sources and reccomndations for D4 channel banks, which
I think is the correct solution for this problem.

This is the problem, any suggestions for other solutions are
solicited.  I have a "remote" site going into operation.  T1 lines are
cheap and easy in this situation.  Metallic pairs aren't.  I want to
put up to 24 telephones in the remote site, connected to my AT&T
System 75.  The 75 T1 interface apparently can only be set up as a tie
trunk using E&M signaling.

What I need is a channel bank that will either let me connect 2500
sets to that T1 channel, or a pair of channel banks that will let me
connect stations on one end to station ports on the other end.  A
distinct advantage, but probably not a requirement, is to be able to
use my 7406 digital telephones at the remote site.

Thanx, Doug

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

From: [e-mail] (Lance Ellinghouse)
Subject: T1 vs T2; and Info
Date: 8 Nov 89 17:02:36 GMT
Organization: Mark V Systems, Ltd., Encino, Ca.


Ok, dumb question time!!

I keep hearing about T1 and T2 service. I know that T1 carries more
(from previous posts). I also know that connecting to the Internet
takes a T1 line (from word of mouth).

Ok, now the questions:
   1) What exactly is the difference between a T1 and T2 line?
   2) What is the difference in Hardware that is needed to use them?
   3) What is the difference in costs? (This is regional and I would like
      a general idea if at all possible)
   4) How does one hook a computer to a T1 or T2 line? and what
      software is needed?
   5) Who do you contact for T1 and T2 install/maintance?
   6) Can a T2 be used for Internet? or only T1? is there something
      cheaper?
   7) anything else you can think of....

Direct answer are not needed if you can point me in a direction to
look.

I read Telecom as much as possible and have found it to be full of
answers to other questions that I have had!

Either post or E-mail (and I will summerize if people want).

Thanks!

Lance Ellinghouse
Mark V Systems, Ltd.
UUCP: ...!hermix!lance
ARPA: hermix![e-mail]

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

Date: Wed,  8 Nov 89 22:36:09 EST
From: Thomas E Lowe <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cheap Cellular Phones
Date: 9 Nov 89 03:35:57 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories


I recently posted requests for people having experience with "Cheap
Cellular Phones" from Jersey Cellular.  I received one reply which is
below.

 From [e-mail] Wed Nov  1 09:34 EST 1989
 To: hound!tel
 Subject: re: jersey cellular (cheep phones)

Tom,

I bought the $288, NEC 3700 at jersey cellar yesterday and thought I'd
give you a few comments;

The total bill was $437; Price does not include installation (75-100)
or an antenna (50-100).

Rates went up at 4:30pm yesterday (right after I got mine), the
selection of plans were:

"Advantage": $29 per month AND 55 cents per minute PEAK, 35 NON-PEAK
"Alternate Heavy usage": $49 per month AND 40 cents per minute PEAK &
NON-PEAK "Alternate Off Peak": $15 per month AND 75 cents per minute
PEAK, 25 NON-PEAK

PEAK hours are 0700 - 2100 (yuck!)

They talked me into the advantage plan, on reflection the $14
difference would pay for 70 minutes of peak calling ( 1400 / ( 75 - 55 ) ).
You can change plans for $10.00

Finally, if you decide to get a phone from them consider the following
offer:

If I give them your name as a referral when you sign up they will give
me a $50.00 credit to my account, If you want to do this I'll give you
$25.00, fair ?

Once signed up you'll have the same opportunity of course.

John Young

p.s.
They said installation would take 45 minutes, it took an little over 1 hour.


Tom Lowe    [e-mail] or  att!hound!tel     [phone]
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Room 2E-637A
Crawfords Corner Road,  Holmdel, NJ  07733
(R) UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T  (keep them lawyers happy!!)

------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V9 #499
*****************************










Date:     Thu, 9 Nov 89 2:33:45 CST
From:     TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]
Subject:  TELECOM Digest V9 #500
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 9 Nov 89 02:30:28 CST    Volume 9 : Issue 500

Today's Topics:                             Moderator: Patrick Townson

    Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US? (Bill Huttig)
    Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US? (John R. Levine)
    Re: Cryptic Abbreviations (David Lewis)
    Re: Cryptic Abbreviations (Jeff DeSantis)
    Re: Cryptic Abbreviations (Kevin Hopkins)
    Re: Dreams of the Phone System (B.J. Herbison)
    Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains (Brian Kantor)
    Re: PABX Communications With Local Telco (Alex Beylin)
    Re: Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer (Ken Thompson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From:  Bill Huttig <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US?
Date: 8 Nov 89 17:23:28 GMT
Reply-To:  Bill Huttig <[e-mail]>
Organization: Florida Institute of Technology, ACS, Melbourne, FL


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
edu (Linc Madison) writes:

>Oy!  I found that surprising, since in Australia the digit to dial for
>calls outside a Centrex or similar system is "0" instead of "9" in
>U.S.  Thus, a call to the U.S. from an Australian Centrex is
>0-0011-1-etc.  To then have "000" as emergency seems it could have
>high potential for misdials.  "Emergency?  No, I'm trying to reach
>France!"

Reminds me of when I was in Tallahasees (81-84) Centel had the Time
& Temperature number of 118.  I moved off campus for a semester and
naturally I picked up the phone and dialed 9-118 since I was use to
dialing 9 for off campus, and I got 911.

Bill

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

From: "John R. Levine" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Why Not 00 as the International Prefix in the US?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Segue Software, Cambridge MA
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 16:55:14 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> "Brandon S. Allbery"
<telotech![e-mail]> writes:

>I just saw an AT&T ad in USN&WR that claimed that "00" is international
>directory assistance.

Actually, 00 is your long-distance company operator.  The traditional
AT&T way to get international directory assistance is to call the
operator, hence dial 00 (or, I suppose, 10288-0).  I have also gotten
international DA from AT&T's international information center at
800-874-4000.

In the past, if you got international DA through the operator, they'd
charge you for the call unless you called the number you got
afterwards.  The one time I got DA from the 800 number, they asked me
for the number I was calling from but didn't charge me.  Anybody know
how they charge now?


John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, [phone]
[e-mail], {ima|lotus|spdcc}!esegue!johnl
Massachusetts has over 100,000 unlicensed drivers.  -The Globe

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

From: David Lewis <nvuxr![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cryptic Abbreviations
Date: 5 Nov 89 18:03:16 GMT
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
unimelb.edu.au writes:

> Could someone please explain some North American abbreviations:

> NXX-XXXX   (why 'N' )

Warning: I started writing a response to this and ended up trying to
provide a shorthand explanation of the North American Numbering Plan.
The strict answer to the question provided is three lines down; the
rest is further information.... lots further...]

As to why "N" and "X", I don't know.  "N" is ex-Bell System shorthand
for a digit in the range 2-9; X for a digit in the range 0-9.  They
came into use, as far as I know, at the time that all-number dialing
came into use (when exchanges became known by number, instead of
NAme...)

North American Numbering Plan (NANP) (that which defines the syntax
for telephone numbers in North America) syntax for a telephone number
is:

    N(0/1)X-NNX-XXXX
OR
    N(0/1)X-NXX-XXXX.

The first has been the syntax since the introduction of all-number
dialing until the introduction of "interchangeable codes" -- 3-digit
codes which can be either an exchange or an area code (NPA code, or
Numbering Plan Area code, in NANP parlance).  It made for simpler
switches, since the switch can do a three-digit analysis -- if the
second digit is 0 or 1, it has to collect seven more digits; if the
second digit is 2-9, it has to collect four more digits.

Unfortunately, it also restricts the number of available NPA codes and
exchange codes.  Therefore, the NANP has been modified to permit
interchangeable codes.  This is first being implemented according to
the second syntax above -- the second digit of an exchange code, in
areas which have implemented interchangeable codes, can now be 0-9
instead of being limited to 2-9.  This adds 152 new available
exchanges in each NPA (although practically the number is something
less, because the "home NPA" and N00 codes are not recommended for use
as exchanges).  The second step, interchangeable NPA codes, will
result in NPAs being of the format NXX as well, instead of N(0/1)X.
That will come about when the available set of NPA codes is exhausted,
predicted to happen sometime around 1995.

This also gets into a discussion of dialing methods, which came up in
another post.  (I do seem to digress a bit, don't I...)  Given the use
of interchangeable exchange codes (I really should use the proper
terminology -- "interchangeable CO codes"), switches can no longer
simply examine the second digit dialed and determine whether it's an
NPA code or CO code.  This is the reason Bellcore is recommending the
"Prefix method" of dialing -- 7D and 1+10D being allowable dialed
numbers, 1+7D and 10D not being allowable.  This is a "clean"
technical solution -- leading 1 means collect 10 digits, no leading 1
means collect 7 digits (plus special cases like N11).

Unfortunately, as has been pointed out, it's not so clean a solution
when considering customer toll restriction.  What is considered a
"toll" call and what is considered a "local" call is not a strictly
technical decision, and will become less and less easily mapped to
home/foreign NPA considerations (particularly with more and more cases
of multiple NPAs in a single city, for example).  A leading 1 may or
may not be toll; no leading 1 may or may not be toll.  CO switches
have the appropriate routing and billing tables loaded to keep track
of that -- but CPE doesn't.

I suppose the paranoid out there could argue that this is all a BOC
plot to destroy competition with CPE in the Toll Restriction Service
market, but I don't believe that's the case.  Far more important an
issue is that not using the Prefix method requires a timer after the
seventh digit dialed to determine if end of dialing is reached.  This
adds to call setup time -- after dialing seven digits when you mean to
dial seven digits, the CO switch has to wait and see if you intend to
dial an eighth -- and increases the probability of error -- you forget
the number halfway through, so dial NPA-NXX-X and stop to look up the
remainder, and the switch times out and places the call to NPA-NXXX.
Granted, that's unlikely given that the syntax is such that most
people remember NPA-NXX- then stop to look up the XXXX.

The call setup time considerations are most definitely not trivial,
though -- consider trying to sell state regulatory agencies on
increasing the call setup time by two seconds for *every* phone call
placed by every Joe Random in the state, to make it easier for "all
them big corporations with all their fancy equipment" to have toll
restriction or other dialing plan services in CPE...  I'd rather not,
myself.

Apologies for the digression.

David G Lewis                ...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej

            "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

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

From: Jeff DeSantis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cryptic Abbreviations
Date: 8 Nov 89 20:15:21 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jeff DeSantis)
Organization: NEC Information Systems, Acton, MA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail].
unimelb.edu.au writes:

>> NXX-XXXX   (why 'N' )

Quoting from the second edition of:
    Engineering and Operations in the Bell System
    Copyright 1977, 1983 by Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc.

Page 115.
    "The following set of symbols is commonly used in discussing the
     numbering plan and dialing procedures:

        N   =  Any digit 2 through 9.
        X   =  Any digit 0 through 9.
        0/1 =  Either 0 or 1."

Page 118 footnote 11.
    "Although all-number calling is now the system standard, telephone
     numbers have an alphanumeric tradition. Despite the personal appeal
     of names (which often had local geographical significance, for
     example, MUrray Hill 7-1234) rather than all-number codes, letters
     were a basic barrier to the use of the full range of dial-code
     sequences and numbers were commonly referred to as "2L+5N" to call
     attention to the alphanumeric usage. It should be noted, though,
     that the alphanumeric format also used the "3-4" character
     subgrouping."

No longer quoting.
    I also remember as a child (mid '50s) making my first phone calls
    by picking up the handset, waiting for the operator to say
    "Number please", and replying "RE8" followed by the four digit
    phone number I wanted.  A few years later when we got rotary dial
    phones, the prefix was changes to AT4, then sometime in the sixties
    I remember the prefix changing to 284 (no real change since AT4 is
    284).

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

Subject: ReL Cryptic Abbreviations
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 89 10:18:49 +0000
From: Kevin Hopkins <[e-mail]>


I think it would be useful if someone could compile a list of terms
and initials that are frequently used in the digest. It could then be
left on cs.bu.edu for anonymous ftp and would be especially useful for
new readers (and some of us that get confused every now and then :-).
I am willing to compile it if pushed, but I think someone in the
States would be better suited as most of the terms apply to the US and
the list could be compiled quicker as email wouldn't have to hop
across the Atlantic all the time.

Any takers?

+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| [e-mail] | Kevin Hopkins,              |
| or    ..!mcvax!ukc!nott-cs!K.Hopkins         | Department of Computer Science,|
| or in the UK: [e-mail]         | University of Nottingham,      |
| CHAT-LINE: [phone] x 3815         | Nottingham, ENGLAND, NG7 2RD   |
+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+

[Moderator's Note: I quite agree with you, and if one or more users
will compile this, I'll gladly make it available in the Archives.  PT]

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

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 05:58:11 -0800
From: "B.J.  08-Nov-1989 0855" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Dreams of the Phone System

> Last night I had a dream in which I was making a call from a pay
> phone. I stuck my credit card in the slot, and the dialtone was
> interrupted by a computer generated voice:

>    "Mister <da Silva>, you have a message from <Stephanie>.  Please
>     push 1 if you would like to take it now."

> OK, you telecom futurists... when will this service be available? You
> better hurry... it was a 15-cent payphone.

        I don't think you should wait for the service--you should
        contact Stephanie directly to find out what's in the message.

                        B.J.

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

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 10:21:51 -0800
From: Brian Kantor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones Frying Your Brains
Organization: The Avant-Garde of the Now, Ltd.

The 6-inch warning is because of the imminent proximity of lawyers.
The chances of anything happening even from touching the antenna is
small, but by including this warning, the company has a better defense
against the inevitable lawsuit.

    - Brian

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

Subject: Re: PABX Communications With Local Telco
Organization: Chrysler Financial Corp., Southfield, MI
Date: 8 Nov 89 14:07:59 EST (Wed)
From: Alex Beylin <cfctech![e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> David G Lewis writes:

>(I could get into a discussion of Class 5 Offices and Class 4 Offices
>and Heirarchical versus Non-Heirarchical Routing and Access Tandems,
>but that would just unduly confuse the issue... :-))

I, for one, would like to see such a discussion.

Overall, I have to say that in the last few month comp.dcom.telecom has
moved to the top of my .newsrc due to postings by people like David and
Larry.

Please, if time permits, do go into discussions of how things work.

On a side note, did anyone ever assembled a reference list for
telephony textbooks, from basic to complex?

 Alex Beylin, Unix Systems Admin.       | [phone]
 [e-mail] | Chrysler Financial Corp.
 sharkey!cfctech!alexb                  | MIS, Distributed Systems
 ATT Mail ID: attmail!abeylin           | Southfield, MI 48034


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

From: Ken Thompson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Need Circuit for Answering Machine Killer
Date: 8 Nov 89 21:17:25 GMT
Reply-To: Ken Thompson <[e-mail]>
Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, KS



I used the following circuit with my machine:

             ________| |________
             |       | |        |
             |        10uF      |
             |                  |
_____________|_____/\/\/\/\_____|__________
                      1Kohm


Put it in series with one leg of the pair to the machine only.  The
cap. passes the ring signal.  The resistor is the key here.  With the
machine off hook the line has a higher resistance, current is
relatively constant.  The machine thinks it is on a longer drop pair
and works normally Lift any phone in the house and most of the current
goes to the phone.  If the machine checks the current in the loop or
has a vox circuit, it does not matter, it thinks the caller has hung
up and it also disconnects.


Ken Thompson     N0ITL
NCR Corp.  3718 N. Rock Road
Wichita,Ks. 67226  [phone]
[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V9 #500
*****************************