Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/back.issues/1994.volume.14/vol14.iss101-150

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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #101

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 23 Feb 94 15:26:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 101

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    GSM FAX Transmission (Lars Kalsen)
    Lowest Number in the NANP? (Dave Levenson)
    Has Anyone Heard of Filex? (Bob Malik)
    Modulation Techniques (Fil Parong)
    Calling 800 Numbers in USA From UK (Julian Thornhill)
    Intern's Pay in Telecom (Ramaiah V. Narla)
    Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI? (Les Reeves)
    Re: Phone Number History (David Breneman)
    Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Digital Cellular Phones  (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones (Robert Wilson)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (Robert Casey)
    Re: Caller-ID Question (Jack Coats)
    Orange Card Mailed Out (Carl Moore)
    Another Misprogrammed COCOT (Carl Moore)
    Re: AT&T's New 900 Mhz Cordless Phone (Cliff Sharp)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lars Kalsen)
Subject: GSM FAX Transmission
Date: 23 Feb 94 19:00:17 GMT
Organization: DKnet


Hi outhere,

I am writing on an overview article on FAX-transmission via the GSM
network.  I would like to know if anybody:

- have some references to articles on the subject;
- or books;
- references to products;
- any other information.

If you have any information -- please E-mail me. Or if you have a copy
of an article send it to me by ordinary mail -- or fax on [phone]
02 (denmark).

Greetings from Denmark.


Lars Kalsen
Kingosvej 5 D
9490 Pandrup   Denmark
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Lowest Number in the NANP?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 14:54:09 GMT


According to NJ Bell's automatic intercept service, the number
201-200-0000 is 'being checked for trouble'.  The number 201-200-0001
has been disconnected.  I didn't try any others in that prefix.


Dave Levenson        Internet: [e-mail]
Westmark, Inc.        UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
Stirling, NJ, USA    Voice: 908 647 0900  Fax: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why not try 0002, 0003, etc and let
us know your findings. I wonder if they know the significance of their
number?  What about at the other end of the line, any from the 919-999
range?    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Bob Malik)
Subject: Has Anyone Heard of Filex?
Date: 23 Feb 1994 12:48:50 GMT
Organization: University of Florida, Gainesville


Does anyone know about a PC communications package called Filex?  I think
the company that makes it is giving out 150,000 copies of it for $10 each.

If you have any info, please send email to:

    [e-mail]


Thanks,

Bob Malik

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 94 12:32:58 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Modulation Techniques


Is anyone familiar with PM and BPSK modulation techniques?  Please
reply to [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 94 08:48:14 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Julian Thornhill)
Subject: Calling 800 Numbers in USA From UK


Does anyone know how I might call a US 800 number from the UK? As you
might guess this cannot be done in the normal way. Even being able to
find out the real chargeable number would be a help. Some firms in
their ads only give 800 numbers and it is really frustrating when you
want to call them ...


Julian Thornhill      Email to [e-mail]
Physics Department    Leicester University
University Road       Tel [phone]    FAX [phone]
Leicester LE1 7RH     [phone] (international)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We've touched on this several times in
the past year or so. You can attempt to to get through using the "USA
Direct" service of the various carriers, and asking that operator to
connect you. Some will do it, some won't. If you go through AT&T for
example, the called party will be charged for a call from Pennsylvania.
Generally the subscribers to 800 service in the USA do not wish to
receive calls from outside the USA (at least on their toll-free line)
for various reasons, one being that perhaps they are unable/not allowed/
do not wish to sell their products outside this country. Others would
love to sell their products anywhere in the world, but have very stupid
advertising/PR-droids who do not have any idea how telephones work in
other countries.

This comes up so often here, I am wondering: if I were to install a
couple lines here which people could call from all over the world for
the specific purpose of being reconnected to an 800 number, would anyone
be interested in using it if they had to pay $10 per month and use a
passcode to make the call (once they were connected through me)?   PAT]

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

From: Ramaiah V Narla <[e-mail]>
Subject: Intern's Pay in Telecom
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 12:04:09 EST


I applied with the North American Telecommunications Association
(NATA) for practical training after my master's studies in
telecommunications. I received an offer, over the phone, of a summer
internship -- $10 for an 8-hr day (allowance/pocket money for meals and
transport only, according to the official). The work involved market
research and report generation in the international and national
telecom areas.

[Of course, I declined the offer respectfully -- it's just not practical].

Anyway, what I'd like to know is: is that how interns are taken up? So
badly paid? In the telecom industry, particularly?  And, could an
institution such as NATA be as resource-starved? (The official said
they only pick up two interns each summer and pay them each just $10/day,
due to resource crunch).

Any feedback will help me understand the telecom policy and research job
market better and my thanks in advance for it.


Ram Narla   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Les Reeves)
Subject: Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI?
Date: 23 Feb 1994 09:38:27 -0800
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access  [phone]  [login: guest]


Scott Baer ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Now, directly to my question, what is the (10XXX) PIC code for Cable &
> Wireless?  I would like to test this claim that C&W passes the
> identity of the caller to the called party's Caller-ID display box.

The PIC code for C&W is 10223.  However, they *do not* accept calls
from casual (non pre-subscribed) customers.


Les   [e-mail]       Atlanta,GA

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

From: daveb@jaws (David Breneman)
Subject: Re: Phone Number History
Date: 23 Feb 94 17:40:32 GMT
Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA


David Breneman (ME) (daveb@jaws) wrote:

> My parents waited over ten years for a private line in the 206-858
> exchange.  Finally, somebody moved into the neighborhood (never found
> out who) who would leave his phone off the hook at night.  If you
> picked up the phone, you could hear him snoring!  When my parents
> complained repeatedly about the danger of this situation, the phone
> company (Island Empire, now Pacific Telecom) finally relented and gave
> them a private line, but charged $1.25 per month per mile for the
> distance between their house and the central (crossbar) switch in Gig
> Harbor (Washington -- near Tacoma).  This was about 1979.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They should have called their party line
> neighbor during the day and told him to quit doing that. Yes, you could
> call your party line neighbor on the phone even though the logical way
> of thinking was that if you went off hook, the line would become busy so
> how would you reach him ... during manual service days, if you simply
> asked for the other side of your party line (let's say you were 1234-J
> and party was 1234-W) then the response from the operator was 'line
> is busy', the same as if you asked for your own number by accident, and
> people would sometimes do that. The operator did not look at who was
> *calling* unless there was a billing function involved, she looked at
> who was *being called*; the (cord) tip to (jack) ring test would 'test
> busy' and that was her report ... bing! she was gone to handle another
> call. So you tipped her off by saying 'calling my party line, 1234-W',
> and she would say to hang up, let her ring it and pick up the phone
> again in maybe twenty seconds. She could then ring on the line (yours
> and party's would both ring) and if party answered she told them to
> hold on a couple seconds until you picked up again.

On our phone system, you could call somebody on your party line by
dailing their number, waiting for the busy signal, hanging up, then
allowing their phone enough time to ring and picking your receiver
back up.  Unfortunately, it was something like a 12 party line, and we
had no idea who the guy was -- and the phone company naturally wouldn't
tell us.  The dial-the-number-and-hang-up feature was especially
useful in that you could ring your *own* phone that way, too.  Just
the ticket when an annoying salesman or Jehovah's Witness came to
call.

> Anyway, your parents should have called the snorer, and with the music
> of J.S. Bach's "Sleeper's Awake" playing sweetly in the background given
> him a piece of their mind.

My dad tried a police whistle on a couple of occasions without much
luck.  Apparently this guy was a heavy sleeper.

> I wonder if the guy even knew he was on a party line or if he was
> just plain inconsiderate

Probably just ignorant.  This was about the time the California
Invasion started in Washington.  I'm sure most of these folks had no
idea what a party line was or did.

Later the phone company got even with all of us -- when they switched
from the crossbar system to an electronic one, about 1980, everybody
got *new* phone numbers (206-851), and all of the old numbers (206-858)
were assigned to new customers.  That's what you get for complaining. :-)


David Breneman                     Email: [e-mail]
System Administrator,              Voice: 206 881-7544  Fax: [phone]
Product Development Platforms
Digital Systems International, Inc.     Redmond, Washington,  U. S. o' A.

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 12:45:32 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes


John Levine writes:

> A flyer in my latest phone bill reveals that Vermont's new toll
> dialing plan is 1-802-NNX-XXXX...
> Personally, I find the new plan to be a big pain in the neck, since,
> due to a peculiarity of exchange boundaries, it'll require that I dial
> most free local calls within our town with 11 digits.

Please explain these two statements.  If it's a "free local call" (within
the same area code, no less), then it's not a toll call, so why is "Vermont's
new toll dialing plan" relevant here at all?

Do you currently dial these calls as eight digits (1 + 7D)?  If so,
why?  What is Nynex up to?  Are there any other places in the NANP
where local intra-NPA calls require more than seven digits to dial?


Bob Goudreau            Data General Corporation
[e-mail]        62 Alexander Drive
[phone]            Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Around where my office used to be on
Howard Street in Chicago, everything I called locally had to be dialed
as 1-708-seven digits because it was fifty feet north of me which at
that point was the end of 312 and the start of 708.   PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 13:39:47 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phones


In article <[e-mail]> david boettger <boettger@bnr.
ca> writes:

>> Careful.  I think that when Alex says "all digital", he means exactly
>> that -- a cellular system that using nothing but digital signaling.
>> Dual-mode systems, which combine support for the old (analog) AMPS
>> system with support for one of the new digital systems (TDMA or CDMA)
>> are *not* all-digital.

> If you're going to use this definition, there are no "all digital"
> cells in commercial operation; there are merely cells which have some
> channels dedicated to digital traffic and some which are dedicated to
> analog traffic ....

Correct.  That is *exactly* the point I was trying to make, and which
I suspect Alex was also trying to make when he said "It is difficult
for me to imagine an all digital cellular network" in North America in
the near future.  I.e., the installed base of AMPS equipment is not
something that can be easily wished away.  I suspect that dual-mode
systems will exist for quite a while, even in Canada.


Bob Goudreau        Data General Corporation
[e-mail]    62 Alexander Drive
[phone]        Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Wilson)
Subject: Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones
Date: 23 Feb 1994 14:11:48 -0500


The Fujitsu PCX cellphone has a voice chip which when the unit is set
to pager mode will answer the incoming call, tell the party you are
unable to come to the phone, and logs up to five numbers.

This feature works well for call-screening as you can "pick-up" if you
wish as the caller is leaving his/her number.


Rob

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Casey)
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 19:24:03 GMT


I had thought/heard that the semi-random distribution of area codes in
the USA was done to avoid confusion of numberically close area codes
with geographically close areas.  Especially in the same state.  "was
that area code 402 or 403 for Yerksville, South Dakota, Can't remember
which my friend said", vs. if the two area codes are much different,
"he said 70 something, lets see, that has to be 702 according to the
phone book map".

Phone companies tend to do the same thing with phone exchanges inside
the same area codes.

The phone company's got your number!


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hey, there was a time in the early days
of area codes (late 1950's and much of the 1960's) when the same prefix
was not assigned in two adjoining area codes. That was done to allow
for 'community dialing' across state lines, where area codes always
change. That is, '659' showed up in Whiting, Indiana. It did not show
up in 312, 815 (since a tiny bit of the south end of 815 touches 219)
nor in 317 nor in 216. The main consideration was the 219/312 closeness
where until about 1970 or so, anyone in the extreme upper northwest
corner of 219 (Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting, Munster) could call any
number in 312 as seven digits only. Ditto in reverse. But once you
got into (or past, I cannot remember which) Gary, Indiana going east
then you had to dial 312 to reach Chicago. Then one day they announced
that the little northwest corner had a choice: either they could being
dialing 312 to reach Chicago, or 1+7 digits to reach elsewhere in the
northern Indiana 219 area. Telco made the choice to go with the latter
leaving Hammond/Whiting, etc hooked to Chicago for calling purposes.

With the change in telcos in the late 1970's (northwest Indiana was
taken away from Illinois Bell and turned over to Indiana Bell) the
requirement of dialing not just 312, but 1-312 (!) to reach Chicago
was added, and the 1+7D for the rest of 219 was dropped.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jack Coats)
Subject: Re: Caller-ID Question
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Amoco
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 08:41:10 CST


There was an article in one of the popular electronics type magazines
(check your local library) in the last couple of months on how to
build your own caller-id display machine.  It would be easy to modify
it (it uses a PIC micro processor) to have a serial output instead or
also, that could feed your PC or whatever.  The data, if I remember
right, is 1200 baud.  You can get a couple of codes other than just
the number too.  One is if you are out of the area where the codes are
available (seems silly to me, if the phone company can figure out how
to charge collect calls), and another code if the caller has the
Caller-ID blocked.


E-mail: [e-mail]   Fax: [phone]   Voice: 713/366-7120

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 94 15:11:57 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Orange Card Mailed Out


I have received the Orange Card (although the account has been active
for a long time) There is a slight problem: My address changed in the
meantime, and the card (mailed from the Harrisburg, Pa. area with the
address of Spring Park, MN 55384) reached me through the mail-forwarding.
The billing for calls made on that card is already being sent to my new
address, but Orange Communications still does not have my new address.

This is the letter I got, dated 10 Feb.:

Dear Orange Card Customer:

Please find enclosed your permanent Orange Calling Card.  Please note
that your authorization number has not changed and that the PIN number
you are currently using will stay the same also.

The procedure for using the card is listed on the back of the
permanent card and you will note that it is has [sic] not changed.

Thank you for your patience during our delay in sending your permanent
Orange Calling Card.

We appreciate your business!

Sincerely,

Orange Communications, Inc.

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 94 8:29:36 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Another Misprogrammed COCOT


A COCOT I saw on a trip I just took across Vermont had (usual)
roblems with 10xxx access code (I used 1-800-321-0288 instead of
10288) and also had this problem with use of the Orange Card:

I was able to call 1-800-(Orange Card Number), get the resulting tone,
then punch in the ten-digit code and the ten-digit number I was
calling, then get the next burst of tone, but then got "DISCONNECTED"
on the display I saw.

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

From: indep1!clifto (Cliff Sharp)
Date: Tue, Feb 15 08:40:30 1994
Subject: Re: AT&T's New 900 Mhz Cordless Phone


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bruce
Laskin) writes:

> (Most wireless home phones put out no more than 0.5mw.)

   I suspect you mean 0.5W.  500 microwatts, used with the el-cheapo
receivers in most wireless phones, would give an effective range of
about three feet...  provided there was absolutely no interference.

   However, I remember something about Part 15 transmitters (other
than spread-spectrum) being limited to 100 milliwatts.  My really
really el-cheapo wireless (49 MHz / 1.7 MHZ) put out about 50 to 70
milliwatts on a good charge day.


Cliff Sharp    WA9PDM

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #101
******************************


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Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 02:27:05 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #102

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 24 Feb 94 02:27:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 102

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Cell One/NY and NYNEX Billing Errors (Douglas Scott Reuben)
    Microsoft TAPI - Who Has Reviewed it? References? (James Smith)
    "Convenience Calls" on Phone Bill (David J. Greenberger)
    Local CID Showing Out of Area (Richard Dervan)
    Wiring Diagram Needed For Rotary Dial Phone (Grimes G. Slaughter)
    Auto Attendant Equipment Wanted ([e-mail])
    1-900 as a State Moneymaker (Curtis Bohl)
    Re: Talking Caller ID Boxes (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Looking For Low Cost Phone System (Mike Renault)
    Re: Digital Cellular Phone Review (Martin McCormick)
    Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Seeking Info on GTE Interactive Multimedia Systems Devlopment (Lichter)
    Re: Shortages of Prefixes in 800 (Richard Cox)
    Re: These Cell Phones Don't Work - Why? (Jay Hennigan)
    Re: Excel Telecommunications ([e-mail])
    Re: Priorities (Dave Levenson)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 23 Feb 1994 18:16:46 GMT
From: Douglas Scott Reuben <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cell One/NY and NYNEX Billing Errors


I recently got my January bill from Cell One/NY, and noticed a few
things:

1. SOME incoming voicemail deposits and retrievals were billed airtime
charges. CO/NY, as a matter of policy, ONLY bills airtime for voicemail
calls when one calls from their cellphone; all other land calls to
voicemail incur no CO/NY-based charges.

The calls which had charges were random -- some days it billed, some
days it didn't. These calls showed up as "INCOMING", rather than "VM
DEPOSIT" or "VM RETRIEVE". At first I just let them go, and figured
they were correct.  However, after closer scrutiny of the bill, I
noticed that many of the "INCOMING" calls were billed when I wasn't
even in NY, and my phone was off.  I then checked my voicemail
messages' time stamps, and the times on the messages coincided with
the supposedly "INCOMING" calls on my bill.

I called CO/NY about this, and they are investigating, but if you have
VM with them, I'd closely check my bill this month. (It *could* just
be a problem with my prefix, etc., so other customers in different
area codes may not even notice these charges.)

2. CO/NY seems to charge a $.06 "access" charge for all outgoing
calls. I had thought that the six cent/minute charge was what they
billed you for calls to your local calling area, ie, NY, NJ, and now
expanded to Fairfield County, CT.

However, it seems that when you make a long distance call, you pay
airtime (of course), the LD charge (at AT&T direct-dial rates), PLUS
the six cent/min "access charge". This is so despite the fact that
they supposedly have direct links to AT&T trunks and thus I don't see
why they are "forced" to charge an access charge for LD calls.

Moreover, calls to 800 and 0+ numbers have no six cents/min "access
charge", which they should if the six cents are really designed to
(ahem..) 'recover' access costs.

It seems a bit deceptive to say "Oh, we offer a rate of 50 cents per
minute!", but then in the fine print say "But most outgoing calls you
make will also be subject to a six cents/min access charge."

Anyone know what the deal is? CO/NY tried to give me some "legalistic"
answer for this, although I explained to them that NYNEX didn't bill
this charge (or do they bundle it?), ie, if you make an LD call you
pay LD rates, if you make a local call you pay local rates; there is
NO "access charge". CO/NY told me "Oh, they are the land carrier, and
since they own the telco they can do that", which suprised me not only
becuase they seemed so willing to acquiesce to NYNEX on this issue,
but because it sounded flat-out wrong.

3. On a brighter note, CO/NY expanded the areas surrounding NY where
you pay "home" airtime rates with NO roamer surcharge. They have
basically included the Dutchess County (NY) system (previously $3/day,
$.99 min), Sussex, NJ (previously $.85/$.85 per minute), Ocean County
Cellular, and Litchfield, CT which McCaw just bought from Cell
One/Litchfield (previously $3 per day?, $.85 per minute). They have
also reduced the rates charged in most of their regional automatic
call-delivery system.

Note that this is NOT a change in the auto call-delivery regime; no
new areas have been added yet for automatic call delivery. What they
are offering is a DRAMATIC (and LONG overdue) rate reduction for
roaming in adjacent systems.  Philly used to be $.99 per minute, now,
in the evening, I pay only $.27 per minute. NYNEX has a much more
expansive automatic call delivery system, stretching from Maine to
Reading, PA, to Virginia, but they still seem to think they can get
away with charging $.99 a minute for incoming and $3/day $.99 for
outgoing calls in most of their call-delivery (Mobilreach) markets. I
much prefer CO/NY's regionalized plan, which now gives CO/NY customers
a larger home calling area than NYNEX customes enjoy. It is certainly
about time!

Finally, NYNEX/NY seems to STILL be billing a $3/day daily charge for
INCOMING Mobilreach calls in some of its partner (Bell Atlantic)
markets. I noticed all incoming calls to Baltimore (SID 00018) were
levied a $3 charge, while calls to DC (also SID 00018) were not.

I've reported this problem to NYNEX/NY a number of times, and nothing
has been done. Indeed, you can still call customer service, and
complain that you were charged a $3 daily fee for a Mobilreach
incoming call, and they will *insist* that you will be charged in some
markets. This is simply NOT TRUE! If you receive a Mobilreach call,
you pay only a per minute charge (usually $1) plus the cost of the
toll call to deliver it to wherever you are. Customer service will
regularly tell you there is a $3 charge, but don't let them stop you
there (and they are good at it; they sound VERY sure of themselves ...:( ),
ask to speak to the roam coordinator about it. You should *not* pay a
$3 daily roam charge for an incoming automatic Mobilreach call. (How
about Star Cellular in Maine, do they count too?  I think so ...)


Doug   [e-mail]  //  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (James Smith)
Subject: Microsoft TAPI - Who Has Reviewed it? References?
Organization: GTE Laboratories, Waltham, MA
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 23:43:07 GMT


Has anyone out there made a serious review of the recent Microsoft
TAPI, its "telephony" interface for windows?

I would be interested in receiving (or ftp'n) any that could be shared.


James T. Smith    Sys. Admin.
[e-mail]    214-242-4341

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

From: [e-mail] (David J. Greenberger)
Subject: "Convenience Calls" on Phone Bill
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Young Israel of Cornell
Date: 24 Feb 94 01:12:39 GMT


I just got my monthly NYNEX phone bill, and I noticed something about
the AT&T page.  In addition to seven calls under the heading "Directly
dialed," five calls are listed under "Convenience calls (collect,
third number and other operated assisted."  Now, none of these calls
were operater-assisted -- I remember calling each of them, and all I
did was pick up the phone and dial.  I noticed that the calls under
"Directly dialed" were all made before February 5 and those under
"Convenience calls" after.

What is going on?  More importantly, what can I do about it?  I was
charged $10.03 for a 59-minute call from Ithaca, NY to New York, NY,
as well as other outrageous charges for shorter calls.


Thanks,

David J. Greenberger  [phone]   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you might begin by contacting the
Business Office and asking them what was the nature of the operator
assistance; or if collect, from whom did you accept the call, etc. When
talking to the rep ask if it seems peculiar that all these transactions
took place after a given date. That's where I would start, by asking
for an explanation.  Have you done that yet?  And ten dollars for a one-
hour *intrastate* call is not on its face out of line. Intrastate is
always more expensive than interstate. That's about 18 cents per minute
which is customary even for 'directly dialed' intrastate stuff.  PAT]

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

Subject: Local CID Showing Out of Area
From: [e-mail] (Richard Dervan)
Date: 24 Feb 94 00:20:00 GMT
Organization: The Atlanta Windows BBS - Atlanta, GA  404-516-0048
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Richard Dervan)


I had an interesting experience last week.  I got paged by my computer
indicating it had received a voice message for me.  Since I was
expecting a message from my sweetie, I went to a pay phone, called my
computer, and picked up the message.

When I got home, I saw OUT-OF-AREA on my CID box.  The time of the
call corresponded to the time that I called to pick up the voice mail.
The restaurant I was at is no more than two miles from my house.  Yet
it showed up as out of area.  Does anyone have an explanation for
this?


Thanks!

Richard
The Atlanta Windows BBS   [phone]    9 high-speed USR nodes


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It did not have to be two miles away,
it could have been your next door neighbor for all your CO cares. If
it does not get the ID from the calling office, ie the calling office
is not equipped with SS7, then the box will say 'out of area', no
matter where it is. If your office gets the information but has been
forbidden to pass it along, then the box will say 'private'. You have
more than one CO in Atlanta; probably the payphone you used was served
from a different exchange or CO than the one serving your home. Most
likely that CO isn't modernized yet, but yours is (obviously -- you
have Caller-ID) so your CO gets a call from the other CO which is
unable to say who is calling. Your CO puts it down as out of area. That
phrase is probably a misnomer; people would be better served by the
message 'ID not available' or similar.   PAT]

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

Date: 23 Feb 94 21:37:46 EST
From: Grimes G. Slaughter <[e-mail]>
Subject: Wiring Diagram Needed For Rotary Dial Phone


Where can I obtain the wiring color codes and wiring diagram for the
classical AT&T (Western-Electric) rotary dial wall telephone with keys
(push buttons)? Thank you.


Grimes G. Slaughter   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Auto Attendant Equipment Wanted
Organization: Network General Corporation
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 21:42:57 GMT


I am looking for some product which can serve as a phone operator.
When you call some company, a message is usually returned "please dial
the extension", you dial and got connected. I wonder if some one can
point me to such vendors. Preferably the product is just a board that
can be plugged into an IBM-PC.

Thanks in advance for the information.


Charles

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

From: [e-mail] (Missouri 4-H Youth Development Programs)
Subject: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 94 15:54:27 CST
Organization: University of Missouri, Columbia


Here's a new way for state government to separate more cash from your
wallet.  Heard on the news today that Missouri state government has
started a 1-900 number for businesses to find the provider of the
lowest-cost workers' compensation insurance.  They are charging $1
/min, with $.45-.55 to go to the state general revenue fund.

Just a new method to rob people for information they should be
providing free as a public service.


Curtis Bohl                      Computer Programmer/Analyst
[e-mail]           4-H Youth Development
Alternate: [e-mail]                   Programs
[phone]               University of Missouri-Columbia


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Quite a few states which formerly gave
Secretary of State Corporate Records Information -- public information;
nothing secret or special about it -- over the phone freely have now
gone to 900 service. Anyone who wants to find out who the officers or
owners of a corporation are, or the name of the attorney representing
the corporation or a variety of other legal things about a company
need only inquire at the Secretary of State in the state where the
firm is incorporated. It used to be you called and asked. Now you dial
a 900 number and speak with them. They get the buck or two as a fee
for the services rendered. And rumor has it a few libraries have
gotten so sick and tired of having to devote a clerk full time to
taking calls for criss-cross book inquiries from collection agencies
that they'll start using 900 also to mitigate some of the expense
involved.  :(  The Chicago Public Library gets 100-150 such calls each
day, and now they have one person and a specific extension on their
centrex just to handle those calls, one after another all day. PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Talking Caller ID Boxes
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 15:21:55 GMT


[e-mail] (Elana Beach) writes:

> I figure that by now, someone has invented and is marketing Caller ID
> boxes for the blind that speak instead of (or as well as) putting the
> number on a LCD display.  Where do I find one?  I am not visually
> impaired, but it sure would be convenient to be able to just listen
> for the ID when the phone is ringing rather than having to stop what I
> am doing and always run to the box to look at it.  Any ideas out
> there?

A few years ago, when Caller*ID was brand new in NJ, I bought one of
those little boxes that receives Caller*ID and outputs it in ASCII
over an RS-232 port.  I've used this box for a number of applications.
At the moment, it is connected to a /dev/tty* port on a UNIX box where
an application builds a database of inbound calls.

When the service was new, I plugged the Caller*ID receiver directly
into a Votrax Type-N-Talk (an ASCII-to-speech box).  The audio output
from the Votrax was connected to the paging audio input of an ITT 701
key telephone system.  The result: On every inbound call, the speakers
in the telephone sets (between rings) would intone: "zero two slash
two three zero nine colon three zero two zero one six four seven minus
zero nine zero zero"

With some experience, one could listen to all of that and recognize
that it was 2/23 at 09:30 and that a call was coming in from
[phone].  (By that time, the phone had rung five times.)

Later on, the UNIX box received the data from the CID box and wrote
an abbreviated message to the Votrax box, containing either the
telephone number, or, if the number was in the database, a phonetic
spelling of the caller's name.  The phones then would intone: "John
Smith", or "two oh one <pause> six four seven <pause> zero nine
hundred" by which time the phone would only have rung twice.

Now, we only have the database.  The voice was cute, but became
annoying over time.


Dave Levenson        Internet: [e-mail]
Westmark, Inc.        UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
Stirling, NJ, USA    Voice: 908 647 0900  Fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Renault)
Subject: Re: Looking For Low Cost Phone System
Organization: Motorola Codex, Canton, Massachusetts
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 21:34:48 GMT


[e-mail] (keith danekind) writes:

> The small company for whom I work is growing and we need to expand our
> phone system.  Currently we have two incoming lines, the second of
> which has call waiting, and a data line that is shared by a fax
> machine and a modem.  We are currently not able to handle the phone
> traffic and the boss would like an automated solution rather than
> hiring a receptionist to answer the calls.  We are interested in call
> routing to one of several phones and voice mail.  A PC based PBX would
> be great!  Basically, we would like the phone system to greet the
> caller and ask him or her for an extension number.  The system would
> then route the call based on the touch-tones entered.  The budget for
> this system is $5000 or less.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how
> to do this or where I might find more information?  Thanks in advance.

Get a copy of {Teleconnect} magazine; many companies advertise in there
who would support this application.

There are several companies which make boards that plug into a PC to make
the PC a mini-pbx.

Some names which come to mind are:
Dialogic
Natural Micro Systems
PCBX
Excel (in sagamore beach, MA)
Amtelco (nice stuff here)
Bicom
PIKA (in canada)

This is a starting point.  Shop around for features such as Voice mail
and maybe DID support.


Michael Renault  <[e-mail]>    (617)-821-7613

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

From: [e-mail] (Martin McCormick)
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phone Review
Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 21:47:11 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dave
Rand) writes:

> It causes noise in my CD player, in my car's amplifier, on all home
> telephone handsets (wired AND cordless).  I suspect that it is due to
> the transmitter turning on and off at a regular rate; even though it
> is an FM signal, it appears as a low frequency AM, square wave
> modulated signal. Nasty.

    We are going to have these problems until electronic systems
can be hardened against RF signals, especially in the microwave and
near ranges.  The metalic traces on the circuit boards of electronic
equipment make perfect antennas at 800MHZ or so and any transmitter
that cycles on and off or varies abruptly in output level will induce
noise in lots of different kinds of electronic equipment.  The
analog-style phones and UHF transmitters also have an effect on the
same equipment, but the effect is much less obvious.

    If someone had an audio amplifier near an analog cellular
phone or UHF transmitter, the speaker would probably pop when the
transmitter went on and off, but there would be no other sound while
it was transmitting.  Tests with a volt meter might show that some of
the DC operating levels were different when the transmitter was on and
those biases might change slowly as the signal got stronger or weaker.
The digital transmitters just accentuate a bad situation.


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ   Stillwater, OK
O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 18:02:46 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes


> Are there any other places in the NANP where local intra-NPA calls
> require more than seven digits to dial?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Around where my office used to be on
> Howard Street in Chicago, everything I called locally had to be dialed
> as 1-708-seven digits because it was fifty feet north of me which at
> that point was the end of 312 and the start of 708.   PAT]

Yes, but that was local *inter-NPA* calling, not intra-NPA.  My
original question still stands.


Bob Goudreau            Data General Corporation
[e-mail]        62 Alexander Drive
[phone]            Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: Re: Seeking Info on GTE Interactive Multimedia Systems Devlopment
Date: 23 Feb 1994 23:41:36 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


There was a media release that was here the other day that tells about
testing and release in California. You might contact GTE Northwest and
ask about it. I know a lot of the areas are testing and placing
systems into service with schools.

The above are my comments and not those of the company I may or not
work for.


Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS
[phone] 12/24/96/14.4 V32/V42bis Via PCP CACOL/12/24

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

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 94 21:50 GMT
From: Richard Cox <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Shortages of prefixes in 800
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Quoth Clive D.W. Feather:

>> For example, British Rail's express parcel service used to be 0800 000000.

In fact the number they used was 0345 000000.  0345 numbers are like
800 numbers, except that the callers pay for the call at the same rate
as if the call was within their own local calling area.


Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, P.O. Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan, Wales:  CF64 3YG
Voice: 0956 700111 Fax: [phone]  VoiceMail: 0941 151515 Pager 0941 115555
E-mail address: [e-mail] - PGP2.3 public key available on request

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

From: [e-mail] (Jay Hennigan)
Subject: Re: These Cell Phones Don't Work - Why?
Date: 23 Feb 1994 18:43:45 -0800
Organization: Disgruntled postal workers against gun control


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
writes:

> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Sean
> Petty) writes:

>> Anyhow, the other day Comcast published a letter saying: "The following
>> phones are not compatible with our system -- all Motorola Model 8000-D's,
>> All Harris Equipment, All Sony Portables that have a Black label under
>> the battery, and All Panasonic HP 500's that haven't been upgraded."

> Maybe these phones only supported 666 channels?  By checking the
> station class mark you can tell if your phone has extended channel
> capability (832 channels).  The Motorola 8000-D sounds pretty old and
> may only support 666 channels.  If the SCM is 00 to 07, then it only
> has 666 channels, if it's 08 to 15, then its 832 channels.

I wouldn't think such to be the case.  There are dozens of other makes
of 666-channel phones, a lot of Motorola models (They changed the
color of the label from black to silver on their mobile/transportable
units when they went to 832), Okis thru the 400 series, all of the
original AMPS compliant phones.  My guess would be that it has
something to do with autonomous registration or timing.

I wonder if Comcast will be allowed to get away with this without some
flak from the FCC, PUC, and the manufacturers involved.  It is common
for cellular phones to be sold with a three-year warranty, and even
five years isn't all that unusual.  Comcast is selectively denying
service to certain makes/models of telephones that are otherwise FCC
registered as being compatible with the North American cellular
system.  What happens when a roamer with one of these phones tries to
call 911?  What happens when a user has a warranty complaint of
"doesn't work" on a phone meeting factory specs?  Seems to me that
whoever is providing the cell site/MTSO equipment has a bug that they
need to fix, rather than forcing the users to buy new equipment.


Jay Hennigan   [e-mail]   Santa Barbara CA

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Excel Telecommunications
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 00:17:42 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Excel is a LD phone service using MLM.  I'd stay away.

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Priorities
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 16:00:38 GMT


[e-mail] (Andrew C. Green) writes:

> Pardon a short digression from modern telecommunications here, but my
> circa-1940 Monroe calculating machine is in fine working order,
> thankyouverymuch. I rescued it from the old 123 N. Wacker building (in
> Chicago) just before demolition, and it now squats proudly on my desk
> next to my newfangled PC.

> The Monroe can add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers up to ten
> digits ...

Somewhere in my basement is a manually-operated device called a
"Trinks-Brunswiga Machine".  This is like the old Monroe or Burroughs
machines, but it pre-dated them by a couple of decades.  Input
consists of sliding a metal tab (which they called a cursor) in each
column down to the correct value for that digit (the mouse is older
than the keyboard?).  When all of the cursors have been slid to the
appropriate values, you manually move the carriage to the left (like
the carriage-return lever on a manually-operated typewriter) and then
begin turning the crank.

To multiply, enter the multiplicand into the constant register, turn
the crank, and watch the multiplier register increment.  When its
least-significant digit has incremented far enough, you manually shift
the carriage left and continue cranking!  Eventually, the product will
be displayed in the accumulator.

To divide, enter the dividend into the accumulator, enter the divisor
into the constant register, and turn the crank backwards, watching the
quotient appear, one digit at a time.  You crank backwards until the
bell rings (indicating that the declining dividend has underflowed).
You then reverse the crank and go forward one revolution, shift the
carriage right one digit, and continue.  Eventually, you'll find a
quotient in the multiplier register, and perhaps a remainder in the
accumulator.

It can compute a 20-digit product by multiplying two 10-digit numbers,
and can also divide a 20-digit dividend by a 10-digit divisor,
producing a 10-digit quotient.

The machine is about the size of an office typewriter, is made of
brilliant, finely-machined brass, and is mounted in a box with a lid
that opens like a portable typewriter and has a handle.  I think it
was supposed to be portable, but it weighs over 40 pounds.

I have it sitting next to a Western Electric 302-type telephone set, a
local-battery magneto desk set, a Monroe electric calculating machine,
and a 10x20 crossbar relay, and a few other monuments to technology,
in a corner called 'the museum' by others in my household.


Dave Levenson        Internet: [e-mail]
Westmark, Inc.        UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
Stirling, NJ, USA    Voice: 908 647 0900  Fax: [phone]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #102
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #103

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 24 Feb 94 12:01:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 103

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    US West FEX Rate Hike! (Robert Dinse)
    AT&T SecretAgent 3.0 (David R. Arneke)
    Info Wanted About Home Information Systems (Hans-Dieter Zimmermann)
    Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones (John Barcomb)
    Re: AT&T Says That They Can't Resolve my Calls' Origin (Al Varney)
    Re: Clipper Debate (Paul Robichaux)
    Re: Clipper Debate (Tom Olin)
    Re: These Cell Phones Don't Work - Why? (Gerald Serviss)
    Re: 200 "Exchange" Within 1-900 Numbers (Al Varney)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
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use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Robert Dinse)
Subject: US West FEX Rate Hike!
Organization: Eskimo North (206) For-Ever
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 09:45:18 GMT


     I just got the bill for one of my FEX's and there was something
that looks rather underhanded to me.  I was wondering if anybody else
has experienced this and has an explanation.

     On my bill, there was a bunch of service order activity, and the
new rates went up.  I had not requested any changes to this line.

     They removed one FNX Foreign Exchange Business Line with a
monthly rate of $29.20 and added one FNH Foreign Exchange Hunting or
Key Line - Complex, with a monthly rate of $43.10, now reduced by the
WUTC order to $38.10, still $8.90 more than the old rate.

     For what it's worth, this line has ALWAYS had call forwarding
busy line expanded into a Seattle UCD group.  I have not requested any
changes to this line, but they also billed me $7.29 for order
activity.

     In the same bill they had the nerve to include an insert telling
me how they have generously lowered my rates as part of a revenue
sharing plan!

     I don't know what this is supposed to mean, but I feel like I've
just been shafted.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have you called the Business Office to get
a precise explanation? There might have been a billing error which had to
be (is getting) corrected on your next statement.  Keep us advised.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (David R Arneke)
Date: 24 Feb 94 10:59:05 GMT
Subject: AT&T SecretAgent 3.0


FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:
David Arneke, AT&T Secure Communications Systems
910 279-7680 (office)
910 273-5687 (home)
!darneke (ATTMAIL) or [e-mail] (Internet)

AT&T ADDS RSA SECURITY TECHNOLOGY TO SECRETAGENT (TM) SOFTWARE

        GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- AT&T has added RSA security
technology to its SecretAgent software in an upgrade that makes the
program more versatile, easier to use and faster.

        Other major new capabilities in AT&T SecretAgent Version 3.0
include:

        -- User-transparent support of RSA and DSA public keys.  Users
can generate RSA keys or DSA keys and communicate signed and encrypted
messages with other SecretAgent 3.0 users regardless of their choice
of public key algorithms.

        -- Cross-platform compatibility among MS-DOS, Windows,
Macintosh and various UNIX operating systems.  Information secured on
one operating system can be processed transparently on any of the
others.

        -- Mail-enabled operation through the widely supported
Vendor-Independent Messaging (VIM) interface.

        -- Significantly faster implementation of DES encryption and
DSA signing and validation.

        Version 3.0 adds the RSA cryptosystem for digital signatures
and key management to SecretAgent's capabilities, which already
included DES encryption, the NIST Digital Sig- nature Algorithm (DSA)
and the federal Secure Hash Standard (SHS) for data integrity.

        For encryption and DSA signatures, a variant of the
Diffie-Hellman protocol is used for key exchange.

        "AT&T SecretAgent 3.0 Software gives users a more powerful
array of capabilities in an extremely fast and efficient way," said
William A. Franklin, software security products manager, AT&T Secure
Communications Systems.

        With its unique combination of standards, SecretAgent 3.0
software provides solutions to the security requirements of a wide
variety of business and government users.

        "Some customers require only one set of capabilities --
government users, for example, are required to use federal standards
only," Franklin said.

        "Some businesses prefer RSA technology, but others need RSA
for electronic data interchange with other commercial businesses and
government standards for dealing with the government."

        Users can select either RSA, SHS and DES or DSA, SHS, DES and
Diffie-Hellman for signing and encrypting.  On reception, the program
detects which security algorithms have been used so the recipient of a
message doesn't have to be concerned about which technology the sender
used.

        Mail-enabled operation also makes security user-friendly.
Messages can be created, signed, encrypted and mailed all without
leaving SecretAgent 3.0 software.  Documents also can be signed,
encrypted and transmitted as mail attachments.

        DES encryption is 50 percent faster than in the original
version of AT&T SecretAgent Software.

        Digital signature speed is also improved.  DSA signing
and validation are performed in approximately 150 milliseconds each
on a 486/33M Hz personal computer.

        AT&T SecretAgent Software was developed for AT&T by
Information Security Corporation of Deerfield, Illinois.

        The program operates independently of word processing
programs, enabling it to safeguard such diverse data as text files,
spreadsheets and databases.

        SecretAgent 3.0 software encrypts and decrypts files for
transmissions or storage, even files stored on a shared network hard
disk.

        Single-copy suggested retail price is $329.95 for the DOS and
Windows versions, $359.95 for the Mac version and $399.95 for the UNIX
version.  Volume discounts and site/enterprise licensing are
available.

        Recommended PC configuration includes 640 KB RAM (256 KB
required) and hard disk.

        The Windows version of SecretAgent 3.0 software will be
available March 15.  The DOS version will follow on April 1, the
SPARCstation UNIX version on April 15 and the Mac version on May 1.

        A software upgrade to allow the program to accept the federal
government's TESSERA PCMCIA card and DATAKEY Sig- naSURE smart card
will be available April 1.  A triple-DES software capability also will
be available April 1.

        To order or to get more information, customers can call the
AT&T Secure Communications Customer Service Center, 1 800 203-5563.

                          ######

Product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 17:48:48 +0100
From: "CN=Hans-Dieter Zimmermann/OU=IWI/O=UNISG/C=CH"@ntgate.unisg.ch
Subject: Info Wanted About Home Information Systems


Hello networkers,

I think you are the right audience for my questions:

What do you think about home information systems (like Compuserve,
Prodigy, etc.) ?

Do you use them? Which one? Are you satisfied with it?  Which home
information systems are good, which are bad?  What are your
experiences?  What kind of applications you use? Which one you miss?
Do you like to work online? Or would you like to work more in a
offline mode?  What do you think about a 'store and forward'
communication mode for home information systems?

Please mail your opinions!

I am working on a paper about the use of telematic services in private
houeseholds and I am curious about your opinions.

Thanks for your help,


Hans-Dieter Zimmermann
University of St. Gallen, Institute for Information Management
Gatterstrasse 1A
St. Gallen, 9010,    Switzerland
Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: uswnvg!uswnvg.com![e-mail] (John Barcomb)
Subject: Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones
Date: 24 Feb 94 15:35:35 GMT


Ken K P Lo ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In article <[e-mail]> drharry![e-mail]
> (Alan Boritz) writes:

>>> Bell Atlantic here in Phoenix announced yesterday that they were
>>> making available to their cellular phone customers the ability to be
>>> pagable on their cell phones. Is this being done anywhere else? It
>>> sounds like a good idea. One is able to ditch the pager and just carry
>>> a phone. Any comments?

>> That's nothing new.  Just set call-forward-on-no-answer to your pager
>> number and you've got the same thing.

> I don't think so.  In this case, you still have to carry a pager.  I
> think Bell Atlantic is offering a phone with built-in pager, right?

The Motorola cellular switch has "Digital Messaging" available on it.
The phones have to be built with the software to accept the commands
and have memory locations set aside for these pages to the phone.

In Minneapolis, the company I work for (U S WEST Cellular) uses the
Motorola switch with the Digital features.  The system here is NAMPS
and is doing quite well.

The caller to the cellular phone hears the appropriate number of rings
then the call is forwarded to the "Digital messaging service" the
cellular user has an outgoing message recorded in his/her own voice
(similar to a voicemail system) and instructs the caller to press the
appropriate key to leave a "callback number", "short message" (alpha
page), or "voicemail" message.  The switch then delivers the
information to the phone.  If a callback number is delivered, the user
sees that number and can press send to dial it right away.  If a voice
mail message has been left, the access number for our voicemail system
is displayed on the phone and again the user can press send.

So, the phone does all the work in this situation.  We are not using
any other peripheral device to alert the user of messages, everything
is displayed on the cellular phone itself.

Hope that answers your questions.  You can send mail if you have
further questions.


John

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 09:25:18 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: AT&T Says That They Can't Resolve my Calls' Origin
Organization: AT&T


In article <[e-mail]> Will Martin <wmartin@STL-
06SIMA.ARMY.MIL> writes:

> [e-mail] (John R Levine) wrote:

>> Does your office have a PBX with direct inward dialing?  If so, it's
>> true, the billing number that AT&T sees is the ANI billing number for
>> the trunk on which the call happens to be sent, which as you've
>> discovered bears no relationship to the number of the phone on your desk.

   I don't believe direct INWARD dialing determines much about the
manner in which OUTGOING PBX calls will be billed.  True, a PBX that
supports DID can probably support two-way calls over such circuits, or
MLHG lines with a single billing number for outgoing calls.

> As a matter of fact, not even the local telco operator can resolve the
> correct number in this circumstance.

> Last week, here in 314-land, at the government office building where I
> work, we had what turned out to be a "database error" in the PBX
> servicing us, which made a lot of the local phone numbers in St.
> Louis, including my home number, appear to be "busy" when we tried to
> call them. (It was a fast busy instead of a regular busy, so I
> suspected an internal problem, which is what it turned out to be.)

   I use "POTS prefix" + 10288 + 1 +..... as a first-cut method of
verifying if the problem is at the originating end or the terminating
end.  If a local call succeeds when dialed via an IXC, you at least
know it's not a problem at the terminating line interface (backhoe
through DLC cable).  Such information should be part of the data you
put in the complaint to the PBX maintainer or TELCo.  (Even if the PBX
blocks 10XXX dialing on most lines, the PBX operator should be allowed
to dial such calls for emergency reasons.)

  [even TELCo operator doesn't know the "real" calling number...]

> I would think this would cause a problem for the telco. It sure sounds
> like a security hole when it comes to tracing annoying or threatening
> calls. Identifying a culprit within a really big organization if
> someone is using one of its phones to make such calls could be nearly
> impossible.

   The FBI has an interesting proposal that removes this security hole
and also permits "monitoring" of such individuals hiding behind a PBX.
Some believe the proposal itself is a security issue ...

> ...  Will digital telephony change this, perhaps by forcing
> any PBX connected to the telco after some future date pass the real
> calling number on to the telco switch via some side-channel digital
> pathway? Or is this situation an un-correctable arrangement mandated
> by deregulation?

   A "side-channel" already exists for passing the number.  AIOD is a
data-link feature that PBXs can use to get the "calling line" included
in the AMA billing records of calls billed to the PBX.  .  If the PBX
has AIOD, the number delivered by the PBX is screened by the CO and,
if valid, is treated as the billing number for AMA, Operator and IXC
FG-D ANI purposes.  If the screening fails or the number isn't
delivered "on time" or is mutilated in transmission, the "listed DN"
of the PBX is used for AMA, Operator and IXC ANI purposes.  The II
digits will be set to 20 ("AIOD - LDN sent") in such cases of failure.

   Unfortunately, AIOD costs money, so many PBX owners don't install
it.  (Many have a mechanism for recording all PBX calls internally
anyway.)  If you want to "fix" this problem and mandate yet another
rule on PBX owners, I'm sure the PBX vendors and the TELCos would
welcome it.  (ISDN PRI also supports a similar capability via the
D-channel (a kind of "side-channel")).

   AIOD - Automatically Identified Outward Dialing


Al Varney

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul Robichaux)
Subject: Re: Clipper Debate
Date: 24 Feb 94 14:33:14 GMT
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL


[e-mail] writes:

> Dave Banisar <[e-mail]> writes:

>> In only two weeks, over 10,000 users of the nation's computer networks
>> have signed the CPSR petition calling for President Clinton to
>> withdraw the Clipper proposal.

> The Clipper Chip may be a "hot" item on today's virtual debate forums,
> but I fail to see the urgency.  If the Clipper Proposal is passed, I
> will continue to send e-mail as I do now.

> If I don't care who reads it, I'll just send it.  If I want privacy, I
> will encrypt it. The fact that it goes through the Clipper afterwards
> makes little difference to me.

The Key Escrow Encryption Standard (KEES; "Clipper" is a registered
trademark of Intergraph, my employer) is so manifestly broken that
many people have decided that they won't use it.

It is also unlikely that criminals, etc. will use it, since they know
their communications can be intercepted.

The only way to make KEES really viable is to ban other encryption
systems. Don't be so sure that you'll be able to superencrypt your
data before it goes to the MYK chip.

Besides, do you not mind that the government is trying to set a
precedent of REQUIRING access to ALL your communications?


Paul Robichaux, KD4JZG   [e-mail]  Intergraph Federal Systems

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 10:30:43 EST
From: [e-mail] (Tom Olin)
Subject: Re: Clipper Debate


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

> The Clipper Chip may be a "hot" item on today's virtual debate forums,
>  but I fail to see the urgency.  If the Clipper Proposal is passed, I
>  will continue to send e-mail as I do now.

>  If I don't care who reads it, I'll just send it.  If I want privacy, I
>  will encrypt it. The fact that it goes through the Clipper afterwards
>  makes little difference to me.

That's fine as long as other forms of encryption are available for
your use.  However, that may not remain the case.  Consider the final
paragraph from the White House statement of February 4:

  The Administration believes that the steps being announced today will
  help provide Americans with the telecommunications security they need
  without compromising the capability of law enforcement agencies and
  national intelligence agencies. Today, any American can purchase and
  use any type of encryption product. The Administration does not intend
  to change that policy. Nor do we have any intention of restricting
  domestic encryption or mandating the use of a particular technology.

The Administration's goal is to make encryption available "without
compromising the capability of law enforcement" to intercept encrypted
data.  At the same time, the Administration's (current) intent is not
to restrict the availability of other encryption technology.

If some other form of encryption compromises the capability of law
enforcement to intercept encrypted data, which do you think is more
likely to change: the government's goal or its good intentions?

The Administration is hoping that it can promote Clipper to the point
that other forms of encryption will become unprofitable and go away.
If that approach does not work, what other choice does the government
have but to ban other forms of encryption, if it feels that current
law enforcement capabilities must be preserved intact?

Anybody who wishes to preserve the option of using secure encryption
technology would be well advised to enter this debate sooner rather
than later.


Tom Olin        PAR Technology Corporation   Voice: [phone] Ext 638
[e-mail]           New Hartford, NY     Fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gerald Serviss)
Subject: Re: These Cell Phones Don't Work - Why?
Date: 24 Feb 1994 14:44:07 GMT
Organization: Cellular Infrastructure Group, Motorola


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jay
Hennigan) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
> writes:

>> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Sean
>> Petty) writes:

>>> Anyhow, the other day Comcast published a letter saying: "The following
>>> phones are not compatible with our system -- all Motorola Model 8000-D's,
>>> All Harris Equipment, All Sony Portables that have a Black label under
>>> the battery, and All Panasonic HP 500's that haven't been upgraded."

> I wonder if Comcast will be allowed to get away with this without some
> flak from the FCC, PUC, and the manufacturers involved.  It is common
> for cellular phones to be sold with a three-year warranty, and even
> five years isn't all that unusual.  Comcast is selectively denying
> service to certain makes/models of telephones that are otherwise FCC
> registered as being compatible with the North American cellular
> system.  What happens when a roamer with one of these phones tries to
> call 911?  What happens when a user has a warranty complaint of
> "doesn't work" on a phone meeting factory specs?  Seems to me that
> whoever is providing the cell site/MTSO equipment has a bug that they
> need to fix, rather than forcing the users to buy new equipment.

Since I play a Cellular Software Engineer in real life I will make a
guess at this one.

I suspect what happened is that COMCAST turned on or is planning to
turn on NAMPS capability. I am fairly confident of this as they use
Motorola Cell equipment. The problem that we found is that many
MOBILES do not implement the EIA-553 specification (AMPS air
interface) correctly. There are bits in the air interface that are
undefined for AMPS, EAMPS use that were taken over for NAMPS use.
Since these mobiles assumed that the unused bits would stay unused and
always be 0 they do not work when NAMPS is turned on.

Since these phones technically do not comply with the air interface
there is no guarantee of service from the system operator. In that
cases that I am familiar with the mobiles in question are three to
five years old and the operator will work with a local subscriber to
trade out the phone. Also consider the fact that I can get a Motorola
PT-550 Micro Tac for $49 and you have a huge non-issue for someone
who is not asleep at the wheel.

BTW the FCC does not test for signalling compliance as far as I know,
they are more concerned with the RF performance of the units.

I think the 911 issue is real but, as we have seen PACTEL in
California will now block 911 calls from non registered mobiles. It
would appear that the mere possession of a cellular phone is not
sufficient to allow one to make calls.


Jerry Serviss   Motorola Inc.

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 08:45:44 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: 200 "Exchange" Within 1-900 Numbers
Organization: AT&T


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(CJS Vance) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John R
> Levine) writes:

>>> is for instance 1-900-000-0000 available?

>> Probably not.  Many local switches are programmed to reject numbers of
>> the form NNX-1XX-XXXX and NNX-0XX-XXXX locally, and not send them to
>> long distance carriers.  I suspect that a lot of switches would reject
>> 100 and 000 prefixes in 700, 800, or 900 numbers as well.

   The statement is incorrect.

> Well, here in Australia our 008 numbers (currently being moved to
> 1800) are of the form 008 XXXXXX (1800 XXXXXX).  It's always dialled
> with the prefix, so why cut out 20% of the number space?  Same with
> 0055 XXXXX, moving to 1900 XXXXXX.  I thought you lot had advanced
> exchanges over in the US ...

   They are advanced, but typically "tuned" to the application.
Development to support non-existent needs is seldom cost-effective.  I
am aware of numerous examples where we have developed capabilities
beyond requirements, and received complaints because the product
ALLOWED the TELCo to populate data that "should have been rejected".
At the same time, the same folks complain because, in other cases, we
have been "too restrictive" in the data cross-checks applied to TELCo
input.  You can't win this one ... (If Australia has figured out a
way of determining, at development time, every variation in operation
any purchaser will desire AND every "preventable error" that might
occur in such usage, I wish they would publish the method.)

   I don't know of any local switch that is "programmed" by the vendor
to "reject" numbers of the form NXX-0/1XX-XXXX.  They are typically
"programmed" to reject the assignment of 0/1XX-XXXX codes in
customer-dialed translators, but that is so we don't get complaints of
the "should have been rejected" variety -- no customer could dial such
a seven-digit number.  All switches, to the best of my knowledge, can
accept ten-digit NANP numbers with 0/1XX following the NPA.  In fact,
USA switches have been routing such numbers since the days of INWATS
(early version of 1-800).

   Typically, NPA-0/1XX-XXXX numbers are rejected by local switches,
BASED ON TELCO DATA, because that is the proper place to block calls
to unassigned CO codes.  "Long distance carriers" prefer to carry
calls that have some chance of succeeding.


Al Varney

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #103
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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #104

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 25 Feb 94 10:42:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 104

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Digital Cellphone Report - GSM (Juha Veijalainen)
    Methods For Calling USA From Europe? (Mario Valente)
    Technical Manual For an OKI 1150 (Barry Lustig)
    Looking For Long Distance Carrier Info For Business/Home (Craig Eid)
    Multimedia Conference (ICMCS 94) (Joseph Boykin)
    Update: Questions About Voice Mail (Stan Schwartz)
    Centrex/Key Phone System/PBX ([e-mail])
    Telecommunications and Computers (Lars Kalsen)
    Who Sells Used Telecom Gear? (Pat Barron)
    Radio Program on History of the Telephone (Ralph Chapman)
    Neal-Wilkinson Trunk Capacity Table (Lars Borg)
    Why Are Rates to India Increasing? (Linc Madison)
    What Happened to my Answering Machine? (Yuxing Tian)
    Information Wanted on TR303, AIN 0.1 (Doug Hohulin)
    Information Needed on Satellite Phone (Min Hu)
    Information Wanted on FCC 91-115 ([e-mail])
    NYNEX "Slamming" 800 Business Directories? (Tom Betz)
    InterLATA CID (Terry J. Nelson)
    Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes (John R. Levine)
    Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes (Andy Behrens)
    CONNECT SysOp Subscription Discount Offer (Patricia Snyder-Rayl)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
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Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: 25 Feb 1994 10:49
Subject: Digital Cellphone Report - GSM


Lately we've seen postings on US/Canadian digital cellphones.  I'd
like to share my experiences of using GSM for about ten months now.

- there are no dual mode phones.  You either have a digital phone
  (and 'all digital network') or you don't.  Analogue NMT nets are
  still going strong and growing, but they are completely separate.

- during last summer coverage was a bit spotty and calls were cut off
  relatively often.  Since last autumn things got much better;  coverage
  is much better and I have not experienced any special problems with
  call setup or calls being cut off.

- roaming is available in most of the Europe.  You just switch on your
  phone in a foreign country and it picks up the network (if any).  You
  can program your preferred networks on your SIM card.

- GSM does interfere with some radio equipment.  I have no problems with
  my car radio, office/home phones, TV etc.  On the other hand my old
  portable stereo picks up GSM transmission.  It seems to be a matter of
  radio/TV/phone quality.  I've had more interference problems in Britain
  and Switzerland - why, I don't know.

- voice quality is good, though you cannot distinquish GSM from an analog
  phone, if both phones are close to cell and no cell handoffs
  happen.  If you use phones in fringe areas (weak fields) the
  difference is noticeable.  GSM voice is not completely clear, though,
  it might cut off for a fraction of a second, it might make you talk
  like Donald Duck and sometimes it seems to fill in gaps (like
  'Yes, I like it' would be replaced with 'Yesssss like it').

New services are being introduced now.  'Short messaging service'
sends max. 160 character messages to your phone even when you are
speaking and group 3 fax should be available soon.  Other GSM II
features will come later on.


Juha Veijalainen    4ge system analyst, tel. [phone]
Unisys Finland    Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Methods For Calling USA From Europe?
Organization: LNEC, Lab. Nac. de Eng. Civil, Lisboa, Portugal
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 18:14:02 GMT


Hi:

I'm trying to setup an Internet service provider here in Portugal,
where there isnt one.

After trying with several service providers in Europe to get a
connection and the possibility to resell and finding many
difficulties, not to mention the cost of phone lines in Europe, I have
started looking at other possibilities, namely USA providers ( there
are more, more friendly, and with more probability of getting the
reselling option ).

The problem is of course the cost of the lines.

I'd like to find out about some possibilities. The ones I thought/found
out:


  - satellite feed, using some service like PageSat or Planet. This has
    the disadvantage of not being able to send, just receive.

  - leased line to the US. I suppose the cost is impossible.

  - using AT&T to dialup. I'm really interested in this one, since I have
    a service provider that allows me to connect via AT&T. I just need to
    find how to use AT&T from Portugal. Anyone know where this information
    is?

  - ISDN connection. Unfortunately ISND connectionsm like phone lines in
    Europe have a time charge: for each period of time you're charged
    some cost, which is quite big when you call outside Portugal (if I
    call the USA using the local PTT I pay $4 per minute; yes that's four
    dollars a minute!)

Any info welcome ( especially how to use AT&T from here )

Thanks in advance,

C U!

Mario Valente

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 16:35:17 EST
From: Barry Lustig <[e-mail]>
Subject: Technical Manual For an OKI 1150


  I just called OKI Telecom to order a copy of the technical manual
for an OKI 1150 cellular phone.  The sales rep. on the other end of
the line said that the manual costs $172.50.  Does anybody else think
that this is outrageous?  Why are they trying to discourage phone
owners from getting the manuals for their phones?


Barry Lustig    Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe because without the manual, if
something is not working right on the phone the owners will simply
think it is something they are incorrectly programming and blame
themselves; with a comprehensive manual in hand they will find out
it is not their fault at all but that the phone is no good! It is
sometimes best to keep the owners in ignorance, you know. :)  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Craig Eid)
Subject: Looking For Long Distance Carrier Info For Business/Home
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 21:41:38 GMT
Organization: HP Sonoma County (SRSD/MWTD/MID)


I need to decide as soon as possible which long distance carrier we'll
be using on our new business line. Most of our calls will be for ten
minutes or less, within the same state, and within a 200 mile radius.
Does anyone have any suggestions, or should I just call up the majors
and get quotes?


Craig Eid    e-mail address    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Joseph Boykin)
Subject: Multimedia Conference (ICMCS 94)
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: GTE Laboratories
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 22:08:48 GMT


For those who have already received information on the IEEE Computer
Society's Multimedia Computing and Systems Conference (ICMCS '94),
there have been a few changes since the original information went out,
so you may wish to pick up the latest.  New versions of the program,
registration form, etc.  are available either from me or via anonymous
FTP on ftp.gte.com (132.197.8.2) in pub/ICMCS.


Joe Boykin  ICMCS Registration Chair
617-466-2803 (Phone)  617-466-2137 (FAX)
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Stan Schwartz)
Subject: Update: Questions About Voice Mail
Date: 24 Feb 1994 18:45:23 -0500
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC


I spoke with the NYNEX reps today and they confirmed the following for
me:

NYNEX's Voice Mail product (Call Answering) combined with Call Waiting
works the following way in my 5ESS CO (516-694-NNNN):

 - If I am on the phone and DON'T answer the second call, the mailbox will
   NOT answer the call.

 - If I *70 to de-activate Call Waiting before I make a call, any incoming
   call will get a busy while I am on the call.

I then appealed to NYNEX's "President's Help Line" (1-800-722-2300),
and after much explaining and whining, the representative agreed to
contact the product manager for the service and ask her why it is
programmed that way.  I was promised a return phone call (but she
didn't say when ;-) ).

(BTW: here on Long Island, I am kind of "self-determining" that I am
in a 5ESS switch by dialing my exchange's verification number, which
is usually in the NNX-9901 format.  When I dial 694-9901, the recording
tells me the type of switch in the CO and which exchanges it serves.
Is there any way to verify how accurate and up-to-date this recording is?)


Stan

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

From: [e-mail] (Lyre)
Subject: Centrex/Key Phone System/PBX
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 94 01:17:15 EST
Organization: [MindVox] / Phantom Access Technologies / (+1 800-MindVox)


I want some kind of system that will give me automated attendant
voicemail and multiline capabilities. The number of lines is four to
six; the number of instruments is four to start.

Any recommendations/things to stay away from? Cost IS an issue.

I was wondering if I can do this with Intellipath digital centrex on
either DMS-100 or 5ESS, or what would be the most cost-effective key
system?

Thanks.

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Kalsen)
Subject: Telecommunications and Computers
Date: 25 Feb 94 12:04:21 GMT
Organization: DKnet


Hi -

I am trying to get an overview over the area:

          Systems integrating Telecommunication and Computers
          ===================================================

It could be voice-response systems which are placing orders directly
in the company's computer system. Or systems for customer service
which integrate telephony with customer datases in an intelligent way.
Or it could be anything else.

If you:

      - have knowledge of such systems I would like to
        have a short desciption.(Maybe you compnay have some).

      - know articles on the subject - I would like to have
        a reference

      - know any or sites where I can look for inforamtion - i
        would like to hera from you.

Any inforamtion is appreciated. Plaese E-mail me if you have some.

Greetings from Denmark,


Lars Kalsen   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Who Sells Used Telecom Gear?
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 1994 10:43:28 -0500
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA


I'm looking for a small, used PBX ("small" is defined as three or four
lines).  The cheaper, the better, which is why I want used equipment.

Any pointers?


Thanks!

Pat

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 12:41:09 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Radio Program on History of the Telephone
Organization: AT&T


WBEZ (FM 91.5, Chicago) will be broadcasting a for-part "radio history
of the telephone", titled "Hell's Bells", starting Feb. 28 at 7:00-8:00
PM.  The other three parts will be aired March 1, 2, and 7 (same time).

This is an American Public Radio program; the folks at the station
said it will likely be aired on other APR or NPR stations around the
country, but on different schedules.  Check with your local station,
or call Israel Smith at APR in Minneapolis, 612-338-5000.


Ralph Chapman   AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Borg)
Subject: Neal-Wilkinson Trunk Capacity Table
Organization: Northern Telecom, Network Application Systems
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 17:26:34 GMT


Would someone please E-mail a copy of the Neal-Wilkinson trunk
capacity tables, or tell me were I can find a copy?


Lars G. Borg,                                    E-mail: [e-mail]
Northern Telcom / Network Application Systems    [phone]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 12:56:48 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Why Are Rates to India Increasing?


I was looking at yet another one of those newspaper ads for the
various LD companies' international discount calling plans, and I've
noticed that they list numbers like "India 73 cents (thru 3/30/94, 78
cents after)"

Is the PTT in India increasing its "landing fees"?


Linc Madison  *  Oakland, California  *  [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 13:39:23 -0600
From: Yuxing Tian <[e-mail]>
Subject: What Happened to my Answering Machine?


[I live in Chicago, and have a normal greeting message in my answering
machine.]

Here is the story:

Yesterday, when I got home and listen to the messages left in my
answering machine. A strange message is:

( ~10 seconds music)
( two rings at the other end)
( a lady picked up the phone and asked "Hello, Number?")
( ~2 seconds silent)
( she hung up.)

Could anybody lighten me about what happened?  Thanks a lot.

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

Date: 24 Feb 1994 17:53:24 U
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Information Wanted on TR303, AIN 0.1


I have two questions:

How wide spread is TR303 deployed?

Is anyone using AIN 0.1 today on their class 5 switches?  Which
switches are they available on?

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

From: [e-mail] (Min Hu)
Subject: Information Needed on Satellite Phone
Organization: University of Toronto Physics/Astronomy/CITA
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 1994 01:11:52 GMT


Hi,

During the gulf war, both the reporters and the American soldiers used
a kind of satellite phone system so that they could communicate with
outside world. Does anybody out there know companies who make or sell
this kind of mobile phone system?

The following features will be desirable.

1. Ability to communicate while the phone is in motion (say a jeep)
2. The diameter of the antanne should be less than 1 meter
3. The satellite carrier should be either American satellite or sea monitoring
   satellite.
4. The antanne should be all-direction antanne, do not have to worry about
   the direction of the satellite.

It will be greatly appreciated if you can offer any clue as how to
find this kind of company.

Thanks in advance.


HU MIN, University of Toronto, Dept. of Physics
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. M5S 1A7
Email: [e-mail] / [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Cristy)
Subject: Information Wanted on FCC 91-115
Organization: DuPont Central Research & Development
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 22:06:52 GMT


My latest phone bill allows for some additional privacy for customers
of unlisted numbers.  I disagree with the requirement to pay the
$1.50+ charge per month to be eligible for increased privacy.  The
reference is FCC 91-115.  Does anyone know the text of this ruling or
where I can get access to this ruling?


[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Betz)
Subject: NYNEX "Slamming" 800 Business Directories?
Date: 24 Feb 1994 14:04:37 -0500
Organization: Betz & Associates


While reviewing our business phone bill, I noticed a $24.99 charge for
an "1994 ATT BUS GUD" and a $3.50 shipping and handling charge.  I
enquired about it to NYNEX billing, who told me that "1994 ATT BUS
GUD" means "1994 AT&T Toll-Free National 800 Directory", and that I
had called an 800 number and ordered it.

In fact, in January I had received a call from a telemarketer asking
me if I wanted it, and had told them no, specifically telling them
that as an AT&T 800 customer, I get these for free on request.

When one arrived recently, our receptionist signed for it, and when I
saw it, I assumed that our AT&T rep had sent it to us; in fact, the
NYNEX telemarketer had disregarded my refusal and sent it to us, and
then told NYNEX that I had called >him< and placed an order for it!

Apparently, NYNEX has hired a sleazy outfit, one that is lying to
NYNEX about the orders it has received, to do some of its
telemarketing.  I wonder how many thousands of times this year NYNEX
will be collecting $29.49 from businesses who, like me, said "no" when
solicited to buy this book, but who don't notice the charge on their
bills?  How many millions of dollars in commissions will this sleaze
operation earn from these tactics?

Check your bills, folks.


Tom Betz ---- 114 Woodworth Ave, Yonkers NY 10701-2509
[phone] -  [e-mail]   [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 12:47:00 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: InterLATA CID
Organization: AT&T


I have a question regarding the use of Caller ID on Inter-LATA calls.
Currently the technology exists to deliver the calling number to the
terminating LEC office:

Originating-->--ISUP-->--InterLATA-->--ISUP-->--Terminating
 CID LEC                  Carrier                 CID LEC

Since this information in most cases is deliverable right now, why
doesn't InterLATA CID exist?  The only reason I've heard so far is
that the RBOCs must be "de-regulated" before they can accept/deliver
Inter-LATA originating numbers.  This doesn't seem to make much sense.
Perhaps it's just a matter of working out which carrier charges who
and for how much or is there another reason?


adTHANKSvance,

Terry Nelson @ AT&T
ATTMail: [e-mail]   GEnie: [e-mail]
America On Line: [e-mail]  UUCP: wnxser!tjnelson
UUCP via Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 12:41 EST
From: [e-mail] (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.


> Please explain these two statements.  If it's a "free local call"
> (within the same area code, no less), then it's not a toll call, so
> why is "Vermont's new toll dialing plan" relevant here at all?

We're in Morgan, Vt. which has its own 895 exchange.  But since we're
way out on the east edge of town, we're closer to Island Pond, so we
have an Island Pond 723 phone number.  Normally, a call from 723 to
895 is a toll call, but there's a rule that all calls within your own
town are considered local, so as a special case, calls to Morgan 895
numbers are free (or at worse charged message units) even though
they're dialed as toll calls.  There are 895 numbers in Holland and
West Charleston as well; don't know if I get charged for them or not.

> Do you currently dial these calls as eight digits (1 + 7D)? If so, why?

Yup.  Same reason.

> Are there any other places in the NANP where local intra-NPA calls
> require more than seven digits to dial?

This situation is quite common in rural areas, and the rule that calls
within your town are free seems to be ancient and widespread.

In New Hampshire, NET came up with a uniquely awful way to implement
this: you were supposed to make such calls on your calling card, then
when the bill came, call up the business office and ask them to adjust
the bill.  I think they now do it automatically as well.

[re having to dial calls from 802-723 to 802-895 with 11 digits, even
though they are free for us because it's within the same town]

> I wonder why Nynex doesn't fix this.  If they are smart enough to bill
> those calls at local (not toll) rates, they should also have the skills
> to let you *dial* them as local (not toll) calls.

It'd require per-line dialing plan programming in the switch,
something that I don't think CO switches are set up to do.  Most 723
customers are in Island Pond, so for them 895 really is a toll call.
Some 723 customers are in East Charleston, who have to be able to call
895 numbers in West Charleston (same town, different P.O.) for free,
but not necessarily 895 numbers in Morgan or Holland.  The same
applies for 895 customers calling 723, of course.

I expect that it's a lot easier to fix this at the time bills are
printed, since the bill printing computer has all of the address
information available and, more important, doesn't have to figure out
the answer in real time.

NYNEX's original proposal was to make all intra-NPA calls in its
territory 7D regardless of toll, which would have solved this problem
once and for all.  Unfortunately, state regulators insisted that they
go to 1 + NPA for calls that used to be 1 + 7D.

Here's another example of 1+ nonsense: I live in Cambridge Mass., and
my sister lives in Lexington, about 10 miles away.  For me to call her
is a message unit call, not dialed with 1+, which costs 6.5 cents for
the first minute, 5.5 cents for subsequent minutes, with no time of
day discount.

On weekends, intra-NPA toll calls to places like Nantucket (50 miles
away) cost less than calling Lexington because they have time-of-day
discounts.  Indeed, on weekends it saves money to dial her with a
10333 prefix and hand this local call to Sprint!


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Vermont Gets Ready For NNX Area Codes
Date: 24 Feb 1994 21:21:54 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA


John Levine writes:

> A flyer in my latest phone bill reveals that Vermont's new toll
> dialing plan is 1-802-NNX-XXXX...
> Personally, I find the new plan to be a big pain in the neck, since,
> due to a peculiarity of exchange boundaries, it'll require that I dial
> most free local calls within our town with 11 digits.

and Bob Goudreau asks:

> If it's a "free local call" (within the same area code, no less), then
> it's not a toll call, so why is "Vermont's new toll dialing plan"
> relevant here at all?  Do you currently dial these calls as eight
> digits (1 + 7D)?  If so, why?

A number of years ago, the Vermont PUC mandated that calls to a
telephone located in the same town[*] must be billed as local calls,
regardless of exchange boundaries.  The intent was that people should
not have to pay toll charges to call their town offices.

But because the state is rural, and hilly, a few outlying houses in a
town may be separated from the rest of the town by a ridge of hills.
It may be easier for the phone company to wire them into a neighboring
exchange -- even when that exchange is far enough away from the town
that the two exchanges would be considered "long distance"

These outlying people will have to dial 1-802 + 7D to call their
neighbors in the same town, but it's a local call for them.  Other
people in their exchange, for whom the call crosses town boundaries,
would pay toll charges.  These calls are currently dialed as 1 + 7D.


Andy

[*] Note: "Towns" in Vermont are what most states call "townships".
Everyone in a given town is governed by the same officials, has the
same fire department, etc.


Andy Behrens
P.O. Box 116, South Strafford, Vt.   [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Patricia Snyder-Rayl)
Subject: CONNECT SysOp Subscription Discount Offer
Date: 24 Feb 1994 16:29:44 -0500
Organization: Cyberspace Communications Public-Access UNIX


  CONNECT Magazine Offers Special Subscription Rate for BBS Sysops
  ================================================================

OK. You've heard about CONNECT, possibly even picked up copies of the
magazine at your local newsstand, bookstore or computer dealer. Maybe
you've seen our advertising in books such as the "Whole Earth Online
Almanac," or you saw the mention of CONNECT in the December 6, 1993
issue of U.S. News & World Report. Or maybe you've just heard about
the magazine from talk on the commercial online services, or seen the
CONNECT Online BBS Edition door on a local BBS.

But, you still haven't subscribed. As a BBS sysop, perhaps you've just
been too busy keeping your system in peak shape. And maybe you've also
been thinking about advertising your BBS via CONNECT's International
BBS Listing or Service Ads.

Well, we're making you an offer that'll save you money *AND* give your
BBS some added international exposure.

To receive details and the necessary form, email your request to
[e-mail].


     CONNECT Magazine       [phone]
"The Modem User's Resource" [phone] fax  services, Internet and BBS
   3487 Braeburn Circle     [phone] BBS    networks from a user's
   Ann Arbor, MI  48108     14.4Kbps V.32bis|       perspective.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #104
******************************

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Date: Fri, 25 Feb 94 13:13:01 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #105

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 25 Feb 94 13:13:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 105

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker (Les Reeves)
    Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker (Dale Worley)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (Carl Moore)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (Michael King)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (Mike King)
    Area Code Listings (Bill Turini)
    Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones ([e-mail])
    Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones (Monty Solomon)
    Re: It's Impossible, Isn't It? ([e-mail])
    Re: Digital Cellular Phone Review (Ronald Oakes)
    Re: Program For Microwave Radio Links (Richard Masoner)
    Re: How to Expand the Range of Cordless? (Willie Smith)
    Re: Shortage of Prefixes in 800? (John R. Levine)
    Re: Program For Microwave Radio Links (Sun Outages) (Barry Lustig)
    Re: "Convenience Calls" on Phone Bill (John J. Butz)
    Re: Need Information about Telemate (Brian Leyton)
    Re: Caller-ID Question (Ben Williams)
    Re: Answering Machine Accepting Collect Calls (Monty Solomon)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Les Reeves)
Subject: Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker
Date: 24 Feb 1994 09:05:13 -0800
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access    [phone]  [login: guest]


> Here's a new way for state government to separate more cash from your
> wallet.  Heard on the news today that Missouri state government has
> started a 1-900 number for businesses to find the provider of the
> lowest-cost workers' compensation insurance.  They are charging $1
> /min, with $.45-.55 to go to the state general revenue fund.

> Just a new method to rob people for information they should be
> providing free as a public service.

Several years ago I installed a channel bank for the US Office of
Personnel Management's job line 900 service.  It was a menu-driven
voice information system to provide up to date info on job availability
within parts of the federal government.  The cost was the lowest I have
ever seen on any 900 service; 40 cents per minute.  They told me they
selected a per-minute rate that would just cover the cost of the access
from MCI.


Les  [e-mail]       Atlanta,GA

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

From: [e-mail] (Dale Worley)
Subject: Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker
Date: 24 Feb 1994 12:52:00 -0500
Organization: Village of Cambridge, Public-Access Internet


> Heard on the news today that Missouri state government has
> started a 1-900 number for businesses to find the provider of the
> lowest-cost workers' compensation insurance.  They are charging $1
> /min, with $.45-.55 to go to the state general revenue fund.

Sounds like a great deal, since finding a good workmens' compensation
company can save you thousands a year.

> Just a new method to rob people for information they should be
> providing free as a public service.

Eh?  Providing the names, addresses, and rates of insurance companies has
never been a job of the state government, to my knowledge.  That's what
you have insurance agents for!


Dale

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 9:23:13 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness


[e-mail] (Robert Casey) writes:

> with geographically close areas.  Especially in the same state.  "was
> that area code 402 or 403 for Yerksville, South Dakota, Can't remember
> which my friend said", vs. if the two area codes are much different,
> "he said 70 something, lets see, that has to be 702 according to the
> phone book map".

402 is in Nebraska, 403 in Alberta/Yukon/NW Territory in Canada,
701 in North Dakota, 702 in Nevada, 605 in South Dakota.

TELECOM Digest Editor writes about extreme northwestern Indiana:

> Then one day they announced that the little northwest corner had a
> choice: either they could begin dialing 312 to reach Chicago, or 1+7
> digits to reach elsewhere in the northern Indiana 219 area. Telco made
> the choice to go with the latter leaving Hammond/Whiting, etc hooked
> to Chicago for calling purposes.  With the change in telcos in the
> late 1970's (northwest Indiana was taken away from Illinois Bell and
> turned over to Indiana Bell) the requirement of dialing not just 312,
> but 1-312 (!) to reach Chicago was added, and the 1+7D for the rest of
> 219 was dropped.  PAT]

Just how far could one dial from that northwestern corner into the
rest of 219 with just seven digits?  And what did this corner have for
long distance within 219 when it was announced that Indiana would be
going to 1 + NPA + 7D for long distance within area code (in
preparation for the NNX area codes)?

TELECOM Digest Editor writes about the 659 prefix:

>That is, '659' showed up in Whiting, Indiana. It did not show
>up in 312, 815 (since a tiny bit of the south end of 815 touches 219)
>nor in 317 nor in 216.

South end of 815 touches 219?  If you are referring to southernmost
part of border between 815 and Indiana, then all of the 815/Indiana
border touches 219.

And where do you get 216 from?  That's in northeastern Ohio, including
Cleveland.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Going south along the Illinois/Indiana
state line, once the old 312 (now 708) area ended and 815 began, it
is just a short distance further going south on the Indiana side that
219 ends and 317 begins. That's what I meant to say; that mostly 219
borders (then 312; now) a tiny bit of 312 and some of 708) but at the
southwestern end of 219 some of 815 comes up there to the state line
also. I guess it is relative to how much is 'some' and 'a little'.
Going east, 219 runs all the way across northern Indiana to the border
with Ohio where it touches 216. At the same time across the northern
edge of 219 by Michigan City, IN and South Bend it touches 616.

Trivia comment/question: What places have *three* different area codes
as part of their local calling area? For one, the Chicago-Mitchell CO
has local service into 312/708/219. Whiting gets local service into
219/708/312. Hammond does not get any local service into 312. I think
maybe Beecher, IL gets local service into 708/815/219. There are others
like this. What community in the USA gets local service into four area
codes? There is one such place. By 'local', I mean no toll charges even
though 1 + AC + 7D dialing is required.  What places get 'local' service
even though two different countries are involved as well as two area
codes?   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael King)
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness
Date: 24 Feb 1994 15:30:46 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


Pat:

You essentially have the Hammond/Whiting/Munster dialing situation set
right.  Here in Gary, we always dialed Chicago as a 1-312 number.  On
the other hand, we have never dialed the remainder of the 219 area as
7D.  We have always dialed it as 1 + 7D (once you were outside the
local calling area).  Of course now, it is dialed as 1 + 219 + 7D.

The one thing that I never understood was why we (NW Indiana) were
under Illinois Bell prior to 1978.


Michael H. King        Latitude Group, Ltd.        Gary, IN
Computer/Small Business Consultant    Freelance Writer/Announcer


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mr. William Gary's company town (Mr. Gary
was the president of US Steel around the start of this century; Gary was
founded and owned by the Gary Municipal Corporation, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of US Steel until the early 1920's) was more closely related
to Chicago than to the rest of Indiana. Ditto George Hammond's meat-
processing operation and John Rockefeller's gasoline and oil refinery.
All these firms had offices in Chicago, as did the other industrial
giants in the cluster there including Inland Steel, Sinclair (Arco) Oil
Company, Union Carbide and others.

*Heavily* industrialized, (for example, Whiting is permeated with the
oil refinery; you can walk around town for blocks at a time on the
east side and see nothing but storage tanks full of black looking
gunk, railroad cars, smoldering caldrons with fire shooting out of them;
the fumes can be incredibly awful some days, etc; and I don't have to
tell *you* about the north end of the Gary/Indiana Harbor area exactly
on the shore of Lake Michigan) northwest Indiana was the place where
these guys wanted their work done. They had the convenience of Chicago
few miles away, all the railroads and the inexpensive shipping which
could be done via barges on the lake and the connection to the
Mississipi River via the Calumet River, the canal and the Chicago
River downtown. Mr. Gary had his one plant on the far south side of
Chicago (what we years ago called South Works) right on the edge of
Lake Michigan, and the ease of transporting stuff by barge across the
lake to Gary Works made it very appealing.  Mr. Ryerson (owner of
Inland Steel) found Indiana Harbor -- a little slice of life
situated between Gary on the east, Whiting on the west and East
Chicago, Indiana on the south -- a good deal for the same reason.
Hauling their stuff by boat through the lake made good sense.

When telephones were relatively a new thing in the early 1900's, all
the big boys wanted the new-fangled invention connected from their
offices in Chicago to their steel mills, refineries and meat-processing
plants along the southern edge of Lake Michigan, and the telco here at
the time, known as 'Chicago Telephone Company' gladly accomodated
them. When Illinois Bell Telephone Company was started about 1925 as a
result of AT&T making an aggressive (and some maintain, illegal)
effort to purchase Chicago Tel, northern Indiana went along as part of
what they purchased. So, having Illinois Bell there rather than Indiana
Bell was mostly due to the history of the area.

Now why don't you ask me why Gary phones are 219-882/883/884/885/886/887?
Well, you see, '88' is also 'TU' as in TUrner, and Mr. Turner was somebody
who was somebody in Gary long ago. Not content with one exchange, when
Gary went dial in about 1955 or so, IBT honored him by making every phone
in town into either TUrner-2, TUrner-3, TUrner-4, TUrner-5, TUrner-6 or
TUrner-7. I think he had early involvement with Gary Works. Sometime around
1920, the US Supreme Court said US Steel had to divest itself of the Gary
Municipal Corporation; that was the end of the company town. In the 1970's
as you know, 'big steel' went down the tubes in the USA and that was the end
of Gary, period. Today sadly, Gary is mostly boarded up houses and store-
fronts; there is no 'downtown' any longer; and hasn't been for twenty years
just like Hammond to the east. The steel mills are closed and the refineries
are mostly gone. You made a valiant effort at revival with the Gary
Convention Center; if it were anywhere else it would be a great place.
Too bad they did not build it about 1920-30 during Gary's heyday. Since
your .sig identifies you as a 'writer/announcer' do you write for the
{Gary Post-Tribune} or announce on WWCA, 1270 AM?  (WWCA = Working With
the Calumet Area), Gary's local radio station.)   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike King)
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 14:57:43 PST


In TELECOM Digest V14 #101, [e-mail] (Robert Casey) wrote:

> I had thought/heard that the semi-random distribution of area codes in
> the USA was done to avoid confusion of numberically close area codes
  [...]

> Phone companies tend to do the same thing with phone exchanges inside
> the same area codes.

I haven't seen it in many other places, but Dayton and Columbus, OH,
both tend to group their prefixes into the same exchanges.  For
example, in Dayton, 220/2-9 are in the same exchange, as are
233/5/6/7, 252-9, 274-9, 293-4/6-9, 433-6/8-9, etc.

I always assumed they arose from the old 2L + 5D scheme, and they were
consecutive prefixes from the same switch name; i.e., BAker 2, BAker 3,
etc.


Mike King    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: By coincidence, it appears we have two
persons named 'Mike King' in this issue, but the first one is Michael
rather than Mike. At least I assume it is two different people; the
net addresses are different. Yes, it messed me up at first in my
editing of this issue also. Both responding on the same thread, yet!  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 09:08:10 EST
Reply-To: Bill Turini <[e-mail]>
Subject: Area Code Listings


I have been using a listing of area codes that was included in the
CD-ROM QRZ! Ham Radio and appreciate the work that has gone into it.

Is there an updated list that contains the new area codes that went
into effect in December?


Thanks,

Bill Turini  KA4GAV                Phone:      [phone]
Computer Sciences Corporation        FAX:      [phone]
MZ 435-02-33
6000 E. 17 Mile Rd.             Internet:   [e-mail]
Sterling Heights, MI  48313   Compuserve:         73741,455


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Check out the Telecom Archives. We have
a very complete list of area codes there. Either use the Email Information
Service or use anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu and when connected then
'cd telecom-archives/areacodes'.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 05:59:03 -0800
From: [e-mail] (puma)
Subject: Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Robert Wilson) writes:

> The Fujitsu PCX cellphone has a voice chip which when the unit is set
> to pager mode will answer the incoming call, tell the party you are
> unable to come to the phone, and logs up to five numbers.

This feature, since it's internal to the phone, is totally independent
of the carrier.  It also counts as an answered call, and you pay
airtime for the time it takes the caller to listen to the synthesized
message and touchtone his number.

I had the impression from some earlier messages here and elsewhere
that some carrier was offering a feature that would cause the caller's
number to appear on the phone's display for unanswered calls, or
perhaps similar to a Caller-ID display, so you could choose to answer
a call or not, or allow it to forward-no-answer to voicemail.  If
anyone knows anything further on that, I would be interested in
hearing about it.  Do any cellular carriers offer call-return?  (ie.,
*xx calls back the last party who called you, answered or not.)


[e-mail]

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

From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Paging Available on Cellular Phones
Reply-To: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Organization: Roscom
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 1994 07:43:00 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Anthony Hegedus) writes:

> Do you mean that the person you're talking to on your mobile can, by
> pressing buttons on *his* phone, cause *your* phone to dial someone
> else? or have I misunderstood?

Yes.  You can ask the person you are speaking with to enter a phone
number into the cell phone's scratchpad memory by pressing keys on his
tone phone and to then optionally cause the current call to be
disconnected and for the phone to place a call to the just transmitted
number.


Monty Solomon / PO Box 2486 / Framingham, MA  01701-0405  [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 06:19:09 -0800
From: [e-mail] (puma)
Subject: Re: It's Impossible, Isn't It?


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

> I have several lines and while talking on line line, which is hooked
> up to a fax machine and a phone (distinctly seperate stations), the
> phone integrated into the fax machine began to ring. then, right on
> que, the fax machine answered and my conversation was obliterated by
> fax tones The line has no special features such call waiting or three
> way calling.  It does however recieve from a remote call forwarding
> source, but I can't see how RCF would have any involvement.

Does your phone/fax have a feature whereby if you had answered a fax
call on another phone on the same line, you can bring the fax online
with a touchtone digit?  If so, it's possible that your voice conversation
triggered it accidently.

Or, does the phone/fax, under the same circumstances, listen silently
for the CNG (calling) tone of a fax?  Again, it might have thought it
heard one.

If none of the above, it could always have been a voltage spike on the
power or static electricity, or goblins <grin> - did it only happen
once?  If it continues, I would start with a good quality surge/noise/
protecting power strip.  If it still occurs, maybe it's time for the
repair shop.


[e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 09:00:20 CST
From: [e-mail] (Ronald Oakes)
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phone Review
Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Martin McCormic) writes:

> If someone had an audio amplifier near an analog cellular phone or
> UHF transmitter, the speaker would probably pop when the transmitter
> went on and off, but there would be no other sound while it was
> transmitting.

I can confirm that this will, and does, happen.  I have a bag phone,
placed next to the transfer case controller on the floor of my S-10
Blazer, so that the antenna sits right next to my car radio.  I can
always tell when my phone registers and when I am about to receive a
call by the distinctive POP that comes out when listinging to a tape.
If I am listening to the radio, a registration is not as obvious, but
the extra transmissions when acknowledging a page and getting ready to
ring will cause noticeable interference with the radio.


Ronald B. Oakes

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

From: cendata![e-mail] (Richard Masoner)
Subject: Re: Program For Microwave Radio Links
Organization: Central Data Corp., Champaign, IL
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 16:32:57 GMT


Regarding solar interference, this kind of interesting tidbit is
regularly posted to sci.space.news:

>                 DAILY SUMMARY OF SOLAR GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY

>                                22 FEBRUARY, 1994

Along with lots of incomprehensible (to me) data on "Electron
Fluence," "polar cap absorption," etc.  An English summary then talks
about possible satellite blackouts and such.  Hope this helps.


Richard F. Masoner    Central Data Corporation

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

From: [e-mail] (Willie Smith)
Subject: Re: How to Expand the Range of Cordless?
Organization: PictureTel Corporation
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 17:40:10 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

> Can anyone tell me how far the power can be boosted for a cordless
> phone system, if it is modified at its best?

Given infinite resources, you could get any amount of power you want,
just keep adding amplifiers ... practical limits are probably around
a megawatt.

> (Assuming there is no FCC or any government regulation as far as the
> power of the signal, how far can the signal be sent without much loss
> of power.)

Probably not much more than a couple of AU with current technology.
Say 15 to 20 light-minutes, though two-way conversations become
difficult with more than a couple of hundred milliseconds delay.

> And what could be the best way for such modification?

Add a duplexer to split the transmit and receive paths (or get into
the RF sections ahead of the combiner).  Add power amplifiers, decent
feedline, and a well-placed high-gain antenna to the transmit side.
Add a high-gain antenna, good low-noise preamps, and good feedline to
the receive path.  If you match the transmit and recieve gains the
handset and base ought to be able to hear each other equally well.


Willie Smith    [e-mail]        [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But that has been the catch all along,
hasn't it? *How* do you get the handset power increased to the point
that any modifications you made to the base are reciprocal?  PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 12:30 EST
From: [e-mail] (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: Shortage of Prefixes in 800?
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.


> I don't believe any "local switches" are not capable of handling
> 1xx and 0xx office codes in a ten-digit number.

My cousins who run a small telco in Vermont tell me that when AT&T
brought in direct trunks a few years ago, they specifically asked them
to program their local switch to reject dialed numbers of the form
N0X-1XX-XXXX and N0X-0XX-XXXX.  They weren't eager, since it made the
tables about ten times as big, but that's what your employer wanted.

I realize that there are non-dialable 1XX and 0XX numbers, but that's
a separate issue.

> I was not aware any "local switches" blocked such inter-NPA calls.
> Obviously, until the NPA 213 switches were populated with information
> for routing seven-digit N0X/N1X numbers, they would fail to route
> them.  You sure it wasn't PBXs blocking calls?

Lots of local switches blocked calls to 213-N0X until the programming
was fixed.  Evidently the rule is to block invalid numbers as early as
possible.


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

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

Reply-To: Barry x24904/ER/167B-TED <[e-mail]>
From: [e-mail] (Barry x24904/ER/167B-TED)
Subject: Re: Program For Microwave Radio Links (sun outages)
Organization: Eastman Chemical Company
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 23:35:47 GMT


I just ran across this program on oak.oakland.edu and remembered the
request here.  Unfortunately I could not find the original article to
email the information to poster so I thought I would post it in case
others might be interested too.


73,

Barry L. Ornitz  WA4VZQ  [e-mail]

oak.oakland.edu  (141.210.10.117)

                    ====================

Directory pub/msdos/satelite/
 Filename   Type Length   Date   Description

sunou332.zip  B   48551  930322  Calculate sun outages for satellite receivers

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

Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 18:52:54 EST
From: [e-mail] (John J Butz)
Subject: Re: "Convenience Calls" on Phone Bill


> charged $10.03 for a 59-minute call from Ithaca, NY to New York, NY,

My brother, a student at Cornell called me at work in NJ from an
on-campus phone recently.  My work phone is ISDN and receives calling
number information.  Normally, a long distance call received on my
ISDN set is announced with an "INCOMING CALL" message, but my
brother's call said "201-something or another."

"That's odd," I thought, so I asked Jimbo what the hell he was doing
in such a great place like New Jersey?  "I'm not!" he quickly replied
and when I called the number on the display back in disbelief, I got
the Cornell operator.

Ah!!!  The call was on an FX line and the Cornell operator informed me
that the University has multiple FX lines throughout the nation.
Might this have anything to do with the call price?  Actually, aren't
FX lines billed to the FX subscriber by the local service provider, in
this case NYNEX?


J Butz   [e-mail]   AT&T - CCS

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

Date: 24 Feb 94 19:01:09 EST
From: Brian Leyton <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Need Information About Telemate


In a reply to The Network Group ([e-mail]), Sean Peacock
([e-mail]) posted an information file on Telemate.  I too
was interested in Telemate, so I went looking around on CI$.  It
appears that there are (at least) two packages going by the name
Telemate.  The one referred to by Sean is a terminal emulation
package, while I believe that the one of interest here is a different
one.  This Telemate is a call accounting package with various fraud
fighting add-ons:

Complementary Solutions Inc. (CSI), headquartered in Atlanta,
develops, markets and supports TELEMATE. Currently, there are more
than 3,000 TELEMATE users worldwide.  For more information, contact
CSI at [phone].

CSI also has a section in the PCVEND forum on CI$.


Brian Leyton   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ben Williams)
Subject: Re: Caller-ID Question
Date: 25 Feb 1994 09:02:50 -0500
Organization: University of Delaware


In article <[e-mail]>, Jack Coats <jocoats@amoco.
com> wrote:

> There was an article in one of the popular electronics type magazines
> (check your local library) in the last couple of months on how to
> build your own caller-id display machine.  It would be easy to modify
> it (it uses a PIC micro processor) to have a serial output instead or
> also, that could feed your PC or whatever.  The data, if I remember
> right, is 1200 baud.  You can get a couple of codes other than just
> the number too.  One is if you are out of the area where the codes are
> available (seems silly to me, if the phone company can figure out how
> to charge collect calls), and another code if the caller has the
> Caller-ID blocked.

This was in the February issue of {Electronics Now} (was Radio
Electronics up to a while ago).  I have been waiting for something
like this for a long time, as I am interested in using Called-ID.
However, one of the reasons I was waiting for a do-it-yourself thing
like they have in Electronics Now was to save money on the device.
But the kit parts that you need to order come to over $50 (I think I
could buy a ready-made device for that much).

Would anyone be willing to do a bulk order of these special components
that you need for constructing a Caller_ID box: PIC16C55 (trouble is,
this thing needs to be programmed -- well, you can buy a kit to build
a programmer for $69.95, sigh...), 16x1 LCD module, and any other of
these components that are not readily available (such as this MC145447
Motorola calling line identification receiver).

You would also need to etch a double-sided PC board with the patterns
they include (something else needing separate equipment which I don't
happen to have).  I also must admit I am not entirely happy with this
kit: First of all, it allows you to store only the last five calls
received.  But even worse, since it uses this sixteen character LCD
display module, it throws away the date of the call and only shows the
time.  Maybe someone knows of a kit that can store the full data for
each call and doesn't use these expensive specialized components?


Ben Williams   [e-mail]

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

From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Answering Machine Accepting Collect Calls
Reply-To: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Organization: Roscom
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 1994 07:35:29 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (deborah
castillo) writes:

> The real answer to your question is you should record your greeting to
> include the phrase, "operator, we will accept collect calls at this
> number". Obviously, you don't want to have that phrase on your machine

The phrase should include the word "yes" since some of the automated
collect call handlers ask the answering party to say "yes" to accept
the call.

Therefore, something like "operator, yes we will accept collect calls at this
number" would be better.

The automated recordings at the AAA (American Auto Assn) state that
they will accept collect calls.


Monty Solomon / PO Box 2486 / Framingham, MA  01701-0405
[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #105
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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #106

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 28 Feb 94 00:08:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 106

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Bell Canada Recovers From Cable Disruptions (Bell News via Dave Leibold)
    Canadian Equal Access Begins in July (Bell News via Dave Leibold)
    Neal-Wilkinson Table (Marty Lawlor)
    DSP in Communications Book Wanted (Ken K.P. Lo)
    National Area Code Listing - Where? (Matthew R. Zeier)
    Software For Voicemail Testing? (Linda Slovick)
    Shots of 1965 Cord Board and Switch Room (Jonathan Welch)
    Palo Alto Considers the Communications Biz (Michael J. Graven)
    Telecom News From British Columbia, Canada (Vancouver Sun via R. Sambolec)
    810 Area Code Trouble? (Carl Moore)
    Conference Announcement (Vijay Bhargava)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
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TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 27 Feb 94 13:54:55 -0500
Subject: Bell Canada Recovers From Cable Disruptions
Organization: FidoNet


[from Bell News, Bell Ontario 21 Feb 94]

Freak cable cuts fail to foil our first class service.

On a record-breaking cold day in late January when cars wouldn't
start, water pipes burst, and schools shut down for the day, Bell's
fiber network -- transporting the signals of thousands of long distance
calls -- suffered two major blows.

A contractor, taking soil samples with a four-inch diameter drill at a
site 22 kilometres west of Montreal's Mirabel Airport, cut the main
intertoll fiber cable between Montreal and Toronto.

Damaged were 83 T3 facilities. T3 is a volume of service capability.
For example, one T3, which is a 45 megabits-per-second data stream,
carries the equivalent of 672 simultaneous conversations or one
network quality television signal.

The cut, therefore, affected 55,776 voice circuits.

But, thanks to the self-healing capabilities of Bell's networks, not a
single conversation was disrupted.

Within 50 milliseconds -- less than the blink of an eye -- all the
circuits were switched to an alternate, route-diverse fiber.

Repair crews were quickly dispatched to locate and repair the cable
cut.

Less than three hours later came the other blow.

Municipal contractors repairing a frozen water main at 800 Wilson
Avenue in Toronto cut the toll fiber cable connecting the radio
relay/fiber repeater site in Uxbridge to the Ronald Avenue central
office. Carried on this cable are 107 T3 facilities amounting to
71,904 voice circuits.

"Forty six of these T3s were already on alternate cables due to the
earlier problem," explained Gord Rushforth, general manager, Ontario
Network Control.

Again, within 50 milliseconds, 59 of the remaining 61 T3 facilities
were switched to alternate route diverse fibers.

"The remaining two T3s were put on broadband restoration fibers by
activating automated restoration plans," said Gord. "At the same time,
our High Performance Routing (HPR) traffic network rerouted calls that
would normally travel on these two facilities to their destinations."

Gord is convinced that without the capabilities of our technology and
our survivable network planning, "these two incidents, following one
on the heels of the other, could have led to the single worst failure
in the history of Bell."

"A prolonged service failure on 144 T3s or 96,786 voice circuits would
have been catastrophic," he said.

Agreeing with Gord is Ron MacIvor, vice-president, Network Operations.

"It's clear that our investment in self-healing networks is now paying
off," he said.

Bell Ontario president Murray Makin called the split-second recovery
"an extraordinary accomplishment."

"While the technology provides for this type of service capability, I
must really compliment the Network Services teams on the planning,
designing, maintenance and administrative work that went into bringing
this capability to life and ensuring it worked when the need arose."

Referring to the recent Anik 2 failure, Murray said that "uninterrupted
service is what gives Bell the edge over most of our competitors.

"But while any company can buy similar technology, in the end it's the
employees who make it work," he said. "And obviously, ours do just
that."

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 27 Feb 94 13:54:12 -0500
Subject: Canadian Equal Access Begins in July
Organization: FidoNet


[from Bell News, Bell Ontario 21 Feb 94]

Equal Access -- it will test our strength, but it offers us an opportunity to
show who's best.

Along with parades, "equal access" will march our way on July 1,
Canada's 127th birthday.

Equal access will shorten the dialing procedure for customers who
subscribe to a long distance competitor.

They will no longer have to dial the 13 or 17 extra digits now
required to reach that competitor's network. Like Bell customers, they
will only have to dial 1 + area code + phone number to place a long
distance call.

The July 1 implementation of equal access was ordered by the CRTC in
its June 1992 landmark decision, opening the doors to full long
distance competition.

Equal access will allow other carriers and resellers to access the
full facilities of Bell's Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN),
enabling the delivery of advanced, future services and improved call
set-up time.

Bell has been working closely with competitors and the commission to
develop and implement the technical, operational and systems aspects
of network interconnection services.

"Equal access will certainly benefit our competitors in the marketplace,"
says Bob Campbell, vice-president Network Planning. "But is also removes
the major crutch they have used to claim that we have an unfair advantage
over them."

"Seize the opportunities"

Bob believes that Bell should not fear the dawn of equal access. In
fact, as long as we're prepared, equal access presents business oppor-
tunities that the company can seize -- with the help of all employees.

"For instance, it provides us with the ideal opportunity to remind
customers why they have stayed with Bell in the first place -- because
we provide total end-to-end telecommunications service, coupled with
the best quality, value, innovation, and dependability. These are our
strengths."

As the implementation date for equal access approaches, customers will
be bombarded from all sides with competing messages and aggressive
sales pitches. Bell employees must be prepared to assist our customers
in sorting out the confusing array of claims in the marketplace as
competitors vie for the customer's attention.

Public contact employees in particular will be in a unique position to
guide customers through this confusing environment, while ensuring
that they are made fully aware of Bell products and services.

Even though Bell will stand to lose market share under equal access,
Bob points to another important backstop: Bell's Carrier Services team.

"By providing wholesale service excellence to our competitors, Carrier
Services remains their supplier of choice and wins back important
revenues for the company that would otherwise be lost."

{Bell News} will be featuring articles leading up to July 1 to keep
employees informed of the steps we're taking to provide equal access,
and how we'll position it with our customers.

Bell Canada Corporate Public Affairs and Bell Ontario Public Affairs
are preparing materials to keep employees up to date with competitive
information, and help prepare employees for effective response.

And Bell SYGMA is developing a training program for employees whose
jobs will be the most directly affected by equal access, including
business office, Phonecentre, Operator Services, and Installation and
Repair staff.

The challenge for employees leading up to, and following, July 1 will
be to stay focused on the customer responsiveness required to retain
customers and maintain market share, as well as looking for
opportunities to "win-back" customers who try out the competition.

"Equal access will change the way many of us do business," says Bob,
"but one constant will remain: the need for all of us to convince
customers through words and actions that Bell remains their
best-value, total service telecommunications provider."

                               ------

(djcl extra note: Bell Canada also reported that some competing
carriers are already busy pre-subscribing customers so that their
default carrier will be switched when equal access time comes.)

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

Date: Sun, 27 Feb 94 08:34:10 EST
From: [e-mail] (Marty Lawlor)
Subject: Neal-Wilkinson Table


One of our engineers is trying to locate a Neal-Wilkinson Trunk
Capacity Table. I believe he saw it cited in an AT&T publication. Any
help in locating either hardcopy or electronic version is appreciated.


Marty Lawlor    Northern Telecom   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ken K P Lo)
Subject: DSP in Communications Book Wanted
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 1994 15:02:33 GMT


Hi everyone,

    The title says it all.  Can anyone recommend a good book on
DSP in communications?


Thanks,

Ken K P Lo    S3 Rm 105 Box 460    A Student of University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario   (519) 725 - 6332  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Matthew R. Zeier)
Subject: National Area Code Listing - Where?
Date: 26 Feb 1994 02:52:12 GMT
Organization: InterAccess


I'm searching for an up-to-date listing of all US Area Codes.  Can
someone point me in the right direction?


Matthew R. Zeier   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Try the Telecom Archives. Use anonymous
ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, use name@site as password, then
'cd telecom-archives/areacodes'.    PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Feb 94 17:41:12 PST
From: Linda Slovick <[e-mail]>
Subject: Software For Voicemail Testing?


I need to be able to send and receive test calls to/from our voicemail
systems automatically.  While I've pretty much narrowed the hardware
down to either a Dialogic or Voice Power (AT&T) equipped 486 system,
my boss warns me that I won't have time to cut the code myself, so I'm
looking for software that will do what I need at well above the
API-level. What he's got in mind is some sort of application software
already intended for telephony test situations, an application
generator (optimized for test?), or a high-end 4GL.

Sending calls is pretty straightforward.  I figure that pretty much
any text-to-speech software for either board will allow me to make up
messages such as, "This is test message number one sent via IEC 288
from Milpitas to Monterey at 9:37 on Tuesday."

Receiving calls isn't too bad on the speech recognition side of
things, as most of what the card has to be able to listen to is either
recorded operators, voicemail prompts, its own messages being
delivered back to it, and call processing.  I figure that call
processing might be the part that eventually gets to be the hairiest
problem once we try negotiating various switches, LECs and IECs, so
something known to be robust in this area would probably be more
useful to us than killer speech recognition.

At this point, no decisions have been made as to OS.  DOS or some
flavor of UNIX seem most likely here, but compelling applications
software would drive both our OS and hardware decisions.

Thanks in advance for any advice!


Linda Slovick    Slovick Engineering   [e-mail]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Feb 1994 20:53:49 -0500
From: Jonathan_Welch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Shots of 1965 Cord Board and Switch Room


I just finished watching "The Slender Thread" on American Movie
Classics.  About 15 minutes into the film there's a terrific sequence
of shots of a row of operators running a cord board one of which is
called upon to initiate an emergency trace.  Then the scene switches
to a technician going through rack after rack of what I'd guess was a
stepper switch.

I bet AMC will show this a few more times in the next few weeks -- you
might want to catch it to see what this kind of equipment looked like at
that point in time.


Jonathan Welch  VAX Systems Manager  UMass/Amherst  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for the tipoff. Yes, some of that
equipment would be fascinating to observe by our younger readers; many
of whom have never even seen a 'cordboard'.   PAT]

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

From: Michael J. Graven <[e-mail]>
Subject: Palo Alto Considers the Communications Biz
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 1994 11:16:49 PST
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Michael J Graven)


The {San Jose Mercury News} reported on February 25 that the city of
Palo Alto is considering building its own communications utility to
rival the incipient networks being advertised by Pacific Bell and
others.  The proposed system would be a mix of fiber and coaxial
cable.

Earlier this month, the city (with assistance from Digital Equipment
Corp.) launched a municipal information system linked to the World
Wide Web.  Officials claim they are the nation's first city on the
Internet.

"This will be one of the most important decisions we'll make," said
Mayor Liz Kniss.  The city council is expected to decide next month
whether further consideration is warranted.

Currently, Palo Alto is one of a very few municipalities in California
with a city-run utility.  Water, gas, and electric service are provided
by the city; electric rates are said to be comparable if not a bit lower
than surrounding municipalities, and the city revenue derived from
them is considerable.  More interesting is that the utility conduit
right-of-way is also owned by the city, so a municipal service would
be able to avoid the expense of leasing conduit space.

If Palo Alto decides to undertake construction of this information
Main Street (sorry), it will join Seattle, New York, and Austin,
Texas: other municipalities developing their own fiber systems.

Several options exist: the city could install a fiber net, or it could
use some preinstalled coaxial plant belonging to Cable Co-Op, the
cable TV cooperative; it could run the information utility by itself,
or in partnership with an outside business; it could outsource
information provision and take the role of a common carrier; it could
farm the whole thing out to a contractor; or it could just sit back
and decide to pass by the opportunity.

Dianah Neff, Palo Alto's director of information resources, said "the
decision whether to get into the (communications utility) business has
to come within a year -- max."

Already, city right-of-way is being leased to private business. Digital
has fiber among its local offices through Palo Alto conduit. If private
industry were to beat the city to the punch, there would be little
incentive for municipal intervention.


Michael   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is not to say Palo Alto is like
Chicago -- far from it; but I hope they intend to *compete* with the
existing service from PacBell rather than use municipal condemnation
authority to *seize and take over* existing private facilities. We
here had a very bad scare two years ago when the City of Chicago got
the not-so-bright idea to 'municipalize' (the official, and less
offensive way of saying 'steal') Commonwealth Edison facilities here.
The city fathers seemed to think they could do so much better a job at
electrical power generation and distribution -- and at a cheaper rate
 -- than Edison, whose franchise had to be renewed last year.  Imagine:
the same fools and idiots who run our public housing, our public
transportation and our schools -- in shambles, all three -- were to be
in charge of the nuclear power plants as well.

The city council talked seriously about it for several months, and it
literally scared the bejeezus out of the few remaining large corporate
and industrial firms still located in our town (so many have split the
scene over the years I have lost count). The city council tried to
drum up support from the citizenry (not that it matters, they tend to
pretty much ride roughshod and do as they please, but it helps to make
it look like there is a consensus of approval), and they did get some
support from the folks who think having the government in charge of
literally everything is a great idea, but most people -- and none of
the large businesses -- here wanted anything to do with it. We know
how badly things get messed up when the government gets into an area
traditionally served by private concerns such as real estate and
property management, transportation, etc. The idea of the power going
out on a cold night in January because the dimwit cousin of someone in
City Hall was in charge of the power plant as a favor to his
father-in-law the alderman is most unappealing. A couple of the
biggies here flatly told Mayor Daley they would close their plants and
move elsewhere; they simply would not risk remaining, and the mayor
backed down eventually. Now I repeat, Palo Alto is not Chicago, but I
hope the citizens there (if they are given any say-so in the matter --
here we are not; the politicians and lawyer/judges just do as they
please) will think long and hard about allowing the government and a
bunch of cronies to run something as vital as a telecommunications
network. Telecom, like nuclear power generation/distribution, is not
something the government should be managing. Errors in judgment are
just too common, and mistakes can have disasterous consequences.  PAT]

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

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telecom News From British Columbia, Canada
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 1994 14:26:45 PST


According to the {Vancouver Sun} (02/25/93, D9) the B.C. Securities
Commission has approved a $15 million financing, allowing for the
conversion of warrants into shares.  "The prospectus approval by the
securities commission will allow holders of 1,071,400 special warrants
to convert their instruments into 1.141 common shares per warrant.
And the securities commission's receipt of the prospectus allows
Cam-Net access to the $14,099,624 held in escrow since the warrant
sale last October."

What makes this news, you ask?  Well, in the fine tradition of the
V.S.E., there is more to this story than may first appear.  Cam-Net's
C.E.O., Robert Moore, is alleged to have:

1) sold 416,400 Hovik shares on the VSE without a prospectus
on May 26, 1988;

2) made a subsequent application for an exemption from the requirement
to file a prospectus which contained material misrepresentations and
failed to disclose material facts of the Hovik sale;

3) failed to comply with an order by the Superintendent of Brokers to
report the particulars of the sale;

4) failed to file insider trading reports for the sale of $2.7 million
worth of Cam-Net shares between August 1989 and September 1992;

5) delayed filing insider trading reports for the sale of $3.4 million
worth of Hovik shares between May 1988 and September 1990 until March
1993;

Cam-Net is a Vancouver-based long-distance reseller which has done
nothing but lose money hand over fist since entering the competitive
market.  According to the paper, on February 18, 1994, Cam-Net
reported a net loss of $7.1 million for the nine months ending
November 30, 1993, and lost $1.76 million for the same period in 1992.

What is the Hovik connection you ask?  Well, in addition to being
C.E.O. and Chairman of the Board of Cam-Net, Robert Moore held a
controlling interest in Hovik Medical Corp, which is now known as
Globetel Communications Ltd.

Cam-Net Communications Inc. is owned by Cam-Net Communications Network
Inc., which is publicly traded on NASDAQ and VSE, has numerous
affiliated companies.  Its Canadian subsidiaries are: Alldial
Communications Inc. (based in Sudbury, Ontario), Cam-Net
Communications Inc., Cam-Net Telecommunications Inc., Cam-Net Data
Systems Ltd., Cam-Star Management Services Ltd., Canadian-American
Communications Inc., Canadian Northstar Satellite Systems Ltd.,
Canadian Northstar Transmission Systems Ltd., Network Teleconnect Ltd.
(based in Burlington, Ontario), Northstar Equipment (Canada) Ltd.,
Northstar Engineering (Canada) Ltd., Telesolutions Corporation
(including its wholly-owned subsidiary, Consumers Telephone Corp.,
based in Toronto, Ontario) and VisionTel Communications Inc.
VisionTel was founded in 1991 by managers who left Rogers Network
Services when RNS decided not to enter the switched voice long
distance market.  It was jointly owned by its four Canadian founders,
and Montana Power, the US utility which also operates a regional long
distance carrier.  Apparently Montana Power is no longer involved, and
the Canadian principals accepted shares in Cam-Net as part of the
merger.

Cam-Net also has a few US subsidiaries, including: Business
Tele-Communications Corporation (BTC), Cam-Net Inc., Cam-Net Holdings
Inc., Cam-Net Systems Inc., Cam-Star Management Services Inc.,
Northcom Inc., Northstar Engineering Inc., Northstar Equipment Sales
Inc., Northstar Satellite Systems Inc. (Oregon), and Northstar
Transmission Systems Inc.

Other related companies, besides Hovik/Globetel include:

308723 B.C. Ltd - the U.S. subsidiary, Northcom Inc. was purchased
from 308723 B.C. Ltd.  The numbered company's sole shareholder is
Cam-Net Chairman and C.E.O., Robert E. Moore.

Goeken Communications, Inc. -- the U.S. subsidiary, Business
Tele-Communications Corporation (BTC) was purchased from GCI
Liquidation Trust, successor to Goeken Communications, Inc.  Goeken
Communications, Inc. is related through John D. Goeken, a director
common to both companies.

Other news in the B.C. telecom industry:

Westel Telecommunications Ltd.'s directors and senior managment people
unveiled their new long distance service for B.C. at an
invitation-only launch yesterday (February 24 at 5:30 p.m.) at the
B.C. Enterprise Hall at the Plaza of Nations (part of the former Expo
'86 site) in Vancouver.  Westel was formed in April 1993, replacing
its predecessor, B.C. Rail Telecommunications.  B.C. Rail
Telecommunications headed the BCRL/Lightel/Call-Net (*not Cam-Net)
consortium which also petitioned for access to the domestic long
distance market in the June 1992 IX-2 hearings before the C.R.T.C.,
Canada's federal regulator.  Interestingly, my sources tell me that
B.C Rail Telecommunications/Westel is suing Lightel for breach of
contract with respect to their "phantom" partnership agreement.

News from central Canada:

The Rogers Communications Inc. take-over attempt of Maclean Hunter
continues along its bumpy ride.  Yesterday (February 24) the Maclean
Hunter board of directors told its shareholders Rogers' $17-a-share
offer was not enough.  In the mean time, shareholders have driven both
stocks down in heavy trading. Interestingly, Maclean Hunter suffered a
setback in its efforts to thwart Rogers' take-over attempt.  The
Federal budget released on Tuesday (February 22) closed a tax loophole
known by the exotic moniker, "The Butterfly Manoeuvre."  New
regulations no longer allow companies to sell their U.S. assets
without incurring capital gains taxes.

Otherwise it has been a "slow" week north of the 49th parallel ...


Regards,

Richard I. Sambolec   Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Feb 94 17:52:53 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: 810 Area Code Trouble?


Item sent to me:

Phones have been in the news this week.  Some businesses in Michigan
are having trouble with the area code change over.  Some equipment
does not recognize 810 as a viable area code.  I have personally run
into this.  I am sure it will all be corrected by the August official
implementation date.

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

From: [e-mail] (Vijay  Bhargava)
Subject: Conference Announcement
Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 01:05:16 GMT


Sponsored by IEEE, India Council, IEEE Bangalore Section and the IETE (India)


            FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

The International Conference is conceived as a forum for discussion in
this part of the world of the most recent advances in Wireless
technology, networks, and services. Therefore the organizing technical
committee will be pleased to receive most up-to-date information on
the following subjects (although not limited to these). The Conference
will have several technical sessions spread over two days (Aug.
18-19), preceded by one day (Aug.17) of tutorials covering two of the
most topical current subjects. The organizing committee expects a
lively and stimulating discussion on all wireless related subjects in
the Garden city of India, Bangalore, specially of interest to
developing countries.  An extended abstract must be received by the
Technical Program chair no later than April 15, 1994. Authors will be
notified about acceptance by May 15, 1994 and a camera ready copy will
be due by June 22, 1994.


    Deadlines:
        Abstract:         April 15, 1994
        Camera-ready copy :    June 22, 1994

            Plenary Speakers from Leading Organizations:

    - AT&T Bell Labs    - Pactel Corp        - NTT
    - Northern Telecom    - INMARSAT        - ALCATEL
    - QUALCOMM        - Motorola        - CITR


                  Theme-Speaker:
            N. Vittal, Govt. of India

                Tutorials:
            - FLMPTS - How soon is soon enough
            - CDMA - A broadband Wireless Access

Sessions:

- Wireless Technology:
    Speech Coding for wireless
    Digital Modulation and channel coding TDMA or CDMA

- Wireless Systems and Networks:
    Trunked Radio Systems (or Private Mobile Radio)
    Wireless solutions for Developing countries
    Mobile Data
    Satellite Communication Networks and VSAT's
    Wireless PABX's
    Wireless LAN's

- Telecommunications Services
    Radio Paging and Voice-Mail
    Digital Cellular and PCS
    CT-2
    Integration of wireless subscribers into existing PSTN
    Frequency Spectrum how much and how many

For general inquiry regarding the conference including, exhibiting at
the conference, advertising in final program or sponsoring a meal
event please contact:


Mr. Y.S.Rao, Conference Co-Chair   Dr. A.K.Seth, Conference Co-Chair
BPL Systems and Projects Limited   C-DOT, Centre for Development of Telematics
1/1 Palace Road               9th Floor, Akbar Bhavan
Bangalore 560 001, India       New Delhi 100 021, India
Phone: [phone]               Phone: [phone]
FAX  : [phone]           FAX    : [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

        Manuscript may be submitted to:
        Dr. Vijay K. Bhargava, Technical Program Chair
        Dept of Elec. and Comp. Eng.
        University of Victoria, PO Box 3055
        Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3P6
        Phone: [phone]
        FAX  : [phone]
        Email: [e-mail]


            ADVANCE REGISTRATION


Last Name: ...........................  First Name: .........................

Company Name and Address: ...................................................

              ...................................................

              ...................................................

              ...................................................

              Telephone:.................  FAX: .................

Name of Spouse/Guest: .......................................................


IEEE of IETE Member Registration (Membership# ..........) Rs 4,000/U.S.$200.00

Non Member Registration             Rs 5,000/U.S.$250.00
(Includes all sessions, conference records, refreshments and lunches)

Tutorials                     Rs 2,000/U.S.$100.00
(In addition to the registration fee above. Includes lunch and notes)
Please check:

    |_| Tutorial #1 - Future Public Land Mobile Telecom Service (FPLMTS)

    |_| Tutorial #2 - CDMA - A Broadband Wireless Access


Total remittance payable to: ICPWC '94


            Hotel Information:

Bangalore had a number of starred hotels (tariffs ranging from Rs
2,400 to Rs 4,000 in addition to Windsor Manor where the conference is
organized viz.  The Taj, Oberoi and others. A few rooms will be booked
in advance at these hotels on first come basis to get a preferential
rate for the conference participants.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #106
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #107

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 28 Feb 94 19:15:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 107

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Area Code Closeness (Roger Fajman)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (Mike King)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (David A. Kaye)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (Carl Moore)
    Re: Get Paid For Receiving Commercial Email ([e-mail])
    Re: Get Paid For Receiving Commercial Email (Steven King)
    Re: It's Impossible, Isn't It? (Tad Cook)
    Re: It's Impossible, Isn't It? (Brett Frankenberger)
    Re: Digital Cellular Phones (Henrik Rasmussen)
    Re: Digital Cellular Phones (Mike Borsetti)
    Re: Lowest Number in the NANP? (Michael Israeli)
    Re: Lowest Number in the NANP? (Tad Cook)
    Re: Lowest Number in the NANP? (Mike Wilcox)
    Re: Lowest Number in the NANP? ([e-mail])
    Re: Lowest Number in the NANP? (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Need Information on ISDN Phones (Eric Bobinsky)
    Re: Air Cell (John D. Gretzinger)
    Re: These Cell Phones Don't Work - Why? (Henrik Rasmussen)
    Re: These Cell Phones Don't Work - Why? (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Another Misprogrammed COCOT (Jay Hennigan)
    Information Request For PBX-Computer Interworking (Masahiko Ohashi)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Roger Fajman <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994  18:34:31 EST
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness


> Trivia comment/question: What places have *three* different area codes
> as part of their local calling area?

Lots of places in the Washington, DC area.  Everyone in the large DC
Metro Calling Area can dial the 202, 301, and 703 area codes as local
calls.  There are a number of places that can dial the 202, 301, and
410 area codes as local calls.  Ashton, MD, where I live is one such
place.

> What community in the USA gets local service into four area
> codes? There is one such place. By 'local', I mean no toll charges even
> though 1 + AC + 7D dialing is required.

Layhill exchanges in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC can make
local calls to the, 202, 301, 410, and 703 area codes.  So can Bowie,
Berwyn, Hyattsville, and Silver Spring, MD exchanges.

Local calls to another area code here can be dialed as AC + 7D or 1 +
AC + 7D.

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike King)
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 16:17:44  (PST)


In TELECOM Digest V14 #105, Pat noted:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: By coincidence, it appears we have two
> persons named 'Mike King' in this issue, but the first one is Michael
> rather than Mike. At least I assume it is two different people; the
> net addresses are different. Yes, it messed me up at first in my
> editing of this issue also. Both responding on the same thread, yet!  PAT]

Yeah, it sort of threw me for a minute, too.  I've spent a good
portion of my life trying to train people not to automatically assume
my first name is "Michael," and I never thought Pat would do so.  So
when I started reading #105, and the last line on the screen was the
line in the contents showing the subject to which I had replied, with
that, um, other name, I began to wonder.

Not to worry, I'd *never* alias myself with the name for which Mike is
often a diminutive.  ;-)


Mike King    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, as the circulation list for this Digest
continues to grow, I have a lot of identical names on it, but never before
do I recall two persons with the same name in the same issue. Did you
know that once every three or four years there is a convention in the USA
of persons named "John Smith". Everyone by that name is invited to attend
the convention held at some hotel. Can you imagine how crazed the hotel
switchboard operator must be by the time the convention is over? "Please
connect me with John Smith ..." Generally several hundred people by that
name attend the convention. Now you know why I am so crazy.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (David A. Kaye)
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness
Date: 28 Feb 1994 01:20:09 -0800
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access  [phone]  [login: guest]


TELECOM Digest Editor questioned:

> Trivia comment/question: What places have *three* different area codes
> as part of their local calling area?

Mountain View, Calif, the home of Ames Research, where NASA puts
satellites together and all that.  It's in area 415 (San Francisco),
touches 408 to the immediate south (San Jose region), and 510 (the
East Bay Oakland area) to the east.  A call from Mountain View to
Sunnyvale in 408 is local, as is a call to Fremont in 510.

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 15:10:31 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness


NO, when 219 hits Ohio, it hits the 419 area, NOT 216.

Thanks to the 301/410 split, some of the Maryland suburbs (such as
Silver Spring) in the DC area now have local service to four area
codes.  That is, all of 202 and parts of 301,410,703.  Local calls to
a different area code are dialed as NPA + 7D with the leading 1
optional.

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

From: [e-mail] (jani)
Subject: Re: Get Paid For Receiving Commercial Email
Organization: Illinois Institute of Technology / Academic Computing Center
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 22:02:27 GMT


It's probably an Internet account not a Internet connection
which is ~$20 / month or so.

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven King, Software Archaeologist)
Subject: Re: Get Paid For Receiving Commercial Email
Date: 28 Feb 1994 23:07:32 GMT
Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group
Reply-To: [e-mail]


[e-mail] (Scott(Mac Info HQ)) publicly declared:

> Well, at $0.065/message and $200-$500/yr that menas 8-21 messages of
> unknown length you have to read each day. If each message takes only
> one minute to read (unlikely) that will be $3.90/hr. Personally, my free
> time is worth more than that.

And who says you have to read them?  My terminal program has a
wonderful scripting capability, and can capture them to disk in case I
need them later ... Heck, I can even automate it to call and "read" my
mail when I'm nowhere near the computer.

Still, $200 to $500 annually isn't much of a profit.  $41.67/month?  I
suppose it would pay a fraction of my phone bill.

The offer reeks of scam.  To anyone who looks into it, please tell us
what you find out.


Steven King -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group

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

Subject: Re: It's Impossible, Isn't It?
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 11:35:31 PST
From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)


[e-mail] (Bob Schwartz) writes:

> This happened to me and I've never heard of such a thing.

> I have several lines and while talking on line line, which is hooked
> up to a fax machine and a phone (distinctly seperate stations), the
> phone integrated into the fax machine began to ring. then, right on
> que, the fax machine answered and my conversation was obliterated by
> fax tones The line has no special features such call waiting or three
> way calling.  It does however recieve from a remote call forwarding
> source, but I can't see how RCF would have any involvement.

> Has anyone seen or heard of such an occurance and how could it be?

I have no idea what a "line line" is, but I assume that you are
talking on the same line that the fax machine is hooked to, and that
either you are behind one of those line sharing devices, or the fax
machine has that feature.

What is happening is that either your line sharing device or the fax
machine is using a cheap filter for detecting CNG tone from the
calling fax machine.  The feature is so poorly implemented that it
"falses" on a voice during the phone conversation, signals the fax
machine, which then starts trying to handshake.

Get a dedicated fax line.


[e-mail] (if it bounces, use [e-mail])| [put "attn Box #215"
Tad Cook    | Packet Amateur Radio:  | Home Phone:  | on fax or cover pg!]
Seattle, WA | KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA | 206-527-4089 |  FAX: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Brett Frankenberger)
Subject: Re: It's Impossible, Isn't It?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 23:23:16 GMT


[e-mail] (Bob Schwartz) writes:

> This happened to me and I've never heard of such a thing.

> I have several lines and while talking on line line, which is hooked
> up to a fax machine and a phone (distinctly seperate stations), the
> phone integrated into the fax machine began to ring. then, right on
> que, the fax machine answered and my conversation was obliterated by
> fax tones The line has no special features such call waiting or three
> way calling.  It does however recieve from a remote call forwarding
> source, but I can't see how RCF would have any involvement.

Once possibility is that the ring detefctor on the fax machine might
be of very low quality.  Detecting a ring should be trivially easy
(look for a high voltage AC signal), but some boxes will trip on any
relatively high voltage transient, and/or on any 20 Hz signal.

If that is the case, a voltage spike or some sound on your conversation
could cause the fax machine to think it has received a ring, and answer
the call ...


Brett  ([e-mail])

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

From: [e-mail] (Henrik Rasmussen)
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phones
Date: 28 Feb 1994 02:54:59 GMT
Organization: The University of NC, Chapel Hill, the Experimental BBS


> Bill Bauserman   [e-mail]

Note the above domain: are GTE and Sprint still related in some way?

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 16:43:43 PDT
From: Mike Borsetti, Cellular One/San Francisco <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phones


[e-mail] writes:

> Most cellular companies I have dealt with have set up (or are setting
> up) their network to allow the digital user to drop to analog, but not
> vice versa.  That is, if you have a dualmode phone and the call starts
> as analog or switches to analog because no digital channels are
> available, then that call will remain analog until it ends, it will
> not switch back to digital.

By personal experience, I can say that this is not the case on
Cellular One's San Francisco's digital (TDMA) cellular system.  If for
any reason you are in analog and the cellsite you're about to be
handed off to has a digital channel available, you'll be assigned to
it.

I'm curious as to why a cellular company would deny analog to digital
handoffs, as it would seem that it is in everyone's best interest to
maximize digital usage.


Mike Borsetti

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael Israeli)
Subject: Re: Lowest Number in the NANP?
Date: 28 Feb 1994 23:23:50 GMT
Organization: Net Access - Philadelphia's Internet Connection


> According to NJ Bell's automatic intercept service, the number
> 201-200-0000 is 'being checked for trouble'.  The number 201-200-0001
> has been disconnected.  I didn't try any others in that prefix.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why not try 0002, 0003, etc and let
> us know your findings. I wonder if they know the significance of their
> number?  What about at the other end of the line, any from the 919-999
> range?    PAT]

Here in the 610 area code, and also in the 215 area code, the numbers
00XX often seem to be some kind of "test" numbers.  One will be 'being
checked for trouble', another 'busy', another a strange busy signal.
Is it possible that when you call a number that has been disconnected
that your call is actually FORWARDED to that number?


Michael Israeli - ([e-mail])

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

Subject: Re: Lowest Number in the NANP
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 11:40:19 PST
From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)


[e-mail] (Dave Levenson) writes:

> According to NJ Bell's automatic intercept service, the number
> 201-200-0000 is 'being checked for trouble'.  The number 201-200-0001
> has been disconnected.  I didn't try any others in that prefix.

the Moderator responds:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why not try 0002, 0003, etc and let
> us know your findings. I wonder if they know the significance of their
> number?  What about at the other end of the line, any from the 919-999
> range?    PAT]

The highest dialable number in the range is 919-995-9999 in Buxton,
NC.  It appears to be a working number with ring-no-answer when I
called.

The lowest is 201-200-0002, which is a trading desk at a brokerage
house in Jersey City, New Jersey.

These two exchanges are 386 miles apart.


[e-mail] (if it bounces, use [e-mail])| [put "attn Box #215"
Tad Cook    | Packet Amateur Radio:  | Home Phone:  | on fax or cover pg!]
Seattle, WA | KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA | 206-527-4089 |  FAX: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Wilcox )
Subject: Re: Lowest Number in the NANP?
Date: 28 Feb 1994 21:27:25 GMT
Organization: Intel Corporation , Folsom


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

> According to NJ Bell's automatic intercept service, the number
> 201-200-0000 is 'being checked for trouble'.  The number 201-200-0001
> has been disconnected.  I didn't try any others in that prefix.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why not try 0002, 0003, etc and let
> us know your findings. I wonder if they know the significance of their
> number?  What about at the other end of the line, any from the 919-999
> range?    PAT]

 From 916-351 (Folsom, CA)

201-200-0000 "Being Checked For Trouble"
201-200-0001 "Has Been Disconnected"
201-200-0002 Answered at a business
919-999-9999 "Cannot be completed as dialed. 9161T"

One interesting note about the recordings on the 201-200 numbers: The
first recording read the number as two oh oh oh oh oh oh.  The second
recording read the number as two oh oh zero zero zero one.


Mike Wilcox   [e-mail]
Intel Folsom  Folsom Information Technology
Telecomm and Network Services


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Did you notice that the intercept machine
is smart enough to normally pronounce three trailing zeros as 'thousand'
and two trailing digits as 'hundred' but in the event of a four zeros
it does not say 'zero thousand'. Here, the lady says 'oh! oh! oh! ooooh!'
sort of like something else was going on when the recording was being
made. :)  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 22:18:40 -0500
From: Jonathan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Lowest Number in the NANP?


I tried 201 200-0700 and got the same checked for trouble recording.
The phone company explained that:

(1) it was a local recording in NJ;
(2) the recording is a generic recording that doesn't mean very much; and
(3) the number doesn't belong to anybody, or, if it does, then they wouldn't
do anything about it.

In general I am really confused about incorrect recordings.  It is
annoying when the recording is wrong.  And the phone company doesn't
do anything about it because as far as they are concerned I have the
wrong number.  One time the recording (for somebody in one of my
classes who had moved while we were working on a project together)
referred me to a number outside my area; I called it and the person
had no idea who the person that I was trying to reach was; I called
the phone company and explained how important that it was to contact
this individual, and they put in a repair report; the next day, the
maintenance center called me back and said that the recording was the
way that the customer ordered it.

Maybe the customer or the service rep made a mistake filling out the
original service order?

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Lowest Number in the NANP?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 00:04:57 GMT


[e-mail] (Dave Levenson) writes:

> According to NJ Bell's automatic intercept service, the number
> 201-200-0000 is 'being checked for trouble'.  The number 201-200-0001
> has been disconnected.  I didn't try any others in that prefix.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why not try 0002, 0003, etc and let
> us know your findings. I wonder if they know the significance of their
> number?

I don't particularly want to disturb folks in Jersey City just because
they have interesting telephone numbers.  I don't know if they'd find
it interesting.  I did, however, try 201-200-0002 and it was a
ring-no-answer on Saturday afternoon.  That probably indicates that
the number is working ... and therefore that it is the lowest working
number in the NANP.


Dave Levenson        Internet: [e-mail]
Westmark, Inc.        UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
Stirling, NJ, USA    Voice: 908 647 0900  Fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (ERIC BOBINSKY)
Subject: Re: Need Information on ISDN Phones
Date: 28 Feb 1994 16:03 EST
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center


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

> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Beverly
> Taylor) writes:

>> In article <[e-mail]>, The Network Group <0004526627@
>> mcimail.com> wrote:

>>> I need to know a source for ISDN phonesxxx -- excuse me: voice
>>> terminals.

>>> I have heard that AT&T has a few of these but haven't heard of any
>>> other manufacturers such as Northern Telecom or others. Apparently the
>>> Northern product for Meridian Digital Centrex is not an ISDN phone.

>> We have used TelRad, Fujitsu, and AT&T ISDN sets.  They're all used to
>> run on an AT&T 5ESS.  We're very satisfied with all of them and have
>> only found these three will work with our CO switch.

>   I believe Bellcore lists vendors that support the National-1 ISDN
> interface.  These should all work with the 5ESS switch (on 5E8 and
> later).

We've got a couple of ISDN videophones from BT up in one of our labs --
email me if you want more details.


([e-mail])
Eric A. Bobinsky   Communications Systems
NASA/Lewis Research Center   Cleveland, OH  44135  USA
[phone]  [phone] (Fax)

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 28 Feb 94 16:13:02-0500
Subject: Re: Air Cell


In Volume 14 Issue 99 Stu Jeffery mentions a company using mobile
phones from an aircraft.

I presume he is talking about the air plane being in flight at the
time.  This would fly in the face of an FCC regulation that
specifically prohibits the use of a land based cell phone while in
flight.

I too would be interested in that company to see how they got around
that regulation, or do they have phones that work on both systems.


John D. Gretzinger

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

From: [e-mail] (Henrik Rasmussen)
Subject: Re: These Cell Phones Don't Work - Why?
Date: 28 Feb 1994 03:09:35 GMT
Organization: The University of NC at Chapel Hill, the Experimental BBS


About two years ago an incompatability developed between Astro-Net
switches and technophone Cellular telephones. This problems caused the
Technophones to not recognize they were being paged, so an incoming
call never rang the phone. I was told Astro-Net had to make a software
mod and Technophone had to make a hardware mod to correct what was
apparently a fault on both ends.

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: These Cell Phones Dont Work - Why?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 01:54:50 GMT


I still use a 666-channel cellular telephone.  It works okay on
Cellular One, New York City CGSA.


Dave Levenson        Internet: [e-mail]
Westmark, Inc.        UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
Stirling, NJ, USA    Voice: 908 647 0900  Fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jay Hennigan)
Subject: Re: Another Misprogrammed COCOT
Date: 28 Feb 1994 18:57:12 -0800
Organization: Disgruntled postal workers against gun control


In article <[e-mail]> Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
writes:

> A COCOT I saw on a trip I just took across Vermont had (usual)
> roblems with 10xxx access code (I used 1-800-321-0288 instead of
> 10288) and also had this problem with use of the Orange Card:

> I was able to call 1-800-(Orange Card Number), get the resulting tone,
> then punch in the ten-digit code and the ten-digit number I was
> calling, then get the next burst of tone, but then got "DISCONNECTED"
> on the display I saw.

Yep.  Many COCOTs cut the tone pad after too few digits to use calling
cards.  Sounds like this one dumps the call as well.  A Radio Shack
pocket dialer is one workaround, and if you preprogram your calling
card number into it, you avoid having to worry about "shoulder
surfers" observing you keying in your card number.

Speaking of COCOTs, I've observed that many of them scramble the
dialed digits on the tone pad.  That is, when dialing an 800 number, I
can hear DTMF tones in the handset, but the tones are _not_ the digits
I am dialing.  However, I reach the correct number.  Once the number
is dialed, I get a synthesized "thank you", and thereafter the tone
pad sends the correct tones.

Does anyone know why this is done?


Jay Hennigan    [e-mail]   Santa Barbara CA

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

From: [e-mail] (Masahiko Ohashi)
Subject: Information Requested For PBX-Computer Interworking
Organization: Fujitsu Nagoya Communication Systems Ltd.
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 05:35:37 GMT


Hello all!

I'm researching standards of pricvate branch exchange (PBX) - computer
interworking. I hear that International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) starts her work for these standardizations and the first meeting
was held at Korea in October last year.

Will anyone tell me the result of the ISO meeting and/or schedule of
PBX-computer interworking standardiztions?

Thanks in advance.

Ohashi - Fujistu Nagoya Communication Systems
(e-mail : [e-mail])

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #107
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #108

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 28 Feb 94 21:06:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 108

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Caller ID in Russia (For Curious) (Dima Volodin)
    Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker (Conrad Kimball)
    Re: PCS Documents? (M. Hedlund)
    Re: Answering Machine Accepting Collect Calls (Danny Burstein)
    Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: Looking For Low Cost Phone System (David A. Kaye)
    Re: Calling 800 Numbers in USA From UK (Bram Smits)
    Re: Cordless Telephone Output Power (Joseph R. Schumacher)
    Re: Intern's Pay in Telecom (Russ McGuire)
    Interference With Tape (was Re: Digital Cellular Phone Review) (B. Walker)
    Re: Lowest Number in the NANP? (Hugh Pritchard)
    Need Help Locating Writer (Dr. Harold Joseph Highland)
    Full Service Network (Joydeep Bose)
    Help Needed With Motorola Advisor Pager (Alec Isaacson)
    Any Information on Interop Conference? (Arnold Shore)
    Phones in the Movies Again (J. Harrison)
    Re: Inter-LATA CID (Stephen Polinsky)
    Question About Sprintnet Connections (Patrizio Menchetti Dott)
    Elementary Area Code Question (William Kucharski)
    Mailing List For Discussing Video Telephony (Oliver Jones)
    Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker (Phil Howard)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
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Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Dmitry V. Volodin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID in Russia (For Curious)
Organization: Demos Plus
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 02:24:41 GMT


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John R Levine) writes:

> It is my understanding that when dialing a toll call in Russia, you
> have to dial your own phone number after the desired number so that
> the exchange can tell who to bill it to.  Is this what you're referring
> to as Caller-ID?

No. You don't have to dial your own phone number unless your exchange
is _really_ old.

> The term has a somewhat different meaning in the U.S.

The term has exactly the same meaning here and in the U.S.

A couple of words about ISKRA:

In fact there's _two_ Iskras. Vassili described the older one
(Iskra-1), but made a mistake -- it is _not_ digital. The newer one
(Iskra-2) has five-digit numbers and it's own system of three-digit
area codes and is based on digital exchanges. Iskra-2 is used
extensively for dial-up access to various computer networks. Iskra-2
is not reachable from the PSTN (and vice versa), but it can be
reachable from outside of the country. Iskra-2 used it's own
long-distance trunks, but the current trend is that Iskra-2 and PSTN
share the same long-distance trunks, so it's advantage is diminishing
rapidly.


Dima

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

From: [e-mail] (Conrad Kimball)
Subject: Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker
Date: 28 Feb 94 23:03:13 GMT
Organization: Boeing Computer Services, Seattle, WA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Dale
Worley) writes:

>> Heard on the news today that Missouri state government has
>> started a 1-900 number for businesses to find the provider of the
>> lowest-cost workers' compensation insurance.  They are charging $1
>> /min, with $.45-.55 to go to the state general revenue fund.

> Sounds like a great deal, since finding a good workmens' compensation
> company can save you thousands a year.

>> Just a new method to rob people for information they should be
>> providing free as a public service.

> Eh?  Providing the names, addresses, and rates of insurance companies has
> never been a job of the state government, to my knowledge.  That's what
> you have insurance agents for!

Given that the state government has already collected this information
(at a minimum, as a result of registering with the state insurance
commissioner's office), that this information is of a public nature,
and that the people have already paid the government once to collect
this information, many people object to the government viewing such
information as a revenue-generating asset.  I.e., why should I have to
pay for something that I, as a taxpayer, _already_ own?


Conrad Kimball        | Client Server Tech Services, Boeing Computer Services
[e-mail] | P.O. Box 24346, MS 7M-HC
[phone]        | Seattle, WA  98124-0346

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

From: [e-mail] (M. Hedlund)
Subject: Re: PCS Documents?
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 18:30:56 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

> Are there any 'white papers' out there which gives an overview on PCS
> (Personal Communications Services)?  I have seen alot of articles on
> the service over the last few months, but I would like to have one
> definitive document which gives an overview and possibly a listing of
> some of the companies which are driving this.

I highly recommend Bellcore Special Report SR-INS-002301, "Feature
Descrip- tion and Functional Analysis of PCS Capabilities," Issue 1,
April 1992.  Available from Bellcore at 1(800) 521-CORE (2673),
$55.00.  If you have a higher budget than that, they have some more
recent documents, but remember, they will primarily be concerned with
the connect between the PCS service provider and the RBOC network
(Bellcore is jointly owned by the seven RBOCs).


]\/[. ]-[edlund  <[e-mail]>

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

From: [e-mail] (danny burstein)
Subject: Re: Answering Machine Accepting Collect Calls
Date: 28 Feb 1994 17:38:38 -0500


In <[e-mail]> Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (deborah
> castillo) writes:

>> The real answer to your question is you should record your greeting to
>> include the phrase, "operator, we will accept collect calls at this
>> number". Obviously, you don't want to have that phrase on your machine

> The phrase should include the word "yes" since some of the automated
> collect call handlers ask the answering party to say "yes" to accept
> the call.

Hhmm, I can just see the following:

   Telesleaze Incorporated here. We have a $43 collect call from Mr.
Dewey Scrooem. Will you accept?

Perhaps in the old days of reasoanbly consistent AT&T rates it was
safe to have your answering machine automatically accept calls, but I
wouldn't do it now.


[e-mail] (or [e-mail])   (10288) 0-700-864-3242

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone
Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 16:47:36 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
ca (Min Hu) writes:

> During the Gulf War, both the reporters and the American soldiers used
> a kind of satellite phone system so that they could communicate with
> outside world. Does anybody out there know companies who make or sell
> this kind of mobile phone system?

What you saw during the Gulf War was partly video uplinks on the
rather enpensive systems used for broadcast feeds, and partly the
Inmarsat telephone service, which provides phone service for many
ships on the high seas.  Presently, you should begin to hear about
services from Motorola's Iridium system.

In the Inmarsat system, the world is covered by three geostationary
satellites, positioned roughly over the center of the Atlantic ocean,
the center of the Pacific Ocean, and over India. Calls are about USD
10/minute. Earth stations typically use a three-foot dish antenna
pointed towards the satellite.

In the Iridium system, the earth is covered by about 70 satellites in
low earth orbit. They will use channel management techniques derived
from cellular mobile systems, except that in this case, it is the base
stations that move. I believe they will use omnidirectional antennas.

> The following features will be desirable.
> 1. Ability to communicate while the phone is in motion (say a jeep)
> 2. The diameter of the antanne should be less than 1 meter
> 3. The satellite carrier should be either American satellite or sea
>    monitoring satellite.
> 4. The antanne should be all-direction antanne, do not have to worry about
>    the direction of the satellite.

It will be interesting to see how Iridium service will be priced. I
think they must be several years away from being operationsal, though.


Lars Poulsen            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
CMC Network Products        Phone: (011-) [phone]
Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B        Telefax:      [phone]
DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK    Internets: designed and built while you wait

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

From: [e-mail] (David A. Kaye)
Subject: Re: Looking For Low Cost Phone System
Date: 27 Feb 1994 01:12:13 -0800
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access  [phone]  [login: guest]


keith danekind ([e-mail]) wrote:

> machine and a modem.  We are currently not able to handle the phone
> traffic and the boss would like an automated solution rather than
> hiring a receptionist to answer the calls.  We are interested in call

I know this goes counter to the very nature of telecom technology, but
I'd recommend hiring a receptionist.  As companies get bigger and
bigger they tend to lose their friendliness.  For instance, today when
I call the post office I call the number for the nearest small town,
not the big city post office.  Why?  The small town post office has a
live person answering the phone.  The big city has poorly maintained
voicemail.  I had occasion to call UPS today.  First I got an internal
dialtone, then nothing.  Second call got a modem squeal.  Third call
got voicemail.  There was no fourth call.  I called FedEx instead.
Got a human immediately.

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

From: [e-mail] (Bram Smits)
Subject: Re: Calling 800 Numbers in USA From UK
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 22:36:00 GMT
Organization: Fangorn Systems


Being one of the people who's touched the subject in the past year:

> This comes up so often here, I am wondering: if I were to install a
> couple lines here which people could call from all over the world for
> the specific purpose of being reconnected to an 800 number, would anyone
> be interested in using it if they had to pay $10 per month and use a
> passcode to make the call (once they were connected through me)?   PAT]

I don't need to call 800 numbers very often, so $10 per month wouldn't
be appealing to me. Maybe a system that would allow me to key in my
credit card number and be billed like 50 cents per use would be better
 -- and it would still make you a nice bundle -- you have no costs except
the monthly charges for the lines (and it saves on accounting, too ...).


Bram 'mouser' Smits.   Fangorn Systems   Heerlen, The Netherlands

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 28 Feb 94 15:59:49
Subject: Re: Cordless Telephone Output Power


The (FCC) RF output limits for cordless phones are as follows:

46/49 MHz phones: 10,000 microvolts / meter, as measured three meters
from the phone.

900 MHz (narrow band) phones: 50,000 microvolts / meter, same as above.

900 MHz (spread-spectrum) phones : 1 W EIRP.

I believe that 10,000 microvolts/meter is roughly equivalant to an ERP
of about -15 dBm (about 30 microwatts).  The 900 MHz limit is obviously
4 dB hotter (0.75 mW ERP).

In the 902-928 MHz spread-spectrum rules, the FCC sets requirements
for what constitutes spread-spectrum and what doesn't (i.e. a minimum
chip rate).  Some 900 Mhz phones will satisfy this rule, others won't.
The others will obviously be held to the lower limit.  On the other
hand, I'd be surprised to find a consumer-grade cordless telephone
with an ERP of exactly 1W; I'd guess that s-s cordless phones would
use the same RF finals as handheld cellular phones.

And while I'm on the topic:

With respect to the discussion on increasing cordless phone range,

1) It's illegal to modify the circuitry without re-testing for FCC approval

2) even if it was legal, why does everyone want to increase the output
power?  There is probably more room for increasing the receiver sensitivity
which would have the same effect.  For instance, a cheap FET between the
antenna and the receiver chip could add at least 10 dB of sensitivity,
if you know what your'e doing.


Joe

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

From: [e-mail] (Russ McGuire)
Subject: Re: Intern's Pay in Telecom
Date: 28 Feb 1994 15:24:03 GMT
Organization: WilTel
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Russ McGuire)


In article <[e-mail]> Ramaiah V Narla <narlara1@
student.msu.edu> writes:

> Anyway, what I'd like to know is: is that how interns are taken up? So
> badly paid? In the telecom industry, particularly?  And, could an
> institution such as NATA be as resource-starved? (The official said
> they only pick up two interns each summer and pay them each just $10/day,
> due to resource crunch).

Could they have possibly meant $10/hour?  I thought it was illegal to
pay less than minimum wage, even to interns ;^) ...

We have used interns at times here at WilTel, but I'm not sure how
well we've paid them.  I'm pretty sure it was more than $10/day ...


Russ McGuire   WilTel, Inc.

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Walker)
Subject: Interference With Tape (was Re: Digital Cellular Phone Review)
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 14:20:58 -0800
Organization: Qualcomm, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Ronald Oakes) wrote:

> I can confirm that this will, and does, happen.  I have a bag phone,
> placed next to the transfer case controller on the floor of my S-10
> Blazer, so that the antenna sits right next to my car radio.  I can
> always tell when my phone registers and when I am about to receive a
> call by the distinctive POP that comes out when listinging to a tape.
> If I am listening to the radio, a registration is not as obvious, but
> the extra transmissions when acknowledging a page and getting ready to
> ring will cause noticeable interference with the radio.

Tape players make surprisingly good recievers.  I once drove between
two friends who were communicating via CB radio, and I could hear
their conversation on my 8-track (remember 8-track?) tape player!


Bill Walker - [e-mail] - QUALCOMM, Inc., San Diego, CA USA

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 11:20 EST
From: Hugh Pritchard <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Lowest Number in the NANP?


> [Trivia comment/question: What places have *three* different area
> codes
as part of their local calling area? ... PAT]

The Washington, DC, metro area.  Affected regions:
        DC (202)
        suburban Maryland (301)
        suburban Virginia (703)

Within your own region (don't say "state;" DC is not a state), dial
seven digits.  Calling another region, but within local calling area,
dial NPA + 7D (not 1+).  Calling outside local calling area, dial
1 + NPA + 7D.

Note that from my home in College Park, MD [301], (between DC and
Baltimore/ Washington Airport) a call to Reston, VA [703], (well
across the Potomac, almost to Dulles airport) is within the local
area; but a call to Fort Meade, MD, which is in the 410 NPA, but not
that far away, is a toll call.


Hugh Pritchard    [e-mail] (Internet)
800/906-1621 (beeper)   Smoke 'N Mirrors, Inc.

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 09:48 EST
From: Dr. Harold Joseph Highland <[e-mail]>
Subject: Need Help Locating Writer


Pat you had a note about SecretAgent from AT&T.  It was from David
Arneke.  His Internet address, which I have to use, is incorrect; mail
bounces.  It is noted as [e-mail] -- that first period
must be an error.  Thanks for your help.


Harold


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A period is perfectly valid as a separ-
ator in an address, and I do believe the way you saw it is the way I
got it, but mistakes do occur. Unfortunatly I no longer have the
original from him; those are usually tossed out immediatly following
publication, otherwise I would be extremely overloaded with stuff. If
it was wrong, hopefully the author will see this and contact you.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Joydeep Bose)
Subject: Full Service Network
Organization: National Computer Board, Singapore
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 08:30:08 GMT


I am looking for some information on Full Service Networks.
Specifically what is the architecture , how do they provide Cable Tv
together with Interactive VOD and other Multimedia Services. Are they
totally switched or partially star and partially BUS/RING.

Any specific information on Time Warner and PAC BEL Trials would be
appreciated.


Regards,

Joydeep

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 12:27:43 EST
From: Alec Isaacson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Help Needed With Motorola Advisor Pager


I was just issued a Motorola "Advisor" display pager and I'm
interested in two things.

First, is there any software available on the net to send messages to
the thing?  If so, where is it? (I've heard the term IXO/TAP protocol
used before, I think that's what this pager speaks)

Second, what sort of interesting things are there to know about this
model (i.e. self test modes, and other things unaccesable to the regular
customer).


Thanks,

Alec D. Isaacson   AI4CPHYW @ miamiu.acs.muohio.edu
Miami University, Oxford, OH

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

From: [e-mail] (Arnold Shore)
Subject: Information Wanted on Interop Conference
Date: 28 Feb 1994 22:24:24 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


Will appreciate any information on a series of conferences or
expositions named Interop xx, where xx is the year.

Theme, of course, was interoperability/telecom products, services,
issues.


Thanks, folks.

[e-mail]     <Arnold Shore [phone]>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Calling Ole Jacobson! Ole is our
Interop person here; he publishes the {Interoperability Report} and
comments here from time to time. I hope he will see this message and
respond.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 18:06:02 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Phones in the Movies Again


I know we've discussed this before but ... where do they get phone
numbers for actors to use where necessary in a movie?

I thought there is supposed to be a list of "safe" numbers somewhere
for just this purpose. So anyway when I was watching the old movie
"10" on VCR last night Dudley Moore tells the hotel operator to get
him some number.

I wrote it down and called it to see what would happen ... and now
some poor guy in LA wonders who it was that didn't leave a message on
his answering machine. I guess it was a real number alright.

Can they do this? I know I would be pretty unhappy if *my* number was
used in this way. And yes I wrote it down right (I ran the tape a
couple more times to make sure).


Joe
ICL Ltd. Bracknell Berkshire RG12 8SN  UK ([phone])
[e-mail]
S=Harrison/I=J/OU1=bra0112/O=icl/P=icl/A=gold 400/C=GB


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is no 'list of safe numbers'. Generally
they'll use a number like 555-2341 since it is unlikely such a number will
be assigned anytime soon. Maybe they assumed no one would be silly enough to
actually dial the number to 'see who is there'. Tell me, if the number had
answered, were you going to say "This is Dudley Moore calling," or were you
just going to ring off and not say anything at all, or were you going to
apologize for your intrusion? Whether or not someone has any claim as a
result of their phone number appearing in a movie would depend I guess on
which came first: their aquisition of the number or the production of the
film. If the film was made years and years ago, a person who got assigned
the number in recent weeks/months could hardly blame the film maker.  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 10:18:22 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: InterLATA CID


[e-mail] wrote:

> I have a question regarding the use of Caller ID on Inter-LATA calls.
> Currently the technology exists to deliver the calling number to the
> terminating LEC office:

> Originating-->--ISUP-->--InterLATA-->--ISUP-->--Terminating
> CID LEC                  Carrier                 CID LEC

I may be wrong about this, but I think it is because the FCC hasn't
approved interstate Caller-ID, leaving the states to approve it on a
one-by-one basis for local service.

So, legally, PUCs for each state could probably approve inter-LATA,
intrastate CID.  But there is no financial motivation for the LECs to
file the tariff, fight the court battles and work throught the
hardware differences with the IXCs.  They already charge for CID, and
probably would not be permitted to charge any more for inter-LATA,
intrastate CID.

The technical problems, though present, pale in comparison.


Stephen Polinsky   [e-mail]

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

Subject: Help Needed Using Sprintnet
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 16:25:29 CET
From: Patrizio Menchetti Dott <[e-mail]>


I am trying to reach an online service available via SPRINTNET and at
the same time avoid being ripped off with international or intercontin-
ental calls.

My subscription to the service includes subsription to SPRINTNET.
Unfortunately, I have been provided with a phone number list which
does not include Italy.

I tried the SPRINT toll-free number, but apparently nobody was able
to answer the following questions:

- Are SPRINTNET accesses available in Italy?
- Is SPRINTNET access available through INTERNET?

Some help in this respect will be gladly welcomed.  Thank you in
advance.


Patrizio Menchetti

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

From: [e-mail] (William Kucharski)
Subject: Elementary Area Code Question
Date: 28 Feb 1994 17:59:49 -0700
Organization: Solbourne Computer, Inc., Longmont, CO


OK, this is probably an obvious question, but here goes:

We recently went through a change requiring people within the 303 area
code to dial 1 + 303 to call long distance numbers within the 303 area
code (rather than just 1 + number).  While I understand why they did
this (need to reuse area code numbers as exchanges), why don't phone
switches just use the following obvious (at least to me) algorithm:

    1-XXX-YYYY  1+7 digits, must be long distance within the area code,
        so XXX is the exchange;

    1-XXX-YYY-ZZZZ  1+10 digits, so XXX must be the area code.

It seems a one or two second pause would be quite sufficient to denote
"end of number ..."


William Kucharski   [e-mail]
William Kucharski, Solbourne Computer, Inc.
Internet: [e-mail]   Ham: N0OKQ
Snail Mail: 1900 Pike Road, Longmont, CO  80501


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Elaborating on that idea then, why bother
to use '1' at all? Why not just say if seven digits, then the first
three must be an exchange within the area and if ten digits, then the
first three must be an area code? There would have to be longer than a
two second timeout; some people are slow about dialing. But a five to
seven second timeout would be sufficient and the timeout could always
be overridden by the use of the # symbol as a terminator or carriage return.
As things go now, we need to have timeouts to differentiate between 0 for
the local operator and 00 for the long distance operator; people in the
know about these things always dial 0# for fastest responses. I've always
thought '1' was redundant with timeouts and/or a # terminator a superior
way to deal with it. Plus, consider the flexibility: anything could be
an area code; anything could be an exchange. In effect, telco says to the
subscriber, you tell *us* where you are calling.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Oliver Jones)
Subject: Mailing List For Discussing Video Telephony
Organization: Vivo Software, Inc.
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 02:29:47 GMT


At the suggestion of several people on the comp.dcom.isdn newsgroup, I
have started up a public mailing list for the discussion of video
telephony, CCITT H.xxx standards, and related topics.

To contribute to the discussion, please send email to:
      [e-mail]

To subscribe, unsubscribe, or conduct other administrative business,
please send email to
      [e-mail]

The content of this mailing list won't be moderated in any way.


Regards,

Oliver Jones

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

From: [e-mail] (Phil Howard)
Subject: Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker
Date: 28 Feb 1994 20:38:27 -0600
Organization: fasttax.com


[e-mail] (Les Reeves) writes:

> Several years ago I installed a channel bank for the US Office of
> Personnel Management's job line 900 service.  It was a menu-driven
> voice information system to provide up to date info on job availability
> within parts of the federal government.  The cost was the lowest I have
> ever seen on any 900 service; 40 cents per minute.  They told me they
> selected a per-minute rate that would just cover the cost of the access
> from MCI.

So where does one call to get this kind of government information when
they have 900/976 blocking?  This really needs to be separated from
the ripoff numbers.


Phil Howard KA9WGN      Unix/Internet System Admin
CLR/Fast-Tax            [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #108
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #109

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 2 Mar 94 07:25:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 109

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    New Brunswick Electronic Highway Discussion Paper Released (Claude Boucher)
    FBI Digital Telephony and PCS Mobile Phones (M. Hedlund)
    Help Needed With Old German Telephone (1941) (David Davidson)
    555-XXXX Goes Big Time (John R. Levine)
    MCI/NEXTEL Announcement (Stephen Goodman)
    Unsolicited Fax Legality (Bob Keller, comp.dcom.fax via Monty Solomon)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Claude Boucher <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 94 18:31:42 -0400
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: New Brunswick Electronic Highway Discussion Paper Released


     Thought this might be of some interest for your readers. If you
need more info, feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail]. You
can also contact Maurice Lavigne with the Electronic Highway Secretariat
at [e-mail].


Claude Boucher
Communications Officer
Communications New Brunswick
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Tel.: [phone]


                INFORMATION HIGHWAY SECRETARIAT

NB 8

March 1, 1994

FREDERICTON (CNB) -- The report of the New Brunswick Task Force on the
Electronic Information Highway, Driving the Information Highway, was
released by Premier Frank McKenna and George Corriveau, minister of
state for the electronic information highway today.

     The official ceremony was held in the Centennial Building
lobby, where an Information Highway Showcase has been open to the
public for two days.

     Addressing those in attendance, the premier called the document a
major part of a larger blueprint that would help develop the information
highway in New Brunswick to its fullest potential for business,
industry, academia and for all New Brunswickers. "If we want a piece
of the action generated by this technology, we can't be trying to
catch the train after it's left the station," he said.

     Corriveau thanked the task force, chaired by Bob Gamble,
president of the N.B. Geographic Information Corporation. The minister
outlined the role the task force identified for government. "The task
force sees government as having a key role to play as a model/customer
user of the highway."

     Corriveau identified other areas he says fall within the mandate
of his recently-created office: providing education and training
opportunities; acting as a liaison between public and private sector;
promoting continued development of the highway, and helping New
Brunswick companies develop products and services for the highway and
for export.

     As part of the official launch, the premier sent the document via
Internet to federal Industry Minister John Manley. Prior to the
ceremony, the report was tabled in the legislative assembly.

     Applications showcased in the lobby of the Centennial Building
included: TV Talk, use of a television screen to capture telephone
services; Service New Brunswick, a free-standing unit that allows
people to obtain services from government offices, NBTel and NB Power;
NB Alert, a system of distinctive phone rings combined with mapping
capabilities to alert people in possible danger; Interactive
Television Transmission, a sample of 21st century communications
possible via cable television; Tele-Radiology, the transmission of
electrical diagnostic images taken at one location to another location
for interpretation and analysis, and Vista 350, an interactive
telephone with a display screen enabling people to view printed
messages.

93/03/01

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Maurice Lavigne, Information Highway Secretariat,
([e-mail])

Electronic copies of the report are available on our anonymous ftp
server ftp.gov.nb.ca (142.139.24.1), in the following directories:

     Login: anonymous
     Password: your e-mail address

     Files for DOS and WINDOWS
     ----------------------------------------------------------
     NB.Gov.Info/info.highway/DRIVING.ZIP   (English version)
     NB.Gov.Info/info.highway/MENER.ZIP     (French version)

     You must use a fairly recent version of PKUNZIP.EXE in order
     to decompress the files.

     Files for Macintosh (all versions in both languages)
     --------------------------------------------------------
     NB.Gov.Info/cnb/macfiles/mactext.sit.hqx (Text only)
     NB.Gov.Info/cnb/macfiles/macwrite.sit.hqx (MacWrite)
     NB.Gov.Info/cnb/macfiles/msword5.sit.hqx (MS Word 5.0)
     NB.Gov.Info/cnb/macfiles/wperfect2.sit.hqx (WPerfect/Mac 2.x)

     You must use a fairly recent version of StuffIt to decode and
     decompress the files (BinHex 4.0 format). This shareware is
     available on most Macintosh archives on the Net, such as
     mac.archive.umich.edu (Merit Archives at the University of
     Michigan).

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

From: [e-mail] (M. Hedlund)
Subject: FBI Digital Telephony and PCS Mobile Phones
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 23:34:26 GMT


    This article elaborates on part of the EFF statement issued
last week concerning the FBI's proposed Digital Telephony wiretap
bill.  The EFF condemned the bill, which enlarges law enforcement
powers of surveillance, granted by wiretap laws, by adding tracking
ability. Addressed herein is point two of the EFF statement,
concerning the surveillance of mobile communica- tors, such as
cellular phones, Personal Communications Services (PCS) and laptop
computers.  PCS mobile phones create severe privacy risks for future
phone users, especially under the FBI's proposal; and these risks
strongly support the EFF's position.

    The FBI asserts that their proposal adapts existing wiretap
laws to account for emerging communications technologies.  Wiretap
laws have not adequately covered mobile communications, and the FBI is
correct to assume that some revisions will be necessary to adequately
balance law enforcement needs with the privacy rights of mobile phone
users.  Their proposed revisions, however, do not simply provide for
wiretap; instead, the FBI seeks to expand wiretap laws, allowing law
enforcement officers to track the signalling information of mobile
communcations users.

    The EFF believes that the FBI proposal would create an
enormous hole in the privacy rights of individuals suspected of
crimes.  Their statement notes:

    It is conceivable that law enforcement could
    use the signalling information to identify the
    location of a target ... This provision takes a
    major step beyond current law in that it allows
    for a tap and/or trace on a *person*, as opposed
    to mere surveillance of a phone line.

    This fear is completely realistic.  It is not simply
"conceivable" that the FBI's proposal would allow law enforcement to
surveil the location of a target -- positioning technology is a
planned part of PCS networks, one of the technological advances
anticipated by the proposal.  Similar positioning technology is
planned for cellular phones, as well.

    PCS advances cellular phone technology by integrating mobile
communications with other phone networks, and by expanding the
services and quality mobile phones can offer.  Most PCS proposals
involve three forms of mobility: terminal mobility, the ability to
make and receive calls at any location, and the ability of the phone
network to track the location of the mobile phone; personal mobility,
the ability of the user to be reachable by a single phone number at
all times; and service mobility, the ability of the user to access
CLASS(sm)-like features, such as Call Waiting and Caller ID, from any
phone they use.

    The FBI proposal requires phone companies, when presented with
a wiretap order, to transmit the content and the signalling, or "call
setup information," from the tapped phone to law enforcement officers.
With a wireline phone, such as a residence phone line, call setup
information would comprise only the originating and dialled phone
numbers, as well as billing information (such as the residence
address) for the call.  Because of the wireless aspect of PCS,
however, call setup information for a PCS phone includes very detailed
information on the location and movement of the caller.

    PCS mobile phones will connect with the phone network via
"microcells," or very small receivers similar to those used for
cellular phones.  While a cellular network uses cells with up to an 8
to 10 mile radius, PCS networks will use microcells located on every
street corner and in every building.  The call setup information for a
PCS call would include the microcell identifier -- a very specific
means of locating the user.  An order for a PCS wiretap would allow
law enforcement officers to receive a detailed, verifiable, continuous
record of the location and movement of a mobile phone user.

    These phones are also likely to "feature" automatic
registration: whenever the PCS mobile phone is on (in use or able to
receive calls), it will automatically register itself with the nearest
microcell.  Law enforce- ment agencies, able to track this registration,
would have the equivalent of an automatic, free, instantaneous, and unde-
tectable global positioning locator for anyone suspected of a crime.

    PCS tries to improve on cellular phone privacy and security by
incorporating cryptographic techniques.  Encryption could not only
create a secure phone conversation, but could also (coupled with use
of a PIN number) insure that only a valid subscriber could make calls
on a particular phone, preventing fraudulent calls on stolen phones.
An additional phone-to-network authentication could prevent fraudulent
calling through a "masquerade" phone designed to simulate a user's regis-
tration.

    But the FBI proposal would require that such encryption be
defeatable in wiretap circumstances.  As the proposal stands, this
form of weak encryp- tion is distinguishable from the Clipper Chip
because the phone companies, not a key escrow arrangement, enable law
enforcement access; but it is entirely possible that the Clipper Chip
could be used as the encrypting device.  In either circumstance, PCS
encryption could be compromised by careless or malicious law
enforcement officials.  Perhaps it is time for Phil Zimmerman and
ViaCrypt to begin work on PGPCS -- and let us all hope we are so
lucky.

    The cellular phone market is tremendous, and analysts believe
that the PCS market, incorporating both voice and data communications,
will be even larger.  Coupled with the FBI's Digital Telephony
proposal, PCS raises many privacy and security risks, making the EFF's
condemnation of the FBI proposal all the more appropriate.

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

CLASS is a service mark of Bell Communications Research (Bellcore).

For more information:

*    Bellcore Special Report SR-INS-002301, "Feature Description and
    Functional Analysis of Personal Communications Services (PCS)
    Capabilities," Issue 1, April 1992.  Order from Bellcore, (800)
    521-CORE (2673), $55.00.

*    GAO report GAO/OSI-94-2, "Communications Privacy: Federal Policy
    and Actions," November 1993.  Anonymous FTP to cu.nih.gov, in the
    directory "gao-reports".

*    EFF documents, available via anonymous FTP or gopher:
    ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/Digital_Telephony


]\/[. ]-[edlund   <[e-mail]>

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

From: [e-mail] (David Davidson)
Subject: Help Needed With Old German Telephone (1941)
Organization: Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 19:09:23 -0500


I just bought this old phone at the Savation Army Store. I would
really like to hook it up. Can anyone help me. The description:

The base of the phone is made out of what looks like a dark cardbord
that has been dipped in plastic. The reciever is the handle type,
there is a hook on one end, where your fingers wrap around there is a
long button to squeeze. The reciever is black and the part you speak
into is covered except for a few slots. The cloth cord from the
reciever ends in a square plug that plugs into the top of the phone,
behind where you put the reciever (the cradle?). THis plug has a small
wiring diagram on it and the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 which I think
correspond to the plugs connectors.

Looking down were you rest the reciever it says "Vermittlungsklinke".
The dial face is white with black numbers. The rotary part is black
metal and has the letters A to K corresponding to the numbers.

The underside:

The base is metal. Stamped on it is 23532, then a circle around a
capital "M". In the "M" is a small "T", then it says "1941".

There is then a wiring diagram written on an aluminum plate attached
in the middle. In purple stamped on to this is a large "Z". In the
front part of the large "Z" there is a smaller "Z" and in the right
half of the "Z" there is a smaller "A".

Above this it has a sticker that says "POST".

The back:

For the contacts it has four large screw down connectors. It could
accept very large gauge wire. Top Left (TL) is says "Lb/SA/ZB", then
(TR) it says "Lb/OB", (BR) "E", and finally (BL) "La".

So, I know it is a German phone from 1941, but can anyone tell me
anything else? I would like to hook this up if possible. I am also
curious what this might be worth. It has been used, but I would say it
is in 85% good condition.

I am really happy I found this and plan on putting it right beside my
1957 Swedish phone (Erricson sp?). Thanks in advance for anyone who
can help me.


David

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

From: [e-mail] (John R Levine)
Subject: 555-XXXX Goes Big Time
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 94 20:11:18 EST


A story in {Network World} reports that the telephone Industry
Numbering Committee, administered by Bellcore, is proposing to allot
3000 numbers in the 555-XXXX range for use as seven-digit information
service numbers.

One of the eager customers for 555 service is USA Today, who
presumably wants to move the well-known 800-555-5555, er, 900-555-5555
to plain 555-5555.  The article said 555 numbers would be an alternative
to 800 numbers, but the examples they gave were of existing 900 numbers.
I'm confused.

They're also discussing a proposal from Sprint to allow assignment of
950 numbers for other than FG B access, particularly for things like
credit card authorizations who want fast setup for short calls.


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 1 Mar 94 13:22 EST
From: Stephen Goodman <[e-mail]>
Subject: MCI/NEXTEL Announcement


        MCI WILL INVEST $1.3 BILLION IN NEXTEL TO OFFER
            NATIONALLY BRANDED WIRELESS SERVICES

      networkMCI Strategic Alliance With Nextel and Comcast
    Will Provide First Digital Personal Communications Services

     WASHINGTON, D.C. February 28, 1994 -- A strategic alliance formed
today by MCI, Nextel Communications and Comcast Corporation will begin
offering MCI wireless personal communications services this year, with
the technology platform provided by Motorola Inc.  A $1.3 billion MCI
investment in Nextel will accelerate this first nationwide offering of
advanced wireless voice and data communications, featuring digital
clarity and reliability, a single telephone number that will work
anywhere, and availability throughout the country.

     The companies said that their alliance will bring these enhanced
flexible services to consumers, business and government customers far
sooner than generally had been expected.  The services will be
marketed jointly by MCI, Nextel and Comcast under the MCI brand name.

     Nextel's license coverage and planned interoperability agreements
give the alliance the potential to reach 95 percent of the U.S.
population.  Its first digital network is already serving customers in
the Los Angeles area and will stretch across California within the
next few months.  With the investment by MCI, plans are underway to
accelerate construction in most major cities.

     "Wireless communication is becoming an integral part of our daily
lives, and demand is growing rapidly," said Bert C. Roberts, Jr., MCI
chairman and CEO, at a press conference in Washington, D.C. "Customers
have been asking us to provide a totally portable communications
service that meets their needs any time, anywhere.  This alliance
means that Nextel is the platform on which we will build an integrated
wireless strategy, and that we will be able to reach virtually every
American who wants wireless service."

     The strategic agreement will capitalize on the strengths of four
dynamic companies, each a leader in its field.  MCI brings world-class
marketing assets -- name recognition, customer base and distribution
channels -- as well as the company's intelligent network.  Nextel adds
licenses with extensive geographical coverage, planned interoperability
agreements and proven wireless products and services.  Comcast contributes
its experience and know-how in operating cable and cellular systems
and will support the build-out and operation of Nextel systems.
Motorola will provide its Integrated Radio Service (MIRS) technology
platform, as well as subscriber equipment.  These combined strengths
will enable the companies to provide a wide array of advanced wireless
services to consumers, business and government customers over a larger
area than any other wireless service competitor.

     "This alliance means that everyone else will be playing catch
up," said Morgan E. O'Brien, Nextel chairman.  "MCI's enormously
successful marketing and branding, and large customer base give us the
ability to extend beyond our core of business customers to serve
virtually anyone who could benefit from wireless communications.  We
are delivering the first of these advanced wireless services on our
all-digital network in L.A., including wireless telephone, two-way
paging and dispatch radio."

     Under terms of the agreement, MCI will purchase approximately 17
percent of Nextel's stock, which will match Comcast's ownership.  The
initial purchase, expected to occur in a few months, will consist of
22 million shares of Nextel stock at $36 per share.  MCI has also
committed to purchase an additional 15 million shares at an average
cost of $38 per share over the next three years, for a total
investment of more than $1.3 billion.

     The announcement adds one more key component to networkMCI, the
company's strategic vision announced in January.  When networkMCI was
unveiled, MCI highlighted its intent to form alliances with
communications and information industry leaders to provide innovative
new communications services.  It identified wireless personal
communications services as an integral part of the networkMCI vision.

     Roberts pointed out that the demand for wireless voice
communications is expected to grow from 15 million users today to
80-90 million users in the next 10 years.  Data, paging and messaging
applications will further expand the total wireless market.

     The companies said they will provide consumers, business and
government customers with MCI-branded services such as mobile
services, alphanumeric messaging, dispatching and data transmission,
all integrated in a single digital phone.  The same telephone number
will work from anywhere in the United States.

     Comcast has been increasing its presence in the telephony
business in recent years through its ownership and operation of
cellular properties in the Northeastern U.S. and cable/telephone
operations in the United Kingdom.  As part of the alliance, MCI and
Comcast have entered into a shareholders' agreement with equal
representation, and together they will own approximately 35 percent of
Nextel.

     "Comcast is proud to have been a catalyst for bringing this
alliance together," Brian L. Roberts, president of Comcast, said.  "We
are delighted that MCI will be joining us as both an operating partner
and an investor in Nextel.  From the time of our original investment
in Nextel just 18 months ago, management's efforts have resulted in a
near tripling of the reach of its operations.  In addition to
marketing under the MCI name, Comcast may market Nextel's products
under our own brand as well."

     Handsets and infrastructure for the new system, both produced by
Motorola, provide improved functionality over earlier mobile services,
including digital voice, message and data services.  Messages can be
displayed on phone screens.  The phones also can be used as mobile
data receivers.  Because it will be fully digital, the wireless
services will provide crisper voice and data quality than current
analog systems.

    The new system will use Motorola's powerful new digital
communications technology, Motorola Integrated Radio System (MIRS).
Morton L. Topfer, president and general manager of Motorola's Land
Mobile Products Sector, said, "The versatility and spectrum efficiency
of MIRS will open the door to a whole new world of digital, personal
communications services.  As it will on other MIRS systems around the
world, this technology adds the power of messaging, dispatch and data,
to the same handset."

    The agreement is subject to appropriate regulatory review.

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

Date: Wed, 2 Mar 1994 06:35:14 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Unsolicited Fax Legality


FYI.  From comp.dcom.fax.

 From: [e-mail] (Robert J. Keller)
 Subject: Re: Unsolicited Fax Legality (CORRECTION!)
 Date: 26 Feb 1994 12:14:14 -0500
 Organization: Robert J. Keller, P.C. (Federal Telecommunications Law)

Thanks to an e-mail from George Pajari <[e-mail]>, I must
correct my last post to say that I discoverd a 1992 amendment to FCC
Rule Section 68.318, adding the fax header/identification requirement
which George refers.  For some reason this did not show up in my
initial computer search on Section 68.318.  I then searched on the
exact language of the subsection (which George kindly e-mailed to me)
and that finally netted me the amendment and some related material
that is included below.

The amendment added a new subsection, Section 68.318(c)(3), which reads as
follows:

    Telephone facsimile machines; identification of the
    sender of the message.

    It shall be unlawful for any person within the United
    States to use a computer or other electronic device to
    send any message via a telephone facsimile machine
    unless such message clearly contains, in a margin at
    the top or bottom of each transmitted page or on the
    first page of the transmission, the date and time it is
    sent and an identification of the business, other
    entity, or individual sending the message and the
    telephone number of the sending machine or of such
    business, other entity, or individual. Telephone
    facsimile machines manufactured on and after December
    20, 1992 must clearly mark such identifying information
    on each transmitted message.

Attached below are two FCC Pulic Notices relating to the amendment.  I
have deleted from the first Public Notice much of the material not
specifically relating to fax.  (This was part of a broader set of rule
amendments addressing the general area of unsolicited telephone calls,
automatic dialers, etc.  If you need the entire text of all the
amendments and the full text of the 11 Jan 1994 Public Notice, send me
an e-mail.)


Bob Keller (KY3R)    [e-mail]    Tel [phone]
[e-mail]        CompuServe 76100,3333    Fax [phone]

===== Excerpted from FCC January 11, 1993 Public Notice =====

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
PUBLIC NOTICE (31291 / DA 92-1716) January 11, 1993
INDUSTRY BULLETIN -- TELEPHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

TELEPHONE SOLICITATIONS, AUTODIALED AND ARTIFICIAL OR PRERECORDED
VOICE MESSAGE TELEPHONE CALLS, AND THE USE OF FACSIMILE MACHINES

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal statute that
was enacted on December 20, 1991, to address concerns about the
growing volume of unsolicited telephone marketing calls and the
increasing use of automated and prerecorded telephone calls. The TCPA
imposes restrictions on the use of automatic telephone dialing systems
("autodialers"), artificial or prerecorded voice messages, and
telephone facsimile machines to send unsolicited advertisements. The
TCPA also directs the FCC to adopt regulations to protect residential
telephone subscribers' privacy rights to avoid receiving telephone
solicitations to which they object.

The FCC adopted rules and regulations, effective December 20, 1992,
implementing the TCPA. *fn*1 The FCC will be monitoring complaints
about automated calls and unwanted telephone solicitations to
determine whether additional action to limit or to prohibit such calls
would be appropriate.

                          ----------

On December 18, 1992, the United States District Court for the
District of Oregon issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the
Commission from enforcing sec. 227 (b) (1) (B) of the Telephone
Consumer Protection Act of 1991 pending judicial action on a lawsuit
challenging the constitutionality of that section (sec. 227 (b) (1)
(B) prohibits calls using artificial or prerecorded messages to
residential telephone subscribers).

The injunction applies nationwide, and affects only FCC
enforcement of sec. 227 (b) (1) (B).

Different rules and regulations apply to calls placed to residences
and calls placed to businesses. Therefore, you should carefully read
this entire bulletin which is intended to assist your organization in
complying with the TCPA and the FCC's rules and regulations.

*** [Lots of Q&A's Deleted] ***

DO FCC RULES BAN UNSOLICITED ADVERTISEMENTS TO TELEPHONE FACSIMILE
MACHINES?

Yes. Effective December 20, 1992, FCC rules ban the transmission of
unsolicited advertisements to telephone facsimile machines. An
"unsolicited advertisement" is defined as a transmission advertising
the commercial availability or quality of property, goods or services
without the prior express invitation or permission of the person or
entity receiving the transmission.

Unsolicited advertisements may not be transmitted by any device to a
telephone facsimile machine unless the person receiving the facsimile
has given prior express invitation or permission to receive it. If the
sender and the recipient have an established business relationship, an
invitation or permission to receive unsolicited facsimile
advertisements is presumed to exist. However, the recipient may end an
established business relationship by requesting that no further
unsolicited advertisements be sent, thus revoking any invitation or
permission to receive further transmissions.

WHAT OTHER REQUIREMENTS APPLY TO THE USE OR MANUFACTURE OF TELEPHONE
FACSIMILE MACHINES?

FCC rules require that each transmission to a telephone facsimile
machine must clearly contain, in a margin at the top or bottom of each
transmitted page or on the first page of the transmission, (1) the
date and time the transmission is sent (2) the identity of the ender
and (3) the telephone number of the sender or of the sending machine.
All telephone facsimile machines manufactured on or after December 20,
1992 must have the capacity to clearly mark such identifying
information on the first page or on each page of the transmission.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH FCC RULES ON TELEPHONE
FACSIMILE TRANSMISSIONS?

The person on whose behalf a facsimile transmission is sent will
ultimately be held liable for violations of the TCPA or FCC rules.

*** [More Q&A's Deleted] ***

===== Entire Text of FCC January 13, 1993 Public Notice =====

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION PUBLIC NOTICE (31328) January 13,
1993 PART 68 IMPLEMENTATION OF TELEPHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

FCC Docket No. 92-90, released October 16, 1992, became effective on
December 20, 1992. For Part 68 requirements, see 47 C.F.R. sec.
68.318(c)(2) and (c)(3).

1. On December 18, 1992, the U.S. District Court for the district of
Oregon imposed a preliminary injunction upon the Commission, which
prevents the Commission from enforcing sec.  227(b)(1)(B) (prohibiting
artificial or prerecorded voice calls to residences) of the Telephone
Consumer Protection Act. The injunction applies nationwide, but
affects only Commission enforcement of sec. 227(b)(1)(B). The
Commission, therefore, is implementing that portion of the Act
relating to facsimile document marking requirements.

2. When filing Form 730 applications for registration of facsimile
machines, applicants must attest that their equipment is capable of
marking the document sent by identifying the sender, date and time of
the transmission, and the telephone number of the sender or the
sending machine on the first or each page transmitted and must provide
consumers with appropriate customer instructions.

When listing the model numbers on the Form 730 application, applicants
will attest compliance with this requirement by inserting the code
letters "FB" (for "fax branding") ahead of the model number. Example:
FB 1234, where 1234 is the model number fax machine. If the fax
machine comes equipped with a hearing-aid compatible telephone,
compliance is shown as: FB HAC 1234.

3. The Commission will consider the existing registration of any
machine manufactured before December 20, 1992 to continue to be valid.

Form 730 Customer Instructions: The following information must be
provided in Exhibit J of the Form 730 application and in instructions
furnished the customer as provided in the following example:

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 makes it unlawful for
any person to use a computer or other electronic device to send any
message via a telephone fax machine unless such message clearly
contains in a margin at the top or bottom of each transmitted page or
on the first page of the transmission, the date and time it is sent
and an identification of the business or other entity, or other
individual sending the message and the telephone number of the sending
machine or such business, other entity, or individual.

In order to program this information into your fax machine, you should
complete the following steps. Insert here instructions for programming
the equipment and the required information or the page where it can be
found. The fax branding procedure outlined above will be used only for
fax machines and not for fax cards used in computers pending
reconsideration proceedings.  FCC Contact: William von Alven (202) 634
1833


                ===== end of attachments =====

Bob Keller (KY3R)    [e-mail]    Tel [phone]
[e-mail]        CompuServe 76100,3333    Fax [phone]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #109
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #110

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 2 Mar 94 15:12:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 110

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Need to Monitor Pager Transmissions (B.J. Guillot)
    Sprint Canada to Begin Residential Service (Richard Sambolec)
    New Lower Rates in Italy (Alfredo E. Cotroneo)
    Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice? (Geoffrey T. Falk)
    Mini-Review:  AT&T 9120 900 MHz Cordless (William Kucharski)
    DigiPhone - Anyone Know About This? (Mike Reavey)
    Call Transfer to Outside Number (Lars Nohling)
    Acronyms Listing Wanted (Dorian Smith)
    UCLA Short Courses on Communications (Bill Goodin)
    VPC Invites Your Participation (Steve Feinstein)
    Conference Announcement: INTERNETcom '94 (Matthew Lucas)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (B.J. Guillot)
Subject: Need to Monitor Pager Transmissions
Date: 2 Mar 1994 13:01 CST
Organization: University of Houston


Here is yet another stupid question ...

Given that I have:

  1. A relatively fast computer;
  2. 16-bit capable sound card;
  3. A scanner radio capable of picking up frequencies that a particular
     pager uses;
  4. The serial number (or whatever) that a particular pager is on;

Is it conceivable that one could write a computer program (or that
there might already been programs out there that do this) so that I
might leave the computer and scanner running non-stop, decoding all
data coming over the pager frequency and logging any and all data
meant specifically for the pager serial number in question?

Reason: My sister has ran away from home (yet again) and we am trying
to think of ways to track her down.  She has a pager (that my parents
pay for, and that she uses often).  She usually calls my other sister
from payphones, so Call Return and Call Trace are of no use.  (We
don't have Caller ID in Houston yet, but I don't think that would be
of use in this case, either.)

If a little bitty pager can decode this information, surely a big
computer can, right?

Other possibilites:

1. Call the pager company and see if they will release their logs;
2. Buy a cheap pager somewhere (that uses the same frequency) and find
   someone willing to reprogram it to use the same serial number as the
   unit my sister uses.  (Can this be done easily??)

Anyone info on the protocol used by standard numerical-digit pagers
would be helpful.


Regards,

B.J. Guillot ... Houston, Texas USA

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

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: Sprint Canada to Begin Residential Service
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 14:29:45 PST


The following advertisement appeared in the classified section of the
{Vancouver Sun} on February 26, 1994:

        SPRINT TO THE BANK

With Canada's newest long distance company.  Inside and outside sales
people needed to give our service away.  (telephone number deleted)

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

Ever on the hunt for info pertinent to the telecom industry, I called
the good folks who placed the ad.  In fact it was not Sprint Canada at
all, but "Canadian Telephone Corp." a direct marketing firm, which
acts as an "agent" for Sprint Canada (formerly Call-Net Telecommunica-
tions Ltd. before Sprint bought a 25% interest in the company). Apparently
Sprint Canada represents 60% of their client base.

What is the news you ask?  Well, in addition to continuing to market
to businesses, Sprint Canada will make the move to solicit *residential*
subscribers starting in May, 1994.  You heard it here first.


Regards,

Richard I. Sambolec   Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 02 Mar 94 06:24:23 EST
From: Alfredo E. Cotroneo <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Lower Rates in Italy


Hello there from Milano, Italy:

Italcable (the Italian State intercontinental telephone provider) has
just recentlly lowered their rates, thus making direct calls from
Italy to the USA more affordable than most (all?) dial-back systems,
and of course much cheaper than AT&T and MCI's Call-USA-like systems.

This is Italcable's rate system for direct dial calls from Italy to
the USA (and a couple of other reference countries):

[Rate of exchange US$ 1 = Lire 1680 (1 March, 1994)]

fm: Italy
to:         TIMES:     8-14    14-19   19-23   23-08   Sunday all day
USA                    $1.37   $1.37   $1.28   $1.02
Singapore              $1.68   $1.68   $1.68   $1.31   $1.31
Corea                  $1.68   $1.68   $1.68   $1.31   $1.31

Residential users add 9% VAT (usually not refundable); Commercial
users add 19% VAT (most times refundable, so it is not a real cost)
All information obtained from the Italcable rate operator on 1790 on
March 1, 1994.

It will be nice to hear if and when AT&T, MCI, IDT, and the other
dial-back providers will lower their respective rates.

I checked today with AT&T and MCI, and their rates are still much
higher:

TO USA fm Italy            1st min        each add'l
via calling card
operator ("CALL-USA")

AT&T 172 1011 (toll free)    US $4.38    US $1.04
MCI  172 1022 (toll free)    US $3.78    US $0.99

I hope it will be of some help, at least to Italian telephone users,
so spread the word, and check yourself if you are not sure by dialing
Italcable from Italy on 1790.  I have started today not to use my MCI
card, since all calls are much cheaper now when I dial direct thru
SIP/Italcable. If you know of competitive serivices, or when/if these
rates will be lowered I will appreciate yr comments and more information
by e-mail to the address below.  I am not able to read this group on a
regular basis.

I have no connection with Italcable, just a user, now a happy user.
Maybe shall we have now to open a "Call-Italy" dialback service for our
friends in the USA ? (grin)


Alfredo E. Cotroneo, President,      NEXUS Int'l Broadcasting Association
PO Box 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy  Phone: [phone]
email: [e-mail]    FAX: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Geoffrey T. Falk)
Subject: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice?
Organization: University of Rochester Computing Center
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 94 23:07:46 GMT


It seems to me that the telephone companies are charging us for our
long-distance calls incorrectly. They charge per minute, not per byte.

The voice signal gets digitized, compressed and sent over a fiber-optic
or satellite network. The phone company is able to multiplex these signals,
so effectively the less compressed bandwidth each call uses, the more
conversations they can carry at any given time.

Therefore, it makes little sense to charge customers for their calls
by the minute. If I am talking to my parents in Calgary and there is a
ten-second moment of silence in the conversation, the phone company is
essentially charging me for ten seconds worth of data, even though
nothing was sent or received.

Perhaps we should organize a movement to make the public aware of
this. If the charges were calculated properly, it would make phone
conversations a lot more relaxed (and probably a little bit cheaper).


g.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, most long distance carriers
now charge in six-second increments after an initial thirty second
period, depending on the type of package you have with them. At those
rates -- just pennies or less per time period -- I don't think you'd
see much difference in the cost. Additionally, even during periods of
silence, there is switching equipment in use at the originating and
terminating sites. That cost would have to be factored in also.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (William Kucharski)
Subject: Mini-Review:  AT&T 9120 900 MHz Cordless
Date: 2 Mar 1994 13:17:50 -0700
Organization: Solbourne Computer, Inc., Longmont, CO


After going through several iterations of the VTech 900 DX while
awaiting the release of the AT&T 9120 (which is itself an OEMed 900
DX), the phone finally showed up at my local phone center store on
Monday.

Basically, it's a 900 MHz cordless phone with a digital link between
the handset and base, along with a speakerphone/intercom built into
the base.  (Note that this is a ten-channel 900 MHz phone, not one of
the new "spread spectrum" 900 MHz units.)

My feelings on the phone are mixed.  While the background is silky
smooth with no noise whatsoever, the quality of received audio isn't
all that great.  The best comparison I can come up with is audio
digitized at a rather low sampling rate with some type of anti-alias
filter run over the resultant audio.  There's a "companding effect" to
the sound (you can hear background hiss grow louder with a caller's
voice level changes) and sharp audio spikes are more like "fuzz."
(Needless to say, this is the same as the Tropez 900 DX.)  The
transmitted voice quality does roll off the highs a bit but otherwise
has been determined to be pretty much indistinguishable from a corded
phone (meaning that Tropez is using the high quality mike they now use
in the 900 DL and DX and the AT&T 9100.)

In short, I'm not really all that thrilled with it (except for the
buzz from interference, my 49 MHz cordless phone actually sounds
better).  It's an overall wonderful phone, it's just that it falls a
bit short of what I expect for $319.00.

Anyone have a 900 MHz cordless phone with a digital (or scrambled
analog) handset <-> base link and a handset <-> base intercom they'd
like to recommend?  Unless it "grows" on me, I believe the 9120 may be
headed back to the store.


William Kucharski, Solbourne Computer, Inc.
Internet: [e-mail]  Ham: N0OKQ
Mail: 1900 Pike Road, Longmont, CO 80501

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

Subject: DigiPhone - Anyone Know About This?
From: [e-mail] (Mike Reavey)
Date: Wed, 02 Mar 94 00:37:33 CST


Hello,

I recently downloaded a file called Answer.Zip.  It is a program that
turns your computer into a High-tech answering machine.  It let you
assign different out going messages to specific days and times of the
week. It lets you program up to 16 of them. It also has a Voice Mail
Box capability and an information server (Hit 1 For...2 for...3
for...# to repeat this list...etc.)  In order to let you computer do
this you must have a Data/Fax/Voice modem or a thing called DigiPhone
sold by Cyngus Data Systems ... it costs $130.

        What I wanna know is if anyone has used this, and is it any
good ... I just wanna use it for funny messages and stuff.  If you
know anything about this, please let me know.  I don't feel
comfortable at all about sending my money off to a place I've never
heard of to buy a product I've never heard of.

        This thing sounds cool ... you can supposedly use VOCs and it
supports a Soundblaster.  This could really help me make some cool
answering machine messages. Please email me if you know anything about
it.

Thanks a lot,


Mike Reavey   [e-mail] or [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 2 Mar 94 10:46 EST
From: Lars Nohling <[e-mail]>
Subject: Call Transfer to Outside Number


I am trying to come up with a way for our receptionist to transfer
calls to outside numbers. For example a call comes in for me and she
could transfer the call to my cellular number.

Our Toshiba Strata PBX does not seem to have any features for this. Is
CENTREX the only way to get what I want?

Are there any black-boxes that would do the trick?


Lars Nohling   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dorian Smith)
Subject: Acronyms Listing Wanted
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Martin Marietta, Inc., Reston, VA
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 1994 16:35:20 GMT


Is there an Acronym FAQ anywhere?  Even one for just the ISDN
stuff would help.

NOTE: If there is not one, send me your lists and definitions, and I
will try to put at least a minimal dictionary together.


Thanks,

[e-mail]   Dorian W Smith


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There are several glossaries of acronyms
available in the Telecom Archives. They can be obtained using anonymous ftp
lcs.mit.edu. When connected, then 'cd telecom-archives/glossaries'. Or you
can either search for individual items using the SEARCH command of the
Telecom Archives Email Information Service, or obtain the entire set by
using the 'SEND glossaries' command.  For help using the email server,
write and ask for the help file.   PAT]

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

From: Goodin, Bill <[e-mail]>
Subject: UCLA Short Courses on Communications
Date: Wed, 02 Mar 94 10:44:00 PST


During the spring, UCLA Extension will present five short courses
related to communications.  All will be held on the UCLA campus in Los
Angeles.

"Advanced Communication Systems Using Digital Signal Processing",
April 11-15, taught by Bernard Sklar and Frederick Harris.

"Trusted Systems Design and Engineering", April 18-22, taught by
Cristi Garvey, Eric Anderson, Marvin Schaefer, and Amy Wu.

"Nonlinear Dynamics Information Processing in Chaos, Fuzzy Logic, and
Neural Networks", May 9-11, taught by Harold Szu.

"Integrated-Services Telecommunications Networking: High-Speed Local,
Metropolitan, and Wide-Area Networks", May 23-27, taught by Izhak
Rubin, Michael A Erlinger, and Michael A Rouleau.

"Fiber Optic Sensors: Theory and Applications", June 6-9, taught by
Eric Udd, Sami T Hendow, and Robert A Lieberman.

For further information on any of these courses, please contact Marcus
Hennessy at:

e-mail:  [e-mail]
phone:   [phone]
fax:     [phone]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: VPC Invites Your Participation
Organization: Voice Processing Corp., Cambridge, MA
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 1994 03:35:28 GMT


Voice Processing Corp., Cambridge, MA, is building the next generation
of over-the-telephone speech recognition systems to be used by
telephone companies, banks, credit card companies, etc.  In order to
maximize the robustness of this speaker-independent system, WE REQUIRE
THOUSANDS OF SAMPLED VOICES SUCH AS YOURS.  By making a simple phone
call (you may CALL COLLECT if necessary) and repeating a list of
utterances for about 2 1/2 minutes total, you will be adding your
voice to systems you may well encounter in the near future -- systems
which will recognize your spoken commands over the telephone.

The guidelines are simple:

1.  You must be a native American or have an "American accent"
(any U.S. regional accent is fine).
2.  You may only call during the hours of 9am-5pm Eastern Standard
Time.
3.  Call only once unless you make a mistake.
4.  Encourage family and friends to participate as we need as
many speakers as possible.

To participate, DIAL [phone] and ASK FOR EXTENSION 301.  You
will be prompted through several utterances.  Following this, you will
be asked for the state where you grew up.  The call will then
disconnect.  The entire session takes about 2 1/2 minutes and you are
welcome to CALL COLLECT.


Steven Feinstein   Voice Processing Corp.

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

Date: Wed, 02 Mar 1994 09:43:43 -0500
From: Matthew Lucas <[e-mail]>
Subject: Conference Announcement: INTERNETcom '94


                         INTERNETcom '94

An Internet Commercialization Conference and Exposition
          Washington, DC    March 21-23, 1994


AGENDA UPDATE:

A special workshop session has been added on March 23rd, in which
Mecklermedia's Chris Locke will describe and demonstrate MecklerWeb, a
commercial Internet space in which corporate sponsors and professional
associations can cooperatively offer value-added multimedia information
to networked communities.

The current list of exhibitors include:

SPRY, Readmore Inc, Rockwell International, Legi-Slate, Mesa Technologies,
NEC America, PSI, Innovation Group/Hybrid Networks, CD Consultants,
WAIS.

Tuesday, March 22, 1994

8:30-9:00  Registration

9:00-10:30

OVERVIEW

Commercial traffic on the Internet is rapidly increasing. What is
driving this growth? Where will new markets emerge? How large will
they be? Who are the current and potential players? What business
opportunities are being created? What commercial uses of the Internet
are emerging? How will today's Internet culture change?  What
challenges must be met as commercialization efforts move forward? What
is the role of the National Science Foundation?

Gordon Cook, President, Cook Network Consultants
Anthony Rutkowski, Vice President, Internet Society
Bill Washburn, Executive Director
  Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX)

10:30-11:00  Coffee Break

11:00-12:00

SECURITY ISSUES

Security is still a critical issue for anyone who wants to do business
on the Internet. The speaker  will address  the threats, concerns  and
countermeasures that  are important and discuss what security policies
and procedures need to be established.

Stephen Crocker, Vice President
  Trusted Information Systems, Inc.

12:00-1:30  Hosted Lunch and Exhibits

1:30-3:30

DESIGN AND DELIVERY OF INFORMATION SERVICES

What does it take to design and deliver a successful information
service? Who will the customers be, what do they want and how much
will they pay? What impact will commercialization efforts have on the
information service industry? What challenges lie ahead, including
copyright and licensing issues? What business strategies should the
information industry adopt?

Jeff Crigler, Director, Business Information Services
  Mead Data Central
Isabella Hinds, Manager, Professional Relations
  Copyright Clearance Center
Robert Raisch, President, The Internet Company
Richard Vancil, Vice President, Marketing, Individual Inc.

3:30-4:00  Coffee Break and Exhibits

4:00-4:30

HOW TO ADVERTISE EFFECTIVELY

How can effective, nonintrusive advertising be accomplished on the
Internet? What features of the Internet culture and etiquette are
important to understand in order to be successful?

Judith Axler Turner, a head of the working group on advertising
  for the Coalition for Networked Information

4:30-5:30

USING THE INTERNET FOR A COMPETITIVE EDGE

How can business owners enhance their operations by using the Internet
not only to offer a variety of information and document delivery
services, but also to market and sell? The speakers will discuss the
lessons learned in implementing and using Internet connectivity and
explain how to identify business costs.

Chris Vandenburg, Internetworking Product Manager
  Rockwell International
Speaker to be Announced

5:30-6:30  Reception and Exhibits

Wednesday, March 23, 1994

8:30-9:15

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

What opportunities exist for providing Internet access? What will be
driving growth over the next few years? What range of services can be
provided? What are end users looking for? What does it take to be
successful?

Michael Ballard, Chief Operating Officer, UUNET
Speaker to be Announced

9:15-10:00

NAVIGATION TOOLS

What are the primary challenges to navigating on the Internet and what
tools are currently available?

Bruce Antelman, President, Information Express
Kevin Oliveau, Engineer, WAIS, Inc.

10:00-10:30  Coffee Break and Exhibits

10:30-11:30

BILLING AND SETTLEMENT ISSUES

The speakers will address the following topics: billing/accounting
issues and Internet service provisioning; cost and rate structures;
billing options available to information service providers; and an
update on billing-related activities of the Internet Engineering
Task Force.

Taso Devetzis, Member Technical Staff, Bellcore
Bob Doyle, Director, Marketing, Sprint

11:30-11:45  Coffee Break

11:45-12:30

INTERNET ACCESS VIA CABLE TV

Cable companies are looking at advanced communications uses for
today's cable TV systems. One such use is remote high-speed access.
The speakers will describe a cable-based access method and provide an
update on cable/Internet trials, including a distance education
project.

Gordon Cook, President, Cook Network Consultants - MODERATOR

James Ginsburg, Senior Information Officer, Jones Intercable, Inc.
Ed Moura, Vice President, Marketing and Sales
  Hybrid Networks, Inc.

                     Pre-Conference Tutorial
               UNDERSTANDING INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES
            FOR NON-ENGINEERS AND STRATEGIC PLANNERS
             by Dr. Jerry Lucas and Invited Faculty
         Monday, March 21, 1994  *  9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.

This one-day tutorial is for the non-engineer, strategic planner,
entrepreneur or anyone who has to understand the Internet in order to
make business decisions about emerging commercial opportunities.  This
tutorial covers not only Internet technologies, economics and
leading-edge opportunities, but also looks at operational issues such
as addressing, network management and security from a business
development perspective.

1. INTERNET OVERVIEW: What is the Internet? Who controls it? What can
you do with it? Who pays for it? Who are the players domestically and
internationally? What is the role of the NII and NREN? Why are the
RBOCs, cable TV companies, IXCs and PDA vendors interested in
Internet? Why all the attention to commercialization?

2. INTERNET ACCESS, NAVIGATION AND APPLICATIONS: How to find, share
and sell information on the Internet. The basic application tools and
navigation/search systems (FTP, TELNET, ARCHIE, GOPHER, WWW, WAIS,
etc.). Access service providers (CIX, PSI, Sprint and others). Access
options (dial-up, dedicated, frame relay, cable TV and wireless). New
entrepreneurial developments.

3. INTERNET ADDRESSING: IP addressing. How to obtain addresses (Class
A,B,and C). CIDR, Internet DNS and how to register. Setting up an
E-mail server, bulletin board and directory service. New business
opportunities.

4. INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES: Role of TCP/IP. MAC vs. PC products. LAN
access (SLIP, PPP, frame relay, etc.) and WAN and ATM developments.
IPX, DECNET and APPLETALK. Leading edge vendors and where their
products are headed.

5. INTERNET MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY: Managing a commercial Internet
service. SNMP management tools and products. Security concerns,
encryption, authentication and Clipper Chip issues. Other operational
concerns related to doing business on the Internet.

                        WORKSHOP TRACK

Monday, March 21, 1994

9:00-12:30

INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET

What is the Internet? How does it work?  How can it help me? How much
does it cost to use? What are the rules and policies that govern the
Internet?

GETTING CONNECTED

What does it take to get connected to the Internet? What choices are
available? How much does it cost to get connected? What should I look
for in a service provider? What problems can I expect and how can they
be solved?

2:00-5:00

INFORMATION ACCESS AND DELIVERY

How can I find out what electronic information is available on the
Internet? Specifically, what information, catalogs, textual documents
and databases are available and how can they be accessed?

Tuesday, March 22, 1994

9:00-12:00

NAVIGATING THE INTERNET

What tools are available for navigating through the Internet and
searching for information? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of each of these techniques? What is the outlook for
the future?

2:00-5:00

ACCESS AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES

Once your organization has been connected to the Internet, who should
have access? What guidelines and policies should be set to maximize
the benefits for everyone? What management and training issues will
arise in this new environment?

RAISING VENTURE CAPITAL FOR INTERNET ENTREPRENEURS

What are venture capitalists looking for when they want to invest?
How should you structure your business plan to make it attractive to
investors?

Wednesday, March 23, 1994

9:00-12:00

GOVERNMENT INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET

What electronic information resources developed by and about the
government are available on the Internet?


For More Information Call TeleStrategies Inc. at [phone].

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #110
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #111


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 4 Mar 94 10:00:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 111

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Digital Chicken: Fax Gateway to Ontario, Canada (c.d.f. via Rich Sambolec)
    Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice? (Bill Mayhew)
    Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice? (Dale Worley)
    Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice? (Alan Larson)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: fax gateway to Ontario, Canada (fwd)
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 1994 15:23:22 PST


Forwarded FYI from comp.dcom.fax:

Forwarded message:

Subject: Fax Gateway to Ontario, Canada

D   I   G   I   T   A   L       C   H   I   C   K   E   N

AN EXPERIMENT IN GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS, AND INTERNATIONAL
REMOTE PRINTING AND FAXING.

Who?

Digital Chicken is a new cooperative project between Dr. Robert Riley
and Planet Communications & Computing, of Toronto.

     Digital Chicken
     c/o Dr. Robert Riley
     157 Bastedo Avenue, Suite #2
     Toronto, Ontario
     Canada   M4C 3N2

     Telephone:  [phone]   Fax:  [phone]
     Internet:  [e-mail]

What?

The service provided by Digital Chicken is to allow people with
Internet e-mail access to communicate quickly and efficiently with
a variety of Canadian federal and provincial government and
non-governmental agencies (e.g., the Prime Minister, Toronto Star,
Toronto Blue Jays, Ontario Human Rights Commission).

E-mail may be sent to any of these agencies, and upon receipt by
Digital Chicken the mail is immediately forwarded via fax to the
organizations office.  In time, interested organizations will be
shown how to access their e-mail directly, and in turn respond to
your letters by e-mail.  At the moment, however, replies to you will
be via fax or regular mail.

How?

Refer to the following list of Digital Chicken member agencies.
You may e-mail to the agency(ies) of your choice by using their
'nick' and sending mail to the following address:

<user nick>@chicken.planet.org

Remember that at the present time you must include your correct name,
postal mailing address, and/or fax number if you wish a reply from the
agency.

If you have any questions/concerns, or if you would like to see an
agency/organization included in our service, please contact Digital
Chicken at: [e-mail]

Further, if you wish to send a fax in the 416 or 905 area codes, you
may send it to [e-mail] and it will be forwarded on for
you.  Please make the subject line: FAX TO <fax #>

NOTE:  PLEASE BE AWARE THAT E-MAIL IS NOT THE ROUTE FOR TRANSMITTAL OF
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.  ANY SYSTEM OPERATOR, OF ANY SITE ON THE ROUTE
YOUR MESSAGE TRAVELS, COULD READ YOUR MESSAGE.  IT IS YOUR CHOICE AND
RESPONSIBILITY TO USE E-MAIL WHEN AND WHERE APPROPRIATE.

DIGITAL CHICKEN, DR. ROBERT RILEY, NOR PLANET COMMUNICATIONS AND
COMPUTING FACILITY WILL BE HELD LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR USE OF THIS
SERVICE, OR FOR FAILURE OF YOUR MESSAGE TO REACH IT'S INTENDED
DESTINATION.  THIS IS A FREE SERVICE--USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

*indicates organizations receiving e-mail directly

NAME                           USER NICK                 FAX

Metro Toronto Police
  Chief McCormack               mccormac          416-324-6026
  General                       metcop            416-324-0695
  Public Complaints Bureau      metcopcb          416-324-0551
  Board of Commissioners        metcopbr          416-324-0693
Ontario Police Public
  Complaints Commissioner       opcctor           416-325-4704
Ontario Police Public
  Complaints Commissioner
  (South-West Region)-Windsor   opccsw            519-973-1470
York Regional Police            yorkcop           905-853-5810
Peel Regional Police            peelcop           905-453-7370
Ontario Provincial Police       opp               705-329-6195
Halton Regional Police          haltcop           416-825-9416
Barrie Police Service           barrcop           705-728-2971
Durham Police Service           durhcop           905-433-5053
Guelph Police Service           guelcop           519-763-0516
Hamilton-Wentworth Regional
  Police Service                hamilcop          905-546-4752
London Police Service           londcop           519-645-1908
Niagara Regional Police Service niagcop           905-685-5081
Orangeville Police Service      orangcop          519-941-1279
Sarnia Police Service           sarncop           519-344-6001
Waterloo Regional Police        watercop          519-650-1793
Windsor Police Service          windscop          519-255-6569

Municipal Governments
  Town of Ajax                  ajax              905-686-8352
  Town of Oakville              oakville          905-815-2025
  *City of Mississauga           [e-mail]
  City of Toronto               toronto           416-392-1446
    June Rowlands, Mayor Toronto  rowlands        416-392-0026
    Councillors                   council         416-392-1050
    Toronto Transit Commission    ttc             416-485-9394
  Chairman, Metro Toronto
    Council                     chairman          416-392-3799
    Metro Toronto Zoo           mtzoo             416-392-5934
  City of Etobicoke             etobicok          416-394-8895
  Borough of East York          eastyork          416-778-9134
  City of North York            noryork           416-395-7337
  City of York                  york              416-394-2803
  City of Brampton              brampton          905-874-1119
  City of Barrie                barrie            705-726-0510
  City of London                london            519-661-4892
  City of Windsor               windsor           519-255-6868
  City of Sarnia                sarnia            519-332-3995
  City of Hamilton              hamilton          905-546-2095
  City of Guelph                guelph            519-763-1269
  City of Kitchener             kitchen           519-741-2705
  City of Waterloo              waterloo          519-747-8760
  City of Niagara Falls         niagara           905-356-0759
  City of St.Catharines         stcathar          905-682-3631
  City of Welland               welland           905-732-1919
  City of Oshawa                oshawa            905-436-5697
  City of Whitby                whitby            905-686-7005
  Region of Durham              durham            905-668-9963
  City of Burlington            burlingt          905-335-7881
  City of Brantford             brantfor          519-752-6977

Government of Ontario
  Premier of Ontario              ontprem         416-325-3745
  Minister of Agriculture & Food  ontagri         416-326-3083
  Ontario Film Review Board       ontfilm         416-314-3632
  Minister of Transportation      onttrans        416-327-9185
  Minister of Economic Trade
      & Development               ontecdev        416-325-6918
  Minister of Labour              ontlabor        416-326-1449
  Minister of Health              onthlth         416-326-1571
  Minister of Finance             ontfin          416-326-9096
  Ombudsman of Ontario            ombud           416-586-3485
  Chief Electoral Officer
    of Ontario                    elect           416-321-6853
  Provincial Auditor (Ontario)    ontaudit        416-324-7012
  Lt.Gov. of Ontario              ongltg          416-325-7787
  Solicitor General and Minister
    of Correctional Service       ontsolg         416-326-5085
  Attorney General                ontatg          416-326-4016
  Minister of Natural Resources   ontnatur        416-314-2159
  Minister of Citizenship         ontcitiz        416-314-0022
  Minister of Consumer and
    Corporate Relations           ontcons         416-326-5820
  Minister of Community and
    Social Services               ontsoc          416-325-5221
  Minister of Education           ontedu          416-325-2608
    Royanl Commission on Learning rclearn         416-325-2956
  Minister of Environment         ontenvir        416-323-4682
  Minister of Housing             onthouse        416-585-6935
  Ministry of Northern
    Development & Mines           ontnorth      416-327-0665
  Ministry of Culture, Recreation
    and Tourism                 onttour         416-325-6195
  Minister Resp.for Women       ontwomen        416-314-0253

MPP Don Mills                   donmills        416-696-0181
MPP Oakville-South              oaksouth        905-842-0332
MPP Fort York                   fortyork        416-363-0835
MPP Lake Nipigon                nipigon         416-327-0968
MPP Dovercourt                  dovercou        416-653-1054
MPP Etobicoke-West              etobwest        416-695-1222
MPP Mississauga-South           misssth         905-278-1525
MPP Oriole                      oriole          416-494-2440
MPP Downsview                   dwnsview        416-740-2474
MPP Eglinton                    eglinton        416-482-2776
MPP Etobicoke-Lakeshore         etoblake        416-259-3704
MPP Beaches-Woodbine            beachwd         416-421-3741
MPP Oakwood                     oakwood         416-781-4116
MPP Etobicoke-Humber            etohumb         416-233-4321
MPP High Park-Swansea           highpark        416-762-4499
MPP Lawrence                    lawrence        416-785-4524
MPP Mississauga-North           missnor         905-826-4553
MPP Mississauga-West            misswest        905-566-5264
MPP Etobicoke-Rexdale           etobrex         416-745-5670
MPP Mississauga-East            misseast        905-276-6933
MPP Brampton-North              bramnor         905-840-7845
MPP Durham-West                 durwest         905-683-8643

Ms Lyn McLeod,
Leader, Ontario Liberal Party   ontlib          416-325-9895
Mr. Michael Harris,
Leader, Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party  ontpc           416-325-7810
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Offices
  Information and Privacy
   Commissioner/Ontario          ipcont          416-325-9195

  Provincial Govt. Ministry FOIPP Coordinators
   Min. Agriculture & food       oagffoi         416-326-3083
   Min. Attorney General         oatgfoi         416-326-4307
   Min. Consumer&Corp.Relations  occrfoi         416-326-8461
   Min. Citizenship              ocitfoi         416-325-6117
   Min. Comm.&Social Services    ocssfoi         416-730-6654
   Min. Education                oedufoi         416-325-2608
   Min. Environment              oenvfoi         416-323-4630
   Min. Housing                  ohoufoi         416-585-6935
   Min. Labour                   olabfoi         416-314-8749
   Management Brd.of Cabinet     ombcfoi         416-327-2190
   Min.Culture,Tourism,Recreat.  octrfoi         416-325-6195
   Min.Correctional Services     omcsfoi         705-494-3081
   Min. Finance                  ofinfoi         905-436-4462
   Min. Intergov. Affairs        omiafoi         416-325-4787
   Min. Natural Resources        omnrfoi         705-740-1666
   Min. Health                   omohfoi         416-327-7044
   Min. Transportation           omtofoi         416-235-5277
   Min. North.Develop.&Mines     ondmfoi         416-327-0665
   Min. Solicitor General        osolfoi         416-314-3195
  Other FOI Coordinators/Office:
   City of Toronto               torfoi          416-392-6990
   Municipality of Metro Toronto metrofoi        416-397-5624

Ontario Human Rights
  Commission                    onthumrt        416-314-4533
Canadian Human Rights
  Commission                    canhumrt        416-973-6184

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
  Toronto                       romantor        416-977-6063
Anglican Church of Canada       anglican        416-968-7983
United Church of Canada         united          416-925-3394
Bahai' Faith Toronto            bahaitor        416-889-8184

Newspapers (including "Letters to the Editor")
  Toronto Star                  torstar         416-869-4322
  Globe and Mail                globe           416-585-5085
  Toronto Sun                   torsun          416-947-3228
  Now Magazine                  now             416-461-2886
  Xtra!                         xtra            416-925-6674
  Eye Weekly                    eye             416-971-7786
  Beaches-Metro News            beachmet        416-698-1253
  Ryersonian (Ryerson)          ryerson         416-979-5216
  Barrie Examiner               barrexam        705-726-7245
  London Free Press             frpress         519-667-4528
  Windsor Star                  winstar         519-777-2551
  Hamilton Spectator            spectat         905-521-8986
  Kitchener-Waterloo Record     record          519-894-3829
  St. Catharines Standard       standard        905-684-6032

Hospitals (Metro Toronto Area)
  The Hospital for Sick Children  sickkids        416-813-7161
  The Toronto Hospital            torhosp         416-340-5888
  Addiction Research Foundation   addict          416-595-5017
  Donwood Institute               donwood         416-425-7896
  Casey House (AIDS hospice)      casey           416-962-5147
  Humber Memorial Hospital        humber          416-249-1312
  Oakville Trafalgar Memorial
    Hospital                      trafalg         905-338-4636
  Orthopaedic/Arthritic Hospital  ortharth        416-967-8593
  Sunnybrook Health Science
    Centre                        sunny           416-480-4588
  Doctor's Hospital               doctors         416-923-1370
  Central Hospital                central         416-969-4183
  Wellesley Hospital              wellesly        416-926-4874
  North York Gen.Hospital         nyghosp         416-756-6384
  Etobicoke Gen.Hospital          eghosp          416-747-8608
  York-Finch Gen.Hospital         yfghosp         416-747-3883
  Bloorview Children's Hospital   blrview         416-494-9985
  Hugh McMillan Rehabilitation
    Centre                        hughmac         416-425-6591
  St. Michael's Hospital          stmike          416-864-5669
  St. Joseph's Health
    Centre (Toronto)              stjoetor        416-530-6346
  Queensway Gen.Hospital          queens          416-253-0111
  North York Branson Hospital     branson         416-635-2537
  Toronto East General &
    Orthopaedic Hospital, Inc.    tegh            416-469-6106
  Scarborough Centenary Health
    Centre                        scarcent        416-281-7323
  Scarborough Grace General
    Hospital                      scargrac        416-495-2631
  Scarborough General Hospital    scargen         416-438-9318
  Grace Hospital, Toronto         gracetor        416-925-3211
  Northwestern General Hospital   nwestgen        416-658-2192
  Mount Sinai Hospital            mtsinai         416-586-8787
  Princess Margaret Hospital      prmarg          416-926-6547
  Women's College Hospital        womens          416-323-7314
  Lyndhurst Hospital              lyndhrst        416-422-5216
  Peel Memorial Hospital          peelmem         905-451-8439
  Ajax-Pickering General
    Hospital                      ajaxpick        905-683-1262
  Mississauga General Hospital    missgen         905-848-7139
  Credit Valley Hospital          credit          905-820-0020
  Queen Street Mental Health
    Centre                        queenst         416-583-4307
  Clarke Institute of Psychiatry  clarke          416-979-5679
  Markham-Stouffville Hospital    mrkstouf        905-472-7086
  Shouldice Hernia Surgery        shouldic        416-889-4216
Other Hospitals:
  Bowmanville Memorial Hospital   memhosp         905-623-4088
  Brantford General Hospital      brantgen        519-752-0098
  Grace Hospital (Windsor)        gracewin        519-255-2254
  Guelph General Hospital         ggenhosp        519-822-2170
  Hamilton General Hospital       hamilgen        905-527-1941
  Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital   hamilpsy        905-575-6038
  Henderson General Hospital      hendhosp        905-575-2641
  Chedoke-McMaster (Hamilton)
   (includes Children's Hosp.)    chedoke         905-528-3828
  Hotel Dieu Hosp.(St.Catharines) hdstcath        905-682-0663
  Hotel Dieu Hosp.(Windsor)       hotelwin        519-977-0018
  Joseph Brant Hosp. (Burlington) jbrant          905-336-6480
  Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital     kwhosp          519-749-4208
  Metropolitan General (Windsor)  metrowin        519-254-0883
  Oshawa General Hospital         ogenhosp        905-433-2794
  Royal Victoria (Barrie)         royalvic        705-726-0822
  Sarnia General Hospital         sarngen         519-336-1293
  St. Joseph's (London)           stjoelon        519-646-6028
  St. Joseph's (Sarnia)           stjoesar        519-336-2379
  St. Mary's (Kitchener)          stmarys         519-749-6597
  St. Catharines Gen.Hospital     stcgen          905-684-1468
  University Hospital (London)    univhosp        519-663-3876
  Victoria Hospital (London)      victoria        519-685-8147
  Welland General Hospital        wellhosp        905-732-3268
  Whitby General Hospital         whitgen         905-668-7480
  Whitby Psychiatric Hospital     whitpsy         905-430-4032
  Windsor Western Hospital        westwin         519-257-5121
Ontario Nurses' Association       ona             416-964-8864
College of Physicians & Surgeons  college         416-961-3330
  of Ontario

Public Libraries
  Toronto Public Library          torlib          416-393-7782
  Etobicoke Public Library        etoblib         416-394-5050
  Scarborough Public Library      scarlib         416-396-8808
  Brampton Public Library         bramlib         905-799-0806
  Mississauga Public Library      misslib         905-615-3615
  City of York Public Library     yorklib         416-394-2781
  East York Public Library        eylib           416-396-3812
  North York Public Library       nylib           416-395-5542
  Metro Toronto Reference
    Library                       referenc        416-393-7229
  Hamilton Public Library         hamlib          905-546-3202
  Windsor Public Library          windlib         519-255-7207
  London Public Library           londlib         519-663-5396
  St.Catharines Public Library    stcatlib        905-688-6292
  Kitchener Public Library        kitchlib        519-743-1261
  Waterloo Public Library         waterlib        519-886-7936
  Guelph Public Library           guellib         519-824-8342
  Brantford Public Library        brantlib        519-756-4979
  Burlington Public Library       burlilib        905-681-7277
  Sarnia Public Library           sarnlib         519-337-3041
  Oshawa Public Library           oshawlib        905-433-8107
  Whitby Public Library           whitblib        905-668-7445
  Bowmanville Public Library      bowmlib         905-623-9905
  Barrie Public Library           barrlib         705-728-4322
  St. Marys Public Library        smarylib        519-284-2630
  St. Thomas Public Library       sthomlib        519-631-1987
  Niagara Falls Public Library    niaglib         905-356-7004
  Font Hill Public Library        fontlib         519-892-3392

Boards of Education
  East York Board of Education    eyedu           416-465-2237
  Etobicoke Board of Education    etobedu         416-394-3803
  Metro Toronto Roman Catholic
    Separate School Board         rcssbedu        416-229-5345
  North York Board of Education   nyedu           416-395-8210
  Peel Board of Education         peeledu         905-890-6698
  Scarborough Board of Education  scarbedu        416-396-4856
  Toronto Board of Education      toredu          416-393-9969
  York Board of Education         yorkedu         416-727-3984
  London Board of Education       lonedu          519-455-7648
  London R.C. Sep.School Board    lonssedu        519-663-9250
  Windsor Board of Education      winedu          519-255-1651
  Windsor R.C. Sep.School Board   winssedu        519-253-8397
  Lincoln Cty. Board of Education lincedu         519-685-8511
  Lincoln Cty.R.C.Sep.School Brd. linssedu        519-682-0012
  Waterloo Cty. Brd.of Education  wateredu        519-742-1364
  Waterloo Cty.R.C.Sep.School Brd.  watssedu      519-578-5520
  Hamilton-Wentworth Brd.of Ed.   hamedu          905-521-2536
  Hamilton-Wentworth R.C.Sep.
     School Board                 hamssedu        905-525-1724
  Durham Region Brd.of Education  durhedu         905-576-1457
  Durham Reg.R.C.Sep.School Brd.  durssedu        905-576-0953
  Simcoe Cty. Board of Education  simedu          705-728-2265
  Simcoe Cty.R.C.Sep.School Brd.  simssedu        705-722-6534
  Sarnia Board of Education       sarnedu         519-336-0992
  Sarnia R.C.Sep. School Board    sarssedu        519-336-5160

Television/Radio
  CityTV                          citytv          416-593-6397
  CFMT TV                         cfmttv          416-265-0509
  CFTO TV                         cftotv          416-299-2273
  Canadian Broadcasting
    Corporation (CBC)             cbc             416-963-9036
  Global Television Network       global          416-446-5371
  CTV Television Network          ctv             416-928-0907

Ontario Legal Aid Plan          olap            416-979-8669
Ontario Legal Aid Plan
  Scarborough Area              olapscar        416-750-7184

Fire Departments
  City of Toronto               torfire         416-392-0161
  City of Scarborough           scarfire        416-396-7765
  City of North York            nyfire          416-395-7286
  City of Etobicoke             etobfire        416-394-8589
  City of York                  yorkfire        416-394-2764
  Borough of East York          eyfire          416-396-3757
  Town of Ajax                  ajaxfire        905-683-8119
  City of Brampton              bramfire        905-874-2727
  City of Mississauga           missfire        905-615-3756

Ambulance Services
  Metro Toronto                 ambulanc        416-392-2008

Art Gallery of Ontario          artont          416-979-6646

Government of Canada
  Prime Minister of Canada      primemin        613-941-6900
  Minister of Health & Welfare  health          613-952-7746
  Minister of the Environment   environ         819-953-3457
  Minister of Transportation    transpor        613-995-0327
  Minister of Fisheries/Oceans  fisherie        613-990-7292
  Minister of Labour            labour          819-953-3419
  Minister of Supply & Service  supply          819-953-1908
  Minister of National Revenue  revenue         613-952-6608
  Minister of Agriculture       agricult        613-996-9219
  Minister of Consumer and
   Corporate Affairs            consumer        819-953-4930

  Canadian Federal Immigration
    and Refugee Board           immrefbr        416-954-1165

Political Parties
  New Democratic Party of Canada  ndpcan     613-996-9584
  Green Party of Canada           green      613-232-3081

Toronto Blue Jays               bluejays        416-341-1250
Toronto Maple Leafs             leafs           416-977-5364


Eric Snyder - Ottawa Canada  : "Introduction to Internet" - 3 hrs
Targeted Communication Mgt   : "Internet - POWER User Workshops" - 2 days
 [e-mail]   : "Internet for Workgroups" - 1 to 2 days
    HANDS-ON COMPUTER LAB TRAINING WITH FULL FTP CONNECTIVITY

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice?
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Date: Thu, 03 Mar 1994 17:39:28 GMT


I agree with Pat that while you have a long distance circuit engaged,
you are in effect paying an availability fee during periods of
silence in as much as you could begin speaking again at any moment.
The switch gear has to be available to handle your on-demand
transmission.

Since the long distance business is a quite competitive business,
doubtless the carriers have factored in average rates of circuit
re-use in periods of silence so they can offer you the most favorable
rate relative to their competators.  Billing in time increments I'm
sure makes for easier comprehension by the customer than some
[apparently to the customer] number of bytes transferred.

Something that has come up for discussion between is that fax and
modem calls should be charged a higher rate because they tie up more
transmission resources.  It wouldn't be beyond the capabilites for
billing equpipment to detect modem carrier and adjust rates
accordingly.


Bill Mayhew        NEOUCOM Computer Services Department
Rootstown, OH  44272-0095  USA      phone: [phone]
[e-mail]       amateur radio 146.58: N8WED

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

From: [e-mail] (Dale Worley)
Subject: Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice?
Date: 4 Mar 1994 10:46:06 -0500
Organization: Village of Cambridge, Public-Access Internet


Geoffrey T. Falk ([e-mail]) wrote:

> It seems to me that the telephone companies are charging us for our
> long-distance calls incorrectly. They charge per minute, not per byte.

> The voice signal gets digitized, compressed and sent over a fiber-optic
> or satellite network. The phone company is able to multiplex these signals,
> so effectively the less compressed bandwidth each call uses, the more
> conversations they can carry at any given time.

> Therefore, it makes little sense to charge customers for their calls
> by the minute.

This *should* be true, but it isn't, because the telco's equipment is
set up in a way which doesn't allow it to take advantage of the time
you're not sending data.  Consider that your modem is sending a
carrier even when you're not sending data.  (With error-correction
protocols, your modem may be sending data even when you're not.)  And
even if the telco installed complex equipment to allow them to detect
times of no-data-transmitted and tear down your signal path during
them (and simulate the carrier at the other end!), the next modem
standard to come along would obsolete the system.

In addition, the telco system is designed to do circuit switching; it
assumes that calls are long, and that setup and teardown are
infrequent, and so the system is optimized to make holding a channel
open cheap at the expense of making setup/teardown expensive.

In theory, much of this could be fixed in ISDN, but isn't.

This leads to my favorite hobbyhorse: Rent a TCP/IP line from the
telco!  Then the telco knows exactly when you're sending data and when
you aren't, and you occupy no more bandwidth on the network than you
actually need.


Dale

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 94 00:12:04 PST
From: [e-mail] (Alan Larson)
Subject: Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice?


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> The voice signal gets digitized, compressed and sent over a fiber-optic
> or satellite network. The phone company is able to multiplex these signals,
> so effectively the less compressed bandwidth each call uses, the more
> conversations they can carry at any given time.

> Therefore, it makes little sense to charge customers for their calls
> by the minute. If I am talking to my parents in Calgary and there is a
> ten-second moment of silence in the conversation, the phone company is
> essentially charging me for ten seconds worth of data, even though
> nothing was sent or received.

  Aside from the fact that the switching equipment is in use at each
end, the digitized data stream is still being sent.  Those bits are
still flying down the connection during that 'quiet' time.

  The compression of u-law encoding does not reduce the data rate
during quiet time.  It reduces the number of bits needed for an
apparent dynamic range, but it does it constantly during the connection.

  Telephone call compression is not like the unix utility compress on
an ascii file compressing lots of blanks out quite efficiently.


Alan

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #111
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #112

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 4 Mar 94 12:34:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 112

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Premium Rate, Sex Lines, Astronomic Bills (Eduardo Garcia Lopez)
    Unitel Seeks Balloting in Canada's Long-Distance War (Richard Sambolec)
    Westel Enters the B.C. Long-Distance Race (Richard Sambolec)
    New Area Code Change Question (Joe Beeler)
    Voicemail Answering Collect Call? (Steve Heitke)
    P X 64 Video Chipsets (Paul Wareham)
    Line/Cable Simulators ([e-mail])
    Setting up a 900 Number (Tauren N. Mills)
    Telular Canada Gets Canadian Rights to VideoModem (Richard Sambolec)
    Bell Mobility Skytel Takes Off With Air Canada (Richard Sambolec)
    Voice Cards (Randy Gellens)
    Telecommuting Examples Wanted (Jeff Cauhape)
    Help! Nitsuko Phone Gremlins Invade Startup Company! (Mark Forbes)
    MOH and Royalties and Supreme Court (Barton F. Bruce)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (Jack W. Judy)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (Brian Buckman)
    Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone (Terry Gilson)
    Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone (A.N. Ananth)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Eduardo Garcia Lopez)
Subject: Premium Rate, Sex Lines, Astronomic Bills
Organization: Telefonica I+D
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 09:57:08 GMT


I recently read an article (A Rock and a Hard Place, Communications
International, Feb 94) where the author describes the Premium-rate
service fiasco in South Africa that finally lead to closing down the
service in December 1992.

Uncontrolled use of telephone services by employees in thousands of
businesses left many companies with bills that they could not pay.
Millions of debts to the phone company, harms to its image caused by
sex lines advertised in the national press remind me of a similar
situation we have been living in Spain during the last year.
Complaints from companies, government offices, families whose kids
could freely access these services and stories of bills over several
thousands of dollars.

Here the problem received a salomonic solution that involved the
Communications General Secretary, the Senate and the Ombudsman. After
their recommendations the phone company should offer separate numbers
for different premium-rate services. Instead of the old 903 prefix
two prefixes will be available, 903 and 906.

906 access will be universally available and allows access to services
considered of general interest such as entertainment, news,
meteorological, legal, fiscal, sanitary information, etc.

903 is only available for customers who explictly request access to the
service. It is used for entertainment services that may produce
undesirable effects to certain sectors of society, specifically teenagers
and kids.

All customers were sent a letter informing them about this separation
and the tariffs for 903 services, tariffs for 906 would be fixed latter.
A reply coupon was enclosed for customers who might wish to have 903
access.

An elegant solution that has washed up the image of the phone company.
Surprisingly one does not find 903 numbers advertised currently,
instead one finds now in the national press and a TV channel numbers
like the following:

 0785217477522
 07639884010494

A quick look at the first pages of the phone book reveal the secret
behind these suspiciously long numbers:

07  prefix in Spain to get international tone
852 Hong-Kong prefix
63  Philippines prefix

Calls are presumably rerouted back to Spain so that service providers
can offer their services in the local language.  I am sure many users
will not bother looking at the phone book. Kids may still call without
control, business and families may still be getting astronomic bills
for a international calls and premium rate services.

I wonder if phone companies have carried out studies about the
  sociological impact of the services they are creating.
I wonder how many other countries are living situations like this.
I wonder how can one now explain to dissatisfied customers that it is
  not a problem of the local phone company. Limit also international acess
  upon demand ?

And if voice telephony is creating these sort of problems I would not
like to imagine what will happen with multimedia, virtual reality
communications.


Eduardo

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

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: Unitel Seeks Balloting in Canada's Long-Distance War
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 02:13:07 PST


Yesterday, company Vice-President Richard Stursberg announced Unitel
was petitioning the CRTC for the right to hold a national referendum
on long-distance competition.  Stursberg suggested that this was the
only way to level the playing field, arguing that customers were not
aware of their long-distance carrier options.

Reaction from the telcos was swift.  Jocelyne Cote-O'Hara, President
and C.E.O of Stentor Telecom Policy, which represents the provincial
telcos, noted that Canadians were already informed and given a choice
through the earlier Unitel licensing process, stating that "Maybe
Unitel just has not done its job.  We (the Stentor membership) have
paid 100% of the cost of interconnecting to allow competition.  It's
up to them to come up to the mark." {The Financial Post} (03/03/94
p.5)

The proposed balloting procedure is similar to that used previously in
Australia and the United States;  telephone subscribers across the
nation would be sent a vote-by-mail kit, tailored to their region.
Subscribers would check the preferred service provider in their area
and return the ballot via Canada Post within a specified time.  A
return of less than 65% of the initial ballots would require a second
solicitation for votes.  Unitel would like to see the ballots
distributed by early next year.

Bell Canada officials have estimated that the cost of balloting in the
provinces of Ontario and Quebec alone to exceed $35 million, not
counting the expense of pre-ballot advertising.  This morning BC Tel
issued a press release which estimated that the cost of postage alone
would top the $15 million mark.  According to press reports, Unitel
has proposed the cost be split between the phone companies based on
their level of support in the ballot -- if 50% of the ballot respondents
vote for Unitel, Unitel would pay 50% of the cost. {The Financial Post}
(03/03/94 p.5). As the underdog, Unitel would clearly benefit most from
this scenario.  If the respondents indicate that they wish to continue
with the status quo, then it would be the Stentor members who would
pay the bulk of the costs.  Clearly Unitel has nothing to lose.  The
alternative is that Unitel may ask the CRTC, as administrator of the
telecommunications regulation, to finance the vote.

The long-distance market in Canada exceeds $7 billion dollars, with
most of it continuing to be dominated by the Stentor members.  Since
commencing business over one year ago, Unitel has only managed to sign
up 300,000 customers, despite an extensive advertising campaign,
whereas Bell has over seven million subscribers in Ontario and Quebec.

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

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: Westel Enters the B.C. Long-Distance Race
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 02:33:37 PST


At their February 24, 1994 launch, Westel Telecommunications Ltd.
executives revealed that they will begin serving business and
residential customers starting March 31, 1994 in order to take
advantage of the excess capacity they have accumulated during the last
40 years of service to their railway parent company, B.C. Railway Ltd.
The newest entrant in the phone wars will focus on small and medium
sized business and promises to do some "100% B.C. owned" chest-beating.

To date, 2/3s of the company's revenues have been from providing
telecommunications service to their parent.  Last year their revenues
were $14 million.  Seeing room to steal market share from BC Tel
through marginal discounts (cited as 5% {The Globe & Mail} 03/03/94
B14) Westel hopes to increase recenues to $89 million by 1997.  Westel
currently has about 135 customers, whereas BC Tel has approximately
40,000 business clients.

Until "equal access", due to arrive this summer, customers will likely
access Westel's facilities from the BC Tel network, requiring a
seven-digit number and a four-digit access code.

According to General Manager, Ron Ades, Westel owns and operates over
2,000 kms of lines and will be adding facilities linking Vancouver
with Victoria and Kamloops, as well as upgrading nine lines in the
province's north.

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

From: [e-mail] (Joe Beeler)
Subject: New Area Code Change Question
Date: 3 Mar 1994 13:46:17 -0500
Organization: Cybergate, Inc.


During some recent research, I have come across something called the
North American Numbering Plan that is supposed to take effect in
January 1995. I am looking for more information on this, specifically
a report or database on where the changes are going to take place, and
what the exact change will be.

I will be happy to post a summary of sources should anyone be interested.


Regards,

Joe Beeler   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The NANP has been around for more than
forty years. It is nothing more or less than the layout or organization
of area code numbers throughout the USA and Canada. What *is* new, and
changing early next year is the method or rationale by which such numbers
are assigned. From the early days in the late 1940/early 1950 period until
a couple years ago, area codes always had 2 through 9 as the first digit
(of three), 0 or 1 as the second digit, and 1 through 9 as the third digit.
0 was never the third digit, and nothing greater than 1 was ever the second
digit. There were a few special 'area codes' of the form X10 (where X was
4 through 9) and these were assigned to use by TWX (TypeWriter eXchange)
machines. Instances of X00 were not 'area codes' but 'access codes' for
use with special services such as 800 (automatic reverse charge calling
which replaced the old 'Enterprise/Zenith' numbering scheme).

Obviously, the available numbers were limited, and now we have run out
of possibilities. Starting a couple years ago, area codes of the form 'X10'
(where X is any number 2 through 9) were put into use, and beginning next
year, there will be no 0/1 restriction on the second digit of the three.
Since the general public has never probably understood the way area codes
were constructed in the past, the general public will probably not notice
the difference starting next year.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Heitke)
Subject: Voicemail Answering Collect Call?
Organization: Tellabs, Lisle, IL
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 1994 23:58:31 GMT


Intro:

A few days ago I came to work to find my message light blinking on my
phone.  I checked my voicemail to find a collect call had been
accepted by the PBX and a five to ten minute message was left in my
"mailbox".  The call was a wrong number and I alerted the proper
people at Tellabs to the situation.

Question:

How did the automated collect call get confused into allowing the call
to go through?  The phone interface in question is a ROLM 9751 CBX (I
know it's a ROLM but the model could be wrong).


Steve Heitke - [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Two things may have happened. If the call
was handled manually by an operator, the operator may have made a mistake
and let the call go through; that could be either the telco operator or
the PBX operator. You do not mention if your voicemail (or extension) can
be dialed direct without going through a PBX operator or not. If calls
can go through without a local PBX operator, then it is possible some word
or phrase (i.e. 'yes') might have triggered whatever mechanism caused the
call to be accepted. Even if a PBX operator answered first, it is possible
that someone using a COCOT/AOS got past that point because the local PBX
operator was never tipped off to the status of the call.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul Wareham)
Subject: P X 64 Video Chipsets
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 11:23:07 -0500
Organization: Dept of Electrical Engineering, Queen's Univ, Kingston, Ontario


I am looking for any manufacturers who sell chip sets capable of
supporting the P X 64 / H.261 motion video coding standard.

Any info would be appreciated.


Regards,

Paul Wareham    Queen's University   Ontario, Canada

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

From: HNL DQ ENGINEERING <[e-mail]>
Subject: Line/Cable Simulators
Date: 3 Mar 94 22:49:12 -1000
Organization: VeriFone Inc., Honolulu HI


Does anyone know who manufactures, sells or rents line/cable
simulators? I need to simulate 3K feet lengths of various gauges.

Thanks in advance.


phil

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

From: [e-mail] (Tauren N Mills)
Subject: Setting up a 900 Number
Date: 3 Mar 1994 18:13:48 -0800


I am investigating setting up a 900 number for my business, but cannot
justify the $2500 installation fee that AT&T wants, plus the $1000 per
month.  Does anyone know of any outfits that will rent 900 numbers?

I don't want to rent one that is already set up and all you have to do
is advertise.  I need my own information to be available.


Tauren Mills      * phone: [phone]   * Interactive Multimedia
New Media Magic   * fax:   [phone]   * Computer Animation
[e-mail] * compuserve 71530,3700 * Film & Video

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

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telular Canada Gets Canadian Rights to VideoModem
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 02:40:55 PST


According to {The Globe & Mail} (03/02/94 B8), Telular Canada Inc and
Colby Systems Corp. have reached an agreement that gives Telular the
exclusive right to distribute VideoModem products in Canada.

The company claims the Colby VideoModem digitizes and compresses both
audio and full colour motion video for transmission trhough any type
of telephone connection, including analog, digital, ISDN, and
cellular.  Telular officials report VideoModem transmits and receives
video and audio simultaneously, at low cost and without special
connection facilities, allowing customers to send live, moving video
in colour by telephone.

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

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bell Mobility Skytel Takes Off With Air Canada
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 02:51:07 PST


The {Globe & Mail} (03/02/94 B2) reports:

"Air Canada planes will soon be outfitted with a new generation of
telephones that will allow travellers to get phone calls during their
flight.  Bell Mobility Skytel announced yesterday (March 1st) it has
signed an agreement with Air Canada to equip its entire fleet with GTE
Airfone's latest ground-to-air equipment, called GenStar.  Over the
next 15 months, 7000 GenStar telephones will be installed in Air
Canada aircraft."

This reminds me, how is Jack Goeken's In-Flight Phone Corp (IFPC)
doing these days anyhow?

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 03 Mar 1994 18:49:00
Subject: Voice Cards Question


How reliable are voice cards, such as those sold by Dialogic?  How
about the VM software available for them, such as that by the company
which DialLogic recommends (I think it is Telecom Technologies)?

Would it be relatively easy to set up a small VM system using these
cards and software, and would it be reasonable to expect such a system
to run unattended at a remote location?

How hard is it to administer such a system remotely?  How about funny
requirements, such as some mailboxes being receive-only?


Randall Gellens        [e-mail]
Net**2 656-6350        (Please forward bounces to
Mail Stop MV 237       [e-mail])

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

From: Jeff Cauhape <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telecommuting Examples Wanted
Organization: The Wollongong Group, Inc., Palo Alto, CA
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 12:37:23 GMT


Hi,

    I'm trying to get telecommuting going in a big way at our company,
and my manager has tasked me with gathering a list of other companies
that use telecommuting already. If you telecommute, would you please
email me with a short description of how your company handles it.
Thanks in advance.


Jeff Cauhape   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Forbes)
Subject: Help! Nitsuko Phone Gremlins Invade Startup Company!
Date: 4 Mar 1994 15:51:28 GMT
Organization: CS Outreach Services, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA


I'm trying to keep track of the phone system here at work. It's a
Nitsuko DS01 24x72 KSU, with a NVM2000 voicemail system running behind
it. Problems include periodic false ringing, blasts of static from the
phones, programming in the system getting re-programmed, extensions
that won't transfer, etc. I've swapped nearly everything in the
system, I've spent hours on the phone to Nitsuko technical support,
I've screamed, cursed, begged, groveled and torn my hair out in
despair. Now bald and abased, I turn to the *real* experts ... you guys.

Anybody out there got one of these things? It's a digital phone
system, so it isn't as simple as 'just check your connections'. The
phones and the KSU both have CODECs in them, and the signal travels
between the two as 56Kbaud packetized data on two differential pairs.
At least, that's what they told me.

I'm starting to suspect a software bug of some kind. It's running
version 1.05 firmware, and it's a two-cabinet system currently, but
could be expanded to three cabinets. The problems got worse this last
week when I added two more station sets. Prior to that it had been
fairly stable for a couple weeks.

Nitsuko tech support has *tried* to be helpful, but their usual answer
is, "Well, try swapping some components and see if that helps." I'm
down to the point where I have to buy some more phone system parts,
just to see if I can solve the problem. I've got spares of most
things, but I guess I'll now have spares of *everything*. :-(

Any net.advice would be greatly appreciated. Failing that, anybody got
a suggestion for a replacement system? We need to service a high-technology
company with a planned size of about 80 people and probably 20-25 incoming
voice lines. PBX/KSU/phone widget ideas would be welcomed.


Mark G. Forbes  Test Engineer (and itinerant 'phone guy') Acres Gaming Inc.
[phone] (assuming the &^#*&$ phone system is working....)
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: MOH and Royalties and Supreme Court
Organization: Digital Equipment Computer Users Society
Date: 4 Mar 1994 12:36:17 -0500
Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc.


I thought the Supreme Court had fairly recently made it 'ok' to play
radio/cd/<whatever> on music on hold without paying BMI (Brass-knuckles
Music Investigations?) or ASCAP or ...

A background music vendor just claimed we could NOT put what we want on
MOH without paying.

What is the truth?

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

From: [e-mail] (Jack W. Judy)
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again
Date: 4 Mar 1994 06:54:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley


On the subject of phones in the movies I wonder if anyone else noticed
that in the movie Die Hard 2 (the one in the Airport) Bruce Willis
called someone (his wife?) from a pay phone in the Wash. DC (?)
airport ... except that the phone has Pac-Bell written on it?  I guess
this goes to show you how much effort and thinking went into this
movie.

I wonder how many phone gaffes have appeared in the movies.


Cheers,

Jack W. Judy                  Office: [phone]
Electrical Engineering        FAX:    [phone]
497 Cory Hall (BSAC)          Lab:    [phone]
University of California      Home:   [phone]
Berkeley, CA  94720           email:  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This particular gaffe has been mentioned
here before a couple times.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Brian Buckman)
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again
Organization: The Flexible Work Company
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 13:09:04 +0000


In the UK British Telecom had (in fact they may still have) a team
that would allocate dummy numbers. They would also check for
historical accuracy -- so if the play was set in (say) 1920 they would
give you an appropriate number. In fact, many of the numbers thay
provided worked however, as they were often meter pulse test numbers
(so any one calling would increase their next phone bill as the
equipment would pulse their rather fast).


Brian Buckman              [e-mail]
The Flexible Work Company  [e-mail]
Tel: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A team or group of employees just to do
that? What a job! Imagine your friends asking you what are your duties
at the Telephone Company: " ... oh, I am part of a team which allocates
dummy numbers to movie producers."  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Terry Gilson)
Subject: Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone
Date: 4 Mar 1994 07:21:53 GMT
Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation


On Feb. 25 Min Hu  [e-mail] wrote:

> During the gulf war, both the reporters and the American soldiers used
> a kind of satellite phone system so that they could communicate with
> outside world. Does anybody out there know companies who make or sell
> this kind of mobile phone system?

> The following features will be desirable.

> 1. Ability to communicate while the phone is in motion (say a jeep)
> 2. The diameter of the antanne should be less than 1 meter
> 3. The satellite carrier should be either American satellite or sea
>    monitoring satellite.
> 4. The antanne should be all-direction antanne, do not have to worry about
>    the direction of the satellite.

> It will be greatly appreciated if you can offer any clue as how to
> find this kind of company.

To my knowledge the only commercial voice-capable satellite system
around will be the one from American Mobile Satellite Corp. which will
offer their SKYCELL Mobile Telephone Services sometime in 1995. It
should offer full-service mobile satellite connections throughout
North America, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands and 200 miles of coastal waters.

AMSC is one of the first recipients of an FCC license granting
authority to provide a full range of satellite-delivered, mobile
telephone, fax and data services to land mobile, maritime,
aeronautical and fixed site markets.

AMSC is a consortium of some big names such as: Hughes Communications,
Inc.; McCaw Cellular Communications Inc.; and Mtel Corporation, to
name just a few.

I think it will be made up of five or six GEO birds, the first of
which was originally to be launched in late '94.

TRW plans the Odyssey MEO series some day and then of course Motorola
will put up the Iridium system in Low Earth Orbit.

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

While I am thinking about it, I sometimes wonder who will be the
customers for all this expensive communications capability.

It seems to me that the majority of the populated land mass is covered
quite well with the current cellular systems, and those systems tie in
nicely with the land-line systems of the world.

I like the idea of offering coverage on every square inch of the
planet, but who would I sell it to?  There are only so many world
travelers who need to take the same phone with them wherever they go.

Maybe I am missing something, but right now I don't know what it
could be.

I hope this answers your question.


Terry Gilson                   [e-mail]
DCN Cellular  805-379-3333     [e-mail]
Westlake Village, CA  USA      [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (A N Ananth)
Subject: Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone
Date: 4 Mar 1994 11:50:10 -0500
Organization: Prism Communications Inc, Annapolis MD


In article <[e-mail]>, Min Hu <[e-mail].
utoronto.ca> wrote:

> During the gulf war, both the reporters and the American soldiers used
> a kind of satellite phone system so that they could communicate with
> outside world. Does anybody out there know companies who make or sell
> this kind of mobile phone system?

As has been mentioned by someone else, you are probably referring to
INMARSAT. In the North American continental region you ought to
consider the MSAT system that is being offered by AMSC in the US and
TMI in Canada. It has all the qualities you desire and is priced
comparably to ground based cellular systems.


ananth    <[e-mail]>  Phone: [phone]  Prism Communications Inc.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #112
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #113

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 4 Mar 94 13:55:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 113

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Area Code Closeness (David Whiteman)
    Re: Area Code Closeness (Mark C. Williams)
    Re: Call Transfer to Outside Number (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: Call Transfer to Outside Number ([e-mail])
    Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker (Gary W. Sanders)
    Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Radio Program on History of the Telephone (Jodi Weber)
    Re: Intern's Pay in Telecom (Gary W. Sanders)
    Re: Interop Conference (Bruce Sullivan)
    Re: InterLATA CID (John Gilbert)
    Re: Need Information on ISDN Phones (Ethan C. Tuttle)
    Re: Why Are Rates to India Increasing? (A.N. Ananth)
    Re: ATM Comes to Long Island (Dorian Smith)
    Re: Help Needed Using Sprintnet (David O. Laney)
    Re: Need to Monitor Pager Transmissions (Mark Earle)
    Re: Need to Monitor Pager Transmissions (John Gilbert)
    Re: New Lower Rates in Italy (Aled Morris)
    Re: Another Misprogrammed COCOT (William Pfeiffer)
    Re: Elementary Area Code Question (Peter Campbell Smith)
    Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud? (Doug Grant)
    CallBack-Service Wanted (Uli Mittermaier)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Whiteman)
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 03:25:32 GMT


La Habra in Orange County, California which is in the 714 area code
has portions of the 714, 909, 310, 213, and 818 area codes in its
local calling area.  That is five area codes in its local calling
area; can anyone beat that?

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

From: Mark C. Williams <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Area Code Closeness
Date: 4 Mar 1994 09:36:56 -0600
Organization: The Black Box, PO Box 591822 Houston, TX 77259-1822


Paul Robinson ([e-mail]) wrote:

> The two areas were Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles/Southern
> California (back then).  Los Angeles is 213, Dallas is 214; Fort Worth
> is 713, Orange County and the rest of Southern California (was then)
> 714.  Had they switched these, the Southern California area could have
> allowed people to advertise an 8 digit number starting with 3 or 4,
> since they would all have started with 21 or 71.  And the Metroplex
> could have done the exact same thing only using the other two-digit
> group.

But Fort Worth is in NPA 817.  Metro Houston is NPA 713, some five
hours south east of the metroplex.


Mark C. Williams   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Call Transfer to Outside Number
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 06:53:20 PST


Said by: Lars Nohling

> I am trying to come up with a way for our receptionist to transfer
> calls to outside numbers. For example a call comes in for me and she
> could transfer the call to my cellular number.

> Our Toshiba Strata PBX does not seem to have any features for this. Is
> CENTREX the only way to get what I want?

> Are there any black-boxes that would do the trick?

At work when the need has come up, we pull a second line, dial the
number, announce the call, and bridge the two lines using conference.
This is not a very good method if the information is confidential, but
it works in an emergency.


Steve   [e-mail]
#608 Merrill * 200 McLaughlin Drive * Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1015

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 05:46:49 -0800
From: [e-mail] (puma)
Subject: Re: Call Transfer to Outside Number


In article <[e-mail]> Lars Nohling <LNohling_+a_
[e-mail]> writes:

> I am trying to come up with a way for our receptionist to transfer
> calls to outside numbers. For example a call comes in for me and she
> could transfer the call to my cellular number.

> Our Toshiba Strata PBX does not seem to have any features for this. Is
> CENTREX the only way to get what I want?

Centrex (at least here) will not allow *transfer* to an outside
number.  You can add-on an outside number, but the local caller has to
stay on the line.  If the local person disconnects, the whole call is
taken down.

> Are there any black-boxes that would do the trick?

I'm surprised there isn't some way for your PBX to do a
three-way-add-on of an outside line.  Your receptionist could add you
on, and then put the call on hold locally.  This works fine on
Centrex, and when the party eventually hangs up, the local hold is
dropped.


[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Fri,  4 Mar 94 14:29:37 GMT
Subject: Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker
Organization: AT&T


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Conrad Kimball) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Dale
> Worley) writes:

>>> Heard on the news today that Missouri state government has
>>> started a 1-900 number for businesses to find the provider of the
>>> lowest-cost workers' compensation insurance.  They are charging $1
>>> /min, with $.45-.55 to go to the state general revenue fund.

    Ohio just installed a $15/call 900 number for gun dealers who
need to do background checks on gun sales.


Gary W. Sanders (N8EMR)   [e-mail]
AT&T Bell Labs     614.860.5965

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: 1-900 as a State Moneymaker
Date: 3 Mar 1994 22:08:44 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Les Reeves) writes:

> Several years ago I installed a channel bank for the US Office of
> Personnel Management's job line 900 service.  The cost was the lowest I have
> ever seen on any 900 service; 40 cents per minute.  They told me they
> selected a per-minute rate that would just cover the cost of the access
> from MCI.

This doesn't make any sense at all.  If they are not making any money
from the 900 number, why is it even on a 900 number?  Why require the
caller to pay 40 cents a minute, when they could pay at most 25 cents
for a regular 1+ call?  Also, 900 puts all sorts of restrictions on
the calling phone: it can't be a cellular phone, pay phone,
international call, blocked PBX, and so on.  Is there something I'm
missing, or is this another example of our government's experts at
work?


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri,  4 Mar 94 05:58:07 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Radio Program on History of the Telephone
Organization: AT&T


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> WBEZ (FM 91.5, Chicago) will be broadcasting a four-part "radio history
> of the telephone", titled "Hell's Bells", starting Feb. 28 at 7:00-8:00
> PM.  The other three parts will be aired March 1, 2, and 7 (same time).

> This is an American Public Radio program; the folks at the station
> said it will likely be aired on other APR or NPR stations around the
> country, but on different schedules.  Check with your local station,
> or call Israel Smith at APR in Minneapolis, 612-338-5000.

I called the above number to find out when it was playing in the New
York or Philadelphia areas, and unfortunately it's already been aired
there.  But I was given the producer's name to contact regarding this
program (APR is just the distributor).  His name is Greg McVicar at
Pacific Multimedia.  His number is 510-938-2877.


Jodi Weber   [e-mail]   or   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Fri,  4 Mar 94 14:27:05 GMT
Subject: Re: Intern's Pay in Telecom
Organization: AT&T


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Russ McGuire) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> Ramaiah V Narla <narlara1@
> student.msu.edu> writes:

> Could they have possibly meant $10/hour?  I thought it was illegal to
> pay less than minimum wage, even to interns ;^) ...

> We have used interns at times here at WilTel, but I'm not sure how
> well we've paid them.  I'm pretty sure it was more than $10/day ...

Minimum wage has a lot of loop holes. If your paying room and food
then you can pay under minimum.


Gary W. Sanders (N8EMR)  [e-mail]
AT&T Bell Labs  614.860.5965

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 94 12:01 EST
From: Bruce Sullivan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Interop Conference


In TELECOM DIGEST V14 #108, [e-mail] (Arnold Shore)
asks:

> Will appreciate any information on a series of conferences or
> expositions named Interop xx, where xx is the year.  Theme, of course,
> was interoperability/telecom products, services, issues.

Interop '94 will be held May 4-6, 1994 in Las Vegas, NV at the Las
Vegas Convention Center.  Questions: 1-800-488-2883. FAX: [phone].

I have a brochure.  If you have further questions I might be able to
answer them. However, the 800# above will probably be more helpful.


Bruce

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

From: [e-mail] (John Gilbert)
Subject: Re: InterLATA CID
Organization: Motorola, LMPS
Date: Fri, 04 Mar 1994 10:47:29 -0600


Aren't tariffs only required for the IXC or LEC to add an additional
charge for the feature?  They way I look at it, I am already paying
the $6.50 /month for the feature and my LEC should be doing their best
to make this feature work as well as possible with as many IXCs as
possible.  When I have a choice, I will choose the LEC and IXC who
make this feature work most frequently while still maintaining the
other aspects of local and LD service that I value.

I look at this like audio quality or operator services -- another
place where an IXC or LEC can improve to differentiate their service
offering from their competition.  If the IXCs feel that they need to
be compensated for passing this information, they can talk to my LEC.
At $6.50 /month and with CID support on only some of the COs in my
LATA and none outside my LATA, Caller ID is already marginally useful
to me. The IXC won't be getting any more money from me for this
feature.

I called ATT's public relations office to ask about their support of
Inter-LATA Caller ID. The supervisor who I spoke with didn't know what
I was talking about, but promised to check into it and call me back
(he never did). As soon as an ATT competitor can offer me an
equivalent service level WITH caller ID compatibility, I'll be
changing to them.


John Gilbert         [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ethan C. Tuttle)
Subject: Re: Need Information on ISDN Phones
Date: 4 Mar 1994 14:30:43 GMT
Organization: Stanford Med School ISG


PacBell has some info on various ISDN equipment (including phones) on
their gopher site:

gopher.pacbell.com

You'll have to poke around to find it, I don't quite remember where it
is.


ethan

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

From: [e-mail] (A N Ananth)
Subject: Re: Why Are Rates to India Increasing?
Date: 4 Mar 1994 11:38:46 -0500
Organization: Prism Communications Inc, Annapolis MD


In article <[e-mail]>, Linc Madison
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> I was looking at yet another one of those newspaper ads for the
> various LD companies' international discount calling plans, and I've
> noticed that they list numbers like "India 73 cents (thru 3/30/94, 78
> cents after)"

> Is the PTT in India increasing its "landing fees"?

Actually the rates are not increasing at all. As one who spend$, let
me assure you that the rate of $0.73 is almost 50% off the normal
rate...at the present time, $0.78 per minute is the best you can do
[if you call over the weekend etc]


ananth    <[e-mail]> Phone: [phone]  Prism Communications Inc.

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

From: [e-mail] (Dorian Smith)
Subject: Re: ATM Comes to Long Island
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Martin Marietta, Inc., Reston, VA
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 16:39:55 GMT


Curious, your part of "Clinton's Information Superhighway" was
originally funded by the Bush administration.  Also, you are not the
first.


[e-mail] Dorian W Smith

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

From: [e-mail] (David O. Laney)
Subject: Re: Help Needed Using Sprintnet
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 00:51:36 GMT
Organization: Free-Net Erlangen Nuernberg, Germany


To reach SPRINTNET from Italy trying calling the USA Direct Operator
for Sprint at 172-1877 which should be available from most phones in
Italy.


David O. Laney   [e-mail]  [phone]

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 94 12:31:03 CST
From: [e-mail] (Mark Earle)
Subject: Re: Tracking a Particular Pager


> Is it conceivable that one could write a computer program (or that
> there might already been programs out there that do this) so that I
> might leave the computer and scanner running non-stop, decoding all
> data coming over the pager frequency and logging any and all data
> meant specifically for the pager serial number in question?

> 1. Call the pager company and see if they will release their logs;
> 2. Buy a cheap pager somewhere (that uses the same frequency) and find
>    someone willing to reprogram it to use the same serial number as the
>    unit my sister uses.  (Can this be done easily??)

The computer program your theorize above is possible, but illegal.
The same ECPA which gives cellular telephone users "privacy" extends
this type of privacy to digital format pager users (note that voice
pagers are not afforded such privacy).

Paging companies generally keep no such detail -- some bill by a
volume of pages, but again, usually the detail is not kept.

Item two above might help you, if you have all the technical specs of
the target pager, but might also run afoul of the ECPA. Also, some
brands of pagers (Motorola) have the "cap code" pre-programmed at the
factory. While it _can_ be changed in the field, it is an unusual
requrest and so finding someone who knows about it and would be
willing to order parts not stocked might not be easy.

We won't even consider that the law enforcement might have the
computer program/ or functional equal. After all, it's illegal by
Federal law.

Note though that the Detective type magazines do offer such devices
for educational use only, of course. The same way they offer devices
which can log calls to/from target cellular phones, and (supposedly,
they say) intercept calls to/from specific cellular phones. Strictly
for educational purposes :-).  I've not kept up with any of this
educational type material so can offer only this vauge information.


[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Gilbert)
Subject: Re: Need to Monitor Pager Transmissions
Organization: Motorola, LMPS
Date: Thu, 03 Mar 1994 18:07:03 -0600


Your easiest and least expensive bet is to get a pager with the same
signalling format, signalling rate and frequency. This could then be
programmed on the same cap code that your sister is using.

I really don't see how you will be able to do this without your paging
company's help or without reading the information off the back of your
sister's pager. You need all the information above if you want to
monitor her pages. The cap code is probably on her bill, if you have
access to that, but the rest of the information is probably not.

There are commercial devices available to monitor paging data.
Greyson Electronics in Blacksburg Va, makes a package that runs
several thousand dollars and is only sold to law enforcement or paging
operators.  Hark electronics makes a small modem for decoding paging
data that still runs over $1000. The least expensive PC based
monitoring solution is the M400(?). Check "Popular Communications" or
"Monitoring Times."  They take out a full page add every month.  The
box they sell is designed for shortwave listeners for decoding
radio-teletype primarily. It also decodes POCSAG and GSC paging data.

If you are going to go looking for the cap-code and frequency that she
is on with a scanner and paging demodulator, remember that data can be
delayed by a few minutes from the time you enter the page to the time
that it hits the air.

FYI -- paging data is protected by the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act (ECPA) just like a cellular phone conversation.


John Gilbert  [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 10:15:24 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Aled Morris)
Subject: Re: New Lower Rates in Italy


In article <[e-mail]> Alfredo E. Cotroneo
<100020.1013@Compu Serve.COM> writes:

> This is Italcable's rate system for direct dial calls from Italy to
> the USA (and a couple of other reference countries):

> [Rate of exchange US$ 1 = Lire 1680 (1 March, 1994)]

> fm: Italy
> to:         TIMES:     8-14    14-19   19-23   23-08   Sunday all day
> USA                    $1.37   $1.37   $1.28   $1.02
> Singapore              $1.68   $1.68   $1.68   $1.31   $1.31
> Corea                  $1.68   $1.68   $1.68   $1.31   $1.31

For comparison, here's what I'm paying my local telephone co:

GB#1 = US$1.5 (this is a bit generous, I think its nearer $1.4 now, so
these numbers are too high)

fm: GB
to:          Standard         Economy
USA          $0.5418          $0.4856
Singapore    $0.9720          $0.8010
Korea        $1.4895          $1.4688
Italy        $0.3737          $0.3341

Standard = 8am-8pm Mon-Fri, Economy = all other times.  For calls to
Singapore and Korea, Standard rate applies 8am-8pm weekends too.

VAT (sales tax) is 17.5% (reclaimable by commercial users).

I'm glad I don't call Korea very often :-)

Also, it looks like it's cheaper to relay calls between Italy and the
US via a dial-back from England.


Aled
[e-mail]  |  tel [phone]
Perot Systems Europe Ltd.  |  fax [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (AIRWAVES E-PUBLISHING)
Subject: Re: Another Misprogrammed COCOT
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 02:24:17 CST


[e-mail] (Jay Hennigan) wrote:

> Speaking of COCOTs, I've observed that many of them scramble the
> dialed digits on the tone pad.  That is, when dialing an 800 number, I
> can hear DTMF tones in the handset, but the tones are _not_ the digits
> I am dialing.  However, I reach the correct number.  Once the number
> is dialed, I get a synthesized "thank you", and thereafter the tone
> pad sends the correct tones.

> Does anyone know why this is done?

A guess ...

When you are dialing initially, you are not dialing against the CO
dialtone, but against an internally generated dialtone.  Perhaps, the
internal call recongition interface recognizes non-standard tones
(perhaps as a security measure against pocket dialers).  Once you
satisfy the internal brain, you get standard tones.

I have heard these 'wobbly' tones too on COCOTS.


     William Pfeiffer - Moderator/Editor
rec.radio.broadcasting - Airwaves Radio Journal
              - Internet email -
Article Submission: [e-mail]
Subscription Desk:  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Peter Campbell Smith)
Subject: Re: Elementary Area Code Question
Organization: Logica, London
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 08:49:07 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(William Kucharski) wrote:

> Why don't phone switches just use the following obvious (at least to
> me) algorithm:

> 1-XXX-YYYY  1+7 digits, must be long distance within the area code,
> so XXX is the exchange;

> 1-XXX-YYY-ZZZZ  1+10 digits, so XXX must be the area code.

> It seems a one or two second pause would be quite sufficient to denote
> "end of number ..."

In other countries (such as this one) telephone numbers vary in length
and until the advent of digital switching we always relied on
timeouts.  It worked fine, though now that we have become accustomed
to instant ringing we might be less keen on it.

However, we never had the case where someone dialing a long number
slowly might have it misinterpreted as a different number.  In your
example, suppose your number was (AAA) XXX-YYYZ.  Granny Jones, within
AAA but ouside your local calling area, tries to dial 1-XXX-YYY-ZZZZ
but pauses to adjust her spectacles after the first Z, and she's
through to you.

What you could do is to drop the 1 for calls within an area code.  So
you dial seven digits for calls within the area code (whether toll or
not) and 1 + ten digits for other area codes.  The disadvantage is
that you don't know whether the seven-digit call is in your local
calling area, but most times you probably know already, don't care, or
could look it up in the phone book.

It's easy enough to come up with bright ideas like this which could be
implemented if one was introducing the phone system from scratch.
Unfortunately a lot of existing equipment is expensive or even
impossible to change.  Also, it is generally accepted that any change
to what you dial needs a period when both the old and the new are
accepted, so as well as making the new scheme unambiguous there can't
be a string of digits which is legal under both old and new schemes
but connects you to different destinations.


Peter Campbell Smith, Logica plc, London.  Voice: [phone]
Fax: [phone]  Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Doug Grant)
Subject: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?
Date: 4 Mar 1994 18:48:54 GMT
Organization: TASC


Our company is producing a product with a significant
telecommunications component. We use a distributed/replicated
database; our host sends database updates to sites A & B. Then A sends
the update to C & D, while B sends it to E & F, etc. Using this
strategy makes it possible to complete our updates to the 200 or so
sites with in a reasonable time.

    In our planning and alpha-testing we have always assumed we could
get at least 9600 baud. Our alpha testing runs quite well at 14400.
However, users on Cape Cod, our second planned beta-test site, have
told us that NYNEX has informally told them that 2400 baud is the best
they can count on.

    Is 2400 baud a reasonable service level to expect in this day and
age?  What is the best or most appropriate way to approach a telephone
company on this issue? As readers can no doubt deduce I am not a
telecommuncations person.

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

From: Uli Mittermaier <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 1994 19:20:29 +0100
Subject: CallBack-Service Wanted


Hi!

I am looking for a callback-provider that matches the following criteria:

- no monthly minimum fee
- no minimum charge per call

If you know a company that offers this kind of service, please e-mail me
directly ([e-mail]), as I am not on this list/newsgroup.


Thank you very much!


Best regards,

Uli Mittermaier      Internet:   [e-mail]
D-84405 Dorfen       CompuServe: [100270,1200]
Germany


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The one I represent called Telepassport is
unfortunatly not for you then, as it charges a monthly $25 minimum use
fee (applied against charges on your bill).   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #113
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #114

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 4 Mar 94 23:54:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 114

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Personal Wireless Communications Conference (Monty Solomon)
    Wireless Internet Connections (Paul Wareham)
    RBOC FTP Sites and Gopher Servers List (Hjalmar Syversen)
    Now Anyone Can Have ANI on Their 800 Number (Tom Lowe)
    Followup on C&W CID in NY and CT (Doug Reuben)
    Online Access to AT&T Annual Report (Andrew B. Myers)
    Transborder Local Calls (John Botari)
    Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (Monty Solomon)
    Mobile Penetrations (Lars Kalsen)
    Fax on the Net - Impact on Telcos? (Richard Sambolec)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (Martin McCormick)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (Bill Mayhew)
    Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud? (Peter M. Weiss)
    Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud? (Fred R. Goldstein)
    Administrivia: Some Lost Messages (TELECOM Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 17:47:10 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Personal Wireless Communications Conference


Excerpt from Cellular Digest <Issue 4.3.1994>

  From: [e-mail] (Vijay  Bhargava)
  Date: Fri, 25 Feb 94 16:50:56 PST
  Subject: Conference Announcement


            International Conference on
             Personal Wireless Communications
               August 18-19, 1994
        Windsor Manor Sheraton, Bangalore (India)

Sponsored by IEEE, India Council, IEEE Bangalore Section and the IETE (India)

          FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

The International Conference is conceived as a forum for discussion in
this part of the world of the most recent advances in Wireless
technology, networks, and services. Therefore the organizing technical
committee will be pleased to receive most up-to-date information on
the following subjects (although not limited to these). The Conference
will have several technical sessions spread over two days (Aug. 18-19),
preceded by one day (Aug.17) of tutorials covering two of the most
topical current subjects. The organizing committee expects a lively
and stimulating discussion on all wireless related subjects in the
Garden city of India, Bangalore, specially of interest to developing
countries.

An edited abstract must be received by the Technical Program chair no
later than April 15, 1994. Authors will be notified about acceptance
by May 15, 1994 and a camera ready copy will be due by June 22, 1994.

    Deadlines:
        Abstract:         April 15, 1994
        Camera-ready copy:    June 22, 1994

            Plenary Speakers from Leading Organizations:

    - AT&T Bell Labs    - Pactel Corp        - NTT
    - Northern Telecom    - INMARSAT        - ALCATEL
    - QUALCOMM        - Motorola        - CITR

                  Theme-Speaker:

            N. Vittal, Govt. of India

                Tutorials:

            - FLMPTS - How soon is soon enough
            - CDMA - A broadband Wireless Access

Sessions:

- Wireless Technology:
    Speech Coding for wireless
    Digital Modulation and channel coding TDMA or CDMA

- Wireless Systems and Networks:
    Trunked Radio Systems (or Private Mobile Radio)
    Wireless solutions for Developing countries
    Mobile Data
    Satellite Communication Networks and VSAT's
    Wireless PABX's
    Wireless LAN's

- Telecommunications Services
    Radio Paging and Voice-Mail
    Digital Cellular and PCS
    CT-2
    Integration of wireless subscribers into existing PSTN
    Frequency Spectrum how much and how many


For general inquiry regarding the conference including, exhibiting at
the conference, advertising in final program or sponsoring a meal
event please contact:

Mr. Y.S.Rao, Conference Co-Chair   Dr. A.K.Seth, Conference Co-Chair
BPL Systems and Projects Limited   C-DOT, Centre for Development of Telematics
1/1 Palace Road               9th Floor, Akbar Bhavan
Bangalore 560 001, India       New Delhi 100 021, India
Phone: [phone]               Phone: [phone]
FAX  : [phone]           FAX    : [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

        Manuscript may be submitted to:
        Dr. Vijay K. Bhargava, Technical Program Chair
        Dept of Elec. and Comp. Eng.
        University of Victoria, PO Box 3055
        Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3P6
        Phone: [phone]
        FAX  : [phone]
        Email: [e-mail]

            ADVANCE REGISTRATION

Last Name: ...........................  First Name: ..........................


Company Name and Address: ....................................................

              ....................................................

              ....................................................

              ....................................................


              Telephone:.................  FAX: ..................


Name of Spouse/Guest: ........................................................


IEEE of IETE Member Registration(Membership# ............) Rs 4,000/U.S.$200.00

Non Member Registration                 Rs 5,000/U.S.$250.00
(Includes all sessions, conference records, refreshments and lunches)


Tutorials                         Rs 2,000/U.S.$100.00
(In addition to the registration fee above. Includes lunch and notes)
Please check:

    |_| Tutorial #1 - Future Public Land Mobile Telecom Service (FPLMTS)

    |_| Tutorial #2 - CDMA - A Broadband Wireless Access


Total remittance payable to: ICPWC '94

                Hotel Information:

Bangalore had a number of starred hotels (tariffs ranging from Rs
2,400 to Rs 4,000 in addition to Windsor Manor where the conference is
organized viz.  The Taj, Oberoi and others. A few rooms will be booked
in advance at these hotels on first come basis to get a preferential
rate for the conference participants.

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul Wareham)
Subject: Wireless Internet Connections
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 19:05:15 -0500
Organization: Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Queen's Univ, Kingston, Ontario


I heard somewhere that there was a company offering wireless satellite
internet connections.  I think perhaps it was just Usenet News or
something.  If any has any info or can point me in the right direction
please let me know ....


Regards,

Paul Wareham,  Queen's University   Ontario, Canada

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

From: [e-mail] (hsyversen on BIX)
Subject: RBOC FTP Sites and Gopher Servers List
Date: 5 Mar 94 03:17:19 GMT
Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation


Can anyone help me with listings of RBOC FTP sites and/or Gopher
servers?  If so, I would appreciate any e-mail on these listings.
Please e-mail to [e-mail].


Thanks!              Hjalmar Syversen
                     Bombeck/Syversen
                     711 H Street #630
                     Anchorage, AK  99501
                     907/258-4557 (voice)
                     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Lowe)
Subject: Now Anyone Can Have ANI on Their 800 Number
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 16:57:48 EST


If you are interested in receiving REAL-TIME ANI on 800 calls to your
Voice Response system, regardless of whether your calls are coming in
on T1, Loop Start, Ground Start, or otherwise, read on ...

Working with a client of mine, we have developed a method whereby
anyone with a VRU that is direct dialable from the United States can
receive the ANI of the caller, as well as the 800 number that was
dialed, prior to conversing with the customer.  This does NOT rely on
Caller-ID, ISDN, or any other out-of-band type of signalling.  It is
really quite simple ... as soon as your VRU answers the ringing line,
the DNIS and ANI will be outpulsed to the VRU using DTMF tones.  If
your VRU does not receive any digits within the first three seconds, it
can provide a default prompting scenario.  This would happen if
someone called the VRU directly, instead of through the 800 number.

For more information, please contact me at the email address listed
below, or call me at 609-698-7044 X201.


Tom Lowe   [e-mail]   Compro Technologies, Inc.

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

Date: Fri, 04 Mar 1994 12:51:53 EST
From: [e-mail] (Doug Reuben)
Subject: Followup on C&W CID in NY and CT


About a day after I posted an article on how C&W doesn't appear to be
delivering ANI -> CID in New York and Connecticut, it suddenly started
working again, but only in NY.

Our software pages me with remotely with the CID of who called, so you
can bet I was suprised when I got a call via a C&W 800 number in NY
where the ANI -> CID was sent to my pager and it showed a number in
Atlanta!  I thought it was something wrong with the computer, or maybe
that someone had paged me by mistake, but when I got down to NY and
checked the CID box, it did indeed have the number from Atlanta.
Further tests confirmed that ANI -> CID was indeed working again.

I said "Wow! That was fast -- someone must have read the post and
'fixed' problem!". But, when I tried to get the CID from C&W in CT
(where it had worked in the past), all I get is still "Out of Area :( .

Also, after some testing, I noticed that the CID to NY works from most
areas of the country, except for New England. You don't get ID's from
Rhode Island, Mass, VT, NH, or Maine. I didn't try Canada yet, but I
suspect that at the very least Quebec won't work either (it did previously).

So it's working again -- sort of. Thanks to anyone at C&W who may have
read my earlier posting and fixed the problem.


Doug    [e-mail]   [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 94 17:49:23 EST
From: [e-mail] (Andrew B Myers)
Subject: Online Access to AT&T Annual Report


ONLINE ACCESS TO AT&T'S 1993 ANNUAL REPORT; PLUS NEWS RELEASES

     BASKING RIDGE, N.J., March 4, 1994 -- AT&T's new 1993 Annual
Report has just been installed on AT&T News Online.

     AT&T News Online is a data base containing nearly 5,000 company
press releases going back five years.  Also included are AT&T's 1991
and 1992 Annual Reports and the most current AT&T Fact Book.

     The fact book contains many of the company's "vital statistics,"
including such items as notable AT&T Bell Labs inventions, AT&T
business units and groups, corporate environmental and philanthropic
activities, a corporate history, employee head counts, corporate
revenues and many other facts.  The fact book was last updated in
September 1993.  The next update is expected in early April.

     New releases are available via AT&T News Online whenever they are
issued to the media.

     There is no charge to access AT&T News Online.

     Anyone may access the system via computer and modem by dialing
908-221-8088.  The system will match modem speeds up to 9600 bits per
second.  Set communications for 7 data bits, 1 stop bit, even parity.
There is no password.  When you see the prompt, just type "go news"
(not the quote marks) and hit ENTER.

     If you have questions, call Andrew Myers, AT&T Corporate Media
Relations, 908-221-2737, or send e-mail to [e-mail].

     Note that AT&T News Online is NOT an Internet service; it is a
stand-alone data base available only by modem.  The only expense to
users is the cost of the phone call.


CONTACT:

  Andrew Myers, 908-221-2737 (office), 908-522-9485 (home)

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

From: John Botari <[e-mail]>
Subject: Transborder Local Calls
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 94 16:58:44 CST


Pat:

This is in reply to a trivia question that you posted a while back
concerning a local calling area that crosses an international boundary
 ... Baudette, MN - (218) 634-xxxx, and Rainy River, ON - (807) 852-xxxx
can call each other locally.  Dialing is seven digits (or at least it
was the last time I looked).  Baudette actually appears in the Bell
Canada directory for Northwestern Ontario.


John Botari   Environment Canada   Saskatoon, SK

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 17:57:29 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications


Excerpt from Cellular Digest <Issue 4.3.1994>


  From: [e-mail]
  Date: Thu, 03 Mar 94 15:08:47 EST
  Subject: Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications

                        CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
        WORKSHOP ON MOBILE COMPUTING SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS
                          DECEMBER 8-9 1994
                      DREAM INN, SANTA CRUZ, CA

        Sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society TCOS (pending)
       (in cooperation with ACM SIGOPS and USENIX Association)

General Chair   Darrell Long, University of California, Santa Cruz
Program Chair   M. Satyanarayanan, Carnegie Mellon University
Exhibits        Peter Honeyman, University of Michigan
Finance & Registration
                Richard Golding, Hewlett-Packard
Publication     Luis-Felipe Cabrera, IBM Almaden
Program Committee
                Dan Duchamp, Columbia University
                Peter Honeyman, University of Michigan
                Randy Katz, UC Berkeley & ARPA
                Jay Kistler, DEC SRC
                Krishan Sabnani, AT&T Holmdel
                M. Satyanarayanan, Carnegie Mellon University
                Amal Shaheen, IBM Austin
                Marvin Theimer, Xerox PARC
                Rich Wolff, Bellcore

A major challenge of this decade is the effective exploitation of two
symbiotic technologies: portable computers and wireless networks.
Harnessing these technologies will dramatically change the computing
landscape.  But realizing the full potential of the resulting mobile
computing systems will require advances in many areas such as:

   hardware  communications   scalability      power management
   security  data access      user interfaces  location sensitivity

The goal of this workshop is to foster exchange of ideas in mobile
computing among workers in the field.  Attendance will be limited to
about 60 participants, based on the position papers submitted.
Submissions should be fewer than five pages in length and may expose a
new problem, advocate a specific solution, or report on actual
experience.

In addition, we will be hosting a small number of novel hardware and
software exhibits relevant to mobile computing.  The exhibits may be
research prototypes or commercial products.  Interested parties should
submit technical descriptions of their exhibits.

Online copies of the position papers will be made available via
anonymous FTP prior to the workshop.  A printed proceedings will be
published after the workshop, and mailed to participants.

A small number of graduate students will be granted a waiver of the
registration fee.  In return, these students will be required to take
notes at the workshop and help put together the proceedings.  Students
who wish to be considered for the waiver must send in a brief description
of their current research, and an explanation of how participation in the
workshop is likely to help them.

Send ten copies of position papers to:

  M. Satyanarayanan           Email: [e-mail]
  School of Computer Science  Phone: [phone]
  Carnegie Mellon University  Fax:   [phone]
  Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Send exhibit descriptions to:

  Peter Honeyman              Email: [e-mail]
  CITI                        Phone: [phone]
  University of Michigan      Fax:   [phone]
  Ann Arbor, MI 48103-4943

                           IMPORTANT DATES

       Submissions due               August 20 1994
       Acceptance Notification       October 1 1994
       Camera-ready copy due         November 15 1994

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Kalsen)
Subject: Mobile Penetrations
Date: 4 Mar 94 19:01:00 GMT
Organization: DKnet


Hi,

These penetrations rates for mobile telephones are from 1992.

Country        Penetration of
        mobiles

Spain        0.3 %
Italy        1.2 %
Luxembourg    0.4 %
Germany        0.8 %
Netherlands    0.9 %
Ireland        1.1 %
Belgium        0.6 %
France        0.7 %
Austria        1.6 %
Switzerland    2.8 %
UK        2.2 %
Denmark        3.7 %
Iceland        5.2 %
Finland        6.2 %
Sweden        7.4 %


If you have some newer figures please correct the figures and return
this article to me by E-mail.

I will send a summary to this list if I get any corrections.

Greetings from Denmark.


Lars Kalsen   [e-mail]

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

From: Richard Sambolec <[e-mail]>
Subject: Fax on the Net - Impact on Telcos?
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 13:32:23 PST


I've just started looking into the developments in fax gateways via
the Internet.  I know there are a number of commercial services
available, and of course there are fax/modems and software available,
but I'm talking about the *non-commercial* avenues available, such as
the TPC project lead by Carl Malamud (of Internet Multicasting
Service) and Marshall Rose (of Dover Beach Consulting, Inc.), and of
course, Dr. Robert Riley's Digital Chicken experiment which covers the
Toronto area.

My question is this: How is this going to affect the telcos?  It seems
to me that as the Internet grows in popularity and use, people will be
seeking options such as these, rather than mere discount fax plans.
What's the scoop?


Regards,

Richard I. Sambolec   Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Martin McCormick)
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again
Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 19:49:48 GMT


    There was a movie produced in the fifties, probably patterned
after "The Desperate Hours" in which a couple of thugs terrorize a Las
Angeles family for a day or so.

    In the movie, one of the hoods modifies the radio in a car to
receive the LAPD.  The criminals also place several telephone calls
which the police frantically try to trace.

    In one scene, a technician is following the call through rack
after rack of steppers, hoping that the call won't be disconnected
before he can follow it through.

    As a telecomm enthusiast, I was impressed with the technical
authenticity of the film, but I don't remember its name.  Before the
mid sixties, the Las Angeles PD was on 1735KHZ and was often audible
in Oklahoma around midnight, especially in Winter.  In the scene where
the telephone technician was tracing the calls, one could hear the
rata-tat-tat of steppers and the zzzzip of the resetting relays when
the call tore down.  One of the exchange names in the trace was
Dunkirk.

    Does this movie sound familiar to anybody?


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ   Stillwater, OK
O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Date: Sat, 05 Mar 1994 04:01:31 GMT


These aren't totally telecom-related:

1.  In the movie Electric Dreams, the protonist Miles [Lenny Von
Dohlen] who lives in San Francisco, California purchases an Acorn
computer to help keep his schedule in order.  When he's unpacking the
computer, it has European two pin style 220 volt plugs.  In one scene,
they do have US style baseboard 110 volt outlets with adaptors for the
computer's plugs.  Miles accidentally spills champagne in the
computer, causing it to take on an anthropomorphic personality.  The
computer falls in love with Miles' neighbor [Virginia Madsen] who is a
cellist.  At one point, Edgar the computer calls Miles' pager while he
is at a concert and serenades the cellist with Tchaikowski via the
pager.  It is a silly movie but rather fun for computer nerds.

2.  In one of the Pink Panther movies (I forget which), Clouseau
[Peter Cellars] is tracking Lady Litton in Switzerland.  He's playing
a bell boy delivering room service to Lady Litton's room.  He's trying
to remain stealthy when a lightbulb pops out of a table lamp.  He has
to catch the flying bulb so it doesn't break, rousing Litton's
attention.  He tries to put the bulb back in the socket repeatedly,
but it keeps flying out.

The movie is probably primariliy aimed at US movie audiances, but I
doubt they understand the joke since here in the US we have Mazda base
bulbs, which thread into their sockets.  European bulbs have bayonet
type sockets (similar to over-grown automotive turn signal lamp
sockets) so the gag makes sense if you understand this.  The US
neophyte would think the joke dumb as there's no way a screw-in bulb
would pop out that way.

Well, there is an error in that scene where the mechanical device that
makes the bulb pop out of the socket is clearly visible in one of the
takes.  I remember seeing it the first time I saw the movie and wasn't
in the pick-it-apart mode.

There are a number of cheesey monster movies and the like where the
sytle of the telephone instrument doesn't match the country there the
action is supposedly taking place.


Bill Mayhew        NEOUCOM Computer Services Department
Rootstown, OH  44272-0095  USA      phone: [phone]
[e-mail]       amateur radio 146.58: N8WED

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

Date: Fri, 04 Mar 1994 16:27:19 EST
From: Peter M. Weiss <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?
Organization: Penn State University


I wonder if 2400 baud is being taking literally or figuratively?  BAUD
is signaling states.  BPS is something different and is some integral
number of baud.

Just a guess.


[e-mail]   Peter M. Weiss
31 Shields Bldg. -- Penn State Univ -- University Park, PA 16802-1202 USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Fred R. Goldstein)
Subject: Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?
Date: 5 Mar 1994 05:27:38 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Doug
Grant) writes:

> In our planning and alpha-testing we have always assumed we could
> get at least 9600 baud. Our alpha testing runs quite well at 14400.
> However, users on Cape Cod, our second planned beta-test site, have
> told us that NYNEX has informally told them that 2400 baud is the best
> they can count on.

This may be a trick question, or it may be somebody at NYNEX using an
old line.

No commercial modem today runs above 2400 baud on the phone line.  BY
definition, baud is the inverse of the signaling interval; even 14.4
kbps modems only send 2400 symbols per second, but each symbol encodes
six bits, so they are only 2400 baud!  The data terminal interface, of
course, may be serial at the higher rate.

If they're not being so literal, then it's true that they
traditionally treated phone lines as "voice" and thus considered 2400
the top modem rate.  But today's 9600 bps modems are about as tolerant
of line quality as yesteryears' 2400 bps modems; even faster speeds
will usually work.  They just don't _guarantee_ it.  Cape Code has no
electromechanical central office switches left, either; it's all
modern stuff (a few 5ESS switches with a bunch of remotes, mostly).
Unless they're very far from one of the wire centers, the phone on the
Cape are as good as anywhere.


Fred R. Goldstein  k1io  [e-mail]
Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission.

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

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 94 14:12:15 CST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: Administrivia: Some Lost Messages


Some messages sent early this past week to the Digest have been
accidentally trashed in processing ... and are no longer available to
me.  Some of you (those who I was able to identify from the autoreply
logs) have been notified of this -- others are being notified here and
now.

If you sent a message to the Digest (probably on Monday or Tuesday)
and it has not yet appeared then most likely it was lost in the
shuffle here due to an unfortunate bug I found and (I think!) removed.
Please resubmit it if you think it worthwhile or it has not already been
covered/responded to by someone else.


PAT

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #114
******************************


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Date: Sun, 6 Mar 94 07:59:21 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #115

TELECOM Digest     Sun, 6 Mar 94 07:59:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 115

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Starring Tom Cruise as Kevin Poulsen? (Daily Variety via Ronald Austin)
    Country Code For San Marino? (Martin Kealey)
    Is it Tymenet? (Scott M. Pfeffer)
    USR's New Modem ([e-mail])
    US 1-900 Access From Canada (Robert Schwartz)
    Re: New Area Code Change Question (Carl Moore)
    Re: Elementary Area Code Question (Carl Moore)
    Re: Harrassing One-Ring Calls (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice? (Vance Shipley)
    Re: Air Cell (Alan Brown)
    Re: Help Needed Using Sprintnet (Patrizio Menchetti Dott)
    Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud? (John R. Levine)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun,  6 Mar 94 02:21:40 PST
From: [e-mail] (Ronald Austin)
Subject: Starring Tom Cruise as Kevin Poulsen?


I thought this might interest you.

                                Daily Variety
                           March 3, 1994 Thursday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg.1
BYLINE: MICHAEL FLEMING

PAR'S HACK ATTACK: Though the minds of Paramount execs have surely
been on potential whackings, computer hacking was the chief focus of
execs Bob Jaffe and John Goldwyn last week. The execs got Par to pay a
low six-figure fee against mid-six figures to Jonathan Littman for the
rights to make a movie from his Sept. 12 {L.A. Times Magazine} article
"The Last Hacker," and major names are lining up to be involved. It's
the story of Kevin Lee Poulson, a skilled computer hacker who was so
inventive he once disabled the phone system of KIIS-FM so he could be
the 102nd caller and win the $50,000 Porsche giveaway.

More seriously, he's been charged with using his expertise to breach
national security by accessing top secret files and selling the
information.  He's even suspected of disabling the phone systems of
"Unsolved Mysteries" after he was profiled, so that callers couldn't
furnish clues to his whereabouts. Poulson was caught and has been in
jail for the last three years, facing more than 100 years in prison.

ICM agent Kris Dahl got Littman to turn the article into a book for
Little, Brown, and ICM's Irene Webb racked up yet another sale for the
screen rights to the hacker story. It was a vigorous tug of war
between Touchstone, which was trying to purchase it for "City
Slickers" director Ron Underwood, and Paramount, chasing it for
producer Oren Koules.

Littman chose Koules, and now, Dish hears, Underwood wants to join
Koules to direct. Littman, meanwhile, has remained tight with the
underground community of hackers as he researches his book. That takes
its toll. Among other things, the mischief meisters have already
changed his voice mail greeting to render an obscene proposal.

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

UUCP: hatch!pro-palmtree!raustin           The Palmtree BBS
Inet: [e-mail]       310-453-8726 v.32


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for passing this along. For
readers who do not remember/know of Poulsen, we have a file about him
in the Telecom Archives. As the article above points out, he will
probably be in jail for a long time to come. Articles about other
hackerphreaks who have been arrested and their exploits are in the
same sub-directory in the Archives. You can reach the Archives using
anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Martin Kealey)
Subject: Country Code For San Marino?
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 1994 02:44:12 +1300


 From the calling instructions in my local phonebook:

            country#    area#    hrs behind UTC+12
    San Marino    (00) 378    -    11
    Trinadad &    (00) 1809    -    16
         Tobago

 From which I gather that T&T hasn't split away to 296 yet, while 378
appears to be subdividing the old East German country code; however
grepped from documents retreived by FTP:

in how.numbers.are.assigned:

    295 - San Marino [3] %
    [3] San Marino will be split from Italy's country code (was 39).
    352 - Luxembourg          39  - Italy, San Marino,  48  - Poland
    [9]  San Marino: + 39 541, but moving to country code 295 at some
        unknown date

in script.and.intl.codes:
    San Marino    +674    +SM    +SMR    +39 541

So what's the official story?  Has NZ Telecom pulled a fast one in
using the 378 country code, or has CCITT revised its ideas on the
number allocation?

By the way, is there a mailing list or something for updates to area
codes globally?  I currently have information on country codes for
nearly everywhere, and area codes for New Zealand, Australia and North
America (and a skattering elsewhere).

There are also a couple of changeovers which I have heard about but
don't have definitive information.  Firstly the Australian eight-digit
local call plan, which is already partially implemented -- there was
an article posted on comp.dcom.telecom earlier, but although I saved
it we had a system crash shortly afterwards and I haven't seen it
since.  Secondly the move in Britain to put a 1 on the front of area
codes -- I gather some area codes will get rewritten differently, so
is there a file anywhere indicating the proposed changes?

Lastly, does there exist an exhaustive list of area codes under zone 7
(ex USSR)?  I don't even know if they use fixed ten-digit zone numbers
or not, so any pointers to this would be appreciated.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, our Telecom Archives seems to be
a more-or-less unofficial repository of this information, and the two
guys who keep it up to date are David Leibold and Carl Moore. What we
have on zone 7 (Russia and former USSR) seems to be about as complete
as can be obtained.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Scott M. Pfeffer)
Subject: Is it Tymenet?
Date: 6 Mar 1994 02:50:35 GMT
Organization: Southwestern Bell Telephone Company


I am working with a dialup service into a packet-switched network
that is implemented with hardware and software from Tymenet.

Anyone used Tymenet packet-switching engines/nodes out there
configured with serial interfaces (to modems)?

Any advice on configuration of the modem and serial interface on
the Tymenet engines/node?

Also, how about the modem that dials in.  Any thoughts on its
configuration w.r.t. using the Tymenet serial interface?

Anyone ever tried to run a binary protocol like Zmodem or PPP over
such a serial link, through a packet-switched network, and out onto
another serial interface? With PPP, ever tried to run TCP on top of
this? Why? What results did you get?

Hardware diagram-ish:
  ______     _______    _______    _________
 |  DTE |____|Modem|~~~~|Modem|___| Tymenet |___Packet Switched Net---
 |______|    |_____|    |_____|   |__PAD____|                        |
                   ______          _________                         |
                  |  DTE |________| Tymenet |________________________|
                  |______|        |__PAD____|


Scott Pfeffer   Information Services, Southwestern Bell Telephone

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: USR's New Modem
Date: 5 Mar 1994 03:19:59 -0500
Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation


U.S. Robotics is releasing a new modem in five weeks. The modem will
be upgradable to the V.34 standard when it is approved via a software
download. The new modem will have read/writeable EPROMS which will
allow this. The modem will have all the current protocols, making it
the best modem on the market. And since there's no fee to get the
V.34, I'd say it'll be the best buy when it comes out. For more info
call USR at 1-800-DIALUSR.


Allen

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 94 02:52:00 BST
Subject: US 1-900 Access From Canada
Organization: ActionTel


How does one go about setting up a 1-900 number that is accessible to
the US market, but terminating on equipment in Canada.  We called Bell
Canada, and they say that, unlike 800 lines, 900 numbers can NOT cross
the border.  If we wanted access to the US market, we would have to
locate the equipment in the US, or set up some sort of forwarding
equipment.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of arrangement?  Of
course we considered a state-side service bureau, but our setup would
require frequent changes to the messages.

Any ideas would be appreciated.


Robert Schwartz  ActionTel  [e-mail]

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

Date: Sun, 6 Mar 1994 05:07:03 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: New Area Code Change Question


What's the line about a little knowledge being dangerous? There has
been at least one warning that new area codes will look strange to
some people.  Remember what was said about the "strange" N0X/N1X
prefixes found in southern California? (in 1973-1980, only area 213
had N0X/N1X prefixes).


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, but that was still a relatively
small part of the population which had questions or found the situation
'strange'. Most folks really did not know the difference. I think the
people with the most questions were operators in Bell's Traffic Department.
They'd be expected to consider it strange if they were not advised of the
new-style numbers.   PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 6 Mar 1994 16:08:44 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Elementary Area Code Question


There have been a couple of cases in country code 1 (that's where I
am) where the system actually relied on time-out:

In the 1970s, 213 area in California continued to publish 0 + seven
digits for 0+ calls within that area code, and it needed a time-out to
distinguish between, say, 0-413-2345 and 0-413-234-5678.  Please don't
call these numbers, because there is no way for me to know if these
are working numbers.

Recently, when 215 area dropped the leading 1 for long distance within
it, I found that 215-267 Denver and 215-484 Adamstown (both of which
later moved to 717) had not made the change.  (215-267 became 717-336.)

The history file in the archives mentions both of the above
situations, and it notes that long distance within an area code has to
become either just the seven digit number or 1 + areacode + number;
otherwise, ambiguities arise which would need a timeout to resolve.

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Harrassing One-Ring Calls
Date: 6 Mar 1994 11:49:24 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


In <[e-mail]>, Anthony E. Siegman <siegman@Sierra.
Stanford.EDU> writes:

>> I think you're misrepresenting the position of the people who were
>> opposed to Caller ID in California.  I was opposed to it, or at least
>> to the way I understood it was to be implemented. The problem was that
>> it was going to be difficult for callers to turn off identification.
>> We wanted a way to turn off Caller ID "permanently" ...

(much deleted)

> This is a good message, and matches my impression of why Caller-ID
> went down in CA.  Pac Bell insisted it be done "their way" or not at
> all, and the latter prevailed.

I don't want to start the age-old debate up again, but the above
implies that Pacific Bell was opposed to per-line blocking.  On the
contrary, their proposal was to have free per-call blocking on all
lines, plus free per-line blocking for anyone that requested it.  Note
that this is the state of affairs in most areas of the US that have
Caller ID, and there have been no horror stories of the alleged
wife-beatings or other near-Armageddon events that would happen.

The California PUC insisted on two provisions that were different from
any other area of the country: that unlisted numbers have per-line
blocking by default, and that there be two types of per-line blocking:
one with per-call unblocking available, and the other without per-call
unblocking.  The first one was viewed as an overly-restrictive require-
ment that would limit the market for Caller ID (overly-restrictive since
it had not been required anywhere else in the US and nobody could
point to any facts that indicated that what was being done elsewhere
was harmful).  The second requirement presented a technical problem,
as the switches were designed by the manufacturer such that per-call
unblocking was available for all per-line blocking customers, or none
of them.  There was no provision to have this optioned individually
for each line.  Complying with this requirement would have meant
getting NT, AT&T, and possibly other switch vendors to put this into
the switch software.


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: Vance Shipley <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice?
Organization: XeniTec Consulting, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 1994 03:19:11 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Alan Larson <[e-mail]>
wrote:

> The compression of u-law encoding does not reduce the data rate
> during quiet time.  It reduces the number of bits needed for an
> apparent dynamic range, but it does it constantly during the connection.

Compression equipment which uses "speech interpolation" does.  The
aggregate bandwidth is not sliced up into equal peices but used
dynamically to send the bandwidth needed.  Silence periods will
require no bandwidth while fax transmission will require more than
voice.  Neat stuff when you're paying tens of thousands a month for
international private lines.


Vance Shipley, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Alan Brown)
Subject: Re: Air Cell
Date: 6 Mar 1994 03:39:10 GMT
Organization: Manawatu Internet services, Palmerston North, New Zealand


In article <[e-mail]>, JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.
sprint.com writes:

> I presume he is talking about the air plane being in flight at the
> time.  This would fly in the face of an FCC regulation that
> specifically prohibits the use of a land based cell phone while in
> flight.

In this part of the world, the initial (very tight) restrictions were
eased somewhat.

A cellular phone may be used in flight in New Zealand provided:

A: An external aerial is fitted;
B: The aircraft is below 5000 feet above ground level;
C: The phone is disabled when taking off, landing and in an airfield circuit
   (To this end, some operators have things set up so that the power to the
   phone is cut when the flaps are activated);
D: The aircraft installation has been inspected and approved by the
   NZ regulatory body.

Strangely enough the initial restrictions on cellular phone usage in
aircraft weren't put in place by the NZ regulatory body, but by the
(then) monopoly telco -- mainly because of fears (later proven true) of
intercell blocking by aircraft flying at altitude.

It's only recently (last three years) that using a phone handset while
driving has been made illegal -- too many crashes. It doesn't stop
people doing it though, which is a shame considering how cheap car
kits are now.

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

Subject: Re: Help Needed Using Sprintnet
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 94 11:53:20 CET
From: Patrizio Menchetti Dott <[e-mail]>


Thank you for your suggestions. Unfortunately -- and it's my fault, as I
should have mentioned it in my message -- that is precisely the
toll-free number I called, receiving only vague answers.  However, I
received some more information, but my problem hasn't been solved yet.
Apparently, I have also a software problem, as the service I am trying
to reach provides a proprietary software for access via SPRINTNET and
it doesn't seem to work with Italian ordinary or X-25 lines.

Thank you again.


Patrizio

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

Date: Sat, 5 Mar 94 23:58:00 EST
From: [e-mail] (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.


>> In our planning and alpha-testing we have always assumed we could
>> get at least 9600 baud. ... NYNEX has informally told them that 2400
>> baud is the best they can count on [on Cape Cod].

As noted, 9600 bps should work fine.

Remember, if you have problems, the code phrase you say to telco repair
is "my fax machine doesn't work."

Speaking of NYNEX, I have the third trouble call in a month for
incredible static on my home phone.  I gather that the phone lines in
this neighborhood were probably hung by Bell and Watson themselves --
they sure sound like it.  The NYNEX repair people seem to understand
what I tell them, and guys occasionally come out and fool around on
the pole, but they haven't been very effective at fixing it.


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #115
******************************


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Date: Sun, 6 Mar 94 22:57:31 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #116

TELECOM Digest     Sun, 6 Mar 94 22:57:30 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 116

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Time Magazine on Clipper (Dave Banisar)
    Time Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip (Philip Elmer-DeWitt)
    Competition and Technology (Jerry Leichter)
    ISDN Deployment Data (Bob Larribeau)
    Re: Harrassing One-Ring Calls (Lance Ginner)
    Re: 810 Area Code Trouble? (John Palmer)
    Re: New Area Code Change Question (Carl Moore)
    Re: Starring Tom Cruise as Kevin Poulsen? (Carl Moore)
    Traffic Overloads in Manual Service Era (TELECOM Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun,  6 Mar 1994 14:13:18 -0500
From: Dave Banisar <[e-mail]>
Subject: Time Magazine on Clipper


{Time Magazine}, March 14, 1994

TECHNOLOGY

WHO SHOULD KEEP THE KEYS?

The U.S. government wants the power to tap into every phone, fax and
computer transmission

BY PHILIP ELMER-DEWITT

 ... (general background)

 ... (general info on techo advances)

  Thus the stage was set for one of the most bizarre technology-policy
battles ever waged: the Clipper Chip war. Lined up on one side are the
three-letter cloak-and-dagger agencies -- the NSA, the CIA and the
FBI -- and key policymakers in the Clinton Administration (who are
taking a surprisingly hard line on the encryption issue). Opposing
them is an equally unlikely coalition of computer firms, civil libertar-
ians, conservative columnists and a strange breed of cryptoanarchists
who call themselves the cypherpunks.

  At the center is the Clipper Chip, a semiconductor device that the
NSA developed and wants installed in every telephone, computer modem
and fax machine. The chip combines a powerful encryption algorithm
with a "back door" -- the cryptographic equivalent of the master key
that opens schoolchildren's padlocks when they forget their combinations.
A "secure" phone equipped with the chip could, with proper authorization,
be cracked by the government. Law-enforcement agencies say they need this
capability to keep tabs on drug runners, terrorists and spies. Critics
denounce the Clipper -- and a bill before Congress that would require
phone companies to make it easy to tap the new digital phones -- as
Big Brotherly tools that will strip citizens of whatever privacy they
still have in the computer age.

  In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of
phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps.
When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it.

  The battle lines were first drawn last April, when the
Administration unveiled the Clipper plan and invited public comment.
For nine months opponents railed against the scheme's many flaws:
criminals wouldn't use phones equipped with the government's chip;
foreign customers wouldn't buy communications gear for which the U.S.
held the keys; the system for giving investigators access to the
back-door master codes was open to abuse; there was no guarantee that
some clever hacker wouldn't steal the keys. But in the end the
Administration ignored the advice. In early February, after computer-
industry leaders had made it clear that they wanted to adopt their own
encryption standard, the Administration announced that it was putting
the NSA plan into effect. Government agencies will phase in use of
Clipper technology for all unclassified communications. Commercial use
of the chip will be voluntary -- for now.

  It was tantamount to a declaration of war, not just to a small group
of crypto-activists but to all citizens who value their privacy, as
well as to telecommunications firms that sell their products abroad.
Foreign customers won't want equipment that U.S. spies can tap into,
particularly since powerful, uncompromised encryption is available
overseas. "Industry is unanimous on this," says Jim Burger, a lobbyist
for Apple Computer, one of two dozen companies and trade groups
opposing the Clipper. A petition circulated on the Internet electronic
network by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility gathered
45,000 signatures, and some activists are planning to boycott
companies that use the chips and thus, in effect, hand over their
encryption keys to the government. "You can have my encryption
algorithm," said John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, "when you pry my cold dead fingers from my
private key."

 ... (history of Public Key encryption).

 ... (history of PGP)

  Rather than outlaw PGP and other such programs, a policy that would
probably be unconstitutional, the Administration is taking a marketing
approach. By using its purchasing power to lower the cost of Clipper
technology, and by vigilantly enforcing restrictions against overseas
sales of competing encryption systems, the government is trying to
make it difficult for any alternative schemes to become widespread. If
Clipper manages to establish itself as a market standard -- if, for
example, it is built into almost every telephone, modem and fax machine
sold -- people who buy a nonstandard system might find themselves with an
untappable phone but no one to call.

  That's still a big if. Zimmermann is already working on a version of
PGP for voice communications that could compete directly with Clipper,
and if it finds a market, similar products are sure to follow. "The
crypto genie is out of the bottle," says Steven Levy, who is writing
a book about encryption. If that's true, even the NSA may not have the
power to put it back.


Reported by David S. Jackson/San Francisco and Suneel Ratan/Washington

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

From: [e-mail] (Philip Elmer-DeWitt)
Subject: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip
Date: Sun, 06 Mar 1994 20:59:34 -0500
Organization: TIME Magazine


To accompany an article on the Clipper Chip in this week's TIME, the
magazine commissioned a poll on public attitudes toward wiretap
issues. The relevant graph:

  "In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by
Yankelovich Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect
the privacy of phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to
conduct wiretaps.  When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they
opposed it."


Philip Elmer-DeWitt                           [e-mail]
TIME Magazine         [e-mail]           [e-mail]
Read TIME on America Online, where we get paid to take abuse.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mr. Elmer-DeWitt, I thank you very much
for okaying the use of your piece in {Time Magazine} in this issue of
the Digest, and for your own contribution here. Please write to us on
on a regular basis.   PAT]

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

Date: Sun,  6 Mar 94 13:21:02 EDT
From: Jerry Leichter <[e-mail]>
Subject: Competition and Technology


A recent TELECOM Digest ran a transcript of Reed Hundt's statement to
the Senate on telecommunications.  It repeated a point that's always
bothered me.

Hundt says that when he was growing up, "the telephone was a black,
rotary dial instrument".  Starting with the Hush-a-phone case in the
'50's, and culminating with the MFJ splitting up the Bell System in
1984, the FCC and the courts deregulated the telephone industry and
"unleashed the forces of competition".  Hundt lists the benefits of
competition today as the ability to buy phones in all shapes, sizes
and colors; phones with built-in answering machines, with memory, with
speed dialing; cordless telephones; PBX's; fax machines.

Now, what bothers me about this whole list is that *everything of
significance on it is available due to technological advances, not
deregulation*.  Even in 1984, it would have been impossible to build
most of the telephone variations listed.  Oh, you could get different
colors -- but think about what went into a touchtone keypad in those
days.  No IC tone generators, sorry.  Memory?  Using what memory
chips?  Oh, you could *buy* either, but at a very high cost.  Cordless
phones?  How much would a cordless phone using 1984 electronics and
battery technology have weighed, much less cost?  Fax machines?  Hah.
PBX's?  How many companies would have had the room to hold a switch of
that era?  How many would have been willing to hire the staff to keep
it going?

One of the things that gets overlooked is that, without competition,
the telephone system developed from operator controlled to direct
dialing, added long distance, got direct long-distance dialing; saw
touchtone appear; and saw many other background developments.

I have great respect for competition, but I have yet to see a sound
argument that the advance in services available *since* deregulation
is signficantly different from the advance *before* deregulation -
AFTER CONTROLLING FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVANCE IN APPLICABLE
TECHNOLOGY.  Competition has almost certainly brought the *price*
down, at least for those services for which companies find it worth
while to compete (coin calls have *theoretically* been open to
competition for years...).  But as for actual products available -- I'm
not so sure.


Jerry


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Some people maintain that without dereg-
ulation and competition, the old Bell System -- as advanced in technology
as it was -- had no real incentive to go much further or with any speed.
I don't know if that is true or not.  Some people believe that if we were
still dealing with the old Bell System, half or more of what has become
available in the past decade would not be available at any reasonable price
or in any quantity. Like yourself, I think it would have been. but quite
a few people believe Bell was growing stagnant and lazy; that they came out
with what they have in the past few years only when there were threats by
serious competitors.   PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 06 Mar 94 08:58:46 -0800
From: Bob Larribeau <[e-mail]>
Organization: Consultant
Subject: ISDN Deployment Data


I have presented the Telecom Archives with the Bellcore ISDN
Deployment data as a ZIP file.  It expands into a READ.ME explaining
the headings and abbreviations.  It has the data from each telco as a
TXT file.  These files are ASCII with TAB delimiters.  You can read
them with a word processor or a spread sheet.  Thanks for putting this
information in the archives.

By the way, I have changed email addresses.


Bob Larribeau   I will be discountinuing my "[e-mail]"
Consultant      mail box at the end of March.
San Francisco   Please use "[e-mail]" to contact me.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much for this contribution
to the archives. This morning I mailed out a revised copy of the
directory to the archives, and your file is in the /technical sub-
directory there. Readers are cautioned to remember that when this file
is transferred using ftp, you'll need to set your session to 'I' for
binary, and when you have this *LARGE* file at your site then you'll
need to unzip it and prepare it for use.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Lance Ginner)
Subject: Re: Harrassing One-Ring Calls
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: North Bay Network
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 1994 16:01:15 GMT


I'm in California. It seems that we got all the disadvantages of
Caller ID (everyone can read us but we can't read them) and none of the
advantages. Am I missing something? I for one am not thrilled about
the way it seemed to turn out.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neither are a lot of other people. What
I do think you are missing however is that we *cannot* 'read' you either.
Your Caller-ID is not coming here to Illinois for example. I don't know
about all places, but we are not getting it. Is anyone getting Caller-ID
data from Caifornia telephones?   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Palmer)
Subject: Re: 810 Area Code Trouble?
Organization: John Palmer's Private Box
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 1994 17:08:23 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
writes:

> Item sent to me:

> Phones have been in the news this week.  Some businesses in Michigan
> are having trouble with the area code change over.  Some equipment
> does not recognize 810 as a viable area code.  I have personally run
> into this.  I am sure it will all be corrected by the August official
> implementation date.

A couple points: people from areas out in GTE-Land (central California)
are still getting an intercept after they dial +1-810 saying that
"their call could not be completed as dialed" ...

Also, Ameritech still hasn't gotten their act together. Some switches
are still sending 313 as the area code in the Caller-ID data; others
have it correct.

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

Date: Sun, 6 Mar 94 17:27:42 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: New Area Code Change Question


As I recall reading, problems arose when a "strange" prefix (what was
then 213-N0X/N1X) was in a phone number which had to be given to an
operator for any reason.

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

Date: Sun, 6 Mar 94 17:24:13 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Starring Tom Cruise as Kevin Poulsen?


But what does ICM stand for?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I dunno, Carl. Maybe the original author
can write and let us know. I wish Hollywood would quit glorifying people
like that.   PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 6 Mar 94 22:26:41 CST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: Traffic Overloads in Manual Service Era


Most people are aware of the way in which telephone service today gets
bogged down during times of emergency situations such as natural
disasters or important political news, assasinations, etc. The typical
response today will be delayed dial tone -- a delay ranging anywhere
from several seconds to upwards of two or three minutes under very
severe conditions.

We've also all experienced 'blocking'; a condition where the local telco
in an area affected by an emergency simply turns away some percentage
of the calls handed to it by a long distance carrier; the carrier in
turn responds to its customer that 'all circuits are busy now; try your
call again later please'. Or, there may be a very rapid 'busy signal'
to indicate that all circuits are busy rather than the specific line
of the called party.

Overloaded conditions like that are nothing new; there have been many
instances over the past 115 years since the telephone was first put
into regular use with the ability to have calls switched between
subscribers when the demand for service was so great that the telco
literally 'ran out of equipment' to handle the call. Persons
knowledgeable of how telephone switching systems operate know that
telephone companies are generally only able to handle calls from about
ten to fifteen percent of their subscribers at any given time ... and
anytime when more than eight to ten percent of the subscribers want
service all at the same time, traffic is considered quite heavy. If
more than two or three percent of the total subscriber base attempt to
make a call all at the very same instant -- or within a second or two
of each other -- there will be a delayed dial tone for many. In some
smaller central offices, perhaps only nine or ten subscribers can go
off hook with dial tone at the same time. Subscribers following will
hear dial tone as soon as someone in the first bunch has finished
dialing.

'Busy Hour' is defined as that time of the day when historically the
largest number of subscribers want service all at the same time; then
is the time that you'll see ten to fifteen percent of the total
subscriber base on the line all at once. Usually if this happens, it
will be mid-morning or mid-afternoon on a weekday; a time when
businesses make heavy use of their phones. During other 'non-busy'
times, perhaps five percent of the subscribers will be using the phone.
There are many times when only one or two percent of the subscribers are
using the phone, and sometimes less than one percent of the total sub-
scriber base will be using the phone.

We all know that to provide a scenario where total or 'virtual' non-
blocking is available would be prohibitively expensive; and anyway, an
analysis of the telecom traffic patterns in the past simply does not
warrant that kind of service.

I've been asked what did 'they' do in the days of manual service --
all calls handled by the 'number please?' operator -- when an emergency
occured? Surely California had earthquakes and presidents got assasinated
and other grievous things occurred causing the citizens to all go 'off-
hook' at once seeking information, comfort, guidance or whatever ...

Generally, Bell went to 'emergency service only', meaning instead of
responding 'operator' or 'number please?' the operators would answer with
the phrase 'emergency service only right now; if this is not an emergency
please hang up and place your call later ...'; the operators would go
up and down the line of lighted jacks on their switchboards repeating
that message over and over; saying it, pulling their cord out and
moving to the next one. They'd only pause if the subscriber spoke up
immediatly such as to ask for the Fire Department or something like
that. If the subscriber then continued to stay off hook (as evidenced
by the illuminated lamp associated with his jack) or tapped rapidly
on his hook (meaning the lamp would flash in the same way), then the
operator or some other operator would go on the line to deal with it.

If the emergency/disaster was national or worldwide in scope (the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 comes to mind as does the
death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945) then the entire Bell System
would be on emergency service only for a matter of an hour or two, maybe
eight or ten hours until the stirred up citizens quieted down and went
back to whatever they had been doing before the incident which caused
the uproar. An operator with Illinois Bell during those years told me
that she was on duty the Sunday of the Pearl Harbor incident, and that
'... about noon that day, our boards lit up like a Christmas Tree; we
wondered about it and within about ten minutes our supervisors were
telling everyone what happened and we were on emergency service only from
then until about ten o'clock that Sunday night ...'

If the incident was local in nature or confined to the jurisdiction of
one central office exchange, then those operators dealt with it in the
same way, but word was quickly passed to the rest of the area that
non-emergency calls were to be withheld from the affected exchange
until the operators had gotten their boards under control again,
however long that might take. A woman who was the chief operator and
phone room manager at Pearl Harbor on the day that FDR said would
'live in infamy forever' whose story has appeared here in TELECOM
Digest recalled later that '... the operators in Oakland were very
protective of us that day and for several days following; they'd wait
for us to call them when we could handle more traffic given all the
downed wires and wrecked buildings and all ...' At the time, Oakland,
California was the AT&T international center handling calls to the far
east, the Pacific Islands, etc.

On a summer day in 1935 when an explosion caused a major fire in the
Chicago Union Stockyards causing a huge amount of thick, very black,
very acrid smoke over a large area of the southside of Chicago, the
operators at the YARds exchange (now 312-927) worked for several hours
explaining to a frantic neighborhood around the stockyards what was
going on, and relaying information to the residents from authorities
at the scene, etc.

One such instance that I remember specifically was an explosion at
the Whiting Refinery in 1953. I was only a little kid, but I remember
hearing kind of a loud 'thump' with the house shaking a little for
just a second or two. I guess we were about a mile west of the labor-
atory which had the explosion, but a big fire could be seen even
that far away. It was fierce enough that it quickly spread into some
storage tanks and a large device they called a 'cat cracker' -- whatever
that means -- and hot enough that it twisted some railroad tracks out
of shape there and completely melted the main street in Whiting where
it runs through the center of the refinery (on both sides of the street)
at that point. People living within a block or two of the location had
their houses completely caved in. Between the Amoco Refinery Fire Depart-
ment and the Whiting Fire Department it took them four days to put out
the fire. I was just a kid; it was all very exciting to see and I wanted
to make sure all my friends knew about it but when I tried to call someone
I knew, maybe ten minutes or so after the blast, I remember the Whiting
phone operator taking what seemed like forever to respond and then all
she said was they were only handling emergency calls due to the explosion
and the large number of people trying to find out the details. I turned
on the radio (local area station) where they were already talking about
it and remember the announcer saying something to the effect that 'if you
know how to operate a telephone switchboard then your help is urgently
needed at the Whiting telephone exchange to cope with a flood of calls
due to the explosion', and asking people to refrain from using the phone
if at all possible until further notice.

Just some thoughts this Sunday evening I thought you might enjoy reading.


PAT

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #116
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #117

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 7 Mar 94 14:09:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 117

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    International vs. 900 Numbers (Will Martin)
    CBTA Call For Papers (Mary Nakoneczny)
    LD Headaches From Within an IBX System (Jonathan Lieberman)
    Clipped Again (A. Padgett Peterson)
    Pair-Gain, ADSL, HDSL Information Needed (Alex Cena)
    Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Phone Harrassment (Jim Thomas)
    Maps of LATA's in the US (Robert S. Mah)
    Need TAP/IXO For Alpha Pagers (George Cifrancis)
    Need Help With Minitel Files (Franck Nazikian)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 94 8:58:49 CST
From: Will Martin <[e-mail]>
Subject: International vs. 900 Numbers


We've previously discussed the use of international numbers as opposed
to 900 numbers or 800 numbers with billing for the sex-call industry;
the way it works is that the caller pays the ordinary international-call
rate and the provider gets a kickback from the foreign-country telco.

I have a friend who recently started a 900-type call service (actually, he
just provides the information and someone else actually arranged the 900
line and handles the business aspects) at 95 cents per minute for
daily-updated data related to shortwave radio listening.  Of course, as
soon as this began, there was the usual fuss amongst some parts of the
hobby about how this was too expensive and that it was inappropriate, etc.
(Same sort of stuff Pat has to put up with regarding the "commercialization"
issue.) One objection that IS valid, though, is that this service is
not available to out-of-the-US people with the 900-number arrangement.
There is a possibility it might be available to Canadian callers in
the future, but that isn't definite.  (In the past, this information
was broadcast worldwide on a sponsored shortwave radio program, but
the difficulties of keeping sponsors and the time it took to produce
the program each day killed that off.  During that period, though, it
was freely available to anyone in the world who cared to listen and
who could receive the signal.  So there is an international audience
but it is probably relatively small.)

I'm wondering how feasible it might be to transfer this 900-service to
one of the international-call arrangements.  Looking through a recent
men's magazine, I see a couple international-call sex services amidst
the sea of 800, 900, and regular number ads.  These advertise numbers
in the 011-592-247-4XX and 011-373-969-00XX ranges.  According to the
Telecom Archives "country.codes" files, "592" is Guyana, and I recall
that we mentioned that country's participation in this field before.
But, unless I'm misreading the file, "373" is Moldova, and this seems
very odd to me.  Is Moldova really involved in this international
sex-call kickback scheme?  I would have thought the service to that
country wouldn't have the capacity to support such a usage.  I had
thought these were only based in the South American/Central American/
Caribbean region.  Am I being misled by the way the advertisers hyphenate
these numbers?  The way I show them is the way they appear in the ads.

Anyway, how does one go about setting up such an arrangement? Is it at
all feasible to even think about this sort of thing with a moderate
volume of calls, or do the foreign telcos insist on such a high level
of usage before they will begin to consent to such a scheme that the
sort of special-audience appeal to a limited number of people that I'm
talking about would never make it? That only the huge calling volume
generated by sex-talk lines will make this setup practical or viable?
(I do note that those international-number ads were larger than the
run-of-the-mill 800- and 900-number ads; I guess thus more likely to
generate higher call volumes.)

With whom does one negotiate this arrangement? With the foreign PTT
directly? With a US-based IXC? Or are there brokers who do this and
you have to use their services and pay them a cut, because they have
an "in" with the powers-that-be? What countries do support this sort
of arrangement? Can anyone provide any sort of guesstimate as to the
figures involved, such as how many cents per minute the info provider
ends up with as the bottom line?

Can these numbers be called as local from within their respective host
countries? (I'm hoping that they are, because I wouldn't want a
potential caller to be prevented from calling just because he lived in
the same country where the service is based. Even though such a call
wouldn't generate any revenue, it is still more important to make the
information available to all.)

As a separate side issue, I had first attempted to find out some
international-calling information by looking in my local St. Louis
1994 Southwestern Bell white pages.  I was shocked to find out that
they have dropped ALL international-calling information or instructions.
They replaced what I recall as several pages of country codes and instruct-
ions/information with a paragraph telling people to contact their long-
distance carrier for information.  It sure seems that the local operating
companies are taking advantage of the breakup environment to abandon
their time-honored responsibility to inform and instruct their subscribers
in at least the basic guidance needed to use the telephone system.  Is
this universal, or is this unfortunate change something local to the Midwest,
and the directories for areas that perhaps have greater proportions of
international-calling populations have retained the general guidance
and instructions for international calling?

Regards and thanks,


Will


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As you point out, there is always *someone*
who is unable to participate. When you were doing it via the radio, there
were those folks who were unable to receive the signal due to poor propo-
gation that day. Via 900, there will those folks who phone lines are blocked
and with international numbers, there will be still other problems. I am
beginning to think the only practical way of handling this sort of thing
is by using a local seven digit number and a method of screening incoming
calls to obtain payment and letting it go at that. Then, anyone who wishes
to call that number can do so, and you set some small fee based on the
number of minutes they use the service, etc. They can pay by credit card
or by sending a check, etc and when their bulk purchase of time runs out
then they either have left instructions to automatically debit their account
for more time or they send a new check or whatever. I've got a machine here
which will do that; you enter your password and get to listen to the message
you are entitled to hear, etc. Each time you call, the clock checks your
account against available minutes remaining. Call or write me and maybe we
can work something out.  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 12:26:41 EST
From: Mary Nakoneczny <[e-mail]>
Subject: CBTA Call For Papers


Now is the time to begin planning for the Canadian Business Telecommunica-
tions Alliance (CBTA) annual Conference and Trade Exposition - TeleCon '94.
TeleCon'94 will be held at the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre,
Toronto, Ontario on October 11 to 14, 1994.

The TeleCon '94 theme is ... IMAGINATION: Our Only Limitation
                             --------------------------------

Today's technologies and more specifically, their applications are
advancing by leaps and bounds.  Nowhere is this acceleration more
apparent than in the telecommunications industry.

Products and services that are commonplace today existed only in our
imaginations as recently as a few years ago.  Likewise those innovations
and applications that are currently just a fantasy will be a reality in
the near future.  The telecommunications world of tomorrow is limited only
by our imaginations today.


Qualifications?

At TeleCon, we address the issues of the utmost importance to Canada's
telecommunications professionals.  Their needs are specific, their
expectations, high.  Therefore, the TeleCon'94 Conference Committee
requires speakers who are well-versed in and have an excellent understand-
ing of the industry, its technologies, services and standards.

Telecommunications professionals -- like yourself -- will continue to make
the CBTA's annual Conference and Trade Exposition the forecmost source of
expert development for Canada's telecommunication industry.


Benefits

Making the commitment to speak at TeleCon'94 will earn you and your
organization recognition and admiration from your peers along with the
benefits of an excelllent high profile promotional opportunity.
Further, you will have the opportunity to increase you "Networking"
contacts and, as a designated speaker, you will be able to attend
other sessions and planned delegate activities on the day of your
presentation as a guest of the CBTA.


Interested?

Please submit a 250 to 300 word outline of your proposed session by
Monday, March 21, 1994.  If you are selected we will notify you in
late April and the Conference Committee will request a 2500 to 3000
word synopsis of your session for publication in the TeleCon'94
Conference Proceedings no later than July 4, 1994.

Following is a list of topics to serve as a guideline for your
proposal.  If you have a topic about which you would like to speak
that does not fall into any of the categories below, but still related
to the theme, feel free to submit a proposal on that topic.

What is of paramount importance is the creative and innovative uses
that have been (or will be) successfully applied to technical,
managerial, economic or social telecommunications enterprises.

    *  Multimedia / Digital Convergence
    *  Innovative Uses of Telecommunications
    *  The Virtual Corporation - Your Back Door Neighbour
    *  What is the Next Step in the Information Revolution
    *  The New Information Professional
    *  What Are Customers Looking For?  Organizational Design
       Requirements of Information Networks
    *  ISDN
    *  Has Education Kept Up with the Information Age?
    *  The Evolving Global Telecommunications Industry
    *  Toll Fraud / Security - What's it Costing You?
    *  Will ATM Technology Work on Satellites?
    *  Exploring the Internet
    *  Why Mommy and Daddy Can't Access Bulletin Boards
    *  The Electronic Highway
    *  Imagine If ...


In addition, the TeleCon'94 Conference Committee would like to present
three (3) specific sessions focusing on the interest and needs of the
financial community (i.e. banking, brokerages and insurance) as well
as three (3) separate sessions on government priorities.


Fax, Mail or Hot-Air Balloon your ingenious proposals to:

    John Westover
    TeleCon '94 Conference Co-ordinator
    Suite 1160
    36 Toronto Street
    TORONTO, Ontario
    M5C 2C5

Fax Number  [phone]
Tel Number  [phone] Ext. 2241


Since there is not a great deal of lead time you may also send your
outline via the Internet to:

    Mary J. Nakoneczny
    CBTA Conference Committee Member
    Internet ID:  [e-mail]

I will ensure that they are delivered to John Westover.

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

From: [e-mail] (Jonathan Lieberman)
Subject: LD Headaches From Within an IBX System
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: The University of Chicago
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 06:18:21 GMT


Hello,

I am a student at the University of Chicago, living in a dorm. The
whole campus has a large IBX, using most (or all) of the 702 and 753
prefixes.  This year my number changed from a 702 to a 753 number.
Ever since then during aproximatly 35% - 50% of my long distance calls
(both those that I originate, and when other people call me long
distance) I hear other people (and they hear me) making long distance
calls from within my building. I called the campus telecom folks who
said, if you only have the problem when you are calling long distance,
then it is an AT&T problem.

I tried to call the AT&T operator tone, 8+xxxxxx, tone, 0, and I got a
busy signal. Then I tried tone, 8+xxxxxx, tone, 10-ATT and I again I got
a busy signal. Finally I called 1-800-operator, and waited for a person
to appear and I had them transfer me. Sheesh! In any case eventually
AT&T took my report.

In my ignorace, it seems unlikely that this is an AT&T problem, since
my line always seems to be crossed with people in the same building
and this never used to happen until the numbers changed. Anybody have
any thoughts?

About the specifics of our system, I don't know if any of the following
information is useful in describing the specific type of system that we
have, all I know is that it is an IBX, so forgive me if the following
is not useful:

What I know: You can dial any 702-xxxx or 753-yyyy as 2-xxxx or 3-yyyy
from within the system. Some phones (students') require an 8+ a 6
digit code to get an outside line, others (offices') require only a 9.
There are 5-zzzz numbers that are only accessible from within the
system, or through a 702-xxxx gateway. They offer a single package of
services to students called "the big 3" that consists of call waiting
(flash,*4), speed dialing (#4x), and three-way calling (call one person
flash, *1, call the other flash,*1). On some phones internal and
external calls ring differently.


Jonathan Lieberman   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Things have changed out there quite a
bit since I worked in the old phone room thirty years ago and all calls
went via the main switchboard on MIDway-3-0800. Then, in addition to the
main switchboard where I worked, there were auxilliary switchboards in
each dorm and quite a few campus departments. The dorms for example had
switchboards with 20-30 extensions on them in a 'hunt group' and the
local front desk clerk/operator in the dorm answered calls on those lines
and in turn used the local switchboard to pass the calls to student
rooms. Then the phone room was at 5801 Ellis on the sixth floor.

Like yourself, I doubt that the problem you are experiencing now has
anything at all to do with AT&T. There is more than likely a problem
in the local switching system which is restricted to perhaps one or
two circuits and when the 'luck of the draw' has your call using the
troubled circuit then you get the problem you describe. It might help
to isolate the problem a bit further with more specifics before going
back to the admins with the complaint again. For example, do you
always get the same people when this happens? You mention that they
can hear you, but have you ever found out if *they* experience the
same problem with still others on some percentage of their calls? Is
there a certain time of day or night when this is more likely to
happen than other times? Does it occur right from the instant when you
dial your call and continue until/unless you disconnect and dial over
or is it an intermittant thing which occurs at some point in your call
and then drops out seconds or minutes later? Is there a method by which
when this happens you could put the call on hold and use another phone
to call the phone repair people so they could catch it right while it
was happening?

Quite a few years ago, when I lived near you and was serviced by the
same telephone office as yourself (they call it Kenwood Bell, on the
corner of 61st and Kenwood Avenue), I went for a couple weeks trying to
make calls about midnight every night and *always* getting a trashy,
nasty connection on my first attempt. I'd busy the line out and try
again from my second line and get through okay. I never had this problem
during the day -- always late at night or early in the morning. Finally
a technician working nights took an interest in it and told me the next
time it happened to hold the troubled circuit up on one line and call him
on my other line. I did that, and while the connection was up he went
in the frames (of course, frames are a thing now of the distant past)
and found me; he came on the bad line (I was on there waiting for him
per his instructions) and he said thanks very much, he found the booger ...
and it was repaired that day. It appears the first selected trunk in
a group of circuits from that phone office to another one was bad, and
yes indeed, it was bad all day long but during the day when there were
always calls going on, no one person would ever seize that first trunk
all the time. Someone would place a call and get it, hang up in disgust
and dial over. In the second or two interim, some other person would place
a call and seize the bad trunk; they'd hang up and a third person would
call. It was rare anyone got it two or three times in a row. When I was
calling at midnight, the traffic was slow enough I *always* got the first
selected trunk. By keeping it up on one line and dialing again on my
second line, I'd always go around it.

So you see, I suspect in your case it is much the same thing: some circuit
between the campus phone exchange and Kenwood Bell (they are across the
alley from each other coincidentally; the campus phone equipment is in the
basement of the Center for Continuing Education on 60th Street) is bad; it
is early in the selection of trunks used to place student long distance
calls; no one person gets it enough of the time or with a consistency to
pinpoint it. Everyone now and then gets it, considers it a fluke and hangs
up to dial over; they then get a clean line because some other person got the
bad one. You've noticed it is always another student which is helpful;
and you've noticed it is always on a long distance call, which is also very
helpful. Therefore, IMO (look, no 'H'; that's because I do not give humble
opinions), one of the 'eight-level trunks' between the campus and Kenwood
Bell is sour; who gets camped on it at any given time is anyone's guess.
Get the name of a sympathetic person in the phone repair department; ask
him if the next time it happens can you call him to go and look for it
while you keep the connection up.  If you want, print this note out and
take it to show them; maybe that will be helpful.  Let us know how this
works out for you, and good luck.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 94 08:54:26 -0500
From: [e-mail] (A. Padgett Peterson)
Subject: Clipped Again


{Time Magazine}, March 14, 1994

>  In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
> Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of
> phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps.
> When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it.

This makes no sense to me. Today there is *no* privacy in phone calls
so the question must have been worded so as to imply that there is for
people to believe that Clipper provides *less*.

> Government agencies will phase in use of Clipper technology for all
> unclassified communications. Commercial use of the chip will be
> voluntary -- for now.

More loaded prose -- the point was missed that to use Clipper for its
own "sensitive but unclassified" information meant that the gov thinks
it is *good enough for government work*.

> Rather than outlaw PGP and other such programs, a policy that would
> probably be unconstitutional, the Administration is taking a marketing
> approach. By using its purchasing power to lower the cost of Clipper
> technology, and by vigilantly enforcing restrictions against overseas
> sales of competing encryption systems, the government is trying to
> make it difficult for any alternative schemes to become widespread.

PGP is free for individual use -- you mean the government is going to
*pay me* to use Clipper?

> people who buy a nonstandard system might find themselves with an
> untappable phone but no one to call.

Except those who buy the same phone.

> "The crypto genie is out of the bottle," says Steven Levy, who is writing
> a book about encryption. If that's true, even the NSA may not have the
> power to put it back.

Never was in the bottle, just no one cared -- the corporate landscape
is filled with the corpses and struggling small companies who thought
that people did. Anyone know how many commercial STU-IIIs were sold
last year?

When I get some Clippers/Capstones, *then* I'll make my decision as to
whether or not they are any good but I am getting bothered by all the
people who want to deny me that chance.


Warmer by the day,

Padgett

ps:

> In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
> Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of

100,000,000 lemmings can't be wrong.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for pointing out that just maybe
{Time Magazine} has its own axes to grind in this matter. Not that this
Digest would ever be used to make some of my points perfectly clear, you
understand :) ... PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 07 Mar 94 10:00:38 EST
From: Alex Cena <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pair-Gain, ADSL, HDSL Information Needed


[e-mail] wrote:

> I am looking for infomation on pair-gain which is a technique of
> multiplexing (usually two) subscriber calls onto a single copper pair.
> The reason I need this information is that I wish to investigate if it
> could be used to improve the party line systems that we have in
> operation here in rural areas.

Try PairGain Technologies in Cerritos, CA  310-404-8811

[e-mail] asked about Chips/Boards for ADSL or HDSL etc.

> I am attempting to locate information on availability and
> pricing for any chips/ evaluation boards/ products that support HDSL
> or ADSL ...

Try PairGain Technologies 310-404-8811
    Brooktree  619-452-7580
    Level One  Based in Folsom, California (I do not have phone# handy)
    Tellabs 708-969-8800
    Teltrend 708-377-1700


Alex M. Cena, Lehman Brothers, [e-mail]

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

Date: Sun, 06 Mar 94 23:02 CST
From: Jim Thomas ([e-mail])
Subject: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment


A comment on the one-ring telephone harassment:  A local Chicago talk
show personality (Brian McCann on WLUP's Sunday afternoon "comedy"
program) has encouraged listeners to "drive your friends crazy" with
one-ring phone calls. He thinks it's a "victory" if the harasser can
drive the victim to taking the phone of the hook so "they can't
receive those important calls." He spent this afternoon (6 March)
playing this game and exhorting others to do the same. The final
touch, he believed, was to eventually call back and play a Jim Nabors'
song ("You can't roller-skate in a Buffalo herd") to the victim. He
claimed that it was especially fun to do to people with celluar
phones.  If I recall, the name of the program is "The Sunday Funnies,"
which runs for a few hours each week.


Jim Thomas


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds to me like it is time for
someone to circulate Brian McCann's home telephone number publicly.
Incidentally, the main switchboard for the business offices at WLUP is
312-440-5270. That is public information, it appears in the phone book
so there is nothing secret about it; all I am doing is saving my
readers the cost of a call to directory assistance. I cannot advocate
that people engage in the same harassing tactics that McCann proposes,
however you might want to voice your opinion to management at WLUP
about McCann and his games. Do not engage in tactics such as putting
312-440-5270 on a Demon Dialer or having a modem dial the number over
and over. Do not go to public toilets at the library, truck stop or
bus station and put up messages saying for a good time call Brian at
312-440-5270. Do not play the same games -- even though we know who
would win and who would lose, he being merely an amateur where these
games are concerned. Instead, in a responsible way, call and voice your
opinion to the program director and others at the station.  If it is
after business hours at the station, you may reach their voicemail,
but don't get abusive. If I happen to locate Brian McCann's home phone
number -- I'm sure all those dudes at WLUP keep their numbers non-pub --
I'll pass it along, since no doubt you'll want to counsel with him
in person. Remember now, no one-ring/hangup harassing calls! You privacy
freaks be sure to prepend *67 to your dialing string. Or since you are
calling 'the Loop - WLUP' use your favorite loop-arounds, etc.  By the
way, if anyone thinks of something else callers to WLUP should not do
 -- something I may have overlooked -- write and let us know.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert S. Mah)
Subject: Maps of LATA's in the US
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 1994 08:02:57 -0500
Organization: One Step Beyond


Is there an official (or non-official) source that lists the LATA's
for the United States?  Canada would be nice as well.  It would be of
_great_ help if things were sorted by exchange number, postal (i.e. ZIP)
codes or even on township/county lines.

I tried the FCC, but one hour of bounced calls only yielded frustruation.


Cheers,

Robert S. Mah   One Step Beyond     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl Moore <[e-mail]> has quite a
bit of this data. Maybe he will see your inquiry and respond after he
finishes on his call to WLUP.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (George Cifrancis)
Subject: Need TAP/IXO For Alpha Pagers
Date: 7 Mar 1994 14:02:07 GMT
Organization: InfiNet - Internet Access (614/268-3639)


Hi folks,

I am looking for any info on the TAP (Telelocator Alphanumeric Input
Protocol) or something called IXO.

These are used for sending out alphanumeric messages on certain kinds
of pagers.  And I need the info to write my own programs.


George Cifrancis III  LV  | Programmer/Analyst/System Administrator|
Columbus, Ohio USA  //3DO | Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation   |
[e-mail]   \X/AMIGA| MIS - Wide Area Net Support (AT&T/SUN) |


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Try the Telecom Archives. Use anonymous
ftp lcs.mit.edu then after logging in, 'cd telecom-archives/technical'.
All the IXO stuff is in there.   PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 10:51:41 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Franck Nazikian)
Subject: Need Help With Minitel Files


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The following was recieved in my mail
today. Can anyone help this fellow out?  Printed below as I received
it.   PAT]

CII ITESM
Franck NAZIKIAN
Sucursal de Correos "J"
MONTERREY N.L. 64849
MEXICO
Tel: [phone] exts.50-76
Fax: [phone]
Internet: [e-mail]

    I tried several times to use the software of the Minitel you put
on the internet network (followimg the given instructions to unpack
it), and I could "uudecode" it, but I could not uncompress it; the
following sentence then appeared on my computer screen:

$ uncompress minitel.tar.Z
uncompress: 0653-059 The input file contains bad data; SIGSEGV signal received.

    What should I do to solve my problem?

Best regards,


Franck NAZIKIAN

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #117
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #118

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 8 Mar 94 00:40:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 118

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Competition and Technology (Fred Goldstein)
    Re: Elementary Area Code Question (Mark E. Daniel)
    Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice? (Stefan Bethke)
    Amateur Radio Communications With Cuba (Jack Hamilton)
    USWest Per-Call CLID Unblocking (William Petrisko)
    Cellular Phone Questions (Andy Malis)
    Having Trouble With "Command Ring Decipher" (Dale Worley)
    Re: Traffic Overloads in Manual Service Era (Tom Watson)
    Proceedings From Conferences Wanted (Lars Kalsen)
    Telephone MIS (Tom Friedman)
    Re: Dialing in Italy (Alfredo E. Cotroneo)
    IEEE INFOCOM'94, June 12-16, Toronto (Mark J. Karol)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 17:04:18 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Competition and Technology


Jerry Leichter says,

> Now, what bothers me about this whole list is that *everything of
> significance on it is available due to technological advances, not
> deregulation*.

While it's certain that some technological progress would have been
made in the absense of competition, I had some experience in an area
where competition made a lot of difference.  Witness the digital PBX.

In 1975, the Bell System offered only electromechanical PBX switches.
The fanciest was the 812, a reed-relay machine with random-logic
electronic control (transistors instead of relays).  At least that's
how I remember it; it's been a while!  A few vendors had electronic
analog machines on the market (semiconductor crosspoints, wired logic)
but the workhorses of the Bell System were the 701 stepper, the 770
crossbar (400 or so lines), the 801 and the 812.  All were heavily
dependent upon 1A2 keysets for a variety of features.  This was labor-
intensive and required big wire and closet space.

That was the year in which Rolm introduced its first CBX and a year
before Northern's SL-1 entered the US market (but was announced in
Canada if not here).  A few other digital switches were also coming
on the market, like the Farinon DTS (later Harris).  Danray introduced
a huge processor-controlled analog crosspoint switch.

AT&T/Bell, nursing its old products, was caught off guard.  They
rushed to market with the Dimension 400, and soon afterwards the
Dimension 2000 and Dimension 100.  These were CPU-controlled analog
machines, with (shall we say) modest traffic capacity.  Features
lagged behind many competitors.

These were only offered for rent. Tariffs were set by state regulators.
In order to hold down rates and be competitive (because AT&T development
and manufacturing costs were high, and most states refused to allow
them to sell competitive gear at a loss), AT&T declared that these would
be the flagship switches for many years to come, with just software
updates.  But they were already behind the market.  In 1979, they
designed "Antelope", basically a digital Dimension with more traffic
capacity.  But it wasn't introduced, lest it upset regulators.

AT&T introduced its first Digital PBX in January, 1983, the week that
PBXs were deregulated.  While it was called the System 85, it was really
the old Antelope, with slightly updated software (I think FP8 instead of
FP12; Feature Package numbers aren't necessarily sequential.)  Not
that long afterwards, System 75 ("Gazelle"), an all-new design, came out.
Dimension was discontinued.  AT&T needed several years to become
competitive in the PBX space, but now their Definity line (G1 and G3
are a renamed and updated Gazelle, respectively) is a worthy competitor.

Would they have worked so hard absent competition?  Hah!  In monopoly
countries, PBX features lagged -- even in Canada, the SL-1 offered
by Bell Canada was way behind the US version.

I won't mention the growth in the modem and answering machine marketplaces
that occured as a result of competition.

Progress _inside_  the network is often a result of economic and
technological forces.  Fiber optics save _them_ money.  But terminal
competition, I beg to argue, is the key reason for rapid progress.


fred

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

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 13:08:48 EST
From: [e-mail] (Mark E Daniel)
Subject: Re: Elementary Area Code Question


In article <[e-mail]> is written:


: [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Elaborating on that idea then, why bother
: to use '1' at all? Why not just say if seven digits, then the first

Because it's one of those spoiled simple things.  It goes back to the fact
that there used to only be a 0 or a 1 in an area code.  People are used to
dialing 1 for any sort of toll call.   I've heard several complaints from
those here in Ohio because we just recently came upon what they call local
plus calls where you don't dial 1 but you pay like .05 a minute to connect.
Actually I recall not being too happy about that.  It could be dealt with a
recording that said you are about to make a toll call, hang up now if you
don't like that ... and they could denote a * code for those that know that
already thus not giving up much speed of connection.


Mark E Daniel                   (Loving SysOp of The Legend BBS)
Inet: [e-mail]   [e-mail] (Direct INet)

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

From: [e-mail] (Stefan Bethke)
Subject: Re: Charge per Byte For Long-Distance Voice?
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 09:37:11 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Stefan Bethke)
Organization: Promo GmbH, Hamburg, Germany


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Alan Larson)
writes:

> The compression of u-law encoding does not reduce the data rate
> during quiet time.  It reduces the number of bits needed for an
> apparent dynamic range, but it does it constantly during the connection.

There is a ITU recommendation G.726 (ADPCM) that specifies methods for
compressing speech (low quality), voice (medium) and modem/fax signals
(high) down to 48, 32, 24 and 16 kbit/s. This methods are intended for
better bandwith utilitisation on inter-office lines (not subscriber
lines).

If the switch knows the type of a particular connection (i.e. the
customer has a voice-grade line), the 5-/A-Law encoded signal can be
compressed.  Compression can be changed even while the connection is
in use (signalling for this is not in the scope of G.726). So the
telco could cut down bandwidth on this call when the signal allows for
it.

This of course doesn't work for modem connections because the quality
degradation of the transmission line would harm data transmission of
all but the slowest modems (V.21).

I wonder if such mechanisms are already in use?


Stefan Bethke


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

From: [e-mail] (Jack Hamilton)
Subject: Amateur Radio Communications With Cuba
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 04:25:34 GMT


The following article was in the Amateur Radio Newsline this week:

                         CUBA AND THE ARRL

   Cuban American hams are angrily denouncing ARRL acceptance of an
invitation for United States hams to join their Cuban counterparts in
future operating events.  They are making their displeasure known on
voice, on CW and on packet.

   The crisis began after the league issued an official bulletin
saying that the Cuban national society had invited American amateurs
to participate in a joint operation in the 1994 ARRL June VHF QSO
Party.  It said that ARRL Oklahoma Section Manager Joe Lynch, N6CL,
received the invitation to lead the group during his visit to Cuba the
week of February 7th.

   Lynch, who is also the VHF editor of {CQ Magazine} was in Cuba as a
member of a Methodist Church work team.  While there, he extended
greetings from ARRL officials and presented Federacion Radioaficionados
de Cuba President Pedro Rodriguez, CO2RP, with a certificate of
participation for the June 1993 ARRL VHF QSO Party.  Joe also
presented an author's certificate to Arnie Coro, CO2KK, for his
article in December 1993 issue of the League's {QST Magazine.}

   But many Cuban expatriate hams living in south Florida say that
Rodriguez is nothing more than a puppet of Cuban Dictator Fidel
Castro.  They claim that Rodriguez is a member of the Cuban military
who was given a ham call sign and a new political job: the job of
keeping Cuban hams following the Castro party line.  This they say at
the risk of losing their ham radio privileges and possibly going to
jail.

  The Cubans hams living in the United States say that hams outside
Cuba should not be holding hands with the FRC.  Instead they should be
pressuring their national societies to force the FRC to loosen the
reign that dictator Castro has placed on the Cuban ham community.

   If it does take place, the joint VHF operation will place from
Bellomonte, Cuba.  Officials of the FRC say they have also taken under
consideration a proposal from an American group for a joint operation
from Cuba on the High Frequency bands in 1995.

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

The electronic publication of the Amateur Radio Newsline is distributed
with the permission of Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, President and Editor of
Newsline.  The text is transcribed from the audio service by Dale Cary,
ND0AKO, and is first published on GEnie.

Editorial comment or news items should be E-mailed to [e-mail]
or [e-mail]. Voice or FAX to [phone].

    Articles may be reproduced if printed in their entirety and
 credit is given to AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE as being the source.

    For further information about the AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE,
 please write to us with an SASE at P.O. Box 463, Pasadena, CA
 91102.


Thank you,

Jack Hamilton      Postal: POB 281107 SF CA 94128  USA
[e-mail]     Packet: kd6ttl@w6pw.#nocal.ca.us.na

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

From: [e-mail] (William Petrisko)
Subject: USWest Per-Call CLID Unblocking
Organization: Netsys Inc.
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 17:58:07 GMT


Someone mentioned that USWest (well, Phoenix AZ) has a per-call
un-blocking code (for those who have their lines permanently blocked.)
That code is *82 ... and it does work.

Question is, was this advertised anywhere (wasn't in my phone bill
inserts)?


William Petrisko (WP5)   Preferred:  [e-mail]
                         Also works: [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 07 Mar 1994 13:02:48 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Andy Malis)
Subject: Cellular Phone Questions


As a prospective new cellular user, I have a bunch of questions that
perhaps some kind soul(s) could answer:

1. Is there a Cellular FAQ?  I looked unsuccessfully in the Telecom
Archives and via archie.

2. A number of places locally are selling the Motorola 550 "flip
phone" for about $50.  Any advice regarding this phone, either good or
bad?  Does it following the Motorola programming manual found in the
archives (file "motorola.programming")?

3. Anyone out there with experience and/or advice regarding either
Cellular 1 or Nynex Mobile in the northern Massachusetts/southern New
Hampshire area?  I'm interested in coverage (especially with a .6 watt
hand-held), and rate plans.

Thanks much for any help.  Replies by direct email would be appreciated.


TIA,

Andrew G. Malis   [e-mail]             [phone]
Ascom Timeplex    289 Great Rd., Acton MA 01720 USA   FAX: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dale Worley)
Subject: Having Trouble With "Command Ring Decipher"
Date: 7 Mar 1994 13:15:33 -0500
Organization: Village of Cambridge, Public-Access Internet


I have "distinctive ringing service" on a line, that is, I have two
directory numbers that both call in on the same line, and each number
has a different ring pattern (in this case, "long" and "short short").
I have a decoder box, brand name "Command Ring Decipher", that sorts
out incoming calls based on the ringing pattern, and routes them to
two different jacks, one of which goes to my phone and one to my Fax
machine.

The problem is that my phone's answering machine sometimes takes an
inordinate number of rings to pick up.  After testing this, I
discovered that the ring decoder usually works on the first ring (like
it's supposed to), but occasionally takes up to four rings before it
starts feeding the incoming call to the destination jack.

Does anybody know what might be causing this (other than the ring
decoder being defective), and what I should do about it?


Thanks,

Dale

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Watson)
Subject: Re: Traffic Overloads in Manual Service Era
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 1994 18:13:20 -0800
Organization: Apple Computer (more or less)


Your discussion about overloads is quite enlighting ... I relate an
experience described to me in the early 1980's.  The scene is an
answering service, equipped with the standard of the day (pre
divestiture) 557 coard boards answering 'secreterial lines' (taps of a
customers line).  The answering service in question had the first few
(the number four comes to mind) lines of the local cable TV service.
There were times when the cable TV service for the town went out, and
if it happened during an interesting event (like the Super Bowl, or
the Winter Olympics) the lines would light up and the answering
serivce operatators would need to give some comforting thoughts to the
annoyed customers waiting for their TV to get signal again.

The problem is that the same speil would need to be given to everyone
who called, and as they say "time is money..." so one of the operators
got innovative.  They (yes, it was mostly women) would take four of
the cords and position them almost in the jacks associated with the
lines in question.  Then with the talk keys down on the four lines,
and the lines all lit up, she would plug in all the lines at once,
just like a conference call (but unknown to the Cable TV customers),
then with the best "recording" voice she had announce something like
"The Cable TV service for the town is presently unavailable, we
anticipate the service to be fully restored at xx:xx, we appreciate
your patience, thank you.", then unplug the cords.  The process was
repeated quite often, until the traffic decreased, when things
returned to "normal".  When related this story, I nearly rolled on the
floor with laughter.

You see "manual operations" continue to this day, even with overloads!!


Tom Watson    Not much simpler!!   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That technique, of responding to several
calls at one time using several cords and open keys was common when the
cordboard operator had to make an emergency announcement. About 1969-70
I went back to work for University of Chicago a second time, with a part
time job operating a dormitory PBX and front desk two nights per week on
the midnight shift. This was an old, old, old hotel called Plaisance
Apartments at 61st and Stony Island Avenue. Its been torn down now for
over twenty years and the lot remains vacant on that corner. One night
about 2 AM there was a fire in one of the dorm rooms; someone fell asleep
with a cigarette I guess; it was put down on the report as 'careless use
of smoking materials'. Well, the Fire Department pulling up outside of
course woke up quite a few of the 250 or so residents of the building
and as expected within a minute or so of their arrival the switchboard --
normally totally dead all night long in that building -- was lit up like
the proverbial Christmas Tree we hear so much about ... since the building
was rated (by Fire Department standards) as 'Class A Fireproof' -- which
means simply that a fire will stay confined in the area where it started
*provided the door to the apartment involved is kept closed* it was not
to the advantage of the Fire Department to order an evacuation, particularly
at 2 AM on a cold winter night with the exception of the residents on the
same floor who came downstairs to wait in the lobby and get away from the
heavy smoke. Probably a third of the residents -- mostly those on the
upper floors of the building -- slept through it all, finding out only the
next morning when they came downstairs. (The lobby and the whole building
stunk badly of smoke for almost a week; other than water damage in the
apartment *directly under* the one that caught fire and a lot of soot in
the hallway on the affected floor the damage was minor as those things go.)

But the ones who did wake up were quick to jump on the phone to call
down to the front desk and ask what was up. The Fire Department person
in charge at the scene told me to tell the residents on other floors
*who asked about it* (which must have been about half the building!)
that ' ... there is a fire in a different part of the building; it is
under control; you are requested to keep awake and alert; open your
window for fresh air as needed and stay in your apartment unless
notified otherwise; if you prefer to leave then use the stairs, do not
use the elevators, and wait in the lobby with other residents ...' I
took four or five cords -- whatever I could grip in my hands at one
time and with the associated keys open just went along shoving the
cords into lighted jacks, giving that message and moving on to some
others. I rang everyone on the affected floor of course and woke them
up, telling them to leave with the firemen who were up there going
door by door to lead them over to the stairs. Of course I had to call
the building manager in his apartment (he lived in the building) and
tell him what was going on and I had to call the building engineer in
his apartment and tell him so he could meet the firemen with the
master keys to get in where the fire was burning; take all the
elevators *above* the floor where the fire was located and lock them
out of service up there; and pull the power in the affected area so
the water damage would not short out the electrical lines and cause a
further hazard. Water seeks its own level; in this case most of it ran
down the hallway and into the elevator shaft (*that* is why you always
park the elevators locked out of service *above* the place where the
fire is located) and for the six hours or so it took to pump out the
shaft and dry out the cables the elevators were out of service meaning
the residents had to walk up and down eleven flights of stairs. The next
day U of C evicted the dumbo who started the fire and later the university
sued him for damages caused; I think it amounted to about $8000.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Kalsen)
Subject: Proceedings From Conferences Wanted
Date: 7 Mar 94 19:26:19 GMT
Organization: DKnet


Hi,

I am interested in some publications - Proceedings - from the follwing
two conferences from 93:

4th IEE Conference on Telecommunications

USENIX Symposium on Mobile and Location independent Computing

Can anyone help me with the exact titles on the publication - and
maybe where to get them. Please E-mail me if you have some information.


Lars Kalsen    [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 07 Mar 1994 11:57:47 -0700
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Telephone MIS


Seattle Metro is looking into upgrading our system that tracks
customer telephone call handling management information (currently a
US West system), and incorporating a new staffing scheduling
component, based on the data from the information system. Does anyone
out there know of some current, successful apoplications in these
areas, either transit specific or other applications?

Contact Tom Friedman at [e-mail]   or [phone].


Thanks.

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

Date: 07 Mar 94 15:58:28 EST
From: Alfredo E. Cotroneo <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Dialing in Italy


Carl,

Within Italy, in the same district, you dial just the telephone number
(as in the US): e.g. 266 6971 if you want to reach us from Milano.

If you dial from outside a district you have to dial the area code
first, and then the number: 02 266 6971 often wrote as [phone],
is our number in Milano if you dial within Italy, but from outside the
district of Milano (02). An exception is made for the mobile/cellular
phones, for which you have to dial always the "area code". (0337 for
commercial cellular, and 0330 for residential cellular, 0336 for old
400 MHz car phones, 0333 [GSM ?])

The rules above -- except the cellular phones codes -- are for most,
(if not all), European countries.

If dialing from abroad, you have just to remember Italy's country code
which is 39.

The CCITT way of writing our number in Milano is [phone] (or
[phone]). The '+' stands for your int'l long distance access
code (in the US it will be 011).

In Italy there are different service numbers, which are dialed with no
area code, but can be dialed only within Italy: e.g. 12 is telephone
directory (just one for all Italy), 176 is for telephone enquires for
the Mediterranean and Europe (including North Africa), 1790 is for
overseas telephone info. Toll free numbers start with 167 (equivalent
to 1-800), 1-900 like numbers start with 144 (just recently introduced).
113 Police/Ambulance, 112 Carabinieri, etc.

The numbers quoted for accessing the AT&T, MCI, and Sprint operators
from Italy are special toll free numbers set up by agreement between
Italcable (the Italian overseas carrier) and the US carriers. These
numbers are called "Countrydirect":

172 1011 ATT
172 1022 MCI
172 1877 Sprint
but also:
172 1054 Argentina
172 1061 Australia
172 1055 Brasil, etc. for other 21 countries.

Hope this explains a little bit our numbering system.


Alfredo E. Cotroneo, President
NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association
PO Box 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy
Phone: [phone]
email: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue,  8 Mar 94 03:49:01 GMT
Subject: IEEE INFOCOM'94, June 12-16, Toronto
Organization: AT&T


Announcing . . . .

IEEE INFOCOM'94
The Conference on Computer Communications

June 12 - 16, 1994

The Westin Harbour Castle
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Now in its 13th year, IEEE INFOCOM is the premier international
technical conference devoted to computer communications and
networking.  Papers presented at INFOCOM represent the leading edge of
understanding and development in this fast-moving field, and are
accepted only after a rigorous review process.  The half-day and
full-day tutorials are given by leading experts and afford the
participant an opportunity to stay current with the latest advances in
computer communications and networking. In addition, in 1994 INFOCOM
is offering for the first time a full-day Gigabit Networking Workshop,
consisting of informal short presentations on "hot topics" and full
paper presentations on applications enabling the large-scale
deployment of gigabit networks. IEEE INFOCOM'94 is sponsored by the
IEEE Computer and Communication Societies. The Gigabit Networking
Workshop is sponsored by the IEEE COMSOC Technical Committee on
Gigabit per Second Networks.

o Gigabit Networking Workshop

     Sunday, June 12, 1994
     9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
     (followed by a committee "business" meeting, 4:00 - 5:00 PM)

        Abstracts for presentation at this workshop are due on April 1, 1994.
        Selected papers will be considered for a forthcoming issue of the
        IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC). Contact the
        program chair James Sterbenz (914-784-6489 or [e-mail]) for
        complete information on submission guidelines.

o Tutorials

     Sunday, June 12, 1994
     2:30 - 6:30 PM

        1. "Supporting Real-Time Applications Over Internet," Lixia Zhang,
           Xerox

        2. "Recent Advances in the Algorithmic Analysis of Queueing Systems,"
           David Lucantoni, AT&T Bell Labs

     Monday, June 13, 1994
     9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

        3. "Advanced Topics in Broadband ATM Networks," Ender Ayanoglu and
           Malathi Veeraraghavan, AT&T Bell Labs

        4. "Wireless Communications Networks," Donald Cox, Stanford University

        5. "High-Speed Networks: Multimedia Applications, Infrastructure, and
           Protocols," Fouad Tobagi, Stanford University

        6. "The State of the Art in Network Management," Yechiam Yemini,
           Columbia University

o Plenary Session

     Tuesday, June 14, 1994
     8:30 - 10:00 AM

        "Multimedia Information Networking in the Nineties," Maurizio Decina,
        Politecnico di Milano/CEFRIEL

o Technical Sessions

     Tuesday, June 14, 1994
     10:30 AM - 5:00 PM
        Wireless Networks
        Performance
        Congestion Control
        Design of Optical Networks
        Issues in High-Speed Protocols
        Virtual Path Routing in ATM Networks
        Discrete-Time Queues and ATM
        High-Performance LANs
        Multicast Switch Architecture
        Performance Analysis of Video Services
        Admission Control
        Multi-Stage Optical Networks

     Wednesday, June 15, 1994
     8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
        Circuit Switching
        Traffic Shaping
        Performance Analysis of Buffering Schemes
        Lightwave Networks
        Wireless Networks
        Performance
        Congestion Control
        Image, Audio and Video Transport
        Resource Management
        DQDB
        Protocol Design, Analysis and Interoperability
        Switched LANs
        Network Multicast Routing
        Interconnection of LANs/MANs/WANs
        Real-Time Systems
        Optical Network Routing

     Thursday, June 16, 1994
     8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
        Network Routing
        Traffic Modeling
        Admission Control
        High-Performance LANs
        Transport over ATM
        Queueing Models
        Congestion Control
        Multi-Stage Optical Networks
        Security and Database Systems
        DQDB
        Scheduling
        FDDI
        Switching
        Performance Analysis of Switches
        Network Routing
        Protocols for WDM Networks

o Panel

     Tuesday, June 14, 1994
     5:15 - 6:45 PM

        "Switch-Based LANs: A Fast Evolving Networking Paradigm"
           Organizer/Moderator: Yoram Ofek (IBM)
           Panelists: Maurizio Decina (Politecnico di Milano/CEFRIEL)
                      Alexander Fraser (AT&T Bell Labs)
                      HT Kung (Harvard University)
                      Nick Maxemchuk (AT&T Bell Labs)
                      Jonathan Turner (Washington University)

o Committee

     General Chair: Mark J. Karol, AT&T Bell Labs,
                    tel: [phone], email: [e-mail]
     Vice-Chair: Al Leon-Garci, University of Toronto
     Technical Program Chair: Magda El Zarki, University of Pennsylvania,
                              tel: [phone], email: [e-mail]
     Technical Program Vice-Chair: Khosrow Sohraby, Univ. of Missouri at KC
     Tutorials Chair: Kai Y. Eng, AT&T Bell Labs
     Treasurer: Ender Ayanoglu, AT&T Bell Labs
     Local Arrangements: Terry Todd, McMaster University
                         Celia Desmond, Stentor
     Standing Committee Chair: Harvey Freeman, LANWORKS, Inc.


To receive an electronic copy of the INFOCOM'94 Advance Program send Email
to: [e-mail]

To receive a printed copy of the INFOCOM'94 Advance Program send a FAX
to Mark J. Karol, INFOCOM'94 General Chair, [phone]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #118
******************************


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Date: Tue, 8 Mar 94 15:22:12 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #119

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 8 Mar 94 15:22:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 119

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Measuring Network Availability (Stacy L. Millions)
    Information Market Guide (IM-GUIDE) (Jesus Bustamante)
    ATM Newsgroup Wanted (Mohanram)
    Telecom FAQ Location (Michael Petsalis)
    Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment (Barry Mishkind)
    Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment (Doug Oke)
    Re: Why Are Rates to India Increasing? (Linc Madison)
    Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone (Paul Robinson)
    Re: InterLATA CID (Paul Robinson)
    Re: Traffic Overloads in Manual Service Era (Linc Madison)
    Wanted: Alphanumeric Pager Software (Jim Ray)
    Re: Need TAP/IXO For Alpha Pagers (Monty Solomon)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (Alain Fontaine)
    Crosstalk (was Re: LD Headaches From Within an IBX System) (C. Garrigues)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Stacy L. Millions)
Subject: Measuring Network Availability
Organization: Sobeco Ernst & Young
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 19:12:41 GMT


Hi,

I have a question that has been puzzling me for some time.

I was involved in a project, where we helped to migrate a companies
user base from an IBM mainframe / SNA / 3270 terminal environment to a
UNIX / TCP/IP / vt220 / terminal server environment. I can remember
one of IBM network type people made a comment about how they guarantee
their users 99.8% network availability and he was skeptical that we
would be able to match that in the new environment.

Now my question is simply this:
    How do you
        a) define
    and
        b) measure
    'network availability'? Particularly in the context of
    LANs and WANs.

I, unfortunately, did not have opportunity to take this up the the IBM
network type who made the original comment, I would have been most
interested in his definition.

It would seem that the definition is the key. Defined one way it could
be interpreted as 'No one cut the cable, therefore it is available'
and thus you can easily attain 99.8%. At the other end of the scale,
you could define it such that the network is considered unavailable if
some one turns off their PC. More realistic would be something
somewhere in the middle.

I would be very interested in comments from people who have defined
this and do measure it.


stacy    [e-mail]   [e-mail]   sobeco!stacy

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

Date: Tue, 08 Mar 1994 18:01:46 CET
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Information Market Guide (IM-GUIDE)
Organization: EuroKom Conferencing Service


WHAT IS I'M GUIDE ?

Developed under Action Line 3 of the Information Market Policy ACTions
programme (IMPACT), I'M GUIDE is a directory of information products
and services available in Europe.  It includes not only databases and
databanks, but also CD-ROMs, CD-I products, diskette-bases, image
banks, etc., publicly available. For each product the database has
detailed information about the contents, subject coverage, updating
frequency, size, medium on which the service or product is available
etc., as well as information on the organisations producing or
offering the products (information producers, hosts, information
brokers, etc.)

I'M GUIDE contains information about:

* more than 2500 on-line databases and databanks
* more than 2000 CD-ROMs and CD-Is
* more than 800 other information products
* more than 1700 producers of information
* more than 800 services offering access
* more than 1000 information brokers

The database is produced by DG XIII/E of the Commission of the
European Communities.

The content of the database is available in all nine official
languages of the European Union.  You can search it using the Common
Command Language (CCL), or via a specially designed user-friendly
menu-driven interface (currently available in English, Spanish,
Italian, French or German).

I'M-GUIDE is continuously updated, with the information collection
carried out by a network of correspondents in all countries covered,
monitoring the information scene in their region.

On-line access to the database is provided FREE of CHARGE through ECHO
(European Commission Host Organisation).

HOW TO CONNECT TO ECHO VIA INTERNET

Now you can access ECHO with a simple TELNET  command and  the
address:

ECHO.LU      (or 158.64.1.51)

Once received  our  welcome  screen "%THIS IS ECHO PLEASE ENTER
YOUR CODE", you can login with the following public password:

NGUEST
(or with your own personal password)

If you would like to register (registered ECHO users are provided with
their own personal password and a detailed CCL Manual), or you would
like to receive further information about ECHO and its databases,
please send your NAME and COMPLETE POSTAL ADDRESS to:

    ECHO
    European Commission Host Organisation
    B.P. 2373
    L-1023 Luxembourg

    Or to any of the Email addresses below

JESUS BUSTAMANTE
ECHO (European Commission Host Organisation)
Tel. :  [phone]      Email :  [e-mail]
Fax  :  [phone]               [e-mail]
Pers. Email:  [e-mail]

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

Date: 07 Mar 1994 22:09:06 CST
From: Mohanram <[e-mail]>
Subject: ATM Newsgroup Wanted
Organization: University of Missouri - Kansas City, CSTP


Could you please tell me if there is a news group for discussion about
ATM? I would like to know more about this technology and there is no
better way than the news groups. I am not a regular reader of comp.dcom.
telecom news group. Please send me email.


Thanks in advance,

Mohanram

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael Petsalis)
Subject: Telecom FAQ Location
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: ECE - Concordia University
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 00:29:43 GMT


Hello all!  Could someone please point me in the direction of the FAQ
for this newsgroup?  Please reply by email and thanks in advance.


Regards,

[e-mail]  (Michael Petsalis)         Voice : [phone]
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering,      Fax  : [phone]
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I've already responded to this writer with
the answer so others do not need to write, but this is a question which
comes up quite often. The FAQ is sent out automatically to each new
subscriber to the mailing list, and it is also available in the Telecom
Archives at lcs.mit.edu. From time to time, I also post it in the Usenet
group comp.dcom.telecom. At the present time, I am waiting for the new
edition from David Leibold; when it arrives it will replace the version
there now which is about a year old.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 94 19:49 MST
From: [e-mail] (barry mishkind)
Subject: Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment
Organization: Datalog Consulting, Tucson, AZ


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> A comment on the one-ring telephone harassment:  A local Chicago talk
> show personality (Brian McCann on WLUP's Sunday afternoon "comedy"
> program) has encouraged listeners to "drive your friends crazy" with
> one-ring phone calls. He thinks it's a "victory" if the harasser can
> drive the victim to taking the phone of the hook so "they can't
> receive those important calls." He spent this afternoon (6 March)
> playing this game and exhorting others to do the same. The final

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds to me like it is time for
> someone to circulate Brian McCann's home telephone number publicly.
> Incidentally, the main switchboard for the business offices at WLUP is
> 312-440-5270. That is public information, it appears in the phone book

> By the way, if anyone thinks of something else callers to WLUP
> should not do -- something I may have overlooked -- write and let us
> know.  PAT]

We certainly shouldn't suggest that messages be sent to the FCC, regarding
Brian's behavior ... especially to the new FTP location and email address
they have put on line.


Barry Mishkind    [e-mail]   Tucson, Arizona


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You're right; it would not do much good.
The FCC has been trying to collect on a fine against that station for
a few years now based on the antics of those two other obnoxious creeps
they have on the air ... what'stheirnames ... the station refuses to
pay and keeps dragging it through court. Years ago, the FCC's response
would have been to go out and padlock the transmitter after shutting it
off; I guess these days the big money involved with major radio stations
doesn't allow that to happen.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Doug Oke)
Subject: Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment
Date: 8 Mar 94 04:37:14 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada


If you find it difficult to get through to the switchboard, or simply
don't want to waste the operators' time, don't forget that you can FAX
your message to WLUP.  As long as their machines haven't run out of
paper, you can use the phone lines to deliver a message about
irresponsible uses of telecom to them in printed form.


Doug Oke - Vancouver, Canada                  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good thinking! The fax number at the
WLUP general offices is 312-440-9377. But keep your messages brief (say,
less than 10-12 pages in length) and non-abusive. You might want to
fax them copies of pertinent FCC regulations, copies of scripts from
old Jack Benny radio shows to show them what 'comedy programs' were like
years ago and perhaps some pages from the Chicago phone directory to
show them a list of people who might be or were possibly affected by
McCann's 'game'. Say Doug, do you get AM-1000 out there in Vancouver
at night? I know there is a station somewhere around Calgary, Alberta
playing heavy rock music which comes in here in Chicago at night some-
times. When we get the signal it comes in like gangbusters even louder
than some of the locals. AM radio signals are amazing things.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Why Are Rates to India Increasing?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 08:53:38 GMT


A N Ananth ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In article <[e-mail]>, Linc Madison
> <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> I was looking at yet another one of those newspaper ads for the
>> various LD companies' international discount calling plans, and I've
>> noticed that they list numbers like "India 73 cents (thru 3/30/94, 78
>> cents after)"

>> Is the PTT in India increasing its "landing fees"?

> Actually the rates are not increasing at all. As one who spend$, let
> me assure you that the rate of $0.73 is almost 50% off the normal
> rate ... at the present time, $0.78 per minute is the best you can do
> [if you call over the weekend etc]

That still doesn't answer my question.  The rate (with the special
discount plan) is $0.73 now, but will be (again with the special
discount plan) $0.78 next month.  That *is* an increase; why?  None of
the other countries mentioned in the ad has any differential.  Also,
one of the ads like this that I saw listed the "regular price" rates
for India, and they *are* scheduled to increase on 4/1/94.


Linc Madison   *   Oakland, California   *   [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 04:29:09 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


Min Hu <[e-mail]> writes:

> During the gulf war, both the reporters and the American soldiers
> used a kind of satellite phone system so that they could communicate
> with outside world.

The soldiers were using radiotelephones that were connected to the
military's satelite system.  And here is how far the world has
changed; some of the critical classified information sent by the
military was transmitted over satelites leased from Russia!

The reporters were using Inmarsat telephones.  They're fine if you
want to pay about $9 a minute more than typical overseas calls, e.g. a
long distance call from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia is about $1.20 a
minute, while Inmarsat charges about $10 a minute.

Oh, and don't forget the $10,000 to $50,000 for the transmitting
station.


Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 04:33:57 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: InterLATA CID
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


[e-mail], writes:

> I have a question regarding the use of Caller ID on Inter-LATA
> calls.  Currently the technology exists to deliver the calling number
> to the terminating LEC office

As long as all the paths from start to end are SS7 switches.

> Since this information in most cases is deliverable right now, why
> doesn't InterLATA CID exist?

In "To Sail Beyond the Sunset," A son asks his mother, "In Dallas the
TV telephones are all stereo; why is Kansas City still using flatties?"
to which his mother responds, "Donald, whenever any question begins
'Why don't they' the answer is almost always 'Money'."

> The only reason I've heard so far is that the RBOCs must be "de-
> regulated" before they can accept/deliver Inter-LATA originating
> numbers.

Some people in some cities have noted getting Caller-ID information
from people in other states, who are long distance calls.  It's a
political, not a technical question.  What it probably comes down to
is that the local telcos believe that providing calling party
information is a valuable service for which they think they shouldn't
have to provide it without compensation on calls delivered to a
distant point, where the the distant party benefits without the local
company getting some cut.

> This doesn't seem to make much sense. Perhaps it's just a matter
> of working out which carrier charges who and for how much or is
> there another reason?

Don't forget, if calling number delivery becomes much more available,
some companies can dispense with T1s for 800 numbers and get the same
thing without having to pay for T1 trunks to get real-time delivery of
calling party numbers.  Since an 800 call almost always comes in as
just an ordinary call terminated on ordinary phone lines, the CNID
information should be available in real time to me, with my $10 a
month 800 number from Sprint as it is to some company paying $2000 a
month for T1 trunks.


Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 01:56:58 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Traffic Overloads in Manual Service Era
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)


In article <[e-mail]> you wrote:

> One such instance that I remember specifically was an explosion at
> the Whiting Refinery in 1953. ...  it quickly spread into some
> storage tanks and a large device they called a 'cat cracker' -- whatever
> that means -- ...

The 'cat cracker' is a device that uses a catalyst (cat for short) to
'crack' complex hydrocarbon molecules, which is to say to break very
complex molecules into simpler molecules.  It's highly explosive, of
course, because you're dealing with petroleum and heating it up to
work on massaging its molecular structure.


Linc


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks also to several other correspondents
who wrote to explain the term to me.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jim  Ray -- Personal Account)
Subject: Wanted: Alphanumeric Pager Software
Date: 8 Mar 1994 19:51:24 GMT
Organization: CONCERT-Connect Public Dial UNIX


Anybody know of a source for software that will use the modem to dial
an alphanumeric pager and to send a message to that pager?

Motorola uses these keyboard-like devices now.  It would be nice to
replace them with software.


Thanks!

Jim Ray
Tel: [phone]  Fax: [phone]
Internet:   [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 07:43:21 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Need TAP/IXO For Alpha Pagers


> I am looking for any info on the TAP (Telelocator Alphanumeric Input
> Protocol) or something called IXO.

> These are used for sending out alphanumeric messages on certain kinds
> of pagers.  And I need the info to write my own programs.

Look in dir pub/ixo on anonftp.geo.mtu.edu.

There is also a mailing list:

    subscribe via email to [e-mail]
        (send help message for instructions)

    contribute via email to [e-mail]


Monty Solomon / PO Box 2486 / Framingham, MA  01701-0405  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Alain Fontaine)
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again
Organization: Universite Catholique de Louvain
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 13:08:41 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Bill
Mayhew) wrote:

> bulbs, which thread into their sockets.  European bulbs have bayonet
> type sockets (similar to over-grown automotive turn signal lamp
> sockets) so the gag makes sense if you understand this.

And in 'America', everyone rides a horse, wearing a big hat and a pair
of colts. Now, I was born here in Belgium (Europa) in 1951, and I have
never encountered a bayonet socket except for the small lamp in my
wife's sewing machine ...  /AF


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What was that song from "West Side
Story" which went, 'da da dee da in America ... da da dee da in America;
da da dee da in America ... in America!'

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

From: [e-mail] (Chris Garrigues)
Subject: Crosstalk (was Re: LD Headaches From Within an IBX System)
Organization: Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC)
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 15:49:11 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Jonathan Lieberman <lie6@midway.
uchicago.edu> wrote:

> Ever since then during aproximatly 35% - 50% of my long distance calls
> (both those that I originate, and when other people call me long
> distance) I hear other people (and they hear me) making long distance
> calls from within my building.

A few years ago while unemployed, I found that I was getting crosstalk
on my phone line from some business.  I called SouthWestern Bell and
they fixed the problem.  A number of months later when I was home
during the day, I noticed that the problem was back, so I called SWB
again and they "fixed" the problem again.  Things were fine again for
a few months and then one day I was on my modem line dialing into work
and the line went completely dead.  I stepped out onto my front porch
and noted a SWB repair truck parked in front of Jeff's house across
the street.  I walked over to the truck and told the guy what
happened.  He asked me "Is your number xxx-xxxx?"  I answered that it
was, and he muttered "Damn!  Is it completely dead?"  Yes.  "Okay,
I'll take care of it once and for all."

He put a tone generator on my line and walked down the street with a
coil on the end of a poll until he stopped getting the signal.  He
then climbed up the poll and discovered an ant colony in the wiring.
By 10PM he had my line working and by noon the next day, he'd patched
up everything and evicted the ants.  I don't know of any line problems
in my neighborhood since, but I could be lucky.

It seems that this crosstalk problem had been going on for years and
every time someone would complain about it, rather than fixing it they
simply patched a different line into the bad pair.  They made a point
of mixing business and residencial lines on the theory that we'd be
less likely to be using the lines at the same time.  Until the line
completely failed, they didn't have an easy way to localize the
problem, so they punted.


Chris Garrigues                              (MIME capable) [e-mail]
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation    [phone]
3500 West Balcones Center Drive                     Fax [phone]
Austin, TX  78759-6509          USA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I once had an aunt who could be quite a
nuisance on the telephone. She would call at very inconvenient times and
want to talk for hours. She did not live in a colony however; she lived
in a retirement village in Florida. That's enough for today. :)   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #119
******************************


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Date: Wed, 9 Mar 94 10:58:10 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #120

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 9 Mar 94 10:58:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 120

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Telephone Companies and the Time (Kent Borg)
    SONAR Data Communications Underwater (Susan Jacobson)
    Question About Random Dialing ([e-mail])
    Looking For Two and Three Character Country Codes (Eileen C. Bauer)
    Problems with GSM Technology? (John Sims)
    More Dialogic Help (Rich Padula)
    Re: Clipped Again (Barry Margolin)
    Re: Cellular Phone Questions (Robin Amano)
    Re: Line/Cable Simulators (Rich Padula)
    Re: Wanted: Alphanumeric Pager Software (Jeff Regan)
    Re: Transborder Local Calls (Wally Bloss)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (Charles Hoequist, Jr.)
    CONNECT Table of Contents - Mar/Apr '94 (Patricia Snyder-Rayl)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 94 23:31:08 CST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number


How's this for a new twist on the 900 number racket?  Illinois' most
infamous prisoner -- and one of the most infamous in the USA -- John
Wayne Gacy has installed a 900 number people can call to hear him
proclaim his innocence.

Gacy was convicted in 1978 of the sexual assualts and murders during
sado-masochistic activities of 33 boys and young men, most of whom
were found casually buried under mounds of dirt in a crawl space beneath
his home on Summerdale Avenue in unincorporated Norwood Park Township,
a small area on the northwest side here which has Chicago on two sides
of it and Des Plaines, Illinois on another side, but is not part of any
town. A few boys were found buried in the back yard, a couple under the
cement in the driveway, etc. John Wayne Gacy was arrested by detectives
of the Des Plaines Police Department, and by the time they finished their
investigation they had found so many bodies they eventually lost count and
settled on 33, most of whom to this day fifteen years later have not been
identified, nor has their body been claimed.

After an insanity plea which the court did not buy, Gacy tried a
variety of tactics and eacb step of the way, higher courts confirmed
the findings and actions of the lower courts which had come before. He
was sentenced to death, and imposition of punishment was repeatedly
postponed as Gacy made appeal after appeal on technical matters.
Finally he has run out of things to appeal and imposition of death has
been scheduled once and for all early in May of this year.

* Now John Wayne Gacy is taking a different approach, and claims that
he is totally innocent of the charges most foul lodged against him. *
He claims that 'several people' had keys to his house and were free to
come and go at any time.  The same people were free to use his cement
mixer as well perhaps? He has no idea how the bodies of teenage boys
came to be buried in his back yard or under the floor in the garage, etc.

He explains all this and more on a 900 phone number set up for him by
a company in Florida working with his attorney. As the message begins,
we hear Gacy himself comment, ' ... This is John Wayne Gacy speaking.
In this message, I will explain and prove my innocence to your
complete satisfaction. The cost for this call is $2.95 per minute, and
on average, each call lasts eleven minutes with a total average charge
of $33 per call. If you don't wish to pay, please hang up now, and at
this time the charges will begin ...'

The parents of the victims who have been identified at one time or
another -- sadly, only a few have been traced -- all have judgments
against Gacy amounting to millions of dollars each. They are now suing
to get a piece of the action on the 900 number, since that is the only
money they will ever see out of this. Gacy also attempts to sell his
objects 'd art, but he has not had much luck selling his mostly morbid
drawings and oil paintings.

Gacy's attorney wants to keep the money for himself to offset the
enormous legal bills his client has run up, and the State of Illinois
has other ideas. Prison officials are absolutely livid; it seems Gacy
did not consult them on this at all but set it up behind their back
with the company in Florida. Prison officials are now also suing Gacy
to get the 900 number disconnected; meanwhile the calls keep rolling
in at an average of $33 each. The prison officials want to confiscate
the money and use it to pay Gacy's room and board and their other
expenses in guarding him. I don't know how good a job they could be
doing guarding him if his 900 number got turned on and started receiving
hundreds of calls per day before they found out about it.

As the date draws near for Gacy's execution -- this time, no more
stalling or delays -- a group calling itself the American Civil
Liberties Union has stated it will intervene to prevent Gacy from
being persecuted further by the state and the criminals in our society
of which Gacy is but a victim.

In other correctional institution news this week, Larry Eyler --
another Gacy type, in 1984 he was convicted here of the dismemberment
and sex-murder of a fifteen year old boy -- died at the age of 41 on
Death Row from complications due to AIDS. His execution had been
scheduled for later this year.

I'll bet you're all rushing to your phones right now to call John Wayne
Gacy's 900 number so you can cry your eyes out over the dilemma he finds
himself in ...

  ... My kind of town, Chicago is!   (Frank Sinatra said it, not me.)


PAT

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

From: [e-mail] (Kent Borg)
Subject: Telephone Companies and the Time
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 17:36:44 GMT


I am under the impression that phone companies need accurate frequency
sources for synchronous communications, but do they have any real need
for accurate time of day information?

The question is prompted by the fact that the local non-wire cellular
carrier in Boston, Cellular One, doesn't know what time it is.  I
placed my first billable cell call one day after 7:00 PM local time
but was billed a minute at prime time rates.  I know it was after
7:00, for the BBC World Service had already started their 00:00 UTC
news broadcast, my watch said so too, etc.

Yesterday I checked the talking clock number of Nynex (as they are
calling New England Telephone these days) and it was off by what
sounded like at least a tenth of a second when played against a WWV
transmission. (Usually they are closer -- unless there has been a leap
second a few hours earlier.)

Question: What need do phone companies have for accurate time (other
than not cheating customers)?  How many different definitions of the
"correct time" likely exist inside your average RBOC, long distance
company, cellular provider, etc.?

Question 2: How do I find the person inside Cellular One Boston who is
in charge of setting the clock on the billing computer?


Kent Borg                   H: [phone]
[e-mail]      W: [phone]
[e-mail]          Fax: [phone]

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

From: Susan Jacobson <[e-mail]>
Subject: SONAR Data Communications Underwater
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 94 18:58:13 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Hi there!

I am looking for some information about underwater data communications.
Several sources have told me I would have to use SONAR technology ...

I am working on a design project in graduate school.  My group wants
to create a wireless communications device (like a PDA) that could be
used by recreational SCUBA divers.

Any information would be apppreciated. Thanks!

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Question About Random Dialing
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Fannie Mae
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 21:47:18 GMT


Hi! Ya'all Telecom folks,

A friend of mine who doesn't read this news group has the following
question:

Is there a shareware program or commercial program available that can
dial randomly within a given area code and when it comes across a fax
machine log that fax number into a database. If anyone has any
pointers I would appreciate it.


Prab G.    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just what is needed ... a program to
invade the privacy of telephone subscribers; annoy them by causing
their phone to ring and hanging up on them when it discovers they are
not a fax machine, and creating a list of the subscribers who are.
Sorry, no help available here. Who does your friend 'who does not read
this newsgroup' think he is anyway, that he has the right to scan
through telephone exchanges bothering everyone like that? Tell your
friend that if someone has a fax machine and wishes to use it to be
in contact with him, they will let him know. In other words, don't
call us, we'll call you.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Eileen C Bauer)
Subject: Looking For Two and Three Character Country Codes
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 01:52:53 GMT


Can anyone send me a list of current two and three character country
codes. I have most of them, but what with the breakup of various
countries and what-not, I figure I'm missing a few (codes, that is)

Thanks for any info!


Eileen

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

Subject: Problems With GSM Technology
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 1994 11:12:53 +0800
From: John Sims <[e-mail]>


Greetings!

The commercial media here has started to make widely known the Australian
government's plans to scrap the analog cellular system by 2000, to be
replaced by a GSM based system. There is a bit of a ruckus developing,
but that is not I want to discuss.

I seem to remember a few months back there was some information here
about some real technical problems with GSM as a system. I would be
very grateful if someone out there who is aware of GSM's shortcomings
could share these with us, or at least point me to where an archive of
such information might be kept.

Thanks very much in advance.


John Sims                [e-mail]
Functional Software            Voice: [phone]
7/643 Newcastle St                      Fax:   [phone]
Leederville, Western Australia, 6007

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 94 22:11:14 EST
Subject: More Dialogic Help Needed


Does anyone know where I can find the latest version of the Dialogic
voice drivers for DOS for their D40/B and D41/B boards?

I called Dialogic, especially since their fax-back server indicates
"NC" for their DOS voice drivers. Unfortunately, they would not give
me the drivers for "NC" and proceeded to try to push their new
products on me. Ugh.

I really hate having these two boards going to waste ...


Rich

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

From: [e-mail] (Barry Margolin)
Subject: Re: Clipped Again
Date: 8 Mar 1994 22:29:20 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(A. Padgett Peterson) writes:

> {Time Magazine}, March 14, 1994

>> In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
>> Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of
>> phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps.
>> When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it.

> This makes no sense to me. Today there is *no* privacy in phone calls
> so the question must have been worded so as to imply that there is for
> people to believe that Clipper provides *less*.

Where does the above description say that there is currently privacy?
In fact, it says "preserve the ability ... to conduct wiretaps",
implying that there currently is no privacy.  The "protect the privacy"
alternative is a new feature.  So it claims that 2/3 would like additional
privacy rather than the current ability of the government to tap.

>> Rather than outlaw PGP and other such programs, a policy that would
>> probably be unconstitutional, the Administration is taking a marketing
>> approach. By using its purchasing power to lower the cost of Clipper
>> technology, and by vigilantly enforcing restrictions against overseas
>> sales of competing encryption systems, the government is trying to
>> make it difficult for any alternative schemes to become widespread.

> PGP is free for individual use -- you mean the government is going to
> *pay me* to use Clipper?

PGP may be free for individual use, but the above paragraph is
presumably about commercial use.  A PGP option for a phone almost
certainly won't be free.  The point of the above paragraph is that the
most popular encryption chip will presumably be the cheapest, due to
economies of scale, and a chip in use throughout the government will
have automatic popularity.

Of course, this ignores the effect of competition.  I think the
Clipper protocol is currently licensed to a single vendor, so its
monopoly status will not provide incentive to lower the cost.
Meanwhile, vendors competing in an open encryption market will try to
beat each others' prices.

> When I get some Clippers/Capstones, *then* I'll make my decision as to
> whether or not they are any good but I am getting bothered by all the
> people who want to deny me that chance.

Most of the complaints about Clipper have little to do with the
quality of the encryption algorithm (although there *is* some concern,
since it's not been opened to public scrutiny), but about the
government's policy surrounding it (e.g. the key escrow facility).
I'm not sure how receipt of the chips would affect one's opinion about
the latter.


Barry Margolin    System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.
[e-mail]          {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar

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

From: [e-mail] (Robin Amano)
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Questions
Organization: University of Hawaii
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 01:11:52 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Andy Malis) writes:

> 1. Is there a Cellular FAQ?  I looked unsuccessfully in the Telecom
> Archives and via archie.

> 2. A number of places locally are selling the Motorola 550 "flip
> phone" for about $50.  Any advice regarding this phone, either good or
> bad?  Does it following the Motorola programming manual found in the
> archives (file "motorola.programming")?

I have a 550 and it works okay for me.  Where do you find this
programming manual?  Actually if I could afford the expensive flip
phone I'd get that.  I like the keys that you don't have to press
hard.


rob

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 94 22:10:57 EST
Subject: Re: Line/Cable Simulators


In V14 #112, [e-mail] asked for a line/cable simulator.
Here's something I found in Vol. 39 of the EDN Products Edition:

The Consultronics DLS-90:
- Simulates up to 9000 feet of cable.
- Good for ISDN, T1, HDSL, or ADSL.
- 1.5 MHz bandwidth
- Variable in 100 foot increments.
- Passes DC voltages.
- Fully passive and bi-directional.

Their toll-free number: 1-800-267-7235.
Their address: Consultronics/Atlanta, 5258 Ashley Dr., Lilburn, GA 30247.
Their direct phone number: 404-921-3449, Fax: [phone].

P.S. Any typos are mine. Hope this helps.

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

From: Jeff Regan <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Jeff Regan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Wanted: Alphanumeric Pager Software
Date: 8 Mar 1994 19:51:24 GMT
Organization: CONCERT-Connect Public Dial UNIX


> Anybody know of a source for software that will use the modem to dial
> an alphanumeric pager and to send a message to that pager?

> Motorola uses these keyboard-like devices now.  It would be nice to
> replace them with software.

About seven years ago I wrote a program for an XT that would call the
MOTOROLA number that these little units would dial, and if right, hit
return a couple of times. When it saw something like 'ID:' come back
from the far end, it would enter the ID. When 'MSG:' came back, it would
type the message the user requested to send.

A straight terminal program was all that was needed, but the company I
did it for had me set up a look up table so they just had to type the
NAME of the pager user, and then the MESSAGE, and the proage was
sent ... not difficult at all.

I don't remember off hand but I think it was like 1200 baud 7e1 or
something like that ... you would have to figure out area but that
should not be too hard.

I took a quick look around but was unable to locate the program.

Hope this is of some help.


Jeff Regan
Internet address: [e-mail]
Ham Packet address: VE3XJR@VE3TKA.#NON.ON.CAN.NA

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Transborder Local Calls
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 94 09:07:27 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


John Botari <[e-mail]> writes:

> concerning a local calling area that crosses an international boundary
> ... Baudette, MN - (218) 634-xxxx, and Rainy River, ON - (807) 852-xxxx

Is a Baudette a small Baud? <g>


Wally Bloss
A Human


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, a baudette is a female baud. A baudlet
is a baby baud.  :)    PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 17:40:00 +0000
From: charles hoequist <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again


[e-mail] (Alain Fontaine) writes:

> And in 'America', everyone rides a horse, wearing a big hat and a pair
> of colts.

During my residence in Germany 1982-85, a lot of German university
students seemed to think so, except that the Colts were replaced by
Pershing missles.

> Now, I was born here in Belgium (Europa) in 1951, and I have
> never encountered a bayonet socket except for the small lamp in my
> wife's sewing machine ...  /AF

I encountered them the first time I changed a light bulb (in a regular
lamp) in the UK, and continued to find them as long as I lived there,
1986-88. Took me a couple of failures to learn to note the socket type
when going to the store for replacements. Of course, one could argue
that the UK isn't part of Europe ;)


Charles Hoequist, Jr.   | Internet: [e-mail]
BNR, Inc.               |  voice: 919-991-8642
PO Box 13478            |  fax:   [phone]
Research Triangle Park NC 27709-3478   USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Patricia Snyder-Rayl)
Subject: CONNECT Table of Contents - Mar/Apr '94
Date: 9 Mar 1994 11:39:33 -0500
Organization: Cyberspace Communications Public-Access UNIX


                  CONNECT Magazine Table of Contents
                  Vol 2 No 2        March/April 1994

FEATURES

Newspapers in the Electronic Age by David Noak
     Newspapers have found new life in the electronic world. This article
     looks at a number of newspapers making the move to the digital
     marketplace.

Confessions of a Conference Junkie by Annina Anton
     A genuine real-time conferencing addict explains what it is like to be
     hooked on chat.

How to Choose an Online Service by Rich Hower
     Want to get online but are baffled by the many choices available to
     you? This article helps you decide which online services are best for
     you.

Teaching the Old Dog by James Rock
     An "old dog" who recently entered the world of telecomputing tells how
     he's found a new online home, and learned a few new tricks, on the
     Cyberia BBS in Pennsylvania.

DC NET v2.1 -- An Online Window to Creativity by Dan Dearmond
     Durand Communication's DC NET Online Photographic Database software is
     the focus of this in-depth review.

A Second Look at DC NET by Jeff Worchester
     Another DC NET user reviews Durand's online database allowing callers
     to view text and graphics together online.

Accessing the Online World of Electronic Bulletin Boards by Russell Frey
     The author of PowerBBS for Windows takes you through the ABCs of the
     BBSing world, discusses BBSes and networking, and points you to a
     number of excellent BBSes that are just a connection away.

Turn Your PC into a Usenet Site by Edward Branley
     This article shows you how to get your IBM PC or compatible system
     connected to the "Outernet," allowing Usenet newsgroups and Internet
     mail to be accessed directly on your PC.

Highlights of COMDEX/Fall '93 by Steve Richardson
     After attending the Fall COMDEX show in Las Vegas, the author shares
     his impressions of what was offered for telecomputer users.

Commworks for Windows by Jim Mallory
     The author reviews the new Windows-based communications package from
     Traveling Software, makers of LapLink and Remote Access.


COLUMNS

The Inside Line
     Editorial Staff Columnist Michael A. Banks points out online
     "hang-outs" for writers of books and publications, as well as other
     topics.

Eye on America Online
     Columnist Julia Wilkinson takes us through the areas on AOL supporting
     palmtops and Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) like the Apple Newton
     MessagePad and Casio Zoomer.

Connecting with Compuserve
     Your CompuServe guide, columnist Jim Ness, spotlights some of the
     service's ever-expanding European offerings.

Telecomputing the DELPHI Way
     DELPHI's Internet SIG and Custom Forums SIG are revisited by Columnist
     Dick Evans, who also discusses his recent in-person tour of the DELPHI
     facility.

GEnie's Treasures
     Columnist Jim Mallory takes us to the Medical RoundTable on GEnie and
     shows why this RT may be the cure for what ails you.

The Internet Gateway
     Using the Internet Gopher to its fullest potential, and thereby saving
     you valuable time and resources, is the focus of this issue's offering
     from Columnist Paul Gilster.

Clear to Send
     The MicroLink shareware Windows terminal program from MicroWerks is
     reviewed by PC Columnist Victor Volkman.

Dial M for Macintosh
     Macintosh Columnist Ross Scott Rubin talks about Apple's latest foray
     into the modem/serial communications market with the GeoPort.

Staying Connected for about a Pound
     Palmtop Columnist Marty Mankins shows how to stay in touch via fax
     with your palmtop or PDA.


CONNECT magazine is available at the following magazine outlets: B.Dalton
Bookseller, Bookstop, Bookstar, Barnes & Noble, Doubleday, Scribner's,
Crown Books, Tower BooksT ittle Professor, Lichtman'c ewsxMjkk,
Coles Book Stores, CompUSA, Computer City and Software Etc. chains, as well
as other chains and independent newsstands, book stores and computer
dealers in the U.S. and Canada. Call [phone] to find the magazine
dealer nearest you who carries CONNECT.

CONNECT is a bi-monthly magazine covering the major commercial online
services (such as America Online, BIX, CompuServe, DELPHI, GEnie and
Prodigy), the Internet, and bulletin board system networks (such as
Fidonet, WWIVnet, and GlobalNet). The magazine is platform-independent,
with columns focusing on PC-specific (DOS and Windows), Macintosh-oriented,
and Palmtop/PDA-related topics.


     CONNECT Magazine      |[phone]     | Covering commercial online |
"The Modem User's Resource"|[phone] fax | services, Internet and BBS |
   3487 Braeburn Circle    |[phone] BBS |   networks from a user's   |
   Ann Arbor, MI  48108    |   14.4Kbps V.32bis|        perspective.        |

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #120
******************************


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Date: Wed, 9 Mar 94 12:39:00 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #121

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 9 Mar 94 12:39:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 121

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator (Ben Burch)
    AT&T Cellular Phone 3050 and Cordless Phone 9530 (Sheldon W. Hoenig)
    Erlang B and Required Trunks Functions (John Osmon)
    Morons? (Sandra Oudshoff)
    Mr. Watson, Come Here ... (John R. Levine)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Ben Burch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator
Organization: Motorola, Inc
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 17:37:40 GMT


SAN JOSE, CALIF. (MARCH 7) BUSINESS WIRE - March 7, 1994 -- Continuing
its work to fulfill the vision of any time, anywhere communications,
Motorola today unveiled the Envoy(R) product, the first fully
integrated personal wireless communicator that incorporates two-way
wireless and wireline communication. The Envoy communicator, the first
in a line of personal wireless communicators from Motorola, was
demonstrated at an event held in conjunction with the opening day of
the Mobile '94 Conference in San Jose, Calif.

Based on General Magic's intuitive Magic Cap(TM) platform and
Telescript(TM) communications language, the Envoy hand-held device
lets users instantly access and communicate information anywhere --
across a conference table or in a moving taxi.  It is powered by
Motorola's Dragon chip set -- the highly integrated 68349 processor
and a special purpose application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
referred to as Astro.  This chip set was designed specifically to
optimize the performance of Magic Cap and Telescript.

"It's rewarding to witness the result of the close business and
technological cooperation between Motorola and so many distinguished
partners," said Chris Galvin, Motorola's president and chief operating
officer.

The Envoy communicator is a practical, all-in-one tool for people who
need to stay in touch.  Designed for both business and personal use,
it can communicate with popular public and private electronic mail
systems, Windows-based computers, Macintosh computers and fax
machines, as well as with other Envoy communicators.  It can keep
track of appointments, expenses, addresses, telephone numbers,
telephone calls, billing preferences and time zones.

"Motorola's leadership and expertise in wireless communications, the
powerful Magic Cap and Telescript environment, and the outstanding
applications from so many software developers and communication
service providers make it possible to bring end-to-end solutions to
market, allowing users to communicate and access information
anywhere," said Bob Growney, president and general manager of
Motorola's Messaging, Information and Media Sector.

A user can write on the Envoy communicator with the accompanying
stylus, or even use a finger, to type and select or move objects on
its screen.  Envoy communicator owners can use an on-screen keyboard
to input information, use electronic ink to draw or write personal
notations, or send messages and faxes in their own handwriting.  A
Single Tool, Three Ways to Communicate

Using the Envoy communicator, people can send and receive messages and
information any time, anywhere, and at their convenience.  A two-way
wireless packet data modem from Motorola is built into every Envoy
communicator, allowing users to stay in touch wirelessly when access
to a phone line isn't convenient.  Envoy communicator owners can also
access standard telephone lines to communicate, using the built-in fax
modem.  And through the built-in infrared communications link, users
can instantly exchange data -- such as business card information --
between Envoy communicators.

The two wireless communication services offered to Envoy communicator
users, AT&T PersonaLink(SM) Service and RadioMail(TM), will be
connected via the ARDIS(R) nationwide wireless data communications
network, which serves more than 400 metropolitan areas in the United
States.

Communication and Productivity Software built in Motorola's Envoy
personal wireless communicator features a full complement of
integrated electronic mail and information services.  Through
RadioMail, Envoy communicator owners can wirelessly communicate with a
broad population of electronic mail users via the Internet, and
commercial and public mail systems.  America Online(R), which is also
built into the Envoy communicator, allows users to receive stock
quotes and also communicate with electronic mail users. Using
Telescript technology, AT&T PersonaLink Services will let Envoy
communicator users take advantage of personal intelligent assistants.
These intelligent assistants will make it easy for PersonaLink
Services subscribers to send smart electronic messages, seek out
information, and shop for products and services, using both wireless
and wireline means.  The built-in Official Airline Guides (OAG(R))
Flightline(TM) service gives air travelers direct access to timely
flight information.

The Envoy communicator also comes with PenWare's PenCell(TM)
spreadsheet, a software program that's compatible with Lotus 1-2-3 and
Excel file formats, and provides powerful spreadsheet and graphing
capabilities to Envoy communicator users.  Additionally, Motorola and
Intuit have entered into a letter of intent to build into the Envoy
communicator Pocket Quicken SmartWallet(TM), an application that lets
users capture and sort expenses in real time.

For maximum flexibility, the Envoy communicator features two PCMCIA
(Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) type II
slots, allowing Envoy communicator owners to simultaneously run
third-party software applications and add memory to store more
information.

To augment the functionality of the Envoy communicator, Motorola has
made it convenient for customers to purchase additional products and
services through the Motorola Software and Accessories Catalog,
packaged with each communicator.  Motorola is working with multiple
independent software developers who have created a variety of
applications and services for the Envoy communicator; more than 15
applications, ranging from travel maps to daily news summaries, will
be available when the product ships.

Motorola's expertise in wireless technologies and semiconductors has
made it possible to miniaturize sophisticated circuitry, and fit it in
one small, portable package.  The Envoy communicator weighs 1.7 lbs. and
measures 7.5 inches in width, 5.7 inches in height, and 1.2 inches in
depth.

Motorola's Envoy communicator will be available in the United States
this summer through multiple distribution channels.

The Envoy communicator is expandable, therefore future wireless
connectivity may be possible with other networks, such as Cellular
Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mtel's Nationwide Wireless Network (NWN),
the Motorola Integrated Radio System (MIRS) service providers and RAM
Mobile Data.

The Wireless Data Group is part of Motorola's Messaging, Information
and Media Sector, and incorporates the company's business activities
involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of wireless data
communications products, infrastructure equipment and systems for
worldwide markets.  Motorola, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois,
is one of the world's leading providers of wireless communications,
semiconductors, and advanced electronic systems and services.  Sales
in 1993 were $17 billion.

For further customer information on the Envoy communicator, please call
1-800-535-5775.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Motorola and Envoy are registered trademarks of
Motorola Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.

NOTE: For more information on product capabilities and applications
please refer to the Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator
Product Features Summary.


ENVOY1/4lan-lvoi, lan-1/4n 1 :a diplomatic agent
         2 :REPRESENTATIVE, MESSENGER
     (The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Right out of the box, Motorola's Envoy(R) personal wireless communicator
has the ability to...

-- Wirelessly send a message from the back of a taxi to your colleague's
Envoy communicator, PC or fax, 3000 miles away.

-- Broadcast a single message to a group, with each member of that group
receiving the message in their preferred format.

-- Program your Envoy communicator to gather information based on your
requirements.

-- Schedule a meeting in your Envoy communicator's appointment book,
which automatically invites attendees.

-- Screen, route and organize messages to suit your preferences.

-- "Beam" a business card to another Envoy communicator across a
conference room table.

-- Access real-time scheduling and pricing information for U.S. airline
flights, then order your tickets via fax or electronic mail.

-- Keep track of contacts through an address book.

-- Receive daily news summaries and stock information.

-- Capture, organize and review business and personal expenses
on-the-go.

-- Gather, edit and analyze information in spreadsheets and graphs
compatible with Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel file formats.

-- Electronically shop in a mall.

And with additional third-party software, Motorola's Envoy personal
wireless communicator can also ...

-- Access maps that pinpoint exact addresses, hotels, restaurants and
business appointments, then automatically construct routes between all
of the above.

-- Automatically access specific financial information, news or mail
through CompuServe at pre-designated times throughout the day.

-- Print to practically any dot matrix, inkjet or laser printer.

-- Transfer information to and from your personal computer.

-- Check your spelling.

-- Draw a picture to supplement your text.

-- Use terminal emulation such as TTY, VT52, VT100 and ANSI, or use
add-on modules to access most popular on-line information systems.

-- Electronically access information on a variety of topics, from how to
buy a car to how to get the best buys on vacations.

-- Translate more than 600 useful expressions in any of six languages:
English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Japanese.

Motorola Envoy(R)
           Personal Wireless Communicator
              Product Features Summary

The Motorola Envoy(R) personal wireless communicator is the first
hand-held device that provides two-way wireless, wireline and infrared
communications. It is powered by Motorola's Dragon chip set -- the
highly integrated 68349 processor and a special purpose ASIC referred
to as Astro.  Based on General Magic's Magic Cap(TM) and
Telescript(TM) communication technologies, for which the Dragon chip
set was specifically designed, the fully integrated Envoy device can
communicate with popular public and private electronic mail systems,
Windows-based computers, Macintosh computers and fax machines, as well
as other Envoy communicators.  Additionally, the device incorporates
tools to manage personal information, such as a datebook, address
book, notebook, filing system and calculator. Designed for both
business and personal use, the Envoy communicator offers an integrated
portable solution for communicating any time, anywhere.

Software Environment

Magic Cap - Magic Cap is an integrated software environment that
includes everything needed to communicate via fax and public electronic
mail services. It is also an object-oriented platform that makes
possible communicating applications such as those bundled with the Envoy
communicator.

Telescript - Built into the Magic Cap software, Telescript technology
opens a new world of electronic services to Envoy communicator users,
who can launch electronic agents to manage correspondence, shop and seek
out information on the AT&T PersonaLink(SM) Services.

Three Communication Modes

Two-Way Wireless - Motorola has developed a built-in, two-way wireless
packet data modem specifically for the Envoy communicator. With the
Envoy communicator, users can send and receive messages, fax and page
as well as access a variety of information.  The two wireless
communications services offered to Envoy communicator users, AT&T
PersonaLink Services and RadioMail(TM), use the ARDIS(R) network, the
largest nationwide wireless data communications network.

Wireline - Users can communicate via wireline when wireless connectivity
is not necessary.  The Envoy personal wireless communicator features a
fax and data modem, connecting users to any telephone network.

Infrared - Information can be swapped - or beamed - between two Envoy
communicators.  Users can immediately exchange address card information
or an e-mail message, eliminating the need for users to re-key
information.

Additional Integrated Hardware Features

Two PCMCIA Type II Slots - For maximum flexibility, two PCMCIA slots are
built into the Envoy communicator so users can simultaneously run
third-party software applications and add memory to store more
information.  (PCMCIA is an industry standard for portable computing
add-on cards, established by the Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association.)

Touch Screen - The Envoy communicator's touch screen has been optimized
for the Magic Cap platform and may be activated with either its stylus
or by finger touch.  The screen features 480x320 resolution and 4-level
gray scale shading for sharp contrast.

MagicBus - A smart peripheral port allows users to connect the Envoy
communicator to a personal computer to exchange information. It also
connects the Envoy communicator to other optional peripherals such as
keyboards, scanners and printers.  The MagicBus can daisychain up to six
devices and supports auto-configuring, hot plugging and hot removal.

Speaker and Microphone - A speaker and microphone lets Envoy
communicator users personalize their messages with sound.  Users can
record up to a 20-second voice message or choose from a selection of
music stamps to accompany messages sent to other Envoy communicator
users or personal computers equipped with Magic Cap.

Removable/Rechargeable Battery - The Envoy communicator includes a NiCad
battery, which will provide approximately eight hours of power under
continuous use.  The battery is self contained, so it can be removed and
replaced within seconds.

Hardware Security - 48-bit read-only circuitry implements a unique
device identification feature for theft deterrence, simplified
registration and device/owner authentication.

Microprocessor - Motorola's Dragon I(TM)/68349 microprocessor (3.3V,
highly integrated processor with DMA, serial controllers, 4K cache).

Memory - The Envoy communicator features 1MB of RAM; 4MB of ROM.
              Data Input Choices

On-Screen QWERTY Keyboard - Information can be input through the
on-screen keyboard by either tapping with the accompanying stylus or by
finger touch. Users can choose the method most comfortable to them.

Freehand Writing and Drawing - With electronic ink, users can draw or
write personal notations, or send messages and faxes in their own
handwriting for a more personal touch.

Tools for Managing Personal Information

The Envoy communicator features a variety of tools for keeping the user
organized:

-- Address book - referenced from every function in the communicator:
mail, faxing, controlling telephone functions, calendar and all the
third-party applications;

-- Calendar from which you can schedule appointments automatically;

-- A note pad with structured formats including to-do lists;

-- Telephone interface with phone log, payment preferences and other
customizations;

-- World clock that keeps track of daylight savings time in different
time zones;

-- Calculator;

-- Filing capabilities that automatically file and discard
correspondence;

-- A tutorial and help system.
       Personalized Communication Features

Users of the Envoy communicator can easily customize when and how mail
should be delivered or received, which senders are to be treated with
high priority, what subjects are to be filed or forwarded to others, and
many other means for organizing communication.  Envoy communicator users
can add a personal touch to all their communication using rich built-in
capabilities such as:

-- Voice stamp - record a voice message, up to 20 seconds;

-- Music stamp - send musical tunes to accompany a postcard;

-- Graphics and animation - choose from interacting visuals to accompany
a postcard.

Integrated Services and Applications

The Envoy communicator's built-in software includes electronic mail,
information services and a suite of productivity packages:

-- AT&T PersonaLink Services - based on Telescript, intelligent agents
allow users to customize correspondence, shop for goods and services and
stay informed via wireline and wireless communications;

-- RadioMail - wireless messaging and information delivery service;

-- America Online(R) - users can communicate with a large population of
service subscribers and get stock quotes;

-- Official Airline Guides (OAG(R)) Flightline(TM) - travelers can get
flight and fare information using the Envoy communicator;

-- PenWare's PenCell(TM) - spreadsheets and graphs.

Additionally, Motorola and Intuit have entered into a letter of intent
to include Intuit's Pocket Quicken SmartWallet(TM) for expense tracking
and management.

More than 15 third-party software applications and services will be
available at the time the Envoy communicator is shipped.  The software
can be purchased through the Motorola Software and Accessories Catalog
packaged with each communicator.

Physical Characteristics

The Envoy communicator is ergonomically designed with a 360-degree hinge
to fold compact, with handgrips on each side so it is easy to hold by
either left- or right-handed users.  When closed, the Envoy communicator
is 7.5 inches wide, 5.7 inches high and 1.2 inches deep, and the screen
is fully protected.  Its weight is 1.7 pounds, including the stylus and
both main and backup batteries.

Product Availability

The product includes the resident software packages, input stylus, main
and backup batteries, trickle charger, RJ-11 Y-adapter and user manual.
Envoy will be available through multiple distribution channels this
summer. Motorola Inc. Wireless Data Group 1201 E. Wiley Road, Ste. 103
Schaumburg, IL 60173 [phone]  Press Contacts: The Benjamin Group
Inc., [phone] Mario Salvadori, Motorola, [phone]


CONTACT: Motorola
  Mario SalvadorI, 708/576-7164
  The Benjamin Group
  Barbara Curl/Sheri Benjamin, 408-559-6090 or
                                1-800-SKY-PAGE Pin 895-3785

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

Ben Burch                     Motorola Wireless Data Group:
[e-mail]  Makers of the Envoy(R) Personal
                              Wireless Communicator

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

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 10:22:38 EST
From: Sheldon W. Hoenig <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: AT&T Cellular Phone 3050 and Extended Range Cordless Phone 9530


Here are two short descriptions of two AT&T telephones that I have not seen
described in the Digest.  These descriptions are copied from the 1993 AT&T
Annual Report.

Mobile Cellular Telephone 3050
A cellular phone with a built-in digital, tapeless answering system and
voice-activated operation.  $399.99 at AT&T Phone Centers and at selected
retailers.  For more information, call [phone].

Extended Range Cordless Telephone 9530
A cordless phone with a range about for times the distance of traditional
cordless phones.  Virtually interference-free privacy and crisp, clear sound
on 173 channels.  $449.99 at AT&T Phone Centers and at selected retailers.
For more information, call [phone].

It is not clear to me whether the cordless phone is spread spectrum.
The prices are certainly high.  By the way, AT&T plans is asking
stockholders to approve changing the name of the Company from American
Telephone and Telegraph to AT&T.


Sheldon W. Hoenig                 Internet:
Government Systems, INC (GSI)        [e-mail]
Suite 500                            [e-mail]
3040 Williams Drive               Telephone: [phone]
Fairfax, VA 22031-4612                       [phone] x420

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

From: [e-mail] (John Osmon)
Subject: Erlang B and Required Trunks Functions
Date: 9 Mar 1994 14:23:30 GMT
Organization: Dell Computer Corporation


I am a programmer in the Telecom Department here at Dell, and my
latest project is to pull trunk usage data and produce usage
predictions for said trunks.

This isn't really my field, so I had a co-worker write the request for
me:

  We need a way to calculate the number of voice circuits needed to
  provide standard levels of service using the Retrial method.  Ideally
  we would plug into a formula the following:

     - offered CCS of traffic
     - grade-of-service desired (P.01, P.001, P.05)

  The formula would then calculate the number of trunks needed WITHOUT
  resorting to lookup tables.

  If available, formulas for Erlang B method would also be useful.

These would be most useful as assembler, C, or XBase sub-routines.
Does any one know where I can find these?


[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 09 Mar 1994 16:20:03 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Sandra Oudshoff)
Subject: Morons?
Organization: PTT Research, Groningen, The Netherlands


Hi,

A while ago there was a post in this newsgroup about "managerium", the
latest scientific element discovered. Very funny indeed, and when I
showed it to one of my colleagues he remembered seeing a more
elaborate version of this where also the "morons" were described. Does
anybody know where I can find a copy of this?

Thanks a lot in advance,


Sandra Oudshoff    [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 94 10:39 EST
From: John R. Levine <[e-mail]>
Subject: Mr. Watson, Come Here ...


Thursday, March 10, is the 118th anniversary of the first telephone
call.

The building in Boston where Bell and Watson did their work has long
since been torn down to build a government office, but the site is
marked by a small granite shaft and a pair of payphones.


Regards from 9600 feet,

John Levine, [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Things have come a long way in the past
century haven't they ... we used to have a very nice telephone museum
here in Chicago at the IBT headquarters on Randolph Street but one day
the company just decided to close it down and put the 'Work at Home
Center' there instead. The museum is missed. Anyway, happy 118th to
Mother and her children!    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #121
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #122

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 10 Mar 94 01:27:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 122

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Trouble in the Phone Industry (D. Shniad)
    PR Summary: Undersea Fiber Cable US-Cuba (Russ McGuire)
    National Caller ID (Lynne Gregg)
    Caller ID and Mac/PC (James Snook)
    Internet Conferencing (Ralph E. Todd)
    Unzipping ISDN File in Archives (Jeff Shaver)
    Information on Used Telecom Equipment Dealer Wanted (Kenneth Leung)
    Changes in FROM Symbols on Orange Card Bill (Carl Moore)
    Re: Telephone Companies and the Time (Gregory Youngblood)
    Re: Telephone Companies and the Time (Clarence Dold)
    Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment (Barry Mishkind)
    Re: Question About Random Dialing (John Coe)
    Re: Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator (Arthur Rubin)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: D Shniad <[e-mail]>
Subject: Trouble in the Phone Industry
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 11:20:45 PST


The following article appeared in the March 1994 issue of {Labor Notes}:

Phone Companies Obliterate More Jobs Big Cuts At Nynex, Pacific
Telesis, GTE, as Re-engineering Proceeds

     -- by Kim Moody

  Three telephone giants launched the new year with a new round of job
cuts. GTE Corporation, which owns local telephone companies across the
country, said it would cut 17,000 jobs over three years.  Baby Bells
NYNEX and Pacific Telesis announced cuts of 16,800 and 10,000 respectively.

  The GTE workforce has already dropped from 160,000 employees in 1988
to 120,000 just before the latest cuts were announced.

  Employment at NYNEX has also fallen from nearly 100,000 in 1988 to
about 76,000 last year. The latest NYNEX cuts are to be accomplished
by the end of 1996.

  This latest wave of job slashing comes on top of earlier cuts of
nearly 27,000 workers at other local phone companies in the last year
and a half.

  Job loss in telecommunications is not linked to a slumping industry,
troubled firms, or overseas competition. All the phone companies are
profitable and growing.

  It results from deregulation, new technology, and the growth of
competition over an expanding array of electronic services that use
telecommunications technology for transmission.

  One side of this change is the burst of buyouts and joint ventures
with cellular, cable, computer, and even publishing companies. In
1993, telephone companies spent over $50 billion on such growth in the
U.S, and billions more abroad.

PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING

  The other side of this re-organization into bigger multi- service
operations, however, is the elimination of thousands of jobs through
process re-engineering.

  Re-engineering is a term attributed to management guru Michael
Hammer, whose 1990 Harvard Business Review article advised firms not
to automate jobs, but to obliterate them. That is, find all the jobs
that don't directly add to profitability and abolish them, while
combining those that do.

  This is best done, the theory goes, through a consensual process
conducted by employee-management teams.

  The final consensus, however, is never in doubt -- jobs will
be obliterated.

  Union involvement is key to re-engineering in the highly organized
telephone industry, and both the Communications Workers of America and
the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have signed on.
Process re-engineering teams are already at work at GTE, NYNEX, and US
West.

  Not everyone shares the view that participation makes sense.

 A CWA rank and file newsletter in southern California, called the
Hard Times Gazette, likened re-engineering at their GTE service center
to an invitation to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan physician who
assists suicides.

FRONTAL ASSAULT AT NYNEX

  No sooner had the CWA and IBEW agreed to set up re-engineering teams
at NYNEX than the company demanded that the union reopen the contract
18 months before it expires.

  NYNEX presented a mass of job-busting demands, including such
flexibility favorites as the ten-hour day, four-day week, with six- or
seven-day operations.

  A CWA statement announcing the opening of early negotiations on
January 3 cited NYNEX executive Robert Thrasher's plan to downsize the
workforce by 35%, consolidate work centers, merge New York and New
England Telephone into `one enterprise,' combine job titles, and
change the basis of regulation to encourage even more cost-cutting.

  The CWA statement, jointly signed by president Morton Bahr and vice
president Jan Pierce, said the union would work with NYNEX during
re-engineering if the company would guarantee jobs.

  The union submitted a long list of counter-demands aimed at
increased job security.

  The actual substance of bargaining, however, appears to be over an
attrition plan. The union insists there be no layoffs, involuntary
downgrades, or forced transfers, or further outside contracting. Staff
cuts would have to come from pension enhancements or other voluntary
programs, the union said.

  The sweetener in the NYNEX demands is a proposal to add six years to
both current age and service time, allowing for retirement as early as
age 50, with a social security supplement until age 62.

  This will probably provide the basis for a settlement if the company
drops its more outrageous demands.

  It seems re-engineering will proceed, and only the pace of job loss
is in question.


Sid Shniad

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

From: [e-mail] (Russ McGuire)
Subject: PR Summary: Undersea Fiber Cable US-Cuba
Date: 9 Mar 1994 22:48:37 GMT
Organization: WilTel
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Russ McGuire)


WilTel International, Inc. and EmtelCuba today (3/9/94) announced the
first undersea fiber-optic cable between Florida and Cuba.  Here is a
brief summary taken from the press release:

WilTel International, Inc., has signed an historic agreement with the
Cuban national telephone company EmtelCuba (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones
Internacionales de Cuba) to provide the first fiber-optic telecommunica-
tions link between Cuba and the United States.

The project will allow WilTel and other telephone companies to establish
direct, high-quality telephone links between the U.S. and Cuba.  Today,
only a few circuits are available to accommodate the millions of U.S.-to-
Cuba calls attempted annually.

The cooperative venture, signed as a "Memorandum of Understanding," clears
the way for WilTel and EmtelCuba to build the first modern broadband
connections to the island nation.  The project complies with U.S. Depart-
ment of State guidelines which encourage cultural and communications ties
between the U.S. and Cuba.

The WilTel-EmtelCuba fiber-optic cable, called "CUBUS 1" is to be placed
across the Straits of Florida between the southern tip of Florida and a
point near Havana, Cuba, a distance of some 100 miles.

WilTel, a full-service telecommunications company with a reputation for
innovation, built a national fiber-optic network in the United States in
the late 1980's by pioneering a technique to pull fiber-optic cable through
decommissioned oil and gas pipelines.  WilTel leases this capacity to
other carriers as well as to business and government customers.

Subject to government approvals, the undersea cable will begin carrying
traffic within one year.

"WilTel is pleased to play a pivotal role in strengthening communications
between the people of Cuba and the people of the United States," said Roy
Wilkens, WilTel president and chief executive officer.  "This type of
agreement should provide opportunities for improving relationships between
our two countries, which already share so much in terms of geography and
history."

Salvador de la Torre, EmtelCuba's director, said the new submarine fiber-
optic cable will replace an older microwave system that was destroyed
by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

For more information about WilTel or this agreement, please send e-mail
to [e-mail].

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

From: Lynne Gregg <[e-mail]>
Subject: National Caller ID
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 94 17:45:00 PST


Paul Robinson - [e-mail] wrote:

> Some people in some cities have noted getting Caller-ID information
> from people in other states, who are long distance calls.  It's a
> political, not a technical question.  What it probably comes down to
> is that the local telcos believe that providing calling party
> information is a valuable service for which they think they shouldn't
> have to provide it without compensation on calls delivered to a

I think Paul hit the nail on the head.  In my view, transmission of
Calling Party Number should be coupled with the standard SS7
interconnection.  Apparently the FCC sees it this way, too.
Yesterday's ruling supports transmission of CPN at no added charge.

Here's the news release.

Regards,
Lynne


CALLER ID TO BE AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE; FCC ADOPTS FEDERAL POLICIES FOR
REGULATION

The Commission has adopted a federal model, effective April 12, 1995,
for interstate delivery of calling party number based services.  These
services include caller ID, which is available today in many states,
as well as services that will permit businesses to service customers
more efficiently and will permit increased security of computer
networks.

The rules adopted today enable these services to become available to
consumers and businesses nationwide and require free, automatic, per
call blocking to protect privacy interests.  They also require
carriers to educated consumers about these services.

The Commission also adopted rules to address privacy concerns raised
by the reuse and sale of information generated by Automatic Number
Identification (ANI).  Specifically, the Commission found that a
federal model for interstate delivery of calling party number is in
the public interest, that calling party privacy must be protected, and
that certain state regulation of interstate caller ID must be
preempted.

The availability of calling party number based service, including
caller ID, requires end to end interconnection of SS7 networks between
carriers, so that the calling party's number can be transmitted from
the calling party to the called party.  Interstate delivery of calling
party based services is thus not feasible until interstate SS7
interconnection and calling party number delivery between local
exchange carriers and interexchange carriers becomes widespread.

The Commission noted that a consistent, nationwide interstate policy
will contribute to the economic growth as businesses employ the new
technology for a number of uses.  These may include pay-per-view
television, order entry verification, voice messaging storage,
customized customer services, business fraud reduction, call routing,
emergency dispatch, health care services, telephone banking, home
shopping, dealer locator, and selective call message forwarding.

While the technology for nationwide caller ID service is being
deployed and used on an interstate basis, several regulatory and legal
issues have delayed its introduction nationwide.  Today's action
supports the efforts of carriers, standards-setting bodies, states,
equipment manufacturers, and others to provide caller ID in an
efficient manner.  In the federal model, the Commission recognizes the
value and benefits to the public of this service and promotes the
transmission of the calling party number from the originating carrier
to the terminating carrier.

The Commission has balanced the reasonable privacy expectations of
both the calling and called parties and removed obstacles to the
development of calling party based services posed by uncertainty and
non-uniform state policies.

In today's action, the Commission found that:

*Common carriers using Common Channel SS7 and subscribing to or
offering any service based on SS7 functionality must transmit the
calling party number parameter (CPN) and its associated privacy
indicator on any interstate call to connecting carriers; (The CPN is
the subscriber line number parameter of the call set-up message
associated with an interstate call using SS7.  The calling party
number parameter includes an associated privacy indicator.)  In other
words, local exchange carriers must transmit both the calling party
number and its associated privacy indicator to IXC's and vice versa;

*Carriers offering CPN delivery services must provide, at no charge to
the caller, an automatic per call blocking mechanism for interstate
callers.  Terminating carriers providing calling party number based
services, including caller ID, must honor the privacy indicator;

*The costs of interstate transmission of CPN are so small that the CPN
should be transmitted among carriers without additional charge; and

*Carriers participating in the offering of any service that delivers
CPN on interstate calls must inform telephone subscribers that the
subscribers number may be revealed to called parties and describe what
steps subscribers can take to avoid revealing their numbers.  In the
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this proceeding, the
Commission is seeking comment on whether more detailed customer
education rules should be adopted and whether the policies adopted for
interstate calling party number based services like caller ID should
be extended to other services that might identify the calling party.

The Commission also adopted rules to limit the use of information
generated by ANI to call set-up, routing, screening, billing and
collection, and other services by end users, with exceptions for most
law enforcement and emergency uses and for marketing by the ANI
recipient only.  The reuse or sale of ANI would be prohibited absent
affirmative subscriber consent, and carriers would be required to
educate callers regarding ANI services.  (ANI based services were
developed in the pre-SS7 signaling environment as the billing
telephone number of the calling party.  Because this technology
predates SS7 technology, ANI is not blockable in the same way as the
calling party number in an SS7 network.)

In considering whether to extend its existing rules governing
disclosure of customer proprietary network information (CPNI) to cover
residential and single line business customers as protection of their
privacy interests, the Commission said it would seek comments through
a separate public notice to be considered in the context of the
Computer III Remand Proceeding.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Caller ID and Mac/PC
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 94 17:51:10 PDT
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc.


I am looking for an interface between USWest Caller ID and Macintosh
or PC platform.

If such an interface exists, where can we buy them and at approximatly
what cost?


James Snook   [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 09:50:29 -0500 (EST)
From: Ralph E. Todd <[e-mail]>
Subject: Internet Conferencing


Greetings.  I am a graduate student in the Telecommunications program
at George Mason University; Fairfax, Virginia.  In preparation for a
term project dealing with organizational learning, I am in search of
information regarding conferencing on the Internet.

Specifically, I envision a moderated forum supporting concurrent
access for at least 30 user sessions.  Unix "talk" may be an option,
but I beleive it would be kludgy for the moderator since it is limited
to two-party conversations.  My forum would essentially be an Internet
talk radio, complete with delays, (lending generic context to the name
"Talk Net").

Is anyone aware of the existence of such a forum?  Any knowledge of
technology or building blocks which could support it?

By the way, my immediate application is electronically interactive
graduate instruction.  The prototype course, "Taming the Electronic
Frontier," is taught by Dr. Brad Cox and televised on regional cable
television.  Most of the students, including an entire section, are in
the TV audience.  These tele-students need a way to participate in the
interactive dimension of the course.  I am also investigating audio
and video conferencing via POTS as well.


Many thanks in advance.

Ralph Todd             > [e-mail]            [phone]
George Mason University                      Telecommunications Program


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you are suggesting has been done
many times in the past on Compuserve. The various forums have had special
guest 'speakers' who were announced ahead of time. Using programs quite
similar to the 'CB Simulator', these speakers and the program moderator
would accept questions and comments from the 'audience' of people who
were watching it all on their terminals/computers at home, etc.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (jeff shaver)
Subject: Unzipping ISDN File in Archives
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 94 13:12:02 CST


I recently ftp'ed the ISDN.deployment.data.zip file from the Telecom
Archives, but I can't unzip it.  PKZip 2.04(g?) tells me it's not a
zip file.  Any ideas?  Thanks for your help!


Jeff Shaver   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the person who contributed that
file needs to get in on this discussion. It is possible it was corrupt
when he sent it to me, and it is possible it got corrupted in the
process of moving it from here to the archives ... plus which, maybe
there is a different routine needed to 'unzip' it ... if it turns out
the archives copy is bad, maybe we can try it over.  I've not personally
looked at it or tried to unpack it.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Kenneth Leung)
Subject: Information on Used Telecom Equipment Dealer Wanted
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 03:48:54 GMT


I am looking for dealers of used telecom equipment such as AT&T Merlin
phone sets and used AT&T PBXs.

Any sources would be appreciated


Kenneth C.P. Leung      1303 Walnut Hill Ln. 2nd Floor, Irving, TX 75038
Marketing Specialist    Voice : 214-550-8371 Fax : [phone]
Innovax Concepts Corp.  AURORA Supermarket Application
[e-mail]       Innovax Integration Partner Program

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

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 94 17:04:21 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Changes in FROM Symbols on Orange Card Bill


My latest Orange Card bill came today (March 9).  It has only three of
those 3-character symbols in the FROM (abbrev. FRM) column:

MAK apparently used for a call made from southern Delaware.  ALl
others were WDC (Washington DC?) and 800, and the WDC is apparently
popping up for the calls I made from northern New Jersey???  (I don't
understand the apparent spread of this use of WDC.) The 800 appeared
for calls made in New York state, Vermont, plus one call from western
Massachusetts.

The billing is sent by LDS Telecommunications Corp. of McLean, VA.

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

Subject: Re: Telephone Companies and the Time
From: [e-mail] (Gregory Youngblood)
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 94 16:06:11 PST
Organization: TCS Computer Systems


> Question 2: How do I find the person inside Cellular One Boston who is
> in charge of setting the clock on the billing computer?

I believe it is in the switch and not the billing computer.  At least
in cellular.  As to who sets it, ideally it is set by someone who
calls one of the atomic clocks and sets if off that.

Though, I reluctantly admit that I used to set one of my switches by
my watch ... :)  Twice every year for day light savings etc.   :)

BTW, I know of at least one occurance where when the clock was set
forward at the switch there was one caller that just would not hang
up.  The clock was changed and the caller had a 60 minute longer
call.. :) Of course when this happened the tech notified customer
service.  ;)


Greg
The Complete Solution BBS     Allfiles List:    Anonymous UUCP Calls Accepted
707-459-4547 (24hrs, v.32)    ~/tcsbbs.lst      Login: nuucp  Password: nuucp
Telemate Distribution Site  [e-mail]      Cellular Telephony Groups

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

From: [e-mail] (Clarence Dold)
Subject: Re: Telephone Companies and the Time
Organization: a2i network
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 04:05:48 GMT


Kent Borg ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I am under the impression that phone companies need accurate frequency
> sources for synchronous communications, but do they have any real need
> for accurate time of day information?

The switch that we use has no real idea of accurate time.  It does use
the clock on the span to keep an accurate clock, but if we "set" it
off by a given interval, a year later it should still be off by
_exactly_ that same interval.  In practice, we drive a text script at
it from a UNIX box that is slaved to WWV, but prior to doing that, it
could easily have been off by a few seconds, although a minute is
unlikely.


Clarence A Dold - [e-mail]
                - Milpitas (near San Jose) & Napa CA.

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

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 94 10:14 MST
From: [e-mail] (barry mishkind)
Subject: Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment
Organization: Datalog Consulting, Tucson, AZ


>> A comment on the one-ring telephone harassment:  A local Chicago talk
>> show personality (Brian McCann on WLUP's Sunday afternoon "comedy"
>> program) has encouraged listeners to "drive your friends crazy" with
>> one-ring phone calls. He thinks it's a "victory" if the harasser can

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds to me like it is time for
>> someone to circulate Brian McCann's home telephone number publicly.
>> Incidentally, the main switchboard for the business offices at WLUP is
>> 312-440-5270. That is public information, it appears in the phone book

>> By the way, if anyone thinks of something else callers to WLUP
>> should not do -- something I may have overlooked -- write and let us

> We certainly shouldn't suggest that messages be sent to the FCC, regarding
> Brian's behavior ... especially to the new FTP location and email address
> they have put on line.

> pay and keeps dragging it through court. Years ago, the FCC's response
> would have been to go out and padlock the transmitter after shutting it
> off; I guess these days the big money involved with major radio stations
> doesn't allow that to happen.   PAT]

Heheheh. The young folk have no idea, do they? <g> When I was in
college, I wondered why a local station was silent. It turns out the
GM of the college station had been on the air when the feds dropped by
to padlock the station for non-payment or something. A young kid, he
hesitated, and the fed said something like "either get out of here, or
we'll lock you in, too" ... Ray told me he had never done a sign off
so fast ... and got out the door to see the padlocks go up. The
station never returned (sort of like the MTA traveller <g>) ...


Barry Mishkind   [e-mail]   Tucson, Arizona


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Only a few people probably remember when
the FCC ordered our very own WLS (890 AM) off the air one night over
thirty years ago -- about 1960 sometime -- when one of the DJ's of the
'new' managment (the team which dumped the Prairie Farmer, religion and
soap opera format for hard rock music) uttered the word 'damn' over the
air. Yep, that's all it took in those days. A telephone call from the
FCC enforcement representative in this area to the home of the General
Manager (it was late at night) followed by a call from the GM to the
engineer on duty caused the station to go off the air. They went off
so fast in fact they stopped the music they were playing in the middle
of the song and the DJ did a formal identification process of the station
(call letters, power, location of station, that they were licensed by the
FCC, etc) and concluded by saying that 'the Federal Communications Comm-
ission has ordered that this station remain silent until further notice
and accordingly we leave the air at this time.'. That was it, and within
five seconds or so of that they dropped the carrier and were gone. Maybe
ten minutes had passed between the 'damn' and WLS being ordered off the
air. That was a Saturday night, and they came back on the air about 10 AM
the next morning, probably after the station attornies and management
straightened it out with the FCC people. They were required by the FCC
to play a recorded message *once every hour* for two days and four times per
day for the rest of the week from the management of the station apologizing
for the indiscretion and informing the listeners how to contact the FCC
to file other complaints against the station if they wished to do so.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Coe)
Subject: Re: Question About Random Dialing
Date: 9 Mar 1994 18:52:35 GMT
Organization: Booz, Allen, and Hamilton


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] wrote:

> Is there a shareware program or commercial program available that can
> dial randomly within a given area code and when it comes across a fax
> machine log that fax number into a database. If anyone has any
> pointers I would appreciate it.

Could you please explain one practical/ethical use for such a database
(other than the obvious, annoying use as a junk-mail fax list)?


John Coe  ([e-mail])


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There isn't anything to explain. You
described the purpose of the compilation. To hell with the other 99
percent of the subscribers on the exchange who do not have a fax
machine but get awakened at night (or sent running from their bathroom
to the phone or whatever) when the phone rings only to have the caller
disconnect when 'hello' is heard instead of a fax tone.   PAT]

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

Subject: Re: Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator
From: a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin)
Date: 9 Mar 94 22:00:12 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]> Ben Burch <[e-mail].
com> writes:

> NOTE TO EDITORS: Motorola and Envoy are registered trademarks of
> Motorola Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the
> property of their respective owners.

For what it's worth, Envoy-100 is also the name of an Email network
run by Telecom Canada.


Arthur L. Rubin: [e-mail] (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea
[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail] (personal)

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #122
******************************


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Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 00:38:14 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #123

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 11 Mar 94 00:38:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 123

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: National Caller-ID (A. Padgett Peterson)
    Re: National Caller ID (Lynne Gregg)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Brian J. Cecil)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (John McGing)
    Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone (Alan Boritz)
    Re: Telephone Companies And The Time (Mickael L. Dickson)
    Re: Internet Conferencing (Paul Robinson)
    Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI? (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Digital Cellular Phones (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator (John Gilbert)
    Re: More Dialogic Help Needed (and Given) (J. Scott Elam)
    Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud? ([e-mail])
    Re: Starring Tom Cruise as Kevin Poulsen (Brian Leyton)
    Re: 810 Area Code Trouble? (Carl Moore)
    Re: Unzipping ISDN File in Archives (Dave Niebuhr)
    ISO Country Codes (Paul Robinson)
    DECT Stardards (Hanwook Jung)
    Needed - Uplink to Western Satellite From Ural Mountains (Isaiah Watas Cox)
    Need a Source For Cellular Telecom Base Station Radios (Mike Willey)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 08:37:16 -0500
From: [e-mail] (A. Padgett Peterson)
Subject: Re: National Caller-ID


> CALLER ID TO BE AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE; FCC ADOPTS FEDERAL POLICIES FOR
> REGULATION

> The Commission has adopted a federal model, effective April 12, 1995,
> for interstate delivery of calling party number based services.  These
> services include caller ID, which is available today in many states,
> as well as services that will permit businesses to service customers
> more efficiently and will permit increased security of computer
> networks.

I said two years didn't I? To me this represents one of the greatest
advances in the ability to provide security to dial-ups and PBXs
possible.  No longer will we have to allow "blind" admission to anyone
with a telephone. Caller-ID means being able to decide whether to
answer the phone at all.

With proper use, "demon-dialers" will become obsolete while permitting
transparent telecommuting. True, there are going to be some second-
generation RISKs such as the impact of call-forwarding but it will
eliminate the ones we have now for the bulk of the traffic.

Full encryption is still going to be necessary for those who travel a lot
but right now that amounts to only about 20% of my concern, most
trafic is generated from people at home or at known locations.

As for call blocking -- not a problem, my "80%" lines simply do not
answer blocked calls and that is *my* choice. For the other 20%, they
will just have to put up with a bit more complexity.


Warmly,

Padgett

PS:  Have a "draft" Caller-ID FAQ for you, Pat -- will send later.


[TELECOM Digest Editopr's Note: Thanks Padgett, I will be watching for
it and will make it available when it arrives.   PAT]

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

From: Lynne Gregg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: National Caller ID
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 09:23:00 PST


In my original message I included the following credit:

> From: FCC News
> FCC Report: Action in Docket Case
> Docket: 91-281

> CALLER ID TO BE AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE; FCC ADOPTS FEDERAL
> POLICIES FOR REGULATION

The report included in my original message was obtained from the FCC
news release and should not be attributed to me.


Thanks!

Lynne


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Due to the way Ms. Gregg typed in her
first message, the line 'From FCC News' above caused the first three
lines to disappear entirely in the digesting process. Even today, when
she sent it in again asking to have the credit included, it vanished
in the processing, but I found it in the residue of the bit bucket.
I did not mean to ignore the credit yesterday, but all experienced
Internet users know what happens when the word 'From ' with a white
space after it is the first word on a line where sendmail is concerned! :)
Anyway Lynne, thanks for catching the error, and the FCC News is noted
above as it should have been before.  PAT]

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

From: Brian J. Cecil <[e-mail]>
Date: 9 Mar 1994 20:47:08 EST
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number


It is a sad commentary on our society when a convicted murderer,
especially of this low caliber, can set up a 900 number and make money
on the sick and morbid curiosity of others.  However, I do remotely
agree with one statement that was made, that Gacy is a victim;  he is
a victim of his lawyer!  As we all are victims of lawyers!

It was mentioned that the company that set this up was in Florida?
Does anyone know the name of the company?  I own some stock in a
company that owns millions of pay phones in prisons located in
Florida, Alabama, and several other southern states.  If it is the
company I have a financial interest in, I'll not only let management
know of my disgust, but I will dump the shares.


Brian Cecil


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well personally Brian, your company with
its 'millions of pay phones' is probably not the outfit, because I'm
sure they would not jeopardize their Corrections business by getting a
prison bureaucracy angry at them. However, I must say the company you
have stock in -- whatever their name is, I don't know and don't care --
is probably one of what we sometimes call the 'bottom feeders' in the
(telecom) industry like a lot of other AOS/COCOT firms. Why do I say
this? Because they take advantage of a class of people who have absolutely
no other choice in how their phone calls are placed; i.e. prisoners.

Now I do not have any love in my heart for prisoners and unlike some
liberal thinkers I could name (but won't) who are constantly whining
about 'all the innocent people in prison', my attitude is there are no
innocent people in prison, by definition absolutely, and most likely
in reality as well. Still, even prisoners have people who love them
and care for them, namely their families 'on the outside'. Those folks
are forced to pay perfectly outrageous rates for collect calls from
their loved ones in prison because the prisoners can no longer place
calls via Genuine Bell. Rates of three or four dollars *per minute*
are the norm, and the families of prisoners are getting stuck with it
on their phone bill if they want to receive a call from the prisoner.
Cook County Jail in Chicago is using some AOS outfit to handle prisoner
outgoing phone calls, and reports of local, Chicago-area calls of five
minutes costing six to ten dollars are common. Naturally, some one or
more prison bureaucrats are getting a piece of the action, I'm sure.

Part of this is AT&T's fault; they made it rather plain they were not
interested in the corrections industry traffic due to the high rate of
fraud on toll charges by the prisoners, and I am sympathetic to the
AOS's plight in this regard also, but it is part of the cost of doing
business, and frankly, the AOS's are ripping off the families of prisoners
big-time having them as a captive customer base.  AT&T also never would
pay bribes to employees in the US Justice Department to keep their pay-
phones in prisons like a couple AOS outfits I could name (but won't)
are doing. That's another reason you don't see many Genuine Bell phones
in federal prisons these days.   PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 23:22:15 -0500
From: John McGing <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Pat,

I was aware of the 900 number for John W. Gacy (a man who once picked
me up hitchiking up Diversey Avenue in Chicago and who's housekeeper
was a friend of my mom's) but was under the impression that the phone
et al are located outside the prison.  That being the case (and I
don't know for a fact that it is, but if it were) how would the prison
system know what the attorney is doing and what John is doing in his
personal phone calls?

Seems just a tad hard to excorigate the prison people over their not
being aware of what Gacy and his attorney are doing, especially if all
the "work" is being done using offsite materials and tapes or phone
calls, perhaps done with the attorney and not subject to prison moni-
toring.


John


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The 900 number terminates on voicemail
in Florida. You're right, John probably set it up through his attorney
using privileged attorney correspondence. Your indirect aquaintence
with someone who knew him is an interesting point. My own knowledge of
him is similar: a real-estate firm I did some management work for almost
twenty years ago at one point hired Gacy to do some remodeling work for
them on one of their properties. As you know, he was a licensed contrac-
tor for building repairs, etc. As you also know, he was rather high
ranking in the Cook County Democratic Party. Whatever, I'm glad your
experience with him as a hitchiker turned out safely without hassles for
you. Most hitchikers didn't fare as well with him. Maybe you just
weren't his type. :)  Didn't your mother's friend the housekeeper ever
suspect anything? After all, the police said the stench in his house
was something awful.  PAT]

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

Subject: Re: Information Needed on Satellite Phone
From: drharry![e-mail] (Alan Boritz)
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 94 21:23:19 EST
Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - [phone]


Paul Robinson <[e-mail]> writes:

> The reporters were using Inmarsat telephones.  They're fine if you
> want to pay about $9 a minute more than typical overseas calls, e.g. a
> long distance call from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia is about $1.20 a
> minute, while Inmarsat charges about $10 a minute.

When I last looked into that kind of service (in 1988, I think), the
rate for dialtone was $15 for the first three minutes, with a three
minute minimum.  The area of operation was to be from the New York
Bight into the Atlantic Ocean.  But the real bargain was for TWX or
data service.

> Oh, and don't forget the $10,000 to $50,000 for the transmitting
> station.

Not necessarily.  You could get by with a relatively smaller rig for use in an
area with less vegetation than to what we're used to in North America.


[e-mail]  or  uunet!drharry!aboritz
Harry's Place (drharry.UUCP) - Mahwah NJ USA - [phone]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 10 Mar 94 10:12:34-0500
Subject: Re: Telephone Companies And The Time


As they say on the radio talk shows "long time listener, first time
caller".  Anyway, I read Kent Borg's article about the "correct" time
and perhaps I can answer a couple of his questions.

Having spent several years in the switching side of Pacific Bell and
later as a programmer and analyst in the carrier access billing side
of PacBell and now as a access billing consultant for GTE, I don't
believe the clock in the billing computer has anything to do with the
recorded time of Kent's phone call.  The time is based on whatever
time was "stamped" on the record by the switching entity which
processed and recorded his call.  The billing computer might rate and
bill this call several days later and has no way of knowing whether
the date and time of the call, as recorded by the switching entity, is
correct or not.

In fact, when I was a switchman (I know this isn't a politically
correct term) working in a #1 and #5 X-BAR switch in San Jose, CA back
in the 60's, the time (for timing phone calls, not time of day
recording) was maintain by two timers (one primary and one back up)
which "checked" each other every six seconds for being in synch. Six
seconds was used because we were on six second timing in those days.
Anyway, the recorders (which recorded phone calls) were also synched
to the primary timer.  The time of day talking clock was in no way
tied to the two master timers.  In fact, even though the timers and
recorders checked each other for synch conditions every six seconds, the
time was set by someone using their watch! You wouldn't believe the
horror stories I could tell about how out of whack the time got after
someone and their watch did a time change (to and from daylight savings
time).  You had to insulate contacts and block relays in order to get
the rotary timing switches set properly for the new time.  Then you
had to synch the backup timer to the primary and then synch all the
recorders.  Lots of room for error!

I realize technologies have changed and I'm not sure whether the
timing mechanisms in a digital switch are tied to some sort of master
clock somewhere, but I suspect, even though they are much more
accurate that the old mechanical timers I worked on, some one
somewhere still has the ability to get his fingers in the equipment
and goof up the timing.  Some sort of timing pulse or something like
that is probably used to keep the internal system clock in the
switching machine in synch.  And, again, I don't think the talking
clock has anything to do with the system clock of an individual
switching machine.  So to answer Kent's questions (or to confuse him
more), the billing computer internal clock has nothing to do with the
timing of his phone calls.  This is done by the internal system clock
of the switching machine.  It produces a call date and time and an
elapsed time.  It also produces conversation and access elapsed times.
I guess that there are several definitions of the "correct time" based
on whether you call the talking clock or use the connect time printed
on your phone bill.

Sorry if I rambled on, but thinking about call timing brought back
lots of memories of relays, switches, and rotary dials.


Mike Dickson    GTE, Florida

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

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 13:18:23 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Internet Conferencing
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


Ralph E. Todd <[e-mail]>, writes (text edited for brevity):

> In preparation for a term project dealing with organizational
> learning, I am in search of information regarding conferencing on the
> Internet.  Specifically, I envision a moderated forum supporting
> concurrent access for at least 30 user sessions.  Unix "talk" may be
> an option, but I beleive it would be kludgy for the moderator since it
> is limited to two-party conversations.  My forum would essentially be
> an Internet talk radio, complete with delays, (lending generic context
> to the name "Talk Net").

> Is anyone aware of the existence of such a forum?  Any knowledge of
> technology or building blocks which could support it?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you are suggesting has been done
> many times in the past on Compuserve. The various forums have had
> special guest 'speakers' who were announced ahead of time. Using
> programs quite similar to the 'CB Simulator'

Okay, now we have something to discuss because while I think you two are
talking about the same thing, the terms are wrong.

"Internet Talk Radio" refers to a broadcast *sound recording* on the
order of a digitized tape recording.

There is provisions for setting up a multicast sound transmission over
the Internet.  It is this provision that I think is an opportunity for
people and a danger to telephone companies, since if you can hook up
your offices over the Internet using data lines you need for transmissions
anyway -- and have already paid for -- and can send voice calls among these
offices, what do you need to spend money on long distance telephone calls
for?

But what you both appear to be referring to is a typed text communication
rather than sound transmission.

That application already is running -- continuously -- on the Internet.
It's called Internet Relay Chat or IRC.  Having seen Compuserve's
forums I know what Pat is referring to, and IRC is all but identical
with that.

All that is needed is an IRC client on your site, and a connection to one
of many IRC hosts that are carrying it, all over the world.

Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI?
Date: 10 Mar 1994 20:34:13 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


In <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in
response to [e-mail] (Scott Baer):

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you misunderstood the results of
> your prepending 10222 to a local seven digit number. In all probability,
> your local telephone exchange probably *ignored* the 10222 and handled
> the call themselves. They have the right to do that.  PAT]

Pat, I know you have stated this several times in the past, but is it
really true?  Whether the local telco can prevent IXC's from handling
intra-lata calls is a matter decided by each state's regulatory body.
Some allow it, and some don't.  But in all of the areas that I'm aware
of, one of two things happens: If the state allows intra-LATA
competition, then prepending 10xxx to a local call will cause the call
to be carried by the IXC, and would explain the behavior reported by
Scott in Phoenix.  If the state does not allow it, then the call is
rejected with a recording like "We're sorry, it is not necessary to
use a long distance carrier access code for the number you have
dialed."  In no case that I know of does a LEC allow the caller to
specify a 10xxx code but ignore it and carry the call itself.  Is this
indeed the case somewhere?


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is indeed the case in many places.
For example, Illinois Bell (Ameritech) looks at the number dialed in
its entirity, in context, *then* decides what to do with it; whether
to handle it themselves -- if permitted, within the LATA for example --
or whether to hand it off in accordance with the dialing advice given
by the subscriber. Many or most telcos do not give away their intra-LATA
business if you dial it through them. Now if you wish to dial some 800
number, or 950 number for another carrier and that carrier is willing
to handle it (most likely it is technically unfeasable for them to
reject it even if they are not lawfully entitled to handle it), then
that is another matter. IBT treats dialing 10xxx before a 312 or 708
number the same way they treat dialing 10xxx before an 800 or 900 number;
i.e they ignore it and route the call according to other rules. Maybe
some telcos actually send the call to treatment; in that instance at
least, IBT simply handles it silently and transparently.  For instance,
I just now dialed 10288-1-312-440-5270. You do remember that number,
don't you? :). No recording, no intercept, it just rang as always.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phones
Date: 10 Mar 1994 23:42:47 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John Galloway) writes:

>> The "Cave" algorithm specified in IS-54 (the TDMA standard) is used to
>> encrypt data (ESN and possibly voice). The algorithm is keyed with
>> data that are never transmitted and are only known by the switch and
>> the mobile.

> But if this key is fixed (since it is not transmited I assume it is)
> then all the cellular blue box builder need to is disect a phone to
> get it.  This might not be a trivial opeation, but these crooks are
> pretty smart fellows.

Are you assuming that the key is the same for all phones?  If the key
is different for each phone, then the crook would have to get a hold
of a particular phone to dissect it to get the key.  And if they have
physical possession of the phone, there is little need to get the key
in order to make fraudulent calls, right?


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Gilbert)
Subject: Re: Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator
Organization: Motorola, LMPS
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 18:14:27 -0600


In article <[e-mail]>, a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman.com
(Arthur Rubin) wrote:

> In <[e-mail]> Ben Burch <[e-mail].
> com> writes:

>> NOTE TO EDITORS: Motorola and Envoy are registered trademarks of
>> Motorola Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the
>> property of their respective owners.

> For what it's worth, Envoy-100 is also the name of an Email network
> run by Telecom Canada.

Envoy was also the external product name of a Motorola tone-only pager that
is no longer being manufactured.


John Gilbert         [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (J. Scott Elam)
Subject: Re: More Dialogic Help Needed (& given)
Date: 10 Mar 1994 17:21:35 -0800
Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access [phone]


<[e-mail]> wrote:

> Does anyone know where I can find the latest version of the Dialogic
> voice drivers for DOS for their D40/B and D41/B boards?

I have tar files (somewhere) of the Driver diskette and the Springware
diskette.  The version is 3.01 I believe.  I don't know if this will
work with the the xxx/B boards -- I think I'm using all xxx/D boards.
Email me if you want them.

One thing I am sure of -- I have a bunch of Dialogic equipment that I
no longer need.  1 D/20B, 3 D/41B, 10 D/41D and DID/40's, 1 DID/120,
and 1 LSI/120.  Prices are negotiable. See my "For Sale: Dialogic
boards" post here for further details and email me if interested.


[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?
Organization: NCCOSC RDT&E Division, San Diego, CA
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 21:06:08 GMT


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

> Is 2400 baud a reasonable service level to expect in this day and
> age?  What is the best or most appropriate way to approach a telephone
> company on this issue? As readers can no doubt deduce I am not a
> telecommuncations person.

Ask NYNEX why 2400bps only be supported in the Cape Cod area. If the
cause is noisy phone lines, then the telephone company is the one to
talk to. There are standards for signal to noise that the phone
company should meet. These standards should support 14.4.

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

Date: 09 Mar 94 16:39:16 EST
From: Brian Leyton <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Starring Tom Cruise as Kevin Poulsen


Carl Moore asks:

> But what does ICM stand for?

International Creative Management.

They're a management firm in the entertainment industry.  The only
reason I know this is that I interviewed there for a job once ...


Brian Leyton    [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 13:12:20 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 810 Area Code Trouble?


My latest phone bill for C&P had a call where I dialed 610 but
which was displayed with area code 215.

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

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 07:05:29 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Re: Unzipping ISDN File in Archives


[e-mail] (jeff shaver) wrote:

> I recently ftp'ed the ISDN.deployment.data.zip file from the Telecom
> Archives, but I can't unzip it.  PKZip 2.04(g?) tells me it's not a
> zip file.  Any ideas?  Thanks for your help!

I have a similar problem with my Unix workstation.  I have compress,
Unix pack, and gzip/gunzip and these packages can't handle PKZip
formats.  I know that the archives are huge and each file takes space,
but there are files in there that I can't access because of this.

Does anyone know of a utility somewhere that I might be able to obtain
to handle PKZip files.  I've tried Archie/Gopher/World Wide Web and
haven't had success.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have been sent another copy of the
file, this time in MIME format. It can be opened up with 2.04 PKUNZIP
according to the note which came with it. I will hold it here awhile
before putting it in the archives and if anyone wants a copy, write
me here to ask for it.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 13:28:03 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: ISO Country Codes
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


A few issues back a woman asked for a list of the two-letter and
three-letter ISO 3166 codes for most countries.

While it does not include the codes for the countries that have been
created as a result of others being broken up (such as the Soviet Union
and Czechslovakia) one place to look is in my Internet RFC 1394, which
also shows international telex codes and worldwide telephone area codes.

This document is available from any of the sites that have RFCs on file,
and is also accessible via FTP from DS.INTERNIC.NET.

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

From: [e-mail] (Hanwook Jung)
Subject: DECT stardards
Organization: UB
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 23:18:27 GMT


Would you tell me where can I get or buy the standard of DECT?  Please
send me a email of the organization or company who sell the standard,
or possible FTP site of that.


Thank you in advance,

H Jung    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Isaiah Watas Cox)
Subject: Needed - Uplink to Western Satellite From Ural Mountains
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 02:35:38 GMT


I am seeking a digital carrier (either ground or satellite-based) who
can provide an intermittent 9600 bit/second connection to the Ural
Mountains. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

Isaiah   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Willey)
Subject: Need a Source For Cellular Telecom Base Station Radios
Organization: Texas Metronet, Internet for the Individual  214-705-2917 (info)
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 03:41:01 GMT


I am posting the folowing for a friend who does not have internet access:

I am looking for a source for cellular Base Station radios ( not the
mobile units or hand-held phones, but the radios back at the cell site
that talk to the mobile units ).  Anyone know of a company that sells
such radios separately from their own cellular systems?

I am working on a new architecture for a Base Station/Mobile Switching
Center ( MSC ) and need some radios to demonstrate the concept.

Please followup to this news group or email to [e-mail].


Thanks,

Mike Willey   *   Paragon Innovations, Inc.  *   [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #123
******************************


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Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #124

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 11 Mar 94 00:54:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 124

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    NIU Forum Meeting Highlights for February 1994 (Steve Rogers)
    Telecomics and the Infobahn (Dave Leibold)
    Re: Local CID Showing Out of Area (Steve Forrette)
    Various Industry Items (Bell News, Ontario via Dave Leibold)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
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information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Rogers)
Subject: NIU Forum Meeting Highlights for February 1994
Organization: EDS Management Consulting Services
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 15:17:29 GMT


Volume 3                                  Number 1

   NIUF Meeting Highlights, February 8-11, 1994

Note: The mention of specific products in this document does not
constitute endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, along with U S
WEST, sponsored the twentieth meeting of the NIUF on February 8-11,
1994.  Over 200 users, implementors and service providers of ISDN
technology attended the forum which was held at the Hyatt Regency Tech
Center in Denver, Colorado.

The NIUF continued the tradition of providing continuing education in
ISDN-related topics by offering the following tutorials as part of the
regular meeting:

>    "Overview of NIUF/New Users & New Implementors,"
     Karen Patten, AT&T    and Don Auble, Ameritech
>    "Basic ISDN," Steve Rogers, Electronic Data Systems
>    "ISDN Wiring & Powering Work Program," Steve
     Halpern, NYNEX S&T
>    "Planning Your ISDN Implementation," Karen Patten,
     AT&T
>    "ISDN:  Network & User Applications," Kay Burin,
     Bellcore-TEC
>    "WaveRunnerTM Digital Modem:  ISDN/Analog
     Connectivity", Bruce Dillon, IBM

Working Group Created for NII in NIUF.

Of special interest was the formation of a new National Information
Infrastructure (NII) Working Group (NIIWG).  This working group
provides a place for industry users, such as healthcare professionals
and telecommuters, to bring their information technology requirements
to be developed into applications and provide access to the
implementors, service providers, and hardware and software developers,
who will develop actual solutions to their requirements.

Plenary Highlights.

The work of the Multimedia Communications Forum (MMCF) was presented
by Wayne Zakowski (AT&T), Chairman of the Technical Architecture
Committee of MMCF.  The forum may consider a liaison between the NIUF
and MMCF for future applications work.  In addition, a representative
from the ISDN Users' Forum for Development of New Technology (Japan),
Dr.  Asano, presented information on Japan's progress of the ISDN
technology.

Executive Steering Committee (ESC) Highlights.

During this session, the Application Services Group made the steps
necessary to serve the NIUF as the Applications Committee of the newly
formed NIIWG.  Jack Robertson, Pacific Bell, was chosen as chair of
the Telecommuting and Government Mandates Committee.  Gary Olsen,
Northern Telecom, presented a straw proposal for a white paper to
position ISDN as the on-ramp of the NII.  This proposal was presented
to the ESC and input to the white paper was requested before March 15.
At the June NIUF, the white paper will be complete in draft form.  Bob
Schickofke, Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, presented the Telecommuting
Application Profile.  This profile will be used as the basis for a
marketing package to encourage corporations to telecommute their
employees.  Richard Raybold presented an update on the Clean Air Act
and led a discussion on telecommuting showstoppers.  Robert Margetts,
AT&T, brought forth a motion to the ESC to establish a recognition
process for members of the NIUF who do excellent or outstanding work.

The Versions - Capability Analysis and Planning group announced the
availability of the National ISDN-3 content document.  SR-NWT-002457,
Issue 1, December 1993 can be ordered from Bellcore at 1-800-521-CORE.
The cost of the document is $70.00.

ISDN Users' Workshop Highlights.

A General Users' Roundtable discussion included a presentation of
disaster recovery of telecommunications following the recent
earthquake in southern California.  Several speakers discussed issues
regarding the National Information Infrastructure.

The Government Services Group reviewed and accepted the NIIWG.
Participants were asked to review the Interworking Panel Document
(Draft), submit comments and assist in establishing a compilation of
ISDN Success Stories in Government.  The group accepted a profile
review from the Security and Network Management Technical Working
Group to prioritize work in conjunction with new Presidential
initiatives (NII).

Several presentations were given at the Mass Markets Group meeting.
GTE shared user requirements for corporate telecommuters and
work-at-home customers as well as presenting deployment plans.  The
National Semiconductor discussed low-cost isoEthernetTM solutions for
transporting multimedia streams using ISDN.  AT&T introduced the AT&T
Digital Adapter which allows simultaneous access to ISDN and some ISDN
voice features using existing analog telephones.  Finally, Bellcore
presented the results of their 1993 ISDN market research on residence
and small business customers.

The Broadband ISDN Working Group has published Volume II of the
Compendium of Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) Papers presented at NIUF
meetings as well as Volume II of the Compendium of B-ISDN
Applications.  An interim report of the Broadband/Narrowband ISDN
Integration Committee was presented.  The group voted the Interactive
Simulation Application Profile as working group stable and concurred
with the transfer of activities to the newly created NII Working
Group's Architecture Committee.

The Enterprise Network Data Interconnectivity Family recognized that
remote access to LANs using ISDN devices require a great deal of
interoperability.  Currently most CPE on the market uses proprietary
algorithms.  A motion to test and demonstrate inter-vendor interoper-
ability was unanimously passed.  The motion set a milestone date for
this to be accomplished.

At the continuing series of Users' Issues Roundtables, the users heard
from two user transaction processing service providers about their
needs, experiences to date, and requirements for ubiquitous ISDN
packet switched services.  Mirek Kula, Gtech Corporation, and Andy
Singleton, SPS Payment Systems, described three key benefits of ISDN
packet switched services: 1) Reduce connect time significantly; 2)
Provide potential economic benefits; and 3) Increase flexibility and
reliability.

Critical requirements for the deployment of a ubiquitous ISDN packet
switched network are: develop an X.25 (over ISDN) service culture;
complete the technology development of services and features on the
packet network; and, offer cost effective business conditions.

Mr. Rob Sterrenberg, GTE, represented the TSTS (Transaction Switching
and Transport Service) Industry Forum, which was recently organized
using the North American ISDN Users' Forum structure as a guideline.
The TSTS Forum addresses all forms of transaction processing as well
as ISDN packet-switched services.  Several industries heavily involved
with transaction processing include businesses with card (credit,
debit) verification requirements, lottery, health care, etc.  Mr.
Sterrenberg also described recent deployment experiences with user
groups.  Going forward, the NIUF plans to formalize a liaison with the
TSTS Forum and to identify packet-switched requirements within the
current user-submitted applications for specific action.

The Simplification of ISDN Ordering, Provisioning, and Installation Ad
Hoc Group discussed the progress that has been made. The NIUF has
approved a set of agreements which can simplify ISDN ordering.  During
1993, the NIUF approved 10 Feature Sets (Phase 1 simplification) and
29 Line Sets (Phase 2 simplification) to serve as building blocks from
which ISDN applications or services can be constructed.  Customers, or
their agents, can order by specifying these Line Sets and Feature
Sets, instead of by specifying the much larger number of interface and
feature parameters.  At the February 1994 meeting, 15 Capability
Packages and 43 Solution Sets (Phase 3 simplification), constructed
from the Line Set and Feature Set building blocks, were approved;
these enable customers, or their agents, to order an entire
application.  At this meeting, many telephone companies presented
their plans to implement these simplification components during the
current year.  In addition, it is anticipated that these
simplification tools will play a key role in ISDN Solutions '94,
through the planned Solution Teams.

ISDN Implementors' Workshop Highlights.

The ISDN Implementors Workshop facilitated successful ISDN output.
The NIUF IIW agreed to support the activities of the National
Information Infrastructure (NII).  ISDN is an excellent "on-ramp" for
the NII and many synergistic activities will benefit both ISDN and
NII.  Four documents were ratified at the final plenary and four
additional documents were approved as working group stable.  These
documents are listed in the plenary section.  the IIW re-elected Glenn
Ehley (Siemens Stromberg-Carlson) as IIW Chair and Robin Rossow
(Bellcore) as IIW Vice Chair.  Both were re-elected for their third
consecutive term.

The Security & Network Management Profile Team and Technical Working
Group accepted a Department of Defense contribution of the DoD
Handbook on Network Management and Security.  Charters for each group
were reviewed and approved.  Profiles submitted to the Security
groups' were reviewed and the group asked the IIW for assistance in
recruiting additional analysts.  Profiles were passed back to the
Government Services group to prioritize or to delete profiles that are
no longer championed.

The Call Management Profile Team met on February 9th for a final
readout of the Telecommuting Application Profile.  This profile was
submitted to the Closing Plenary and approved.

The Video/Audio Conferencing Profile Team has changed their name to
the Multimedia Applications & Networking Profile Team.

The Applications Analysis Working Group distributed the document "A
Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications -
Second Edition" which was submitted to the Closing Plenary for
ratification.  Copies can be obtained from Bellcore by calling
1-800-521-CORE (2673) (908/699-5800 - foreign calls), Document GP-1,
the cost is $43 (overseas - prepay + 15% for shipping).  The document
can also be accessed by anonymous FTP from "info.bellcore.com",
directory: /pub/isdn.

The ISDN Conformance Testing (ICOT) & ICOT ACT 23 Working Groups
elected new officers: Leo Terry (Northern Telecom) as ICOT Chair, and
Roxe Murray (Northern Telecom) both ICOT Vice Chair and ACT23 Chair.
The document "Guidelines for Implementors of ISDN CPE to Conform to
National ISDN-1 and NIUF Layer 3 Basic Call Control Test Suites [ICOT
93-07, ACT23-92/42-3R7]" was approved in the Closing Plenary.

The Signaling/Supplementary Services Working Group voted the Layer 3
signalling specification for ISDN BRI Class II equipment document
[NIU/SSWG/94-002] as Working Group stable.  The group discussed
becoming inactive after the June 1994 NIUF; however, this will not
occur since a number of items were assigned to the SSWG during this
NIUF.  Some of the SSWG's participants had a joint meeting with the
Messaging and Answering group to discuss completion of its Application
Profile.

The Wireless Technical Working Group demonstrated ISDN applications
delivered over a satellite.  One of the applications included ISDN
video conferencing over a satellite.

A number of vendors are indicating that they are utilizing the NIUF
Application Software Interface (ASI) agreements in some of their ISDN
products (e.g., IBM WaveRunnerTM).  Therefore, the NIUF requested that
additional activity continues in the ASI arena.

The ISDN CPE and Software (ICSW) Working Group met and discussed how
the CPE and software community can work with the Corporation for Open
Systems to ensure that Solutions '94 will be an event that will be
successful in advancing the awareness of the benefits of ISDN
applications.  ICSW members will be working closely with COS on the
planning for this event.

The ICSW - CPE Development Issues held a one-day session with 22
presentations by ISDN equipment suppliers that included terminal
adapter, test equipment, video, LAN access and interconnection, and
network backup equipment manufacturers.  The applications discussed
ranged from computer access to work-at-home to remote broadcast audio.

The ICSW PBX Issues Subcommittee held discussions on the European and
U.S. alternatives to using ISDN for providing standard, interoperable
networking of PBXs from different manufacturers.  This group of leading
PBX vendors has been working with Bellcore to define specifications
for the public network in the U.S. for this application.

The ICSW Basic Rate Terminal Subcommittee worked with the Order
Simplification Group towards the implementation of methods of ordering
and installing ISDN that will make it much easier and reduce
complexity.  An ad hoc group was formed to work with the Corporation
for Open Systems Solutions '94 teams for early implementation of these
procedures.

At the ICSW Powering & Wiring Subcommittee, the initial sections of
the ISDN Wiring Guidelines became working group stable.  The
subcommittee made considerable progress on other sections of the
document. In its current state the document consists of:

1)        The 12/93 draft document with modifications to section 2
2)        Addendum #1: dealing with the requirements of the FCC
          Docket 88-57.
3)        Addendum #2:  Other changes resulting from review of the
          12/93 document.

For copies, contact at NIST Dawn Hoffman or Sara Caswell at (301)
975-4853.

The Closing Plenary approved the following documents on February 11,
1994:

> Phase 3 NIUF Application Packages and Solution Sets
> A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for Selected NIUF
  Applications - Second Edition
> Guidelines for Implementors of ISDN CPE to Conform to
  Both National ISDN-1 and North American ISDN Users'
  Forum Layer 3 Basic Rate Interface Basic Call Control
  Abstract Test Suites [ICOT-93-07   ACT23-92/42.3R7]
> Signaling and Supplementary Services document
  NIUF/SWG/93-017
> Telecommuting Application Profile (89-039.4)

The following documents were announced as working group stable and
will be voted at the next meeting, if no substantive comments are
received:

> ISDN Wiring & Powering  Guidelines
  (NIU/ICSW/BRI/WPE/018) with Addendums #1 and #2
> ISDN Primary Rate Access Customer Installation Layer 1
  Conformance Testing - Update (NIUF 400-92/ICOT-91-53)
> Interactive Simulation Profile (93-002.8)
> Layer 3 Signalling Specification for the Minimal Set of
  Circuit-Switched Bearer Services for the ISDN Class 2 Basic
  Rate Interfaces (SSWG-305)

The following working group charters were approved:

> Security & Network Management Profile Team
> Security & Network Management Technical Working Group
  (modified)

Two new applications were submitted to the IUW:

94-001.1  Message Waiting Requirements for
          Attendant/Message Desk Applications
94-002.1  NI-2 for Interexchange Carrier PRI

NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland, will host the next NIUF on June 20-24,
1994.  Contact Sara Caswell of NIST at [phone] for further
information.

WaveRunner is a registered trademark of IBM.

isoEthernet is a Registered Trade Mark of the National
Semiconductor Corporation                NIUF ANNOUNCEMENT

North American ISDN Users Forum Expands Mission to Include
Information Highway

Denver Colorado, February 11, 1994

Recognizing the need for a strong user voice early in the planning
process for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) the North
American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF), acting on the recommendations of a
study group established at its October 1993 meeting, today formally
expanded its mission to include the NII, popularly known as the
"Information Highway".

The NIUF was established under the auspices of the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1988. Its mission was "to create
a strong user voice in the implementation of ISDN and ISDN
applications and to ensure that the emerging Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN) meets users' application needs."

As a user driven activity the NIUF has been very successful in meeting
it's objectives. This is evidenced by development of ISDN user
applications, a catalog of ISDN solutions, simplification of ordering
ISDN services, deployment of National ISDN 1, Transcontinental ISDN
Project TRIP '92 and the increasing general availability of ISDN
services.

It is recognized that ISDN is continuing to evolve, driven by
technology and by user needs toward a ubiquitous, seamless, broadband,
transparent, common user system. This advanced system is the NII.

Eventually every business and residence in the US, and worldwide, will
have access to the NII.  Applications will be far ranging; entertainment,
telecommuting, distant learning, health care, education, air and ground
traffic control; the limits are set only by the imagination.

The technology to implement the NII exists today, using basic and
primary rate ISDN as the access architecture. As with ISDN, the key to
the timely and widespread deployment of the NII will be an open
architecture supporting the development of useful applications which
will stimulate user demand, thus justifying investment by the service
providers.

As with ISDN, the development of applications requires the interchange
of information on user interface standards and serving system
functions and capabilities as well as knowledge of the needs of
prospective users.

The NIUF has provided for this interchange of information for the ISDN
community, which greatly facilitated the deployment of that service,
and is well qualified, prepared and motivated to provide similar
support for the NII.

The next meeting of the NIUF is scheduled for June 20-24, 1994 at NIST
in Gaithersburg, MD.  For information, contact Dawn Hoffman or Sara
Caswell [phone].

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 10 Mar 94 23:09:24 -0500
Subject: Telecomics and the Infobahn
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


Some of the recent funnies have picked up on the infobahn hype in recent
weeks ... examples include:

Bent Offerings 8 Mar 94:

Hitch-hiker stands on the shoulder of the "Information Super-Highway"
thumbing for a ride with his right hand, and holding a question mark
in the left.

Adam 8 Mar 94:

"... I feel like I'm merging onto the autobahn in a VW bug."

Shoe 15 Feb 94:

Shoe: "Is my job safe in the face of this information superhighway?"

Wizard: "Well, with any superhighway ... you've gotta expect some
roadkill."

 ... and for a completely different telecomic:

Shoe 7 Mar 94:

Waitress: "Lunch for one? Phoning or non-phoning?" (with scene of
dining cellular callers).

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Local CID Showing Out of Area
Date: 11 Mar 1994 05:27:09 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Richard
Dervan) writes:

> I had an interesting experience last week.  I got paged by my computer
> indicating it had received a voice message for me.  Since I was
> expecting a message from my sweetie, I went to a pay phone, called my
> computer, and picked up the message.

> When I got home, I saw OUT-OF-AREA on my CID box.

Did you use coins to place the call?  Any other method of payment
(such as calling card, collect, etc) is likely to cause OUT OF AREA on
a Caller ID box, even if both ends of the call are in the same CO.


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 10 Mar 94 23:09:42 -0500
Subject: Various Industry Items
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


[from Bell News, Bell Ontario 7 Mar 94]

On the competitive front:

Mega-merger called off -

What might have been the biggest merger in American history - Bell
Atlantic Corp. with Tele-Communications Inc. and its programming
subsidiary Liberty Media Inc. - has been called off by all parties.
The $33 billion deal would have coupled the giant regional phone
company with the nation's largest cable television operator.

Reason given was the "regulatory actions" of the Federal Communications
Commission which, on February 22, ordered cable television companies to
cut their rates by an average of seven per cent. "What's happened is
with cable re-regulation, the outlook for cash flow has deteriorated,"
said a Wall Street analyst.

Unitel backs out of Albera markets -

Canada's telephone companies have an obligation to provide service
equally to everyone no matter what it costs -- but long distance
competitors don't.

Unitel announced that it was backing off on plans to provide long
distance services to residence and small business customers in
Alberta. The company said it would not be able to make a profit in
these markets because of the contribution payments it would have to
make to help support local service.

The level of contribution long distance carriers must pay to support
local service is established every year by the CRTC.

[Rogers/Maclean-Hunter news item omitted since the deal where Rogers
is to buy out MH was announced a few days ago -- though cable company
rearrangements would be subject to CRTC approval].

Rogers signs deal with U.S. partner -

Rogers Network Services (an affiliate of Rogers Communications),
recenrly signed a deal with America's largest competitive access
provider (CAP) to promote each other's services.

CAPs provide customers with alternative local phone service so they
can bypass the local telephone companies. The deal with MFS Communica-
tions allows both companies to provide dedicated special access and
local private line services to large businesses in Canada and the U.S.
MFS already operates competitive networks in 23 major cities in the
U.S. and U.K.

MCI researches Information Highway -

MCI Communications recently conducted a survey to find out what kind
of services customers wanted most from the Information Highway.

Of the 800 customers polled, 75 per cent said they were chiefly
interested in access to libraries and educational programs; 61 per
cent wanted movies-on- demand; 55 per cent wanted direct access to
make travel reservations; and 44 per cent wanted video communications
with their family and friends.

MCI to compete in Mexico -

MCI recently joined forces with Danacel, Mesico's largest financial
group, to provide long distance services in Mexico. The new joint
venture will begin competing against Telmex, the Mexican national
carrier, when the market is thrown open to competition in 1996.

Bell Atlantic signs up newspaper publisher -

Bell Atlantic recently reached an agreement with U.S. publisher
Knight-Ridder Inc. to develop news, entertainment, advertising and
other multi-media services for delivery to the home. The deal will
provide Bell Atlantic with a source of interactive information
services while providing Knight-Ridder with new outlets for its
newspapers.

"Baby Bells" want local competition -

Ameritech and Pacific Bell are both pressuring their state regulators
to allow open competition in their local networks. Both companies say
they are willing to compete for local business provided the federal
regulator allows them to offer long distance services.

Although AT&T, MCI and other U.S. long distance companies would like
to get into the local network business, these companies are actively
lobbying the American government to keep the Baby Bells out of their
long distance market.

International giants to cut jobs -

AT&T recently announced that it intends to cut about 15,000 jobs in
its core long distance business. The reductions, which equal about 15
per cent of AT&T's work force, have been attributed to new technologies
and a reduced share in the long distance marketplace.

British Telecom also plans to reduce its workforce by about ten per
cent over the next two years. BT currently employs over 160,000
people.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #124
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #125

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 11 Mar 94 13:43:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 125

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Unitel Carrier Vote Proposal Criticised (Bell News via Dave Leibold)
    Expanded 900 Service in Canada (Bell News via Dave Leibold)
    Experience With a Telemarketer (Dave Niebuhr)
    Competition and Technology (Stewart Fist)
    "Nevada Plan" Information Needed (Tad J. Hunt)
    Latest Telephone Scumbag Use (Dave Niebuhr)
    ISDN BRI to IXC? (John McHarry)
    Video Conference Bridges (John McHarry)
    Mintel Emulation Software for MacIntosh Wanted (Franck Nazikian)
    Re: Erlang B and Required Trunks Functions (Stu Jeffery)
    Re: Information on Used Telecom Equipment Dealer Wanted (Dennis R. Hilton)
    Re: Digital Cellular Phones (David Boettger)
    Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?  (Bill Mayhew)
    Re: Unzipping ISDN File in Archives ([e-mail])
    Re: Local CID Showing Out of Area (Dave Niebuhr)
    Re: Country Code For San Marino? (Bill Hofmann)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Eric Andruscavage)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
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TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 10 Mar 1994 23:08:42 -0500
Subject: Unitel Carrier Vote Proposal Criticised
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


[from Bell News, Bell Ontario 7 Mar 94]

Bell votes NO to Unitel's balloting proposal

Bell strongly objects to the procedure, the price and the principle of
"balloting" customers to ask them to vote for the long distance carrier
they would prefer to do business with.

Last Wednesday, Unitel Communications asked the CRTC to implement
balloting to "provide residential and business customers with the
opportunity to select their preferred long-distance carrier."

The procedure, countered Bell, would be "complex and costly, one not
in the public interest" -- a position Unitel itself previously advanced.
The price, pointed out Bell, would involve some $15 million in mailing
costs alone.

But the principle of this referendum, said Bell, "ignores the fact
that competition and free choice are already here in Canada -- and have
been here for almost two years now. Consumers can pick up the phone
and select any alternate long distance carrier they want today."

"While Unitel wraps itself in the flags of competition and choice,
what it is really proposing is the imposition of another layer of
regulatory process in what is -- and should remain -- a free market
decision," the company said in a public statement.

Furthermore, said Bell, "We don't think customers will buy into the
idea of a cumbersome, disruptive, and ultimately costly process that
purports to give them what they already have: full choice.

"It's like asking customers to fill out a ballot to decide what
grocery store to shop at; they go to the one they believe offers them
the best service and the best value. We doubt that customers want to
be subjected to a referendum process for this kind of everyday, free
market decision."

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 10 Mar 1994 23:09:06 -0500
Subject: Expanded 900 Service in Canada
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


[from Bell News, Bell Ontario 7 Mar 94]

Advantage 900 now interactive

Advantage 900 service has just become interactive, and less _risque._

The CRTC has granted approval of an enhanced Advantage 900 [tm]
service. The enhancements include premises-based Advantage 900 and
premium pricing which have been added to the already available
network-based Advantage 900.

With Advantage 900, callers are invited to dial certain 900-prefixed
numbers so they can, for example, catch up on the latest news, get
help while using their computer, or show their support for a political
candidate.

Information providers who qualify with the CRTC guidelines for content
(porn purveyors won't make the grade) can have callers pay for Advantage
900 on a per-call basis, with the charges appearing on their telephone
bill.

Stentor developed the new premises-based Advantage 900 in response to
customer demand for a more interactive way to communicate with callers.

With premises-based Advantage 900, businesses and organization can
offer pre- recorded, live and interactive programming from virtually
anywhere in Canada.  Callers have easy, direct-dial access to the
customized information they need.  Calls can terminate at the
business's or organization's location, instead of at a telephone
company office.

With premium pricing, businesses, governments and organizations with
Advantage 900 have the flexibility to set the price charged to
Advantage 900 callers.  They can also arrange to have the Stentor-
owner companies, like Bell, bill and collect charges on their behalf.

Previously, only network-based Advantage 900 has been available. With
network-based Advantage 900, all calls are routed to recorded messages
 which are stored on the local telephone company's equipment, so callers
had access only to one-way information.

With approval from the CRTC, Stentor now has strict program content
guidelines and consumer safeguards for Advantage 900 to protect
callers from incurring unwanted charges. For example, the guidelines
do not permit adult programming -- so called "gab" lines -- or programs
that assign personal identification numbers (PINS) which must be used in
subsequent calls.

Callers will also hear a preamble message describing the program, the
call charge and the service provider's name. If callers hang up in the
first 18 seconds of the call, they will not be charged.

The maximum allowable charges for Advantage 900 are $3.00 per call for
programs intended for children and $50.00 for all other programs.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 06:43:14 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Experience with a Telemarketer


I had an interesting experience with a persistent telemarketer last
night.

I'm listed in the phone book but not under my name.

The first call came in (labelled Out-of-Area on my CID box) and the
caller was told that there was no one in the house named "insert a
name" there; less than a minute another call came in with the same ID
and I took the call and told the woman that there was no one living in
my house with the name she mentioned and that her information was
obviously incorrect (true since it doesn't reveal my name).

Call number three was the shortest.  As soon as I said hello, she
hung up.

Using the pseuodnym is handy since it eliminates the "wheat from the
chaff" type of telemarketing calls.  Yes, I do accept some calls but
only from companies that I deal with.  Sears is an example.  I'll get
calls from them to take out a service contract on some appliance that
I've bought from them; my fuel oil company trying to sell me fuel oil
(yes, it does do that), etc.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093

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

From: Stewart Fist <[e-mail]>
Subject: Competition and Technology
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 11:14:05 GMT


Jerry Leichter <[e-mail]> writes:

> I have great respect for competition, but I have yet to see a sound
> argument that the advance in services available *since* deregulation
> is signficantly different from the advance *before* deregulation -
> AFTER CONTROLLING FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVANCE IN APPLICABLE
> TECHNOLOGY.

I couldn't agree more.  I've just spent a lot of time analysing the
long-distance charges (and the changes thereof) from country A to country B
using a range of figures produced by the OECD, for a commissioned report.

It is difficult stuff to analyse, but one thing became quite clear.
There's been no more drop in international long-distance call prices
in advanced (OECD) countries with competitive regimes than there has
in those with monopoly regimes.  I must say I was surprised at these
findings, because the monopolies actually did slightly better --
although the difference wasn't significant.

My guess is that this results from a monopoly (at one end of a
connection) having a duopoly to deal with (at the other), and
therefore they can deal in such a way as to retain mutual higher
prices from the duopoly end to the monopoly, but not from the monopoly
end to the duopoly.  The other guess, is that the duopolies and full
competitive regimes spend so much on marketing and advertising that it
wipes any 'competitive' advantage out.  Certainly telephone companies
are now the major financial supporters of television networks because
of their levels of ad expenditure.

One of the problems with Adam Smithian economics and the value of
competition, is that it assumes that the price set by the suppliers
results from the sale of a scarce resource.  The whole of modern
economic theory rests on the theory that price is a balance between
competiting suppliers bidding down the price (to near real-cost
levels) and competing buyers who will effectively pay ever higher
prices for advantage in accessing the scarce resource.  Eventually a
balance is reached between the buyers buying, and the sellers selling.

The trouble is that once you lay in a 36 fibre 1.2 Gigabit/sec cable
between a couple of reasonable size towns, and you shove 32kbit/s
ADPCM along it, you get a theoretical 1.3 million simultaneous calls,
at an amortised price of about $US6 million a year for distances of
about 1000 km.  Which works out to about $5 per year per voice
circuit.

How does competition operate in an environment like this?  Obviously,
at these cost levels and with this capacity, a single cable, or a
couple can satisfy most of the requirements of our largest cities -
and the total expenditure on the cable is chickenfeed.  Is it then in
the interests of the competing companies to battle fiercely for market
share by dropping prices, or by using the profit creaming to fund
marketing plans and advertising?

When you dig down to the bottom, the problem is that in an era where
long-distance connection abundance is the norm (except that in many
cases this is being deliberately knobbled) the normal competitive
market forces do not apply in the way that conventional economics says
it should.

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

From: jjmhome![e-mail] (Tad J. Hunt)
Subject: "Nevada Plan" Information Needed
Date: 11 Mar 1994 12:09:55 -0500
Organization: Murray Enterprises


I am looking for information related to what has been referred to as
the Nevada Plan -- an arrangment where a long distance company pays
the local termination charges to the owner of the phone number instead
of the local phone company but that number can only be reached by
using that long distance carrier.  I would like to know if any special
phone equipment is necessary to operate under such an arrangement.
And who can I contact at AT&T or some other carrier to discuss this?

I believe that speedway.net, an Internet services provider, is set up
this way.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 08:42:45 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Latest Telephone Scumbag Use


There is a scumbag on Long Island (area code 516) who is preying on
women at home with the use of telephones.

This dirtbag is calling the women and telling them that they have
kidnapped their husbands and won't release them until the woman
performs sexual acts with him.  Even worse is that not only does he
call at various hours during the day, but he calls during rush hours
when the husband is more than likely unavailable.

One call had a twist: he told the woman that he had kidnapped her
mother and was going to rape her if she wife didn't comply.

The police have advised that all calls should be reported immediately
and if the homeowner has Caller ID, that should be checked to see if a
number appears.  Fat chance on this since Caller ID isn't 100 percent
deployed to all exchanges and all possible telephone numbers.  A
better way would be to use the "Trap and Trace" feature even if it
costs $0.75(US) per use and I believe it is available on all lines the
same as per-call or per-line blocking.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is an old one; it has gone around
for many years. I remember hearing the phone company and police warn
people against this ruse thirty years ago. I think you have to be awfully
dumb to fall for it, but then, a lot of people are awfully dumb which is
why it always seems to work so well with each new generation. One woman
completly messed up the game when she got called: after being told her
husband had been kidnapped and what she would have to do to get him back
her answer was, "Keep the old %$^&^* ... I don't want him back."  PAT]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 11:46:01 EST
From: John McHarry <[e-mail]>
Subject: ISDN BRI to IXC?


If I have an ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) from my local exchange
carrier and want to place an interexchange data call, how does the LEC
interconnect with the IXC?  Somebody told me that this has to be
hooked to a switched 56kb trunk, but I don't see why the LEC couldn't
just send it in a regular Feature Group D and tell the IXC it was a
data call in the SS7 message.  Am I missing something?

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

From: John McHarry <[e-mail]>
Subject: Video Conference bridges
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 11:49:33 EST


Who makes video conference bridges?  What types of compressed video
can they work with?  Any thoughts on what is good, bad, etc.?


John McHarry  [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 02:03:14 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Franck Nazikian)
Subject: Minitel Emulation Software for MacIntosh Wanted


Thank you very much for your help!  I finally could solve my problem
of Minitel emulation for P.C.  Now, I've got another request: where
can I find a Minitel emulation software for Macintosh, available on
the Internet?


Best regards,

CII ITESM
Franck NAZIKIAN
Sucursal de Correos "J"
MONTERREY N.L. 64849  MEXICO
Tel: [phone] exts.50-76
Fax: [phone]
Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 00:02:35 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Stu Jeffery)
Subject: Re: Erlang B and Required Trunks Functions


In TELECOM Digest V14 #121 [e-mail] (John Osmon)
writes:

> I am a programmer in the Telecom Department here at Dell, and my
> latest project is to pull trunk usage data and produce usage
> predictions for said trunks.

> This isn't really my field, so I had a co-worker write the request for
> me:

>  We need a way to calculate the number of voice circuits needed to
>  provide standard levels of service using the Retrial method.  Ideally
>  we would plug into a formula the following:

>     - offered CCS of traffic
>     - grade-of-service desired (P.01, P.001, P.05)

>  The formula would then calculate the number of trunks needed WITHOUT
>  resorting to lookup tables.

>  If available, formulas for Erlang B method would also be useful.

> These would be most useful as assembler, C, or XBase sub-routines.
> Does any one know where I can find these?

There are several ways of solving the equations with a recursive form
of the Equation. I have seen several Traffic Engineering books with
Basic programs.  Here is one example in C that I wrote.

/*
 * This program will compute required number of circuits
 * for designated Grade of Service, using Erlang B equation
 */

 /*
  * include files
  */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>

main()
{
        double C, Traffic, GOS, Prob_of_cong, B;
        int Trunks, A_max;

        while ( 1 == 1)
        {
        printf( "Offered Traffic: " );
        scanf( "%lf", &Traffic);
        printf( "GOS: " );
        scanf( "%lf", &GOS )
        Prob_of_cong = 1;
        Trunks = 0
        while ( Prob_of_cong > GOS)

        {
                Trunks = Trunks + 1;
                Prob_of_cong = (Prob_of_cong * Traffic) /
                         (Trunks + (Traffic * Prob_of_cong));

        }
        printf( "Number of ckts  %i and conjestion %5.4f\n",
                 Trunks, Prob_of_cong );

        printf (" \n");

        }
}

Sample output

Offered Traffic: 10
GOS: .01
Number of ckts  18 and conjestion 0.0071

Offered Traffic: 10
GOS: .02
Number of ckts  17 and conjestion 0.0129

Offered Traffic: 10
GOS: .05
Number of ckts  15 and conjestion 0.0365

Offered Traffic: 20
GOS: .01
Number of ckts  30 and conjestion 0.0085

Offered Traffic: 20
GOS: .02
Number of ckts  28 and conjestion 0.0188

Offered Traffic: 20
GOS: .05
Number of ckts  26 and conjestion 0.0372


Stu Jeffery         Internet: [e-mail]
1072 Seena Ave.              voice:   415-966-8199
Los Altos, CA. 94024         fax:     [phone]

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

From: sgiblab!kaiwan.com!troi![e-mail] (Dennis R. Hilton)
Subject: Re: Information on Used Telecom Equipment Dealer Wanted
Date: 11 Mar 94 04:46:32 GMT
Reply-To: sgiblab!kaiwan.com!troi![e-mail]
Organization: kaiwan.com Internet Access [phone]


In article <[e-mail]>, Kenneth Leung wrote:

> I am looking for dealers of used telecom equipment such as AT&T Merlin
> phone sets and used AT&T PBXs.

Call information for Long Beach, CA, and ask for Native Son (or Sun)
communications.


Best,

Dennis R. Hilton     <[e-mail]>

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 07:32:00 +0000
From: david boettger <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phones


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Steve
Forrette) writes:

> In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John Galloway) writes:

>> But if this key is fixed (since it is not transmited I assume it is)
>> then all the cellular blue box builder need to is disect a phone to
>> get it.  This might not be a trivial opeation, but these crooks are
>> pretty smart fellows.

> Are you assuming that the key is the same for all phones?

What good is a key that's the same for all phones?

> If the key is different for each phone, then the crook would have to
> get a hold of a particular phone to dissect it to get the key.  And if
> they have physical possession of the phone, there is little need to
> get the key in order to make fraudulent calls, right?

Yup. That's the idea.

David Boettger   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 16:34:10 GMT


As pointed out, the underlying symbol rate for 14.4 Kbps modems is
still 2400 baud.  Nonetheless, my practical experience in running our
modem bank connecting 13 hospitals in six cities here in NE Ohio, is
that 14.4K is much more troublesome than 9600 bps data calls over POTS
(plain old telephone service) lines.

I use good quailty Multitech or DSI rack type modems on my end, but
the user community can have almost any sort of equipment.  The
Multitechs support 14.4K v.32bis while the DSIs are 9600 v.32 max
modulation.  There is definitely a correlation between good name brand
equipment and the success of the connection.

My chief problem is that users call my system with their modems set to
demand 14.4K rate.  Our systems will connect, but the error correction
rate is so high that througput is almost zero.  Apparently, whatever
heuristic method is used by the modems doesn't see anything wrong with
the connection and thus force a fallback.  I do have my end programmed
to accept and/or request a fallback.  I've also tried calling from
some of the troublesome locations and thus am sure that their modems
have fallback enabled too, yet the connection will remain stoically
locked at 14.4K doing copious error correction with abysmal throghput.
I've gone over the prblem with Multitech and didn't get anything more
than the patented Tom and Ray Magliozi mechanic's shrug as a response.
From those same troublesome locations, virtually all calls forced to
initate with 9600 moduation complete with hardly any error correction
and good througput.

I don't have any current means of measuring it, but what I am
beginning to suspect is that there is phase jitter present on these
lines.  The modem training sequence can do echo cancellation, group
delay equalization and amplitude equalization, but the training
sequence can't compensate for rapidly varying phase shift on the line.
The nature of the problems I have doesn't seem to depend on the length
of the circuit or number of central offices involved.

What puzzles me is that the modems don't fall back when the performacne
gets to be so bad.  It would appear that the error correction engine
needs to have some sort of input the the egine that handles modulation.
I am not imtimately familiar with v.32bis / v.42bis specifications,
but some handshaking between the two parts of the modem would seem to
be a most reasonable and logical thing to do.


Bill Mayhew        NEOUCOM Computer Services Department
Rootstown, OH  44272-0095  USA      phone: [phone]
[e-mail]       amateur radio 146.58: N8WED

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 01:58:00 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Unzipping ISDN File in Archives


[e-mail] (jeff shaver) wrote:

> I recently ftp'ed the ISDN.deployment.data.zip file from the Telecom
> Archives, but I can't unzip it.  PKZip 2.04(g?) tells me it's not a
> zip file.  Any ideas?  Thanks for your help!

The file may have been zipped using an older version of PKZip.  PKWare
came out with a new version of the zipping software, which is not bak-
wards compatible with the older version.  It may need the older version
to unzip it properly.  (This created downloading hell on a lot of bulletin
boards here recently.)

Another possibility is that the FTP was done using ASCII, not binary,
resulting in a corruption of the file as it came over the system.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Whatever the cause, I now have another
copy of it here in a MIME version and will send it to whoever writes me
to ask for it.  This one is supposed to work with 2.04 PKUNZIP.   PAT]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 06:35:55 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Re: Local CID Showing Out of Area


> [e-mail] (Steve Forrette) wrote:

> In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Richard
> Dervan) writes:

>> I had an interesting experience last week.  I got paged by my computer
>> indicating it had received a voice message for me.  Since I was
>> expecting a message from my sweetie, I went to a pay phone, called my
>> computer, and picked up the message.

>> When I got home, I saw OUT-OF-AREA on my CID box.

> Did you use coins to place the call?  Any other method of payment
> (such as calling card, collect, etc) is likely to cause OUT OF AREA on
> a Caller ID box, even if both ends of the call are in the same CO.

When CID was deployed in my area (516 area code), I tried calling home
from a pay phone and the number was displayed.  However, when I call
home while I'm having my car serviced at a local service station, the
number doesn't show.

The difference is that the pay phone on the corner is NYNEX owned,
and the other one is a COCOT.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Hofmann)
Subject: Re: Country Code For San Marino?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 17:09:38 GMT


I just checked out the report from Martin Kealey about San Marino's
country code change.  According to Sprint International Operator, the
country code is indeed 378.

Also, on the former Soviet Union, I just heard from Lithuania's embassy
about telecom there.  Some highlights:

* city codes have been shortened: Vilnius now is "2", not "0122"
  other city codes are shortened in a similar way.
* long distance access code is 8<pause>2, intl is 8<pause>10
* operator is 8p194, 8p195 (English), 8p196 (AT&T)

There are access codes to former USSR cities, but I don't have the data
in front of me.


Bill Hofmann        [e-mail]
Fresh Software and Instructional Design     [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Eric Andruscavage)
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number
Date: 11 Mar 1994 12:53:29 -0500
Organization: Zeta Data, Laurel, Maryland, USA


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: ... this? Because they take advantage
> of a class of people who have absolutely no other choice in how
> their phone calls are placed; i.e. prisoners.

Does this mean that prison phones are blocked from calling 1-800-COLLECT
or the 800 number for AT&T long distance?  I would like to say that I once
got a collect call from a prisoner (wrong number, I hope) and the
operator made it clear that it was a collect call from a federal
prison.  Since we normally accepted collect calls, I would have taken
the call if this hadn't been made clear.  I wonder if MCI or AT&T would
provide the same service.


Eric Andruscavage
First thing - let's kill all the Shakespeareans
DBMS Design/Programming/Training/Answers Questioned
Laurel, Maryland  *  301/206-2030


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is a Class of Service available in
modern switches to accomodate telephones used by prison inmates. For quite
a long time all the phones at Cook County Jail including the administrative
ones have been on their own centrex: 312-890. But the phones used by prison-
ers are very restricted.

All calls have to be dialed zero-plus.  All one-plus calls are intercepted
with 'call cannot be completed as dialed ...' Stuff like 10xxx/800/950/etc.
is totally blocked out. Those calls all go to intercept if dialed as
one-plus and just vanish in the ether, neither completing or getting denied
if dialed as zero-plus. Zero-plus any regular area code and number brings a
telco operator on the line whose display clearly indicates the circumstances
and the *only* way she can process the call is on a collect basis. No credit
card or third number billing is allowed, and as you pointed out, the operator
plainly tells the called party that the call is collect from (name), a
prisoner at Cook County Jail. If someone knew the numbers on the phones in the
cellblocks and tries to call in, an intercept says the number is in service
for outgoing calls only. The phones all have rotary dials, of course, so there
can be no games with touch-tones. Dialing to other extensions on the centrex
is blocked, as are calls to the 0 operator, 411, 611, and 911.

In the regulations pertaining to equal access and the use of 10xxx, etc, there
are exceptions built in for certain circumstances, prisons and jails being one
such circumstance. Gee, and *you* thought the college phone system in your
dorm was pretty restrictive :)  Look how bad the 'students' have it at the
College of Hard Knocks and Practical Experience.  :)   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #125
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #126

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 11 Mar 94 14:51:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 126

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Country Code Listing (Lars Poulsen)
    BCE Buys More Atlantic Interests (Bell News via Dave Leibold)
    Mexico Link For Canada Direct (Bell News via Dave Leibold)
    Re: Clipped Again (Maxime Taksar)
    MCI Wow It's Hot Hotline (Jonny Quest)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Steve Cogorno)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 09:58:08 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Country Code Listing
Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> Can anyone send me a list of current two and three character country
> codes. I have most of them, but what with the breakup of various
> countries and what-not, I figure I'm missing a few (codes, that is)

I found this list at my local IP service provider's FTP server.  The
three-digits codes are NOT telephone country codes; the only place I
have seen them used, is in MS-DOS.

Postal Address:
   ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency
   DIN Burggrafenstrasse 6
   D-1000 Berlin 30
   phone: [phone]
   Fax:   [phone]

NOTE: Entries for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia Hercegovina not yet complete.

AFGHANISTAN                                     AF      AFG     004
ALBANIA                                         AL      ALB     008
ALGERIA                                         DZ      DZA     012
AMERICAN SAMOA                                  AS      ASM     016
ANDORRA                                         AD      AND     020
ANGOLA                                          AO      AGO     024
ANGUILLA                                        AI      AIA     660
ANTARCTICA                                      AQ      ATA     010
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA                             AG      ATG     028
ARGENTINA                                       AR      ARG     032
ARMENIA                                         AM      ARM     051
ARUBA                                           AW      ABW     533
AUSTRALIA                                       AU      AUS     036
AUSTRIA                                         AT      AUT     040
AZERBAIJAN                                      AZ      AZE     031
BAHAMAS                                         BS      BHS     044
BAHRAIN                                         BH      BHR     048
BANGLADESH                                      BD      BGD     050
BARBADOS                                        BB      BRB     052
BELGIUM                                         BE      BEL     056
BELIZE                                          BZ      BLZ     084
BENIN                                           BJ      BEN     204
BERMUDA                                         BM      BMU     060
BHUTAN                                          BT      BTN     064
BOLIVIA                                         BO      BOL     068
BOSNIA HERCEGOVINA                              BA      BIH
BOTSWANA                                        BW      BWA     072
BOUVET ISLAND                                   BV      BVT     074
BRAZIL                                          BR      BRA     076
BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY                  IO      IOT     086
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM                               BN      BRN     096
BULGARIA                                        BG      BGR     100
BURKINA FASO                                    BF      BFA     854
BURUNDI                                         BI      BDI     108
BELARUS                                         BY      BLR     112
CAMBODIA                                        KH      KHM     116
CAMEROON                                        CM      CMR     120
CANADA                                          CA      CAN     124
CAPE VERDE                                      CV      CPV     132
CAYMAN ISLANDS                                  KY      CYM     136
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC                        CF      CAF     140
CHAD                                            TD      TCD     148
CHILE                                           CL      CHL     152
CHINA                                           CN      CHN     156
CHRISTMAS ISLAND                                CX      CXR     162
COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS                         CC      CCK     166
COLOMBIA                                        CO      COL     170
COMOROS                                         KM      COM     174
CONGO                                           CG      COG     178
COOK ISLANDS                                    CK      COK     184
COSTA RICA                                      CR      CRI     188
COTE D'IVOIRE                                   CI      CIV     384
CROATIA                                         HR      HRV
CUBA                                            CU      CUB     192
CYPRUS                                          CY      CYP     196
CZECH REPUBLIC                                  CZ      CZE     203
CZECHOSLOVAKIA                                  CS      CSK     200
DENMARK                                         DK      DNK     208
DJIBOUTI                                        DJ      DJI     262
DOMINICA                                        DM      DMA     212
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC                              DO      DOM     214
EAST TIMOR                                      TP      TMP     626
ECUADOR                                         EC      ECU     218
EGYPT                                           EG      EGY     818
EL SALVADOR                                     SV      SLV     222
EQUATORIAL GUINEA                               GQ      GNQ     226
ESTONIA                                         EE      EST     233
ETHIOPIA                                        ET      ETH     230
FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS)                     FK      FLK     238
FAROE ISLANDS                                   FO      FRO     234
FIJI                                            FJ      FJI     242
FINLAND                                         FI      FIN     246
FRANCE                                          FR      FRA     250
FRENCH GUIANA                                   GF      GUF     254
FRENCH POLYNESIA                                PF      PYF     258
FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES                     TF      ATF     260
GABON                                           GA      GAB     266
GAMBIA                                          GM      GMB     270
GEORGIA                                         GE      GEO     268
GERMANY                                         DE      DEU     276
GHANA                                           GH      GHA     288
GIBRALTAR                                       GI      GIB     292
GREECE                                          GR      GRC     300
GREENLAND                                       GL      GRL     304
GRENADA                                         GD      GRD     308
GUADELOUPE                                      GP      GLP     312
GUAM                                            GU      GUM     316
GUATEMALA                                       GT      GTM     320
GUINEA                                          GN      GIN     324
GUINEA-BISSAU                                   GW      GNB     624
GUYANA                                          GY      GUY     328
HAITI                                           HT      HTI     332
HEARD AND MC DONALD ISLANDS                     HM      HMD     334
HONDURAS                                        HN      HND     340
HONG KONG                                       HK      HKG     344
HUNGARY                                         HU      HUN     348
ICELAND                                         IS      ISL     352
INDIA                                           IN      IND     356
INDONESIA                                       ID      IDN     360
IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF)                      IR      IRN     364
IRAQ                                            IQ      IRQ     368
IRELAND                                         IE      IRL     372
ISRAEL                                          IL      ISR     376
ITALY                                           IT      ITA     380
JAMAICA                                         JM      JAM     388
JAPAN                                           JP      JPN     392
JORDAN                                          JO      JOR     400
KAZAKHSTAN                                      KZ      KAZ     398
KENYA                                           KE      KEN     404
KIRIBATI                                        KI      KIR     296
KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF          KP      PRK     408
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF                              KR      KOR     410
KUWAIT                                          KW      KWT     414
KYRGYZSTAN                                      KG      KGZ     417
LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC                LA      LAO     418
LATVIA                                          LV      LVA     428
LEBANON                                         LB      LBN     422
LESOTHO                                         LS      LSO     426
LIBERIA                                         LR      LBR     430
LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA                          LY      LBY     434
LIECHTENSTEIN                                   LI      LIE     438
LITHUANIA                                       LT      LTU     440
LUXEMBOURG                                      LU      LUX     442
MACAU                                           MO      MAC     446
MADAGASCAR                                      MG      MDG     450
MALAWI                                          MW      MWI     454
MALAYSIA                                        MY      MYS     458
MALDIVES                                        MV      MDV     462
MALI                                            ML      MLI     466
MALTA                                           MT      MLT     470
MARSHALL ISLANDS                                MH      MHL     584
MARTINIQUE                                      MQ      MTQ     474
MAURITANIA                                      MR      MRT     478
MAURITIUS                                       MU      MUS     480
MEXICO                                          MX      MEX     484
MICRONESIA                                      FM      FSM     583
MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF                            MD      MDA     498
MONACO                                          MC      MCO     492
MONGOLIA                                        MN      MNG     496
MONTSERRAT                                      MS      MSR     500
MOROCCO                                         MA      MAR     504
MOZAMBIQUE                                      MZ      MOZ     508
MYANMAR                                         MM      MMR     104
NAMIBIA                                         NA      NAM     516
NAURU                                           NR      NRU     520
NEPAL                                           NP      NPL     524
NETHERLANDS                                     NL      NLD     528
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES                            AN      ANT     532
NEUTRAL ZONE                                    NT      NTZ     536
NEW CALEDONIA                                   NC      NCL     540
NEW ZEALAND                                     NZ      NZL     554
NICARAGUA                                       NI      NIC     558
NIGER                                           NE      NER     562
NIGERIA                                         NG      NGA     566
NIUE                                            NU      NIU     570
NORFOLK ISLAND                                  NF      NFK     574
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS                        MP      MNP     580
NORWAY                                          NO      NOR     578
OMAN                                            OM      OMN     512
PAKISTAN                                        PK      PAK     586
PALAU                                           PW      PLW     585
PANAMA                                          PA      PAN     590
PAPUA NEW GUINEA                                PG      PNG     598
PARAGUAY                                        PY      PRY     600
PERU                                            PE      PER     604
PHILIPPINES                                     PH      PHL     608
PITCAIRN                                        PN      PCN     612
POLAND                                          PL      POL     616
PORTUGAL                                        PT      PRT     620
PUERTO RICO                                     PR      PRI     630
QATAR                                           QA      QAT     634
REUNION                                         RE      REU     638
ROMANIA                                         RO      ROM     642
RUSSIAN FEDERATION                              RU      RUS     643
RWANDA                                          RW      RWA     646
ST. HELENA                                      SH      SHN     654
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS                           KN      KNA     659
SAINT LUCIA                                     LC      LCA     662
ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON                         PM      SPM     666
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES                VC      VCT     670
SAMOA                                           WS      WSM     882
SAN MARINO                                      SM      SMR     674
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE                           ST      STP     678
SAUDI ARABIA                                    SA      SAU     682
SENEGAL                                         SN      SEN     686
SEYCHELLES                                      SC      SYC     690
SIERRA LEONE                                    SL      SLE     694
SINGAPORE                                       SG      SGP     702
SLOVAKIA                                        SK      SVK     703
SLOVENIA                                        SI      SVN
SOLOMON ISLANDS                                 SB      SLB     090
SOMALIA                                         SO      SOM     706
SOUTH AFRICA                                    ZA      ZAF     710
SPAIN                                           ES      ESP     724
SRI LANKA                                       LK      LKA     144
SUDAN                                           SD      SDN     736
SURINAME                                        SR      SUR     740
SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN ISLANDS                  SJ      SJM     744
SWAZILAND                                       SZ      SWZ     748
SWEDEN                                          SE      SWE     752
SWITZERLAND                                     CH      CHE     756
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC                            SY      SYR     760
TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINA                       TW      TWN     158
TAJIKISTAN                                      TJ      TJK     762
TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF                    TZ      TZA     834
THAILAND                                        TH      THA     764
TOGO                                            TG      TGO     768
TOKELAU                                         TK      TKL     772
TONGA                                           TO      TON     776
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO                             TT      TTO     780
TUNISIA                                         TN      TUN     788
TURKEY                                          TR      TUR     792
TURKMENISTAN                                    TM      TKM     795
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS                        TC      TCA     796
TUVALU                                          TV      TUV     798
UGANDA                                          UG      UGA     800
UKRAINE                                         UA      UKR     804
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES                            AE      ARE     784
UNITED KINGDOM                                  GB      GBR     826
UNITED STATES                                   US      USA     840
UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS            UM      UMI     581
URUGUAY                                         UY      URY     858
USSR                                            SU      SUN     810
UZBEKISTAN                                      UZ      UZB     860
VANUATU                                         VU      VUT     548
VATICAN CITY STATE (HOLY SEE)                   VA      VAT     336
VENEZUELA                                       VE      VEN     862
VIET NAM                                        VN      VNM     704
VIRGIN ISLANDS (BRITISH)                        VG      VGB     092
VIRGIN ISLANDS (U.S.)                           VI      VIR     850
WALLIS AND FUTUNA ISLANDS                       WF      WLF     876
WESTERN SAHARA                                  EH      ESH     732
YEMEN, REPUBLIC OF                              YE      YEM     887
YUGOSLAVIA                                      YU      YUG     890
ZAIRE                                           ZR      ZAR     180
ZAMBIA                                          ZM      ZMB     894
ZIMBABWE                                        ZW      ZWE     716


Lars Poulsen            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
CMC Network Products        Phone: (011-) [phone]
Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B        Telefax:      [phone]
DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK    Internets: designed and built while you wait

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 10 Mar 94 23:08:28 -0500
Subject: BCE Buys More Atlantic Interests
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


[from Bell News, Bell Ontario, 7 Mar 94]

BCE acquires Bruncor and MT&T shares

BCE, our parent corporation, has increased its stake in two phone
companies in the Atlantic provinces.

BCE now owns 8,902,015 shares of Bruncor Inc. of New Brunswick,
representing approximately 41.04 per cent of Bruncor's issued and
outstanding common shares, and 9,925,564 common shares of Maritime
Telegraph and Telephone Company (MT&T) of Nova Scotia, representing
approximately 35.4 per cent of MT&T's issued and outstanding common
shares.

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 10 Mar 94 23:08:54 -0500
Subject: Mexico Link for Canada Direct
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


[from Bell News, Bell Ontario 7 Mar 94]

Mexico joins Canada Direct

For Canadians soaking up Mexican rays, calling home just became a
whole lot easier.

Canadian tourists or business people can now use their Calling Card or
Call Me Card, thanks to Telmex's activation on February 16 of Canada
Direct service.

Canada Direct service allows Canadians travelling on foreign soil to
call home with the assistance of Canadian operators. The service
avoids the potential for confusion when dealing with an operator who
has little or no command of English or French.

To call home from Mexico with Canada Direct, callers dial 95 800 010
1990 to connect with a Canadian operator.

With the Calling Card information supplied by the caller, the operator
validates the card and completes the call.

Canada Direct is also available in 87 other countries.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 11:06:39 -0800
From: Maxime Taksar KC6ZPS <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Clipped Again


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(A. Padgett Peterson) writes:

> This makes no sense to me. Today there is *no* privacy in phone calls
> so the question must have been worded so as to imply that there is for
> people to believe that Clipper provides *less*.

This is actually something that deserves being addressed.

At the moment, there *is* privacy in phone calls, in the sense that
it's difficult for a (hypothetical) agency of the government to do
complete, automated traffic analysis of any given telephone.  Clipper
will make this possible to an agency that does not mind skirting
inconvenient laws and that can get easy access to most, if not all,
phone traffic in the US.  The NSA has a very good possibility (and has
a history [read {The Puzzle Palace} by James Bamford for details]) of
engaging in such activities, so this is not merely hypothetical.

In any case, I think this has strayed from general telecom topics and
probably belong in comp.society.privacy, comp.risks, and/or talk.politics.
crypto.


Maxime Taksar   KC6ZPS     [e-mail]   PGP key by request

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

From: [e-mail] (Jonny Quest)
Subject: MCI Wow It's Hot Hotline
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 18:46:33 GMT


Does anyone know this number?  I saw it a few days ago and lost it.

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 10:40:26 PST


TELECOM Digest Editor Noted:

> Most hitchikers didn't fare as well with him. Maybe you just weren't
> his type. :)

And what type is that?  I certainly hope that is not driven by homophobia.

Since we are discussing politics here, I would like to point out that
just because he was convicted of murder and imprisoned does not mean
that he shouldn't be able to run a 900 number business.  If people
want to call, that's their prerogative.  How is it different from
Angela Davis (who is a very well respected professor in academic
circles) writing a book while she was a political prisoner?  Both are
telling their versions of the truth, and if you want to hear it, fine.
If you don't, then don't call.


Steve  [e-mail]
#608 Merrill * 200 McLaughlin Drive * Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1015


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Homophobic Response:  Thank you for sharing your
version of the truth with us. To compare Angela Davis and her crimes with
people like John Wayne Gacy and Jeff Dahmer (talk about homophobia! the
one killed homosexuals, the other one ate them ...) is a bit of a stretch
in my opinion but you are entitled to make that comparison if you wish. I
am not certain how Ms. Davis would feel about the comparison.  PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #126
******************************


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Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #127

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 11 Mar 94 23:25:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 127

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    GSM and TDMA Problems (Stewart Fist)
    Canadian Internet Handbook Released (Rick Broadhead)
    Racal AT Settings Needed (Alan McCowan)
    Sky Radio Service ([e-mail])
    Calling North Korea and Cuba ([e-mail])
    Miscrosoft Visual Basic Drivers for IEEE Test Equipment (Bill Steedly)
    Request for Demon Dialers (Zoom Electronics) (Al Cohan)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Colin Owen Rafferty)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Phones in the Movies Again (David Breneman)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 11 Mar 94 21:34:21 EST
From: Stewart Fist <[e-mail]>
Subject: GSM and TDMA Problems


John Sims <[e-mail]> asks about the problems with GSM.

They are pretty much the same as with all TDMA systems, including the
TDMA now being introduced into the USA -- and they'll be worse with
DECT and DCS1800 which are designed to be used indoors in large
offices.

You can look at these problems in a number of different ways and at a
number of different levels.  The primary problem is that they were
introduced in competition to perfectly good analog cellular networks,
and they failed to provide any real customer advantages.  A system
needs to be better than the one it replaces.  The magical name
'digital' doesn't carry much weight with customers after a while.

Coverage area is another major problem, and here the American TDMA has
a better solution than GSM because it emphasised dual-mode handsets
with analog providing coverage where digital wasn't available.  GSM
didn't do this, so in most nations with the system (except Germany)
you are limited to a very small coverage area, and a very limited
range of base-stations, often with minimal equipment, and with great
holes in the cells.  Drop outs on the Sydney GSM networks seem to
range between 40% and up to 80% for a car crossing the city.

Sound quality in all digital systems seems to be consistent, but only
'acceptable'.  While good static-free reception extends to the
boundaries of the cell, they do all suffer from a staccato-like effect
when driving down tree-line corridors (especially after dew or rain)
and they drop the link precipitously, without warning, at the
boundary.  This is not how consumers think a phone system should
behave.

Within buildings, they have many more penetration and Rayleigh-fading
problems than analog also.  Range of a GSM cell, at present is limited
to 35kms, which is too small for Australia, but this will be fixed in
1996 by slot-stealing.

GSM and TDMA base stations also need to radiate from higher points for
good coverage, but if they do that, they then interfere with other
cells.  Capacity is set by the amount of general R/F interference
being introduced, and generally they seem to be only getting two to
three-times that of AMPS.

International roaming was the big story behind GSM, and it is
certainly important to 2% of European owners who daily drive across
the Continent.  However AMPS is a far better system if an Australian
wants International roaming, because it is used in New Zealand,
Australia, most of Asia, and the America's.  What we needed for good
international roaming was a dual-mode AMPS/TACS handset (and the
difference is really only in the R/F stage, so this would have been
easy to do).

The main problems are the R/F interference effects, and these are
common to all TDMA systems (including the new DECT and DCS-1800) and
they are cumulative -- so we see only a few signs of the problems now,
but like automobile pollution growth in cities, it will get worse as
the population of users grows.  There are four main problems here:

1. General R/F pollution.  Any system that switches its R/F
transmitter on and off rapidly (GSM does it 217 times a second, TDMA
does it 50 times) will scatter EMI throughout the adjacent radio
spectrum.  And the sharper the edge of the switch power (on and off),
the wider the band of hash it scatters.  These sets need a 3-5MHz
guard-band between them and analog AMPS channels,and they try to ramp
up the power, and still they scatter crap into nearby television
broadcast bands. We've never had anything that generates EMI like a
GSM handset before in these bands.  We need large numbers of them like
we need a hole in the head.

2. Audio-Hz interference.  The on-off cycle of transmission power will
be read by any analog circuit nearby (with any rectification or
asymmetrical circuits) as an intrusive audio tone of 217Hz, and the
two major harmonics above.  This buzz intrudes into hearing aids at
distances up to 30 metres, and is often intolerable at 2 metres. It
also gets into cassette recorder, wireline systems, and into modems as
a carrier tone.

3. Digital byte intrusions. In digital circuits, where the track on a
circuit board is about the length of a GSM antenna, the on-off cycle
of transmission power is often being read as a data-byte.  If only one
GSM handset is operating in a vicinity, it will pulse in the first (of
eight) slots in a frame, and so produce a 1000 0000 byte at 217 bytes
(1736 bits) a second.  This can also be read as 1100 0000, 0000 0000
at 3.4kbit/s, or 1110 0000 etc.  at 5.2kbit/s (and so on).

When two or more handsets are working in the same location, they are
all synchronised to the same base-station (same or different
channels).  So amplitude effects (same slot, different channels) are
cumulative: the fact that they may be using different channels is
immaterial, so the range of interference can increase.  A number of
handsets will combine to create what amounts to random number
generation (they are also frequency hopping) of power pulses in
digital control circuits nearby.

This seems to hit some electronic equipment (laserprinters, modems,
PCs, TV controllers, possibly air-bag triggers) hard, and have wierd,
and often un-reproducable effects.  The randomness seems to be the
problem in detecting what caused some 'event'. It is virtually
impossible to reproduce the conditions.

This is why some people report no problems at all, others say it
knocks out their Powerbook or modem or multiplexer, occasionally, or
every time.  Obviously some equipment is far more susceptible than
others -- but not just in terms of needing EMI shielding.

4. The last EMI problems is the remote possibility (and I stress
'remote possibility') that the pulsation of the microwaves can create
a different type, or order, of health problems to analog. Analog is
expected to only have a 'brain and eye-lens' heating effect (but not
everyone is convinced about this).

Digital TDMA introduces a new factor. It is known for instance, that
some enzyme reactions in chemical processes are sped up enormously
when hit by pulsating R/F, but no one seems to know why.  This needs a
lot more research, but is no reason for panic.  However, it can't be
dismissed, like may technophiles seem to do.

The real problem with both GSM and American TDMA is the way in which
all these problems were kept secret, and the systems were rolled out
slowly and quietly without anyone admitting problems until the press
started shouting.  When they play these sorts of games, they have only
themselves to blame when the press reacts strongly and shouts 'foul'
especially when it is likely to be hearing-impaired people who suffer
in office environments.

Later, problems were reluctantly admitted, but always the admission
was associated with "Don't worry, well fix it!" which is just another
of their lies.  Most of these problems are intrinsic in time-division
power pulsing.

More recently the tactic has changed once again: now they blame the
lack of shielding on hearing-aids and other electronic equipment, and
want to boost the standard of immunity, rather than reduce their own
emissions.

It's the smoke-stack blaming inefficiencies in gas-masks for the
problems.  ETSI is its own worst enemy.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 19:34:26 EST
From: Rick Broadhead <[e-mail]>
Subject: Canadian Internet Handbook Released


Pat,

When I announced the Canadian Internet Handbook on TELECOM Digest last
year, a number of your readers contacted me.  Now that the book is
finished, I thought they would be interested in seeing what the final
product looks like.  The book was officially released on March 3rd.
It is the first book to cover the Internet in Canada.  We also believe
that it is the first Internet book to focus on one country.


Rick Broadhead    [e-mail]

Canadian Internet Handbook, 1994 Edition
Published By Prentice Hall Canada
ISBN#: O-13-304-395-9
by Jim Carroll and Rick Broadhead

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD
   by Jean Monty, President and CEO, Northern Telecom Limited

1. INFORMATION HIGHWAYS

Knowledge Networking
Ask the World a Question, and You'll Get an Answer
How Are People Using the Internet?
Why Should You Use the Internet?
E-Mail - Keeping in Contact With the World
Knowledge Networking -  Ask the World A Question
Finding a Video
Knowledge Access
Excitement and Fun
The Growth of the Internet in Canada
The Internet Index
Why Do You Want to Be Part of the Internet?

2. USING THE INTERNET IN CANADA

The Canadian Forest Service
Midland Walwyn Capital
The Daily News,Halifax, Nova Scotia
Regina Public Library
Foothills Hospital, Calgary, Alberta
PEI Crafts Council, Charlottetown, PEI
Shell Canada Ltd, Calgary, Alberta
Enterprise Network, Newfoundland
Front Page Challenge, Vancouver, B.C.
Canadian Space Agency, Montreal, Quebec
Bank of Montreal, Toronto, Ontario
Park View Education Centre, BridgeWater, Nova Scotia
The Polar Bear Heaven BBS, Rankin Inlet, North West Territories
Summary

3.THE INTERNET IN CANADA

Internet Myths
        The History of the Internet
        Acceptable Use Policies
The Internet in Canada
        Regional Networks In Canada
        CA*net - The National Coordinating Body for Research Networks
        Regional Networks
        ONet
        NSTN Inc.
        Commercial Networks in Canada
        UUNet Canada
        HookUp Communications
        U.S. Commercial Networks
Commercial Use of the Internet
        The Impact of Commercialization
        Message Routing
        Who Pays for the Internet?
Where Is the Internet Going in Canada?
        An Evolution in Acceptable Use Policies
        Corporate Involvement
        Larger Network Capacities
        CANARIE
        A Mandate for CANARIE
        Evolution of the Network

4. INTERNET FUNDAMENTALS

Internet Organizations

TCP/IP Basics
        Why Is This Important?
        IP Addresses
        Internet Domain Names
        The Domain Name System
        Top Level Domains
        Subdomains in Canada
        Registering Domain Names
        Registering Under the .ca Canadian Domain
        Registering Directly with the InterNIC
        Other Issues Related to Domain Names

Client/Server and the Internet
        A Technical Definition
        A Practical Definition
        The Impact of Client/Server on the Internet
        Direct Connections to the Internet
        Shell Account Limitations
        The Location of the Client
        Client Located on a Remote Server
        Client Intelligence Located on Internet Service Provider
        Client Located on Your Own Computer or Network
        The Impact of the Location of the Client

5. INTERNET ELECTRONIC MAIL

A Global Standard for E-Mail
        What Is Internet E-mail?
        E-mail Client Software
        How Many E-Mail Users Are There?
Creating Internet E-Mail Messages
        The Structure of an Internet E-Mail Message
        Answering Messages
        An E-Mail Signature
What Do Canadian E-Mail Addresses Look Like?
        E-mail Styles
        Other E-mail Systems
        Consumer Oriented Systems
        Commercial E-Mail Systems
        What About Envoy 100?
        How Complex Can Internet Addressing Get?
E-Mail Etiquette
        E-mail Is Different
        Flaming
        E-Mail Guidance
        Smileys
How Do I Locate an Internet E-mail Address?
        Simple Solutions
        WHOIS
        Postmast
Periodic Postings

6. REMOTE ACCESS APPLICATIONS FTP AND TELNET

Telnet and FTP Clients
Telnet
        Telnet Command
        A Sample Telnet Session
        Special Notes About Telnet
        Seeking Help
        Telnet resources
FTP
        Using FTP
        FTP Basics
        A Sample FTP Session
        FTP Directories
        Basic FTP Commands
        Other FTP Issues
        File Types - Format
        File Types - Compression
        File Retrieval Via E-Mail

7. TOOLS FOR KNOWLEDGE NETWORKING

        MAILING LISTS AND USENET
A Quick Definition
What's the Difference?

Mailing Lists
        Types of Lists
        Using Lists - The Mechanics
        LISTSERV and Other Methods
        Examples - Joining, Sending,     Leaving
        Joining a List
        Sending to a List
        Leaving a List
        Starting Your Own List
        Information on Lists
        Major Sources

USENET
        Newsgroup Categories
        Subtopics
        Canadian Newsgroup Categories
        Major Canadian Newsgroups
        A Sample USENET Message
        How Does USENET Work?
        Creating a Newsgroup
        Reading News
        Newsreader Software
        USENET- What It's Not!
        Network Etiquette
        Using USENET
        Lists of Newsgroups

8. TOOLS FOR KNOWLEDGE RETRIEVAL

Limitations of Internet Information Sources
        Commercial Information Services
        Multiple Sources of Information
Gopher
        A Sample Gopher Session
        Using Gopher
        Gopher Jewels
        Using Gopher to Find an Organization
        Mailing a Gopher Document
        Gopher Bookmarks
        Other Gopher Information
        The Growth of Gopher
Hytelnet
        Sample Hytelnet Session
WAIS
        Sample WAIS Session
        WAIS Searches
World Wide Web
        Sample WWW Session
        Organization of WWW Information
Archie
        Sample Archie Session
IRC
Finger
The Future of Information Retrieval

9. CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET

Electronic Mail Access Only
        Access as an Individual
        Access from a Corporate E-Mail System
Via UUCP
        UUCP Explained
        How Does UUCP Work?
        UUCP Software
        Linking Individual Users Via UUCP
        Linking LAN E-Mail Systems Via UUCP
Access via a Shell Account
        Through a Canadian Internet Provider
Via a Commercial On-Line Service
Direct Connections to the Internet
        Benefits of a Direct Connection
        Nature of the Connection
        Hardwired Connection
        SLIP/PPP For Casual Modem Connection
        Bundled Software
        Direct Connections to the Internet and E-mail
Summary

10. PUTTING THE INTERNET INTO PERSPECTIVE

What's Wrong with the Internet?
        Is It Too Difficult to Use?
        It's Difficult to Find Information
        There is Too Much Information
        Internet Is Subject to Abuse
        It Suffers from Too Much Hype
        Its Culture Is Changing
        Its Competitive Advantage Might Be Fleeting?
Will The Internet Be Easier to Use?
Be a Pioneer
Tell Us About It

APPENDIX A - CANADIAN INTERNET DIRECTORIES

Directory of Canadian Internet Service Providers
Directory of Community Networking Organizations in Canada
Directory of Gopher Servers and Campus Wide Information Systems in Canada
Directory of Internet-Accessible OPACs in Canada
Directory of World Wide Web Servers in Canada
Directory of Archie and IRC Servers in Canada
Directory of Canadian USENET Newsgroups
Directory of Canadian Internet Resources
Directory of Organizations Registered in the .CA Domain

APPENDIX B - INTERNET FORMS

APPENDIX C - SCHOOLNET

APPENDIX D - INTERNET RELATED PUBLICATIONS

INDEX


Rick Broadhead                     | Co-Author, The Canadian Internet Handbook
Faculty of Administrative Studies  | [e-mail], ysar1111@yorkvm1
York University                    | [phone]
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA           |

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

From: [e-mail] (Alan McCowan)
Subject: Racal AT Settings Needed
Date: 11 Mar 1994 17:01:33 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems (UK)
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Folks,

        I have been given a Racal Milgo Maxam 3+ modem, but unfortunately
minus the manual.  Could some nice person supply me with the AT command set
for this beast, and also tell me what the options are on the front panel.


Alan McCowan    Sun Microsystems Linlithgow.

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 15:51:00 BST
Subject: Sky Radio Service


I read that a new audio service is being offered to airliners in
flight.  It is called Skyradio and is delivered via satellite.  I
would like to know the technical details on the service.  What bird is
used?  What is the frequency and modulation used?  What type of antennas
are used while in-flight.  Any other technical information would be
appreciated as well.


Dave

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 15:52:00 BST
Subject: Calling North Korea and Cuba


Recently I saw an article about a US company that wants to setup phone
service from the States to Cuba.  This brings to mind a few questions.
In view of the poor relations between the US and Cuba how can this be
done?  What about phone service from the US to other nations such as
North Korea and Vietnam.  Does such service exist?


Dave

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Steedly)
Subject: Miscrosoft Visual Basic Drivers for IEEE Test Equipment
Date: 11 Mar 1994 12:46:46 -0500
Organization: The Analytic Sciences Corporation


Please forgive the following repost, but my mailer hasn't been working
and I missed any replys that might have been made.

Is there anyone out there who has or knows of (ftp sites, etc.)
programs developed under Microsoft Visual Basic to control any of the
following communications test equiqment over an IEEE 488.2 interface:

HP8593A
HP83731A
HP8782A
HP3708A
HP11758A
TTC-1402
gigaBERT 1400 Tx and DRx
CSA-907

Please e-mail any responses (I won't be able to read news) to
[e-mail].


Thanks,

William M. Steedly
The Analytic Sciences Corporation    [e-mail]
12100 Sunset Hills Road            [phone]x2884
Reston, VA  22090            [phone] FAX

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 14:39 EST
From: Al Cohan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Request for Demon Dialers (Zoom Electronics)


Can anyone direct me to a source for used (or new???!) Demon Dialers
that were manufactured by Zoom Electronics?

I have an old friend that loves these dialers despite the 95% failure rate
I experienced!


Thanks in advance,

Al Cohan

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

From: [e-mail] (Colin Owen Rafferty)
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number
Organization: Lehman Brothers
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 22:26:47 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (TELECOM
Digest Editor) writes:

> [ long description of John Wayne Gacy's murders, subsequent appeals,
> and his 900 service elided ... ]

I am curious as to why you find it outrageous that someone is trying
to raise money to save himself from being murdered by the state.
Simply because he was convicted of horrible crimes doesn't mean he has
no rights.  The Bill of Rights in the US Constitution is set up not to
protect the unaccused and unconvicted, but to be certain that the
accused and the convicted are judged and punished fairly.

The First Amendment explains how people may not have their speech
limited.  How can we reconcile not allowing Gacy his own 900 number
with this?

The Eighth Amendment explains how cruel punishments shall not be
inflicted.  What can be a crueler punishment than execution?

The "group calling itself the American Civil Liberties Union" is well
known for trying to be certain that the government follows the rules
under which it was formed.

If the families of Gacy's victims have judgments against Gacy, they
should be receiving money from his income.  If his attorney wants the
money for his fees, he may have to fight with the families.  If Gacy
was not fined, why should the jail be charging him for incarceration
when they don't charge anyone else?

If you are unfamiliar with anything that I said in this, I might refer
yo u to a copy of the United States Constitution.  It can be very
enlightening.

By the way, what is that number?


    Colin Rafferty, Lehman Brothers <[e-mail]>

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again
Date: 12 Mar 1994 02:04:07 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


The payphone gaffes that I always notice in movies are the inaccurate
sound effects for the coin mechanism:

- Often, a modern-looking Bell payphone will "Ding-ding" when the
coin is inserted, instead of the silent operation that most of the Bell
payphones have now (at least they could keep pace with inflation and
make them "Dong" instead of "Ding Ding").

- When the caller hangs up, you don't hear the totalizer drop the coins
into the coin box (now who said that the Digest is not sufficient in its
technical detail? :-))


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: ole!jaws![e-mail] (David Breneman)
Subject: Re: Phones in the Movies Again
Date: 11 Mar 94 20:30:05 GMT
Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA


Alain Fontaine ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Bill
> Mayhew) wrote:

>> bulbs, which thread into their sockets.  European bulbs have bayonet
>> type sockets (similar to over-grown automotive turn signal lamp
>> sockets) so the gag makes sense if you understand this.

> And in 'America', everyone rides a horse, wearing a big hat and a pair
> of colts. Now, I was born here in Belgium (Europa) in 1951, and I have
> never encountered a bayonet socket except for the small lamp in my
> wife's sewing machine ...  /AF

Well, boy dowgies, pardner; y'all just don't know whar to *look*.  The
main problem with them Yuropeons is they're all *ferigners*!  Every
last one!  Tarnation, but all us 'Maircins will jus' keep our
Edison-base bulbs -- hell, pard, yer voltage is too high anyway -- no
wonder yeh needs push-in bulbs -- they keep burnin' out!  Har Har!
Happy trails now, y'hear?


Tex Breneman                          Email: [e-mail]
Systeem 'Ministrator,                 Voice: 206 881-7544  Fax: [phone]
Product Deevel'pment Platferms
Digital Systems International, Inc.   Redmond, Washington, U. S. o' A, Texas

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

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Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 01:09:17 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #128

TELECOM Digest     Sat, 12 Mar 94 01:09:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 128

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Competition and Technology (Andrew Hassell)
    Re: Competition and Technology (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Question About Random Dialing (James Gray Walker)
    Re: Question About Random Dialing (John R. Levine)
    Re: Internet Conferencing (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: Digital Cellular Phones ([e-mail])
    Re: Measuring Network Availability (Al Varney)
    Re: ISDN BRI to IXC? (Al Varney)
    Re: ISO Country Codes (Aaron Leonard)
    Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI? (Clarence Dold)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Steve Forrette)
    Re: New Area Code Change Question (Mike Quinlin)
    Obscene Caller Nabbed by Voicemail (Milwaukee Journal via [e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Andrew Hassell)
Subject: Re: Competition and Technology
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 00:49:40 GMT


Stewart Fist <[e-mail]> writes:

> Jerry Leichter <[e-mail]> writes:

>> I have great respect for competition, but I have yet to see a sound
>> argument that the advance in services available *since* deregulation
>> is signficantly different from the advance *before* deregulation -
>> AFTER CONTROLLING FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVANCE IN APPLICABLE
>> TECHNOLOGY.

> I couldn't agree more.  I've just spent a lot of time analysing the
> long-distance charges (and the changes thereof) from country A to country B
> using a range of figures produced by the OECD, for a commissioned report.

> It is difficult stuff to analyse, but one thing became quite clear.
> There's been no more drop in international long-distance call prices
> in advanced (OECD) countries with competitive regimes than there has
> in those with monopoly regimes.  I must say I was surprised at these
> findings, because the monopolies actually did slightly better --
> although the difference wasn't significant.

Hmm. I would probably be in the contra camp based on recent Australian
experience with the adjustment from monopoly to duopoly for mainstream
long distance carrier services. Did your report cover this market
Stewart?

> When you dig down to the bottom, the problem is that in an era where
> long-distance connection abundance is the norm (except that in many
> cases this is being deliberately knobbled) the normal competitive
> market forces do not apply in the way that conventional economics says
> it should.

I'd interested to know if your report will be available to folks
outside your commissioning parties. For my 2c worth here, I think
there is a lot of economic sense in monopolizing elements of
infrastructure to take advantages of economies of scale. A beautiful
example would be the information hype-a-highway. Does it make sense to
have multiple fibre connection by multiple carriers? This must be
regulated for sure. Maybe a first carrier in best dressed situation
with Government regulated access and cross access provisions would be
optimal. However, what about outlying areas, less economic areas,
rural areas etc. Would some form of monopoly handle this more
efficiently that a tightly regulated duopoly or oligopoly? Who knows.
These issues are tough but I think you hit it on the head in part of
your post. How can regulators ensure that excessive profit taking is
eliminated in telecommunications? Argument one that you will probably
never escape from alive is the politics of this, you communist! -)
[sic] Argument two is how you actually achieve the objective through
structuring the industry and regulating it. The objective could be to
allow a small fair return on investment, thus encouraging maximum
investment in capital works.

 ... but enough nonsense on a lazy Saturday morning. This is la la land.


Andrew Hassell   [e-mail]   - a technology marketer
Sydney NSW, Australia   Tel: [phone]    Fax: [phone]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 16:32:02 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: Competition and Technology


Stewart Fist <[e-mail]> writes:

> It is difficult stuff to analyse, but one thing became quite clear.
> There's been no more drop in international long-distance call prices
> in advanced (OECD) countries with competitive regimes than there has
> in those with monopoly regimes.

Sure, but ask yourself what's driving those monopoly PTTs to cut their
international calling prices: competition from the "competitive
regimes"!  A recent example of this phenomenon showed up recently in
the telecom newsgroups from an Italian reader, who noted that the
Italian telco had recently cut its international rates to levels
competitive with the international call-back services that had been
recently capturing so much of its business.  The advent of those
call-back services meant that Italtel effectively *lost* its monopoly
and was thus forced to compete by cutting prices.  Now, how many
people think those rates would have been cut in the absence of such
competition?

A more interesting analysis would be to compare the costs of
*intra*-national long distance calling.  Most monopoly PTTs still do
enjoy true monopolies in that market, while there's certainly plenty
of competition for that business in the US.


Bob Goudreau        Data General Corporation
[e-mail]    62 Alexander Drive
[phone]        Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

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

From: [e-mail] (James Gray Walker)
Subject: Re: Question About Random Dialing
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 01:06:36 +0100
Organization: MUC.DE e.V. - Individual Network in Muenchen (Munich)


In article <[e-mail]>,  <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Is there a shareware program or commercial program available that can
> dial randomly within a given area code and when it comes across a fax
> machine log that fax number into a database. If anyone has any
> pointers I would appreciate it.

I find this idea appalling for reasons most anyone can imagine.
Perhaps someone who lives closer to Fannie Mae than I could bring up
the issue of the posting with the poster's employer directly.  I'm
fairly sure Fannie Mae has a policy which would preclude the use of
their equipment for a posting of such questionable ethicality for the
friend of an employee.


WALKER, James Gray - [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 19:13 EST
From: John R. Levine <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Question About Random Dialing


People planning to troll for fax numbers should keep in mind these two
aspects of a recently passed Federal law:

-- All fax calls must have the caller's number displayed on the cover page
   and/or at the top of each page.
-- Sending junk faxes (generally described as faxes not requested or
   permitted by the recipient) is forbidden.

Violations are punishable by fairly severe federal penalties.


Regards from 9600 feet,

John Levine, [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Internet Conferencing
Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 22:59:18 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> Ralph E. Todd <[e-mail].
edu> writes:

> Greetings.  I am a graduate student in the Telecommunications program
> at George Mason University; Fairfax, Virginia.  In preparation for a
> term project dealing with organizational learning, I am in search of
> information regarding conferencing on the Internet.

> Specifically, I envision a moderated forum supporting concurrent
> access for at least 30 user sessions.
> Is anyone aware of the existence of such a forum?  Any knowledge of
> technology or building blocks which could support it?

IRC = Internet Relay Chat is the distributed equivalent of CIS's "CB
simulator" conference tool.

Setup a "private" channel, and there will be room for up to a couple
hundred, located anywhere in the world. IRC has provisions for a
moderator who can kick people out of the group if needed. It also has
support for logging the session to a transcript file.


Lars Poulsen            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
CMC Network Products        Phone: (011-) [phone]
Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B         Telefax:      [phone]
DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK    Internets: designed and built while you wait

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

From: [e-mail] (puma)
Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Phones
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 23:18:20 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steve
Forrette) writes:

> In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John Galloway) writes:
>> But if this key is fixed (since it is not transmited I assume it is)
>> then all the cellular blue box builder need to is disect a phone to
>> get it.  This might not be a trivial opeation, but these crooks are
>> pretty smart fellows.

> Are you assuming that the key is the same for all phones?  If the key
> is different for each phone, then the crook would have to get a hold

I think the intention here is that each phone has a unique key known
to that phone and the home service provider.  When the phone makes a
call, it encrypts part of the request using the key.  The system
either has the key for that ESN/phone number or asks the home system
for it, and uses it to decode the encoded portion of the request.  If
the decode works, then obviously you are talking to the *real* phone.

Seems pretty foolproof, unless you have enough data and time to break
the encryption for a particular phone, or inside information.  It
would at least stop the casual grabbing of ESN/MIN combinations off
the air.


[e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 18:06:09 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Measuring Network Availability
Organization: AT&T Network Systems


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Stacy L.
Millions) writes:

> I was involved in a project, where we helped to migrate a companies
> user base from an IBM mainframe / SNA / 3270 terminal environment to a
> UNIX / TCP/IP / vt220 / terminal server environment. I can remember
> one of IBM network type people made a comment about how they guarantee
> their users 99.8% network availability and he was skeptical that we
> would be able to match that in the new environment.

> Now my question is simply this:
>    How do you
>        a) define
>    and
>        b) measure
>    'network availability'? Particularly in the context of
>    LANs and WANs.

   For some insight into this issue within the public telephone
network, I recommend:

   "Public Networks - Dependable", by John C. McDonald in April 1992
issue of IEEE Communications Magazine.  He defines and defends the
concept of measuring the "reliablilty" of public networks using a
log(10) scale of "user lost Erlangs" times "outage time in hours".  In
other words, it is a measure of user impact.

   The June 1993 issue of IEEE Communications magazine has several
papers on the measurement of "dependability" and "availability" of
telephone networks.  The consensus seems to be that one must measure
this from the user (or user-to-user) perspective.  Network problems
that have no user impact (because of redundancy, etc.) do not affect
availability.  Problems that prevent a user-to-user connection of
sufficient quality and duration to accomplish a "transaction" do have
an effect on availability.


Al Varney

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 18:25:31 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: ISDN BRI to IXC?
Organization: AT&T Network Systems


In article <[e-mail]> John McHarry <mcharry@access.
digex.net> writes:

> If I have an ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) from my local exchange
> carrier and want to place an interexchange data call, how does the LEC
> interconnect with the IXC?  Somebody told me that this has to be
                                                   ^^^^
      Don't know what "this" refers to -- CPE, the LEC CO or what???

> hooked to a switched 56kb trunk, but I don't see why the LEC couldn't
> just send it in a regular Feature Group D and tell the IXC it was a
> data call in the SS7 message.  Am I missing something?

   Assuming the BRI SETUP specified 56K data rate, the call can travel
over SS7 trunks to the IXC or over "switched 56K" MF trunks.  For the
purposes of data transmission, these trunks are equivalent.  At the
far end of the call, a BRI called party will receive an "ISDN
originator" indication along with the 56K data rate request IF the
call used only SS7 trunks.  A non-ISDN 56K destination will not know
(or care) if the call was ISDN-originated.  In most cases, there
should be no problem interworking with SS7 and/or "switched 56K" MF
trunks.

   The opposite is also possible: A non-ISDN 56K originator can call
an ISDN BRI/PRI number.  The SETUP delivered to the destination will
indicate a "non-ISDN originator" and the 56K data rate request IF the
call used only SS7 trunks.  Otherwise, the SETUP will just indicate
56K data rate request.  Again, the B-channel data looks the same as
from an ISDN 56K origination.

   Note that whether or not the IXC wishes to accept such data calls
is up to the IXC.  The LEC CO routing software can provide different
routing for different bearer capabilities -- and it can block certain
bearer capabilities if the IXC or trunk facility can't handle them.

   Also, "Feature Group D" usually refers to an MF-signaled trunk.
For clarity, and to avoid confusion with MF-only FG-D tariffs, the
preferred term is SS7 NI (Network Interconnect) trunk or SS7 EA (Equal
Access) signaling/trunk.  I admit some documents use the expression
FG-D trunk with the SS7 option or with SS7 signaling.


Al Varney

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 17:45:03 MST
From: Aaron Leonard <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: ISO Country Codes
Reply-To: [e-mail]


> A few issues back a woman asked for a list of the two-letter and
> three-letter ISO 3166 codes for most countries.

> While it does not include the codes for the countries that have been
> created as a result of others being broken up (such as the Soviet Union
> and Czechslovakia) one place to look is in my Internet RFC 1394, which
> also shows international telex codes and worldwide telephone area codes.

RIPE maintains an up-to-date table of ISO 3166 codes.  It has all the
FSU countries and everything.

The document is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.ripe.net, in
ripe/docs/iso3166-codes.


Aaron Leonard (AL104), <[e-mail]>
University of Arizona Network Operations, Tucson AZ 85721

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

From: [e-mail] (Clarence Dold)
Subject: Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI?
Organization: a2i network
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 19:01:27 GMT


Steve Forrette ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in
> response to [e-mail] (Scott Baer):

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you misunderstood the results of
>> your prepending 10222 to a local seven digit number. In all probability,
>> your local telephone exchange probably *ignored* the 10222 and handled
>> the call themselves. They have the right to do that.  PAT]

If you follow the carrier selection with #, you will actually draw
dial tone from the carrier's switch.  I can dial 10xxx#, wait for dial
tone from my switch, then follow with the rest of the number.  PcaBell
never gets the opportunity to route the call, except to my switch,
because they don't see the rest of the digits until after my switch
has the connection.  Merely dialing the same 10xxx without the #,
gives me a "not neccessary" message and SIT reorder.  Dialing one long
string, with #, but no wait for dialtone, causes an incomplete phone
number to be heard by my switch.

Some carriers don't allow such access.  10288# draws a reorder, but it
is an AT&T reorder, not PacBell.


Clarence A Dold - [e-mail]
                - Milpitas (near San Jose) & Napa CA.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It used to be the case here that a couple
of the 10xxx codes worked the way you mention, with # causing the call to
be given the carrier's dial tone. This is not so any longer, at least on
the two or three I tried at random just now. As you point out, 10288#
gets re-order. You say it comes from AT&T, so I assume that is correct.
10333# got me a recording saying my call could not be completed as dialed
and to try again or call 'customer service'.  10222# got me a re-order
also. I think at one time, maybe in the early days of 10xxx what you say
was more common; there might have been some tie-in with the equivilent
950-1xxx; ie, 10222 and 950-1222 both got MCI dial tone; the latter when
you dialed it and the former when you allowed it to time out with no
further digits. Illinois Bell seems to not allow it at all now.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number
Date: 12 Mar 1994 02:27:55 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


The Moderator wrote:

> Now I do not have any love in my heart for prisoners and unlike some
> liberal thinkers I could name (but won't) who are constantly whining
> about 'all the innocent people in prison', my attitude is there are no
> innocent people in prison, by definition absolutely, and most likely
> in reality as well.

But these AOS ripoffs are also found in jails, where newly-arrested
people that have not been convicted or even charged are housed (in
addition to convicted non-felons).  Many jails restrict the phones so
they can't call an 800 number, can't use the arrestee's own calling
card, can't use coins for a local call, or any other method than the
AOS's collect call service.  I guess you could say that the jails have
the inmates right where they want them.


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In real practice, persons who have not been
charged with a crime are usually held in police lockups, and the ones here
all have Genuine Bell payphones. Those who have been charged with a crime
are usually free on bond (either because they posted the bond or were given
freedom based on their Recognizance). It is *hard* to get into Cook County
Jail ... very hard. It helps if you are a murderer, a rapist and very violent
as well as being a second or third time offender.

As with the prisons in the USA, there are no innocent people in jail. Despite
this, I agree that the captive customer base consisting of families and
loved ones of prisoners is getting shafted in the process where the phones
are concerned.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Quinlan)
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 22:22:00 -0700
Organization: Phantasia BBS
Subject: Re: New Area Code Change Question


In message <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor Noted:

> Since the general public has never probably understood the way area codes
> were constructed in the past, the general public will probably not notice
> the difference starting next year.

The general public may notice that they will have to dial the area
code when making long-distance calls within the same area code.


[e-mail] (Mike Quinlan)

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

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 17:57:28 PST
From: puma <[e-mail]>
Subject: Obscene Caller Nabbed by Voicemail


"System Snares Alleged Caller" from the {Milwaukee Journal}, Friday March
11, 1994

La Crosse (WI) - An obscene caller has been caught by his own call,
thanks to some high-tech telephone equipment, police say.

The caller, 30 year-old Richard Armstrong of La Crosse (WI), had left
sexually explicit messages on the victim's voice mail system,
authorities said.

The system is similar to a telephone answering machine, but it
includes a way of retrieving the caller's telephone number if that
party also is a voice mail subscriber, which is what the victim said
she did.


puma grins >  Bravo!  One for the good guys!


[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #128
******************************


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Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 10:33:20 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #129

TELECOM Digest     Sun, 13 Mar 94 10:33:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 129

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    "Prof. Neon's TV & Movie Mania" Show via FTP and Phone (Lauren Weinstein)
    Bandwidth Control (Matt Young)
    EURO ISDN Phones (Juergen Ziegler)
    Murata Business System Email, Fax or Voice Address Wanted (Lev Chesali)
    Modem Use With Rolm Phone 240 (Jim McCormack)
    Re: Question About Random Dialing ([e-mail])
    Re: New Area Code Change Question (Mike Quinlan)
    Re: Information on Used Telecom Equipment Dealer Wanted (Barton F. Bruce)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lauren Weinstein)
Subject: "Prof. Neon's TV & Movie Mania" Show Materials via FTP and Phone
Organization: Vortex Technology, Woodland Hills, CA, U.S.A.
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 01:29:46 GMT


Greetings.  For quite sometime now, I've been getting requests from
folks asking me to digitize complete copies of "Professor Neon's TV &
Movie Mania" radio program (some info on the program is below).  The
problem with doing this is that even given fairly compact coding, the
files would be fairly large since it's a one hour show.

As a compromise measure for the time being, I've made a digitized copy
of the "Professor Neon's TV & Movie Mania" demo, which runs about 15
minutes, available for FTP.  The file is about 8 Mbytes in size and is
coded in standard Sun/Sparc format (8-bit, u-law, 8000 s/s).  The demo
is composed of segments from live, aired programs.

The file is on site "ftp.vortex.com" in the /tv-film-video subdirectory,
as:
    neon-demo.au

This file *must* be transferred in BINARY mode!

There is also a companion information text file that should be read
before attempting to play the audio file.  This info file is:

    neon-demo.txt

The info file (but not the audio file) is also available from the
gopher server on site "gopher.vortex.com".

The same audio file can also be heard by calling [phone]
("Professor Neon's TV & Movie Mania Machine") and entering the digit
"2" after the announcements begin.

I'm sorry that I can't make entire shows available, but I hope that
this material will be interesting.

Here's a couple of paragraphs about the show:

"Professor Neon's TV and Movie Mania" is currently a one hour program
that features a look at a broad universe ranging from classic to
current television, films, and videos, with a special emphasis on the
unusual, odd, silly, strange, bizarre, cult, surreal, and weird.

Often featured are special interviews and in-studio guests available
to take listener calls.  Drawing on the vast pool of TV and film
personalities (on both sides of the camera) of yesterday to today in
the Los Angeles area, the enigmatic Professor Neon has featured
programs focusing on topics ranging from "Plan 9 From Outer Space"
(with in-studio guest "Vampira" who starred in the classic cult film),
to "Mr. Science Fiction" Forrest J. Ackerman ("the grand old man" of
Horror and Sci-Fi, publisher of "Famous Monsters" magazine); to shows
focused on topics from "The Twilight Zone", to "The Three Stooges".


 --Lauren--

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

From: [e-mail] (Matt Young)
Subject: Bandwidth Control
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 21:10:25 GMT


I am on a mission to establish an ethernet bandwidth control protocol
which allows desktop multimedia calls to be made with existing
ethernet hubs.  The central idea I have is to move toward an adapter
card technology which monitors traffic on the ethernet, and self
regulates access to the ethernet to allow multi-media calls to meet
minimum bandwidth-delay requirements.  The result would be products
called bandwidth controlled ethernet.

End users would have the choice of paying a premium to buy bandwidth
controlled adapter cards to replace all of the adapter cards within an
ethernet segment.  Then from that segment any desktop could make a
standard packet voice or packet video call through an external
switched network or make a local bandwidth controlled call to another
ethernet station also on a bandwidth controlled ethernet segment.

All other traffic and protocols on the ethernet would operate
normally, except that a maximum frame size would be imposed during
periods in which delay controlled calls are active.  The maximum
packet size would be on the order of 600 bytes.

I have identified a control protocol which allows bandwidth control,
which we can discuss.

However mainly I need to identify an interested group of end users,
sufficiently large to interest the major adapter card vendors.  If
users desire to use their ethernet PCs for standard voice communications,
with full integration into the telephone and cell relay networks, then
please make yourself known to me or to this newsgroup.


Thank you,

Matt Young

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

Subject: EURO ISDN Phones
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 00:39:34 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Juergen Ziegler)
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Last December several European countries have launched their EURO ISDN
service. EURO ISDN will create a single market for CPE and other
equipment among the European Union.

Who has discovered new EURO ISDN phones and other CPE's?

Since EURO ISDN uses a uniform CPE-switch signalling (called EDSS1)
foreign EURO ISDN phones and other CPEs can be used in other countries.

The German Telekom will shortly start to offer the EURO ISDN phone
"Europa 10" for a retail price of DEM 298 (including taxes). The phone
features most EURO ISDN capabilities. It is quite inexpensive, if
compared to other ISDN phones, but maybe there are even cheaper phones
in other countries?


Juergen Ziegler * Obervogt-Haefelinstr. 48 * 77815 Buehl (Baden) * Germany |
[e-mail] ****** Fax: [phone] ***** Voice Mail: 900686  |

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Murata Business System Email, Fax or Voice Address Wanted
Organization: IKI RAN
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 20:28:53 GMT


Dear TELECOM Digest Readers,

Please help me to find Murata Business System Inc. adresses. The best
would be E-mail, but fax or even voice phone number would be also
good. In my manual for Murata M1600 Fax machine (c) 1988 the address
is shown as 4801 Spring Valley Road Bldg. # 108B, Dallas Texas 214-
392-1622 is printed. In the text 213-702-9778 Product Development, MBS
and 1-800-825-5329 toll free are mentioned. I can not reach any of
these numbers from here (it gives three tones or busy all the time).
I need some help with damaged faxes of their production.  Due to my
country specific it is useless to try ordinary mail sorry.

Many thanks in advance.

Lev

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

From: [e-mail] (Jim McCormack)
Subject: Modem Use With Rolm Phone 240
Date: 13 Mar 1994 02:52:14 GMT
Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jim McCormack)


At work I have a Rolm phone 240 model #62000. Since this is a digital
phone I can't use an analog modem with it.

Does anyone know of a device which would allow the use of an analog
modem on this phone/network?

Thanks in advance for your help.


Jim McCormack   [e-mail]   W:617-935-4850 x352

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

From: [e-mail] (puma)
Subject: Re: Question About Random Dialing
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 14:50:22 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (James Gray
Walker) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]>,  <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> Is there a shareware program or commercial program available that can
>> dial randomly within a given area code and when it comes across a fax
>> machine log that fax number into a database. If anyone has any
>> pointers I would appreciate it.

> I find this idea appalling for reasons most anyone can imagine.
> Perhaps someone who lives closer to Fannie Mae than I could bring up
> the issue of the posting with the poster's employer directly.  I'm
> fairly sure Fannie Mae has a policy which would preclude the use of
> their equipment for a posting of such questionable ethicality for the
> friend of an employee.

Let's not kill the messenger here, let's just send back a message that
this isn't a very good thing to be doing, and why.


[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I agree the first step should probably
be to write or respond to the poster with comments about this. It could
well be he simply does not (or I hope having read the messages here in the
past couple days did not) realize activities such as he described are
considered very questionable at best and unethical by many.  To get Fannie
Mae involved at this point would be counter productive.  PAT]

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

Subject: Re: New Area Code Change Question
From: [e-mail] (Mike Quinlan)
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 06:43:00 -0700
Organization: Phantasia BBS


In message <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor Noted:

> Since the general public has never probably understood the way area codes
> were constructed in the past, the general public will probably not notice
> the difference starting next year.

The general public may notice that they will have to dial the area
code when making long-distance calls within the same area code.


[e-mail] (Mike Quinlan)

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Information on Used Telecom Equipment Dealer Wanted
Organization: Digital Equipment Computer Users Society
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 03:38:57 -0500


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Kenneth
Leung) writes:

> I am looking for dealers of used telecom equipment such as AT&T Merlin
> phone sets and used AT&T PBXs.

> Any sources would be appreciated

The industry has ONE magazine that specialises in used telecom gear
and it contains MOSTLY such ads.

Curiosly the name is: "Telecom Gear" 1.800.866.3241

You will not be disappointed. In fact you may be slightly overwhealmed.
There are more companies tucked away in odd little places than you
might have expected. When you say you saw their ad there, they KNOW
you KNOW where all the competition is.

When you have a PBX dealer in to make a proposal, simply leaving a
copy of that magazine visible on your desk will get interesting
reactions.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: At one point I used to subscribe to that
magazine and studied each issue carefully. As you point out, it is loaded
with nothing but ads for used telecom stuff of every size and type you
could imagine, and then some. It is definitly the place to look for very
obscure, hard to find equipment as well as more recent and common stuff.  PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #129
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #130

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 14 Mar 94 12:26:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 130

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud? (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: Wireless Internet Connections ([e-mail])
    Re: Sky Radio Service (Joe Harrison)
    Re: Dialing Numbers at Random (A. Padgett Peterson)
    No Monthly Fee Cell Phone (Ken Levitt)
    Ethernet Bandwidth Control Update (Matt Young)
    Global Telecom Services (Barry Lynch)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Can I Expect More Than 2400 Baud?
Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 18:24:32 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill
Mayhew) writes:

> I use good quailty Multitech or DSI rack type modems on my end, but
> the user community can have almost any sort of equipment.  The
> Multitechs support 14.4K v.32bis while the DSIs are 9600 v.32 max
> modulation. ...  users call my system with their modems set to
> demand 14.4K rate.  Our systems will connect, but the error correction
> rate is so high that througput is almost zero.

> What puzzles me is that the modems don't fall back when the performacne
> gets to be so bad.  It would appear that the error correction engine
> needs to have some sort of input the the egine that handles modulation.
> I am not imtimately familiar with v.32bis / v.42bis specifications,
> but some handshaking between the two parts of the modem would seem to
> be a most reasonable and logical thing to do.

Do the MultiTechs have a way to display the EQM number? (Eye Quality
Monitor). This is what feeds back to the retraining mechanism. If you
have many bit errors, I should think that your EQM would go south as
well. Or is the problem that the modems are retraining, but land back
at 14400 when they retrain?

> I don't have any current means of measuring it, but what I am
> beginning to suspect is that there is phase jitter present on these
> lines.

Yes, phase jitter can be bad. So can clock slip on digital entrance
facilities. Do you by any chance get these lines delivered on a
channel bank? Is there a SLC-96 nearby? Are these hospitals all part
of a big Centrex or do they use tie lines between sites? If so, there
is likely to be one or more DACS involved, which could be misconfigured
and cause clock slip.

> The nature of the problems I have doesn't seem to depend on the length
> of the circuit or number of central offices involved.

As you would expect if the problem is at the receiving end.  If the
phone company cannot fix the real problem, cap the MultiTechs at 9600.


Lars Poulsen            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
CMC Network Products        Phone: (011-) [phone]
Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B        Telefax:      [phone]
DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK    Internets: designed and built while you wait

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Wireless Internet Connections
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 01:32:44 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


You may be thinking of Planet Connect's system; it sends newsgroups
and tons of other stuff through a ku or c band sat.  There's coverage
of it in the January issue of {Boardwatch} or call them 615-623-8751 in
Newport, Tennessee.

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

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 10:42:41 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Sky Radio Service


[e-mail] wrote:

> I read that a new audio service is being offered to airliners in
> flight.  It is called Skyradio and is delivered via satellite. ...

Well I get a station named Sky Radio and it's delivered via satellite.
The Astra transponder carries a variety of TV channels (mostly crap)
but there is this one radio station as well. You can apparently get a
receiver that will bring it into a car, and I heard of somebody who
listened to it in stereo all the way on some 1500 mile drive across
Europe. It's well worth a listen if you're aged over about 30 and like
a nice relaxed style of music.

If you don't mind the commercials and news in Dutch that is.


Joe
ICL Ltd. Bracknell Berkshire RG12 8SN  UK ([phone])
[e-mail]
S=Harrison/I=J/OU1=bra0112/O=icl/P=icl/A=gold 400/C=GB

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

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 07:56:09 -0500
From: [e-mail] (A. Padgett Peterson)
Subject: Re: Dialing Numbers at Random


> In article <[e-mail]>  wrote:

>> Is there a shareware program or commercial program available that can
>> dial randomly within a given area code and when it comes across a fax
>> machine log that fax number into a database. If anyone has any
>> pointers I would appreciate it.

(negative replies ommitted)

Though the concept of checking an entire area code indicates
less-than- desirable motives, the concept of "demon dialing" is not
necessarily bad in itself so long as the domain is confined to a
wholly-owned one.

My employer expects me o safeguard our systems and as a reqular part
of "walking around and rattling the doorknobs" I use war dialers to
test for access points however I confine such activities to our
wholly-owned exchanges (five digit dialing).

Invariably, in a population as large and computer-intensive as ours,
individuals are tempted to add a modem for convenience despite the
availability of modem pools (possibly due to cost - one-time-password
tokens still cost about $50.00 each - what we need is the ability to
put a token into PC software - of course what we really need is full
session encryption).

Since my charge is "securing the perimeter", one of the best ways is
to periodically test it and generally I use the same techniques that
intruders do. The only difference is that when I find a vulnerable
point, the owner gets a friendly memo instead of a writeup in a
crackerzine.

Of course, the first time I looked, many exceptions were found. Since
then the rate has been admirably low, once again proving that my job
is best done if it needs to do nothing.

I have the same opinion of sniffers. Guess the biggest difference
between intruders and myself is that everyone here knows what I do --
was one of *my* requirements 8*).


Warmly,

Padgett

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

Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 12:20:38 EST
From: [e-mail] (Ken Levitt)
Subject: No Monthly Fee Cell Phone


There is a company in Massachusetts (Lindsay Communications 800-370-4445)
offering Cell Phone service for $35 per year with no monthly fee and
no activation fee.

They advertise this service as a way to deal with road emergencies.
They are marketing this service under the trade name of HELPTEL.

Plan 1:

   1.  They sell you a cell phone for $179 that has no dial pad.  It plugs
       into a cigarette lighter socket in your car.  You can also purchase
       an optional battery pack.

   2.  You press the "Help" button on the phone and are connected to their
       "Emergency Response Center".  You give them your PIN and they get
       a list of numbers you have given them on their computer screen.
       You can select one of the predefined calls or you can ask them to
       dial any other number for you.

   3.  I don't know if it is possible for anyone to call you.

   4.  You pay $3.50 per minute of air time.

Plan 2:

   1.  You already own a cell phone.

   2.  You pay them $45 for a "one-time" programming fee.

   3.  You can make and receive calls normally at $2.50 per minute.

   4.  You can call their "Emergency Response Center" for $3.50 per minute.

This may be a good plan for someone like me who owns a cell phone and
only makes an average of one or two short calls per month.  I currently
pay about $20 per month in fees to Nynex.


Ken Levitt - On FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390     UUCP: zorro9!levitt
INTERNET: [e-mail] or [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Matt Young)
Subject: Ethernet Bandwidth Control Update
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)


A couple of advances on the front for defining a bandwidth control
protocol for ethernet, in support of voice calls.

I have called up four ethernet vendors and discovered that two of them
are at least discussing a bandwidth control protocol in their
marketing departments.  IMHO, I conclude that the companies are at
least satisfied that a technology exists.  The ftp reports on shared
media switches cited by posters on this newsgroup helped the cause,
thanks.

To help speed matters, I dropped a thread in some of the other dcom
related newsgroups to elicit user response.  Some robust discussion of
the issue among users is a great accelerator for these projects.

I had trouble finding a suitable name for bandwidth controlled
circuits over ethernet.  "Leased line equivalents" is the least benign
term but very ackward to use.  I have selected the term "variable
length cells" (roughly 60-600 bytes long), which is a contradiction in
terms.

Normally the next step will be the formation of a consortium for
bandwidth control over ethernet.  The default consortium leader will
be Intel, but that probably doesn't do justice to the academic groups
who have pioneered ethernet based cell transmission.  I would suggest
an RFC from any research group interested in keeping their interests
protected.

Finally, I have located at least one major developer to use the
capability.

The process seems to be on schedule here, investors are responding
with start up funds.  At least two new companies, one ATM related,
will be looking at potential products.

End users would have the choice of paying a premium to buy bandwidth
controlled adapter cards to replace all of the adapter cards within an
ethernet segment.  Then from that segment any desktop could make a
standard packet voice or packet video call through an external
switched network or make a local bandwidth controlled call to another
ethernet station also on a bandwidth controlled ethernet segment.

All other traffic and protocols on the ethernet would operate
normally, except that a maximum frame size would be imposed during
periods in which delay controlled calls are active.  The maximum
packet size would be on the order of 600 bytes.

I have identified a control protocol which allows bandwidth control,
which we can discuss.

However mainly I need to identify an interested group of end users,
sufficiently large to interest the major adapter card vendors.  If
users desire to use their ethernet PCs for standard voice
communications, with full integration into the telephone and cell
relay networks, then please make yourself known to me or to this
newsgroup.


Thank you,

Matt Young  [e-mail]

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

From: Barry Lynch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Global Telecom Services
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 23:52:45 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


I am writing a book for a publisher in the US on the Global Product
offerings that are being implemented by the various strategic
alliances that have been announced to date (i.e. WorldPartners, MCI/BT
et al).

I would like to include an assessment of the state of competition in
the various worldwide markets, as well as user requirements for
markets where competition has either just started, or is planned.  Any
*war stories* or comments would be greatly appreciated concerning
foreign (non-US) markets.

Please e-mail me at the address below.


Barry Lynch - President Lynch Resources
[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #130
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #131

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 15 Mar 94 22:29:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 131

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    CO Fire in Los Angeles (Marc Wiz)
    Los Angeles Fire (Rich Greenberg)
    Telephone Interface Chip (Jun (June) Yang)
    Miscrosoft Visual Basic Drivers for IEEE Test Equipment (Bill Steedly)
    Telex Country Codes? (Donald R. Newcomb)
    Cut-Rate Domestic and International Calling Cards (Heikki Ketola)
    How to Study the Mobile Coding (Wen-Bang Liu)
    Nigerian Attempt to Defraud French Businessmen (Jean-Bernard Condat)
    UC Berkeley Short Courses on High-Speed Communications (Harvey Stern)
    Re: Video Conference Bridges (Sandy Kyrish)
    Re: National Caller ID (John Gilbert)
    Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI? (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Darren Alex Griffiths)
    Decoding the Zipped ISDN File (Gary Nunn)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 12:47:39 -0600
From: Marc Wiz <[e-mail]>
Subject: CO Fire in Los Angeles
Organization: Wizywyg Software


I just received this from a friend in L.A. who is also involved in
telecom.
                      -----------------

What a way to start the day.  I'm listening to KFWB and they advise
that Pacific Bell has had a major fire in the Downtown L.A. central
office.  Most of the 9-1-1 traffic from the San Fernandoi valley is
failed along with a lot of the long distance carrier access.
Apparently the fire started in a bettery charger on the 13th floor.
More details as I get them ...

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

Anybody have anymore info?


Marc   [e-mail]
Yes, that really is my last name.

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

From: [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 11:15:39 PST
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: LA Fire
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)


No details yet.  Here is some preliminary info:

The radio news reported a fire on the 13th floor of a pa bell building
in downtown LA that affects part of the 911 service and also mentioned
connections to MCI, et al.

Power supplies and batteries were mentioned.


Rich Greenberg            Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677
N6LRT   TinselTown, USA   Play: [e-mail]                  310-649-0238

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

From: [e-mail] (Jun (June) Yang)
Subject: Telephone Interface Chip
Date: 15 Mar 1994 06:08:01 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley


Hello,

    I am a UC Berkeley student working on a digital design project
(a security system with dialing function).  We need a component that
receives the phone number (thru a 4-bit wire, in some binary coding)
and dials the number.  It then invoke a voice chip to play the
recorded message.

    This component should be smart enough to tell whether the line
is connected or busy, and, possibly, whether an answering machine is
answering on the other end or not (of course we don't want the
secuirty system to leave a message saying that the house has been
robbed!).

    I know there must be some chips of this kind on the market,
but I just couldn't find any good resource. Could somebody please help
me out?  Where can I buy this kind of chip and what will be a good
resource for finding them?  Hope that the price for the chip will not
be too high. (We are poor Berkeley students :)

    We only have one month for this project ... please help!!!

    Thanx in advance!


June Yang    [e-mail], [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Steedly)
Subject: Miscrosoft Visual Basic Drivers for IEEE Test Equipment
Date: 14 Mar 1994 21:12:11 GMT
Organization: TASC


Is there anyone out there who has or knows of (ftp sites, etc.)
programs developed under Microsoft Visual Basic to control any of the
following communications test equiqment over an IEEE 488.2 interface:

HP8593A
HP83731A
HP8782A
HP3708A
HP11758A
TTC-1402
gigaBERT 1400 Tx and DRx
CSA-907

Please e-mail any responses (I won't be able to read news) to:

[e-mail]


Thanks,

William M. Steedly
The Analytic Sciences Corporation    [e-mail]
12100 Sunset Hills Road            [phone]x2884
Reston, VA  22090            [phone] FAX

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

From: [e-mail] (Donald R. Newcomb)
Subject: Telex Country Codes?
Date: 14 Mar 1994 14:30:20 -0600
Organization: University of Southern Mississippi


I'm confused over the assignment of Country Codes for Telex. I've been
told that the CC for Albania is 604 and that one of the CCs used by
INMARSAT is 581 but when I look in the AT&T directory of Telex and
EasyLink addresses, it says Albania is 866 and INMARSAT Telexes are in
the range 70X, 80X, 90X (where X = 2,3,4,5,6...).

Does anyone have any information about the assignment of these Country
Codes? Are they unique or do they depend on the country from which one
sends the Telex? I have not seen this sort of confusion over telephone
Country Codes.


Donald R. Newcomb             University of Southern Mississippi
[e-mail]     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Heikki Ketola)
Subject: Cut-Rate Domestic and International Calling Cards
Date: 15 Mar 1994 05:00:23 GMT
Organization: The Anderson School at UCLA


I have heard of a company that presumably offers calls to Finland at
about $0.45 per minute.  That does not sound unreasonable to me as one
can call Germany for way less than that.

Thanks a lot for any help you can give me.


Heikki


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you are getting international calls
between the USA and Europe for 45 cents per minute you are not getting
a bad deal at all. I cannot imagine calling Germany from the USA for
'way less' than 45 cents per minute.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: How to Study the Mobile Coding
Date: 15 Mar 1994 05:33:16 GMT
Organization: Computer Center, National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan


Hi, I am a student major in computer science. I am interested in
coding theory. Recently, I want to study the topic of error correction
in moving object, such as mobile phone. Can you list some books or
papers which can help me? Thanks a lot.


Best regards,


Wen-Bang Liu

My e-mail address is [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (cccf)
Subject: Nigerian Attempt to Defraud French Businessmen
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 12:22:12 EST


If you need some typical French stories related to hifg-tech
perversions, don't hesitate to read my preface of the French edition
of Lauren Ruth Wiener book's "Digital Woes" published under the title
"Les avatars du logiciel" by Addison Wesley France (phone: +33 1
48879797, fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]).  I give a lot
of typical stories that deal with millions of dollars and/or francs.
Enclosed you can found the exact copy of an e-mail message received by
fax from a accrediated accounting specialist of ... "international fraud" :-)

Don't hesitate to write me directly.


Jean-Bernard Condat
General Secretary, Chaos Computer Club France
e-mail: [e-mail]

   From:  MR. OLA BENSON
   Fax :  [phone]
   To  :  MR. JEAN-BERNARD CONDAT
   DATE:  7TH MARCH, 1994


Dear Mr. J. B. C.,

Thanks for your fax of the 4th March 94 and the contents therein.  I
want to thank your prompt response to my request and I wish to state
and clearify you as thus:

I am Mr. Ola Benson, an Accountant with the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in a contract award departement.  This
corporation is responsible for the oil lifting, Sales, Maintenance,
Repairs, Construction of oil rig and Installation of oil mining
equipments among other things for my country.  Your company address
was made available to me by an import agent who does extensive
business with my country but my contracting you was not made known to
him.

Now the transaction which made me to contact you is very much intact
due to its confidential nature for the interest of highly placed
government officials that are involved.

The project is that in 1991, we in the contract department awarded
through the governmen contracts to foreigh contractors during which
time we over-invoiced the contracts for our own personal use.  The
contract has since been completed and the actual contract value paid
to the original contractor. Based on our previous deal with the
contractors, we now want to purport your company as a subsidiary
company to the original contractor a provision which we created
wheroper understanding of the project before embarking on it.

Revert back to me for your comments and for us to know what is your
decision.

I await for your confirmation fax.

With best regards,

(signed)

OLA BENSON

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: UC Berkeley Short Courses on High-Speed Communications
Date: 14 Mar 1994 18:57:54 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley


U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces Three
Short Courses on Communications Technology

SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems,
Architectures and Designs
(April 18-19, 1994)

It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on
the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM
(Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique.  This course is an in-depth
examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues
for development of future high-speed networks.  Topics include:
Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network
interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network
congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks.

Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn
Polytechnic University.  Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and
has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM switches,
high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow control in
ATM networks.

GIGABIT/SEC DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS:
Internetworking, Signaling and Network Management
(April 20-21, 1994)

This short course aims to provide a general understanding of the key
issues needed to design and implement gigabit local and wide area
networks.  The topics are designed to compliment those covered in the
SONET/ATM-Based Broadband Networks course (above).  Topics include:
technology drivers, data protocols, signaling, network management,
internetworking and applications.  Specific issues addressed include
TCP/IP on ATM networks, design of high performance network interfaces,
internetworking ATM networks with other network types, and techniques
for transporting video over gigabit networks.

Lecturer: William E. Stephens, Ph.D., Director, High-Speed Switching
and Storage Technology Group, Applied Research, Bellcore.  Dr.
Stephens has over 40 publications and one patent in the field of
optical communications.  He has served on several technical program
committees, including IEEE GLOBECOM and the IEEE Electronic Components
Technology Conference, and has served as Guest Editor for the IEEE
Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

PERSONAL (WIRELESS) COMMUNICATION NETWORKS:  Cellular
Systems, Wireless Data Networks, and Broadband Wireless Access
(April 20-22, 1994)

This comprehensive course focuses on principles, technologies, system
architectures, standards, equipment, implementation, public policy,
and evolving trends in wireless networks.  Topics include: modulation,
coding, and signal processing; first generation systems; second
generation systems; broadband networks; third generation systems; and
applications and technology trends.  This course is intended for
engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in
this field.

Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical
Engineering, Columbia University.  He is Director, Center for
Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year
career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former
member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors.

For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor
bios, etc.) contact:

Harvey Stern
U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay
800 El Camino Real Ste. 150
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

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

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 13:25 EST
From: Sandy Kyrish <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Video Conference Bridges


All major codec manufacturers (i.e. CLI, PictureTel, VTel, GPT)
manufacture or OEM video conference bridges, which are actually
referred to as "multipoint control units" or MCUs.  Each has benefits
and disadvantages.  Probably the most important issue for you wouldbe
compatibility with the codecs you are now using.  Although there are
standards evolving in this area, some MCUs are not comaptible with
some codecs, particularly those using proprietary algorithms and not
the H.261 standard.

  If you do not currently have any video conferencing codecs, then you
can make the whole package decision based on price, features, etc.

  Incidentally MCUs are generally above $50K in price. If you are not
expecting to do a lot of multipoint videoconferencing, you might
consider using a public network for your multipoint calls. ATT's
Accunet Reserve and Sprint's Meeting CHannel, for example, each have
the capability to hook multiple sites into a multipoint conference.
You pay for the time used and a surcharge for the MCU.


Sandy Kyrish    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Gilbert)
Subject: Re: National Caller ID
Organization: Motorola, LMPS
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 13:16:41 -0600


In article <[e-mail]>, Lynne Gregg <lynne.gregg@
mccaw.com> wrote:

> CALLER ID TO BE AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE; FCC ADOPTS FEDERAL POLICIES FOR
> REGULATION

> The Commission has adopted a federal model, effective April 12, 1995,
> for interstate delivery of calling party number based services.  These
> services include caller ID, which is available today in many states,
> as well as services that will permit businesses to service customers
> more efficiently and will permit increased security of computer
> networks.

I didn't see any mention of caller name services so I suppose this
isn't covered by the new FCC regulation.

What is the position of the LECs with regard to LECs in other parts of
the country doing data base lookups on their subscribers?  Are the
LECs going to provide this info on a reciprocal basis or does this
still have to be worked out?


John Gilbert         [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Why Caller-ID Instead of ANI?
Date: 15 Mar 1994 02:38:23 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


In <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor responded to
[e-mail] (Steve Forrette):

> IBT treats dialing 10xxx before a 312 or 708 number the same way
> they treat dialing 10xxx before an 800 or 900 number; i.e they ignore
> it and route the call according to other rules. Maybe some telcos
> actually send the call to treatment.

They do indeed.  In fact, on every carrier that I've had service from,
they will always return a recording in the event that the 10xxx code
was dialed but cannot be used (either because of no intra-lata
competition, or because it was dialed for an 800 or 900 number).  I
just checked this on a US West line, and upon dialing 10xxx-1-800-xxx-xxxx,
it returns the following recording.  "*SIT* Your call cannot be
completed using the access code you dialed.  Please check the number
and dial again, or contact your long distance company for assistance."


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Darren Alex Griffiths)
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number
Date: 14 Mar 1994 16:44:09 -0800
Organization: Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, Inc.


> TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In real practice, persons who have not been
> charged with a crime are usually held in police lockups, and the ones here
> all have Genuine Bell payphones. Those who have been charged with a crime
> are usually free on bond (either because they posted the bond or were given
> freedom based on their Recognizance). It is *hard* to get into Cook County
> Jail ... very hard. It helps if you are a murderer, a rapist and very violent
> as well as being a second or third time offender.

My information doesn't agree with yours Pat.  A friend of mine was
recently stopped for speeding and detained because she had a overdue
ticket for driving without registration, something she should be
punished for but not a particularly horrible crime.  She was told that
she was being detained until she could either pay the overdue ticket
or see a judge, and she was not being arrested; actually she told me
that on the whole she was treated very well.  There was a problem with
the phones however.  She was put into a holding cell, the cell did
contain a a standard Pacific*Bell payphone and she had a number of
quarters on her to make phone calls.  However she did not have her
phone book and needed to call information, the call would not complete
and when she called an operator she was told that they weren't allowed
to call information from a jail phone.  I can understand that they may
want to avoid newly arrested people from calling information to get
victims numbers and then threatening them from behind bars, but those
people are legally innocent, and in this case my friend was not
legally under arrest.

After she managed to convince one of the officers to loan her a phone
book (as I said for the most part she was treated well) she tried to
call a number of people to bring down the couple of hundred dollars
required to get her out.  She had trouble contacting anything more
than answering machines and quickly ran out of change, that's when she
found her calling card wasn't accepted and she was not allowed to do
third number billing, she eventually had to call collect (at very high
rates).  All things considered the phone problems extended her
detainment for two to three hours, not very pleasant or fair in my
opinion.


Cheers,

Darren Alex Griffiths               | [e-mail]
Senior Software Engineer            | [phone]
Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions Inc. |

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

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 07:46:40 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Decoding the Zipped ISDN File


Pat

I downloaded the file and took a look at it.  The file has been
uuencoded and you need to run it through a decoder, which comes in
versions for almost any computer connected to the Internet.  After
running the file through the decoder you get the zipped file and
PKUNZIP works just fine.


Gary


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Readers who have had difficulty with
the new ISDN Deployment file in the archives might want to follow the
suggestion given above. If trouble still persists, then I have another
copy of it here if you write and ask me for it.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #131
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #132

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 15 Mar 94 23:38:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 132

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Questions About GMRS Radio (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Strange Meridian Mail Problem (Richard Hyde)
    The Final C/Fest.594 Reminder (Dave Skwarczek)
    Experiences With VSAT Communications (Shanliang Yin)
    CDPD, PCS, PCN, and Digital Cellular? (Dan Leifker)
    Wireless T-1 (Eric A. Litman)
    Voice Mail\FAX\Data Software (Mitch Rosenberg)
    Motorola Announces ITS PDA (Herd Beast)
    APS Alliance? (A.N. Ananth)
    Information Request - Time Off of NT-Opt61 (Greg Maples)
    BBS in Switzerland (Eric Jolley)
    Appel a` Communications Pour CFIP'95 (*in French*) (Jean-Marc Jezequel)
    Re: Cordless Telephone Output Power (Dave Held)
    Looking For a Piece of Telephone Equipment (Harold Hubschman)
    Re: Setting up a 900 Number (Bick Truet)
    Re: Mr. Watson, Come Here ... (Russell Blau)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 23:01:29 CST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: Questions About GMRS Radio


I have here a type of transceiver with which I am not very familiar and
am hoping Digest readers can enlighten me on its proper use and what is
to be expected of it.

It is a UHF handheld transmitter with two channels. What very little
documentation I have for it says that it is intended for use in the
'Personal Radio Service' on 462.7125 and 462.6375 mhz. Furthermore the
very skimpy documentation (some notes that someone wrote out longhand)
state that FCC licenses will be granted to operate on any of these
eight frequencies:

           462.5500  462.5750  462.6000  462.6250
           462.6500  462.6750  462.7000  462.7250

But ... the transceiver has none of those frequencies; instead it has
the two mentioned above and these are referred to as two of the seven
'interstitial' channels on which a licensed station may operate.

The antenna for this radio is a little stubby thing about two inches
long. It is a 'rubber ducky' type antenna, I assume loaded if it is
that short in the 462 mhz range. In one place on the radio it states
that output power is one watt, yet in the documentation is the notation
that 'output power = 50' (copied verbatim from the notes).

What is all this about? Making the general assumption about radio
(which I assume is true in this case also) that the antenna is 80-90
percent of what radio is about, what is the range over which this will
typically transmit?  It is a tiny little handheld thing, and looks
much like a CB 'walkie talkie'.

Tell me what you know about these transceivers: range, use, etc.

Thanks very much.


Patrick Townson

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Hyde)
Subject: Strange Meridian Mail Problem
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 00:12:01 GMT


Help, please, with a strange Meridian Mail problem.

I have multiple incoming lines divided into an (800) group and a local
(408) group.

I have an extension, 520, that is associated with a time-of-day-controller.

I have two time-of-day-controllers programmed but only one is in use
at a given time.

TODC 1000 is associated with three Voice Service IDs:
VSI 1001 = business day message
VSI 1002 = Evening/Weekend message
VSI 1003 = Holiday message

TODC 2000 is associated with one Voice Service ID
arranged as follows:
VSI 1004 = Business day message
VSI 1004 = Evening/Weekend message
VSI 1004 = Holiday message

In normal operation TODC 1000 is switched in and the system operates
normally.  Each of the VSIs kicks in at the appropriate time and
becomes the default recorded announcement that the customer hears.

Callers on the 800 number always hear the recorded announcement.

Callers on the 408 number always get the attendant console unless the
console is in night mode, then they get the recording.  So far, so
good.

Now, the TODC 2000 VSI (1004) contains an emergency message notifying
all callers that our system is currently unavailable.

When I use Remote Activation to change the TODC for x520 from 1000 to
2000, the 800 number behaves correctly at all times, but the 408
number still recites the 1002 message during evening/weekend hours.
The console is, of course, in night mode when this happens.

I can't, for the life of me, figure out what I've done wrong.

Any Meridian Guru's out there?

For extra credit, customers occasionally report getting the *holiday*
message at inappropriate times!.  I've never been able to duplicate
this one :-(

Thanks for the help!


Richard Hyde   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Skwarczek)
Subject: The Final C/Fest.594 Reminder
Date: 15 Mar 1994 18:23:32 -0600
Organization: MCSNet Subscriber, Chicago's First Public-Access Internet!


Here's the final reminder about Cyberfest.594. I've been hard at work
planning all this, and it's finally nearing fruition!

If you haven't read anything about it, here's the scoop. Cyberfest.594
will be Chicago's first ever cyber/club event -- featuring VR,
graphics, video, MIDI, gaming and telecommunications hardware and
software; two live electronic bands; and cyber-art from local and
national cyber-artists -- all packed neatly into one of the largest
nightclubs in the city. A true socio-technological blowout.

The official "who/what/when/where" announcement will take place NEXT
MONDAY, MARCH 21 at every Usenet board on which this message appears.

For the companies/pioneers/sigs/zines that have received their
registration folders: Deadline for registration is this Friday, March
18! If you missed the mail boat, we can still fax you info on the few
remaining exhibit spaces.

If you're a 2D/3D/video/audio/whatever cyber-artist interested in
having some work out and about at the event, send me some email! April
1 is our deadline for artists' submissions.


Thanks,

dave   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Shanliang Yin)
Subject: Experiences With VSAT Communications
Date: 15 Mar 1994 20:56:36 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor


Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience using VSAT
(satellite) communications to inter connect WAN instead of using
lease-lines from IXC?  Does current equipment support VSAT
communications effiectively, how does the cost compare with the usual
terrestrial lease-line option? Also, any experiences using VSAT to
connect WANs internationally?  (the cost of a lease line seems so high
for an international circuit!)

I know Hughes Network Systems offers such services. Are there any
other providers out there (I'm sure there are ...)? I'm looking into
connecting a WAN I the US to another one in Asia.

Any suggestions, advice, experiences ... all are welcome :)


slyin    Shan-Liang Yin

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

From: [e-mail] (Dan Leifker)
Subject: CDPD, PCS, PCN, and Digital Cellular?
Date: 15 Mar 1994 21:21:37 GMT


This is a quick question to anyone familiar with wireless
communications.  I am taking an introductory (grad level) course in
telecommunications, and the professor has asked us to write a short
paper defining the following terms: digital cellular, CDPD, PCS, PCN,
and wireless.

I have been scouring the area (Washington, D.C.) and have found almost
nothing in the way of technical literature.  Could some kind soul
outline the differences between these terms and give me some pointers
for more information?  Are these things in a competitive sort of
relationship?  (I'm not asking anyone to do my work ... I'm just
looking for a starting place.)


Thanks,

Dan Leifker   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Eric A. Litman)
Subject: Wireless T-1
Date: 15 Mar 1994 18:32:23 -0600
Organization: Proxima, Inc.


I recall reading several months ago about a device (possibly RF)
allowing 1.5MB/s and greater speeds at distances of a mile and more.
Is anyone familiar with such a beast? Vendor responses welcome.


Eric Litman         Proxima, Inc.     vox: [phone]
Systems Engineer    McLean, VA        [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mitch Rosenberg)
Subject: Voice Mail\FAX\Data Software
Date: 15 Mar 94 14:44:52 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada


Has anyone has succes with a FAX ON DEMAND application for windows?
I'm planning on purchasing a 14.4 with voice capabilities, as I hope
to use the voice mail and FAX ON DEMAND features for a home based
business.

I understand Zyxel has a bundled software package (but I don't plan on
paying Zyxel's sticker price!), and I hear BitComm has a voice mail
and FOD app as well.

While I'm at it ... suggestions for a FAXodem with voice would be
appreciated as well.


Thanks,

[e-mail]

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

Subject: Motorola Announces ITS PDA
From: [e-mail] (Herd Beast)
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 10:14:30 EST
Organization: [MindVox] / Phantom Access Technologies / (+1 800-MindVox)


Motorola has announced its own PDA -- Envoy.  Envoy is the first in a
series of products will announce soon, and will compete against
products of Apple (newton), IBM (Simon) and AT&T/Eo.

The Envoy can be used for voice, text, or FAX messages and can
communicate with other Envoys, FAX machines and modems, over telephone
lines or wireless communication.  The Envoy also includes a personal
financial program, address book, worksheet, and watch programs.

The Envoy includes a small wireless modem for the wireless communications.
It is compatible with the IBM/Motorola Ardis wireless PSN.

Envoys communicate with each other using infrared (like Newtons) and
have two PCMCIA slots.

The Envoy uses the MagicCap operating system (by General Magic).  It's
controlled by a digital pen, or by tapping on the screen.  The pen can
be used for writing messages and FAXing them.  Unlike the other
products, the Envoy doesn't have a handwriting recognition feature.

It weights about half a kilo, 18 centimeters tall, 14 cms wide and
less than 3 cms high.


H3rb

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

From: [e-mail] (A N Ananth)
Subject: APS Alliance?
Date: 15 Mar 1994 10:43:29 -0500
Organization: Prism Communications Inc, Annapolis MD


Recent reports talk of an effort called the Asynchronous Protocol
Specification (APS) alliance which is developing a protocol to be
presented to the ITU (formerly CCITT) to let individuals link
mail-enabled applications to any type of wireless networks.

Members are said to include Microsoft, Apple & DEC with Intel selected
to come up with a draft. The founder is said to be Dave Knight, VP of
ISOCOR. The article also mentions a group called the Electronic
Messaging Association with Bill Moroney as executive director.

Can anyone shed more light on this or better yet provide a pointer
to papers or people?  Thanks in advance.


ananth     <[e-mail]>  Phone: [phone]  Prism Communications Inc

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

From: [e-mail] (Greg Maples)
Subject: Information Request - Time Off of NT-Opt61
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 01:58:14 GMT


Help!

I'm trying to get time synchronization running between our NT OPT61
pbx and a Sun SS10.  I'm aware that I could use nxtp for synchro in
the Unix world, but we are not directly internet connected, and xntp
is a big load of code.

Does someone know of an easy, simple method of getting the NT to set
the Sun or vice-versa?  Is there a version of timed for the Sun
(4.1.1)?  Do I sound clueless?  Sigh ... (I hate voice).

Please send mail responses to:

[e-mail]

Thanks!

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

From: [e-mail] (Eric Jolley)
Subject: BBS in Switzerland
Date: 15 Mar 1994 00:53:18 -0700
Organization: University of Utah Computer Center, Salt Lake City, Ut.


I am trying to connect to a BBS in Bassersdorf, Switzerland, but I
think I may be dialing the number wrong.  The number is listed as:
0041-1-8364174.  I am dialing from the U.S., and my LD carrier is
AT&T, so I am dialing 011-41-1-8364174, but I get a "cannot complete
call as dialed" message.  I assume I am missing some digits, but which
ones?  If it is the 00 before the 41 for Switzerland, where do they
go?  Any help would be appreciated.


Eric Jolley     [e-mail]   Film Studies Major, U. of U.

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

From: [e-mail] (Jean-Marc Jezequel)
Subject: Appel a` Communications Pour CFIP'95 (*in French*)
Date: 15 Mar 1994 08:38:17 GMT
Organization: Irisa, Rennes(FR)


[If you don't understand French, you would not be interested in this]

                       Appel aux communications

          Colloque Francophone sur l'Ingenierie des Protocoles

                   9-12 mai 1995 - Rennes - France

                          Comite de Programme

                              Presidents :

Claude Jard (IRISA, France) et Pierre Rolin (Telecom-Bretagne, France)

                               Membres :

Paul Amer (Universite du  Delaware, Etats-Unis)
Bennani Abdelfdil (ENSIAS, Maroc)
J. William Atwood (Universite de  Concordia, Canada)
Benkiran Amine (EMI, Maroc)
Mohamed Bettaz (Universite de Constantine, Algerie)
Ed Brinksma (Universite de  Twente, Pays-Bas)
Stanislaw  Budkowski (INT, France)
Richard Castanet (LaBRI, France)
Ana Cavalli (INT, France)
Wojciech  Cellary (EFP, Pologne)
Andre Danthine (Universite de Liege, Belgique)
Piotr Dembinski (Academie des Sciences, Pologne)
Michel Diaz (LAAS, France)
Rachida Dssouli (Universite de Montreal, Canada)
Jean Marc Farines (UFSC, Bresil)
Serge Fdida (MASI, France)
Alain Finkel (ENS Cachan, France)
Roland Groz (FT/CNET, France)
Farouk Kamoun (ENSI, Tunisie)
Jacques Labetoulle (Eurecom, France)
Guy Leduc (Universite de Liege, Belgique)
Francis Lepage (CRAN, France)
Luigi Logrippo (Universite d'Ottawa, Canada)
Gerard Michel (IMAG, France)
Pascale Minet (INRIA, France)
Abdellatif Obaid (Univ. du Quebec a Hull, Canada)
Omar Rafiq (Universite de Pau)
Behcet Sarikaya (Universite de AIZU, Japon)
Andre Schiper (EPFL, Suisse)
Samir Tohme (ENST, France)
Gregor von Bochmann (Univ. de Montreal, Canada)

L'idee  du  Colloque Francophone sur l'Ingenierie des Protocoles qui a
deja eu  lieu par trois  fois (1988, 1991 et 1993), est de permettre a
la communaute francophone  des enseignants, chercheurs  et industriels
dans le  domaine  des  protocoles  et reseaux informatiques, de  faire
regulierement le  point en langue francaise. Le colloque comprend  une
journee de tutoriels, suivie de trois jours de conference.

Le comite de programme souhaite  se voir  soumettre des communications
qui traitent de tout  sujet relatif au developpement des protocoles de
communications.  La liste  non exhaustive  qui  suit,  donne  quelques
points qui peuvent etre traites :

- Conception, mise en oeuvre et gestion de reseaux et  d'architectures
de communication ;

- Techniques et langages de specification ;

- Techniques et outils de verification et de simulation ;  application
de ces techniques ;

- Mise  au  point  et integration  des  logiciels  repartis  dans  les
systemes ;

-  Architectures,   methodes  et  outils  de  test  de  conformite  et
d'interoperabilite ;

- Methodes formelles ou pragmatiques couvrant l'ensemble des etapes de
developpements des protocoles ;

- Conception et developpement de protocoles a haut debit ;

- Modeles, evaluation et mesure de performances des reseaux ;

- Conception, developpement et application multimedia dans les reseaux

- Reseaux de mobiles ; reseaux radio ;

- Securite dans les reseaux ;

Le comite de programme souhaite recevoir des communications de la part
d'universitaires,  de  chercheurs  et  d'industriels. Des  articles de
syntheses didactiques, des exposes de travaux de recherches theoriques
et d'experiences  pratiques  sont attendus, ainsi que des propositions
d'exposes pour les tutoriels.

Les  publications emanant de jeunes  chercheurs  sont particulierement
les bienvenues. Un  prix  recompensera la  meilleure  publication. Les
meilleures publications seront publiees dans des revues.

Un  espace  sera  disponible  pour des demonstrations,  le  comite  de
programme sollicite des propositions sur les themes ci-dessus.

                       Instruction aux Auteurs
                       -----------------------

Si vous desirez soumettre une  communication (12  pages maximum) ou un
tutoriel,  veuillez  envoyer  cinq exemplaires  de  l'article complet,
avant le 1er septembre 1994, a :

               Pierre Rolin (Telecom-Bretagne, France)

                           Telecom-Bretagne
                          Antenne de Rennes
                           Departement RSM
                       Rue de la Chataigneraie
                                BP 78
                    35512 - Cesson - Sevigne cedex
                                FRANCE
                        Tel : [phone]
                        Fax : [phone]
                email : [e-mail]

Les  decisions  du comite de  programme  vous seront  notifiees  le 15
janvier  1995. Pour etre  publiees  dans  les  actes  du colloque  les
versions finales  des articles  doivent parvenir avant  le 15  fevrier
1995.

                           Dates a retenir
                           ---------------

1er  septembre  1994  :  date  limite pour la reception  des  articles
  soumis.

15 janvier 1995 : notification aux auteurs de la decision du comite de
  programme.

15 fevrier 1995 :  date limite pour la reception des textes definitifs
  a inclure dans les actes du colloque.

                        Comite d'organisation
                        ---------------------

Jean-Marc Jezequel (IRISA)      Sylvie Brunet (Telecom-Bretagne)
Noel Plouzeau (IRISA)           Elisabeth Lebret (IRISA)
Joseph  Fromont (CCETT)         Marie-Noelle Georgeault (IRISA)
Alain Leger (CCETT)


Jean-Marc Jezequel, IRISA/CNRS, 35042 RENNES (FRANCE)   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Cordless Telephone Output Power
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 08:04:21 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


<[e-mail]> writes:

> 2) even if it was legal, why does everyone want to increase the output
> power?  There is probably more room for increasing the receiver sensitivity
> which would have the same effect.  For instance, a cheap FET between the
> antenna and the receiver chip could add at least 10 dB of sensitivity,
> if you know what your'e doing.

Those who want to raise transmitter power (not me, the other guys) are
trying to compete against co-channel interference from other cordless
phones.  Boosting receiver sensitivity won't help.  I might also add
that simple receiver mods (such as your front-end FET) will have a lot
of trouble due to the duplexing problem; i.e., a FET connected to the
antenna as an RF preamp will be overloaded by the phone's own
transmitter which is also connected to the same antenna.

I have recommended against transmitter mods for a number of reasons:
engineering difficulty, receiver desensing (the other half of the same
duplexing problem), and battery life, not to mention philosophical
complications such as federal law, harmful interference to other
legitimate users, and the ultimate unlikeliness of achieving
satisfactory longer-range performance.


Dave

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

From: [e-mail] (Harold Hubschman)
Subject: Looking For a Piece of Telephone Equipment
Date: 15 Mar 1994 11:46:30 -0500
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation


I'm wondering if the following device exists:

I have two telephone lines into my home. I would like to hook up a
gadget between them that will allow me to phone in on one line on a
touch tone phone, have this device answer, and then let me initiate a
call out on the second line.

Is such a device commercially available? Any ideas where to get one
(and what it is called?)


Thanks,

hh


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Those devices are called 'WATS extenders'
or 'call extenders' and they have been around for *years*. I think the
'Hello Direct' people sell them (1-800-HI-HELLO) along with quite a few
other telecom supply houses. But whatever you do if you choose to install
one: keep yourself covered! Install a difficult and *long* passcode on
it or else hackerphreaks will eat you alive with fraud charges.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Setting up a 900 Number
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 13:38:12 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Tauren N Mills <[e-mail]> writes:

> I am investigating setting up a 900 number for my business, but cannot
> justify the $2500 installation fee that AT&T wants, plus the $1000 per
> month.  Does anyone know of any outfits that will rent 900 numbers?

> I don't want to rent one that is already set up and all you have to do
> is advertise.  I need my own information to be available.

Tauren:

You may want to contact some of the consultants and/or service bureaus
that support the 900 industry including: Telco Planning, MicroVoice
applications, Brite Voice, etc.  If you need telephone numbers, I'll
be happy to provide them.


Bick Truet    TRG   Clinton, NJ  908.730.9050
[e-mail]  [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 15:29:29 EST
From: Russell Blau <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Mr. Watson, Come Here ...


In a recent article, John R. Levine <[e-mail]> said:

> The building in Boston where Bell and Watson did their work has long
> since been torn down to build a government office, but the site is
> marked by a small granite shaft and a pair of payphones.

Yes, the building is gone, but Bell's restored workshop including some
of his original equipment can still be seen in the lobby of the New
England Tel (ooops, excuse me, NYNEX) building at 185 Franklin Street
in Boston.  It's like a little shrine to the Creator, complete with
pre-recorded narration and little brochures you can take home. Definitely
worth a visit if you are in Boston.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #132
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #133

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 16 Mar 94 11:16:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 133

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Los Angeles Phone Fire (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Re: No Monthly Fee Cell Phone (Rob Boudrie)
    Re: Modem Use With Rolm Phone 240 (Steve Brack)
    Re: New Area Code Change Question (Laurence Chiu)
    Meaning of the TELEX Answerback Code That Names Carrier (Sheldon Hoenig)
    Re: Questions About GMRS Radio (Danny Burstein)
    Re: Questions About GMRS Radio (Bill Nayhew)
    Re: Questions About GMRS Radio (Rich Greenberg)
    X.500 Directory Service (Go Simon Sunatori)
    Boca V-Mail Modem: Request For Tech-Specs (Ken Stillson)
    Motorola - Japan Press Release (Gregory A. Lucas)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 10:35:11 CST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: Los Angeles Phone Fire


Word is trickling in very slowly from California about the fire in the
Pac Bell switching center. Does anyone out there have any further details
on this? I am hearing that it was quite severe.

Is this another case like the major fire in Hinsdale, Illinois in 1988
and the fire in New York in the mid-1970's where a telco office and major
facility was left unattended for some period of time and alarms were
simply ignored? That's what happened here in the Hinsdale (Chicago) fire
almost six years ago. It started early on a Sunday afternoon and burned
for more than an hour before the people who were supposed to be watching
out for such things decided that maybe the alarms coming from Chicago
(they were in Springfield, Illinois, a couple hundred miles away as if
that made a lot of sense in the first place) were to be honored. Then
and only then, when the doofus in Springfield decided maybe the alarms
should be investigated, he called someone at home in the west suburban
area and asked them 'when they had a chance' to go over to the central
office in Hinsdale and see what it was about. 30-45 minutes later a
supervisor shows up, goes inside, sees the fire in progress and decides
to call the fire department. But by then it was too late since all the
phones in town were already dead, including those to the fire department.

Bottom line in Hinsdale? Service was out for two weeks in some cases and
a month in others. An entire switch had to be scrapped and a replacement
installed. Millions of dollars in lost business and hardships while the
phones were out. According to Mr. Eibel, a vice-president of Illinois Bell
at the time, staffing a phone office *with even just one clerk* at all
times to prevent situations like this was not cost effective. Maybe he
figured they could buy new switches on sale at Walmart or something, and
that customer goodwill was something easily obtained for less than the
few dollars an hour a responsible person at the CO would cost.

So what's the story in Los Angeles?


PAT

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

From: [e-mail] (Rob Boudrie)
Subject: Re: No Monthly Fee Cell Phone
Date: 15 Mar 1994 15:59:36 -0500
Organization: Center for High Performance Computing of WPI


Does the Lindsay service use the B (Nynex) or A (Cell One) carrier's
service for the actual communications, or has the FCC authorized a
third carrier in the market?

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Brack)
Subject: Re: Modem Use With Rolm Phone 240
Organization: University of Toledo
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 01:00:23 GMT


Jim McCormack ([e-mail]) wrote:

> At work I have a Rolm phone 240 model #62000. Since this is a digital
> phone I can't use an analog modem with it. Does anyone know of a device
> which would allow the use of an analog modem on this phone/network?

In the current Hello Direct catalog, there is a device called a DataDapter
that plugs into your phone on the handset side.  Of course, this cannot
operate on an unattended basis, but it will, according to the catslog,
work with almost any phone system.  Their address is:

        Hello Direct
        5884 Eden Park Place
        San Jose, CA   95138-1859

        TEL: +1 800 HI HELLO (444 3556)  English
             [phone] Spanish
             [phone] Technical Support

        FAX: [phone]

        HRS: 9AM - 8PM EST (6AM - 5PM PST) (1400-0100 UTC)

The DataDapter is Item # 2342N, and is listed on p. 42 of the catalog.


Steven S. Brack           [e-mail]
Toledo, OH  43613-1605    [e-mail]
MY OWN OPINIONS           [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Laurence Chiu)
Subject: Re: New Area Code Change Question
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 09:33:27 -0900
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access


In article <[e-mail]>, Mike Quinlan wrote:

> In message <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor Noted:

>> Since the general public has never probably understood the way area codes
>> were constructed in the past, the general public will probably not notice
>> the difference starting next year.

> The general public may notice that they will have to dial the area
> code when making long-distance calls within the same area code.

However currently with some places requiring this and others not, it
is very confusing for visitors. I had a friend visit Seattle recently
and asked him to look up a friend for me who lives in Tacoma but phone
number is 206-xxx-xxxx. Every time he called he got some message about
the number being out of service. He didn't think to dial 1-206-xxx-xxxx
to reach the number since 1-area code is not required in CA. A more
informative message from the local Telco (US West?)  would have been
nice.


Laurence Chiu             Walnut Creek, California
Tel: [phone] (work)  Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 17:04:41 EST
From: Sheldon W. Hoenig <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Meaning of Part of the TELEX Answerback Code That Names the Carrier


The telex system uses an answerback code as a rudimentary authentification
technique.  The answerback is usually a mnemonic having some connection to
the called party.  In addition, there is a suffix attached to many
answerback codes in the form "Ux".  From what I understand, the letter
U signifies that the telex destination is in the U.S. and the letter
"x" tells which telex carrier supplies the telex number and service.

I am interested in determining telex carriers from answerback codes.
Does anyone have a list which correlates "x" to a telex carrier?


Sheldon W. Hoenig                 Internet:
Government Systems, INC (GSI)        [e-mail]
Suite 500                            [e-mail]
3040 Williams Drive               Telephone: [phone]
Fairfax, VA 22031-4612                       [phone] x420

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 01:11:26 -0500
From: danny burstein <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Questions About GMRS Radio


GMRS is the "General Mobile Radio Servce", which is kind of like CB
but on the UHF band.

There are approximately eight channels on it, and repeater operation
is allowed using a second frequency for input to the repater.

There are also a couple of 'split' or 'intenerant' channels which are
authorized for lower power, direct unit-to-unit work.  Power output
ont he main channels is allowed at either four or five watts.

Prior to more or less 1990 anyone, including businesses, could get FCC
authorization for these freqs by filling out form ?475? and mailing in
the money. NOTE that you did *NOT* have exclusive use of the frequencies,
but since there are fewer people on UHF, and it was FM, and you could
use CCITT and other nifty stuff, it was -much- better than CB.

For the last few years new licensees had to be individuals or families,
not businesses.

Range will vary dramatically. A decent antenna on the unit (should be
about six inches) will give you perhaps a reliable half mile or so in a
low density city, a mile in suburbia, and twenty miles line-of-sight
from mountain top to mountain top.


[e-mail] (or [e-mail])
           (10288) 0-700-864-3242

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 11:42:45 EST
From: [e-mail] (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Re: Questions About GMRS Radio
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine


Pat,

You do indeed have a GMRS (general mobile radio service) radio.  Power
output is usally about one watt, but may vary depending on the exact
model of the radio.  Some are in the 100 mW range; some are as much as
five watts.  Recently, I've seen thousands of UHF handhelds at local
flea markets that put out about 100 mW.  These were used in some sort
of warehouse inventory control system that interfaced the radio with a
bar code scanner.  Those radios work as normal radios when the scanner
is not attached.  All GMRS radios have to licensed.

There are several "intenerant" channels for which you may apply for a
license.  The fee is about $20 for a five year license -- at least the
last time I checked.  You can get a license for other channels that
are assigned to you specifically, though shared with other users.

Many GMRS use tone coded CTCSS (continuous tone coded subaudible
signalling) that uses a "sub-audible" tone in the range of ~80-250 Hz.
The tone is sent along with your voice so that only your receivers
will open the squelch when one of your employees transmits.  The
street name for CTCSS is PL, which is a Motorola trademark, Private
Line.  There is an industry standard set of about 30 PL tones,
which interoperate on any manufacturer's radio.

PL is generally an option, so your radio may not be so equipped.
There is usally a setting on the squelch knob that has a graphic
showing a speaker with a line through it; that is the setting that
activates PL.

There are GMRS repaters that you may be able to access. Point-to-point,
a one watt GMRS hand-held will probably transmit about one mile.
Though a repeater system, I've seen ranges of up to 16 miles radius
from the repeater.  Our university rents time on a local GMRS repeater
for our courier drivers; we bought the radios, but I believe that we
use them under the authority of the repeater owner.  We pay a pretty
reasonable fee for the repeater access -- about $20/month.

We also have two UHF GMRS repeaters here in the building for which we
hold FCC licenses.  The repeaters put out about one watt to a ground
plane antenna on the top of the building.  Our groundskeepers, maintainence
people and security officers use those two channels.  The range gives
us coverage about a mile or two around the perimeter of our campus
between the handheld radios.

I strongly recommend working though a local mobile radio dealer in
getting things set up.  You may be able to have the working frequency
of the radio reset (many radios can be set up using an umbilical cord
thing that dealers have to program frequency and PL).  The FCC requires
that the end user not have the ability to change the assigned frequency.
Some radios have a magic code that will unlock the programming if they
have a keypad.  Radio dealers can also provide information on GMRS
repeaters in your area.

GMRS is not CB and the users are very likely to get real upset with
any person who sets up an ad hoc operation without going though the
proper steps.  Unauthorized use is more likely to attract FCC notice
than goofing around with a Children's Band radio.  GMRS is basically
what CB was intended to be before it got out of control.  Fortunately,
GMRS UHF and VHF frequencies are relatively line-of-sight and FM.  FM
helps cut down on co-channel interference thanks to the FM capture
effect.  Being VHF/UHF FM cuts down on the appeal of DX operation that
got to be the fad on 27 MHz AM/SSB CB.


Bill Mayhew        NEOUCOM Computer Services Department
Rootstown, OH  44272-0095  USA      phone: [phone]
[e-mail]       amateur radio 146.58: N8WED


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is no keypad or touchtone pad on
this unit, and just a switch to go between channel one and channel two.
I've left it sitting on the desk here turned on for several hours with
the squelch open and the volume quite low just to hear what sort of
traffic there is on it, it anything. So far I've heard nothing. I assume
if there were a repeater around here one would need to key in something
on the pad in order to activate the repeater. I don't know if I really
need such a radio as this or not. I did conduct one very short test to
be sure of the frequencies by turning on my scanner to the two frequencies
in question and keying the transceiver for for a second or two to watch
the scanner lock in on it. I'm not going to use it otherwise without a
license (or at all unless I find some use for it.)   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 08:59:58 PST
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Questions About GMRS Radio


The units you have sound like business band or the old (Class A?)  CB
service.  1 watt is a reasonable power level for such a radio.  The
stubby antenna will cut down the range somewhat.  Quarter wave whips
at that frequency (around 6 inches) will work better if you can locate
them.  Ham unit whips (intended for 440-450 mHz) MAY work.

 From HT to HT with the stubby antennas, perhaps a mile or two in the
clear, less inside a building.  Double or triple that with properly
cut 1/4 wave antennas.  For the ham frequencies, 5/8 wave antennas are
also available which give a bit more of an edge.  Again, I don't know
if they are available for 462 mHz or if the ham ones will work.


Rich Greenberg            Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677
N6LRT   TinselTown, USA   Play: [e-mail]                  310-649-0238


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for your input on this. So what is
the word on the fire out there? Can you and others in Los Angeles give
a more detailed report to Digest readers?   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Go Simon Sunatori)
Subject: X.500 Directory Service
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Go Simon Sunatori)
Organization: The National Capital FreeNet
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 01:43:41 -0500


At least one government is going ahead with a full-scale implementation
of the X.500 directory service.  Given the tremendous potential of X.500
service in mail-enabled applications, I believe that some form of X.500
directory service will be available for the general public to use.
Now, the question is who would provide such a service?  Would it be
the telcos which may extend the white pages, or are there opportunities
for entrepreneurs to set up a pure directory business?


Go Simon Sunatori, P.Eng.
X.400:     C=CA; A=Telecom.Canada; O=HyperInfo.Canada; S=Sunatori; G=Go Simon
Internet:  [e-mail]  Telephone: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ken Stillson)
Subject: Boca V-Mail Modem: Request For Tech-Specs
Date: 16 Mar 94 13:19:17 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation


The hardware manual casually mentions a few of the extended AT#
commands used for the voice-subsystem, but doesn't give anywhere near
enough details to actually use them.

Does anyone know (or know where to get) more information on how to
directly use the voice system, so one can write their own software?


Thanks!

Ken Stillson, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gregory A Lucas)
Subject: Motorola - Japan Press Release
Date: 16 Mar 94 16:31:12 GMT
Organization: Motorola Cellulsr Infrastructure Group


Response and Questions to: Tim Kellogg
                           [phone]
                           Jay Hyde
                           [phone]


WASHINGTON, D.C., March 12 -- An agreement reached today promising
U.S. access to Japan's largest cellular phone market was hailed by
Motorola as beneficial to both Japanese consumers and American
workers.

Motorola President and Chief Operating Officer Christopher B.  Galvin
said, "This is an agreement where everyone wins.  First, Japanese
consumers, because they will have greater choice in the marketplace.
Second, American workers, because more of the products they make will
be sold in Japan.  And, of course, Motorola benefits from resolution
of the problems that have restrained our entry into the Tokyo-Nagoya
market."

Galvin thanked U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor and his team,
as well as Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale, for helping to remove
the roadblocks that prevented a full build- out of the Motorola
cellular phone system in the Tokyo-Nagoya region.  "When the U.S.
government found that it had reached an impasse in its 10-year effort
to gain comparable access for telecommunications products in the
Japanese market, it took forceful action.  We commend the
administration for this step," he remarked.

Galvin stressed that his company was not looking for special treatment
in Japan.  "With this agreement, Motorola looks forward to serving our
customer in the Tokyo-Nagoya market with products that meet a standard
of excellence unsurpassed anywhere else in the world," he said.  "We
are confident we will be able to supply quality products, and
ultimately help to increase consumer opportunities, throughout the
region."

The agreement addresses the goal of comparable market access through
two interlocking features:

O  Installation of a cellular phone system that will reach 95
   percent of the Tokyo-Nagoya region's population by the end
   of 1995; and

O  A pledge by the government of Japan that terms of this new
   agreement will be met at every step.

The agreement removes the immediate threat of sanctions.  On February
15, Ambassador Kantor found Japan in violation of a 1989 agreement
assuring American telecommunications companies market access
comparable to that enjoyed by Japanese suppliers.  Kantor, acting
under U.S. trade law, determined that Motorola had been denied access
in the Tokyo/Nagoya region, as required under the 1985 Market-Oriented
Sector Selective (MOSS) Agreement on Telecommunications.

Reflecting on Motorola's decade-long effort to achieve success in the
Tokyo-Nagoya cellular market, Galvin said, "It is our belief that this
agreement offers an opportunity for a new beginning, and that Motorola
will become an even more highly valued contributor to the growth of
the cellular phone system in the Tokyo-Nagoya region."

Motorola is one of the world's leading providers of wireless
communications, semiconductors and advanced electronic systems and
services.  Major equipment businesses include cellular telephone,
two-way radio, paging and data communications, personal communications,
automotive, defense and space electronics and computers.  Communication
devices, computers and millions of consumer products are powered by
Motorola semiconductors.  Motorola's 1993 sales were $17 billion.

                            # # #

STATEMENT BY CHRIS GALVIN, president and chief operating officer,
Motorola, March 12, 1994, Washington, D.C.

Before taking your questions, I want to offer a single important
thought.

As you know, the governments of the United States and Japan announced
a settlement today in the long-running dispute over access to the
Tokyo-Nagoya market for American-made cellular telephone products.

We have been engaged for several weeks in intense negotiations leading
to this settlement.

As you prepare your stories and broadcasts on the settlement, most of
you will be asking, "Who wins, and who loses?"

The thought I want to leave with you is this: This is an agreement
where everyone wins.

International trade is not a zero-sum game.  It does not need to be a
contest where one side is the victor and the other side is vanquished.
It can be conducted so that everyone wins.

This is especially true in this situation, where both Japan and the
U.S. benefit.  The announcement today by the governments of the U.S.
and Japan is a classic example of the principle that the best solution
is one where no one loses.

So who wins?

First, Japanese consumers, because they will have greater choice in
the marketplace.

Second, American workers, because more of the products they make will
be sold in Japan.

And, of course, Motorola benefits from resolution of the problems that
have restrained our entry into the Tokyo-Nagoya market.

This spring, Japanese consumers will be able to buy, rather than
lease, cellular phones for the first time.  As a result, we expect a
virtual explosion in the use of cellular phones in Japan.  This makes
the timing of today's announcement particularly significant from a
business point of view.

It also means that Japanese companies selling cellular telephones in
their own domestic market will benefit from the opportunity to sell
hundreds of thousands of new units, to be used by customers in the
Tokyo-Nagoya region.

Throughout this process, our goal has been to achieve comparable
market access for a North American-type cellular system in Japan's
most heavily populated region.

The agreement announced today addresses the goal of comparable market
access through two interlocking features:

First, through installation of a cellular phone system that will reach
95 percent of the Tokyo-Nagoya region's population by the end of 1995;
and;

Second, through a pledge by the government of Japan that terms of this
new agreement will be met at every step.

Achieving agreement in both these areas was not easy.  But with the
help of our customer, IDO, and the governments of the U.S. and Japan,
we found ways to meet requirements in both of these critical areas.

It is our belief that this agreement offers an opportunity for a new
beginning, and that Motorola will become an even more highly valued
contributor to the growth of the cellular phone system in the
Tokyo-Nagoya region.

We are happy that this very narrow issue did not escalate to the point
where sanctions were applied.  Although we believe in the necessity of
sanctions as a tool for government negotiators, we would much rather
solve our differences and solidify our trade partnerships in a
positive, constructive way.  It would seem that we have achieved this
goal with today's announcement.

Finally, I want to applaud both governments.

Special thanks go to the government of Japan for its efforts to find a
satisfactory resolution of this difficult situation.

In the U.S., we want to thank the U.S. Trade Representative,
Ambassador Kantor, and his team, as well as Ambassador Mondale in
Japan, for helping to remove the roadblocks that prevented a full
build-out of the Motorola cellular phone system in the Tokyo-Nagoya
region.

We also want to recognize that today's announcement would not be
possible without the support of President Clinton. When the U.S.
government found that it had reached an impasse in its ten-year effort
to gain comparable access for telecommunications products in the
Japanese market, it took forceful action.  We commend the
administration for this step.

With this agreement, Motorola looks forward to serving our customer in
the Tokyo-Nagoya market with products that meet a standard of excellence
unsurpassed anywhere else in the world.  We are confident that we will
be able to supply quality products, and ultimately help to increase
consumer opportunities, throughout the region.

Thank you.

                             ###

ELEMENTS OF THE U.S. - JAPAN CELLULAR TELEPHONE ARRANGEMENT, Motorola,
March 12, 1994, Tokyo, Japan

      CONSTRUCTION AND DEPLOYMENT OF THE TACS SYSTEM

o A plan containing a schedule of quarterly commitments on the numbers
of base stations and voice channels and the ratios of population
coverage.

o A deployment plan, to be completed within 30 days, setting out the
precise geographic location of each base station in the Tokyo-Nagoya
area.

o These commitments will result in 159 new base stations, containing
an additional 9,900 voice channels.  The installation will begin in
April 1994; installation and deployment of the base stations will be
completed by September 1995; installation and deployment of the voice
channels will be completed by December 1995.

o Coverage of 95 percent of the population in the Tokyo-Nagoya region
by September 1995.

o An immediate letter of intent containing commitments with respect to
the specific equipment to be purchased and all associated terms and
conditions.

               PROMOTION OF THE TACS SYSTEM

o Establishment of sales organization dedicated to the promotion of
the TACS system.

o Sales promotion of the TACS system, including devotion of two-thirds
of IDO's total advertising budget to TACS promotion.

o An agreement to add no further capacity to the HI-CAP system beyond
that which is currently underway.

o Implementation of a specially-designed campaign to encourage the
movement of subscribers onto the TACS system.

o Transfers within 18 months, i.e., by September 1995, of 1.5 MHz of
spectrum from IDO's HI-CAP system to its TACS system which will be
accomplished without inconvenience to HI-CAP customers as a result of
the campaign mentioned above.


            IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMMITMENTS

o IDO will provide quarterly reports to Japan's Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications.


             GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN COMMITMENTS

o Monitor and oversee completion of the IDO commitments, including
those in the letter and all associated documents.

o Ensure compliance with the letter and associated documents on a
quarterly basis.

o Meet quarterly with the U.S. Government to assess implementation of
the actions described in the letter and associated documents.

o  Approve reallocation of 1.5 MHz to the TACS system.

o Expeditiously grant all necessary permits and licenses to IDO and
approvals required by IDO to complete the TACS system.

o  Give full and prompt consideration to any request from IDO
for new tariff rates and conditions.


Greg Lucas
Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group - Arlington Heights, IL

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #133
******************************


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Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 13:54:00 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #134

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 16 Mar 94 13:54:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 134

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Hardware Recommendations For Phone Bank Wanted ([e-mail])
    Communications Software For UNIX/HPUX Wanted (SynTech)
    Needed: 2500 Sets (Don Grubb)
    Telecom GIFS at Smithsonian Institution (Dave Niebuhr)
    ICs in China (Robert Duque-Ribeiro)
    How to Provide Dialtone to an Incoming Call (Paul Jonathan E. Go)
    Re: Cordless Telephone Range (Joseph R. Schumacher)
    Re: Telex Country Codes (A. Alan Toscano)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update (Mike O'Brien)
    Re: Cut-Rate Domestic and International Calling Cards (Fritz Friedlaender)
    Clipper Humor From Mini-JIR (Robert Virzi)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Hardware Recommendations For Phone Bank Wanted
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 11:22:08 PST


What sort of hardware do I need to set up a customized phone bank
system?  What I think I need are boards which plug into an IBM
PC/AT-compatible backplane, which can switch calls, synthesize and
detect Touch Tones, and detect ringing.  Several boards plugged into a
PC, programmed from MS Basic or something, could basically do
anything.  Who makes boards like this and what do they cost?

I have in mind a system with N incoming lines for customers (where N
is as large as needed to handle the volume of business), N outgoing
lines, and a control computer that distributes calls, monitors
operator performance, etc.  Because of the unique nature of the
business, configuration flexibility is a must.

This system would be a pay-per-call 900 service.  As I understand it,
it is very easy to set these systems up nowadays.  The big problem in
offering a 900 service seems to be advertising for customers, and I
think I've invented a way to get around that problem.

My idea is to offer a pay-per-call suicide hotline.  This idea isn't
as ridiculous as it sounds.  Conventional suicide hotlines (run as a
free service) get a large number of calls from a small number of
repeat callers who usually aren't very serious about suicide, they
just want somebody to talk to.

So instead of advertising, I'd call around to all the free suicide
hotlines and ask them to refer their problem users to me.  This
benefits them because they off-load a burden to me, and it benefits me
because that's how I get customers without paying for advertising.

The conventional suicide hotlines would represent my service as a sort
of "premium" suicide hotline service.  They would tell the client
someting like "You are really deep.  We don't have anyone intelligent
enough to help you.  You need 900-SUICIDE."

At my facility, I would re-route calls out to my operators, who would
work at home.  They would basically be people who like to talk on the
phone, wish to help people, and want to make money at an at-home job.
I'm sure I could find lots of suitable people in retirement
communities.  It might make sense to establish my operation in some
place like Palm Beach or Arroyo Grande.

If there was an emergency in progress, for example if the customer
said he'd just downed a bottle of pills, my operator should be able to
just hit a button to make a TT tone, and the computer would instantly
detect that and make an outgoing call to the local emergency service
for the client's area.  I might even have a doctor on call who would
come on the line and evaluate the situation.

The computer would route calls to the appropriate operator.  For most
customers, that would be based on calling history, i.e. you get hooked
up to the person who handled you most recently (if available).  For
new callers, a phone-mail type interrogation session would sort out
who you should talk to first.  For example:

"If you need immediate medical assistance, press one now."

"If you need to talk to a counselor, press two now."

<BEEP>

"If your situation relates to marriage, sex, or love, press one now."

"If your situation relates to money or taxes, press two now."

"If your situation relates to religion, press three now."

<BEEP>

"If your situation relates to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, press one now."

"If your situation relates to the Holy Roman Catholic Church, press two
now."

<BEEP>

"If you have been sexually abused by a member of the clergy, press one
now."

"If you doubt the existence of God, press two now."

 ... and so forth.

I anticipate there would be many people I could recruit as operators
without pay.  For example, I'm sure every major church would want to
make a counselor available for people who were thinking about leaving
the church.  Heck, I could even charge the churches for routing calls
to them!  I could make money on both ends!

Maybe I should even start my own church!  By the time the customers
have worked through the menu system, I, or rather my computer, would
know quite a lot about them.  It should be possible to customize a
philosophy in real-time that would be comfortable for the client,
while at the same time setting realistic goals for personal
development that the client could work toward.  This may require a
separate data line for each operator, to brief him or her on the
client relationship being cultivated (as chosen by the computer).

I suppose whatever hardware I choose will be programmed from Basic
using Peek and Poke statements, unless it interfaces by serial I/O in
which case I'd be using Print and Input statements.  If it were at all
possible, I'd like to run on the Mac platform, communicating with the
phone line switcher by serial I/O.  Is it at all reasonable to
consider implementing this in HyperCard?

I'd also like to hear any comments people have on the reliability of
the hardware that is available, i.e. who to buy and who to stay away
from.  Reliability is a concern because of the possibility of
emergency situations.  (I'm planning to have a policy of not charging
for calls where the client eventually does commit suicide.)  Also,
what software environments are supported? (I _can_ program in Pascal
and C, and prefer C.)

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

From: [e-mail] (SynTech)
Subject: Communications Software For UNIX/HPUX Wanted
Date: 16 Mar 1994 12:02:47 -0500
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


I am looking for a good communications package for use on a UNIX
(HP/UX) system.  What I want to be able to do is send Hayes commands
to my modem from a UNIX command prompt.  Kermit is not too helpful for
this purpose.  Any suggestions on how I can interact with the modem in
command mode would be appreciated.

We are using MultiTech MultModem II modems.


Thanks!

Matt

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

From: Don Grubb <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 10:21:41 -0600
Subject: Needed: 2500 Sets


If anyone has recently replaced their analog lines with digital and
has a room full of 2500 sets (standard analog desk phones) that they
would like to donate or sell please let me know.

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 13:08:21 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Telecom GIFS at Smithsonian Institution


While browsing through the Smithsonian Institution's archives today, I
found some GIF files of very old telephones and telegraphs.  Very
interesting viewing.

Use anonymous ftp to photo.si.edu cd images/gif89a/tech-history and
have a look.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093

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

From: [e-mail] (DUQUE-RIBEIRO Robert)
Subject: ICs in China
Date: 16 Mar 1994 17:35:22 GMT
Organization: Ecole Centrale de Paris
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Hi!

My name is Robert Duque-Ribeiro, I have a BA in Business Management
and a MBA from the Institut des Hautes Etudes Economiques Et Commerciales
de Paris.  I'm currently involved in a graduate program (MS Technology
&Management) at the Ecole Centrale Paris.

The reason why I'm writing to you today is because I am preparing a
study on the Integrated Circuits industry in China, the economical
activity and its potential. Therefore, I'm seeking information.

I'm looking for any kind of information on:

    - people manufacturing, or using Integrated Circuits,
    - who they are?
    - where they are?
    - when did it start?
    - what they do?(what kind of IC, main characteristics, etc),
    - how do they create their ICs (tools? equipment, vendors?)
    - how many ICs they produce, design (?) ,
    - for what industry (the potential customers)?
    - do they work with foreign companies (vendors, suppliers, customers)
    - do they export?
    - do they import?
    - what is China's (PRC and Hong Kong) policy towards IC?

In fact I'm looking for any kind of information that could help me
define the IC industry in China. I think that I may mix a marketing
framework (marketing mix : Product, price, place, promotion) with an
International business one (country, export rules, etc.)

I want to do well on this, because if I find enough information, I may
use it in my final thesis (Developing countries' new paradigm in
Integrated Circuit: Being threatened could be for our sake.)

Thanks for answering ASAP. Thanks for your help.


Best regards,

Robert Duque-Ribeiro           ECOLE CENTRALE PARIS
MS Technology & Management     Laboratoire Strategie & Management
e-mail: [e-mail]    FRANCE

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul Jonathan E. Go)
Subject: How to Provide Dialtone to an Incoming Call
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 11:08:35 PST


A few weeks back, there was a discussion about black boxes that would
call people back and give them a dialtone.

For a senior project, I would like to build a box that would give an
incoming caller a dialtone after a security verification.  However, I
can't figure out how to provide the dialtone to the caller.

When using three way calling, I usually establish a connection with
the first party, flash, establish the connection with the second
party, and then flash to start the three way call.  If the second
connection is not established, then the phone returns to a normal two
party conversation.

How do I make the phone pass the dialtone through to the caller
instead of returning to the two party conversation?

I apologize if this issue has been solved before; I remember it being
discussed, but I don't remember if we ever agreed to a solution.


Thanks!

Paul Jonathan E. Go
Caltech MSC 1028    [e-mail]
Pasadena CA 91126     213 344 7275



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You'll never make it happen if you continue
to use telco three-way calling instead of your own hardware. Telco's soft-
ware is written to require supervison of the third part of the call (i.e.
require an answer from the other end or at least get it out of the switch
on which you are located and on its way to the other office) before the
third link is officially established. It will always drop that third link
if the switchhook flash is premature. If you want to use telco three-way
calling to implement your project then you have to forget about providing
them dialtone (at least from the CO, I guess you could provide your own
for the sake of appearance) and just patch it through once the connection
is established. In a way, this is the safest way to go because you can
throoughly screen what they dial and only complete it if you are satisfied
with the destination of the call. Providing dialtone itself can be a
hazard to your financial health, with or without the additional passcode
they have to insert. If you want to give them true telco dialtone however,
you'll need to work with an actual second line from telco and fix your
hardware so the gate is opened when the passcode has been satisfied.  PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 10:54:27 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Cordless Telephone Range


>> 2) even if it was legal, why does everyone want to increase the output
>> power?  There is probably more room for increasing the receiver sensitivity
>> which would have the same effect.  For instance, a cheap FET between the
>> antenna and the receiver chip could add at least 10 dB of sensitivity,
>> if you know what your'e doing.

[e-mail] replies:

> ...  Boosting receiver sensitivity won't help.  I might also add
> that simple receiver mods (such as your front-end FET) will have a lot
> of trouble due to the duplexing problem; i.e., a FET connected to the
> antenna as an RF preamp will be overloaded by the phone's own
> transmitter which is also connected to the same antenna.

He even quoted me: "_if you know what you're doing_."  I have in fact
seen 46/49 cordless phones which have FET preamps on the receiver.
Okay, maybe I should have said between the _duplexor_ and receiver
chip.  As a matter of fact, the Motorola 3363 even has a built-in RF
amplifier (ok, it's bipolar) which is intended to preceed the mixer
stage.

Aside from that, I really have to agree with Mr. Held regarding
cordless telephone mods. What I was trying to suggest in the original
posting is that increasing the transmit power isn't a good idea.  It
aggravates an interference problem which is already pretty bad.  And
don't forget, it also makes it easier for your neighbors to listen in
on your calls.

BTW, the original post had a typo: the 900 MHz narrow band limit, (50
mV/m @ 3 meters) is actually 14 dB (not 4 dB) hotter than the 46/49
limit (10 mV/m @ 3 meters)


Joe

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

From: [e-mail] (A Alan Toscano)
Date: 16 Mar 94 19:16:26 GMT
Subject: Re: Telex Country Codes


In TELECOM Digest V14 #131, [e-mail] (Donald R.
Newcomb) writes:

> I'm confused over the assignment of Country Codes for Telex. I've been
> told that the CC for Albania is 604 and that one of the CCs used by
> INMARSAT is 581 but when I look in the AT&T directory of Telex and
> EasyLink addresses, it says Albania is 866 and INMARSAT Telexes are in
> the range 70X, 80X, 90X (where X = 2,3,4,5,6...).

Two different standards for TELEX country codes are utilized in North
America.

604 and 581 are international standard (F.69) country codes for Albania
and INMARSAT-Atlantic-East respectivly. F.69 codes are two or three-digits
in length.

The codes which are listed in the AT&T Electronic Messaging Directory
(last published in 1991) are taken from the traditional North American
standard of "intercontinental codes." They are always three-digits in
length, where the first digit (3, 7, 8, or 9) designates a world
region.

Generally, North American TELEX service providers assume the use of an
"intercontinental code" by default. AT&T's commercial email services
support either type of code, but default to "intercontinental."

On AT&T EasyLink IMS, you can "override" the default and address an
international TELEX number using an F.69 country code by entering an
"ITE" format instead of a "WUW" format. For example:

    PTS
    ITE 604123456(123456ANSBK AB)+

where "604" is a country code, "123456" is a fictitious TELEX number, and
"123456ANSBK AB" is a fictitious expected Answerback.

On AT&T Mail, you designate an F.69 country code by adding the handling
option "/PROTOCOL=F.69" immediately after the TELEX number. For example:

    telex!604123456/PROTOCOL=F.69 (123456ANSBK AB)

or, from a gateway:

    attmail!telex!604123456/PROTOCOL=F.69 (123456ANSBK AB)

As far as I can tell, F.69 codes are not supported on AT&T's other
TELEX platforms, such as "Dial 100" Service, and EasyLink's OLC
(On-line Conversation) Service. Being an AT&T TELEX customer, I have
no information on other TELEX service providers' support of F.69
codes.


A Alan Toscano -- Houston, TX -- 713 415-9262
[e-mail] or [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 11:39:01 PST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update


The affected switch, whose name I flat-out don't remember, is
purported to be the largest switch west of the Rockies.  The picture
in this morning's {LA Times} shows a cleanup-crew working around
"burned batteries", and I must say with the fire hitting the battery
room I also don't blame the folks who rapidly decamped.

I found out about the fire at 5AM, when I was awakened by a phone call
from the Los Angeles Southwest District Emergency Coordinator of the
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).  ARES is the amateur radio
emergency organization allied with LA city.  ARES had been activated
all over the city because the fire had knocked out 911 service to the
San Fernando Valley and West LA.  (A sheriff's deputy reported to me
that it also resulted in 911 service being involuntarily "swapped"
between districts, with each district getting the other's calls.
Sounds like untested fallback technology to me.)

We sat and listened to our radios as the city emergency honchos met in
the LA EOC downtown to decide what to do about it.  The usual plan was
for us to go to the nearest firehouse and act as communicators.
However, in this case, although 911 was kaput, 411 still worked fine.
Of course, 411 went to a completely different set of operators having
no emergency connectivity whatsoever, so the plan that was evolved on
the spot was to send us out to the 411 offices to relay traffic to the
firehouses.  People who couldn't get anything on 911 were calling 411,
and were as mad as wet hens.

In the event, the emergency honchos just wound up publicizing
district-wide seven-digit numbers for emergency services, as the repair
estimate for return of 911 service was "six to eight hours" after the
fire, which was sometime around midnight or 1AM.  Today's paper
reported 911 service restored at 9AM, and the rest of the switching
problems fixed by around 2PM.  ARES stood down around 6:30AM without
being deployed.


Mike O'Brien   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Fritz Friedlaender)
Subject: Re: Cut-Rate Domestic and International Calling Cards
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 19:32:04 GMT


AT&T currently charges 31 cents/minute weekends (until June) to "REACH
OUT WORLD"(TM) customers who select Germany as their designated
country.  And my last bill actually used these rates though there has
not been much advertising.


F.J. Friedlaender

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Virzi)
Subject: Clipper Humor From Mini-JIR
Organization: GTE Laboratories, Inc.
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 19:17:15 GMT


This appeared in the mini Journal of Irreproducible results.  I
thought it was relevant to the discussions regarding Clipper Chip
technology.


Bob Virzi

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

1994-03-04      Clipper Chip Envelope, Initiative, and Economics

CLIPPER CHIP ENVELOPE

Soon the government-mandated Clipper Chip secret-code-decoder will be
installed in every piece of US electronic communications equipment.
Criminals might then try to send their coded messages via traditional
mail. Against that possibility, we are now applying Clipper Chip
protection to paper mail. Our Clipper Chip Envelope automatically
reads and decodes any paper enclosed in it. The Clipper Chip Envelope
consists of a standard paper envelope with an installed optical
scanner and microprocessor, optical character recognition software, a
passive transmitter, and a Clipper Chip. The whole mechanism is the
size and value of a fingernail clipping. Ee-way are-ay aking-may
is-thay echnology-tay available-ay oo-tay any-ay official-ay agency-ay
ich-way an-cay ecode-day is-they essage-may, free of charge.

Anyone interested in subscribing to this 'zine can do so by sending a brief E-mail message to either of these addresses:

        [e-mail]     or      LISTSERV@MITVMA

The body of your message should contain ONLY the words "SUBSCRIBE MINI-
JIR" followed by your name. Here are two examples:

        SUBSCRIBE MINI-JIR Irene Curie Joliot
        SUBSCRIBE MINI-JIR Nicholai Lobachevsky

To stop subscribing,
send the following message to the same address:

        SIGNOFF MINI-JIR


[e-mail]   [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To make this Digest into a multi-linqual
publication, I shall start producing an edition in Pig Latin each day.  PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #134
******************************


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Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 10:26:01 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #135

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 17 Mar 94 10:26:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 135

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    History of the Term "Switch" (Jonathan Welch)
    GTI LD Service (US) ([e-mail])
    NPA-NXX V&H Coordinates Request (Gary K. Nitzberg)
    Local CID Showing Out of Area (Jim Derdzinski)
    911 Used From Car Phone (Carl Moore)
    Canadian Government WWW Project (Tyson Macaulay)
    LCI Has Network Problems (Alec Isaacson)
    Looking For Introductory Books, FAQ (Roger West)
    Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment (Bob Schwartz)
    Re: Communications Software For UNIX/HPUX Wanted (Bill Mayhew)
    Re: USR's New Modem ([e-mail])
    On Telex Answerbacks (Paul Robinson)
    Re: ICs in CHINA (Andrew Wu)
    Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip (Charles Randall Yates)
    PA Bell in California? ([e-mail])
    Re: Hardware Recommendations For Phone Bank Wanted (David Devereaux-Weber)
    Last Laugh! BBB on 900 Bumber (Carl Moore)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 19:14:58 -0500
From: Jonathan_Welch <[e-mail]>
Subject: History of the Term "Switch"


I saw a brief image on TV how the first so-called switch consisted of
movable contacts mounted on a board, serving eight customers.

Presumably this is where the term came from for today's complex
switching equipment.

But was the term switch invented for telegraph equipment?  I don't
think the light bulb existed when the telephone was invented, so it
wouldn't have been used in that context (correct me if I'm wrong).


Jonathan Welch  VAX Systems Manager  Umass/Amherst  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: GTI LD Service (US)
Date: 16 Mar 1994 20:39:22 -0500
Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation


For all you long distance users out there, I have found a service that
is cheaper than anything I've seen. The telecom is called GTI, based in
Seattle, Washington. Below is a summary of what the service costs and has
to offer. If you have more questions or would like signup info, send email
to '[e-mail]'. I would be happy to give you further info about this
great service.

o Rates as low as *$2.60/hr*
o *No change* in present Long Distance carrier required
o All calls are routed thru an 800 number
o Calls may be placed from *anywhere* in U.S. to *anywhere* in U.S.
o Most pay phones require no coins
o *No time restrictions* -- call anytime you like
o 60 day risk free guarantee (sign-up fee will be refunded)
o Itemized summary of calls made each month

Faxed brochures are available for convenience. Please include this in
your EMAIL if you prefer this method instead of "Smail."


Allen


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We've had this one before, and the
catch lies in the 'rates as low as $2.60 per hour' thing, as a couple
readers have pointed out. There are a few other things not completely
described above, but as an educational exercise I shall let new readers
send in for the brochure and learn about the program.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gary K. Nitzberg)
Subject: NPA-NXX V&H Coordinates Request
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 01:59:04 GMT


I am taking a class which requires a WAN designation within the United
States and the instructor has supplied us with NPA-NXX numbers for the
purpose of the project.  Unfortunely, to acquire the major and minor
V&H coordinates for these locations, I would need to purchase the
documentation from Bellcore. Not to mention hoping they would come
before the class is over.  I was wondering if anyone could be so kind
as to lookup the V&H coordinates for the following locations or maybe
know of a on or offline location this information is available for the
purpose of education.  Thank you in advance.

    Irvine, CA.        714-753
    Milpitas, CA.      408-945
    San Diego, CA.     619-336
    Atlanta, GA.       404-717
    Franklin Park, IL. 708-288
    Westboro, MA.      508-836
    Austin, TX.        512-343
    Dallas, TX.        817-685


Gary K. Nitzberg   [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 21:15:06 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Local CID Showing Out of Area


> When CID was deployed in my area (516 area code), I tried calling home
> from a pay phone and the number was displayed.  However, when I call
> home while I'm having my car serviced at a local service station, the
> number doesn't show.

> The difference is that the pay phone on the corner is NYNEX owned,
> and the other one is a COCOT.

This sounds to me like your area might be served by a CO with two
vintages of switches (i.e., one is SS7 compatible, and the other
isn't) The Nynex telephone is probably connected to the SS7 compatible
switch in that CO and the COCOT telephone is probably connected to the
non-SS7 switch.  As you can see, this also results in some prefixes in
your exchange being able to get and display CID and the rest not being
able to.

Situations like this exist here in Chicago (although becoming rarer)
The Chicago-Superior exchange comes to mind.  It is possible in this
area to place calls from different telephones in the same building and
have the CID work with some, and "Out-of-Area" on the rest.  One
person in an apartment building can readily subscribe to CID, but
their next door neighbor can't unless they change their number.  (I
always thought it was kind of funny that I can see when my mom in St.
John, IN <about 40 miles away -- same LATA> calls me, but I can't see
when my friends within walking distance of here call.  Ahh, modern
telecommunications ...)

It is my understanding that these partial CO upgrades are a result of
various equipment depreciation tables, tariffs and all that other
stuff.  However, a buddy of mine at Ameritech told me recently that
they hope to have the entire Chicago area CID capable by the end of
this year.


Jim Derdzinski   Chicago, IL  [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 15:53:01 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: 911 Used From Car Phone


KYW news-radio has noted the use of 911 from a car phone.  That's
apparently how a tanker-truck crash at Conshohocken, PA was reported
(this happened on I-76/I-476 interchange) this week.  The driver of
that truck was killed, and nobody else was hurt.

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

From: [e-mail] (Tyson Macaulay)
Subject: Canadian Government WWW project
Organization: Communications Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 21:08:58 GMT


(This notice is directed primarily to systems administrators.  More
information will be forthcoming shortly - please do not email requesting
general information.  Thanks in advance.)

This is a solicitation for participant from Canadian and potentially
international Internet hosts for the *Open Government* project.

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

          The Open Government Pilot is a World-Wide-Web demonstration
project that is being developed by the Directorate of Communications
Development, Industry Canada.  The Open Government Pilot is an
Internet-based service that provides single-window access to the
various segments of the federal government including: the House of
Commons; the Senate; the Supreme Court; and, federal departments and
agencies.

          The Open Government Pilot provides pointers to various
Internet sites within the federal government as well as sites around
Canada. Information that is available from these sites includes:
contact information and information about members of Parliament;
information about the Supreme Court, including its rulings; contact
information for both federal and provincial government departments and
agencies; and, constitutional and treaty documents.

          The Open Government Pilot is intended to be an educational
tool.  Its primary goal is to inform Canadians and people from around
the world how the federal system of government works and who the key
participants are.  Its secondary function is to provide a central
access point for those seeking contacts within House of Commons, the
Senate, the Supreme Court, or government departments and agencies.

This pilot is now in beta-test and a tentative launch date has
been set for March 31st.

     *** Because of the projected load of this service, and to supply
as good service as possible to the Internet community, Industry Canada
wishes to create mirror sites of the Open Government project. ***

Parties that may be interested in acting as host to a mirror site
please send email to:

[e-mail]


Tyson Macaulay - Internet Applications Consultant
DTP/DGCP  Industry Canada, 7th Floor, Journal Tower North
300 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1A 0C8
Email: [e-mail]  Voice: 613 99304236

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 15:47:12 EST
From: Alec Isaacson <[e-mail]>
Subject: LCI Has Network Problems


As of 1:30 EST Wednesday LCI Communications has had network problems.
As far as I can see it covers at least southern Ohio, and probably
reaches farther than that.  If you try to dial long distance on a
phone that defaults to LCI you get either a re-order, an "All circuits
are busy" or "Due to network problems, your call cannot be completed
as dialed."  This problem also affects some T1s that my employer uses
for internal voice and data traffic between sites distributed across
the eastern U.S.  Their help desk people say they know about the
problem, but had no details.  If I get any more news, I'll let you
know.

Ironic part: I had to force my phone to AT&T (10ATT0) to call LCI to
report trouble, just dialing their 800 number didn't cut it.


Alec D. Isaacson  [e-mail]
Miami University, Oxford, OH

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

From: [e-mail] (Roger West)
Subject: Looking For Introductory Books, FAQ
Date: 16 Mar 1994 22:38:10 GMT
Organization: Texas Instruments, Speech Mushrooms.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Can anyone recommend any books which provide an overall introduction to
telecommunications technology?  The only one I'm familiar with is:

  "Voice/Data Telecommunications Systems, An Introduction to Technology"
  by Gurrie and O'Connor, Prentice Hall, 1986.

but I would like to find something a little more current, if possible.
Also, there wouldn't happen to be a FAQ for this newsgroup, would there?

Thanks for any help.


Roger West             internet: [e-mail]
Texas Instruments         voice: [phone]
Telecom Systems Division____fax: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes there would happen to be an FAQ for
this group. It is located in the Telecom Archives at lcs.mit.edu, and
is available using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu.    PAT]

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

Subject: Re: Brian McCann of WLUP Encourages Telephone Harrassment
From: [e-mail] (Bob Schwartz)
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 15:01:07 PST
Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Only a few people probably remember when
> the FCC ordered our very own WLS (890 AM) off the air one night over
> thirty years ago -- about 1960 sometime -- when one of the DJ's of the
> 'new' managment (the team which dumped the Prairie Farmer, religion and
> soap opera format for hard rock music) uttered the word 'damn' over the
> air. Yep, that's all it took in those days. A telephone call from the
> FCC enforcement representative in this area to the home of the General
> Manager (it was late at night) followed by a call from the GM to the
> engineer on duty caused the station to go off the air. They went off
> so fast in fact they stopped the music they were playing in the middle
> of the song and the DJ did a formal identification process of the station
> (call letters, power, location of station, that they were licensed by the
> FCC, etc) and concluded by saying that 'the Federal Communications Comm-
> ission has ordered that this station remain silent until further notice
> and accordingly we leave the air at this time.'. That was it, and within
> five seconds or so of that they dropped the carrier and were gone. Maybe
> ten minutes had passed between the 'damn' and WLS being ordered off the
> air. That was a Saturday night, and they came back on the air about 10 AM
> the next morning, probably after the station attornies and management
> straightened it out with the FCC people. They were required by the FCC
> to play a recorded message *once every hour* for two days and four times per
> day for the rest of the week from the management of the station apologizing
> for the indiscretion and informing the listeners how to contact the FCC
> to file other complaints against the station if they wished to do so.  PAT]

Pat, as an avid listener of WLS at that time , my recollection is of a
disk jockey, Dick Biondi, telling two jokes thought to be off color.
One was about short skirts (mini skirts were just about to apear on
the market or maybe it was about the first ones). The joke I recall
went something like , if women's skirts get shorter they'll have two
more cheeks to powder and more hair to comb. there was also a second
joke but I just can't recall it. Not long afterwards, Art Roberts
filled Biondi's spot. Could the jokes and the 'd' word been on the same
night? Faint recollections are hinting that damn was in the punchline
of the second joke. Dick Biondi was a great DJ! Biondi blue horizon ...


Regards,

Bob Schwartz                                       [e-mail]
Bill Correctors, Inc.   [phone]   Marin County, California


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way you describe it is the way I
recall it also. WLS got an order from the FCC (in regards to Biondi)
to 'cut him off the air right away' and Art Roberts took over the
microphone. Still not placated, the FCC ordered the whole thing shut
down. The main thing to remember here was that no one, including the
FCC was very happy with the format change at WLS. Older listeners of
WLS who had been tuned there for years did not like it; none of the
couple dozen Sunday preachers liked it who got their shows dumped with
a month's notice (on Sunday, WLS went from about 5:00 AM through 1:00
AM Monday morning with brokered pre-recorded religious programs one
after another in those days, all fifteen to thirty minutes in length);
the national association which represented farmers had two or three
shows every weekday on WLS and they did not like it, etc.

One local preacher here had the 11:00 AM - 12:00 noon slot every Sunday
on WLS; his contract was solid for another two or three years and he
would not accept WLS' offer to buy him out so after the format change
to rock music the station still had to stop the music to put him on. The
DJ on Sunday morning would always stop his music at 10:58 AM with a
comment that "now it is time for Reverend Bradley at People's Church,
Lawrence and Sheridan Avenues ... me, I'm going out for breakfast across
the street at Walgreen's cafeteria. I'll be back at noon, and you better
be back also! Please don't tune us out."  And *precisely* at noon they
cut the feed (the religious program was live) and the DJ was back on the
air screaming about the top 40 hits of the day.  They did that for about
two or three years until the contract expired.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Re: Communications Software For UNIX/HPUX Wanted
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 00:07:34 GMT


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

> I am looking for a good communications package for use on a UNIX
> (HP/UX) system.  What I want to be able to do is send Hayes commands
> to my modem from a UNIX command prompt.  Kermit is not too helpful for
> this purpose.

I test most of our modem pool lines every day.  I do so by dialing out
from an HP-9000 running HP-UX version 7.  (yep, I know, that's old!)
I use the cu program.  It is lean and mean and quite handy for issuing
quick 'n dirty AT commands to modems.  Cu is not a terminal emulator
by any means, but it is available on virtually any UNIX system.  Check
out the man pages; cu is one of the standard commands.  Kermit, I
agreee, is too much excess baggage for simple jobs.

It has been about five years since I wired the ports, but I recall the
wiring recommended in the manuals for tty -> modem is suboptimal.  I
use uugetty instead of the standard getty command so that I can
support both incoming and outgoing use of the modems on the HP system.
You have to make nodes for the cul and cua devices for uugetty.  Cua
honors modem control signals, but cul seems to ignore the control
signals.  I have dial-ins use the uugetty running on a cua device and
dial out manually with cul since I don't have to re-invoke cu every
time the carrier drops.

The uugettys occasionally lock up, so I run a shell program from the
crontab once per hour to kill the uugettys if there isn't an
interactive shell or uucp program running on the associated port at
the moment.  The hourly kill repsawns the uugettys and helps assure
maximum availability of the modems for incoming traffic.

I still dial most of the lines in our modem pool on a regular basis
manually.  There is a lot of qualitative feel that you don't get
from an automated script that dials the numbers.  The problem is
that we're getting enough lines now that dialing them is getting to
take quite a bit of time.


Bill Mayhew        NEOUCOM Computer Services Department
Rootstown, OH  44272-0095  USA      phone: [phone]
[e-mail]       amateur radio 146.58: N8WED

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: USR's New Modem
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 00:53:59 GMT


[e-mail] wrote:

> U.S. Robotics is releasing a new modem in five weeks. The modem will
> be upgradable to the V.34 standard when it is approved via a software
> download. The new modem will have read/writeable EPROMS which will
> allow this. The modem will have all the current protocols, making it
> the best modem on the market. And since there's no fee to get the
> V.34, I'd say it'll be the best buy when it comes out. For more info
> call USR at 1-800-DIALUSR.

Yeah, and what you forget to mention is that their one of the highest
priced modems on the market, whos twisted the arms of customers for
years by pushing their so-called HST protocol which wasn't even worthy
of use for bidirectional transfers.  Then they came out with their
v.32terbo modems which just introduced more problems -- They like to
'train down' to speeds below V.32bis.  Their solution to the problem
was to remove an S register option instead of correcting the protocol
implementation.  They offer poor technical support, low turn around
time, and poor over all response.  Personally, I'd rather not pay
their high cost for a modem that says 'USR' on it.  They're starting
to remind me of COMPUCOM before they finally folded.

As far as v.34 is concerned, Microcom is offering a sysop deal vFAST
modem for $140.00 RIGHT NOW.  You can order them, and they'll be on
their way.  When v.34 is finally announced they will send you an
upgrade for $39.00.  Microcom can be reached at 800-822-8224.

Zoom is offering a similar deal as well, but I haven't researched it.

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 20:40:59 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: On Telex Answerbacks
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


Sheldon W. Hoenig <[e-mail]> writes in TELECOM Digest:

> The telex system uses an answerback code [and]... a suffix... [which]
> tells which telex carrier supplies the telex number and service...
> Does anyone have a list...?

As it happened, I wrote one which is part of the Internet library as
Internet RFC 1394.  I have finished and will be releasing within the
next 60 days a revised edition that is more than twice as large.

To obtain a copy of the currently available listing, which shows ISO 3166
country codes, telex answerback codes, telex numbers (three digit) and
telephone area codes throughout the world, you can get a copy by anonymous
FTP as follows:

FTP rs.internic.net
anonymous
[e-mail]
cd /rfc
get rfc1394.txt
quit


Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Andrew Wu)
Subject: Re: ICs in CHINA
Date: 17 Mar 94 02:32:16 GMT
Organization: cisco Systems


Yes, there were a couple of IC manufacturers in mainland China about four
years ago when I left there and at least one of them, at Shanghai, was
a joint venture with foreign investment.

Unfortunatly, I don't know much about the IC and don't have much information
about them. But you may want to post your questions to some .china news
groups, as I know many engieers, scholars, students from China read these.


Good luck,

andrew

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

From: [e-mail] (Charles Randall Yates)
Subject: Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip
Date: 17 Mar 1994 03:11:14 GMT
Organization: University of South Florida


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Philip
Elmer-DeWitt) writes:

> To accompany an article on the Clipper Chip in this week's TIME, the
> magazine commissioned a poll on public attitudes toward wiretap
> issues. The relevant graph:

>  "In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by
> Yankelovich Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect
> the privacy of phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to
> conduct wiretaps.  When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they
> opposed it."

Why shouldn't the government have the right to listen in? Any law-abiding
citizen should have nothing to hide. I'm for it.


Randy Yates    Signal Processing & Communications/Mathematics Student
University of South Florida   <[e-mail]>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, umm, err, uh, I dunno about that.
I come down a bit more conservative than many people around here and I
don't think I would like your idea. Were you, like our suicide-hotline-
on-a-900-number fellow yesterday just getting an early start on April
Fool's Day this year or do you really believe Big Brother should get to
listen and see everything?  Never mind, don't answer, my mailbox would
get flooded worse than ever.   PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 18:15:19 -0500
From: Jonathan <[e-mail]>
Subject: PA Bell in California


Some contributor wrote the following on this newsgroup: The radio news
reported a fire on the 13th floor of a pa bell building in downtown LA
that affects part of the 911 service and also mentioned connections to
MCI, et al PA Bell?  I didn't know that PA Bell had service in LA.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's not PA as in Pennsylvania (nor MA
as in Massachusetts). It's 'pa' as in the opposite of 'ma' or your mother.
Now some might contend that it really was supposed to be 'Pac' with your
editor committing a typographical error by omitting the 'c' and failing
to upper-case the 'P' as in 'Pac', the short form of 'Pacific'. But really
the author was talking about Pa (as in Father) Bell. Or even if he
wasn't, I thought it was cute that way and left it alone.  PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 16:51:43 CST
From: [e-mail]
Reply-To: David Devereaux-Weber <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Hardware Recommendations For Phone Bank Wanted


[e-mail] wrote about his suicide hot line ...

mmm:

It's 16 days before April Fools Day.  Did you figure you'd beat the rush?

> ... policy of not charging for calls where the client eventually does
> commit suicide ...


David Devereaux-Weber, P.E.             [e-mail] (Internet)
The University of Wisconsin - Madison   [phone] (voice)
DoIT - MACC Communications; B263        [phone] (FAX)
1210 W Dayton St.                       Madison, WI 53706

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 15:47:15 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Last Laugh! BBB on 900 Number


I saw this on a billboard, I think it was along I-95 in Philadelphia:

"Tired of rip-offs?  Call 1-900-CALL-BBB. 95 cents / minute"

(The number translates to 1-900-225-5222.  BBB stands for Better
Business Bureau.)

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #135
******************************


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Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 12:42:08 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #136

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 17 Mar 94 12:42:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 136

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Need ulaw to Linear Translation Table (Matt Eshpeter)
    AT&T CIC Cursor Problems (Grimes G. Slaughter)
    Re: Communications Software For UNIX/HPUX Wanted (Frank da Cruz)
    Re: Hardware Recommendations For Phone Bank Wanted (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update (Craig Milo Rogers)
    Correction Re: Telecom GIFS at Smithsonian Institution (Dave Niebuhr)
    Re: Questions About GMRS Radio (Paul Schmidt)
    Re: USR's New Modem ([e-mail])
    Wanted: Penril VCX 1000 Equipment (Quentin Gunter)
    An Obscene Caller Gets Caught - 1965 (TELECOM Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Matt Eshpeter)
Subject: Need ulaw to Linear Translation Table
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: MOTOROLA Land Mobile Products Sector
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 14:45:58 GMT


I am looking for a ulaw to linear conversion table.  Anyone know of a
source on the net?


Thanks,

[e-mail]
Mat Eshpeter    [phone]      fax [phone]
Motorola Canada Limited -- Land Mobile Products Sector

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

Date: 17 Mar 94 09:52:49 EST
From: Grimes G. Slaughter <[e-mail]>
Subject: AT&T CIC Cursor Problems


If you have been having cursor trouble with AT&T's Consumer
Information Center at 800-645-6759 the trouble probably lies with CIC.
I used Hayes' SmartCom Exec to access CIC using ANSI or VT100
simulation, and encountered great difficulty with an errant cursor.
The AT&T people at 317-322-6491 claim that only Hayes software has
problems. I advised Hayes of this, and Ashley made an intensive
investigation. She found that other software encountered problems, and
that CIC was not outputting a CR with the LF. They are working on it.


Grimes G. Slaughter

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

From: [e-mail] (Frank da Cruz)
Subject: Re: Communications Software For UNIX/HPUX Wanted
Date: 17 Mar 1994 14:13:07 GMT
Organization: Columbia University


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

> I am looking for a good communications package for use on a UNIX
> (HP/UX) system.  What I want to be able to do is send Hayes commands
> to my modem from a UNIX command prompt.  Kermit is not too helpful for
> this purpose.

Sure it is.  The current version of C-Kermit for UNIX is 5A(189), and
it has comprehensive dialing abilities, and numerous methods to
customize the dialing process.  And of course, it also lets you type
commands straight at the modem if you want to.  It also lets you make
TCP/IP TELNET connections.  It also has a script programming language
with variables, conditionals, looping, etc etc.  Take another look.

Anonymous ftp to kermit.columbia.edu, directory kermit/bin, binary
mode, file cku189.tar.Z.  Uncompress, untar, and give the appropriate
HP-related "make" command, depending on which version of HP-UX you
have.  See the directions at the top of the makefile.  To get started,
just start the program and type "help".


Frank

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Hardware Recommendations For Phone Bank Wanted
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 22:09:50 PST


Said by: [e-mail]

> My idea is to offer a pay-per-call suicide hotline.  This idea isn't
> as ridiculous as it sounds.  Conventional suicide hotlines (run as a
> free service) get a large number of calls from a small number of
> repeat callers who usually aren't very serious about suicide, they
> just want somebody to talk to.

This is *HORRIBLE*.  I hope that you have a very large insurance plan
so that family members of deceased callers who file negligence suits
agansit you will get some change of getting their judgement paid.

I seriously doubt you are qualified in any way to counsel people
contemplating suicide, and since you are *CHARGING* for this service,
I hope that the caller is smart enough to call County Services where
they can get real help.

Please don't disguise your greed as an attempt to help others.


Steve   [e-mail]
#608 Merrill * 200 McLaughlin Drive * Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1015


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Personally, I think he was disguising an
early April Fool's joke. Note the line in his message where he says there
will be no charge for the call to 'those who actually commit suicide'.  PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 22:35:16 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Craig Milo Rogers)
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update
Organization: USC Information Sciences Institute


In article <[e-mail]> TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> Some critical parts of the network, including the Priority Repair
> office for the region were knocked off line. Several long distance
> carriers are reporting inability to process traffic through Los
> Angeles and the affected area.

    Originally, the switching offices above the local offices were
called "tandems" because they were grouped into pairs, and each local
office in a tandem pair's area connected to each of the tandem switches
independently.  This was a fine concept, and would have prevented
fires such as ours' here in Los Angeles from disrupting service so
thoroughly.

    What happened to the tandem design?  Was it a victim of
economics? Of deregulation, in particular?

    Thanks.


Craig Milo Rogers


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Telcos seem to be far more conscious
of costs than they ever used to be. Of course, many years ago they
had so much money that offering a high degree of customer service and
satisfaction (including redundant things to avoid any major problems
that might disrupt the network) cost them little or nothing by comparison.
Now things are different. We cannot make direct connections between the
breakup of the Bell System in 1983 and the gradually deteriorating state
of telephone service in the USA today, but I can't help but think that
there is a cause and effect relationship between the two. For how many
ever decades we lived with the 'natural monopoly' argument and lived with
things we did not like about the old Bell System in exchange for having
a great deal we DID like about it. Most of the people involved in forcing
the breakup were not so much interested in improving telephone service in
the USA as they were greedy and interested in getting a peice of the
action. That's fine, but from the very early days of competition in the
1970's when we witnessed MCI's blantant 'skimming the cream' activities
it should have been obvious that subscriber satisfaction and top-quality
service was not where it was at. I'm not trying to single out MCI here,
it's just that they were the first of several to come along. Nor am I
saying that the (old, now defunct) Bell System was without blame at all,
and surely the AT&T of two decades ago badly needed reform, perhaps even
under the direction of the government. But, to use an old expression, they
threw the baby out with the bath water when divestiture occurred. It was
a massive overkill in my opinion. To the credit of the old system, it has
taken a decade for the decay to start to become apparent. As the telcos
approach the next century and the economics of competition, all sorts of
corners are being cut and shortcuts being taken -- things that the old
AT&T for all of its own shortcomings -- would never have permitted.

Now there is major attention given to the bottom line, and while AT&T never
failed to pay a juicy dividend to its stockholders in the old days, they
did factor in more realistic costs of doing business (such as adequate
training of personnel; staffing to the point of redundancy at times, etc)
in the process. I think things like the outages in recent years are just
a sample of what is to come. Much of the spirit and enthusiasm of the past
is gone, and would you feel otherwise if you had to wonder if your job
was still going to be there a year from now?  Did you know there was a
time when AT&T would never consider putting a new operator to work answering
actual calls until after *ten weeks* of training in a school they went
to? Customer service personnel had an initial training period and then
followup training at intervals. They learned *everything* about the system.
What telco can afford those luxuries now?  For that matter, who cares
any longer?  If you wanted to work in repair, even as a clerk answering
'611' calls you read {Lee's ABC} books and passed tests showing you were
qualified before you were allowed to respond to customer trouble tickets.
Twenty or thirty years ago -- like now -- people complained about the
gradually eroding quality of the products and service in American business,
but we never thought it would happen to 'the phone company'. Then came
along Judge Greene and he said he'd prove us wrong ...  PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 09:45:14 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Correction Re: Telecom GIFS at Smithsonian Insitution


I gave the incorrect address for the Smithsonian Institution
yesterday.  I apologize for the inconvenience caused.

The correct address is photo1.si.edu
                            ^

Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093

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

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 15:48:57 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Paul Schmidt)
Subject: Re: Questions About GMRS Radio


Pat,

     I saw your posting re: GMRS and can supply a bit of information
for you. I just got my GMRS license last week (it took about ten weeks.)
The regs are in 47 CFR Part 95 (you should be able to get a copy from
a good-sized library; since it's federal regs, you can Xerox them
legally. I got mine from the IU library about 25 miles from here.)

     The frequencies available are 462.55, .575, .60, .625, .65,
 .675, .70 and .725 MHz, with a limit of 50 watts output.  Repeaters
are legal, and, if using one, you'll transmit 5 MHz higher on the
handhelds/mobiles.  The FCC will license you (an individual, over 18
and not the representative of a foreign government) for personal
communications on 1 or two of the channels / channel pairs listed.

     In addition, 462.675 may also be used by any licensee (and, if on
a repeater, the repeater input 5 MHz higher) for emergency use (like
CB channel 9 ... in fact, REACT went to 462.675...)

     Also, seven 12.5 KHz split channels (.5625, .5875, etc ...) are
available for low-power (<5W ERP) to any licensee.  (You will be
licensed for the "main" channels, the 12.5 kHz splits are additional
channels ...)

     If you have any other questions, drop me an e-mail line and I'll
see what I can do about answering them (I'm not an expert, but I do
have a copy of part 95.)

The application is on FCC Form 574 and cost is $35 for a five-year license.
No frequency coordination fees (channels are shared -- listen in your
area for the least congested).  Form 574 is available from all FCC
field offices.  Be sure to ask for the instruction booklet on how to
fill one out -- it is NOT obvious, and they will not accept them if
not done correctly (not all blocks apply to all radio services.)


Hope this information helps ...


Paul Schmidt / K9PS (amateur) / KAF2547 (GMRS)
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The radio I have does not have any of
the main frequencies you mention above. It has only 462.6375 and
462.7125 crystals in it. It does not appear to have any way of using
the other frequencies. I've left my scanner on the range of 462 megs
for a couple days now and hear virtually no traffic at all there.
On the other hand, 460/463 is jammed here, with the Chicago Police
base stations and handhelds and 470/473 is also loaded with the suburban
police and various other government stuff. I suppose I could get the
radio changed to include the REACT frequency; that seems like a good
idea.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: USR's New Modem
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 18:07:20 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

> Yeah, and what you forget to mention is that their one of the highest
> priced modems on the market, whos twisted the arms of customers for
> years by pushing their so-called HST protocol which wasn't even worthy
> of use for bidirectional transfers.

While puma's still unhappy with USR over their last 'trade-up' fiasco
where they shipped the new modems COD when they were prepaid, and then
took over a month to get them to me <grrr>, I still think I need to
stand up for them regarding your comments ...

No one ever claimed that HST was a bi-directional transfer protocol,
it was clearly stated that it was non-symmetrical, 9600 one direction
and 300 reverse (now 16.8/450, or whatever...) with the capability of
reversing the channels if traffic demanded.  They provided a reasonable
unit back with v.32 modems were $2,500 to $3,000 and up, and the quality
of the connection is still much more robust than v.32 or v.32bis.  The
forward/reverse channel approached worked just great for online interactive
use, or for kermit/xmodem/zmodem type file transfers where you have a LOT
of data in one direction and ack/nak's only in the reverse.

And I don't remember having my arm twisted, I thought it was *great*.
They had a *real* v.32 then v.32bis unit out long before Rockwell got
their implementation working right, and you could purchase either a
unit with v.32/v.32bis (the Sportster/Courier models) or one that
included HST (the dual standard) -- not too pushy.


[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Quentin Gunter)
Subject: Wanted: Penril VCX 1000 Equipment
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Quentin Gunter)
Organization: The National Capital FreeNet
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 13:15:05 -0500


I need 150 pieces of the following types of VCX 1000 Communication
Cards:

RS-232 cards (Part No. 4310-02)
V.35 cards (Part No. 4312-02)
ALC 16 Plus cards (Part No. 4301-02)

Equipment can be new or used.

Reply quickly to Geocom Technologies Inc. by FAX [phone] or E-Mail.


[e-mail] (Quentin Gunter/Lori Shaw)

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

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 12:27:03 CST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Digest Moderator)
Subject: An Obscene Caller Gets Caught, 1965


This happened almost thirty years ago, but it came to mind recently
while reading about efforts to trace a call here by the police in a
harassment case.

In those days, a central office called Chicago-Wabash served the south
part of the downtown area like it does today. During the week, it is a
very busy office, but back then with no residential development south
of downtown like today, Saturday nights and all day Sunday were pretty
slow for the limited personnel on duty. After about 6:00 PM when the
stores downtown closed, it was rare that more than one or two calls
would come in to 611 for the rest of the weekend. Only two people were
on duty then, a clerk and a guy who did whatever was needed in the
frames.

One subscriber had a game he enjoyed a lot, and he figured he would
never get caught at it: he liked to make obscene calls to the clerk
who answered on 611. He was some fellow who had a little shop downtown
and who closed up at 6:00 PM every Saturday night, which is when he
would have his fun before going home for the night, probably to some
ugly hateful wife who had him on a short leash otherwise.

Without fail for several weeks, every Saturday night at 6:10 PM this
guy would call 611, give his spiel and disconnect. The repair clerk
and her supervisor (the guy who worked in the frames) always had a big
laugh about it and it had gotten so regular they could set their watches
by this guy calling in. The repair guy would tease the clerk and tell
her 'hey, its about 6:10, its time for your boyfriend to call ...'.

One Saturday night, he got a bright idea and told her, 'tonight, lets
catch him ... '. She wanted to know how, considering the guy was on
and off in thirty seconds or so. He told her his plan: since they
literally never had any other calls to 611 in that office on Saturday
night, they'd reroute his call, and get him to climb into the trap on
his own.

"Here's what you do," he told her. "When he calls in, I want you to
sound exactly like a recorded message, and I want you to say just
these words: 'Repair Service has a new number. Calls for Repair Service
are now taken at the number 230. Please hang up and dial 230 to reach
Repair Service ...' ... if he stays on the line, repeat the message
a second time, then click off."

'230' was a special number which when dialed terminated on the test
board at the central office, and calls to that number could be locked
up!

Sure enough, ten after six comes around and the clerk's phone rings.
She answered, and carefully read her 'recorded message' to the caller.
As expected, he disconnected, and within five seconds or so, the test
board lit up with a call on '230'.

"Hurry up! Get over here and take this call. Its your boyfriend calling
back!" said the supervisor. She came over and plugged in her headset to
the testboard and plugged in the cord to answer the call. Sure enough,
it was who they expected, and with her response, the subscriber began his
sick and lewd comments.

Listening silently on the line was the repair guy. After the first
couple sentences by the caller, he flipped a key on the board and
then spoke up: "Ha ha .. you son of a bitch! We've been trying to catch
you for six weeks, and this time you walked right into our trap on
your own!"

Well, the caller was a bit startled to hear this and immediatly rang
off. But that was okay ... as the repair guy later told the story to
me, he said:

"I had the connection locked up, so I just rang him back. but the guy
would not answer the phone. I rang him for about fifteen minutes. I'd
pull the ringing key four or five times with little short rings, then
a couple very long rings, maybe another short ding-ding, that kind of
thing. This guy sat there and refused to answer. Finally after about
fifteen minutes, he takes the phone off the hook and tries to act real
surprised, saying "hello?" in a questioning, mousy little voice.

"I asked him, 'say, who is this? what is your number' and the guy hung
up on me. I rang him back the same as before and he finally answered
a second time and argued with me that he was not going to give me his
number, but finally he told me what it was.

"I told him that's fine, but I don't know if I can believe you or not,
so what I am gonna do is this: its time for my dinner break, and I am
going out to get something to eat. I'm just going to leave this connec-
tion up like it is now, and when I get back from dinner in an hour or
so I'll go in the frames and look for you myself; then we'll see if
you are telling the truth or not.

"Well, as it turned out, he was telling the truth; the number he gave
me was the number he was calling from. We wrote up a complaint about
him and sent it to the Business Office. On Monday the Business Office
called him and slapped his wrists; told him not to make any more obscene
calls. I don't know if he did or not, but at least he did not bother
us again."

In 1974, Chicago-Wabash was converted to ESS and the old frames were
a thing of the past.

I thought you might enjoy this bit of humor from the past to close
this issue of the Digest.


PAT

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #136
******************************


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Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 23:46:08 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #137

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 17 Mar 94 23:46:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 137

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip (Paul Barnett)
    Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip (Tom Watson)
    Re: Clipper and Privacy (Don Berryman)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update (H. A. Kippenhan, Jr.)
    Re: "Out of Area" on CID Boxes (Dave Niebuhr)
    Re: Setting up a 900 Number (Lee Lasson)
    Re: An Obscene Caller Gets Caught, 1965 (Carl Moore)
    Terminal Emulator For Unix (Mark Earle)
    Information About GTI (Barry Lustig)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 12:18:43 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Paul Barnett)
Subject: Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip


[e-mail] (Charles Randall Yates) writes:

> Why shouldn't the government have the right to listen in? Any
> law-abiding citizen should have nothing to hide. I'm for it.

and TELECOM Digest Editor noted:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, umm, err, uh, I dunno about that.
> I come down a bit more conservative than many people around here and I
> don't think I would like your idea. Were you, like our suicide-hotline-
> on-a-900-number fellow yesterday just getting an early start on April
> Fool's Day this year or do you really believe Big Brother should get to
> listen and see everything?  Never mind, don't answer, my mailbox would
> get flooded worse than ever.   PAT]

Pat, I didn't want to start a flame war either, but I share your
concerns.  There is a on-going thread on alt.privacy entitled "What's
so bad about a surveillance state?"

It doesn't matter if you are liberal or conservative:  anyone with
even a basic familiarity with American and world history should be
able to recognize the danger.  I've come to the conclusion that these
people are either (a) clueless, or (b) just plain stupid.

I can never remember who said: "He who exchanges liberty for safety
deserves neither".

I think you made the right decision to drop the discussion.  Pursuing
it further would be like talking to a wall.  I truly wish it WAS an
April Fool's joke.


Paul Barnett        Convex Computer Corp.
MPP OS Development  Richardson, TX


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I've said it before and will say it
again: living in a big, dirty, crime-ridden jungle of a city as I have
done for most of my life; seeing the things I've seen and being victimized
as I have been victimized, I'm willing to make *some* exchanges and *some*
compromises. I think the way I put it once was given my druthers I'd rather
be bopped on the head by a police officer than by a drug addict. Why?
Because I know how the government operates and I can argue with the govern-
ment about it. You can't reason with a crazy person or one who is very
distraught or high on drugs, etc. There you have no recourse to the act
committed against you. With the government, there is recourse. Sometimes
I win, sometimes I lose, but I know what to say and how to say it. I know
how the government bureaucracy operates and to some extent, how to intimidate
the government. That's the difference. I'd rather not be bopped on the head
at all, or lose any liberty, but given the realities of life in these United
States today, I'd prefer to give up what I must to the government rather
than hoodlums on the street. They'd just as soon kill you as not; at least
I can go sass-back at the government with impunity afterward in court.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Watson)
Subject: Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 10:48:18 -0800
Organization: Apple Computer (more or less)


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Charles
Randall Yates) wrote:

> Why shouldn't the government have the right to listen in? Any law-abiding
> citizen should have nothing to hide. I'm for it.

If this is the case, why not (as someone suggested in another [joke?]
posting) let the government look at all the mail you get.  You have
nothing to hide?  What did you go to the doctor for?  What did you
rent at the video store? (really another question), why not let them
come right in your house and look under your bed.  Why not be under
your bed while you are in it (what you do is a subject for another
newsgroup as well).  The list goes on.  What we can assume is that it
is not really encryption at all.  It this mess comes to pass, if you
want anything 'secure' (whatever that means) another level of
encryption is necessary.

What a fiasco!! (*SIGH*)


Tom Watson    Not much simpler!!  [e-mail]

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

From: Don Berryman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 16:11:59 CST


>> conduct wiretaps.  When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they
>> opposed it."

> Why shouldn't the government have the right to listen in? Any law-abiding
> citizen should have nothing to hide. I'm for it.

I can't ignore this statement.

Innocent people do have something to hide: their private life. The
"right to be left alone" is, in the words of the late Supreme Court
Justice Louis Brandeis "the most comprehensive of rights and the right
most valued by civilized men."

The Fourth Amendment says that the government cannot search everyone
to find the few who might be guilty of an offense.

U.S. Constitution 4th, Amendment:

   "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons
or things to be seized."


Don Berryman   [e-mail] [phone]
ADC Telecommunications, Inc.  Minneapolis, MN 55435


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So tell me, Mr. Berryman, do you get
as equally indignant when 'the right of the people to be secure in
their persons, their houses, et al' is violated by home-invaders,
rapists, and burglars (you *do* have some of those in Minneapolis
don't you?) or is it just when the government does it that you get
uptight? Personally, I think the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
is a *marvelous* idea -- I like it. President Clinton and her husband
hate the Second Amendment, and I've never much cared for the First
Amendment, but the Fourth is a good one. Trouble is, try telling the
uninvited and masked man who is ransacking your house in the middle of
the night (or climbing in bed with your wife against her will) that
he is violating your constitutional rights. <snicker> ... you see, you
can tell that to the cops. Don't misunderstand, I never would argue
with the police on their own turf -- the streets -- but I'd never hes-
itate to argue with them in court. Who would you rather have in your
home uninvited?  Neither, you say? That is not a realistic answer in
the USA today; the country with the highest rate of violent crime in
the world.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 19:46:24 CST
From: H.A. Kippenhan Jr. <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update


Hi P.T.:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Telcos seem to be far more conscious
> of costs than they ever used to be. Of course, many years ago they
> had so much money that offering a high degree of customer service and
> satisfaction (including redundant things to avoid any major problems
> that might disrupt the network) cost them little or nothing by comparison.
> Now things are different. We cannot make direct connections between the
> breakup of the Bell System in 1983 and the gradually deteriorating state
> of telephone service in the USA today, but I can't help but think that
> there is a cause and effect relationship between the two. For how many
> ever decades we lived with the 'natural monopoly' argument and lived with
> things we did not like about the old Bell System in exchange for having
> a great deal we DID like about it. Most of the people involved in forcing
> the breakup were not so much interested in improving telephone service in
> the USA as they were greedy and interested in getting a peice of the
> action. That's fine, but from the very early days of competition in the
> 1970's when we witnessed MCI's blantant 'skimming the cream' activities
> it should have been obvious that subscriber satisfaction and top-quality
> service was not where it was at. I'm not trying to single out MCI here,
> it's just that they were the first of several to come along. Nor am I
> saying that the (old, now defunct) Bell System was without blame at all,
> and surely the AT&T of two decades ago badly needed reform, perhaps even
> under the direction of the government. But, to use an old expression, they
> threw the baby out with the bath water when divestiture occurred. It was
> a massive overkill in my opinion. To the credit of the old system, it has
> taken a decade for the decay to start to become apparent. As the telcos
> approach the next century and the economics of competition, all sorts of
> corners are being cut and shortcuts being taken -- things that the old
> AT&T for all of its own shortcomings -- would never have permitted.

> Now there is major attention given to the bottom line, and while AT&T never
> failed to pay a juicy dividend to its stockholders in the old days, they
> did factor in more realistic costs of doing business (such as adequate
> training of personnel; staffing to the point of redundancy at times, etc)
> in the process. I think things like the outages in recent years are just
> a sample of what is to come. Much of the spirit and enthusiasm of the past
> is gone, and would you feel otherwise if you had to wonder if your job
> was still going to be there a year from now?  Did you know there was a
> time when AT&T would never consider putting a new operator to work answering
> actual calls until after *ten weeks* of training in a school they went
> to? Customer service personnel had an initial training period and then
> followup training at intervals. They learned *everything* about the system.
> What telco can afford those luxuries now?  For that matter, who cares
> any longer?  If you wanted to work in repair, even as a clerk answering
> '611' calls you read {Lee's ABC} books and passed tests showing you were
> qualified before you were allowed to respond to customer trouble tickets.
> Twenty or thirty years ago -- like now -- people complained about the
> gradually eroding quality of the products and service in American business,
> but we never thought it would happen to 'the phone company'. Then came
> along Judge Greene and he said he'd prove us wrong ...  PAT]

I think this is very much on target.  I would point out another
instance that leads to the same conclusion.  Back in the late
seventies (if memory serves) there was a very serious fire in a telco
building in New York City.  The building housed several CO's and at
least one toll switch.  After the fire was out, AT&T marshalled a huge
task force (many people from states other than New York) to do
whatever was necessary to restore service.  Having spent a bit of time
in various wire centers, the quick response was impressive.  The
response to the Hinsdale fire (my opinion) wasn't as effective.  And
that's not a knock on the Illinois Bell people who worked their tails
off to restore service.  We'll have to reserve judgment for a bit to
see how things progress in Los Angeles.


Regards,

H.A. Kippenhan Jr.              Internet:         [e-mail]
National HEPnet Management      HEPnet/NSI DECnet:  FNDCD::KIPPENHAN
Fermi National Accelerator Lab. BITnet:       [e-mail]
P.O. Box 500   MS: FCC-3E/368   Telephone:            [phone]
Batavia, Illinois 60510         FAX:                  [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, indeed the people from IBT and
other BOC's who responded in the Hinsdale disaster performed heroically
under extremely difficult conditions. They cannot be faulted at all.
The fault for Hinsdale lays with IBT management for not having the
office staffed properly and relying on alarm systems instead. The fault
for Hinsdale also lays with the apparently untrained person in Springfield,
Illinois who chose to ignore the alarms coming from Chicago; taking it
upon himself to decide that the alarms were false. He sat there and
*ignored* the major alarms for an hour. Finally he called a supervisor
in the Chicago area at home who was having her Sunday dinner and suggested
when she finished dinner 'and got a chance' she might want to go over to
Hinsdale -- itself a fifteen minute drive from her home -- and turn off
the alarms which 'must be malfunctioning'. The exact time the fire started
is not known; we do know it was burning for over an hour -- maybe closer to
two hours -- by the time an IBT employee first got to the building and saw
it. And when she saw it, and tried to call the fire department only to
find the phones everywhere were already dead all over town, does she get
in her car and drive to the fire department? Oh no ... she sticks her
head out the door and asks a passer-by to please go call the firemen from
a payphone down the street ... a dead payphone like all the other phones
in Hinsdale at that point!  A few more minutes pass and then she decides
to go get the firemen herself.

How *are* things coming along in Los Angeles? I know they have the vital
stuff restored; is the rest of it back in service? Unlike Hinsdale, where
IBT just plain screwed things up by ignoring the problem, El Lay was
strictly an accident and Bell's response was swift and immediate; that
probably kept the damage to a minimum, even as severe as it is.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 13:56:20 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: "Out of Area" on CID boxes


In TELECOM Digest V14 #135 [e-mail] writes:

>> When CID was deployed in my area (516 area code), I tried calling home
>> from a pay phone and the number was displayed.  However, when I call
>> home while I'm having my car serviced at a local service station, the
>> number doesn't show.

>> The difference is that the pay phone on the corner is NYNEX owned,
>> and the other one is a COCOT.

> This sounds to me like your area might be served by a CO with two
> vintages of switches (i.e., one is SS7 compatible, and the other
> isn't) The Nynex telephone is probably connected to the SS7 compatible
> switch in that CO and the COCOT telephone is probably connected to the
> non-SS7 switch.  As you can see, this also results in some prefixes in
> your exchange being able to get and display CID and the rest not being
> able to.

Nope; both are on the same prefix (516-281) and have been for over twenty
years.  I could understand it if the prefix was different at the COCOT,
but its not.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Are you sure the number on the COCOT is
correct, and is it possible the company which runs it is not taking the
call for whatever reason and bouncing it through some other office?   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Lee Lasson)
Subject: Re: Setting up a 900 Number
Organization: On-Line Consulting
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 19:54:19 GMT


Tauren N Mills <[e-mail]> writes:

> I am investigating setting up a 900 number for my business, but cannot
> justify the $2500 installation fee that AT&T wants, plus the $1000 per
> month.  Does anyone know of any outfits that will rent 900 numbers?

> I don't want to rent one that is already set up and all you have to do
> is advertise.  I need my own information to be available.

Tauren,

Sounds like you need a service bureau.  The term 'renting' as it
applies to 900 numbers can get you into some pyramid re-sale schemes
and I don't think that is what you want for your business.  When you
deal directly with a 900# service bureau, they provide the equipment
and programming and you provide the Information and the marketing.

Drop me an email with what you are thinking of doing and I'll get more
information to you.


Thanks,

Lee Lasson                         800/900 systems
On-Line Consulting                 Audiotex & Faxback
303-586-4760 / 303-586-3471 fax    Service Bureau
Internet: [e-mail]         Consulting Services

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

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 15:15:05 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: An Obscene Caller Gets Caught, 1965


What are "frames"?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The distribution frames were the tall
metal racks where the wires terminated on stepping switches. To trace
a call in those days, a person had to first go to the wire pair of
the line receiving the call in question and study the matrix of
wires through the stepping switch to see where the call was from. They'd
take what they found there, and trace *those* wires back to the next
stepping switch in the 'switch train'. From there, they would go back
still another level to where the wires from that switch led ... and
so forth until they got to the beginning. They'd look and look and look
and look, and then maybe find that the call was inbound to them from
some other central office in which case they'd call the foreman in the
other central office and he'd tell someone to go in the frames there
and pick up on the outbound trunk to the other office. That person
would repeat the process, looking and looking and looking everywhere
until he found the stepping switch with its matrix of wires, and he'd
work his way backward to the origin.

The only trouble was, maybe they'd be almost there -- almost back to
the point where they could identify the caller and they'd hear that
sickening sound of the connection collapsing ... the caller had hung
up and the step switches had all returned to their normal not in use
state.  They'd look at each other and say, well, maybe next time we'll
catch him.  Experienced crank/obscene callers in those days just laughed
when their victim said 'the operator is tracing this call'. They knew
they could stay on the line another 30 minutes or so before it mattered
any, especially if there were two different CO's involved.

This is not so today of course. Gone are the frames and the spaghetti-
like mountains of wires everywhere. Now-a-days a technician need merely
type a few keys on the keyboard of his terminal and he'll know perfectly
well who is talking to whom; when they started the connection and when
they finished, and more.  PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 94 19:19:29 CST
From: [e-mail] (Mark Earle)
Subject: Terminal Emulator For Unix


Pat et all, excuse me for not citing the original, but I'm on a
palmtop at 1200. Lucky to get AT&T at all, the hotel uses 6 for LD
access ... oh well.

We have PCOMM on our unix system. It's very similiar to Procomm.  We
ftp'd the source from world.std.com. IT's very nice, and you can
"drive" it from a vt100 or ansi terminal, an HPUX terminal window,
etc. Even has Zmodem built in! Works very well. It's a real "work
horse" for our operations.


[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, thank you for *not* quoting.
There really is too much quoting in a lot of the messages I get and
they have to be trimmed back considerably.  Keep quotes to a minimum
here please.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 20:58:21 EST
From: Barry Lustig <[e-mail]>
Subject: Information About GTI


  I sent for a copy of their brochure.  All of the text below is
copied from it.  Please excuse any typos.

HOW THE CALL AMERICA TRAVEL PLAN WORKS.

LONG CALLS: With a pin code, you may make calls up to one hour each,
at any time, to anywhere in the 50 states.  Each month you will be
billed $12.99 in advance by GTI Telecommunications, Inc (GTI) for five
calls.  Charges for overage minutes, extra calls, and calls less than
one minute from the previous month will also be included on your
statement.

* Long calls over the basic five are billed at $2.99 each.

* Calls over 60 minutes are additionally charged at 17.5 cents per
  minute, in six-second billing increments.

* Calls 60 seconds or less are billed at only 30 cents and do not count
  as package calls.  (Time charges do not commence until your calls are
  answered.)

No surcharges or access fees are incurred! (Most carriers have a
surcharge of 75 cents to 80 cents just to make the connection, and
then charge in full minutes - depending on the time of day, distance
to the number called, and length of the call.)

SHORT CALLS: On your Call America Travel Plan, you may also make short
calls with a second pin code and realize additional fantastic savings.
Because you are billed in 6-second increments (instead of full-minute
billing) and because you do not pay surcharges or access charges when
calling, you will SAVE 63% over usage of an AT&T calling card and 62%
over MCI or Sprint on a 3.5 minute call.

Pin Code 1:    Long calls (up to 60 minutes each)
        First 5 calls            $12.99
        Extra calls (each)        $ 2.99
        Overage per minute        $ 0.175
        Calls less than 1 minute    $ 0.30

Pin Code 2:    Short calls (per minute rates)
        Cost per minute            $ 0.175
        6-second increment billing

GTI TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC. is a long-distance telephone company
based in Bellevue, Washington, that offers discounted rates to both
business and residential customers.  With its combination of long
calls and short calls, you may enjoy great long-distance savings ANY
TIME and ANY PLACE - while traveling, or just in your normal
day-to-day lifestyle.  Instead of spending millions of dollars on
advertising, savings are passed on to you.  The only way to hear about
GTI is when people tell you how much they are saving on their
long-distance bills or through a brochure like this one.

BUT I NEVER SPEND AN HOUR ON THE PHONE!

This Plan will save you money, even if you NEVER talk for a WHOLE HOUR
on the phone.  A 25-minute evening call with your current carrier is
about $3.25.  If made with a typical calling card, $7.05.  That same
call with your Call America Travel Plan is just $2.60, for a savings
of $4.45!  And you may even talk an additional 25 minutes (60 minutes
total), without increasing the total cost, ANY TIME.

CAN I MAKE SHORT CALLS WITH THIS PLAN?

Of course!  Use your second pin code number for all your short calls.
Leave a message, set an appointment, or just call to say "hello" At
17.5 cents a minute with six-second billing, and no surcharge or
access fee, a 3.5 minute call from Seattle to Miami is only 61 cents!

HOW DO I SIGN UP?

This service is now available in all states except Oregon.  Just fill
out the attached service application, mail it to the Associate listed
below, and include your $37.99 check ($12.99 for your first month's
service plus a one-time activation fee of $25.00) payable to GenCom,
GTI's tariffed carrier.  (Washington state customers will be billed
for their Travel Plans).

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

The rest of the brochure has the "associate's" name and address, as
well as a form to fill out.


Barry Lustig    Nicholas-Applegate Capital Mgmt        [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #137
******************************


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Date: Fri, 18 Mar 94 14:20:09 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #138

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 18 Mar 94 14:20:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 138

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: History of the Term "Switch" (Carl Lowenstein)
    Re: History of the Term "Switch" (Gregg Gibson)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update (Steven H. Lichter)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update (Mark A. Cnota)
    Re: USR's New Modem ([e-mail])
    Re: Information Request - Time Off of NT-Opt61 (Vance Shipley)
    International Free Numbers (Rachid Benzaoui)
    NT Sl1 Questions (Alan R. Gross)
    Area 413 Dialing Changes (Jonathan Welch)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Carl Lowenstein)
Subject: Re: History of the Term "Switch"
Date: 17 Mar 1994 23:27:43 -0800
Organization: Marine Physical Lab, UC San Diego


In article <[e-mail]> Jonathan_Welch <[e-mail].
edu> writes:

> I saw a brief image on TV how the first so-called switch consisted of
> movable contacts mounted on a board, serving eight customers.

> But was the term switch invented for telegraph equipment?  I don't
> think the light bulb existed when the telephone was invented, so it
> wouldn't have been used in that context (correct me if I'm wrong).

Railroads.  They switched trains from one track to another.  The
Oxford English Dictionary gives citatations going back to 1837.


carl lowenstein    marine physical lab   u.c. san diego
{decvax|ucbvax} !ucsd!mpl!cdl  [e-mail]  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gregg Gibson)
Subject: Re: History of the Term "Switch"
Date: 18 Mar 1994 08:12:14 -0700
Organization: gte


In article <[e-mail]>, Jonathan_Welch <[e-mail].
edu> writes:

> I saw a brief image on TV how the first so-called switch consisted
> of movable contacts mounted on a board, serving eight customers.
> Presumably this is where the term came from for today's complex
> switching equipment.

You are probably referring to the first electro-mechanical switch.
Manual switches were already in existence where an operator sat behind
a cordboard and connected calls with tip and ring connectors.  The
manual switch was invented when it became obvious in the early days
that it would be impractical to have a dedicated line between each
pair of telephones that were to be connected.  It was decided that it
would be far more efficient to bring the individual lines from each
phone into a central location where a particular phone could be
connected with any other phone.  When a call was to be placed, the
operator would "switch" your connection to the party you wished to
call.

It is interesting to know that the electro-mechanical switch was
invented by a man by the name of Almon Strowger.  He was a mortician
who suspected that the local operator was diverting his business calls
to a competitor.  He wanted to eliminate human intervention in the
call completion process.  He started a company making these switches
about 100 years ago.  The company he started in now known as AG
Communication Systems and makes GTE's GTD-5 among other things.


Gregg K Gibson       AG Communication Systems-Phoenix
[e-mail]    A joint venture of AT&T and GTE   [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update
Date: 18 Mar 1994 02:20:44 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


I agree with you Pat, the outage may not have bee as bad years ago,
but maybe it would. Keep in mind that the lose of the poweroom made it
a bit harder to switch to another center. AT&T has a network control
center as to most other companies for Toll/LD; the local companies
also have them. There would be some loss of local traffic since the
local people could not get dial tone and trunks going into the
affected office would be out. Keep in mind that office is very large
and handles millions of lines and calls. From what I remember that
complex is part of a group of buildings under the old Bell System and
AT&T has at least one of those buildings and could have been affected
also. I know we had some problems (GTE) because some of our trunking
goes that way. I had better not say which or I may get eaten alive
again.

The above post are my own and are done on my own time and on my own
computer and Internet account.


Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS
[phone] 12/24/96/14.4 V32/V42bis Via PCP CACOL/12/24

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark A. Cnota)
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update
Organization: Ripco Internet BBS Chicago
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 23:02:57 GMT


This is an old subject but since Mr. Townson seems to take every
opportunity to slam Illinois Bell I feel some of these comments elicit
a response.

TELECOM Digest Editor ([e-mail]) wrote:

> simply ignored? That's what happened here in the Hinsdale (Chicago) fire
> almost six years ago. It started early on a Sunday afternoon and burned
> for more than an hour before the people who were supposed to be watching
> out for such things decided that maybe the alarms coming from Chicago
> (they were in Springfield, Illinois, a couple hundred miles away as if
> that made a lot of sense in the first place) were to be honored.

Tell me what difference it makes where the alarm center is phyiscally
located? Would it have mattered if they were downtown Chicago? No, it
wouldn't have.

> Then and only then, when the doofus in Springfield decided maybe the
> alarms should be investigated, he called someone at home in the west
> suburban area and asked them 'when they had a chance' to go over to
> the central office in Hinsdale and see what it was about. 30-45
> minutes later a supervisor shows up, goes inside, sees the fire in
> progress and decides to call the fire department. But by then it was
> too late since all the phones in town were already dead, including
> those to the fire department.

As even your representation of the facts points to, the problem was one of
procedure.

> Bottom line in Hinsdale? Service was out for two weeks in some cases and
> a month in others. An entire switch had to be scrapped and a replacement
> installed. Millions of dollars in lost business and hardships while the
> phones were out. According to Mr. Eibel, a vice-president of Illinois Bell
> at the time, staffing a phone office *with even just one clerk* at all
> times to prevent situations like this was not cost effective.

I agree with Jim Eibel. He's one of the better executives IBT has had
in the past ten years, in my opinion.

> Maybe he figured they could buy new switches on sale at Walmart or
> something,

Don't be stupid. All they needed was better procedures, and he knew
it.

> that customer goodwill was something easily obtained for less than the
> few dollars an hour a responsible person at the CO would cost.

A responsible person in Springfield would have done the same thing.


Mark A. Cnota ([e-mail])     Ripco Internet BBS  [phone]
Chicago's Low-Cost Internet Alternative


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All right, let us assume for a minute that
an alarm system monitored remotely can do as well at guarding sophisticated
and expensive equipement as a real person can do.  I don't think that is
the case simply because motion detectors for example have a very hard time
choosing between an unauthorized person walking through an area (bad) and
a hot air ventilator coming on and causing a nearby sign hanging from the
ceiling to flutter in the breeze (normal occurance). Strong winds and heavy
rain (both conditions were present that Sunday afternoon in May, 1988) can
and frequently do cause false alarms. If you don't think this is the case,
then listen to the Chicago Police on a scanner following a very bad storm
here, as they talk about all the alarms going off, 'is there a runner on
the way to reset the circuit?', etc ... all over town.

If the alarms are monitored locally, at least the monitoring person has a
distinct advantage over his counterpart two or three hundred miles or more
away: he knows of local problems and how responses are likely to be best
handled, he knows the geography of the area, and he knows the local weather
conditions at the time, etc. No offense toward the people in Springfield,
but they are small town folk who look at Chicago as the big city a couple
hundred miles away. To them, Hinsdale might be located next to Evanston,
and Lake Forest next to downtown. To them, a ten mile drive might take five
minutes or less; in heavy traffic here it takes thirty minutes, which is
a big difference if there is a major problem going on. The person in Spring-
field might have had a directory of key personnell and their home phone
numbers and looking at it picked a name he thought was best when in fact
someone else was much closer. In that sense, the person in Springfield
cannot be blamed. Maybe the last five times the alarm went off he notified
someone only to be told later it was false. This time he tried to handle
it differently. How is he going to know truth from fiction a couple hundred
miles away and how to respond given a limited knowledge of the area geogra-
phy and local conditions, especially when every second counts?

So to respond to your first question, if the company feels that alarm sys-
tems for all their inadequacies are still better than inexpensive live
people who have their heads screwed on straight, then at least have the
alarms handled locally. If Jim Eibel could not cost-justify a live person
to watch a CO, do you mean to say he could not cost-justify at least a
local monitoring system instead of one for state-wide either?

To respond to your second comment, you say 'Jim Eibel knew there should
have been better procedures' ... and indeed, that's what he was there for,
to have procedures in place to prevent such a horrible tragedy. I stand
by what I said back in May, 1988 when the fire was discussed in detail
here: Eibel should have been given the axe the next day; sent packing and
replaced with someone who would implement the procedures that should have
been in place all along. I mean, how far does he or the company want to
push this 'cost-effectiveness' thing?  The stakes are simply too great,
especially in a case like Hinsdale which was the core for literally
everything; i.e. cellular, long distance, all kinds of special circuits
for Ohare Aiport, etc. That's why I blame Jim Eibel most of all for
Hinsdale; he of all people should have been able to get his math straight
when it came to calculating a bottom line even if nothing but the protection
of company property was to be considered, forgetting about goodwill entirely
for the moment. Well, what's past is past ... let's hope that never again
such a thing happens.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: USR's New Modem
Date: 17 Mar 1994 21:18:44 -0500
Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation


[e-mail] writes:

> [e-mail] wrote:

>> U.S. Robotics is releasing a new modem in five weeks. The modem will
>> be upgradable to the V.34 standard when it is approved via a software
>> download. The new modem will have read/writeable EPROMS which will
>> allow this. The modem will have all the current protocols, making it
>> the best modem on the market. And since there's no fee to get the
>> V.34, I'd say it'll be the best buy when it comes out. For more info
>> call USR at 1-800-DIALUSR.

> Yeah, and what you forget to mention is that their one of the highest
> priced modems on the market, whos twisted the arms of customers for
> years by pushing their so-called HST protocol which wasn't even worthy
> of use for bidirectional transfers.  Then they came out with their
> v.32terbo modems which just introduced more problems -- They like to
> 'train down' to speeds below V.32bis.  Their solution to the problem
> was to remove an S register option instead of correcting the protocol
> implementation.  They offer poor technical support, low turn around
> time, and poor over all response.  Personally, I'd rather not pay
> their high cost for a modem that says 'USR' on it.  They're starting
> to remind me of COMPUCOM before they finally folded.

> As far as v.34 is concerned, Microcom is offering a sysop deal vFAST
> modem for $140.00 RIGHT NOW.  You can order them, and they'll be on
> their way.  When v.34 is finally announced they will send you an
> upgrade for $39.00.  Microcom can be reached at 800-822-8224.

> Zoom is offering a similar deal as well, but I haven't researched it.

Well, it seems you have not had a pleasant experience with USR. Well,
first of all, how many people actaully use BI-directional xfers? I
have once in my entire life and I have done lots of xfers thruout the
years.  Yes I know HS/Link is around, but it's not really as widely
used as Zmodem and somewhat inconvenient. the HST protocol was faster
than anything else before its time, and I loved it. As for this *NEW*
modem being released, the rep told me that the estimated SYSOP PRICE
will be under $200. If that's not cheap than I don't know what is. Any
since it will be upgradeable to the V.34 std when it is approved
absolutely free, I can't see anyone not choosing this.

So go ahead and buy a ZOOM or whatever and then be stuck with having
to have ANOTHER ZOOM in order to carry out 28.8 xfers. Of course you
can upgrade to the new V.34 when it is released but at an additional
cost of $40 I believe you said.


Allen

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

From: [e-mail] (Vance Shipley)
Subject: Re: Information Request - Time Off of NT-Opt61
Organization: XeniTec Consulting, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 13:28:54 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Greg Maples <gmaples@netcom.
com> wrote:

> I'm trying to get time synchronization running between our NT OPT61
> pbx and a Sun SS10.  I'm aware that I could use nxtp for synchro in
> the Unix world, but we are not directly internet connected, and xntp
> is a big load of code.

> Does someone know of an easy, simple method of getting the NT to set
> the Sun or vice-versa?  Is there a version of timed for the Sun

While I worked at SwitchView we wrestled with this problem.  The SL-1
clock can be set with the maintenance/administration port, you can
even "adjust" it this way, asking for a daily adjustment to be made to
the time of day.  The problem we saw was that the clock was not
battery backed (the very latest CPUs now have a battery backed RTC) so
when there was a problem the clock would reset to default.  The CDR
records would then be dated badly and the display sets would be wrong.

The biggest problem being when there were no display sets so that it
was not recognized when the time and date needed to be reset and was not
for a long time afterward.

So SwitchView's Meridian 1 Administration module now has tasks to
upload and download the date and time.  This can be set up to run in
response to a SYSLOAD.

I would suggest that you use the Sparcserver as the reference
(eventually using xntp to synch it) and create a script to upload the
date and time either periodically or on demand.  You could buy
SwitchView to do it but it would be a pretty expensive way to do just
this and it doesn't run on a Sun :) (SCO Unix PC based).


Vance Shipley, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Rachid Benzaoui)
Subject: International Free Numbers
Organization: Guest of France-Teaser, (3617 EMAIL)
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 00:03:56 GMT


How would it be possible to know the French equivalent numbers of American
international toll-free numbers?


The One BBS : [phone]
Internet: [e-mail]
Enjoy one of the best French BBS !!! :-)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If a company in the USA has indicated it
is willing to accept automatic reverse charge calls on an international
basis, then arrangements are made by its carrier in the USA (presently
only AT&T offers international 800 service I think) with the telephone
authorities in France (or wherever) to have a number of the style used
in France (or wherever) assigned which when dialed there gets translated
in the local phone exchange to ring an eleven digit number in the USA, i.e.
1 plus the area code and number. It is then up to the business in the
USA to publicize this as they see fit either by means of a listing in the
telephone directory in France (or wherever, and the USA carrier will
usually arrange with the other county's PTT to place the listing) or an
advertisement of some other form. There is no single list of numbers one
can refer to of international 'toll-free' lines to the USA. Such numbers
that exist would appear to be the French equivilent of 800, but one would
have to examine each of them one by one to see if in fact their termination
was in the USA instead of simply within France (or wherever).   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Alan R. Gross)
Subject: NT Sl1 Questions
Organization: Sacramento Public Access U*nix
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 05:22:29 GMT


At a couple of sites I need to forward to an outside number through an
SL1/Meridian. When the caller is from an inside extension, there are
no problems with this process, however, when the caller is from
outside, there is a twenty second delay in establishing a voice path
from the caller (due to trunk to trunk connect). Per NT, depending on
who you talk to, there is a way around this; or it's impossible to get
rid of the twenty second delay; and another vendor wishes to charge us
megabucks to find out if it's possible, no guarantees that they will
solve the problem. While I can kludge around the system, I don't want
to, since the kludge would involve paying extra $$ monthly for an
unecessary 1FB. Can anyone let me know how to shorten or get rid of
the voice path delay on a direct trunk to trunk connection?

    Second, I am searching for a source for light probes --
previously we got these from an Oregon chapter of Telephone Pioneers
of America, after several calls, I've gotten no response to my
requests for probes, and need another source -- anyone know of
sources? We have a few blind employees who really need these devices.

    Third, I'm searching for a source for "buff cloths" -- these
are small white cloths that are coated with some substance that really
polishes a headset plug to a new shine. We used to pass these out to
operators at Mother Moose in FBKS. AK, -- anyone know where I can find
these critters, and what is their official moniker?


Randall A. Gross   [e-mail]
Sacramento Public Access UNIX   [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 10:52:15 -0500
From: Jonathan_Welch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Area 413 Dialing Changes


I just received this in my bill yesterday and am passing it along FYI
to the group.

AN IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT DIALING CHANGES FOR ALL WESTERN
MASSACHUSETTS (AREA CODE 413) CUSTOMERS -

   Effective June 1, 1994

This is an important notice. Please have it translated.

Beginning June 1, 1994 there will be a significant change in the way
all NYNEX telephone customers in western Massachusetts will be
required to dial calls within the 413 area code that are beyond their
local calling area (toll calls). The new, permanent dialing method for
these calls is: "1" plus the 413 area code and the 7-digit number ("1"
+ 413 + 7 digits).

Following is inforrnation on how you will dial all calls - both local
and toll - within the 413 area code.

DIRECTLY DIALED CALLS TO ANOTHER NUMBER IN THE 413 AREA CODE

        Within your local calling area, dial the 7-digit
        number only.

         Beyond your local calling area (toll calls), dial
         "1" + 413 + the 7-digit number.

ALL DIRECTLY DIALED OPERATOR-ASSISTED AND CALLING-CARD CALLS

        To any number (including local calls) within the
        413 area code, dial "0" + 413 + the 7-digit number.

        Dialing methods for calls to numbers outside the
        413 area code will not change. All directly dialed calls to
        numbers outside the 413 area code will continue to be
        dialed "1" + the area code + the 7-digit number. All
        operator-assisted and Calling-Card calls to numbers
        outside the 413 area code will continue to be dialed
        "0" + the area code + the 7-digit number.

        Although the way you dial toll calls within the 413 area
        code will change, rates and local calling areas will not
        change because of the introduction of this new method of
        dialing. A local call still will be a local call, a toll
        call still will be a toll call. You can find information
        about your local calling area in the introductory White
        Pages of your NYNEX telephone directory.

        Beginning June 1, 1994, both the "1" + 7-digit and the 7-
        digit methods of dialing toll calls will be permanently
        eliminated. You must dial all toll calls within the 413
        area code using only the "1" + 413 + 7-digit method. Toll
        calls dialed using either the old "1 " + 7-digit method or
        the 7-digit method will not be completed.  These calls will
        go to a recorded announcement that will remind you to redial.

        At the same time, if you dial an operator-assisted or Calling-
        Card call using the old "0" + 7-digit method, that call also
        will go to a recorded announcement that will remind you to redial.

        Why This Change Is Necessary

        As we explained to you last year in a bill insert,
        a change in the way you dial toll calls is necessary
        because North America has run out of area codes.
        As a result, new area codes introduced in North
        America after January 1, 1995 will not look like tra-
        ditional area codes. These new area codes, which
        will be introduced as the telephone number capaci-
        ty of existing area codes is exhausted, will have any
        number - not just "0" or "1" - as their middle digit.
        Before these new area codes are introduced, NYNEX
        and all other local telephone companies must intro-
        duce new methods of dialing some calls.

        To meet this requirement for new dialing methods
        and to create a toll-call indicator, the Massachusetts
        Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has directed
        that toll calls within the 413 area code must be dialed
        using the "1" + the 413 area code + 7-digit method.

        NYNEX will implement these same new dialing
        methods in eastern Massachusetts later this year.

        Some Steps You May Need to Take

        Before these new dialing methods become perma-
        nent in the 413 area code beginningJune 1,1994,
        please check all automatic dialing devices and/or ser-
        vices you may have, such as Speed Calling or Call
        Forwarding, to determine if reprogramming is required
        to accommodate the new dialing methods. Remember,
        any needed reprogramming must be completed before
        June 1,1994. And don't forget to check alarm or med-
        ical dialers, fax machines and computer modems to see
        if they need reprogramming as well.

        Emergency Calling Reminder

        If you currently dial "1" + a 7-digit number to
        reach police, fire or other emergency service providers,
        please remember that beginning June 1, 1994 you will
        have to dial these calls "1" plus the 413 area code + a
        7-digit number.


        A Word to Business Customers

        If you own your telephone switching equipment,
        you should make sure it can process calls to
        points within the 413 area code that are dialed
        using the "1" + 413 + 7-digit method.

        You should check to ensure that your switching
        equipment can accommodate calls dialed to one
        of the new area codes that will be introduced
        next year. Existing area codes will remain the
        same, while new area codes will not have a "0" or
        a "1" as their middle digit. For example, 579
        could be assigned as an area code in the future.

        You may need to reprogram services such as
        Speed Calling and Call Forwarding and devices
        such as automatic dialers, security dialers, and fax
        machines and modems with autodialers.

        Customers of NYNEX INFOPATH Packet
        Switching Service also may need to reprogram
        their equipment to accommodate these new
        dialin~ patterns.

        If you're a NYNEX Centrex service customer, any
        necessary changes will be made for you at our
        central office.

        We suggest that you review your telecom-
        munications system and services - especially
        those involving automatic dialers, PBXs and
        other premises-based switching equipment -
        with the appropriate equipment vendors that
        serve your business.


        Please use the time before these dialing changes
        become mandatory beginning June 1, 1994 to test
        your equipment and determine if any modifications
        are needed.

        Questions?

        Residence customers with questions about these dial-
        ing changes should call us at 1 800 555-5000.

        Business customers with questions about these dialing
        changes should call us toll-free at [phone].

        We want to make this transition as easy as possi-
        ble for you.


                                MA (413) 3/94

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #138
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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #139

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 21 Mar 94 08:26:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 139

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    History May Repeat Itself (Donald E. Kimberlin)
    Hush-a-Phone (Steve Brack)
    Seeking CATV List (John Conwell)
    Ripped By InfoAccess (Jacque Bussey)
    SIT Tones - Where in the Archives? (Paul Cook)
    Country Code for San Marino (Clive D.W. Feather)
    Clever Data/Fax/Voice Switch Needed (Jody Kravitz)
    Re: Appel a` Communications Pour CFIP'95 (*in French*) (Jan Ceuleers)
    Information Security Work Group Meeting (Michael S. Baum)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 94 02:34:00 EST
From: Donald E. Kimberlin <[e-mail]>
Subject: History May Repeat Itself


In article <Digest v.14, iss.122>, [e-mail] (Russ
McGuire) posted an announcement about Wiltel achieving an agreement
with EmTelCuba to build the first recent-generation broadband link
between Cuba and the U.S. by laying a new fiber optic cable between
Florida and Cuba.

I have a close interest in works of this sort due to my own personal
career work in such spheres, so I had some private communication with
Russ about this matter.  Wiltel seems to be playing down the matter,
in essence saying it's no biggie because the distance is short and
there's no earth-shattering technology to announce.  I don't see it
that way.  In fact, the Wiltel execs have achieved something even AT&T
for all its prestige and established ability couldn't do.  We have
here a case where David didn't slay Goliath, but did finesse a route
that Goliath couldn't follow.  And, in the longer run, we may see some
very old telcom history repeat itself.

That may in part have to do with a burden AT&T had to bear with the
Cuban government.  It's a telecomm lesson in dealing with what are
called "emerging nations."  The Cuban-American Telephone Company of
the pre-Castro era was a 50/50 AT&T-ITT venture that got expropriated
very early on.  Due to that very nature, Cuba's connectivity to the
outside world was largely hegemonized by the Yanquis at AT&T until
very recently.  Up until 1951, in the era when the means of providing
connectivity around the globe was HF radio, Cuba had only a few
channels via AT&T into the U.S. (via AT&T's Fort Lauderdale Overseas
Radio Station, and a few odd HF links to Spain and several of the
Caribbean nations, and that was about it.  In a breakthrough
technology for 1951, AT&T laid its Type SA Submarine Cable System
between Key West and Havana (78 miles) and provided at one swoop a
dozen stable, reliable analog voice channels.  (Those who know about
the more recent technology of submarine cables will recall that the
1957 TAT-1 across the Atlantic was the Type SB Submarine Cable System,
and may have puzzled what Type SA ever was.)

The U.S. was enjoying growing business with Cuba through the 1950's,
and telephone traffic was such that overflows had to spill off the
cable onto the HF radio, which was at that point intended to be a
"back-up."  With the advent of Operator Toll Dialing and the intimate
relation between Cuban-American and AT&T, the dial networks of the two
countries were completely open to each other, in terms of what
operators could accomplish.  People were becoming more and more
telephone-dependent, and the offered traffic between Cuba and the
world skyrocketed.  To handle this, AT&T and Cuban-American opened up
one of the few SHF troposcatter links AT&T ever used, a 900 mHz link
between Florida City (just south of Miami) and Guanabo (near Havana)
in the mid 1950's.  That link could provide 600 (and more, with
expansion) telephone channels, or one analog video link.  (In fact,
the entire tropo system, like all such links, ran both frequency and
space diversity.  This meant the redundant link could be used for
video at most times, not interrupting telephone use when video was
ordered.)  It was a heady time for the television networks when their
(then) landline video networks reached Miami, and it was possible to
"do a remote from Havana," and there were a few.  Having the new tropo
with the old SA cable for a "backup" also permitted shutting down the
HF radio operation from Fort Lauderdale.  It should have been some
very good business, indeed.

That's the way it was when revolution came to Cuba: More than 600
channels of telephone circuits out to the U.S., with dialing
capability and open access between the networks, plus the few bits of
HF to other nations that had been in place for a number of years.
And, that's the way it stayed for almost 30 years afterwards, with the
tropo to Florida City being the prime connectivity pipe for Cuba to
the outside world, controlled by an entity the Cubans had no reason to
admire; seen as both economically ex-colonial and politically unacceptable.
Yet, it was the only significant tool available.

Another incident made the hurt deeper.  The rift in relations between
the countries, while not disrupting the technology, did cause problems
in matters of money.  Since AT&T and Cuban-American were partners in
operating the links, each had a literal "open account" with the other,
with settlements of revenue shares that could no longer be made.
Meantime, calls originating from Cuba were given unlimited access to
the U.S.  network with automatic dialing.  As the reach of that U.S.
network expanded, fingers in Havana could reach wherever in the world
a U.S. operator could reach, and matters of paying for it weren't
considered.  For about ten years, there were no settlements, and no
meaningful communication between AT&T and the new regime in Cuba.
However, the balance due AT&T was getting larger and larger.

I was working in the AT&T offices in Miami the day word came down that
we were to cut off the trunks from Cuba.  Nothing like that had ever
been done before.  (In the world of international telecommunications,
attempts are even made to keep some channels open during war, just in
case the politicians should decide to try to talk out their
differences. This doesn't mean that circuits are never shut down; it
doesn't mean the technicians engage in friendly chat on them, but more
often, some are kept up without publicity, at least so long as the
physical plant holds up.  The general public may not have access to
them, but the governments do.)  So, it was high drama in the Miami
Testroom on that day.  It only took about three hours for the telegrams
to arrive from Cuba, asking what was wrong.

Western Union was still operating with Cuba on its old submarine
telegraph cable, the second oldest in the world.  That cable has a
special history of its own, more of which fits later in this story.
AT&T had, of course, covered all its political bases and had the plan
laid about how to handle this largest of "unpaid phone bills."  The
response was to tell the Cubans no more free access could be had; that
if they wanted service reconnected, it would have to be on the basis
of all future calls being paid on the U.S. end.  That is, all calls
sent-paid into Cuba, and all collect outbound, so AT&T could get its
share of the revenue from somewhere. They'd have to agree to that, and
leave it that way indefinitely.  It didn't take long for the Cubans to
agree, of course, so by later in the afternoon, the circuits were back
up, with operators at Miami enforcing all outbound calls from Cuba as
collect on the U.S. end.  That situation remained for many years.  It
was, of course, just another hurtful Yanqui action as seen by the
Cubans.

As the satellite era grew upon the world, the Cubans saw an
opportunity to bypass the Yanquis, if they could only get the needed
funding and connectivity.  During the years of closeness with the
USSR, some Molnya earth stations had been installed, but these were
largely limited to communications with Russia, and not useful for much
connectivity into other parts of the world.  Finally, by the 1980's,
alternatives seemed feasible.  The Cubans invited the world to bid
providing them with new links to the global community.  AT&T had
reason to want to replace the now-aged analog tropo system.  It was
occupying 900 mHz spectrum Southern Bell should by then have for use
of the growing cellular mobile telephone business.  AT&T proposed a
fiber optic cable between Florida and Cuba, but lost out to a bid from
Italcable, Italy's highly entreprenurial international carrier.  The
Cubans accepted a deal with Italcable hauling their telephone trunks
out by satellite to Italy and from there to the world.  The U.S. and
AT&T were stuck with the old tropo, and the SA cable, when it was
functional.  The SA cable would often be out of service for several
years at a time, because whenever it got damaged (fairly often by a
ship in the shallow waters of the Florida Strait), a whole, protracted
negotiation via third parties would ensue about what nation's
cableship would be permitted in Cuban waters and who would pay the
bill.

And that situation prevailed until Hurricane Andrew ended the life of
the Florida City tropo antennas.  (Most Americans saw the wreckage on
TV as part of the Hurricane Andrew stories.) Now things were changed.
While the U.S. had lost most of its connectivity to Cuba, the Cubans
did not lose the world.  It was being handled through Italy.  (By that
point in time, the Cubans claimed that some $80 million was due them
in unsettled accounts that were frozen in the U.S., as well.)  AT&T
was indeed strapped by the way things had gone for three decades.

Enter Wiltel on the scene.  It turns out that John Williams, the
leading founder of Wiltel's parent company, was born in Cuba in 1918,
and that his family had business interests there until the revolution.
Finally, there was someone in the U.S. who was "sympatico" to talk
with -- someone who could reason the Latin way.  Where AT&T's hegemony
couldn't work, Williams' personal diplomacy could.  It wasn't too
difficult for Wiltel to offer an arrangement that restored a link the
Cubans wanted, but do it in a way they could tolerate.

The net result will be CUBUS-1, not a great technogical feat, but
indeed, a great international relations feat.

CUBUS-1 will be, in a way, a repeat of another submarine cable between
Florida and Cuba 135 years earlier; one most of the world knows
nothing about. That cable was the second long international one in
1858, just months after the landmark (but short-lived) cable laid
across the Atlantic by the Anglo-American Cable Company with Cyrus
Field as its American figurehead.  Within months of the laying of the
1858 transatlantic cable, entreprenurial Englishmen had another one
operating from Punta Rassa, Florida to Havana.

The immediate question is: Why?  Who wanted to connect the then
mosquito-infested southwestern part of Florida to another country?
There was hardly any population there, yet here were people, literally
living and working in a tent town, setting up a telegraph line to
another country.

It turns out that (as in a later Alascom case not well publicized
across the Bering Straits during the Cold War era), the engine of
trade was operating.  Cattle ranchers in Florida were shipping stock
on the hoof from the outpost of Fort Myers to Havana, lightering them
down the Peace River and its tributaries to Charlotte Harbor for
embarkation to Cuba.  A telegraph cable along the route made good
business sense.

And, connectivity back north along the Peace River, to gain entrance
to the growing U.S. telegraph network made sense, too.  Cuba and the
U.S. had electrical communication many years before other capitals
around the world did. In fact, it made so much sense that within a
very short time, the cable route from Punta Rassa was extended beyond
Havana to Kingston, Jamaica, providing connectivity there, as well.
(Using the limited technology of 135 years ago, a long piece of the
submarine cable was merely laid out on top of the ground crossing
Cuba.  That method was later used worldwide for a number of early
submarine telegraph cables, crossing large stretches of dry land by
just laying the cable on the ground.)

As Western Union grew into international telegraphy, it purchased the
Punta Rassa-Havana cable, bringing it ashore on Key West to provide a
terminal for that small fishing village, too.  When Key West grew
large enough, the portion from Punta Rassa was abandoned, since Fort
Myers and Key West were developing their own communication routes to
Miami and Tampa as those cities grew. So, the Western Union maps
showed a Havana telegraph cable that terminated at Key West and Punta
Rassa was forgotten.  Today, there's a small bronze marker in Key West
that says it was the terminal for the "first telegraph cable to Cuba."
It's one of those partial truths of corporate history books, and
forgets the much earlier history of the _real_ "first cable to Cuba."

What does CUBUS-1 portend beyond Havana?  Might it be extended to
Kingston?  Might it even provide a jumping-off place for Cuba to
become a telecommunications hub for the Caribbean?  It's much too
early to know now, but history does have a way of repeating itself,
doesn't it?

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Brack)
Subject: Hush-a-phone
Organization: University of Toledo
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 01:40:14 GMT


A few days ago, someone mentioned the Hush-a-Phone case. I was wondering
what that case was about.


Steven S. Brack           [e-mail]
Toledo, OH  43613-1605    [e-mail]
MY OWN OPINIONS           [e-mail]

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

From: John Conwell <magnus1![e-mail]>
Subject: Seeking CATV List
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 1994 15:40:20 EST


I am interested in following the discussions on this List, but am also
curious about a possible List specifically for Cable TV, or land-line
video transmissions.  If anyone knows of such a list, I would
appreciate the information.  Thanks :}

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

Date: 18 Mar 1994 18:24:04 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Ripped By InfoAccess
Organization: Arkansas Children's Hospital


Has anyone had any DEALINGS with InfoAccess? For some reason 4
EXPENSIVE calls to this service was added to my phone. Although NO
calls to it were made from our phones! There are only two people in my
house, me and my wife and neither of use dialed this number. We called
them to see about the charges and they said the calls were made from
our phones and that we need to write a letter to the information
provider and complain. In the mean time how can I handle this $50
charge with the Phone company? I refuse to pay it but if its mixed in
with my phone bill how can I NOT pay it without having my phone service
interruped?

If anyone has any ideas please email me:

[e-mail] or
'root@[144.30.128.156]' (include the [] in the address)

Thanks in advance!!


Jacque Bussey

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

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 94 08:17:00 EST
From: Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]>
Subject: SIT Tones - Where in the Archives?


I thought there was a reference to SIT tones in the telecom archives
somewhere, but I can't find it.  These are the three tones that one
hears at the beginning of a toll network announcment (We're SORRY!
All circuits are BUSY now ...)

Does anyone have the specs on these?


Paul Cook   Proctor & Associates
206-881-7000  [e-mail]

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

Subject: Country Code For San Marino
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 1994 01:42:38 GMT
From: Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]>


San Marino is a small country physically inside Italy. To the best of
my knowledge, it is always phoned as just another area code within
Italy (i.e. +39 541).

I have a note in my files that San Marino has been allocated the
country code 295 but is not yet using it. HOwever, I recently saw a
posting, here I believe, that it has been allocated 378.

Can anyone tell me which is right?


Clive D.W. Feather     | Santa Cruz Operation
[e-mail]          | Croxley Centre
Phone: [phone] | Hatters Lane, Watford
Fax:   [phone] | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom

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

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 94 00:08:44 PST
From: [e-mail] (Jody Kravitz)
Subject: Clever Data/Fax/Voice Switch Needed


I would like to share a single POTS line (without distinctive ringing)
between a dial-in modem, a Fax machine, and an answering machine.  All
of the devices I've seen require incoming data calls to either be in
"answer mode" (squirting carrier), or to press some magic key on the
keypad at just the right time.  My existing UUCP callers cannot
accomodate that.

What I really want is something that makes the voice callers do
something special, leaving the fax/data determination to the
presence/absence of tone.  Simple and elaborate schemes are welcome.


Thanks,

Jody

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

From: [e-mail] (Jan Ceuleers)
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 1994 07:05:16 GMT
Subject: Appel a` Communications Pour CFIP'95 (*in French*)
Organization: K12Net Belgium


I quote Jean-Marc Jezequel:

> Colloque Francophone sur l'Ingenierie des Protocoles

These French are incredible. Do they really think protocol development
has anything to do with the language the developer happens to speak?


Origin: Experimenter Board, Antwerp, Belgium (2:292/857)
Gated from FidoNet at 2:29/777  <[e-mail]>

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

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 1994 08:07:41 EST
From: Michael S Baum <[e-mail]>
Subject: Information Security Work Group Meeting


This is posted for information purposes only:

American Bar Ass'n
Section of Science and Technology
Information Security Committee

Please correspond to:              Michael S. Baum, Esq.
                                   33 Tremont Street
                                   Cambridge, MA 02139-1227
                                   Tel: [phone]
                                   Fax: [phone]
                                   Net: [e-mail]


           Notarization and Nonrepudiation Work Group
         INFORMATION SECURITY COMMITTEE, EDI/IT DIVISION
                Section of Science and Technology
                    American Bar Association

You are cordially invited to participate in a meeting of the
above-referenced work groups of the Information Security Committee on
Thursday-Saturday, April 14-16, 1994 in Washington, DC.  These
interdisciplinary work groups will continue to address conventional
and electronic notarization and certification authority issues.  The
meetings are focused around the work product of its respective
participants and will be highly results driven.  During this session,
an extra day will be allotted to facilitate accelerated production of
the work product.

At the last meeting (January 19-20, 1994), further progress was made
on the development of "Model Certificate-based Public Key Guideline/
Rules of Practice" ("Guideline").  It was decided that the Guideline,
as a first step, should reflect the requirements for "higher assurance"
implementations.  Also, following nearly a year of discussion and
debate, a proposal was approved (by majority vote) recommending that
the Section support, in principle, the creation of an entity to
provide specialty certification of attorney-notaries engaging in
professional services related to transnational electronic commerce.

Joe Potenza, Section Chair has kindly agreed to permitted us to hold
the meeting at his law firm in downtown Washington, DC.  Please
observe the hosts office's strict non-smoking rule.  The meeting
agenda and logistics are attached.  I look forward to seeing you in
Washington, DC.


Sincerely,

Michael S. Baum
Chair, Information Security Committee
    and EDI/IT Division


                 INFORMATION SECURITY COMMITTEE
                        April 14-16, 1994

                        Tentative Agenda

Thurs., April 14    Major Theme: Outline, Scope and Purpose

 8:30- 9:00  Continental breakfast and registration.
 9:00- 9:30  Participant introductions, meeting logistics and questions.
 9:30-10:30  Presentation of updated Guideline outline and contributions
10:30-10:45  Break.
10:45-12:30  Discussion of proposed Guideline outlines.

12:30-13:30  Lunch & informal presentation - TBD
13:30-15:00  Identifying outstanding issues re: outline, scope and purpose.
15:00-15:15  Break.
15:15-16:45  Survey and record points of agreement/disagreement.
16:45-17:00  Wrap-up.

Friday, April 15    Major Theme: Tone, Style and Content

 8:30- 9:00  Continental breakfast and registration.
 9:00-10:30  Presentation of contributions by authors.
10:30-10:45  Break.
10:45-12:30  Discussion of purpose and style of various sections.

12:30-13:30  Lunch & informal presentation - TBD.
13:30-15:00  Break-out session on Guideline contributions.
15:00-15:45  Break.
15:15-16:15  Status report and discussion of Clipper Resolution;
             Discussion on digital signature legislation.
16:45-17:00  Wrap-up.

Saturday, April 16  Major Theme: Work Product!; Notarial Matters

 8:30- 9:00  Continental breakfast and registration.
 9:00-10:30  Break-out sessions on Guideline.
10:30-10:45  Break.
10:45-12:30  Additional presentation by contributors to the Guideline;
             Review of outline and contributions; Discuss work assignments.

12:30-13:30  Lunch & informal presentation - Bertram Cottine, Esq.
13:30-15:00  Discussion of corporate form for the accredited certifying
             organization for attorney-notaries.
15:00-15:45  Break.
15:15-16:15  Resolve work assignments; meeting review; appointments.
16:45-17:00  Wrap-up.

           NOTARIZATION AND NONREPUDIATION WORK GROUP
                 INFORMATION SECURITY COMMITTEE
                         April 14-16, 1994

Meeting Details

Papers: All prior participants who plan to attend must submit their
agreed upon contributions as soon as possible to:

            [e-mail] and to [e-mail].

Please bring a copy of the contribution to the meeting in both paper
form and on disk.  First-time participants (who plan to attend the
April meeting) must submit a brief paper (~3 pages in length) relevant
to the subject matter; or discuss their planned contribution to the
Committee (please contact Michael Baum for details).  A binder of
prior papers will be presented to new participants during registration.
Prior participants are requested to bring their Work Group binders.

Meeting Location:        Banner, Birch, McKie & Beckett
                         1001 G. St., N.W. - 11th Floor
                         "Floating Conference Room"
                         Washington, DC  20001-4597
                         Tel: [phone] (Attn. Lisa Jones)
                         Fax: [phone]

     SMOKING ANYWHERE IN THE BUILDING IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED

Meals: Continental breakfast and refreshments during the breaks
will be served as well as a light lunch (at cost).

Hotel: The closest hotel to the meeting is the Grand Hyatt Washington,
1-202-582-1234. The next closest hotel is the Holiday Inn Crowne
Plaza, 1-202-737-2200.

RSVP: Please confirm your intention to participate to Ann Kowalski,
Section Manager, Section of Science and Technology (ABA Chicago,
Phone: [phone] or [e-mail]) as soon as possible.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #139
******************************


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To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #140

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 21 Mar 94 09:52:30 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 140

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: CDPD, PCS, PCN, and Digital Cellular? (Michael D. Sullivan)
    Re: Wanted: Alphanumeric Pager Software (Mark McClain)
    Re: Boca V-Mail Modem: Request For Tech-Specs (Russell Nelson)
    Re: History of the Term "Switch" (Bill Mayhew)
    Re: Local CID Showing Out of Area (Cliff Sharp)
    Re: 911 Used From Car Phone (Douglas Adams)
    Cut-Rate Domestic and International Calling Cards (Richard Barry)
    E3 Interface Chips? (Paulo Libano Monteiro)
    Cordless Question (Joseph R. Szurek)
    Re: Time Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip (A. Padgett Peterson)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Chris Norloff)
    Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number (Christoper Ogren)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Michael D. Sullivan)
Subject: Re: CDPD, PCS, PCN, and Digital Cellular?
Date: 20 Mar 1994 01:33:37 -0500
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


[e-mail] (Dan Leifker) writes:

> I am taking an introductory (grad level) course in telecommunications,
> and the professor has asked us to write a short paper defining the
> following terms: digital cellular, CDPD, PCS, PCN, and wireless.  I
> have been scouring the area (Washington, D.C.) and have found almost
> nothing in the way of technical literature.  Could some kind soul
> outline the differences between these terms and give me some pointers
> for more information?

Two DC-area sources you should contact: CTIA (Cellular Telephone
Industry Association) at 202-785-0081, and PCIA (Personal
Communications Industry Association, formerly Telocator Network of
America) at 202-467-4770.  Both of these trade associations are
involved with all of the technologies you mention.  In fact, they are
essentially competing trade associations.  (Only in Washington! Only
in America!)  (When looking for specialized information in Washington,
one essential starting point is TRADE ASSOCIATIONS -- they ALL have a
Washington presence.  Wonder why?)

My take on a not-so-simple answer to your question is as follows:

(1) digital cellular is (generically) cellular telephone service that
uses digital transmission for the voice channels as well as the
control channels.  Mobile/portable telephone service is "cellular" if
it employs base stations that transmit over relatively short (<20
mile) radius distances, with overlapping coverage "cells".  Less
generically, US cellular service operates in the 800 MHz band on
defined frequency blocks, of which there are two (the A block and the
B block), so there are two carriers.  All US cellular carriers are, at
present, required to support analog cellular service, which uses
digital control channels and analog voice channels.  This is known as
the "AMPS" standard (after Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AT&T's
moniker circa 1979)).  The FCC allows cellular carriers to use other
technology as well as analog, as long as they keep compatibility with
analog for the benefit of the installed base.

There are one analog and two digital alternative standards that have
developed.  The analog alternative is N-AMPS, for Narrowband AMPS,
developed by Motorola, which can increase system capacity by up to 3x.
Digital alternative #1, which was recently turned on by the B carrier
in DC (Bell Atlantic) is TDMA, or Time Division Multiple Access.
Digital alternative #2 is CDMA, or Code Division Multiple Access.  The
difference between these is too complicated to explain now, but basic-
ally, TDMA is here now and can increase capacity 3-6x over analog,
while CDMA is about a year or so further down the road and can
increase capacity (I think) 10-20x over analog.  The technology used
is very different; TDMA uses time-slices of conventional channels to
derive multiple channels, while CDMA uses spread-spectrum
transmission, which is conceptually like teleportation in the old
Superman comics -- break the message up into tiny bits that get trans-
mitted at quasi-random frequencies and get reassembled at the end --
except that it works.

In Europe, they use different frequencies and protocols, but digital
cellular there is TDMA without any analog compatibility; the standard
is known as GSM (Groupe Systeme Mobile).  The irony is that digital
cellular systems are optimized for voice (using adaptive decoders,
etc.) and are unlikely to be as good for carrying modem calls as
analog systems, at least in the immediate future.

(2) CDPD -- Should be CPDP, Cellular Packet Data Protocol -- This is a
system that the cellular industry has developed for squeezing pure data
transmissions in between cellular voice calls.  Cellular systems use
multiple channels for transmitting voice calls, and there may be gaps
when a channel is not needed for voice transmission, but in busy systems
these gaps will be pretty short.  CPDP allows the carrier to send data
packets whenever there is a gap; the receiver has to switch back and
forth between the channels to get all the packets, then reassemble them.

(3) PCS -- Personal Communications Services -- this is defined by the
FCC so broadly as to be generic.  Basically, a family of services
allowing for tetherless (i.e., not tied down to the telephone network)
communications connected to a variety of networks.  The generic
definition includes cellular, paging, cordless telephones, and many
other existing services.  The FCC has allocated spectrum from the 900
MHz band for "new narrowband PCS" -- also known as advanced messaging
services, such as mobile data, portable email, and two-way paging --
and from the 2 GHz band for "new broadband PCS" -- which includes,
potentially, clones of today's cellular service, as well as
"microcell" service, with base stations that may be only 1000 feet or
so apart, oriented toward handheld service for pedestrians, not
motorists.  The 2 GHz band also has an allocation for "unlicensed
PCS," which could include new generations of cordless telephone
service that include public microcell access (known as CT-2, CT-2+,
and CT-3, in some of its iterations), wireless LAN, and any number of
other mobile/portable low-power voice and data applications, such as
wireless PBX access.

(4) PCN -- Personal Communications Network(s).  This is the name the
U.K.  gave to a specific frequency allocation for PCS.  It was
supposed to be a microcellular service but was also supposed to
compete with cellular and landline service.  Three licenses were
awarded.  Two systems merged and the resulting joint venture is
on-line; and one is yet to go on.  The on-line system, known as
Mercury one2one, is a joint venture of Mercury (the MCI of the U.K.)
and US WEST; Mercury one2one is offering a service that is
functionally similar to cellular, using a 1.8 GHz port of the GSM
digital cellular spec.

(5) WIRELESS -- without wires <g>.  In the olden days, this was the name
for what we know as radio.  The name stayed around longer in the U.K.
Now it seems to mean about the same as PCS -- mobile or portable
communications connected to the wireline network.  I.e., you can use it
like a phone, but no wires.

> Are these things in a competitive sort of relationship?

Broadband PCS *will* be in competition with cellular (analog and
digital), when it happens, more or less.  Narrowband PCS *will* be in
competition with CPDP and other mobile data services, when it gets off
the ground.  PCN is in the U.K., so it can't be in competition with
any of these.  All of the above are wireless, as is AM, FM, TV, and
garage door openers; I refuse to opine whether garage door openers,
Howard Stern, or Oprah Winfrey are likely to be in a competitive
relationship with Cellular One (which is a generic name, and not a
specific company; the name is owned jointly by McCaw and Southwestern
Bell).

> (I'm not asking anyone to do my work ... I'm just looking for a starting
> place.)

Yeah, right.

P.S., in the interest of full disclosure, I'm an attorney with the
firm of Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer & Quinn, practicing in the area of
cellular, PCS, and other wireless services before the FCC and the
federal courts, and I was (in a previous life as a government
attorney) responsible for writing the original cellular rules.
Therefore, I know at least some of what I just said is probably right.
This is not a legal opinion; you have to pay for that.  None of the
above necessarily reflects the views of my firm or my clients.


Michael D. Sullivan | [e-mail]        [e-mail]
Washington, D.C.    | [e-mail]     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark McClain)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Alphanumeric Pager Software
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 05:21:07 -0800
Organization: Connected INC -- Internet Services


Jeff Regan ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Anybody know of a source for software that will use the modem to dial
> an alphanumeric pager and to send a message to that pager?

> Motorola uses these keyboard-like devices now.  It would be nice to
> replace them with software.

If you are using Windows, you might try to pick up a copy of 'MessageFlash'
from your nearest McCaw office. It's a pretty cool package and usually
available at no cost. I have it and it works well. Good luck.


Mark S McClain   [e-mail]
Redmond,  WA   MCI Mail: 530-2222   206-885-6770

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

From: [e-mail] (Russell Nelson)
Subject: Re: Boca V-Mail Modem: Request For Tech-Specs
Date: 20 Mar 1994 08:55:50 GMT
Organization: Crynwr Software


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ken
Stillson) writes:

> The hardware manual casually mentions a few of the extended AT#
> commands used for the voice-subsystem, but doesn't give anywhere near
> enough details to actually use them.

> Does anyone know (or know where to get) more information on how to
> directly use the voice system, so one can write their own software?

This card, also known as the Computer Communicator EZ (the half-length
card w/ diagonal cut), is very easy to program.  Call Cirrus Logic,
and ask for their "CL-MD9624AT/EC2 Programmer's Guide".  They're at
1-408-436-7110.

And, it's only $69 from PC Connection, 800-800-5555, [phone].


russ <[e-mail]>  ftp.msen.com:pub/vendor/crynwr/crynwr.wav
Crynwr Software  11 Grant St.  [phone] (9201 FAX)  Potsdam, NY 13676

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Re: History of the Term "Switch"
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 10:33:27 GMT


When I was a kid, my dad worked as an administrator for the local
school system.  The then Ohio Bell regularly provided mountains of
wonderful public relational material to the schools.  Items ranged
from preschool telephone etiquitte type stuff to gradeuate school
level technical briefs.  The Bell System also provided many films.

If I reall correctly, the "Mr. Watson" wrote a wonderful little
booklet called, "The Birth and Babyhood of the Telephone."  There is
are a lot of neat reminissnaces and many pictures of early
telephonica.  There is one picture of a switchboard that, I believe,
has four eight-position rotary switches that have what looks like a
knife switch handle that can be moved to contact eight thumb-tack like
contacts arranged in a circle: completely manual, of course.  I had
that book for many years, but can not locate it at the moment.  I
don't remember if that was supposedly the first switchboad or just an
early example.

With the advent of divestiture and cost slashing, I suspect that much
of the material provided for schools by the former Bell Ssytem is long
gone.


Bill Mayhew        NEOUCOM Computer Services Department
Rootstown, OH  44272-0095  USA      phone: [phone]
[e-mail]       amateur radio 146.58: N8WED


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, the present day people running
the company don't seem to care much about that stuff any longer.  We
used to get a lot of that material when I was in school also.   PAT]

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

From: indep1!clifto (Cliff Sharp)
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 07:24:45 CST
Subject: Re: Local CID Showing Out of Area


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

>> When CID was deployed in my area (516 area code), I tried calling home
>> from a pay phone and the number was displayed.  However, when I call
>> home while I'm having my car serviced at a local service station, the
>> number doesn't show.

> This sounds to me like your area might be served by a CO with two
> vintages of switches (i.e., one is SS7 compatible, and the other
> isn't) The Nynex telephone is probably connected to the SS7 compatible
> switch in that CO and the COCOT telephone is probably connected to the
> non-SS7 switch.  As you can see, this also results in some prefixes in
> your exchange being able to get and display CID and the rest not being
> able to.

   It's not necessarily even that the other switch isn't SS7-compatible.
Lombard, IL, for the longest time, had a 5ESS which delivered CNID and
a 1AESS which didn't.  My friend at 708-916-xxxx was always identified,
and my friend at 708-932-xxxx wasn't.

   A call to customer service some time last year got me the information
that they hadn't even scheduled the 1AESS for the software update that
would allow CNID to be sent!  However, around December (I think), my
other friend's name and number suddenly started showing up.

   Might be a nit, but even if the software wasn't SS7-compatible, the
switch certainly was/is ...


Cliff Sharp  WA9PDM

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

From: [e-mail] (Adams Douglas)
Subject: Re: 911 Used From Car Phone
Organization: CTS Network Services (CTSNET/crash), San Diego, CA
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 07:03:01 GMT


Carl Moore ([e-mail]) wrote:

> KYW news-radio has noted the use of 911 from a car phone.  That's
> apparently how a tanker-truck crash at Conshohocken, PA was reported
> (this happened on I-76/I-476 interchange) this week.  The driver of
> that truck was killed, and nobody else was hurt.

There was an instance east of San Diego here two winters ago. A hiker
got lost and couldn't find his way back to the road. Snow was blowing
in, so he pulled his cellular out of his backpack and dialed 911.
Choppers were sent and they found him in less than an hour.

Ironically, he was less than 1000 feet from his car at the time.

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

From: Richard Barry <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cut-Rate Domestic and International Calling Cards
Date: 21 Mar 1994 18:59:41 -0000
Organization: Ireland On-Line


> I have heard of a company that presumably offers calls to Finland at
> about $0.45 per minute.  That does not sound unreasonable to me as one
> can call Germany for way less than that.

[stuff deleted]

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you are getting international calls
> between the USA and Europe for 45 cents per minute you are not getting
> a bad deal at all. I cannot imagine calling Germany from the USA for
> 'way less' than 45 cents per minute.   PAT]

There is a (US based) company providing calls to the USA from Ireland
for 20p (30 cents)/minute weekends -- it used to be as low as 16p/min
until a few weeks ago.  It operates through a local access number and
subscribers pre-pay for a block of message units in advance.  I believe
they also have access numbers in the UK and perhaps other states.

Surely there is no reason why a transatlantic call should cost more
than a coast to coast call in the US -- maybe a cent or two a minute
more/minute at most, in a competitive market? The days of the 30 channel
transatlantic submarine cables and bad connections are gone. Unfortun-
ately, many of the established operators in the market still want to
hang on to the good old rip-off international call pricing. Fortunately
their days are numbered!


Richard Barry   Ballsbridge
IRL-Dublin 4    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Paulo Libano Monteiro)
Subject: E3 Interface Chips?
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Paulo Libano Monteiro)
Organization: INESC - Inst. Eng. Sistemas e Computadores, LISBOA. PORTUGAL.
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 12:25:05 GMT


I'm looking for chips to implement an E3 interface (34.368Mbit/s), both
the framing and line interface functions. And ATM cells over 34.368Mbit/s.
Any advice would be appreciated (please e-mail me).


Thanks,

Paulo Libano Monteiro   ([e-mail])
INESC  -  R. Alves Redol, 9  1000 LISBOA   PORTUGAL
Tel: [phone]   Fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Joseph R Szurek)
Subject: Cordless Question
Date: 21 Mar 94 12:33:43 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh


Can anyone tell me if the base station for a cordless phone broadcasts
all calls on the line or just when the cordless handset is on.  This
came up in a discussion of how private your conversations are when you
have a cordless phone in the house.


Thanks,

J. Szurek   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The base should not be transmitting anything
when the cordless is not in use. I've seen older cordless phones whose
base would respond to spurious radio signals of one kind or another and
as a result cause interference on wired phones. An old cordless of mine
a number of years ago was very sensitive to illegally high power from CB
radios, and when a neighbor of mine talked on his CB (at something like
a thousand watts) it caused the relays in my cordless base to chatter and
in turn messed up my wired phone and (I suspect) transmitted my wired
calls as a result. But normally, no -- the base should remain silent if
the cordless handset is not in use.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 02:47:20 -0500
From: [e-mail] (A. Padgett Peterson)
Subject: Re: TIME Reports 80% Oppose Clipper Chip


> [e-mail] (Charles Randall Yates) writes:

> Why shouldn't the government have the right to listen in? Any
> law-abiding citizen should have nothing to hide. I'm for it.

Sorry for the quoting but having nothing to hide has nothing to do
with it. The issue here is not whether "our homes, person & papers"
are safe from search but whether we can trust a third (or fourth, or
fifth...)  party to secure our communications and *that* is something
very different.

I *expect* everything that transmitted electronically is subject to
search (whether legal or not, will never know that it happened unless
someone *else* tells me). Therefore *it is my responsibility* to make
sure that what goes out is only what I want to send under those conditions.

Has nothing to do with what I want or permit.


Warmly,

Padgett

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 00:17:39 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number


> ...As the date draws near for Gacy's execution -- this time, no
> more stalling or delays -- a group calling itself the American
> Civil Liberties Union has stated it will intervene to prevent
> Gacy from being persecuted further by the state and the
> criminals in our society of which Gacy is but a victim.

I can understand your revulsion at someone protecting a criminal's
rights, but the law applies to the criminals and to the non-criminals.

> Those folks are forced to pay perfectly outrageous rates for
> collect calls from their loved ones in prison because the
> prisoners can no longer place calls via Genuine Bell. Rates of
> three or four dollars *per minute* ...

> ... the AOS's are ripping off the families of prisoners big-time having
> them as a captive customer base.

Evidently you, too, think criminals have rights, sometimes.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well certainly their families and
friends have rights, and they are the ones paying for the calls. Until
about 1970 prison inmates were not allowed to use phones at all. Commun-
ication with the outside world is a fairly recent innovation. Jail in-
mates have always gotten their one free phone call since about 1905, but
the routine use of payphones for other calls in jails began during the
1970's also. By virtue of their position, AT&T had all the corrections
payphone business for several years and they took a bad beating on it;
it was probably one part about competition AT&T liked -- let the COCOT
operators have it; that was their attitude. :)   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Christoper Ogren)
Subject: Re: Prisoner Starts Own 900 Number
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 1994 19:54:34 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Colin Owen Rafferty) writes:

> The Eighth Amendment explains how cruel punishments shall not be
> inflicted.  What can be a crueler punishment than execution?

Mind you, 'cruel' in a relative term.  Cruel in who's eyes?  The
convicted might think any punishment is cruel or maybe he/she might
think life imprisonment is cruel.

Hmmm.  Certainly makes for interesting discussion.  I just didn't think
I would find it here.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And you won't find it here. We have
strayed too far from the topic.  Poof! To the bit bucket with all of you!
Nice discussion, but one of those that never comes to an end.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #140
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #141

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 22 Mar 94 15:11:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 141

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Privacy-Protected Transfer of Value in Telecomuunications (Stefan Brands)
    Music on Hold (Stuart Whitmore)
    Extension Cord For Cell Phone ([e-mail])
    Cellular Roaming Charges (Lars Nohling)
    Stentor (Canada) Starts VideoRoute (Dave Leibold)
    Belarus Yellow Pages (Dave Leibold)
    "Howdy Mail"?  Scrawl-Like Writing Device (Richard Duffy)
    Re: An Obscene Caller Gets Caught, 1965 (Robert Michael Gutierrez)
    Re: CDPD, PCS, PCN, and Digital Cellular? ([e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Stefan Brands)
Subject: Privacy-Protected Transfer of Value in Telecomuunications
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 11:05:17 GMT


I am a PhD student at the Cryptography Department at the Center for
Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI) in Amsterdam. In the past two
years, I have developed a compact set of new techniques that enable
the construction of highly efficient and secure electronic systems for
off-line transfer of certified information, such that privacy is fully
guaranteed. The resulting systems offers a great many advantages over
any other privacy-protected systems you will find. In particular,
using a subset of these techniques I have contructed off-line
electronic cash systems in which the privacy of the account holders is
fully guaranteed. These systems are the most practical such systems to
date.

I am posting this letter because I am very interested in pursuing the
implementation of my systems *jointly*, in a fair business
relationship, with a company capable of and interested in
standardizing these systems. My technologies / systems are suitable
for use in telecommunications (interactive TV etc) , smart cards, hand
held computers, etcetera. All the rights to the technology have been
transferred to me by CWI, and so part of such a cooperation might be
joint ownership of all rights.

The reason for posting this letter in TELECOM Digest is that I see no
other way to get in touch with interested parties. Before I go deeper
into this, I would like to give you some more information about my
technologies, and explain their many features.  If you are not
interested, but think you can help me by suggesting names etc., I
would appreciate your suggestions.

          Privacy-protected transfer of electronic information.
          -----------------------------------------------------

Much work has been done to construct privacy-protected off-line cash
systems previously, notably by David Chaum (formerly affiliated with
CWI).  This early work has resulted in two key concepts that can be
used to attain the same level of security against double-spending as
can trivially be attained in off-line cash systems with full
traceability of payments.  However, the many practical *realizations*
of these concepts that have been proposed are far from satisfactory
with respect to efficiency, provability of security (relative to
certain well-known problems that are widely believed to be
intractable), and extensibility in functionality.

The new techniques I developed for my PhD thesis overcome *all* of
these problems. They enable the construction of privacy-protected
off-line cash systems that are almost as efficient as off-line cash
systems that do *not* offer privacy. Succesful attacks against such a
system provably imply that one can break a certain well-known
signature scheme that is widely believed to be secure (such as the
Schnorr scheme, the Guillou/Quisquater scheme, the schemes presented
by Okamoto at CRYPTO 92, the Fiat/Shamir scheme etc.). The techniques
in fact allow the construction of a highly efficient off-line cash
system whose security (and that of all the extensions in
functionality!)  is based on the security of any one signature scheme
of the so-called Fiat/Shamir type.

Among the extensions in functionality are: prior restraint of
double-spending, electronic cheques, protection against framing,
currency exchange, anonymous accounts, and multi-spendable coins. All
these extensions can be realized very easily without any need for
additional data stuctures or basic algorithms (that is, *no* ad hoc
constructions). In particular, prior restraint of double-spending can
be achieved by using a tamper-resistant computing device that is
capable of merely performing a signature scheme of the Fiat/Shamir
type (of one's own choice), such as the Schnorr signature scheme.

A highly preliminary report about a small subset of these techniques,
based on the Discrete Logarithm problem, has been published by me
about a year ago as a technical report at CWI. (A PostScript version
of this report can be retrieved by ftp from ftp.cwi.nl, as
pub/brands/CS-R9323.ps.).

In August 1993 I presented these preliminary results at the CRYPTO
1993 conference in Santa Barbara.  The final version of this abstract
can also be retrieved by ftp from ftp.cwi.nl, as pub/brands/crypto93.ps.
It's succesful acceptance can be measured by the fact that the
techniques and systems in the report are currently being used as the
basis for an electronic cash system by the European CAFE project, a
project with 13 European partners from industry and science. I
understand that some other implementations based on my report are
under way as well.

                       New developments.
                       -----------------

In the mean time, however, I have significantly improved and greatly
extended the techniques described in the preliminary report.
Furthermore, I came up with a fully RSA-based variant that offers
various advantages over the Discrete Log based variant.

As an interesting side note, the improved techniques do *not* use the
blind signature technique as developed and patented by David Chaum.

The full set of techniques can be used to construct highly efficient
privacy-protected off-line mechanisms for transferring certified
information, the security of which again can be *proven* assuming only
the security of a certain well-known signature scheme of the
Fiat/Shamir type of one's own choice. The off-line cash systems are in
fact just one very particular instance of the general applicability of
the complete set of techniques; it is a system in which credentials
that may be shown only once can be transferred between any
"organizations" while privacy is guaranteed.  As an example of the
usefulness of the new techniques, highly efficient and secure off-line
cash systems can be constructed in which payments are made under
pseudonym: in order to pay with a coin, an accountholder need do no
more than send 35 bytes to an "organization" at which he has a
pseudonym.

For those who want to know in detail about the *many* features of the
new techniques, as well as the performance of several preferred
embodiments of systems that can be contructed from them, I have
prepared a document that can be retrieve by ftp from ftp.cwi.nl, again
in the directory pub/brands. There is a PostScript version called
features.ps, as well as a plain text version called features.plain.

                   Why am I posting this letter?
                   -----------------------------

As I already mentioned at the start of this letter, I am very
interested in pursuing the implementation of my systems *jointly*, in
a fair business relationship, with a company capable of and interested
in standardizing these systems. I am in the process of finishing my
PhD thesis, which deals exclusively with these technologies. If you
have read the detailed description of the features in my ``features''
document, then I have no doubt that you will agree with me that these
systems offer a great many advantages over any other privacy-protected
system for off-line transfer of digital information.  In general, if
you want to implement electronic systems for secure transfer of
certified information, whether it be cash or other types of
credentials, such that privacy can be guaranteed, then you will find
out that this is *the* way to go.

I am not involved with any project or company whatsoever. In
particular, I want like to point out that I am not involved in the
CAFE project, and I also do not have business relations with the
company (DigiCash) of David Chaum, although I greatly respect his
innovative work on privacy-protected transfer of electronic
information. In fact, all rights on my technologies have been
transferred to me by my employer, CWI.

Due to the fact that my research was done independently of any project
or company, it is extremely hard for me to get in touch with the
appropriate persons at companies that are really interested in this
technology *and* that have the capability of implementing it. Since
projects and companies that I am not part of obviously do not provide
me with such information, I see no better way to bring my technologies
under the attention than by publishing this letter on the news net.

If you are interested in my technologies, and want to pursue
implementation together with me in the *near* future, I invite you to
contact me. We can then discuss things further. Part of such a
cooperation might be *sharing* with me the rights to my technologies.

My fax number is (31) 30 - 546 468

This is also my telephone number; however, I would prefer if you send
fax or e-mail. My e-mail address at CWI is [e-mail].

In case you are interested in having my work reviewed beforehand by
some cryptography authority, to make sure I am not talking nonsense, I
am happy to send to you a detailed description of my work. I guarantee
you that he or she will not be able to break it, and will confirm the
many statements I make about the benefits of my technologies. In
addition, or alternatively, depending on the circumstances, I am happy
to come over and explain my technologies in person with you.

Alternatively, if you are not interested in my technologies, but you
think you can help me with pointers to persons at companies that might
be interested in this technology, I would very much appreciate any
such suggestions.


Stefan Brands,
CWI, Kruislaan 413, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 12:16:10 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Rattlesnake Stu)
Subject: Music on Hold
Organization: Central Washington University


I picked up a music-on-hold module at a local Radio Shack discount store
(where they unload discontinueds, display models, etc.), and after some
testing determined (according to the supplied manual) that it is not
compatible with the hold button on my phone.

I wouldn't mind getting a new phone, but I'd like to know what to look
for to ensure compatibility with this module.  My current phone uses
"electronic hold", as does every phone I've looked at as a likely
replacement -- is this always going to be incompatible with the
music-on-hold box?

I have no idea how the music-on-hold module determines when to play
the music and when not to -- it does have a sensitivity adjustment,
but I have no idea what, exactly, it is being sensitive to.  The way
it is connected is via a Y splitter on the phone line; one lead goes
to the phone, the other goes to the music-on-hold box:

                 /-------- phone
Wall: -----------
                 \-------- music box with annoying digital music

If anyone has any experience with this item, or even general
suggestions on what I should look for if I replace the phone, I'd
really appreciate it.


TIA,

Stuart Whitmore          FAX:  [phone]      Data: Same as FAX
[e-mail]  [e-mail]       [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Extension Cord For Cell Phone
Date: 21 Mar 94 20:53:15 CST
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services


Can anybody tell me where I can purchase an extension cord for my
cellular phone?  I tried my local Radio Shack but they don't carry
this.  It appears to be an 8 wire connection.

In case you are wondering, I'm not crazy :).  My boyfriend lives in a
city thats a local call on cellular, but LD from my home.  And, of
course, my cell phone is mounted in the car.  I'm looking for a way to
stretch it into the house.

E-mail replies are appreciated!


Monica    [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 94 23:15 EST
From: Lars Nohling <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cellular Roaming Charges


Are then any tricks to cutting costs on the high roaming rates many
cellular carriers charge ?

Any sort of Resellers who provide discounts like in the Long Distance
business ?


Lars Nohling   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 21 Mar 94 23:10:48 -0500
Subject: Stentor (Canada) Starts VideoRoute
Organization: FidoNet


{The Toronto Star} reported this week that an occasional-use video
fibre service called VideoRoute will begin this month. VideoRoute is
an offering of the Stentor consortium of major Canadian telcos (Bell
Canada, BC Tel, Maritime Tel & Tel etc). The intent is to provide an
alternative to satellite transmission, especially useful in the wake
of the recent Anik satellite mishaps.

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 21 Mar 94 22:30:01 -0500
Subject: Belarus Yellow Pages
Organization: FidoNet


I found a copy of a recent English-language directory for Minsk (which
I believe is now spelled Mensk), Belarus. Apart from listings of
companies, some other things can be found.

Cellular/mobile phone services in Belarus are done by Belcel.

Belpak is the packet switching/e-mail company in that country. Their
e-mail address is listed as [e-mail] (or
S=helpdesk/O=rtte/A=belpak/C-by which is presumably their x.400).

Some service codes:

Bus Station Inquiry            004
Railway Station Inquiry        005
Airport Inquiry Service        006
City Telephone Net.            008
Fire                           01
Police                         02
Ambulance                      03
Gas                            04
Booking Railway Tickets        051
Telephone Code Inquiry         053
Taxi Order                     061
Central Inquiry                065
Telegraph                      066
Housing Service                067
Chemistry  Info. Service       069
"Intertown" Tel. Info Service  07
International Call Order       080
Time                           088
Minsk City Info. Service       09

It seems that a feature of the old Soviet dialing system not only used
area codes (8 + area code), but also a series of regional area codes
beginning with 2. For instance, Molodechno has a code of 273, but for
international dialing or from other parts of country code 7, this
would be 01773. (Note the last '73' is common to both codes). The 2xx
series of codes appear to be valid only within the caller's region. A
similar setup appeared in the Kiev, Ukraine directory and also an
Estonian directory (although Estonia is country code 372, and no
longer under country code 7).

The address for the directory office is:

Yellow Pages Minsk office
Opanskogo Str. 25, 6th floor
220079 Minsk
tel: [phone]   fax: [phone]

I have no connection with the "Yellow Pages Minsk" other than
stumbling on a copy recently.


David Leibold

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Duffy)
Subject: "Howdy Mail"? Scrawl-Like Writing Device
Date: 22 Mar 1994 15:55:00 GMT
Organization: Massachvsetts Institvte of Technology


Has anyone heard of a digital writing device presumably using
lightpens or something equivalent, that has two "terminals" for people
to use to communicate over the phone as if by writing?  So it might
operate something like the Unix "scrawl" game.  This would be for deaf
people to use in place of TTY terminals, for example.

Nippon Telephone & Telegraph once had such a thing which they called
Howdy Mail, no longer sold or manufactured as far as I know.

If you know of something like this, or a possible source for someone
to buy a working model of Howdy Mail, please e-mail me with information
including costs if possible.

Thanks very much.  (Excuse this if it has appeared twice).


Richard Duffy,

Internet: [e-mail]   Bitnet: zeno%athena@MITVMA     Tel: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'd think with the advent a decade or more
ago of terminals and modems with communication programs, most of those
devices you are speaking about would have fallen into disuse and been
discontinued in their manufacture.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Michael Gutierrez)
Subject: Re: An Obscene Caller Gets Caught, 1965
Date: 21 Mar 1994 22:46:34 GMT
Organization: Bay Area Regional Research Network (BARRNet)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Robert Michael Gutierrez)


PAT says:

> This is not so today of course. Gone are the frames and the spaghetti-
> like mountains of wires everywhere. Now-a-days a technician need merely
> type a few keys on the keyboard of his terminal and he'll know perfectly
> well who is talking to whom; when they started the connection and when
> they finished, and more...

As of five years ago, it still was difficult to trace out a call (before
the advent of SS7 and DAPs).

Having once worked at MCI's Western Region Network Management Center
in Hayward (before they discovered the Hayward fault was nearby and
moved to Sacramento), I worked as a Network Analyist and did trend and
analysis for residental and small commercial LD calls.  Trending and
analysis on their OCIS system (On-Line Customer Information System)
compromised of the customer calling customer service, and a rep taking
a "trouble report" of the call the customer had difficulty with.  The
report screen on the IBM 3170 terminals consisted of no more than an
originating and called number and time.  If OCIS detected a trend of
three or more calls that were from the same general area and time, it
generated a real trouble ticket on TMS (Trouble Management System),
which I then recieved.

Armed with that information from the trouble ticket, I then had to do a search
on the switch in question so I could find out the trunk group(s) that were
having a problem, taken them OOS (out of service) and refer the ticket to
either transmission or switch maintainence.  You usually found out which
trunk group it was by doing a typical call search within the time span
indicated on the trended report.@

Not with a DMS-250 you dont!

A call search on a DMS-250 was like mixing molasses with epoxy and
watching it pour out onto your pancakes.  For every minute you want to
expand the call search window, it would add ten minutes search time.
And god forbid that you did a wildcard search for the phone number.
You could count on doubling your search time!

Example: 1 call, with both telephone numbers with a 5 minute window (2.5
     minutes each way) = approx 15-30 minutes search time.

     1 call, with only a/c+prefix on a 5 minute window = 40-60 minutes.

Now, I do digress, Northern Telecom has supposedly alleviated that
problem with their "Super-Node" front-end processor (of which I did
not have the opportunity to test out myself).  And, of course, with
DAPs and SAPs in a typical SS7 network, you can look up call records in
a matter of seconds now.


Robert Gutierrez   Engineer, BARRNet
(Bay Area Regional Research Network)

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: CDPD, PCS, PCN, and Digital Cellular?
Date: 22 Mar 1994 00:05:32 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Michael D. Sullivan) writes:

> (3) PCS -- Personal Communications Services -- this is defined by the
> . . . .The FCC has allocated spectrum from the 900
> MHz band for "new narrowband PCS" -- also known as advanced messaging
> services, such as mobile data, portable email, and two-way paging --
> and from the 2 GHz band for "new broadband PCS" -- which includes,
> potentially, clones of today's cellular service, as well as
> "microcell" service, with base stations that may be only 1000 feet or
> so apart, oriented toward handheld service for pedestrians, not
> motorists.

> Broadband PCS *will* be in competition with cellular (analog and
> digital), when it happens, more or less.  Narrowband PCS *will* be in
> competition with CPDP and other mobile data services, when it gets off
> the ground.

I think this sort of comment about PCS represents the sort of failed
imagination that brought us the PC with a 640K limit.  Pedestrians on
the street will not be the eventual primary user of Microcell phones.
Those who must communicate on the run have already bought a cell phone
and will insist on talking from cars.

Microcell users will be nomadic apartment dwellers who do not want to
pay the $100 plus installation fees twice a year, teleholics who
cannot afford macrocell, kids who live with dad one week and mom the
next, teenagers at slumber parties and baby sitter jobs, parents who
have surrendered the copper to the kids, and more.

As pulling copper or glass gets more expensive and silicon gets
cheaper, neighborhoods will be built without land lines at all.  When
dial tone competition comes, this will be attractive to second service
providers as an access method that drastically reduces easement
requirements and can be installed rapidly.

A microcell base could be easily concealed in a street light except
for a very small antenna and take about as long as a street light to
install.

These guys are superstock cordless phones and not crippled cell
phones.  That makes a big difference in who your competition is and in
your potential market size.

I cannot wait until I read about microcells in crime infested
areas that will not accept coins and must be pulse dialed. ;-)

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #141
******************************


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Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 10:03:18 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #142

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 23 Mar 94 10:03:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 142

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Sprint in China (John D. Gretzinger)
    Technical References and Suppliers (Gary Ross)
    FAX/Modem/Phone/Answering Machine Software (Peter Leif Rasmussen)
    BT Phone Numbering (Bill Buchan)
    Please Explain the Phrase 'Steaming Terminal' ([e-mail])
    Windows or DOS Caller ID Program (Steve Lindsay)
    Cellular Phone Hacking (Bob Zigon)
    Telecom Business Idea (Dale Van Voorst)
    New Area Code For Los Angeles (David Whiteman)
    MS-Kermit Keyboard Commands ([e-mail])
    Re: Belarus Yellow Pages (Garrett Wollman)
    Re: Hush-a-Phone (Pawel Dobrowolski)
    Re: Hush-a-Phone (Michael D. Sullivan)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
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use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 19:27:42 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Sprint in China


Interesting press release I thought you might like.

    THIS RELEASE WAS DISTRIBUTED IN CHINA ONLY.

    Contacts: Janis Langley, (O) 202-828-7427


   SPRINT EXPANDS PRESENCE IN CHINA, INTRODUCES NEW SERVICES

     BEIJING, March 21, 1994 -- Sprint today announced a
significant expansion of its presence, and product and service
offerings, in China.  Sprint also announced the immediate availability
of three of those services -- a toll-free Sprint Express(R) number for
calling worldwide and for collect calling to the United States, a
prepaid calling card, and CLEARLINE(R) international private-line
service.

     Sprint made the announcements today at a press briefing and
two-day seminar to inform customers and leading Chinese organizations
of the company's expanded local capabilities.

         Sprint is one of the largest telecommunications carriers in
the United States, providing innovative calling services to nearly 8
million customers in that country alone.  Sprint offers voice, video
and data communications services worldwide via some of the world's
largest and most advanced networks.

         Sprint is a pioneer and innovator in technology.  It built
the first nationwide (40,000 kilometer) all-digital, fiber-optic
network in the United States.  It also is the first carrier to offer
such advanced services as Asynchronous Transfer Mode -- a broadband
service that simultaneously carries voice, data and image -- and a
voice-recognition calling card that automatically dials frequently
called numbers with a single-word command, such as "home" or "office."

         Sprint has operated locally in China since 1992 through an
office in Beijing that primarily offered data communications systems
support for the company's growing customer base.  Its Beijing office
now has expanded to 15 employees who represent the company's
increasingly diverse capabilities in consumer services, including the
Sprint Prepaid Calling Card and Sprint FONCARD(SM); international
network solutions for large-scale multinational users; data
communications systems and services; and international carrier
services to provide transit and capacity for telecommunications
carriers worldwide.

         Sprint China will immediately begin to offer several of
Sprint's versatile and cost-effective calling products: a toll-free
Sprint Express number for global calling and collect calls to the
United States; Sprint's Prepaid Calling Card; and its CLEARLINE
international private line service.

      o Sprint Express -- By dialing "108-13," callers in China can
place collect calls to family and colleagues in the United States,
and also charge calls to the United States and worldwide using
their major credit card or Sprint FONCARD.  Operator assistance is
available in English, with Mandarin support planned.

     o Sprint's Prepaid Calling Card, which initially will be
available only through a limited market test, lets consumers pre-
purchase calling credits that they can use from any telephone
without needing exact change.  The card carries attractive
designer graphics -- suitable for collectors -- and offers the
added convenience of operator assistance.

     Callers can use the prepaid calling card from nearly 30
countries for calls to virtually any other country worldwide --
including the United States.  Mandarin-language instructions are
available for calls from China (by dialing 108-16).  The card can also
be used in more than 28 countries worldwide to make calls back to
China or to virtually anywhere in the world.

     o CLEARLINE international private-line service lets
large-scale users consolidate their international calling to receive
volume discounts.  The service is provided via Sprint's worldwide
network, which extends from the United States through its
participation in virtually every major submarine fiber-optic cable
system project.

         "Sprint has been active in China for several years, and we
are delighted to be able to expand our commitment to users in this
important market by offering some of the other feature-rich, cost
effective products popular in the United States and worldwide," said
Herb Bradley, China country manager for Sprint International, Sprint's
global telecommunications subsidiary.

         "We believe that businesses and consumers will benefit from
these innovative services as much in China as they have in the United
States, and we look forward to building on strong relationships we
have formed with many Chinese organizations in delivering these new
services," he said.

         Elsewhere in the Pacific Rim, Sprint has data network points
of presence in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore,
Australia and New Zealand.  It also has an office in Hong Kong, which
provides sales and technical support for Sprint's business interests
in Hong Kong, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan,
Thailand and Singapore.

         Sprint operates fiber-optic and value-added networks that are
 among the world's largest, offering voice services to over 290
 countries and locations, packet-switched data links to more than
 120 countries and international locations, and video services via
 one of the world's largest videoconferencing networks, serving
 nearly 40 countries. Sprint also has U.S. cellular operations that
 serve 42 metropolitan markets and more than 50 rural service
 areas.  The company has more than 50,000 employees and has
 operations in six continents through more than 50 subsidiaries,
 joint ventures and distributors.  Sprint's customers include 80
 percent of the 500 largest U.S. industrial corporations (the
 "Fortune 500"), and the U.S. federal government, which awarded
 Sprint a contract to provide 40 percent of the government's total
 long distance services, and data and video services, over a
 10-year period.

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

John D. Gretzinger


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for sending this along John. I'm
sure not that many folks realized the extent of Sprint's involvement
in telecom in China. I know I didn't.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gary Ross)
Subject: Technical References and Suppliers
Organization: University of Vermont -- Division of EMBA Computer Facility
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 00:40:52 GMT


Hi,

    I'm the MIS/Telecom Director for a $20 million dollar company.
I support a midframe host, a ROLM 9751 CBX, and an ethernet LAN with
about 40 nodes along with lots of other sundry devices.

I'm looking for:

    a) Several good *practical* reference books on general telecom
issues, especially, cable plant management (cable classification, how
to build a MDF, IDF, set up do cross wiring fields, merits of 66 vs
110 blocks, etc.)  Also, datacomm (stat vs TD muxing, voice/data
muxing, modem stuff, asynch vs synch, serial, parallel, packet
switching, frame relay, ATM, etc).

    b) The names/addresses/phone numbers of large, "world-class"
suppliers of telecom/datacomm materials (tools, blocks, cable, racks,
electronics, etc.).  I know of Anixter and Alltel, who else?  I am in
VT.

What I'm up to is -- I have a small grassroots department.  We prefer
to do most of the work ourselves.  Even when we don't do it, I need
the knowledge in order to design clever systems.

Thanks in advance for the help.

BTW, I need to purchase some additional test sets.  I have a TS-21
which is fine but I wondered if the TS-19 is adeqaute for in-plant
use, and is the TS-22 an overall better value that TS-21?  Most work
is indoors and lots of datacomm is involved.


Gary Ross    MIS Director
Gardener's Supply Company

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 11:17:34 JST
From: [e-mail] (Peter Leif Rasmussen)
Subject: FAX/Modem/Phone/Answering Machine Software


I wonder if there is anyone out there who knows about some software to
integrate the simultaneous use of both functions in a FAX/Modem card
with a telephone and answering machine?

My problem is that I have a PC with a FAX/Modem installed and with the
software I know of, there aren't any available that is able to
distinguish between a modem and a FAX call. What I want to do is, to
make my PC able to receive FAX and modem connections unatended. This
is because some of my friends have a PC with a modem whereas some just
have a FAX machine.

The telephone/answering machine and FAX/Modem can be split with a
device made to do that (around USD 60), but if it was possible to put
all of it in the same software it would be very convenient.

I know I could just buy a separate modem for the modem connection, but
in the name of efficiency :-) and to save expansion slots in my notebook
PC I would like to try this out.

I therefore wonder if anyone knows about existing software or have any
pointers to information about such things?

Email me directly and I will summarize in case I get any response.


Peter Rasmussen

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

From: Bill Buchan <[e-mail]>
Subject: BT Phone Numbering
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 17:46:42 GMT


A few years ago British Telecom added a prefix 7 to all the four-digit
phone numbers in my parents' area.  At the time we assumed this would
increase the scope of available numbers (ie. 0XXXX-6XXXX and
8XXXX-9XXXX) but no such numbers have ever been introduced.  This year
they have introduced a further prefix 4, so that now all the numbers
are in the form 47XXXX.  It doesn't make much difference to me (since
I call them with a memory button!) but I was just wondering why this
was done -- why add yet another prefix when the previous one has not
been needed? Is BT trying to standardize six-digit numbers outside the
cities, or is this something to do with the new area codes next year --
there are only 20000 people in my parent's town, so surely they don't
need the option of a million phone numbers!

Just wondering - thanks for any info.


Bill

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

From: steve <[e-mail]>
Subject: Please Explain the Term 'Steaming Terminal'
Organization: Syracuse University
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 21:55:33 GMT


Could someone explain what this term means. Please email.

Thank you!

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Lindsay)
Subject: Windows or DOS Caller ID Program
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 94 16:11:44 GMT


Does anyone know of a little DOS or Windows shareware program that
will act like the one of those caller ID boxes?

Or is there some AT commands I can type in to my communication program
to extract the phone number that is calling me?  I don't want my modem
to answer; just tell me what number is dialing me.


Thank for any help.

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

From: Bob Zigon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cellular Phone Hacking
Date: 23 Mar 1994 07:46:24 GMT
Organization: Truevision, Inc


Is this the right newsgroup to ask questions about Cellular Phone
Hacking?  If not, could you please suggest a newsgroup? If this is the
right group, are there any ftp sites that contain documents about how
cellular phones work? How to clone phones?


Bob Zigon     Sr. Software Engineer   Truevision, Inc.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is against the law to clone cellular
phones. Illegal activities are not condoned here, although you might
find a newsgroup here and there on Abusenet where they talk about such
things in lurid detail. There is an alt group for phreaks (or do you
pronounce it freaks?) but I forget its name. The Telecom Archives has
some stuff on cellular phones (use anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu, then 'cd
telecom-archives') and some stuff on toll fraud but nothing specifically
on how to clone cellular phones. Probably someone reading this will know
the name of the alt group and tell you what it is.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dale Van Voorst)
Subject: Telecom Business Idea
Date: 23 Mar 1994 04:52:53 GMT
Organization: Dordt College - Sioux Center, IA


I am looking for input on a telecommunications business idea that I
have.  I live in a relatively small town that does not have local
access numbers for any of the on-line services (Compuserve, Prodigy,
AOL, etc).  If you want to access these services, you must pay long
distance charges on top of your normal membership fees.  This is a
major obstacle to private (home) users.  Since many people are buying
computers with modems and software (and often trial Compuserve
memberships), I feel there may be a market for providing a local
access number that would give them a dial-tone in a neighboring city,
thus allowing them to dial the service of their choice.  The theory
then would be that I could offer them a significantly lower rate then
a normal long distance call.

Basically, I would purchase the equivalant of an FX line from the city
and then have a system that my subscribers could call into, that would
verify who is calling and check to see if they really are a
"subscriber" of my service.  If so, it would give them a dial-tone in
the city.

As I see it, in order to really make it work, I would need a number of
lines available.  It would seem that getting a 56 KB line and multiplex-
ing out a bunch of phone lines at each end would be a reasonable idea.

Here's where my questions begin:

1) Is it as (relatively) simple as it seems to multiplex several voice
   grade lines onto a 56 KB line?

2) Any hardware suggestions to accomplish this?  Cost estimates?

3) Will high speed modems work properly over a line like that?

4) What kind of a system might exist that would allow me to do the
   caller verification (don't have caller id yet :-() and then pass
   the call through?  (I'm thinking of having something like a six digit
   customer identifier so that a dial string on a customer might look
   like:

      ATDT123-4567,837463,987-2342
      where "123-4567" is my local service number,
        "837463" is their customer code,
        "987-2342" is the on-line service number in the city.

5) Are there any governmental regulations regarding this type of
   activity?

To protect myself, I would only allow local dialing over the FX lines
so that even if someone get passed the subscriber check, they couldn't
ring up big long-distance bills.

I haven't penciled out if you could actually make money on this or
not; I figured I may as well find out if it's technically feasible first.

Any feedback, comments, ideas, input, or whatever, on this idea would
be much appreciated.


Dale Van Voorst     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (David Whiteman)
Subject: New Area Code For Los Angeles
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 09:58:09 GMT


Pacific Bell announced a new "overlay" area code for Los Angeles.  (Is
Overlay an official telephone term?)  The area code 562 will overlay
the areas covered by the 310, 818, 213 area codes for new pagers and
cellular phones.  This new area code will take effect 3/96 (One news
source said 3/95).  Also the 310 area code is rapidly filling up.
Pacific Bell is considering programs to entice new cellular phone
customers to request the 818 or 213 area codes instead of the 310
code.  New cellular phone customers who ask for the 818 or 213 codes
may be allowed to remain in that area code, but new 310 customers, and
maybe current 310 customers, may be forced to switch to 562.

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

From: Mark <[e-mail]>
Subject: MS-Kermit Keyboard Commands
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 09:01:03 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


I am running MS-Kermit on my 386 PC, connecting to a VAX 8550 cluster
running VMS.  The VAX is running All-In-One Office Automation Package
and WPSPLUS editor.  The WPSPlus requires the use of certain keys on
the PC-Keypad for some of its editing and curso n control features.
MS-Kermit doesn't seem to want to send those control sequences to the
VAX.  It just sends the numeric keypad characters.  I am running
MS-Kermit in the VT320 emulation mode.  Is this just something not
supported by MS-Kermit, am I miss ing a file, or have I set something
up wrong?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Please reply via E-Mail to
[e-mail].


Mark

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

From: [e-mail] (Garrett Wollman)
Subject: Re: Belarus Yellow Pages
Date: 22 Mar 1994 23:11:18 GMT
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science


In article <[e-mail]>, Dave Leibold <Dave.Leibold@
f730.n250.z1.fidonet.org> wrote:

> Belpak is the packet switching/e-mail company in that country. Their
> e-mail address is listed as [e-mail] (or
> S=helpdesk/O=rtte/A=belpak/C-by which is presumably their x.400).

Seeing this address led me to make a few probes into the Domain Name
Service to see which former Soviet republics have made it into the
top-level nameservers and which ones haven't ...

Currently, service in Russia is still performed under the `.su'
domain, and they have IP connectivity through three separate connect-
ions (one between DEMOS and AlterNet, one between EUNET and KIAE, and
one between NASA and ???).  The Ukraine uses its own domain, `.ua',
but I am unable to come up with any host addresses which would enable
me to tell if they have IP connectivity and if so through whom.  (The
nameserver records indicate that they come from Moscow.)  Belarus does
not have a registered domain.  Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia all have
registered domains, `.lt', `.lv', and `.ee', respectively; Estonia and
Latvia are IP connected through NORDUnet and Unisource Business
Networks, respectively.

It appears that these are the only former-Soviet domains registered.
All of the former-Yugoslav republics which have been widely recognized
have had domains registered, including Slovenia (`.si'), Croatia
(`.hr'), and most recently Macedonia (`.mk'), which caused much
whining from the Greek contingent (but to no avail, thank God and Jon
Postel).

Slovenia appears to be connected to the Internet through an X.25
gateway at the Dutch PTT; Croatia through the Austrian Ebone member
network.


Garrett A. Wollman   [e-mail]
formerly known as    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Pawel Dobrowolski)
Subject: Re: Hush-a-Phone
Date: 21 Mar 1994 18:04:28 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Science Center


    Hush-A-Phone was a small plastic cup to be fitted on the
mouthpiece of a telephone to facilitate a phone conversation in a
noisy office. I     think that it was marketed around 1948/9?.  At the
time there was a tariff which prohibited the connection of any
non-Bell device to the network.

    Upon learning about this device AT&T threatened to disconnect
the phones of anyone using this device (mind you the device didn't
have an actual connection to the network it was just a piece of
plastic one would slide onto the mouthpiece of the telephone).  The
manufacturer appealed to the FCC, but the FCC ruled in AT&T's favor.
In 1956 the manufacturer appealed to the US circuit court of appeals
for the District of Columbia (that's where all appeals against FCC
decisions are made, because the FCC is located in DC).

    The court ruled against AT&T.  This was a very important
decision (although people didn't think so at the time) because it
paved the way for other manufacturers to be allowed to connect their
devices to the network thus demonopolizing the telephone equipment
market.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The final message in this issue will
discuss this case in more detail. Did you know there was a case in
which AT&T sued the publisher of the plastic covers which go on phone
books (with local advertising, etc) claiming that these also -- the
phone book covers) were unauthorized 'attachments to the network'?
I am being serious; AT&T really made a case out of that also.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael D. Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Hush-a-Phone
Date: 22 Mar 1994 00:51:31 -0500
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


[e-mail] (Steve Brack) writes:

> A few days ago, someone mentioned the Hush-a-Phone case. I was wondering
> what that case was about.

Hush-a-Phone Corp. v. United States was a 1956 decision of the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  AT&T's tariff
on file with the FCC prohibited "foreign attachments" -- that is
attachments to AT&T's (and its subsidiaries' and connecting carriers')
equipment and facilities.  The tariff made it unlawful to attach
anything to your phone, among other things.  The Hush-A-Phone Corp.
dreamed up a doodad they could sell in the ads in comic books, Popular
Mechanix, etc., that supposedly allowed you to talk on the phone with
greater privacy.  It was a little box (originally metal, later
plastic) that strapped onto the handset over the mouthpiece; it had a
hole to allow sound to pass to the telephone's transmitter
(microphone) and a bigger hole on the opposite side that you could
stick your mouth in.  You would put your mouth in this hole and talk,
and baffles in the box would prevent folks near you from overhearing
you tell your bookie which race you were betting on.  Kind of like
cupping your hands over your mouth and the handset.  So goes the
theory.  In fact, it really muffled the sound going over the phone
almost as much.

AT&T found out about this device (they probably read Popular Mechanix)
and asked the FCC to rule that it was a foreign attachment, and
therefore illegal to put on your phone.  AT&T argued that it caused a
degradation in the quality of transmission carefully engineered into
the phone, and that the parties to a call might complain to AT&T about
the quality, thinking it was AT&T's fault, or refuse to pay the bill.
The FCC ruled for AT&T.  Hush-a-Phone Corp. appealed.

The court reversed the FCC's decision.  In essence, the court reasoned
that nobody in their right mind would blame AT&T for the lousy sound,
and that some idiots might actually consider this widget desirable,
for whatever reason.  (Actually, I think the court held that AT&T had
not provided evidentiary support for its position that it would
actually degrade service in a way that could be attributed to AT&T.)
The court therefore ruled the tariff restriction on foreign
attachments to be unreasonable, in this case, because it interfered
with the subscriber's right to use telephone service in a way that was
"privately beneficial" but not "publicly injurious."  (I don't have
the case in front of me, but I think this is essentially accurate.)

So the Hush-a-Phone device was allowed to be sold, and the company
eventually went out of business because not too many people wanted
muffled telephone calls (or at least didn't want to pay for a device
that muffled their calls when cupping one's hands worked the same).

The significance of this case is that the opinion formed the
foundation for later decisions striking tariff restrictions that
interfered with the public's right to attach equipment that was
privately beneficial yet not publicly injurious.  The first of these
was the FCC's Carterfone decision, which allowed (get this) an
acoustic coupler -- yes, the earmuff-type things -- to be placed over
a phone handset, permitting a private radio system to be manually
acoustically interconnected with the telephone network.  The FCC held
that even if a long-distance patron experienced some static when
talking to a mobile radio user connected by the Carterfone, there was
a private benefit and no real public detriment.

The next step, of course, was to eliminate the earmuffs and try direct
electrical interconnection.  At first, AT&T allowed electrical
interconnection only through its "protective coupling arrangements" or
PCAs, which would protect the telephone network from melting down if
your connected equipment (a phone, PBX, broadcast console, answering
machine, or computer modem) shorted to the power line.  Of course, the
PCA cost almost as much each month as AT&T's alternative to your
equipment.  So some manufacturers decided to build PCA-like devices
right into their equipment.  AT&T, of course, insisted on connecting
your brand X PCA to their PCA, just to be sure the network was
protected.  Guess how many $40 phones anybody could sell that required
a $40 PCA from AT&T, when an AT&T phone cost the same or less, but
didn't require a PCA?

The FCC decided it couldn't protect AT&T from equipment competition
any longer.  First, it allowed an equipment manufacturer to incorporate
an AT&T-manufactured PCA.  Then it allowed the manufacturer to
incorporate its own PCA and prove it was good enough to protect AT&T
from perdition.  Finally, it decided to adopt its own standards (based
on AT&T's own standards) and started a certification program that
tested and certified equipment meeting the specs, which are in Part 68
of the FCC rules.  Each certified piece of equipment would be given a
number, and a telephone company could not refuse to provide service to
registered, certified equipment.

AT&T tried to buy the FCC off at this point with the need for a standard
reference point for testing, i.e., each customer could connect any
registered equipment they wanted, as long as the first thing hooked up
was suppled by AT&T (this was the "Primary Instrument Concept"), but
the FCC said no.  AT&T also didn't like it when the FCC said that even
AT&T's own equipment had to meet the AT&T spec the feds had adopted
(turns out some didn't).  The registration/certification program was
upheld in the early '70s by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth
Circuit in North Carolina Utilities Commission v. FCC II, on the
grounds that unrestricted interconnection of terminal equipment was
privately beneficial yet not publicly injurious, as long as it was
certified as meeting the spec.  And so the CPE industry was spawned.

Now you can buy a phone at the grocery, drug, or hardware store for
about what you used to pay each month for rental under the AT&T
tariff.  Of course, the phone isn't designed to last for 30 years,
either.

The next step where Hush-a-Phone came in for a major role was in MCI's
attempt to get into the switched long-distance market, but that's
another story entirely.


Michael D. Sullivan | [e-mail]        [e-mail]
Washington, D.C.    | [e-mail]     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Over the years, AT&T really brought on a lot
of their own problems that they are having today didn't they. Imagine how
much different things would be today had AT&T taken much less miltant
stance with the Carterphone/Hush-a-Phone cases and with MCI in its early
days. It is likely the whole industry would be entirely different. And
yes, AT&T did once sue the publisher of the plastic directory covers with
a claim that such 'unauthorized attachments' might cause people to complain
to the phone company about the quality of the directory. They lost that
case also.    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #142
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #143

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 23 Mar 94 12:38:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 143

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    New Area Code 562 For Southern California (Ken Jongsma)
    New LA Area Code (Rich Greenberg)
    New Area Code 630 For Existing 708 in Illinois (Paul Cook)
    Re: Country Code For San Marino (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: Country Code For San Marino (Bill Hofmann)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update (Cliff Sharp)
    Re: CID Did Not Show Number (Andreas S. Ulrich)
    Re: Extension Cord For Cell Phone ([e-mail])
    Re: SIT Tones - Where in the Archives? (Gordon Torrie)
    Re: SIT Tones - Where in the Archives? (Al Varney)
    Re: International Free Numbers (John McHarry)
    Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software (Kenn Krasner)
    MCI and Sprint Information Needed (Shirley Mann)
    SS7 Information Wanted (Graeme Steyn)
    Who Paid For My 550? (Jim Cluett)
    Questions on Shannon's Law (Karim Ismail)
    BellSouth ISDN Announcement (William H. Sohl)
    Last Laugh! Bauds, Baudlets, Baby Bauds and Such

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 11:07:14 EST
From: Ken Jongsma <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: New Area Code: 562


According to an AP newswire brief, Southern California (areacodes 310,
213 and 818) will be getting an overlay areacode of 562. This code
will be reserved for cellular phones and pagers.


Kenneth R Jongsma              [e-mail]
Smiths Industries         [e-mail]
Grand Rapids, Michigan              [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 09:14:08 PST
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: New LA Area Code


Pacific Bell & GTE just anounced that in 1996, LA will get its fourth
area code.  562 will overlay the present 213-818-310 areas, and will
be used for cellular phones and pagers.

Four area codes in one metro area.  Can anybody beat that?


Rich Greenberg            Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677
N6LRT   TinselTown, USA   Play: [e-mail]                  310-649-0238


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 11:38 EST
From: Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Area Code 630


I received a Bellcore Letter dated 3-16-94 titled "Declaration of
Jeopardy Situation in NPA 708 (Illinois)."

Bellcore has been advised by Ameritech that the demand for prefixes in
NPA 708 is higher than originally projected.

According to CO Code Assignment Guidelines "A jeopardy condition
exists when the forecasted and/or actual demand for NXX resources will
exceed the known supply during the planning/implementation interval
for relief."

NPA 630 will be introduced for relief of 708 NPA within the first
quarter of 1995.

There were no notes showing new area code boundaries.


Paul Cook   Proctor & Associates
Redmond, WA  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My feeling is that 708 will be probably
split in half with either the southern half or the northern half getting
the new code, but that is just a guess. There are a couple ways the
existing area could be logically split. On the Chicago side (312) there
is no real need for a split as there is plenty of space left there now
that the suburbs are out of it.  I've a feeling that once the new-style
area codes become official and fully available for assignment we are
going to be seeing a *massive* influx of them all over the USA. I've
a feeling once they start getting assigned on a regular basis, there
will be all sorts of them almost all at once.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Country Code For San Marino
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 06:15:57 PST


Said by: Clive D.W. Feather

> San Marino is a small country physically inside Italy. To the best of
> my knowledge, it is always phoned as just another area code within
> Italy (i.e. +39 541).

> I have a note in my files that San Marino has been allocated the
> country code 295 but is not yet using it. HOwever, I recently saw a
> posting, here I believe, that it has been allocated 378.

> Can anyone tell me which is right?

According to MCI and AT&T, San Marino is 378.


Steve   [e-mail]
#608 Merrill * 200 McLaughlin Drive * Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1015

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Hofmann)
Subject: Re: Country Code For San Marino
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 17:37:13 GMT


Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]> writes:

> San Marino is a small country physically inside Italy. To the best of
> my knowledge, it is always phoned as just another area code within
> Italy (i.e. +39 541).
> I have a note in my files that San Marino has been allocated the
> country code 295 but is not yet using it. HOwever, I recently saw a
> posting, here I believe, that it has been allocated 378.
> Can anyone tell me which is right?

Well, I checked with Sprint, they told me 378, however, I received a
private communication from someone in Rome who told me that as of
1990, San Marino had been split from 541 and now has Italian city code
549, and that further both country codes 295 and 378 are disallowed
from Rome.  Can some folks in other countries check this out?


Bill Hofmann    [e-mail]
Fresh Software and Instructional Design      [phone]

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

From: indep1!clifto (Cliff Sharp)
Date: Wed, Mar 23 1994 11:30:10 CST
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mark A.
Cnota) writes:

> [PAT said:]

>> According to Mr. Eibel, a vice-president of Illinois Bell
>> at the time, staffing a phone office *with even just one clerk* at all
>> times to prevent situations like this was not cost effective.

> I agree with Jim Eibel. He's one of the better executives IBT has had
> in the past ten years, in my opinion.

   Let's see ... ten dollars per hour, figure twenty with benefits
etc.  365.24 days per year.  That's $175,315.20 per year.  Say 200
thou with holiday pay, overtime, etc.

   Figuring the cost of Hinsdale at $100,000,000, that means Eibel
must have planned a useful life of the equipment there at something
over 600 years.

   Anyone who can get 600 years out of a switching center has my vote
for Executive of the Year.  I guess that's why he's making the _big_
bucks and I'm working for peanuts.

   But maybe I should be in there, 'cause I can get a few thousand
years out of it.  Instead of paying someone full-time, find two local
residents who'll respond quickly to check out alarms.  Pay each a
retainer of $100 per month, and for each alarm response, pay $50 if
they get there within five minutes, $25 within ten and $10 within
twenty minutes.  Much cheaper, so we can amortize that over a few
thousand years.  Good press, too ("Bell Gives Seniors Income While
Cutting Costs").

   Sheesh.  I guess it's fair to say he doesn't back up his hard drive
($500 for tape drive and tapes, divided by zero incidents = infinite
cost per failure), put batteries in his smoke detector ($5/year
divided by zero), change his oil or bathe.  Not cost efficient.


Cliff Sharp   WA9PDM


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Now Cliff, let's not get personal. I
imagine he bathes. I dunno about your idea of using local community
residents; that is stretching things a bit thin, but if a responsible
employee were left there -- even with other tasks to accomplish so that
his/her salary could be charged back in part to other departments and
further reduce the direct cost of being a 'watchdog' -- it would still
be only a drop in the bucket. You think Hinsdale cost Illinois Bell one
hundred million? My sources say it was closer to two hundred million;
and the company is being *very* tight-lipped about all the lawsuits
they are settling out of court.

Suppose each CO had one data entry clerk there all the time, around
the clock on weekends. That would be three people and maybe a hundred
thousand per year in salary/benefits. Most of the costs would be charged
to the budget for the department they worked in, with perhaps 25 percent
of the cost directly allocated to security of the CO. In the course of
their time on duty, between watching television more than they should,
running back and forth to the vending machines for refreshments and the
bathroom, etc you think they would not spot unusual occurances such as
a smoke filled room, water dripping out the ceiling from a broken pipe
somewhere, a buzzer or bell that was ringing constantly and so on? If
the total costs for coverage under such a plan in the Chicago area alone
cost a million dollars a year, do you think it might take twenty or
thirty years minimum to reach the point where a Hinsdale-type disaster
became 'cost-effective' instead?  Considering the stakes here, to say
nothing of community goodwill and public relations, if it were me, and
of course it isn't, I'd opt for a conservative approach. That's why I
think Jim Eibel was dead wrong, and ought to have been canned -- there
is a point at which the 'bottom line' becomes purely a theoretical exer-
cise with no relationship to reality. Hinsdale was such a case.  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 94 22:30:17 EST
From: CPT Ulrich Andreas S <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: CID Did Not Show Number


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

>> When CID was deployed in my area (516 area code), I tried calling home
>> from a pay phone and the number was displayed.  However, when I call
>> home while I'm having my car serviced at a local service station, the
>> number doesn't show.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the way I understand it, the phone company in my
area (Augusta, GA) allows me to disable, at my request, the CID function
for my phone number -- in other words, if I ask for it, people with CID
whom I call won't get my phone number.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But then the recipients display box shows
'private' rather than 'out of area'. Anyway, many payphones have *67
disabled on them. I could see a COCOT owner intercepting what was dialed
and prepending *67 to keep hackerphreaks from finding out the number to
his instrument (and thus dialing in with a modem and reprogramming it
liberally) but the display in this case did not show 'private'.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (puma)
Subject: Re: Extension Cord For Cell Phone
Organization: organized?? me?
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 03:30:43 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>,  <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Can anybody tell me where I can purchase an extension cord for my
> cellular phone?  I tried my local Radio Shack but they don't carry
> this.  It appears to be an 8 wire connection.

> In case you are wondering, I'm not crazy :).  My boyfriend lives in a
> city thats a local call on cellular, but LD from my home.  And, of
> course, my cell phone is mounted in the car.  I'm looking for a way to
> stretch it into the house.

Do you have call-forwarding on your cellular phone?  You might want to
check your carrier's rules, and consider it.  In Wisconsin (Ameritech)
we are not charged airtime for forwarded calls (we are charged nine
cents per call).  I know that some areas DO charge airtime, so you
wouldn't save anything.

This trick would do me no good, since the local calling area is the
same for the cellular number as my local telco number.  However I can
make cellular calls back to my city at local rates FROM areas that
would be a toll call for a landline phone.


[e-mail]

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

Subject: Re: SIT Tones - Where in the Archives?
From: [e-mail] (Gordon Torrie)
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 21:35:05 -0500
Organization: Torrie Communications Services


Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]> writes:

> I thought there was a reference to SIT tones in the telecom archives
> somewhere, but I can't find it.

I have two articles from comp.dcom.telecom that describe these tones.
They are not in electronic form else I would simply mail them to you.

Perhaps the header fields from them may help to narrow down your search
in the archives. The headers are:

    From: [e-mail] (loren cahlander)
    Subject: Re: Precise Dial Tone & A Tone of the Past: No-Such-Number
    Date: 27 Sep 89 14:36:12 GMT

    From: fmsystm![e-mail] (Macy Hallock)
    Subject: Re: Special Information Tones
    Date: 28 Sep 89 09:05:41 GMT


[e-mail]                      Gord Torrie


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The keyword search feature of the
Telecom Archives Email Information Service goes back to about April,
1989 and if he searches using the author names above or the subject
lines the accelerated index will tell him what block of fifty issues
needs to be pulled to find the articles in question. Without going
to look, my feeling is they would be found somewhere around issues
800-850 of the year 1989.  None the less, Al Varney has written an
article to bring this topic up to date, and it appears next in this
issue.   PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 22 Mar 94 11:37:40 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: SIT Tones - Where in the Archives?
Organization: AT&T Network Systems


In article <[e-mail]> Proctor & Associates <0003991080@
mcimail.com> writes:

> I thought there was a reference to SIT tones in the telecom archives
> somewhere, but I can't find it.  These are the three tones that one
> hears at the beginning of a toll network announcment (We're SORRY!
> All circuits are BUSY now ...)

> Does anyone have the specs on these?

   Paul, these aren't just for the toll network, the tones have an
International usage and intra-LATA as well.  Documentation is in:

  ITU-T E.180 (or Q.35) -- lists the frequencies only, and suggests
        using SIT for everything other than BUSY and NO CIRCUIT call
        failure situations.

  Bellcore TR-674 -- lists frequencies and the short/long durations
        that encode various "codes" into the tones.

  Bellcore TR-675 -- has level/volume requirements for SIT/announcements.

  Bellcore SR-2275 ("Notes on the Network") -- Section 6 shows SIT usage
        in the intra-LATA and inter-LATA networks, the assignment of
        specific meaning the "codes" and attempts to explain usage.

   I'd recommend reading "Notes" and using the others only if you need
to fill in some missing information.


Al Varney

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

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1994 12:11:38 EST
From: [e-mail] (McHarry)
Subject: Re: International Free Numbers


Cable and Wireless also offers international "800" service from a
large number of countries.  I think the other major carriers do
likewise.

In the UK, Mercury Free Call numbers look like 0500 xxxxxx.  I think
the BT equivalent looks like 0800 xxxxxx.  In France, they appear to
start with 05.


John McHarry  ([e-mail])

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

From: Kenn Krasner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software
Organization: Mordor International BBS
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 10:06:14 GMT


I have used the same system from Motorola and the software is very
similar.  We used it to page staff on-site.  Check with Bell South
Mobile, they are the folks we got the software from.

It allows you to send messages to individuals or groups. The message
length was 256 characters. One 3.5 disk was all it was. The docs were
funky though. Get the tech support numbner from your pager provider;
they will be able to help you.


Kenn Krasner, Sr. Consultant   One Equals On   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yep, 'one equals on' is the way he
wrote it. Its not my typo! Maybe Kenn will explain it.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: MCI and Sprint Information Needed
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 11:46:10 -0600
Organization: The University of Texas at Dallas


Could anyone please tell me an address or phone number where I can get
information on MCI and Sprint about their various residential long
distance plans?

Email preferred.

Toodles!

Shirley


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They are both listed with 800-555-1212.
Ask for the number for their respective customer service offices.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: SS7 Information Wanted
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 06:03:25 GMT
Organization: Wits Electrical Engineering (Novell Users).


I am looking for information on Signaling System No. 7 and performance
models related to this field. If anyone con supply me with technical
information, e-mail addresses or references, please contact me. Any
response will be most welcome.


Regards,

Graeme Steyn

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

From: Jim Cluett <[e-mail]>
Subject: Who Paid For My 550?
Organization: MV Communications, Inc.
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 17:25:06 GMT


Can anyone explain the economics of the $50 Motorola 550?  The 550 is
selling locally at a discount department store for $50. Motorola can't
build 'em for that. The department store is acting as an agent for
both an A and a B carrier, but I don't think they can recover enough
from a year's contract to make up the difference. Who's subsidizing
this? It's probably me, but I don't quite see how.


Thanks.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Questions on Shannon's Law
Date: 23 Mar 1994 12:43:59 -0500
Organization: Delrina Technology
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I am hoping that someone may be able to help me with the following
question related to the maximum capacity of a channel. (Shannon's
Law).  As most of you know, Shannon proved that a channel has a finite
maximum capacity as per the following formaula:

                C = W log2  (1 + S/N)

where W = bandwith of a channel, and S/N is the Signal-to-Noise ratio
of white noise (random, Gaussian).

So for a quick example, if I had a telephone line with a 20db S/N
ratio, and the available bandwith is 2600Hz, substituting in the
formula above:

                C = 2600 log2  (1 + 100/1)
                log2 x = (log2 10)(log10 x) = 3.32 log10 x
                then C = 2600 x 3.32x log10 (101) = 17,301 bps

then the maximum possible rate at which data could be transmitted over
this voice line is roughly 17,300 bps.

Probably a S/N ratio of 30dB is more realistic, so this works out to:

                 C = 2600 log2 (1 + 1000/1) = 25,900bps

I also realize that increasing bandwith or signal power or decreasing
the noise will increase the bps rate.  However in practice this would
probably be economically prohibitive.

My confusion arises out the following:

An analog wire-pair line can be changed to a digital line by adding
digital repeaters in lieu of analog amplifiers, and the bit rate
transmitted is much higher than if all the analog telephone channels
on a wire transmitted at the Shannon limit.  So if we transmit
1.544Mbps or 2.048Mbps over a telephone pair, isn't this a violation
of Shannon's Law?

Also, how does this tie into the new modems that support the V.Fast
standard at 28,800bps?  If the bandwith for normal voice grade lines
(300-3300Hz) and S/N ratios are taken into consideration into the
Shannon's formula, there is again violation of the maximum bps rate
with a 28.8kbps modem. Also, out of curiosity, I assume the noise
calculations in Shannon's formula are based on the physical medium
used for transmission? - i.e.:

    copper wire for analog telephone transmission - thus, thermal,
    gaussian, etc noise on copper wire itself.

Is there a limit then to transmitting over conductors that are copper
as opposed to say fibre optic (glass) as a transmission medium, and
hence would the noise be less on a fiber (silica)...?  If this is
true, then because the noise decreases, bandwith increases (as is true
on optical fibers), and hence this doesn't contradict Shannon's Law?

      (because capacity increases proportionally to bandwith)

I find this a little confusing -- any feedback would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


Karim Ismail        Delrina Technology   Fax: [phone]
Support Analyst    895 Don Mills Rd, 500-2         Vox: [phone]
Fax/Data Comms        Don Mills, ON M3C 1W3
Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (sohl,william h)
Subject: Bell South ISDN Announcement
Date: 23 Mar 1994 12:39:50 -0500
Organization: Bell Communications Research (Bellcore)


3/21/94 Release from Bellsouth:

BELLSOUTH ANNOUNCES LARGEST GEOGRAPHIC DEPLOYMENT OF ISDN IN THE NATION

Advanced telecommuting telemedicine and education applications will
become the most widely available in the nation as a result of a
technology deployment plan announced today by BellSouth Telecommunications.

The nine-state introduction of a new way to provide Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN), which combines voice, data and video
services, begins in June 1994.  ISDN can use advanced fiber optic
cable or traditional copper cable to transmit multiple services.

Until now, a customer who wished to use ISDN needed to be served by a
telephone office that was ISDN capable.  With the innovative approach
by BellSouth, a customer can obtain the benefits of ISDN through an
alternate serving arrangement which eradicates geographic boundaries.

"Expanded access to ISDN will facilitate customer-oriented
applications since there are fewer technological and geographic
limitations on availability," said Larry Carter, assistant vice
president of product management for BellSouth Telecommunications.

This announcement is the latest in a very aggressive deployment
strategy for ISDN.

 -- In July 1992, Bellsouth announced the nation's first metropolitan-
wide deployment of ISDN in the cities of Huntsville and Madison, Ala.

 -- Six months later, South Central Bell customers throughout the
state of Tennessee were offered ISDN Individual Line Service and now
ISDN availability is being expanded region wide.

This announcement significantly increases the percentage of customers
with access to ISDN capabilities and will ultimately lead to 100% of
BellSouth customers.  Until now, 50% of BellSouth's customers in major
metropolitan areas had direct access to ISDN and 320 central offices
were equipped with ISDN.  The expanded access applies to ISDN Individual
Line (2B+D) and MegaLink (SM) ISDN Service which is BellSouth's primary
rate (23B+D) offering.

"Previously, you had to be served directly by a central office switch
equipped with ISDN capability.  Under this new alternate serving
arrangement, ISDN capabilities can be routed from a nearby ISDN-capable
switch to your home or office -- at no additional charge. This arrangement
is a cost-effective and expeditious method of deploying ISDN region wide,"
Carter said.

ISDN availability is an important part of the information superhighway
providing access at lower speeds.  For example, through distance
learning, advanced classes could be transported at very high speeds to
a customer's city on the information highway from a university in
another city.  This high speed signal is then divided into lower
speeds and redistributed within the city.  ISDN would make these
classes available to any school anywhere.

Dr. Ira Denton, chief surgeon at Crestwood Hospital in Huntsville,
Ala., has used ISDN to send, receive and annotate X-rays and video
images while talking to other physicians.  Because ISDN is available
citywide and there are no geographic restrictions, physicians can
communicate through ISDN from any of their offices and even their
homes.

"Health care specialists as well as any other businesses that have
multiple locations within a metropolitan area can benefit from this
new capability," Carter added.  "The education industry will
especially benefit from applications including distance learning,
security and truancy monitoring."

To aid in marketing ISDN, last year BellSouth announced the "ISDN
Applications and Solutions Plus" (IAS+) initiative where strategic
marketing alliances are formed in major metropolitan areas to provide
customers with complete and innovative solutions.  This initiative in
addition to the expanded access will make ISDN applications more
readily available for BellSouth customers.

BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., with headquarters in Atlanta,
provides telecommunications services in the BellSouth (NYSE: BLS)
region.  BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. does business as Southern
Bell in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and as
South Central Bell in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and
Louisiana.  These companies serve more than 19 million local telephone
lines and provide local exchange and intraLATA long distance service
over one of the most modern telecommunications networks in the world.

CONTACT:
       Karen M. Roughton of BellSouth Telecommunications, 404-529-6514
       BellSouth National ISDN HotLine, 1-800-428-4736

Posted by Bellcore ISDN Hotline  [phone]-ISDN

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

Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.)
Morristown, NJ             email via UUCP      bcr!cc!whs70
201-829-2879 Weekdays      email via Internet  [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 9:22:42 MST
From: John Shaver <[e-mail]>
Subject: Last Laugh! Bauds, Baudlets, Baudettes, Baby Bauds and Such


[e-mail] wrote, Re: Transborder Local Calls:

> John Botari <[e-mail]> writes:

>> concerning a local calling area that crosses an international boundary
>> ... Baudette, MN - (218) 634-xxxx, and Rainy River, ON - (807) 852-xxxx

> Is a Baudette a small Baud? <g>

> Wally Bloss
> A Human

TELECOM Digest Editor added his two cent's worth:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, a baudette is a female baud. A
> baudlet is a baby baud.  :) PAT]

I thought that a Baudlet was an earthy song.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #143
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #144

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 24 Mar 94 02:29:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 144

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    AT&T Cellular Privacy System (David R. Arneke)
    Re: BT Phone Numbering (Linc Madison)
    Re: BT Phone Numbering (Carl Moore)
    Re: BT Phone Numbering (Richard Cox)
    Re: New Area Code 630 (Carl Moore)
    Re: New Area Code 630 (Steven H. Lichter)
    Re: New LA Area Code (James Taranto)
    Re: New LA Area Code (Arthur Rubin)
    Re: New LA Area Code (Rich Greenberg)
    Re: New Area Code For Los Angeles (Steven H. Lichter)
    Lots of L.A. Area Codes (Lauren Weinstein)
    Area Code 917 (was New LA Area Code) (Carl Moore)
    Re: Who Paid For My 550? (David Crane)
    Re: Who Paid For My 550? (Mark Earle)
    Specs For CDPD, Embarc, RAM, Ardis Wanted (Bill McMullin)
    Re: Cellular Phone Hacking (Russell E. Sorber)
    Re: MS-Kermit Keyboard Commands (Frank da Cruz)
    World's Least Necessary 800 Number (Mark Colan via Monty Solomon)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David R Arneke)
Date: 23 Mar 94 13:11:22 GMT
Subject: AT&T Cellular Privacy System


AT&T SECURE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS NEWS RELEASE

FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:
David Arneke, AT&T
910 279-7680 (office)
910 273-5687 (home)
!darneke (ATTMAIL) or [e-mail] (Internet)

AMERITECH CELLULAR PRIVACY SERVICE USES AT&T TECHNOLOGY

     GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Ameritech Cellular Services in Chicago has
become the first cellular telephone system in the country to offer
voice privacy service using the AT&T Advanced Cellular Privacy System.

     Ameritech launched its Enhanced Voice Privacy service in Chicago
this month.

     "This technology adds to the productivity and value that
Ameritech cellular service provides to its customers," said Thomas A.
Brooks, AT&T Paradyne senior vice president, Secure Communications
Systems.

     "And, by helping the carrier provide value to the cus- tomer,
AT&T cellular privacy technology adds value to the carrier as well."

     The AT&T technology scrambles the cellular telephone's
over-the-air signal.  The signal is descrambled at Ameritech's
cellular switch, transmitting a conventional phone signal to the
recipient.

     If the scrambled over-the-air signal is intercepted, the
eavesdropper will hear only a chirping sound.  AT&T's advanced privacy
technology renders the over-the-air signal unintelligible.

     The system already is in wide use in Japan in the cellular system
of one of the two major Japanese telephone companies.

     The AT&T Cellular Privacy System offers cellular users a variety
of benefits.

     -- Its technology is small enough and light enough to be
embeddable in today's small, portable phones.

     -- The system features an unmatched combination of high voice
quality and an advanced level of privacy.

     -- It is applicable to all three types of cellular telephones --
portable, transportable ("bag phones") and mobile (car phones).

     The system has two components.  The AT&T privacy unit attaches to
the phone and scrambles the phone's signal.  Voice privacy modules are
available for several brands of cellular telephones, among them AT&T
models, including the AT&T Privacy-Capable Portable Telephone 9000;
the Audiovox 3200 series; Mitsubishi models using the Model 1200
transceiver; the Motorola 2600; the NEC 3800B and 4800; the Oki 800
series; and the Toshiba 3200 series.

     Modules for other brands and models are in development.

     The Mobile Telephone Office Switch (MTSO) unit is installed at
the cellular carrier's switch and descrambles the signal.

     Because the privacy system scrambles only the over-the-air
portion of the call, no matching unit or special equipment is required
at the receiving phone.

     The AT&T Paradyne Cellular Privacy System was developed by AT&T
Secure Communications Systems, a world leader in the design,
manufacture and integration of encryption and privacy products.  It is
a primary supplier of secure products to the governments of the United
States and other nations as well as corporations around the world.

     For more information, contact David Arneke of AT&T at 910 279-7680.

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

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: BT Phone Numbering
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 00:36:31 GMT


Bill Buchan ([e-mail]) wrote:

> [in small town in Britain, phone numbers have changed from XXXX to 47XXXX]
> Is BT trying to standardize six-digit numbers outside the
> cities, or is this something to do with the new area codes next year --
> there are only 20000 people in my parent's town, so surely they don't
> need the option of a million phone numbers!

You are correct -- BT is standardizing to six-digit numbers except in
the large cities which have seven-digit numbers and an STD code that
is one digit shorter.  (Currently, either 0XX-XXX XXXX or (0XXX)
XXXXXX; after the renumbering next year, change the initial 0 to 01.)
In essence, the total number of digits will be standardized.  In the
process, some small area codes will be merged.  Most if not all
"convenience dialing" arrangements (e.g., dial 93 + number for a
neighboring town, instead of the full STD code + number) will
disappear.

The new system will make the total length of a British telephone
number 12 digits, from the perspective of the international phone
system: 44 + 1XXX + XXXXXX.  This pushes the limit of agreed
international standards (recommended 11-digit maximum, absolute
12-digit max.), but it allows BT to provide numbering space for
personal phone numbers, fax machines galore, direct-dial Centrex, and
whatever else.  With the new area codes, BT will have a numbering
space as large as North America's.

Even with all this, London is expected to need at least one more area
code split by 2010 or 2015, possibly even 2005.  Personally, I think
they should've put 01 back in use for London, changing 071-XXX XXXX to
01-7XXX XXXX and similarly for 081 to 01-8XXX XXXX, to more realistically
provide for London's growth.  Alternately, they could've used 011 for
London and then 01X for the five cities that are moving from
six-figure to seven-figure numbers next year.  London will need
8-figure numbers early next century anyway, and there's no need to
make everyone's number longer.


Linc Madison   *   Oakland, California   *   [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 16:16:16 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: BT Phone Numbering


Well, not quite four years ago, London city code 1 was discontinued
and replaced by TWO new codes (71 and 81), and when I asked (in this
Digest) if this was being done to standardize phone number length,
someone said yes.  So I take it the city code and the local number
(prior to the 1995 "phoneday") are, taken together, to be nine digits
long (omitting the leading 0, which is used on calls within the UK).

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 13:31:34 -0800
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: BT Phone Numbering


Bill Buchan <[e-mail]> asked:

> A few years ago British Telecom added a prefix 7 to all the four-digit
> phone numbers in my parents' area.  At the time we assumed this would
> increase the scope of available numbers (ie. 0XXXX-6XXXX & 8XXXX-9XXXX)
> but no such numbers have ever been introduced.  This year they have
> introduced a further prefix 4, so that now all the numbers are in the
> form 47XXXX - why add yet another prefix when the previous one has not
> been needed?

Number changes are planned over a long period of time.  The move from
xxxx to 7xxxx would have *doubled* the available numbers for that area
(previously numbers there were in the range 2000-6999; prefixing with
a 7 meant that numbers could now range from 70000-79999. (In the UK as
in most places, local numbers do not begin with a 0 or a 1, and the
digits 9 (and in many cases 8) are kept for use as routing codes
between exchanges.  So when the only digit left was a 7, the planners
could either fill up with 7xxx, or expand to seven digits by prefixing
all numbers with a 7.)  They didn't need to use any of the other
digits because they had enough numbers in the 7xxxx range.

You may also find -- if you haven't already -- new numbers starting to
be introduced on that exchange, in the 48xxxx range.

>>  Is BT trying to standardize six-digit numbers outside the cities

In most cases yes: the less dialling codes user have to remember, the
better!  Exceptions are in Northern Ireland, the Lake District, and
some other places.

Obviously the "slot" that had been reserved in the wide area numbering
scheme for that particular exchange, was 47xxxx.  The numbers could
not have changed straight from xxxx to 47xxxx because this would have
caused much misdialling.  It's important, when an exchange *increases*
its number length, to trap all calls to the old number and send them
to an announcement - otherwise callers will dial the old (shorter)
number hoping to get through, and the registers will sit there for,
say, 20 seconds, waiting for the last digit(s).  On that basis the
exchange is going to run out of registers very quickly until the
majority of users stop trying to dial the old numbers, and callers
will find there's no dial tone because other people are just sitting
on the registers.

So if 4751 was changed straight to 474751, callers dialling 4751 would
have the register waiting for two more digits which will never come.
However if it simply changes to 74751, all the digits 2-6 can be
routed to announcements or reorder.  That gets the callers off the
habit of using the old numbers.  The idea of protecting registers like
this is quite new to the UK, as in the days of Strowger (SxS) each
step had in effect its own register, and holding a chain of steps in
error did not have so significant an impact on traffic handling at
that exchange.

>>  or is this something to do with the new area codes next year

Nothing to do with that at all -- that's a separate disaster in its
own right!


Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, P.O. Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan, Wales:  CF64 3YG
Voice: 0956 700111 Fax: [phone]  VoiceMail: 0941 151515 Pager 0941 115555
E-mail address: [e-mail] - PGP2.3 public key available on request

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 16:40:40 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: New Area Code 630


TELECOM Digest Editor notes:

> I've a feeling that once the new-style area codes become official
and fully available for assignment we are going to be seeing a
*massive* influx of them all over the USA. I've a feeling once they
start getting assigned on a regular basis, there will be all sorts of
them almost all at once.

As is the case with any split, keep me posted as to what is going on.
Just today, I have received note of 630 in Illinois and 562 in
California (can't be implemented until the system can handle NXX area
codes, not just N0X/N1X).  References such as the zip/area directory
may have to be limited to landlines, and as far as I can tell from
telecom:

630 might get landlines (that would affect some people who shifted from
312 to 708 only in November 1989);
562 will only be cellular/pager overlay.

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: Re: New Area Code 630
Date: 23 Mar 1994 19:31:35 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


I would guess it will be another overlay area code like Los Angeles
and the current one in New York City and will be used for cellular and
pagers.


Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS
[phone] 12/24/96/14.4 V32/V42bis Via PCP CACOL/12/24

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

From: [e-mail] (James Taranto)
Subject: Re: New LA Area Code
Date: 23 Mar 1994 22:53:52 GMT
Organization: The Bad Taranto


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
> a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT]

907 is Alaska.  New York City alone has 212, 718, and 917, and the
metro area, broadly defined, includes part or all of 516, 914, 201,
908, 609, 203, and 717.


Cheers,

James Taranto  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, thank you, I meant 917 and the
Alaska area code got in there by error.   PAT]

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

Subject: Re: New LA Area Code
From: a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin)
Date: 24 Mar 94 00:04:46 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
writes:

> Pacific Bell & GTE just anounced that in 1996, LA will get its fourth
> area code.  562 will overlay the present 213-818-310 areas, and will
> be used for cellular phones and pagers.

> Four area codes in one metro area.  Can anybody beat that?

What's a "metro area"?  I thought 714 and 909 are (partially) in the LA
metro area.


Arthur L. Rubin: [e-mail] (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea
[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail] (personal)
My opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer.

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

From: [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
Subject: Re: New LA Area Code
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 02:16:04 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

> Four area codes in one metro area.  Can anybody beat that?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
> a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT]

[Original posters note to the TELCOM Digest Editors note:  (whew)]

Well Pat, if you are going to count Nuuuu Joooooisy as part of Metro
New York, then I can throw in 714,909, 805, and mabe a slice of 619.
Total 7.5.

Within the city limits of L.A. there are three and soon to be four NPAs.

And is 907 a split I hadn't heard of or your typo?


Rich Greenberg            Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677
N6LRT   TinselTown, USA   Play: [e-mail]                  310-649-0238
Pacific time.  I speak for myself and my dogs only.  Canines: Chinook & Husky


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 907 was my typo. 917 was intended.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: Re: New Area Code For Los Angeles
Date: 23 Mar 1994 19:25:57 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


There are going to be several options on this, but what it all amounts
to is all cellular users in the 310 area code that 310 area code
numbers after a set date will do so with the knowledge that they will
be changed to the 562 area code.

On this point it should also be noted that the growth in the 310
area code is the fastest in the country.

The above are my comments and have nothing to do with my employer.


Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS
[phone] 12/24/96/14.4 V32/V42bis Via PCP CACOL/12/24

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 16:52 PST
From: [e-mail] (Lauren Weinstein)
Subject: Lots of L.A. Area Codes


Actually, the L.A. metro area eats up more area codes than you can
shake a stick at.  Outside of 213/818/310 and soon 562 which all
include different portions of the city of L.A. (among other areas),
codes such as 805, 714, and the new 909 also are part of the metro
area.  So it's really seven.

Overlay codes are a great idea since they avoid disrupting existing
customers with area code splits.  Local reports are claiming that
regular landline customers may be assigned numbers in 562 before the
year 2000 (not that far off, fun seekers).  This would probably
introduce the practical necessity of 10 digit dialing for all local
calls to be politically feasible, which, as I've pointed out in this
forum before, seems to be necessary for a large proportion of local
calls now given the number of codes already present!


 --Lauren--

P.S.  I haven't seen mentioned here that Pacific Bell is abolishing
toll calls in California!  That's right, no more tolls!  Oh, well,
actually, they're just changing the name.  They won't be "toll" anymore.
Now they'll be called "Local Plus (sm)".  So there'll be local, zum,
and local plus.  A rose by any other name?

 --LW--

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 16:29:35 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Area Code 917 (was New LA Area Code)


TELECOM Digest Editor notes:

> TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
> a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT

I think you mean 917 instead of 907, which is in Alaska.  Besides, how
do you arrive at area code 914 being included in the area being
overlaid?  The only previous information I received said that 917 was
overlaid on 212 and 718.  If the inclusion of 914 is correct, let me
know when it was done.  (914 includes Westchester, and 516 is found in
Long Island suburbs.)

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

From: [e-mail] (David Crane)
Subject: Re: Who Paid For My 550?
Organization: University of Texas at San Antonio
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 19:18:26 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> Jim Cluett <[e-mail].
COM> writes:

> Can anyone explain the economics of the $50 Motorola 550?  The 550 is
> selling locally at a discount department store for $50. Motorola can't
> build 'em for that. The department store is acting as an agent for
> both an A and a B carrier, but I don't think they can recover enough
> from a year's contract to make up the difference. Who's subsidizing
> this? It's probably me, but I don't quite see how.

The cellular phone company is subsidizing it.  In fact, they are
usually free, so $50 is a rip-off.  You cannot buy one without signing
a one-year contract for cellular service, or similar high-priced
"option".  Most folks don't mind because they need the service to use
the phone but I dare you to go in and tell them you dropped your old
one in a sewer grating and all you want is a new piece of hardware
programmed like your old one.

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 15:31:55 CST
From: [e-mail] (Mark Earle)
Subject: Re: Who Paid For My 550?


Here's roughly, in one market, how the cellular phones are sold for
$1, $50, or .99, or free, but always with "activation extra, programming
fee may be required, credit approval required" you get the idea.

The agent gets some percent of your bill. Three years ago, when there
were few agents (more risk -- will these things really sell?) the
agents paid a franchise fee (about $45,000) and then received 10% of
the customer's gross bill, forever.

Newer agents now pay almost nothing for a franchise fee.  Essentially,
their cost to join covers training and programming books, jigs, cables,
etc. But, they get a much smaller percent of the gross, and it's for a
limited term.

So, anyhow, wholesale, a phone costs, let's say, $300.  Average BASE
phone bill under a qualifying plan is $40/month.  10% of (40 x 12=$480/yr)
= $48. PER phone activated, the carrier gives the agent a fixed fee --
typically, $250.  So, the $300 phone is paid for. The agent is
gambling several things:

    1. You'll stay on longer than one year;
    2. You'll use more than $40/month in services.

Newer agents get less than $48, but still get the $250 acttivation.

Both new and old agents charge you $25 "activation fee" and a $25
"programming fee" which is mostly profit; and they may charge other
fees.

Other things they gamble on are that you'll buy extra batteries,
cases, antennas, etc, all at considerable mark-up. Also, lately,
phones have gotten cheaper.

Finally, most one year contracts carry an enforcable clause which
states if you turn off service before the year is up, you pay the
remaining monthly fees in a lump sum. So the agent comes out even or
slightly ahead.

In reality (I know an 'older agent') it's a safe wager. Most customers
spend $80 or more/month; most stay on more than a year; most buy many
accessory items; and most have account changes (i.e, go from the $40
plan to the $50/month plan, etc) so the agent makes lots of $. It's
sort of like Las Vegas.  You may win, but overall, the house (agent)
does.

Of course, the cellular carrier doesn't do too badly either; they
don't have to deal that much with the public, the agent being their
buffer.

Who would have believed / predicted the growth of this market two or
three years ago?


[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 15:13:55 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Bill McMullin)
Subject: Specs For CDPD, Embarc, RAM, Ardis Wanted


Would anyone know where I could find the specifications and/or
communications protocols for communicating with CDPD, Embarc, RAM, and
Ardis terminals?


Bill McMullin

InterActive Telecom   Ph: 902-832-1014
1550 Bedford Hwy.     Fx: 902-832-1015
Sun Tower Suite 304   Em: [e-mail]
Bedford, Nova Scotia  B4A 1E6

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 14:42:44 CST
From: [e-mail] (Russell E. Sorber)
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Hacking
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group


In article <[e-mail]> Bob Zigon <bobz@truevision.
com> writes:

> Is this the right newsgroup to ask questions about Cellular Phone
> Hacking?  If not, could you please suggest a newsgroup? If this is the
> right group, are there any ftp sites that contain documents about how
> cellular phones work? How to clone phones?

> Bob Zigon     Sr. Software Engineer   Truevision, Inc.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is against the law to clone cellular
> phones. Illegal activities are not condoned here, although you might
> find a newsgroup here and there on Abusenet where they talk about such
> things in lurid detail. There is an alt group for phreaks (or do you
> pronounce it freaks?) but I forget its name. The Telecom Archives has
> some stuff on cellular phones (use anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu, then 'cd
> telecom-archives') and some stuff on toll fraud but nothing specifically
> on how to clone cellular phones. Probably someone reading this will know
> the name of the alt group and tell you what it is.   PAT]

Wait ... before Bob goes running off to another newsgroup, how about
if he provides documents or other information on how to best steal
goods or services from HIS company? If there is no way to steal from
Bob's company electronically, perhaps there is an unlocked door or an
unguarded loading dock where the stealing can be done the old fashioned
way?  Please post details.  <sarcasm off>


Russ Sorber
Software Contractor  -    Opinions are mine, Not Motorolas!
Motorola, Cellular Division   Arlington Hts., IL  [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah, but they never think of it that
way, Russ. Your comments remind me of the cartoon a few years ago
showing this teenage fellow sitting at his computer looking at the
blank screen with kind of a bewildered look on his face. His mother
is standing there talking to his father and she says, 'during the
night, a major corporation broke in through his modem; wiped out and
formatted his hard disk ...'. Generally they do not even consider it
stealing and they have all kinds of ways to philisophically skirt
around it with one rationale or another.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Frank da Cruz)
Subject: Re: MS-Kermit Keyboard Commands
Date: 23 Mar 1994 23:18:00 GMT
Organization: Columbia University


In article <[e-mail]> Mark <[e-mail]> writes:

> I am running MS-Kermit on my 386 PC, connecting to a VAX 8550 cluster
> running VMS.  The VAX is running All-In-One Office Automation Package
> and WPSPLUS editor.  The WPSPlus requires the use of certain keys on
> the PC-Keypad for some of its editing and curso n control features.
> MS-Kermit doesn't seem to want to send those control sequences to the
> VAX.  It just sends the numeric keypad characters.  I am running
> MS-Kermit in the VT320 emulation mode.  Is this just something not
> supported by MS-Kermit, am I miss ing a file, or have I set something
> up wrong?

MS-DOS Kermit (current version = 3.13) will send anything you want it
to send, but you have to tell it.  The default key mappings are listed
in Appendices I and II of "Using MS-DOS Kermit".

One of the unique features of Kermit is that the special DEC keys
(editing and arrow keys, F keys, PF keys, numeric keypad keys, etc)
are identified by "verbs", whose actions are context-dependent --
which terminal is being emulated and which mode it is in -- and which
can be assigned to the PC keys of your choice.

Since most Kermit users do not access applications that make heavy use
of the DEC VT220-and-above keyboard, not all of these verbs are
assigned to PC keys by default.  If you had glanced at the READ.ME
file that comes on the MS-DOS Kermit diskette, you would have noticed
a VT300.lNI file, which does, indeed, make a full mapping for you.

This full mapping is, of course, only one of many possible ones.  Some
people prefer to map keys by position, others by keytop legend, etc.
Also included on the distribution diskette is a TSR called GOLD.COM,
which allows Num Lock to be used as the DEC Gold Key.


Frank

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 16:33:16 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: World's Least Necessary 800 Number


Forwarded FYI:

 Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 14:27:24 EST
 From: [e-mail] (Rod Holland - Sun BOS Software)
 Subject: where was this last week, when we needed it?


Topic:    Nomination: world's least necessary 800 number
Author:    Mark Colan
Category: MCI seems to have lost it's mind.

(from the big net in the sky:)

In case you haven't seen or heard this yet, MCI has created the
wackiest, most useless 800 number around.  I can't describe it except
to say you must call:

        1-800-969-4874 [1-800-WOW-IT'S-HOT] (from a touchtone phone).
Very Pink, and yet Slackful.  I call on my speaker phone and let the
dulcet tones fill my office with ... oh, you'll see ... and it's FREE!

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #144
******************************


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Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 11:06:20 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #145

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 24 Mar 94 11:06:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 145

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Frequently Asked Questions About Caller-ID (A. Padgett Peterson)
    CATV Modems (Dominique Gabioud)
    FCC Gopher Service (Robert Keller via Peter M. Weiss)
    Re: Country Code For San Marino (Carl Moore)
    Re: Country Code For San Marino (Bob Smeets)
    Information Wanted on Women and Telecom (Melanie Spencer)
    Request For Info: Strategic Planning For Local Exchange Carrier (J. Lovell)
    Re: Please Explain the Term 'Steaming Terminal' (David McCord)
    Re: Who Paid For My 550? (Terry Gilson)
    Re: Area Code 562 (Dave Niebuhr)
    Re: Telecom Business Idea (Jonathan Welch)
    Re: International Toll Free Numbers (Thierry Samama)
    Obtaining Files From International Telecommunications Union (Carl Law)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 08:57:28 -0500
From: [e-mail] (A. Padgett Peterson)
Subject: Frequently Asked Questions About Caller-ID


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This file will become a permanent
entry in the Telecom Archives. PAT]

              Frequently Asked Questions About Caller-ID
                           v1.0 Mar. 1994

1) What is Caller-ID ?

First ask "What is ANI"

2) OK, What is ANI ?

ANI  or Automatic Number Identification is a mechanism  by  which
the different telephone companies determine what account is to be
charged for a call, This information is passed between Telcos and
was originally for billing purposes.

Since the Telcos had it anyway, the decision was made to make  it
available  to  authorized  parties such as 911  service  and  law
enforcement  agencies. ANI is also used to let a  Telco  operator
know who is calling.

More recently, ANI is used to report to 800 and 900  subscribers,
who made the calls they have received, in the first case so  that
the  800 subscriber knows who the charge is for, and so that  900
number subscribers know who to charge.

3) Now (maybe) what is Caller-ID ?

Caller-ID (more properly CNID or Calling Number IDentification)is
a Telco service that is a byproduct of (but not exactly the  same
as) ANI. In this case, only those numbers reported by subscribing
exchanges are returned, exactly which are and which are not is at
the Telco's discretion (in theory, since the Telco has all of the
numbers  via  ANI, *something* useful could be reported  for  any
call. Most Telcos do not).

The  Federal Government has stated that it is their  intent  that
nationwide CNID be available by mid-1995.

Currently  there  are two types of Caller-ID.  The  first  (often
referred  to as "basic" service) just returns the calling  number
or an error message and the date/time of the call.

The  second  ("enhanced" Caller-ID) also  returns  the  directory
information about the calling number.

4) How is the Caller-ID information provided ?

As  a  1200  baud, 7 data bits, 1 stop bit  data  stream  usually
transmitted following the first and before the second ring signal
on the line.

The signal is provided before the circuit is complete: picking up
the receiver before the data stream is finished will stop/corrupt
the transmission.

Currently  there are two types of information returned: a  "short
form" which contains the date/time (telco and not local) of the
call and the calling number or error message. The "long form" can
also  contain the name and/or address (directory information)  of
the calling phone.

The  "short  form"  stream  consists of a  set  of  null  values,
followed by a two byte prefix, followed by the DATE  (Month/Day),
TIME  (24 hour format), and number including area code in  ASCII,
followed  by  a  2s compliment checksum.  Most  modems/caller  id
devices will format the data but the raw stream looks like this :
0412303232383134333434303735353537373737xx
or (prefix)02281334407555777(checksum)

A formatted output would look like this:

        Date -   Feb 28
        Time -   1:34 pm
        Number - [phone]

5) Can a Caller-ID signal be forged/altered ?

Since  the signal is provided by the local Telco switch  and  the
calling  party's line is not connected until after the  phone  is
answered, generally the signal cannot be altered from the distant
end.  Manipulation would have to take place either at the  switch
or on the called party's line. (never say "never")

6) What is "ID Blocking" ?

Most  Telco's  providing  Caller-ID have been  required  to  also
provide the ability for a calling party to suppress the Caller-ID
signal. Generally this is done by pressing star-six-seven  before
making the call. In most cases this will block the next call only
however  some  Telcos  have  decided  to  implement  this  in   a
bewildering  array of methods. The best answer is to contact  the
service provider and get an answer in writing.

Currently this is supplied as either by-call or by-line blocking.
By-Call is preferred since the caller must consciously block  the
transmission   on  each  call.  By-Line  blocking  as   currently
implemented has the disadvantage that the caller, without  having
a second caller-id equipped line to use for checking, has no  way
of knowing if the last star-six-seven toggled blocking on or off.

7) What happens if a call is forwarded ?

Generally,  the  number  reported is that of the  last  phone  to
forward  the call. Again there are some Telco differences so  use
the  same  precaution  as in (6). If the forwarding  is  done  by
customer  owned  equipment there is no way of  telling  but  will
probably be the last calling number.

8)  What happens if I have two phone lines and a black box to  do
the forwarding ?

If  you  have  two  phone lines or  use  a  PBX  with  outdialing
features,  the reported number will be that of the last  line  to
dial. Currently there is no way to tell a black box from a  human
holding two handsets together.

9)  I  called somebody from a company phone  [phone])  but  the
Caller-ID reported 555-1000.

Often a company with multiple trunks from the Telco and their own
switch will report a generic number for all of the trunks.

10)  I  run a BBS. How can I use  Caller-ID  to  authenticate/log
callers ?

There  are two ways. The first utilizes a separate Caller-ID  box
with  a  serial  cable  or  an  internal  card.  This  sends  the
information back to a PC which can then decide whether to  answer
the  phone  and  what device should respond. Some  of  these  are
available  which  can handle multiple phone lines  per  card  and
multiple cards per PC.

The second (and most common) is for the capability to be built in
a  modem or FAX/modem. While limited to a single line per  modem,
the information can be transmitted through the normal COM port to
a  program  that again can decide whether or not  to  answer  the
phone  and  how.  There is a FreeWare Caller-ID  ASP  script  for
Procomm  Plus  v2.x available for FTP from the  Telecom  archive.
Most  such  software packages will also log each call  as  it  is
received and the action taken.

Of course for true wizards, there are chips available (one of the
first  was the Motorolla MC14544TP) that can recognize  the  CNID
signal and tranform it into a proper RS-232 (serial) signal.

11) How is security enhanced by using Caller-ID over a  Call-Back
service or one-time-passwords for dial-up access ?

Caller-ID  has one great advantage over any other  mechanism  for
telephone  lines.  It  allows the  customer  to  decide  *before*
picking up the receiver, whether to answer the call.

Consider hackers, crackers, and phreaks. Their goal in life is to
forcibly penetrate electronic systems without permission  (sounds
like  rape doesn't it ?). They employ demon dialers  and  "finger
hacking"  to  discover responsive numbers, often  checking  every
number in a 10,000 number exchange.

If  they get a response such as a modem tone, they have a  target
and  will  often  spend  days  or  weeks  trying  every  possible
combination of codes to get in. With Caller-ID answer  selection,
the  miscreant  will  never get to the modem tone  in  the  first
place, yet for an authorized number, the tone will appear on  the
second ring. Previously the best solution for dial-ups was to set
the modem to answer on the sixth ring (ats0=6). Few hackers  will
wait that long but it can also irritate customers.

12) What error messages will Caller-ID return ?

a)  Out of Area - (Telco) the call came from outside the  Telco's
service  area  and  the Telco has chosen not to  return  the  ANI
information.

b)  Blocked or Private - (Telco) the caller either has  permanent
call blocking enabled or has dialed star-six-seven for this call.
You do not have to answer either.

c)  Buffer Full - (device manufacturer) there are many  Caller-ID
devices  on  the  market  and exactly how  they  have  chosen  to
implement  storage is up to the manufacturer. This probably  mans
that  the  divide has a limited buffer space and  the  device  is
either losing the earliest call records or has stopped  recording
new calls.

13) Why are so many people against Caller-ID ?

FUD - Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt or 10,000,000 lemmings can't  be
wrong.  There  were some justifiable concerns  that  some  people
(battered  wives,  undercover policemen) might be  endangered  or
subject   to  harassment  (doctors,  lawyers,  celebrities)    by
Caller-ID.  As mentioned above there are several legitimate  ways
to  either  block  Caller-ID or to have  it  return  a  different
number.  It  is  up to the caller. The  advantage  is  that  with
Caller-ID,  for  the first time, the called party  has  the  same
"right of refusal".

Expect yet another Telco service (at a slight additional  charge)
to  be  offered to return an office number for  calls  made  from
home. Crisis centers could return the number of the local  police
station.


Compiled by Padgett Peterson. Constructive comments to:
[e-mail]  Brickbats >nul.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: CATV Modems
Organization: University of Geneva, Switzerland
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 08:12:15 GMT


A CATV cable has a huge bandwidth available. A part of it is usually
not used for TV channels and could be used (at least from a technical
standpoint) for data transmission, if a return channel is available.

Do you know any equipment (modem, remodulator, ...) that allows data
communication over the CATV cable. On the user side, the modem should
feature a well-known interface (RS232C, Ethernet, ...).


Dominique Gabioud   [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 07:21:10 EST
From: Peter M. Weiss <[e-mail]>
Subject: FCC Gopher Service
Organization: Penn State University


I don't recall seeing this posted here ([e-mail]) --

  Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 17:12:09 -0600
  From: Bob Keller <[e-mail]>
  To: Multiple recipients of list <[e-mail]>
  Subject: Finger FCC Releases

Taking a page from John Higgins' book, I will be temporarily putting
five days' worth of FCC Daily Digests pulled from ftp.fcc.gov in my
 .plan file so that it can be accessed by fingering <[e-mail]>.
This is being done for experimental purposes, but if anyone finds it
useful in the meantime, so much the better.  Be sure to open your
capture buffer first, as the file is many screens long.

It is also possible to Gopher to the FCC site [Gopher fcc.gov] as well
a regular old ftp.  Reportedly, the FCC is planning eventually to have
an e-mail server and/or mailing list for accessing documents.


 Bob Keller   Robert J. Keller, P.C.           Internet: [e-mail]
 ----------   Federal Telecommunications Law   Telephone:  [phone]
    KY3R      4200 Wisconsin Ave NW #106-261   Facsimile:  +1 301.229.6875
              Washington, DC 20016-2143  USA   CompuServe UID:  76100.3333

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 16:44:47 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Country Code For San Marino


+39 549 does appear in the Telecom Archives as "supplied by British
Telecom" or words similar.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Country code for San Marino
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 13:18:41 MET


Bill Hofmann writes:

> Well, I checked with Sprint, they told me 378, however, I received a
> private communication from someone in Rome who told me that as of
> 1990, San Marino had been split from 541 and now has Italian city code
> 549, and that further both country codes 295 and 378 are disallowed
> from Rome.  Can some folks in other countries check this out?

The Dutch telephone authorities mention +39 549 for access to San Marino.


Bob Smeets

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

Subject: Information Wanted on Women and Telecom
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 15:18:52 EST
From: Melanie Spencer <[e-mail]>


I'm looking for information on women in telecommunications -- particu-
larily statistics on participation and any cases of discrimination.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In the past, women generally were in the
front office -- line of fire -- positions directly interacting with the
subscribers as service representatives and operators while men were
in management and research. That is still true today, although not to
as great an extent as a half century ago. Which jobs are 'more important'?
I guess since the subscribers are the ones paying the bill, their inter-
action with the 'phone company' through the operators and service reps
is the most important consideration in how telco functions in my opinion,
yet their wages and the way they are treated does not always reflect
that, sorry to say.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Request For Info: Strategic Planning For Local Exchange Carrier
Date: 23 Mar 1994 22:54:50 GMT
Organization: INFOnet - Iowa Network Services, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I am asking for any resource info anyone might have regarding
strategic planning models for local exchange carriers (telephone
companies), specifically rural telephone companies.. I am working on a
thesis for a master's in telecommunications and my topic is to prepare
a strategic planning model for rural Iowa independent telephonies in a
competitive environment.

If there is info on strategic planning in a metro environment for telcos,
that would be welcome as well.  I would appreciate anything -- books,
thesis materials, journals, etc. for my literature search and to ensure
that nothing has been done on this same topic previously.

Please leave any info in my email.  Thanking you in advance.


Jan Lovell,  Assistant Manager,
Clear Lake Independent Telephone Company,
Clear Lake, Iowa

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 1994 15:38:10 -0800
From: [e-mail] (David McCord)
Subject: Re: Please Explain the Term 'Steaming Terminal'


Steve <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Could someone explain what this term means. Please email.

I guess these is a corrupted reference to "streaming terminal."

On a multipoint data communications line, if two or more devices
attempt communications simultaneously, transmission fails.  To avoid
this, a typical protocol arrangement provides for devices to transmit
ONLY when specifically requested to do so.

A streaming terminal is one that is in violation of this arrangement,
usually in a manner so that it is constantly transmitting and thereby
fouling operation of the entire line.  This can be a serious problem.


[e-mail]      International Network Services
+ 1 415 254 4229 voice    Mountain View, California, USA
+ 1 415 967 3247 fax

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

From: [e-mail] (Terry Gilson)
Subject: Re: Who Paid For My 550?
Date: 24 Mar 1994 08:18:54 GMT
Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation


On Wed, Mar 23, Jim Cluett <[e-mail] asked:

> Can anyone explain the economics of the $50 Motorola 550?  The 550 is
> selling locally at a discount department store for $50. Motorola can't
> build 'em for that. The department store is acting as an agent for
> both an A and a B carrier, but I don't think they can recover enough
> from a year's contract to make up the difference. Who's subsidizing
> this? It's probably me, but I don't quite see how.

I'm not sure what it costs Motorola to make the 550, however, the
current wholesale price to the Cellular Industry is from $250 to $280
depending on where you get it, and deals with certain carriers bring
it down lower than that.  The department store you bought the phone
from probably does not make anything from the on-going use of the
phone, instead they may get a one-time commission for the activation
of a number. This commission can run from $75.00 to $300.00+ depending
on the rate plan and part of the country.

It is the commission from the carrier that usually brings the phone
prices way down. Gillette's theory ... give away the razor but charge
a lot for the blades.

In states where the cellular industry is regulated, such as California,
the dealers can only sell up to $25.00 below their cost, and a quick
glance through the newspaper advertisements will give you a pretty
good idea of the cost of each phone.

In my area, which is Southern California, our average phone bill is
now around $135.00 per month including access charge and airtime. Most
Carriers can recoup the commission paid for a number within the first
year and still make some decent, or indecent ;-), profit.


Terry Gilson                    [e-mail]
DCN Cellular  805-379-3333      [e-mail]
Westlake Village, CA            [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 06:02:14 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Re: Area Code 562


In a recent TELECOM Digest Issue [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
wrote:

> Pacific Bell & GTE just anounced that in 1996, LA will get its fourth
> area code.  562 will overlay the present 213-818-310 areas, and will
> be used for cellular phones and pagers.

> Four area codes in one metro area.  Can anybody beat that?

and thus did the Editor write:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
> a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT]
                     ^^^ ^^^

907 is Alaska; it is 917
914 is metro NYC covering Rockland, Westchester, part of Orange and
possibly Dutchess and Putnam counties.

Add AC 516 (Long Island) and parts of ACs 201/708 (NJ) and part of
AC 203 (Ct.)

With the exception of NJ, all of the ACs listed are part of the NYC
LATA.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 07:09:22 -0500
From: Jonathan_Welch <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Telecom Business Idea


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Dale Van
Voorst) writes:

> I am looking for input on a telecommunications business idea that I
> have.  I live in a relatively small town that does not have local
> access numbers for any of the on-line services (Compuserve, Prodigy,
> AOL, etc).  If you want to access these services, you must pay long
> distance charges on top of your normal membership fees.

If you're going to go to the trouble of leasing a line you might be
better off setting up a 486DX50 pc running linux and lease the line to
an internet provider.  You'd then sell accounts on your machine for a
flat monthly rate.  You'd have to be sure your local calling area
encompases enough subscribers so you don't end up losing money.


Jonathan Welch  VAX Systems Manager  Umass/Amherst  [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 14:11:54 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Thierry Samama)
Subject: Re: International Toll Free Numbers
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Alcatel Alsthom Recherche (France)


In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Rachid Benzaoui)
writes:

> How would it be possible to know the French equivalent numbers of American
> international toll-free numbers?

In France, international toll free numbers are of the form 05 90 mc
du, where 05 is the usual toll free prefix. Also, I believe (but that
would need to be confirmed) that toll free choke numbers are 05 70.

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

Subject: Obtaining Files From International Telecommunications Union
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 09:06:11 CST
From: Carl Law <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I am a new user on Usenet. I write telecom articles for various
journals and for the {Financial Times} in London, but live in Northern
Ireland where, so far, I cannot track down the ITU yearbook and
analogous publications.  Could you possibly tell me the command
sequence on Usenet to punch thru to their computer in Geneva?


Regards,

Carl Edgar Law in Belfast, N. Ireland.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, first of all, we do not want to
confuse 'Usenet' (a collection of newsgroups circulated via 'Internet',
a network which joins together computers and other networks around the
world with the Internet itself. The Internet is much, much larger than
just the component we call Usenet, which coincidentally is just one of
a few different collections of newsgroups. There is also a collection
of newsgroups in a system called 'alt' -- they're not technically part
of Usenet -- and there are numerous regional and local collections of
newsgroups with limited circulation. What you want to know, I think,
is how to connect to the computer at ITU using the facilities of your
local site in conjunction with the Internet. Usenet has nothing to do
with it.

The network address of the International Telecommunications Union is
'itu.ch'. The 'ch' stands for Switzerland, and the ITU is located in
Geneva. For starters, you need to be using a computer (or connected
through your personal PC or terminal to a computer) which is connected
to the Internet in one way or another. If a realtime, live connection
exists, then you can connect to ITU using 'anonymous ftp', and perhaps
using other similar services such as Gopher or WEB. The instructions
for those services are detailed, and I won't cover them here right
now.  Without having a realtime online Internet connection, then the
thing you would have to do is send email provided ITU has an automated
program running to process email *as though it were coming via ftp*.

At this point I will defer to our friends at ITU since we have not
heard from them in awhile anyway, and perhaps Lucio or someone else
there will forward a file dealing with the ITU public documents and
how to obtain them. I am making this deferral since I believe in the
next few days there will be an important announcement to share with
all readers of TELECOM Digest (jointly by the ITU and myself) and it
would be good to do it all at the same time. In the meantime, Carl,
what you should do is make inquiries of your system administrator
regards remote connectivity to other computers using ftp, Gopher and
similar services. The way it is done is universal, meaning not only
are the instructions pertinent to connecting with ITU, but to any site
where there may be documents you wish to obtain.      PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #145
******************************


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Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 00:29:16 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #146

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 25 Mar 94 00:29:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 146

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Cell One/NY Billing Errors, Also DC (Douglas Scott Reuben)
    New Book Announcement (Kathleen M. Billus)
    Cell One Switches Toll-Digit Dialing (Monty Solomon)
    Dying Telephones (Doug Taylor)
    Pager Scam Resurfaces (Stephen Goodman)
    Jobs Offered - Telecom Analysts (Ernie Garcia)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire (Mark Brukhartz)
    Re: Bell South ISDN Announcement (Tom Horsley)
    Re: Hush-a-Phone (Brian J. Cecil)
    Re: Area Code 562 (K. M. Peterson)
    Re: Area Code 562 (Linc Madison)
    Re: Area Code 562 (Alan M. Gallatin)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 24 Mar 1994 16:12:59 EST
From: Douglas Scott Reuben <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cell One/NY Billing Errors, Also DC


Just got my bill from Cell One/NY, and noticed the "airtime for
voicemail" problem (where calls to voicemail are billed airtime) is
still occurring.

These calls do NOT look like voicemail calls; rather, they are
itemized as "INCOMING". They are NOT free -- they are billed full
airtime rates!

They seem to occur randomly -- I distinctly remember making a number
of calls to my voicemail on Feb 15, yet only SOME are showing up (all
of them usually do), and only SOME of those are being billed airtime.
(Note that NONE of these are voicemail calls frm my carphone, which do
incur airtime).

I must have like $100 worth of "INCOMING" charges which are really
FREE voicemail calls, and the thing that is so insidious about all
this is that I am sure that if anyone else does have the same billing
problem, they may very well *never* notice it because they have fewer
voicemail calls than I do, and figure "Oh well, guess I got a lot of
incoming calls this month ..."  and just pay the bill without careful
scruitinization (which no one should have to do anyhow).

So if you have voicemail with CO/NY, CHECK your bills for suspicious
"INCOMING" calls!

On a different note: CO/DC (and I believe Chicago as well) have been
added to the NACN. CO/NY customers who travel to DC (and Chicago?) can
get calls and features in these markets, with the usual
McCaw-is-occassionally-brain-dead caveat that calls will NOT bounce
back to voicemail if you don't answer your phone. (Like, err, do they
anticipate sort of addressing this issue within the next DECADE or so? ;( )

And of course for some reason NY doesn't have No-Answer-Transfer (other
Ericssons do, right?) which is user-selectable, so that obviously won't
work in DC or Chicago either. (Altghough DC and Chicago customers who
have NAT should be able to use the feature in NY -- it won't do much
good, for the same reason calls can not bounce back to voicemail on
the NACN. Calls will just come to NY, and if unanswered, they will NOT
transfer ... nice, eh?)

Finally, Call-Waiting is STILL not working on any of the Motorola EMX
500/2500 switches locally connected to the NY system. These are CT/W.
Mass (00119), ComCast NJ (00173,00575,01487), Philly PA (00029, on the
NACN!) and northern Delaware (00123, also on the NACN!). They've tried
for months to get this working, and it still won't. If you are on the
phone in any of these markets, callers will get bounced to voicemail
right away, and you will have no idea that they called. I would think
that at MINIMUM it could be set to get a busy signal as an interim
sort of solution, so that callers would try to call you back, but so
far, they can't even manage that. So, if you are expecting a call, you
are basically stuck if you want to use your phone at the same time --
you need to check your voicemail after you get off the phone to be
sure you didn't miss any calls. Neat revenue generator there, eh? :(

This does, however, allow customers who wish to switch to NYNEX
(WHY?!, they are worse ... MUCH worse!) or Bell Atlantic Mobile to
EASILY get out of their annual service agreements, or even their
agreement to stay online for "X" months else they have to pay the $400
commission the dealer gets from CO/NY for a new ativation (which is
why you can get a pocket phone for $29).

Just call up CO/NY, and say "Hey, when I signed up, both the dealer
and/or your service reps authoritatively told me that when I roamed to
CT/NJ/DE/PA that I could get call waiting, and that I wouldn't have to
check my voicemail all the time. This was one of the main reasons why
I signed up with you! I noticed that this was not working over six
mnths ago, and you have had plenty of time to correct the problem,
which you have not done. As a result, you are not fulfilling the terms
of our agreement, and due to your failure to correct these problems in
any semblance of a timely manner, I am repudiating our agreement, and
refuse to pay any "penalty"/cancellation charges."

They may make a fuss over this, but their legal department will tell
them you are essentially correct. Make sure you emphasize that one of
the main reasons why you signed up was because you traveled to the
above markets a lot and wanted to be sure you could always get calls.
Tell them "Had I known then what I know now, I would have gone with
NYNEX instead, becuase their system does indeed work this way, while
yours, despite your explicit assurance, does not."

I think they will fix this quickly enough if they have to eat a few
$400 commissions! :) And, as a matter of fact, as long as you are a
customer of *any* NACN system and want to get out of your contract,
you may be able to pull this as well. Simply say you signed up becuase
you travel to Philly and/or Delaware a lot, and specifically wanted
call-waiting, which you of course are not getting. A bit of a stretch,
but it may work!

(BTW, I do like CO/NY and think they provide pretty decent service.
It's just frustrating that I have to sit here and go over all of our
bills with them to make sure we weren't charged for voicemail calls,
or for that matter to keep having to check my voicemail while in
Philly after I have been on the phone for a while -- I have better
things to do with my time.)


Doug    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One good thing here is that if you have
something waiting in voicemail, the cellular phone gives three little
tone spurts (sort of like the stutter dial tone if you are on a land
line) when you press SEND. So instead of actually having to place a
call to voicemail (with the resulting charges and waste of time) you
can just press SEND. As soon as you are on the air, either you will
hear those three short tone spurts or you will not. If you don't then
don't bother calling voicemail.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Kathleen M Billus)
Subject: New Book Announcement
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 21:44:57 GMT


The Internet Connection: System Connectivity and Configuration
by John S. Quarterman and Smoot Carl-Mitchell
ISBN 0-201-54237-4, 1994
Published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. <[e-mail]>

"... it's a book I would buy even though I am very experienced at all
this.  It would be good to have a reference like this on the shelf.  ...
pulling together a lot of practical information into one place ..."
        Barry Shein, Software Tool & Die

"The book is very clear and very easy to read.  It brings the reader
into the Internet at a good pace.  It has enough details to be able to
configure machines, but not enough to scare away nervous newcomers."
        Michael Barrow, Boston Computer Society Internet

How do I connect to the Internet?  What equipment do I need?  What
software do I need? How do I configure it? What forms need to be filled
out?  Where do I send the check? Where do I find this information?

"The Internet Connection: System Connectivity and Configuration" is
*the* reference guide that will explain how to become a part of a
community where global communication, resource discovery, and resource
sharing are brought to your desktop through the Internet.   This book
serves as the central source of information about the Internet from
technology questions to administrative questions.

Access to the Internet, the global network of networks, is becoming a
must for business today. Expanding at an accelerated rate, and
promising to be the foundation for future "information superhighways,"
the Internet is changing the way individuals and corporations
communicate. "The Internet Connection: System Connectivity and
Configuration" is the first clear and concise reference for system
designers, system administrators, as well as individuals trying to gain
access to the Internet.

HIGHLIGHTS:

o       Gives step-by-step instruction on connection to the Internet
        for system designers, system administrators and their managers.

o    Offers assistance in setting up naming, mail and news systems

o    Explains the use of common Internet services such as archie,
        WAIS, and Gopher

About the Authors:

John S. Quarterman is Senior Technical Partner of Texas Internet
Consulting, which consults in networks and open systems with
particular emphasis on TCP/IP networks, UNIX systems, and standards.

Smoot Carl-Mitchell is Managing Partner of Texas Internet Consulting.
He has consulted on numerous projects including network design,
installation, and debugging.  He, along with his partner, also gives
seminars on networking issues related to the growth, development,and
use of TCP/IP.

Co-authors of "Practical Internetworking with TCP/IP and UNIX", a
comprehensive tutorial reference, Quarterman and Carl-Mitchell also
publish *Matrix News*, a monthly on-line and paper newsletter about
cross-network issues.

*    Available wherever fine technical books are sold.

*    For direct orders to Addison-Wesley, please call 1-800-822-6339
     and have your credit card handy.

*    To be included on the Addison-Wesley on-line information server,
     please send an email message to [e-mail].  The subject line
     should be 'information' and the body of the message should be
     'send information'.  Adding your name to this listing will enable us
     to keep you informed of all new titles.

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 19:49:03 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cell One Switches To11-Digit Dialing


Effective March 1, 1994, Cell One/Boston has switched to eleven-digit
dialing (from 10) for long distance calls outside of A/C 617 or 508.

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

From: b17news![e-mail] (Doug Taylor)
Subject: Dying Telephones
Reply-To: b17news![e-mail] (Doug Taylor)
Organization: "Imaging systems, Intergraph Corp, Huntsville AL"
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 21:41:34 GMT


We have had three phones die at our house in the last few months.

Phone number one was a cheap GE wall phone with a built-in digital
answering machine.  It lasted over two years and then died about five
months ago.  The answering machine was still working, but not the
phone.  Since we had other phones in the house (described below), we
didn't replace it until
 ...

Phone number two was an expensive Toshiba cordless, also with a
built-in digital answering machine.  It lasted less than three weeks.
Again, the answering machine still worked, but not the phone.  We were
able to trade this one back in for ...

Phone number three was again an expensive Toshiba cordless, but
without a built-in answering machine.  Instead, we got a separate AT&T
digital answering machine.  This phone died today while my wife was
using it.

The other three phones in the house have been there forever.  Phone
number four is a very cheap phone we keep out in the garage.  Phone
number five is a good, solid rotary phone.  Phone number six is a
good, solid, old, office push-button phone.  All three of these
continued to work just fine.

The dead phones did not work on other phone jacks inside our house.

Got any ideas why the phones keep dying?

Only emailed responses are likely to reach me.


Doug Taylor       [e-mail]
MailStop IW17D1   [phone] (w)
Intergraph Corp.      730-9550 (fax)
Huntsville, AL 35894-0001

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 12:42 EST
From: Stephen Goodman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pager Scam Resurfaces


FYI for the readers of TELECOM Digest!

   !!!PAGER SCAM ALERT!!!

Be aware that the pager scam using area code

                        212/540-XXXX

has resurfaced.

If you receive a page to call this number, DON'T return the call.  The
212/540 is translated to a 900 number and you/we can be billed $50.00
or more per call.

Please pass on to your employee base, noting that this scam recurs
occassionally.


[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'm sure our readers ** in the metro
New York City area ** appreciate the reminder, but bear in mind that
** no one ** outside the NYC area (212/718, maybe 914/516 ?) can reach
this number even if they were paged. '540' is a very local, restricted
prefix for the simple reason that the telco in New York has no way to
collect on calls outside their area. Dialing 212-540-anything from
Chicago for example on MCI gets an intercept saying 'MCI does not
complete calls to 976 numbers at this time' ... and via AT&T it just
goes to a re-order.  I'm not certain, but I think if it is dialed via
10xxx or 1+ , it won't even leave the local CO if outside of NYC and
environs.  So if anyone chooses to copy out your message and post it as
a warning in a company newsletter, etc, I hope they'll include my note
as well. Essentially outside of NYC, this is a non-issue, and in my
opinion, New Yorkers are entitled to whatever they get themselves into!
It is even doubtful if the operator of this scam is breaking the law,
as sleazy as it may be. Yes, he is requesting that you call a premium-
priced phone number, but so do countless other advertisers on radio and
television each day. No one is making you call the number and the
presumption is you should know where you are calling before you dial.  PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 10:19:32 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Ernie Garcia)
Subject: Jobs Offered - Telecom Analysts
Organization: Central Washington University


Central Washington University invites applications for:

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ANALYST I:  $2143-$2728
TELECOMMUNICATIONS ANALYST II:  $2355-$3011

Enjoy the sun and rural life of Ellensburg, Washington, population
13,000.  Our Telecommunications Analysts are responsible for various
project related work, including analysis of equipment malfunction,
configuration revisions and installations.  Requires minimum of two
years of telecomm training and two years experience in CENTREX and or
PBX systems for the I-level; two additional years of routine Analyst
I-level work for the II-level position.

At least one year experience must be with Northern Telecom SL-1/Meridian 1
PBX, including Northern Telecom training certifications.  For application
materials, contact Central Washington University, Personnel Services,
Ellensburg, WA 98926.  Phone: [phone].  OPEN UNTIL FILLED.
CENTRAL IS AN AA/EEO/TITLE IX EMPLOYER.  WOMEN AND MINORITIES ARE
ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.


Ernie Garcia                           VOICE:[phone]
Central Washington University          FAX  :[phone]
(CaTS) Computing & Telecom. Services   Ellensburg, WA 98926
email: [e-mail] OR [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 13:28:33 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Mark Brukhartz)
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire


There were strong winds and intense thunderstorms across northern
Illinois on the day of the Hinsdale fire. The monitoring station
ignored the first alarms because the weather was causing periodic
false alarms in the area. Once they suspected trouble in Hinsdale,
they were unable to reach a wide area around Hinsdale by telephone.
The Hinsdale office was a regional hub for inter-office and inter-LATA
calls, and there was no backup hub.

The station personnel reached a supervisor in northern Indiana, who
made the 45 minute drive to Hinsdale. He is said to have stood at the
door and asked passers by to contact the fire department. The Hinsdale
switching office lies just beyond Hinsdale's quaint suburban downtown,
where stores are largely closed on Sundays. Pedestrians had to be few
and far between.

Once the fire department arrived, they asked the supervisor to cut the
power.  That critial step took a couple of hours. The switches for the
utility feed, generators and batteries were distributed around the
building. The supervisor couldn't reach them through the smoke, and
they weren't clearly labelled for the firefighters. No water was
applied to the fire for these hours.

During the delay, the fire got close to the large underground cable
vaults.  The fire chief ordered the cables cut to prevent a spread.
That extended the subsequent repair time.

Hinsdale Hospital had Centrex service, and thus lost internal phone
service service when the switch burned. They restored limited
communications with portable radios, and soon installed an NT Meridian
PBX.

By the way, my home is served by the Hinsdale switch. We had no
dialtone for almost a month. During that time, radio equipped
personnel manned the street corners 24 hours per day to take emergency
calls.


Mark


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for telling it just the way
it happened. Reasonable people might disagree on some of the chronology
just as you described it, but the fact is the fire burned a long time
before anyone notified the fire department, procedures put in place by
Jim Eibel (VP at Illinois Bell) stunk to high heaven and yes, there
was no dial tone in Hinsdale for a month. Some other communities got
dial tone back after a *mere two weeks*. Cellular service (both A and B)
and pagers were out here for about two weeks. 911 was out for several
days in many western suburbs. You see, Hinsdale was the hub for it all.
Cellular service for northern Illinois; long distance switching for
AT&T/Sprint/MCI/whoever; extremely important and critical circuits for
the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control at Ohare Airport;
911 service for several communities; plus local service for Hinsdale and
a couple nearby communities of course. It all went through Hinsdale, and
Hinsdale burned down ... what the fire did not destroy, the firemen did
in the process, ie. the cables which had to be cut. The place was almost
gutted top to bottom. They tried to save the switch -- Lord knows they
wanted to save it if they could, but a couple weeks into the restoration
when they got the switch up and running it was so corroded from water
damage they had to junk it as well and order a new one post-haste which
got diverted from wherever it was intended for and sent to Hinsdale on
a rush basis, adding another week to the repairs. What's past is past.
Please, whoever controls these things: don't let it happen again.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Horsley)
Subject: Re: Bell South ISDN Announcement
Date: 24 Mar 1994 18:30:41 GMT
Organization: Harris Computer Systems Division


> BELLSOUTH ANNOUNCES LARGEST GEOGRAPHIC DEPLOYMENT OF ISDN IN THE NATION

> CONTACT:
>       Karen M. Roughton of BellSouth Telecommunications, 404-529-6514
>       BellSouth National ISDN HotLine, 1-800-428-4736

I get phone service from BellSouth, and despite the constant series of
ISDN announcements from time to time (I seem to recall attending a
meeting at work about ten years ago with phone company marketeers
talking about the benefits of the soon to appear ISDN service :-), I
have yet to call the local business office and find anyone on the
other end of the phone who ever even heard of ISDN, much less knew
anything about the price of a connection ...

If fact, could someone who has done this post a typical transcript of
a conversation? How many times do you have to say "Could I speak to
your supervisor?" before getting to someone who has heard of ISDN?

I'll have to try calling the BellSouth hotline and see if I get anywhere.


Tom Horsley  email: [e-mail]
Harris       snail: 511 Kingbird Circle
Computer Systems    Delray Beach, FL  33444

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

From: Brian J. Cecil <[e-mail]>
Date: 24 Mar 94 13:13:20 EST
Subject: Re: Hush-a-Phone


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Over the years, AT&T really brought
> on a lot of their own problems that they are having today didn't they.
> Imagine how much different things would be today had AT&T taken much
> less miltant stance with the Carterphone/Hush-a-Phone cases and with
> MCI in its early days. It is likely the whole industry would be
> entirely different. And yes, AT&T did once sue the publisher of the
> plastic directory covers with a claim that such 'unauthorized
> attachments' might cause people to complain to the phone company about
> the quality of the directory. They lost that case also.  PAT]

What the FCC was doing was allowing AT&T to have a controlled monopoly
in orderto get a centralized phone system in the USA.  They realized
that if there was one phone company, that company would be able to
build a high quality nationwide phone system instead of the numerous
mom and pop systems that were scattered all over the country.  Because
of this, the FCC went along with some stupid arguments that AT&T
brought before them.  I believe that if the FCC did not protect AT&T
and this monopolized network in its early stages, our phone system
would not be as advanced as it is today.  Of course the monopolized
phone company is a thing of the past, and it was good to break it up
when they did.  However, I believe the government will be using this
strategy again with the National Information Highway.


Brian Cecil


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, there is no doubt in my mind that the
superior telephone service we enjoyed in the USA for many decades (and
still have to a large extent) would not have been possible had things
gone any other way in the early days. The credit for the many wonderful
things about the Bell System which we counted on goes to Theodore Vail,
Chairman of AT&T at the start of the twentieth century. He is the person
who coined the phrase, 'One System ... one way of doing things ...' and
the unspoken words appended to that, '... my way ...'. Ted Vail was one
tough old bird -- even Alex Bell hated him -- but AT&T clear up to the
early 1980's was the way it was because of Vail's influence and decisions.
Too bad things turned out the way they did though. Surely something less
drastic would have been workable also.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (K. M. Peterson)
Subject: Re: New Area Code 562
Date: 24 Mar 1994 16:39:44 GMT
Organization: KMPeterson/Boston


Have I been asleep?  Is this the first NXX areacode/NPA?


K. M. Peterson   email: [e-mail]
phone: [phone] voice    [phone] fax


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good morning! Wake up and smell the coffee
cooking ... no it is not first. Alabama was the first to get one with 205
being split, and a couple others have been assigned. The one in California
is third or fourth in what will soon be a flood of them.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Area Code 562
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 01:47:14 GMT


Dave Niebuhr ([e-mail]) wrote:

> 907 is Alaska; it is 917
> 914 is metro NYC covering Rockland, Westchester, part of Orange and
> possibly Dutchess and Putnam counties.

> Add AC 516 (Long Island) and parts of ACs 201/708 (NJ) and part of
> AC 203 (Ct.)                                  ^^^  ^^


PAT, I'm surprised you missed the typo in the correction to your typo!
As you might be aware, area code 708 is not in New Jersey.


Linc Madison   *   Oakland, California   *   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah shucks, twarn't nothing ... I guess
he meant 908. Yeah, I might be aware of 708. I think that is where I
live.  :)   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Alan M. Gallatin)
Subject: Re: Area Code 562
Date: 24 Mar 1994 17:01:29 -0500
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC


In a previous article, [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr) wrote:

>> Four area codes in one metro area.  Can anybody beat that?

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
>> a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT]

> 907 is Alaska; it is 917
> 914 is metro NYC covering Rockland, Westchester, part of Orange and
> possibly Dutchess and Putnam counties.

> Add AC 516 (Long Island) and parts of ACs 201/708 (NJ) and part of
> AC 203 (Ct.)

708 (as most Digest readers will know) is Illinois ...  * 908 * (as
most Bellcore people will know :-)) is Mid-Jersey :-))


[e-mail]   Alan M. Gallatin   [e-mail]
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, this is getting to where it
isn't even funny any more. Thirty years ago I knew every area code and
where it was located. Now I can't remember half of them ... and wait until
next year when all those strange ones start popping up everywhere.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #146
******************************


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Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 12:44:43 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #147

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 25 Mar 94 12:44:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 147

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Hunt Groups/Ring-No-Answer-Call-Forwarding (Scott M. Pfeffer)
    ISDN PC-Boards and Supplementary Services (Svein-Ivar Lillehaug)
    Digital Audio Conference Bridges (MCUs) (Svein-Ivar Lillehaug)
    Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? (Howard Gayle)
    Telex / Telephone / Country Code List (Paul Robinson)
    Phone Equipment Catalogs ([e-mail])
    "Fooling" Caller-ID (A. Padgett Peterson)
    Modem-Connectable Cell Phones? ([e-mail])
    Info Needed About Local LD Carriers in Turkey (Henry Griner)
    Pacific Bell Voice Mail Types (Keith Laaks)
    One Equals On (John Starta)
    Area Code 215 Changed to 610, Why? (Juha Veijalainen)
    Sprint 800 Outage From 201 Area Code? (Paul R. Coen)
    Re: Pager Scam Resurfaces (Christopher Zguris)
    Re: Pager Scam Resurfaces (David Jones)
    Re: CATV Modems (Garrett Wollman)
    Re: CATV Modems (George Gilder)
    Re: CATV Modems (Tony Harminc)
    Re: CATV Modems (Aaron Leonard)
    Internet Address Wanted (Patrizio Menchetti)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Scott M. Pfeffer)
Subject: Hunt Groups/Ring-No-Answer-Call-Forwarding
Date: 25 Mar 94 04:01:30 GMT
Organization: Southwestern Bell Telephone Company


Anyone watching this newsgroup worked with hunt groups a lot?

I am trying to figure out how to do the following, and would really
appreciate input from folks with experience in this area:

The basic idea is to provide 32 dialup modem lines with a backup
configuration in case a modem goes bad or the rack containing half the
modems goes bad.

Simply, speaking something like this would be nice:

If the line chosen by the switch is one of the first sixteen, but
there is no answer after two rings, find a line in the second sixteen
and ring it instead.  This way, if I have a rack of modems on the
first sixteen go down, or a bad modem is hit on the first rack, the
rack on the second sixteen will receive the call.

Likewise, if the line chosen by the switch is one of the second
sixteen, but there is no answer after two rings, find a line in the
first sixteen and ring it instead. This way, if the second rack goes
down or a bad modem is hit on the second rack, the rack on the first
sixteen will receive the call.

Finally, if possible, I'd like a backup arrangement to the backup
arrangement.  A few ideas have been sent my way, but I am not sure what
makes the most sense ...

A few folks I know have come up with some possibilities, but still I
am not sure.  Here are some ideas.  What do you think?

1. Provide a simple 32-line distributed line hunt group.  Then a
dial-in user may fail on the first call, but will eventually be able
to get in after multiple retries. Am I correct that Distributed Line
Hunting will choose the "least recently used" line?

Limitation: User will have to redial to get in if there is no answer.
It may take up to 16 calls to get to the OTHER rack.

2. 32-line hunt group.  Each line N in the hunt group will have busy
call forwarding and ring-no-answer call forwarding to another line.

This way, if a call comes in to a bad modem or rack, the call gets
immediately sent to the other rack.  If THAT rack has a bad modem or
if the line is busy, the call gets sent to the next line in the first
rack.  The cycle will continue in this sequence:

   N  --> N + 16 --> N +  1 --> N + 17 --> N +  2 --> N + 18 --> N +  3
   ^  --> N + 19 --> N +  4 --> N + 20 --> N +  5 --> N + 21 --> N +  6
   |  --> N + 22 --> N +  7 --> N + 23 --> N +  8 --> N + 24 --> N +  9
   |  --> N + 25 --> N + 10 --> N + 26 --> N + 11 --> N + 27 --> N + 12
   |  --> N + 28 --> N + 13 --> N + 29 --> N + 14 --> N + 30 --> N + 15
   |  --> N + 31 --> N + 16 --> N + 32 --:
   |_____________________________________|


3. Part 1: A 32-line distributed line hunt group. Numbers N    through N+31.
   Part 2: A 15-line distributed line hunt group. Numbers N+1  through N+15.
   Part 3: A 16-line distributed line hunt group. Numbers N+16 through N+31.

   Part 4: Ring-no-answer for line N    through N+15 goes to hunt line N+16.
   Part 5: Ring-no-answer for line N+16 through N+31 goes to hunt line N+1.

Then, if a caller gets ring-no-answer, they get routed back and forth
between the first 16 lines and the second 16 lines. Very similar
results to solution 2?

As I am new to these features (although I understand the basics), can
anyone shed some light as to how far off the track I am with this and
tell me how to get to Grandma's house?


Thanks,

Scott Pfeffer    Information Services, Southwestern Bell Telephone

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

From: [e-mail] (Svein-Ivar Lillehaug)
Subject: ISDN PC-Boards and Supplementary Services
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 15:09:00 GMT
Organization: University of Tromsoe, Norway


The 1989 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) identifies 25 supplementary
services as priority 1 and 2 (5 + 20) for Euro-ISDN.

ISDN adapters may access supplementary services through either the
Facility Information Element (IE) or the Keypad IE on D-channel
messages. The Facility IE supports identification of specific
supplementary services according to standards. The Keypad IE
identifies strings of keypad codes according to the Keypad Protocol
(for example *21*<phonenumber>#). Applications can map high level user
interface menu choices to keypad codes.

In addition, tone signalling such as DTMF (Dual Tone Multiple
Frequency) is desirable in some cases (for example for remote
operation of videophones).

Unfortunately it seems like (most?) ISDN adapters only support a
limited number of the services described above. Hopefully I am wrong -
therefor I wonder if anyone out there are aware of ISDN boards that
offer all (or most -- or as many as possible) of the 25 supplementary
services through their APIs (or CAPI / ETSI-PCI).  The access
obviously has to go through the Keypad IE or the DTMF , signalling.


Regards,

Svein-Ivar

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

From: [e-mail] (Svein-Ivar Lillehaug)
Subject: Digital Audio Conference Bridges (MCUs)
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 15:12:40 GMT
Organization: University of Tromsoe, Norway


I am interested in manufacturers (name, address, phone and fax numbers)
of digital audio MCUs. To be more specific (and exclude some products)
an interesting product must support the following functionalities:

* Signal interfaces:    Digital line signalling
            DTMF

* Possibilities for subscribers to set up the conference

* Allow for parallel conferences and up to 30 (or 50) conference
  participants at the same time.

* Allow for dynamic management of conferences (hang ups as well as
  including new    participants during the conference).

* Direct operation through a PC interface for set up of conferences,
  registration and administration of subscribers and cost charges.

What is a reasonable price for equipment like this?


Thanks in advance,

Svein-Ivar

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 07:25:29 PST
From: [e-mail] (Howard Gayle)
Subject: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime?
Reply-To: [e-mail]


A friend suggested to me that, sometime in the future, almost everyone
will carry around a cellular phone almost all the time.  She thinks
this will significantly reduce the amount of crime, because it will be
very easy to report a crime or other suspicious behavior that one
observes.  I'm skeptical, but it seems like an interesting topic for
discussion.


[e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 11:26:36 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telex / Telephone / Country Code List
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


The following is a correction to a prior message.

In a prior issue of TELECOM Digest I noted that a listing of three-
digit telex codes, telex answerbacks, worldwide telephone area codes,
and ISO 3166 country codes was listed in my Internet RFC 1394.

The correct location for RFCs is on site DS.INTERNIC.NET (in addition
to other sites that keep a complete set) and not on RS.INTERNIC.NET.
'RS' only has a limited subset of the RFCs.  The complete collection
is on 'DS' in the /rfc directory.

I have just checked, and the file is there.

Please excuse any inconvenience this may have caused you.


Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (MUR)
Subject: Phone Equipment Catalogs
Organization: WELLESLEY COLLEGE
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 16:45:12 GMT


I'm looking for a mail order outfit, other than Hello Direct, that
carries a wide variety of phone accessories such as caller ID boxes,
auto-dialers etc..  I only excluded Hello Direct, as they are already
sending me a catalog.  Thanks in advance.

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 08:55:59 -0500
From: [e-mail] (A. Padgett Peterson)
Subject: "Fooling" Caller-ID


Since my FAQ posting on Caller-ID, several people have written to say
that they have heard of a box that can produce an erroneous record via
a data burst on DE Pickup. None provided details.

My understanding is that the Motorola chip and most Caller-ID boxes
are designed to only accept data *before* pickup and to stop listening
when the line is answered. Further, the through connection is only
made once the line has been answered. For this reason there should not
be a problem.

Further, I have understood that a Caller-ID box would only accept one
valid sequence per call.

Two logical possibilities arise:

1) Some Caller-ID boxes might have a lag between call pickup and last
   acceptance of digits.
2) Some switches may connect through before pickup.

If anyone *knows* of any instance where this is true (other than party
lines or COTS PBX equipment), I would like to know.


Warmly,

Padgett     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Modem-Connectable Cell Phones?
Date: 25 Mar 1994 01:03:02 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)


Does a FAQ exist with comprehensive list of cell phones and features?
Specifically I am seeking a phone which will connect to an existing
modem (not PCMCIA-based).

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

From: Henry Griner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Info Needed on Local LD Carriers in Turkey
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 00:54:01 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


I need information about who the LD carriers are in Turkey. Also, I
had something about the rates going up by 100% or more in the near
future.  I would also like to contact anyone in business in Turkey to
discuss this further.  Any leads or help would be great.


Thanks,

Henry

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

From: [e-mail] (Keith Laaks)
Subject: Pacific Bell Voice Mail Types
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 09:36:36 GMT
Organization: ITB Department, University of Potchefstroom


Hi,

Don't you just love it when you can't access the information you want
because the information hotline number you have is a Toll-Free number
in another country?

I see that Pacific Bell's Voice Mail for Business comes in two flavours:

a) Standard ($19.95)
b) Deluxe ($29.95)

Can anybody tell me how these two mailbox types differ? Do they also provide
a residential Voice Mail/Call Answer service?

Also, do Telco's provide voicemail to customers with their own PABX?
If so, how are the calls routed to the Voicemail equipment? I take it
the Telco will have a centralized VoiceMail node, and will route (divert)
calls from the business to such equipment.

Is Voice Mail a regulated service? If so, what are these regulations?


Keith   Email: [e-mail]
Potch Univ.      Email :                 Tel:
Potchefstroom    [e-mail]  Voice [phone]
West Transvaal   South Africa            FAX   [phone]

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

Subject: One Equals On
From: tosh![e-mail] (John Starta)
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 19:57:43 MST


> Kenn Krasner, Sr. Consultant   One Equals On   [e-mail]

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yep, 'one equals on' is the way he
> wrote it. Its not my typo! Maybe Kenn will explain it.   PAT]

If I had to guess I would say that Kenn's company name is a reference
to the state of a bit in binary; 0 is off, 1 is on.


john starta


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good guess! That had not occurred to me.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 24 MAR 94 18:45
Subject: Area Code 215 Changed to 610, Why?


The other day I managed to dial a non-existing number in the USA.
Area code was 215 and number 385 xxxx.  The error message said I
called area code 610 and number 385 xxxx and, of course, that the
number did not exist.

Is area code 215 being changed, split or what.  Once I got the correct
number, I could complete my call with 215.


Juha Veijalainen    System analyst, tel. [phone]
  Unisys Finland    Internet: [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Area 215 has been/is being split into
two parts with one part called 610. Carl Moore is around that area and
keeps track of these things extensively; maybe he will fill you in.   PAT]

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 12:23:32 EST
From: Paul R. Coen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Sprint 800 Outage From 201 Area Code?
Organization: Drew University Academic Technology


I had some trouble getting through to one of our software vendors
today.  Whenever I called their 800 number, I got a "all carrier
circuits are busy, please try later. 1C201" intercept.

Anyway, I figured it wasn't AT&T, because we have AT&T long distance
service.  So one of my co-workers tried Sprint's FON card access
number [phone] -- same intercept.  MCI seems to be okay.

Looks like Sprint's 800 service is out from this area.  Anyone know
what is going on?  I don't know if this is true on regular Sprint long
distance, either.  I'll try it later on from a payphone.

I suppose the problem could be Bell Atlantic/NJ Bell, as well, but I
would expect it to be causing other problems.

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 08:29 EST
From: Christopher Zguris <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pager Scam Resurfaces


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'm sure our readers ** in the metro
> New York City area ** appreciate the reminder, but bear in mind that
> ** no one ** outside the NYC area (212/718, maybe 914/516 ?) can reach
> this number even if they were paged. '540' is a very local, restricted
> prefix for the simple reason that the telco in New York has no way to
> collect on calls outside their area. Dialing 212-540-anything from
> Chicago for example on MCI gets an intercept saying 'MCI does not
> complete calls to 976 numbers at this time' ... and via AT&T it just
> goes to a re-order.  I'm not certain, but I think if it is dialed via
> 10xxx or 1+ , it won't even leave the local CO if outside of NYC and
> environs.  So if anyone chooses to copy out your message and post it as
> a warning in a company newsletter, etc, I hope they'll include my note
> as well. Essentially outside of NYC, this is a non-issue, and in my
           ----------- ------- -- ---  ---- -- - --- -----  --- -- --
> opinion, New Yorkers are entitled to whatever they get themselves into!
  -------  --- ------- --- -------- -- -------- ---- --- ---------- ----

Do you write this stuff to intentionally tick people off? Besides
being obnoxious, this info is wrong to some degree. I know for a fact
that the Pennsylvania lottery operates a 976-xxxx or similar number
that is billed at a higher rate than a standard call. If they have
that, than isn't it possible they have other numbers with the same
higher-priced billing? Are you saying NYC is alone on this continent
in its' ability to provide non-900 numbers billed at higher rates?
Residents of _any_ city (or state) that have 976-xxxx or similar
numbers and pagers should be aware of this.

> It is even doubtful if the operator of this scam is breaking the law,
> as sleazy as it may be. Yes, he is requesting that you call a premium-
> priced phone number, but so do countless other advertisers on radio and
                           -- -- --------- ----- ----------- -- ----- ---
> television each day. No one is making you call the number and the
  ---------- ---- ---

The ones I have heard on radio and TV _advertise_ the price for the
call as well as the number, last I heard that was the law.

> presumption is you should know where you are calling before you dial.  PAT]

With continuous area code splits (some for local calls, some for long
distance) that will be a neat trick!


Christopher Zguris    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I said nothing about New York being alone
in its ability to do anything. I did say (and we have discussed here in the
past) that telcos seem to have an understanding with each other not to
allow calls to each other's premium lines *of the 976 type*. '540' is
just a variation on '976' in NYNEX-land. Ditto where 900 service is concerned
to some extent: Long distance carriers will not handle each others calls.
That is you cannot use MCI to call an AT&T 900 number. You cannot use
any LD carrier to call a local telco's 900 number. You *can* use any telco
to call a long distance carrier's 900 number however unless your line is
blocked from same. The Information Provider does not want his lines full
of non-revenue (to him) calls from other areas of the country, and the
phone companies cooperate with that request.

You mention the PA Lottery. Certainly, almost every metro area of the
USA has 976 service (or in NYNEX's case 540 and 976 service). We have
dozens of such 'services' here ... try calling a Chicago area 976 number
in New York ... a few, very benign services, i.e. weather and time of
day *may* be permitted (I do not have a list of who is what) ... but
I'll guarentee you the sex-chat and high-priced telemarketing ones never
arrive here, nor in reverse.

The other thing which makes this 'modem scam resurfaces' thing fishy in
my opinion is that suppose you have a pager and get such a call. Where do
you usually go to return the call? Either a pay phone or you use your
cell phone ... and telcos do not connect to 976 or 900 numbers from pay
phones either. How are they gonna get paid; are you gonna stand there
and deposit fifty dollars in quarters in the box?  And cellphone carriers
also typically disallow 976 and 900 calls. Usually the only place you can
complete these calls is from a private phone within the LATA.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (David Jones)
Subject: Re: Pager Scam Resurfaces
Organization: University of Toronto, Computer Engineering
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 09:51:24 -0500


In article <[e-mail]> Stephen Goodman <0003945654@
mcimail.com> writes:

> Be aware that the pager scam using area code

>                        212/540-XXXX

What happens if this number is called from a payphone in NYC?  This
may be a way to cut your losses to 25 cents.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What happens if it is called from a payhone
is (if NYNEX treats 540 the same way other telcos treat 976/900, and I
cannot see why they would not) is the call goes to intercept with a
message that the call 'cannot be completed from the phone you are using;
and an operator will not be able to complete the call for you ...'. All
payphones have 900/976 blocking on them which I assume includes 540; it
must because when you try 212-540-anything via MCI for example, you are
told MCI won't connect to 976 numbers (their words) if in fact the 540
you dialed exists; otherwise you just get a not in service message.  Local
premium service by whatever name (sometimes local telcos even have their
own 900 service) never can be called from outside the LATA.

Now this was not always true ... until maybe five years ago people in
the San Fransisco area for example who dialed 976-GAYS were told the
call would cost 'just two dollars for up to three minutes of lively
adult conversation ... have fun!' while people in Chicago who dialed
1-415-976-GAYS heard the same message but could safely ignore it knowing
they would only pay toll charges of 12 cents per minute during the night.
It got to the point where no one called their local hot-chat; why pay
two or three dollars when they could call one in another city for only
the cost of the toll charges since telcos had no way to bill those out
of the LATA? The hot-chat lines were packed; the locals could not reach
their own service if they wanted to with all the out of town callers on
board; the information providers were making zero since they relied on
telco commissions (there were none, the calls were all long distance);
and the telcos finally put an end to it at the urging of the IP's. End
result and bottom line today: you can't call 976/540 unless you are
within the reach of the local telco. No payphone connections, no credit
card billings, no collect calls, no third-numbers, etc. That is why the
'pager scam' can cause limited damage if it is still going on.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Garrett Wollman)
Subject: Re: CATV Modems
Date: 24 Mar 1994 19:31:49 GMT
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science


In article <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>
wrote:

> Do you know any equipment (modem, remodulator, ...) that allows data
> communication over the CATV cable. On the user side, the modem should
> feature a well-known interface (RS232C, Ethernet, ...).

When I was at UVM, we used aging Ungermann-Bass equipment which did
this, running at 5Mbit/s per direction per channel.  We used two
channels in each direction (3P forward/Q reverse, 4A forward/R
reverse).

We were contemplating replacing this equipment with 10-Mbit equipment
from Chipcom, but decided instead to decommission the broadband data
network.


Garrett A. Wollman    [e-mail]
formerly known as     [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 09:28 EST
From: George Gilder <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: CATV Modems


Digital Equipment in Littleton, Massachusetts, offers a CATV modem
called Channelworks that offers full duplex 10 megabit per second
Ethernet services of up to 70 miles over two cable channels.

Intel, General Instrument, and Hybrid Technologies have announced
an asymmetrical CATV modem which receives at 10 megabits per second
but sends at 256 kilobits, with plans for upgrades to a megabit.

Cable coax, reaching 63 percent of the nation's homes and passing some
90 percent, is a huge untapped resource for computer communications
and in the future, I predict, will be used more by computers than by
TVs.  Each cable has a two-way potential of one gigahertz.  Because
CATV operates at over 50 decibels of signal to noise, however, it can
accomodate as many as 16 bits per hertz, for a total capacity of some
16 gigabits per second.

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 15:51:05 EST
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: CATV Modems


[e-mail] wrote:

> A CATV cable has a huge bandwidth available. A part of it is usually
> not used for TV channels and could be used (at least from a technical
> standpoint) for data transmission, if a return channel is available.

> Do you know any equipment (modem, remodulator, ...) that allows data
> communication over the CATV cable. On the user side, the modem should
> feature a well-known interface (RS232C, Ethernet, ...).

There is all sorts of gear available to use the CATV plant for data
transmission.  Probably the most prominent vendor is Scientific
Atlanta (you guess where they're based :-) ).  But you must understand
that there is no end-user widget you can just attach to your end of
the cable that will do anything useful along these lines.  The entire
cable plant has to be engineered for data transmission.  SA has a set
of gear that can provide a POTS or ISDN connection as well as the RG59
TV signal via a black box that attaches to the side of your house.
Probably they'd be happy to send you the glossies.


Tony H.   (I have no connection with SA, etc...)

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

From: [e-mail] (Aaron Leonard)
Subject: Re: CATV Modems
Date: 24 Mar 1994 23:37:02 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona Telecommunications
Reply-To: [e-mail]


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

> A CATV cable has a huge bandwidth available. A part of it is usually
> not used for TV channels and could be used (at least from a technical
> standpoint) for data transmission, if a return channel is available.

> Do you know any equipment (modem, remodulator, ...) that allows data
> communication over the CATV cable. On the user side, the modem should
> feature a well-known interface (RS232C, Ethernet, ...).

DEC (excuse me, Digital Equipment Corp.) sells a box called a
ChannelWorks bridge, which bridges Ethernet at full 10Mbps over two
CATV channels.  It's priced in the middle four figures, and is quite
fast (in terms both of latency and bandwidth).  However, it's rather
finicky in terms of how clean the cable signal must be for it to work
well.

I understand that Zenith also has (or is working on) such a device,
although Zenith's is cheaper and only provides .5Mbps.


Aaron Leonard (AL104), <[e-mail]>
University of Arizona Network Operations, Tucson AZ 85721

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

Subject: Internet Address Wanted
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 12:22:19 CET
From: Patrizio Menchetti <[e-mail]>


Can anybody tell me if the Secretary of State of the State of New York
has an Internet address?

Thank you in advance.


Patrizio Menchetti

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #147
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #148

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 25 Mar 94 13:42:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 148

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    1994 Discover Awards *** Last Call *** (Darlene Quinn)
    Re: New LA Area Code (David Esan)
    Re: Area Code 562 (Mark Rudholm)
    Re: New LA Area Code (Drew Dean)
    Re: AT&T Cellular Privacy System (Steven King)
    Need Information on ATM Hookups and Equipment (Timothy C. Wilson)
    Re: Telecom Business Idea (Mike Lanza)
    Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software (Bonnie J. Johnson)
    Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software (Steve Brack)
    Re: Please Explain the Term 'Steaming Terminal' ([e-mail])
    Re: Who Paid For My 550? (Gregory Youngblood)
    Re: Extension Cord For Cell Phone (David Tse)
    Re: Information Wanted on Women and Telecom (Gregory Youngblood)
    Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update (Martin McCormick)
    Re: Hush-a-Phone (Pawel Dobrowolski)
    Humorous Names For The RBOCs (David Aus)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
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of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Media Management Services, Inc.)
Subject: 1994 Discover Awards *** Last Call ***
Date: 25 Mar 1994 18:10:12 GMT
Organization: Net Access - Philadelphia's Internet Connection


      The 1994 DISCOVER Awards for Technological Innovation
    ---------------------------------------------------------
Presented by Epcot '94 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida

   DISCOVER Magazine is pleased to announce that it is now
accepting nominations for the fifth annual DISCOVER Awards
program.  These awards recognize breakthrough technologies in
science and honor the men and women whose creative genius
improves our quality of life.

   Companies, research institutions, and individuals are invited
to nominate innovations in seven categories:
        1.  AUTOMOTIVE & TRANSPORTATION
        2.  AVIATION & AEROSPACE
        3.  COMPUTER HARDWARD & ELECTRONICS
        4.  COMPUTER SOFTWARE
        5.  ENVIRONMENT
        6.  SIGHT
        7.  SOUND

   Winning innovations and their inventors will be featured in
a special October 1994 DISCOVER Awards issue.  Plus, all
finalists and winners will be showcased at "Innoventions," a
new attraction opening at Epcot '94 at the Walt Disney World
Resort in Florida.

   If you would like to receive a nomination package, please
contact Darlene Quinn via the internet at: [e-mail]

   1994 DISCOVER AWARDS                            Phone #: [phone]
   c/o Media Management Services, Inc.               Fax #: [phone]
   105 Terry Drive Suite 120                   E-Mail: [e-mail]
   Newtown, PA  18940

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

From: [e-mail] (David Esan)
Subject: Re: New LA Area Code
Date: 24 Mar 94 20:04:02 GMT
Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY


In article <[e-mail]> the MODERATOR wrote:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
> a few now: 212/718/914/917, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT]

Now I know that people in the Second City (now the third city, and sliding)
have complete disdain for New York City.  We certainly do in Western New
York.

However, New York City proper contains 212, 718 and 917.  The Long Island
suburbs are in 516.  The northern suburbs (Westchester and part of Rockland
counties) are in 914.  LATA 132 encompasses all of 212, 718, 917, all of 516
except Fisher's Island, and the southern portion of 914.  All calls in the
LATA are local, meaning that the local calling area has FIVE area codes.

Also note that 212 is high on the list of unsplit area codes, and the city
will soon have six area codes.


David Esan      [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 10:40:48 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Mark Rudholm)
Subject: Re: Area Code 562


Dave Niebuhr writes:

>> Four area codes in one metro area.  Can anybody beat that?

> and thus did the Editor write:

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
>> a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else?  Are we counting New Jersey?  PAT]

> 907 is Alaska; it is 917
> 914 is metro NYC covering Rockland, Westchester, part of Orange and
> possibly Dutchess and Putnam counties.

> Add AC 516 (Long Island) and parts of ACs 201/708 (NJ) and part of
> AC 203 (Ct.)

> With the exception of NJ, all of the ACs listed are part of the NYC
> LATA.

Yes, but 213, 310, 818, and 562 will all fall within the corporate
limits of the _city_ of Los Angeles, not just the metro area.  With
the addition of 310, LA City was, according to Pacific Bell, the first
single city in the US to have three area codes.  Unless NYC gets
another area code before 562 goes on-line, we will also be the first
with four.

The following area codes fall entirely or partially within the metro
area but outside the city of LA; 714, 805, 909, and 619.

All of those area codes are entirely within the LA LATA except 805 and
619, which are only partially within the LATA.


Mark D. Rudholm       Philips Interactive Media
[e-mail]     11050 Santa Monica Boulevard
[phone]       Los Angeles, CA  90025-7511

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

From: [e-mail] (Drew Dean)
Subject: Re: New LA Area Code
Date: 24 Mar 1994 18:47:11 -0800
Organization: ROLM - A Siemens Company


In article <[e-mail]>, Rich Greenberg <richgr@netcom.
com> wrote:

> Well Pat, if you are going to count Nuuuu Joooooisy as part of Metro
> New York, then I can throw in 714,909, 805, and mabe a slice of 619.

Uh, 619 is San Diego and other parts of California (having grown up
there, I remember the split from 714).  Did you perhaps mean 609,
which I believe is in New Jersey?


Drew Dean               [phone]
[e-mail]      ROLM, a Siemens company


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh dear, another one. Sigh ...  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven King)
Subject: Re: AT&T Cellular Privacy System
Date: 24 Mar 1994 17:16:12 GMT
Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group
Reply-To: [e-mail]


[e-mail] (David R Arneke) publicly declared:

> AT&T SECURE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS NEWS RELEASE

I have a few questions about this system.  (This is genuine curiosity,
not veiled criticism of what sounds like a very beneficial feature.)

  1) What scrambling technology is used?  Is it a simple inversion such
     as used in the Motorola Secure-Clear cordless phones?

  2) Is the signalling channel also scrambled?  How about the
     blank-and-burst signal sent on the voice channel to change power
     level or to do a handoff?

  3) Is the SAT tone affected?  If so, what does this do to system
     planning?

  4) How does the mobile recognize that it's in a scrambler-capable
     system?  How does the base site recognize that a mobile has a
     scrambler attached?  Does the mobile scrambling unit recognize when
     the mobile is roaming into an incompatible system and turn itself
     off?

  5) Is the MTSO scrambler unit part of the base site or part of the
     switch?  If it's part of the base site, can a scrambled call be
     handed off into a cell with no scrambler unit attached?

  6) If there are no MTSO scrambler units available when a call is
     placed (or handed off), does the subscriber get any indication that
     the call is being sent in the clear rather than scrambled?

  7) Bottom line -- What is Ameritech charging for the feature?

I've sent this note to the TELECOM Digest and to David Arneke directly.
Hopefully Mr. Arneke will respond to the Digest, or give me permission
to post his answers if he responds directly to me.


Steven King <[e-mail]> -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 12:17:10 EDT
From: Timothy C. Wilson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Need Information on ATM Hookups and Equipment


Greetings from the snow belt,

I am preparing a presentation for a Switching Technology class on
connecting various inputs (video, voice and data) from an in-house LAN
to a remote site via ATM transmission.

I would appreciate any information on equipment, cards, or other
information suitable for this application.  I am planning this project
using GTE SPANet, but am open to other suggestions.  Any vendor reps
out there that would like to send me some propaganda, that is most
welcome.

Thank you in advance,


Timothy C. Wilson                   [e-mail]
Rochester Institute of Technology   716-475-7226
Rochester, NY

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 10:20:17 GMT
From: Mike Lanza <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Telecom Business Idea


> Since many people are buying computers with modems and software (and often
> trial Compuserve memberships), I feel there may be a market for providing a
> local access number that would give them a dial-tone in a neighboring city,
> thus allowing them to dial the service of their choice.

If the economics were there to do this, I don't see why the packet
networks wouldn't have already done it.  Besides, it seems to me that
the most cost-effective way to get this done is either through 800
access or 950 access for those who do not have a local access number.

At low volume, 800 service (w/ T1 at the receiving end) goes for about
14 cents a minute, while 950 access goes for around 18 cents a minute,
but the latter should definitely come down as its traffic increases.
This compares to about eight or nine cents a minute for packet access.
(Of course, keep in mind that the quantity discount for packet access
is greater since there is no fixed cost of local access -- four cents
a minute -- to account for.)

Another issue with this idea -- many RBOCs (e.g. PacBell) have applied
for, and will soon receive, authorization to dramatically decrease
their charges on inter-LATA calls.  As I recall, PacBell's proposal
would decrease these rates about 40% or so.

Sorry for being a naysayer on this one, but telecom costs for online
services is an issue that I've thought a lot about.


Mike Lanza

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

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 13:15:16 EST
From: Bonnie J Johnson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software


      I use Notify. Reasonably priced at about $90 and there is a Mac
and Windows version.  They are working on a network version now.  I
have been happy with it.

Contact Scott at 800-238-4738.


bj

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Brack)
Subject: Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software
Organization: University of Toledo
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 01:09:11 GMT


Kenn Krasner ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Kenn Krasner, Sr. Consultant   One Equals On   [e-mail]
>[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yep, 'one equals on' is the way he
> wrote it. Its not my typo! Maybe Kenn will explain it.   PAT]

Doing consulting on IBM's I always have to tell people that 1 is "on"
and 0 is "off."  Lots of power switches are marked that way.


Steven S. Brack           [e-mail]
Toledo, OH  43613-1605    [e-mail]
MY OWN OPINIONS           [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is what I was told earlier by a
couple other people. It is a sensible answer.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Please Explain the Term 'Steaming Terminal'
Date: 23 Mar 94 16:44:27 GMT
Organization: Pacific * Bell


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

> Could someone explain what this term means. Please email.

I offer two examples of "streaming terminals":

1.  In a WAN:

A device attached to a multi-point circuit can fail in a way that
makes it transmit garbage data.  Multi-point circuits are like giant
antennas: the device would broadcast its garbage onto the circit,
effectively killing any useful communication between the "master"
[FEP, in IBM jargon], and the "slaves" [Cluster controllers, in IBM
jargon].

2.  In a LAN:

Say your ethernet machine has a problem -- maybe it continually
transmits ICMP packets because its PING code is buggy -- so it just
"babbles databits" onto the LAN.  How does Ethernet deal with this by
itself?  Ultimately somebody has to figure out which machine is
causing the problem and turn the machine off.

Hope this helps.

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

Subject: Re: Who Paid For My 550?
From: [e-mail] (Gregory Youngblood)
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 09:32:38 PST
Organization: TCS Computer Systems


> So, anyhow, wholesale, a phone costs, let's say, $300.  Average BASE
> phone bill under a qualifying plan is $40/month.  10% of (40 x 12=$480/yr)
> = $48. PER phone activated, the carrier gives the agent a fixed fee --
> typically, $250.  So, the $300 phone is paid for. The agent is
> gambling several things:

>         1. You'll stay on longer than one year;
>         2. You'll use more than $40/month in services.

> Newer agents get less than $48, but still get the $250 acttivation.

This varies with carrier to carrier.  Some carriers offer the
residuals (the percentage of the bill) others have straight
commissions.  For example, if an agent activates x number of phones in
a month, he qualifies for commission plan a, which might be $200 or
250 for the activation, but if he can sell y number of phones in one
month, he'll get bumped up to the next commission plan.  It's
difficult to know how things are actually, done, but you get a pretty
good idea if you look at the fine print, "Activation required, Add
$300 without activation."  Which of course maintains their profit
margin. :) CA on the other hand has a law that service and equipment
can not be bundled, so your free phone elsewhere might cost you $150
or so in CA.  But, that's also $150 with or without service.  :)

> Of course, the cellular carrier doesn't do too badly either; they
> don't have to deal that much with the public, the agent being their
> buffer

One thing to remember too, is that since the beginning of cellular, it
has been marketing and sales driven.  With the penetration that
cellular has achieved, look to see cellular operations change gears
and move to become operations and customer service driven.  With the
fill dates coming up for a lot of the RSAs the engineering and
operations people have to build the network to save the territory.
Once the network is built then actual construction will decrease
substantially and it will be a maintenance job.  Around the same time
this happens, look to see carriers become customer service oriented,
since it is cheaper to maintain a happy customer base than to dump
money into marketing for new activations and the new activations would
probably be your low use, emergency plan people which don't generate a
lot of revenue.

To think about how much revenue these carriers are making, look at
companies like McCaw which has got to have hundreds of thousands, if
not millions of subscribers.  For example, say 500,000.  If they
collect an average of $25/month from all subscribers JUST for monthly
service charges, NOT airtime, etc, that's 12,500,000 *each month*
right off the top.


Greg
The Complete Solution BBS     Allfiles List:    Anonymous UUCP Calls Accepted
707-459-4547 (24hrs, v.32)    ~/tcsbbs.lst      Login: nuucp  Password: nuucp
Telemate Distribution Site  [e-mail]      Cellular Telephony Groups

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

From: [e-mail] (David Tse)
Subject: Re: Extension Cord For Cell Phone
Date: 25 Mar 94 09:38:36 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! Communications Corp.


[e-mail] writes:

> Can anybody tell me where I can purchase an extension cord for my
> cellular phone?  I tried my local Radio Shack but they don't carry
> this.  It appears to be an 8 wire connection.

I happened to pick up an extension handset with a rather long
extension cord (about 15 feet?) to be used for some older Radio Shack
mobile cellular phones at our local (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) Radio
Shack clearance centre where this (last one) thing has been sitting on
the shelf for more than a year I have seen it. I modified the handset
inside to make it to work as a handset for my amateur radio equipment
in my car, particularly useful doing full duplex phone patch on an
autopatch repeater.

Or, the short answer is: it is somewhat available, but because it's
hard to find, you might have to do some homework.  However, the
extension cord should be much easier to get than the extension handset
I have.  Most brands share similar design jacks for the cord. (Flat
eight wires phone jack type.)

> In case you are wondering, I'm not crazy :).  My boyfriend lives in a
> city thats a local call on cellular, but LD from my home.  And, of
> course, my cell phone is mounted in the car.  I'm looking for a way to
> stretch it into the house.

Many cellular systems have wider local areas than the landline does.
(But call forwarding on the cellular I think could be caught and they'd
charge the toll on the landline bill, as I experimented some years ago
while living in San Diego, served by PacBell and PacTel Cellular (same
parent).


Good luck,

David Tse, VE7MDT   Internet: [e-mail]
Do not use: [e-mail]  or  [e-mail]
Note: for large e-mail please send to [e-mail]
  Snail-Mail: P.O. Box 26052, Richmond, B.C., V6Y 2B0, Canada.

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

Subject: Re: Information Wanted on Women and Telecom
From: [e-mail] (Gregory Youngblood)
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 07:39:19 PST
Organization: TCS Computer Systems


Melanie Spencer <[e-mail]> writes:

> I'm looking for information on women in telecommunications -- particu-
> larily statistics on participation and any cases of discrimination.

I personally know of two women that are out in the field working on
cellular cell sites and switches.  One has been doing it for about three
to five years I guess, and is now due to have a baby any week, and the
other has been working on Ericson for about nine years.

Both of these ladies are very sharp at what they do, and I've seen
some try to give them a hassle, but, they know how to take care of
those people.

Also, a project manager of ours is also female, and she has got to be
one of the better project managers I've ever worked around.

Until I had seen these ladies, I had never seen a female out in the
field with their kind of responsibilities ... glad they are out here in
my region. :)


Greg
The Complete Solution BBS     Allfiles List:    Anonymous UUCP Calls Accepted
707-459-4547 (24hrs, v.32)    ~/tcsbbs.lst      Login: nuucp  Password: nuucp
Telemate Distribution Site  [e-mail]      Cellular Telephony Groups

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 11:23:41 CST
From: [e-mail] (Martin McCormick)
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire Update
Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 17:23:39 GMT


    One factor which wasn't mentioned in all these discussions of
the Chicago telephone fire in 1988 was whether or not any of the
alarms being received in Springfield were specifically fire alarms or
just alarms caused by damage from the fire.  The few remote fire alarm
circuits that I have ever heard any technical information about signal
both a fire alarm condition and a trouble condition if the telephone
line is disrupted.  One would think that if there was a dedicated fire
alarm system and it showed a possible fire, then it's time to call the
fire department and check things out.


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ   Stillwater, OK
O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group

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

From: [e-mail] (Pawel Dobrowolski)
Subject: Re: Hush-a-Phone
Date: 25 Mar 1994 17:39:25 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Science Center


> They realized that if there was one phone company, that company
> would be able to build a high quality nationwide phone system instead
> of the numerous mom and pop systems that were scattered all over the
> country.

    You're confusing a technological truth (one country needs one
telephone network) with a supposed economic truth (one telephone company
for one country).

    I don't have the data with me right now (I just suffered a
huge HD crash) but if you look at the number of telephones connected
after the Bell patents lapsed c.a. 1894 you will notice that competition
brought more phones faster while at the same time rates
kept falling.

    Non-Bell companies started serving poor urban neighborhoods
and rural areas Bell wasn't interested in serving while it still had
the original phone patent monopoly (1877-1893).


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way AT&T handled things right after the
patent ran out and everyone started making phones was to first go into a
town where non-Bell stuff was being used and politely try to buy them out.
If that failed -- and it frequently did because even back then the local
leaders in many small towns had genuine feelings of dislike for the AT&T
monopoly -- then AT&T's response was to refuse interconnection. They'd
say well if you think your phones are so good, see how good they are when
you cannot make any calls outside your local exchange because we are not
going to carry your traffic. Then they'd go into the same town, set up an
exchange and give the service away for free if necessary, including long
distance service until sufficient numbers of the citizens had signed up
for Bell service instead of the competitor's. Once the competitor was almost
out of business, AT&T would go back and offer him maybe ten percent of
what they had originally offered a year earlier and of course he was a
fool if he did not take it.  GTE was originally a lot of small independent
telcos which had banded together for protection and mutual assistance when
AT&T started hasseling them.

Regards rural telephony, AT&T refused to touch it claiming the costs were
too high. They scream in recent years about MCI 'skimming the cream' where
the high-volume, very profitable east coast corridor traffic is concerned,
but you should have seen *them* back in the 1930's ... President Franklin
Roosevelt established the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) to
bring electricity and telephones to the farmers. He also hated AT&T, you
know ... AT&T had nothing to do with the hundreds of Telephone Cooperative
Societies all over the USA in those years; they struggled along the best
they could with the mortgage money they got from the REA, and somehow
survived during the great depression and the years which followed. Then
comes the 1950's; their mortgages are paid off and they are starting to
make a bit of money for their farmer-owners. All of a sudden AT&T is in
the picture again, buying them up left and right, 'for the good of the
public telephone network' you know ... A lot of them still refused to
deal with AT&T and went into other telephone consortiums instead.  PAT]

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

Date: 24 Mar 94 14:55:22 EST
From: DAVID AUS <[e-mail]>
Subject: Humorous Names For the RBOCs


When the Bell System was broken up, some wags came up with a cute name for
each of the then new RBOCs.  I think I remember some of them:

     Ameritech          ?
     Bell Atlantic      Liberty Bell
     Bell South         Southern Belle
     Nynex              ?
     PacTel             Tinker Bell
     Southwestern Bell  Mission Bell
     US West            Taco Bell

Does anyone remember all the names?


David A. Aus
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Such a 'LATA map' appeared a few years
ago in Harry Newton's {Teleconnect Magazine}, but he had it broken down
by geographic areas of the USA rather than BOCs. For example, his map
had Texas shown as 'Taco Bell'.  PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #148
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #149

TELECOM Digest     Sun, 27 Mar 94 10:55:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 149

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    The Day 905 Went Solo (David Leibold)
    FAX Questions From a New User (Jeff Shore)
    Sprint Response to Edison, NJ Gas Pipeline Disaster (Bill Garfield)
    Ethernet Voice - Bandwidth Control (Matt Young)
    Direct Modem / Cellular Links ([e-mail])
    Information Wanted on ERMES Project (Lars Kalsen)
    New BT Advertising is No Yolk (Dave Leibold)
    Stentor Joins Consortium (Dave Leibold)
    ATM on FDDI, DQDB, SDH (Carlos Carvalhal)
    Drivers Using NDIS (Carlos Carvalhal)
    Urgent Need For British Telecom Technology Journal (Ken K.P. Lo)
    Voice and Data Through PBX (Thomas Humphreys)
    Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? (James, Slupsky)
    Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? (Peter M. Weiss)
    Re: Pacific Bell Voice Mail Types ([e-mail])
    Re: Seeking CATV List (Nick Sayer)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of
Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and
long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers.
To reach us:  Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone
at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: [e-mail].

    ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 00:16:57 -0500
Subject: The Day 905 Went Solo


Friday (25 Mar) was the last official day of Bell Canada's permissive
dialing period for the 416/905 area code split in the Toronto region.
This means that calls to 905 points will no longer be processed using
the 416 area code. 416 is only valid for Metro Toronto now. Bell
Canada literature did acknowledge that a few areas might still enjoy
permissive dialing for a short time, though. This switchover includes
the new ten digit local calling scheme across the 416/905 boundary
(similar to what Washington DC had to implement a few years ago).

For the past month or so, Bell Canada had a recording that would
randomly happen when a cross-border local call was dialed. It would
start "This is Bell Canada. Do not hang up. Your call will be
completed as dialed. In the future, please dial <416 or 905 as
appropriate> before the seven digit local number you are calling.
Thank you." A few folks wanted to go after the guy who did the
recording, deeming him to be a bit of a nuisance :-|

I just tried the [phone] for Environment Canada's weather office
 ... as of 00h18 local time, the call still completed as seven digits
(without Bell's intervening recording), but no doubt this will change.

Interestingly enough, Bell Canada has already set up 416-210 and
905-210 as separately functioning NXXes. The 210 is primarily used for
Bell's voice messaging service. Someone had determined that dialing
210 had different results depending on whether the call was placed as
416 or 905.

Ten digit local calling can be used within an area code (optionally).
That is, someone in 416 can dial elsewhere in 416 (Toronto) as 416 +
seven digits, as well as just the seven digits.


David Leibold

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeff Shore)
Subject: FAX Questions From a New User
Organization: AT&T
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 11:13:34 GMT


I am a new owner of a PC that has fax capability. As a "newbie" with
fax, I have not looked for any previous fax discussions, so please
bear with me if someone has previously posted answers to my questions
(I have read the posts current as of 3/25/94, but did not see anything
current that addressed my problem).  If that is the case, please
e-mail responses to spare other folks, or you can post your replies if
you prefer.

On to the basic situation and questions:

I recently bought a 486 (Gateway 2000 4DX2-66P aka P4D) equipped with
an internal 14.4 Kbps data/fax modem (Telepath II) DOS 6.21, Windows
3.11, MS-WORKS and the "Entrepnneur" suite (which the MS Works may be
in). I think I can receive and send any faxes created on the system
with the config and SW apps I now have without further upgrades (I
just fired the system up so I have a lot of "playing" to do to get
familiar with everything). So, all things being equal, that still
leaves one major outage as I see it:

    How can I send a fax of a hard-copy document
    (i.e., something not already on-line)?

While I could type in text (and graphics, too, I suppose?), that gets
real tedious real fast beyond one page, and defeats the efficiency of
the whole setup anyway. Since I don't really want to have to buy a fax
machine now (read: no $$$ for now) just for sending hard-copy, would
getting a scanner be a good option?

[BTW: Any cautions or suggestions about sending graphics (whether in
the hard-copy or that I create) in a fax, especially PC-fax?]

I don't recall any specifics, but I seem to remember seeing some full
page B/W scanners for very reasonable prices. Would getting a visual
scanner be a practical and cost-effective alternative to buying a real
fax machine just for transmission purposes? Are there any potential
problems with getting hard-copy into the system in a compatible way so
I can then fax that material?

Are there any good options I might be overlooking? Are there any
severe limitations or drawbacks to using a scanner? What sorts of
additional hardware (interfaces, ports, etc.) and software are
required to support a scanner? And in the end, might I still be better
off (for fax applications) to just go ahead and pick one up? Yes, it
*is* true that if I gat a scanner, I would be able to enter lots of
other stuff from different media, too, I suppose, but for now, I am
more concerned with immediate fax use and cost effectiveness

Thanx for any suggestions or ideas anyone can provide on this.


Jeff Shore     [e-mail]
[phone]/[phone].

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

Subject: Sprint Response to Edison, NJ Gas Pipeline Disaster
From: [e-mail] (Bill Garfield)
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 94 23:05:00 -0600
Organization: Ye Olde Bailey BBS - Houston, TX - 713-520-1569
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Bill Garfield)


As there have been occasional brickbats tossed at the various IXCs, I
thought I'd share a positive experience I recently had with US Sprint.

At approximately 12:05 AM (EST) Thursday 3/24/94, a 36" diameter high
pressure underground natural gas pipeline ruptured and burst into
flames in Edison, NJ.

That pipeline is owned and operated by Texas Eastern Corporation, a
wholly owned subsidiary of my employer, Panhandle Eastern Corporation.

I did not learn of the disaster until arriving for work at 07:00 (CST)
that day. I had no sooner slid my badge through the cardreader lock to
enter the communications room when one of my executive vice presidents
called for me to attend an emergency meeting in our Gas Control room.
The v.p. needed an 800 number -ASAP- into our South Plainfield, NJ
area office, which was nearest the disaster site and had been designated
to become the disaster coordination center.

Referring to our emergency callout list, I paged my US Sprint account
representative at 07:30.  At 07:34 he returned my page -- from his
home!  I quickly summarized the situation.  By 07:45 we had a conference
call up between my Sprint rep's home, myself, and a Sprint programmer
in Dallas. At 08:07 we had a brand spanking new 800 number up and
working, just 37 minutes from the time I first paged my Sprint
representative.

Thank you -US SPRINT-, and all your employees behind the scenes on
this one, for a job very well done!


Bill Garfield - the pbx guy - Panhandle Eastern Corp - Houston, TX
Ye Olde Bailey BBS Zyxel 713-520-1569(V.32bis) Hayes 713-520-9566 (V.FC)
   Houston,Texas             yob.com           Home of alt.cosuard


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What a great report! Isn't it always true
that the strongest link in any large corporation are its best employees
and its weakest link are the worst ones. For every horror story we hear
about a long distance carrier, one good report like yours makes up for
a few of the bad ones. Your Sprint rep is to be commended.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Matt Young)
Subject: Ethernet Voice - Bandwidth Control
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 18:38:43 GMT


Netters:

I originally put out a post regarding ethernet bandwidth control
which allows existing ethernet users to make normal telephone calls
throught ethernet.  My error was posting the wrong message, which
appeared out of context.  Hence I am re-posting a summary of the
project.  The bandwidth control protocol over ethernet is under study
by several major ethernet providers.  Below is a quick summary:

The intent of applying bandwidth control to ethernet is to allow
ethernet connected desktops to make voice calls through ethernet using
their desktop sound systems.  The project is being pushed by me, who
works for a consulting company called KYMA, and is being pitched to
ethernet adapter card vendors.

The bandwidth control protocol does not require any change to the
ethernet repeater hub, and still uses collisions as the access
method for gaining access to the ethernet media.  The protocl does
however, require a change in the adapter card set.

The principle behind ethernet bandwidth control is to apply an
SNMP based protocol for assigning reserved bandwidth to applications
making voice calls.  The protocol informs each desktop about the
amount of reserved bandwidth, and each desktop ethernet driver
will be programmed to make sure that reserved bandwidth demands
are met before using the ethernet for normal usage.

An outline of the protocol is available from me at:  [e-mail].

However, the implementation details are being worked on by the
ethernet adapter vendors, and I expect them to form some industry
group to standardize the procedure.

For the end users, they will be able to support full voice/data
conferencing within an ethernet segment, and will have this capability
extended throughout the interprise as new bandwidth controlled routers
and switches are implemented.  Normal data traffic will not be
effected except that as bandwidth is reserved ethernet voice, less
will be available for normal data.

Additionally, public networks can be accessed for normal voice traffic
via call set up capability available from Novell, IBM, and Microsoft.
However, all voice on the ethernet is naturally packet voice, and
conversion to a switched telephone line must be an add-on product to
existing hubs.

The original schedule for introduction is within six months, however,
as a consultant I have little power to enforce the schedule and you
must contact your ethernet adapter individually for pricing and
availability.


Thank you,

Matt Young KYMA  [e-mail]   408 741 1944

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

From: [e-mail] (BobFromTN)
Subject: Direct Modem / Cellular Links
Date: 27 Mar 1994 00:51:03 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)


Earlier I posted a question about this; I've continued to research.
Here's what I've learned.  Most phone manufacturers, if they support a
data link, insist you buy a usually expensive car kit.  Personally, I
plan to use data link with my home desktop computer on my unlimited
weekend time.

Here's what I've found with third party solutions:

ORA Electronics makes a "Cellular/Data Link" Chatsworth CA 818
772-2700 which is sold mail order by Cellular World 800-825-5669 for
$240.  My dealer's distributor carries the product and is selling it
to me for $185.  It works with:

NEC:  P200,201, 300, 400,401,301, 600,601
OKI 900, 910, 1150, 1145
ATT 3710, 3730, 3760
Diamontel 20X, 22X
Kenwood KMP-H700
Mitsubishi 3500, 4000
Motorola 8000, 4000, MicroTAC (All)
Pioneer PCH PCC700,900

A competitor's product is made by AXCELL, but I have no other information
about this product.

These products are for direct links between RJ11 jack and the cellular
phone.  Perhaps other/better products are available?

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Kalsen)
Subject: Information Wanted on ERMES Project
Date: 27 Mar 94 09:29:25 GMT
Organization: DKnet


Hi,

I would like to recieve any information about the ERMES project:

     - ongoing projects on implemenation.
     - equipment
     - services
     - broad concepts
     - anything else related to the prtoject.


Greetings from Denmark!

Lars Kalsen   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 27 Mar 94 00:59:44 -0500
Subject: New BT Advertising is No Yolk
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


{Reuter} reports that British Telecommunications PLC will advertise on
eggs.  The idea of "eggvertising" is that non-toxic ink is applied to
the egg shells.  In this case, BT wants to plug reduced daytime call
charges. The report didn't state how much BT will shell out for this
campaign. One has to wait to see if this marketing is what it's
cracked up to be, being in a scramble to poach on its competition.

(ref: {The Toronto Star} 25 March 1994)

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 27 Mar 94 11:40:20 -0500
Subject: Stentor Joins Consortium
Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


[from Infocom, Bell Canada, February 1994, Current Issues part]

Stentor Joins TINA-C Consortium to Help Develop a World-Wide
Information Marketplace

Canadian telecommunications customers are one step closer to an open,
international public network that provides access to information
anywhere, anytime, in any form. This advance was made on January 24,
1994, when the Stentor alliance joined the Telecommunications
Information Networking Architecture Consortium (TINA-C), a group
formed to define a consistent approach to telecommunications software
architecture that will advance the evolution of an international
information marketplace.

Normally, for different systems and computer applications to work
together (known as interoperability) a single technical standard must
be agreed upon.  TINA-C plans to overcome this requirement by defining
a set of rules which will facilitate interoperability among
applications using different standards. To define these rules, TINA-C
is combining the research efforts of several international
telecommunications and computing companies into the development of the
TINA architecture.

The TINA architecture is a set of specifications that will merge
modern network and computer standards with technology. This will allow
for consistent open telecommunications, eliminating a user's choice of
technology as an impediment to getting the information they need.

The Stentor alliance as a member of the TINA Consortium is playing a
major role by lending its expertise to a team dedicated to defining
the benefits of adopting the new architecture in public networks and
in practical business applications.

Stentor is committed to this research. Open telecommunications systems
promote competition, innovation and international sharing. These are
concepts which benefit our customers and ultimately strengthen the
industry as a whole.

The group plans to create the first set of architecture specifications
before the end of 1994 and complete its work by 1997. All
specifications will be placed in the public domain for use by vendors
and suppliers who will develop their own products and services to meet
their marketing strategies and customer needs.

Other prospective members of the TINA Consortium are Bellcore, AT&T,
Northern Telecom, Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett Packard,
British Telecom, NYY and other major computer and telecommunications
companies around the world.

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

From: [e-mail] (C.CARVALHAL)
Subject: ATM on FDDI, DQDB, SDH
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 21:30:20 GMT
Organization: Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal


Could someone tell me how can I transmit ATM cells on FDDI, DQDB and SDH?

It would be of great help some information about articles and books
related with it.

My E-MAIL address is:  [e-mail]


Thank you in advance for all the information you can send to me.


Carlos Carvalhal

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

From: [e-mail] (C.CARVALHAL)
Subject: Drivers Using NDIS
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 21:50:50 GMT
Organization: Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal


I need some examples about drivers (for any board) develloped with
Network Device Interface Specification (NDIS).  Could someone tell me
where can I find information about it?

Thanks in advance for all the hints you can give me.

Please, send it to: [e-mail]


Carlos Carvalhal

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

From: [e-mail] (Ken K P Lo)
Subject: Urgent Need for British Telecom Technology Journal
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 22:59:49 GMT


Hi everyone,

I am in URGENT need for an issue of the BT (British Telecom)
Technology Journal for my school project.  The issue is 1992, vol. 10,
Issue 1.  It is a special issue on Digital Signal Processing in
Telecommunications.

If anyone has a copy, I am wondering if you would be kind enough to
send me a copy by either fax or express mail.  I will be willing to
pay for the phone/mail charges plus a small for your service.

Please reply ASAP!


Thanks in advance!

Ken K P Lo   S3 Rm 105 Box 460  A Student of University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario  (519) 725 - 6332  [e-mail]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 06:39:17 EST
From: Thomas Humphreys <[e-mail]>
Subject: Voice and Data Through PBX


I have asked the question "Would you recommend running both voice and
data (LAN) traffic through a PBX?" of 11 individuals. 4 said yes, 7
said no.

I am interested in what the readers of this newsgroup think about this
issue.

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

From: [e-mail]@math.fu-berlin.de(James, Slupsky)
Subject: Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime?
Organization: Government of Alberta - Telecom
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 23:58:32 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Howard
Gayle) writes:

> A friend suggested to me that, sometime in the future, almost everyone
> will carry around a cellular phone almost all the time.  She thinks
> this will significantly reduce the amount of crime, because it will be
> very easy to report a crime or other suspicious behavior that one
> observes.  I'm skeptical, but it seems like an interesting topic for
> discussion.

I seriously doubt that crime will be reduced.  A lot of people in society
today avoid "getting involved".  Why would the sudden availability of
communications change them?


[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here in the USA, you have to be very careful
about getting involved. It is best not to, since if you do, you are often
treated like a criminal and the (true) criminal like the victim. It goes
against my grain to say it, but you are better off not getting involved
unless the crime is against you personally.  PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 10:36:02 EST
From: Peter M. Weiss <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime?
Organization: Penn State University


This pre-supposes that the crimes reported are the ones in which an
active police response will be generated.

I wonder if a parallel answer can be extrapolated based upon CB radio
and/or cell phones on the highways?


[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Voice Mail Types
Date: 27 Mar 94 09:20:02 GMT
Organization: Pacific * Bell


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

> Don't you just love it when you can't access the information you want
> because the information hotline number you have is a Toll-Free number
> in another country?

> I see that Pacific Bell's Voice Mail for Business comes in two flavours:

> a) Standard ($19.95)
> b) Deluxe ($29.95)

> Can anybody tell me how these two mailbox types differ? Do they also provide
> a residential Voice Mail/Call Answer service?

Residential VM is available under a different name "Message Center" for about
$5.00/month.

I think the difference between the Standard and Deluxe versions have
to do with the maximum number of messages the box can store.

> Also, do Telco's provide voicemail to customers with their own PABX?

Possible but unwieldy.  The PABX would have to have additional trunks
back to the CO where the Telco's VM box is.

> If so, how are the calls routed to the Voicemail equipment? I take it
> the Telco will have a centralized VoiceMail node, and will route (divert)
> calls from the business to such equipment.

Companies wanting VM usually want a personalized greeting for each
employee.  To do this there has to be a way to pass the digits of the
employee's phone to the VM machine on a per-call basis.

A more simple solution is to associate additional trunks with the
PBX's main number, but terminate them onto the VM machine.  In this
case personalized greetings are not possible.

> Is Voice Mail a regulated service? If so, what are these regulations?

Voice Mail is a "quasi-regulated" service.  The organization that
created it originally thought the service would be non-regulated;
things have changed and now they are pursuing the regular "tariff"
approach.  But this could change too, as there is much talk about
completely de-regulating ALL telecommunications companies in CA by
1997.

A discussion of "Regulations" would take too long to conduct over the
internet.

Are we a model you are entertaining for your own VM service?

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

From: [e-mail] (Nick Sayer)
Subject: Re: Seeking CATV List
Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: [phone], log in as 'guest'.
Date: 27 Mar 1994 04:24:31 UTC


John Conwell <magnus1![e-mail]> writes:

> I am interested in following the discussions on this List, but am also
> curious about a possible List specifically for Cable TV, or land-line
> video transmissions.  If anyone knows of such a list, I would
> appreciate the information.  Thanks :}

I used to run the catv mailing list. It has been dead for nearly two
years now. I am constantly astounded by the number of folks who still
send mail to me commenting that there must be something wrong with my
mailer because their mail to catv-request is being bounced. *sigh*

If anyone sees catv on any list of mailing lists, please educate the
keeper of the list that they really ought to try and keep it up to
date. Such education preferably should be administered with a
two-by-four. :-(

Maybe I should start telling folks that the catv list is run by Craig
Shergold.


Nick Sayer <[e-mail]>   N6QQQ @ N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NOAM
[phone], log in as 'guest'  PGP 2.2 key and geek code via finger


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, Craig! You mean that poor little
fellow in the UK (or was it in Missouri, I forget where he is) we are
all supposed to send 'get well' cards to. :) ... Have a nice weekend,
all, and a joyous Passover.    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #149
******************************


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From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #150

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 28 Mar 94 07:23:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 150

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Bellcore Goes Crypto (Van Hefner)
    Switch-O-Mania (Van Hefner)
    Re: Urgent Need For British Telecom Technology Journal (Richard Cox)
    Telco Overcharges (Richard Cox)
    Telco List in Canada Wanted (Dave Carpentier)
    Caller ID Flaw? (John Conwell)
    Leased Line Connectivity Question (Christopher Kostick)
    AT&T Will Close Center in Naperville, Illinois (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Digital Cordless Phones -- How Private? (Michael J. Kobb)
    Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software (Nick Sayer)
    Re: Specs For CDPD, Embarc, RAM, Ardis Wanted (Tom Kee)
    Re: Cellular Roaming Charges (Nick Sayer)
    Re: Cell One Switches To11-Digit Dialing (Carl Moore)

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 94 12:32:44 EST
Subject: Bellcore Goes Crypto


Bellcore spins off new company to offer service.

LIVINGSTON, N.J. (MARCH 22) BUSINESS WIRE - March 22, 1994 -- A new
company which is employing Bellcore-developed technology is expected
to have a far-reaching impact on electronic record keeping and on
controversies ranging from authenticity of business records to false
retouching of digital photographs.

The new company, Surety Technologies, Inc., will offer its Digital
Notary service that can affix a tamper-proof time-stamp seal to any
electronic document.  The new time-stamping service could also make it
possible to quickly settle "who invented it first" patent disputes.

Former Bellcore researchers Stuart Haber and Scott Stornetta,
inventors of the technology while at Bellcore, will head the new
company under an exclusive licensing agreement from Bellcore, owner of
the patents on the technology. Under the terms of the agreement,
Bellcore received a small equity position in the company, and will
collect royalties on the use of its patents.

According to Bob Lucky, Vice President of Applied Research at Bellcore,
"The launch of Surety Technologies marks an important step in Bellcore's
efforts to commercialize and market its research products."

The new company was announced recently at the computer security
industry's annual RSA Data Security Conference in Redwood Shores,
Calif.  Jim Bidzos, President of RSA Data Security, noted, "This
company offers an exciting new technology that is complementary to
RSA's public-key technology.  We look forward to great synergy between
RSA and Surety Technologies."

Digital time-stamping technology can be used to provide a tamper-proof
time seal for any electronic document.  It can be applied to documents
of any length, including text and data, as well as digitized audio,
video, and photographs.

"As long as a document, photograph, recording, or videotape can be put
in digital form, it can be time-stamped," said Haber, Chief Scientist
at the new company.  "The process could provide tremendous peace of
mind to those who deal with, or look after, digital information.
Imagine having the ability to lock in time, permanently and securely,
all business and medical records, still-frame and video imagery,
banking and real estate transactions, and other digital creations.
You wouldn't even have to disclose the contents!"

The new technology has been developed around a unique application of
established one-way hash coding technologies.  The patented method was
invented by Haber and Stornetta in 1990 while they were at Bellcore.
It was named winner of Discover Magazine's "Discover Award for
Technological Innovation in Computer Software" in 1992.

Surety Technologies expects the popularity of its Digital Notary
system to spread to a broad following of scientists, medical
professionals, writers, lawyers, bankers, archivists, and others who
need to certify the date and time their digital documents were
created.  The banking and legal communities have expressed interest in
the system, especially for paperless record management and
intellectual property applications.

"The rapid expansion of the Internet and plans for a National
Information Infrastructure have prompted increased interest in
cryptographic techniques to enhance the integrity and security of
electronic documents," says Stornetta, President of Surety
Technologies.  "Existing digital signature technology is able to
certify questions about 'Who and What' when it comes to documents.
Digital Notary technology will add the capability to secure 'When and
What' concerns."

"Our system will provide an inexpensive and trusted means of
certifying the creation of documents in digital form, thereby
smoothing the transition to the paperless office," adds Haber.

At the core of the time-stamping technology is an innovative
application of software that generates a characteristic "digital
fingerprint" for any document.  Digital time-stamping prototypes that
have been running at Bellcore since April 1991 work as follows: When a
user seals a document, computer software generates the document's
fingerprint and sends it as a "time-stamp request" to a Digital Notary
server, which immediately sends back a "time-stamp certificate" for
the document.  At regular intervals, a central coordinating service
bureau weaves all the world's time-stamp requests into a mathematical
fabric, and broadcasts a summary number that condenses the entire
fabric.

Because of the cryptographic strength of the process that generates
the fingerprints and summary numbers, it is virtually impossible for
anyone to produce back-dated certificates.  Any attempt to pass a
false certificate will be detected by the validation software.  In
this way, the Digital Notary system provides a universal, interoperable,
and unimpeachable guarantee, both of time and of data integrity.

Surety Technologies welcomes developers and corporations who are
interested in testing the system and serving as beta sites for Digital
Notary software.  Call Surety Technologies, Inc.  at [phone];
fax number is [phone].  Information is also available on the
Internet at infonotary.com.

Bellcore provides research and other technical services to the
telecommunications companies of Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth,
NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southwestern Bell Corp.  and U S WEST, as well
as Cincinnati Bell, Inc., The Southern New England Telephone Company,
and other leaders in industry and government.

Digital Notary is both a trademark and a service mark of Surety
Technologies Inc.


CONTACT: Bellcore
   Barbara Kaufman, 201/740-4324
    or
   Surety Technologies Inc.
   Ellen Fishter, 201/993-8178


Van Hefner    Vantek Communications    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 94 14:06:41 EST
Subject: Switch-O-Mania


I saw this article recently in an online version of WORTH magazine.

DEC/JAN 94 WORTH Magazine

WINNING THE LONG-DISTANCE WAR
 --Emanuel Howard

With long-distance phone companies ever more desperate to boost market
share, smart customers can make an easy buck. The trick is being willing
to switch carriers.

For many people, the long-distance wars are intimidating: Cheap call
plans are fiendishly complex, and it often seems easier to stick with
a known quantity. That's a mistake. These days, all three major
carriers offer big incentives to switch -- AT&T, for example, sends
some callers checks for as much as $100. Cashing AT&T's check authorizes
a switch to its long-distance service.

Switching again when MCI or Sprint dangles a deal -- usually $30 to
$50 worth of free calls -- boosts the return of this strategy. And
AT&T has been known to send a second check to regain deserters.

Switching is seamless, with no extra digits to dial. AT&T and MCI even
pay the switching fee of five to eight dollars. And all three carriers
offer plans that are broadly comparable, so a well-planned switch
won't make much difference -- especially if it's brief.

In the long term, consumers still should find a plan that matches
their calling patterns. Sprint favors people who call one number a
lot, for example; MCI favors calls to other MCI customers. But in the
short term, switching can make a big dent in long-distance bills. And
remember, it's reversible, sometimes for more money.

Naturally, the carriers hate service switchers. For some customers,
that could mean the sweetest deal yet: In a little-publicized move,
MCI has started cashing AT&T's incentive checks so customers won't
switch. For MCI users, that's free money.


Van Hefner    Vantek Communications    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: MCI has *not* started 'cashing' the
checks from AT&T ... that would be forgery and/or fraud. What they
have been doing is crediting the customer for the amount of the
check, and charging it to their own goodwill or marketing expense.
Cashing the AT&T checks requires a specific agreement, one that
obviously MCI is unwilling to meet.   PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 17:00:39 -0800
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Urgent Need For British Telecom Technology Journal


[e-mail] (Ken K P Lo) said:

> I am in URGENT need for an issue of the BT (British Telecom) Technology
> Journal for my school project.  The issue is 1992, vol. 10, Issue 1.
> It is a special issue on Digital Signal Processing in Telecommunications.

I have a copy right here on my study desk: as I have of most issues of
the BTTJ that are not already out on loan.  I have mailed Ken directly,
to see if I can help.


Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, P.O. Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan, Wales:  CF64 3YG
Voice: [phone]    Fax: [phone]    VoiceMail: [phone]
E-mail address: [e-mail] - PGP2.3 public key available on request

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

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 13:35:59 -0800
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Telco Overcharges


We've had some interesting cases of telco overcharging in the UK
recently; two of them involve our largest phone company, British
Telecom (now known as just "BT").

In the most recent case, customers found (or, in many cases DIDN'T
find -- because they didn't check) that on one or more of their lines,
BT had got the arithmetic wrong. Instead of the current period's
metered units being the difference between the meter reading at the
end of the period and the reading at the start of the period, it was
exactly just 10,000 units more.

That, at BT's standard charge per meter unit, meant an extra 420
pounds on the customers' bills.  BT's initial explanation for this was
unconvincing: they said that an engineer had "reset the meters in
error".  Later they added a further explanation that, because the
meter had been reset, the accounts computer had "assumed" that as
meters don't go backwards, the meters must have gone "round the clock",
and so it added on the extra units.

In the course of our investigations, we discovered that the meters in
the BT exchanges concerned didn't actually exist as meters, but were
electronic registers in a computerized system.  And they all had eight
digits.  Later BT also claimed that "sometimes only five of the digits
are actually used".

But whether a meter uses five or eight digits, if it goes "round the
clock" it will produce an error of 100,000 or 100,000,000 units
respectively: NOT 10,000 units.  So those customers are still waiting
for BT to offer them an explanation that is more plausible -- and
wondering why they couldn't have been given the proper explanation in
the first place.


Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, P.O. Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan, Wales:  CF64 3YG
Voice: 0956 700111 Fax: [phone]  VoiceMail: 0941 151515 Pager 0941 115555
E-mail address: [e-mail] - PGP2.3 public key available on request

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

From: [e-mail]
Organization: OnLine Now BBS
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 09:25:31 -0500
Subject: Telco List in Canada Wanted


Hi,

I've searched the archives for a listing of telco's in Canada, but it
doesn't seem to exist !  Could someone perhaps compile a 'carriers/
telco.name.list-canada'?  It would be much appreciated.


Dave Carpentier ([e-mail])

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

From: John Conwell <magnus1![e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID Flaw?
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 16:37:23 EST


A friend of mine who has Caller ID received a collect call.  At the
pause for the caller to state their name, the person breathed heavy
and made lewd comments.  No number appeared on the Caller ID device,
and the operator stated that it would not be possible to trace the
call since it was a collect call. This strikes me as odd since a
collect call number appears on your bill when you do accept, why can't
it be traced when my friend did not accept the call?  Just curious.  :-)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The reason is that when the call is
accepted, a ticket is started and exists later in the accounting
records of telco. If the call is not accepted, and the caller chooses
not to pay to continue the connnection -- I am sure your anonymous
caller did not continue -- then no accounting ticket is started, thus
no record. Calls via the operator -- even a highly automated 'operator'
such as is used for collect and third number calls these days -- will
never show Caller ID. Calls from the operator (and it was really the
operator calling your friend) are always 'out of area'. The system
depends on this information (calling number) being available to the
operator who will pass it along on request. Ditto with calls to 911
which go through the operator; she is *supposed* to stay on the line
and pass your number verbally to the 911 dispatcher, since all 911
shows in those cases is that the call 'came from the operator'. Once
the number is verbally passed, then the 911 dispatcher can force it
in by hand to pull the record, and I suppose you, as the recipient
of a collect call have the right to tell the operator you will accept
it but need the calling number for your records. Obviously under the
circumstances you do not press any buttons to comply with the automated
request, you just sit there ... a live operator will be along shortly
thereafter to see what you and calling party are up to.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (kostick christopher)
Subject: Leased Line Connectivity Question
Date: 27 Mar 1994 22:33:35 -0500
Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore County


I have some questions. I am more of a LAN person and this WAN stuff is
new to me. Before I approach vendors and providers about equipment and
connectivity, I like to have some knowledge of what I'm talking about,
and the net seems to be the place.

Two offices need connectivity. I was thinking through a leased line of
56Kbps. I'm in the Bell Atlantic region, would I talk to them?  AT&T?
MCI? Sprint? Anyone of them?

What kind of equipment would be necessary? I've heard of these CSU/DSU
devices? Do I need one?

Here's my imagined environment:

|                                |
|                                | Ethernet
| Ethernet                            |
|------------ Router ---------------/\/---------- Router -------|
          ------    56kbps line        ^ ------
                        |
                        Interface? What Kind?

Is this set up possible? Do vendors make routers that connect to a
leased line on one side, and a LAN on the other? Or would I have to
have something else in front of the router? If so, what?

Can anyone give me some ballpark prices for the equipment I'd need?

Are there any significant changes if the line is a T-1?

I may be missing important questions also. Please feel free to fill
in the gaps. Thanks in advance.


chris   [e-mail]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 94 21:33:47 CST
From: [e-mail] (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: AT&T Will Close Center in Naperville, Illinois


AT&T announced this past week that it will close the operator services
center in Naperville, Illinois on October 14, putting 142 people out
of work.

AT&T cited customer's decreased use of operator assistance services
for the decision to close the center, as a result of increased use of
cellular telephones, calling cards and personal 800 numbers combined
with the continuing trend of customers dialing their own calls in
most instances.

AT&T Vice President David Carney noted, "We are also streamlining our
operations to increase effeciency, improve customer service and reduce
costs in a highly competitive business." The Naperville Operator Services
Center -- the only one in the Chicago area -- has operated since 1979.
The center's closing will leave the Chicago area with no operators at
all in any local proximity; operator services for AT&T will come from
other centers around the USA.

Non-management works will be eligible for severance packages that include
up to 104 weeks of pay, depending on length of service with AT&T.
Management employees could receive up to 42 weeks of pay under similar
arrangements.


PAT

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

From: Michael J. Kobb <[e-mail]>
Subject: Digital Cordless Phones -- How Private?
Date: 28 Mar 1994 01:55:29 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.


Greetings!

  Now that digital cordless phones are starting to become available,
I've been thinking of switching to one so that I don't broadcast my
conversations "clear".

  So, here's my question: just how "secure" are these phones?
Assuming for the moment that FBI, CIA, NSA or any of those fine folks
can wiretap me no matter WHAT I do, how about the casual snoop or
pseudo-professional type (e.g. private-eye)?  What's required to
decode one of these conversations?  I suppose it'd be too much to ask
for the communications to be encoded with a unique ID number that only
the phone and handset share ...

  As a specific question, I saw a Uniden EXP-9100 cordless at the
store yesterday: 900MHz, spread-spectrum digital w/30 channels.  It
looked really nice, particularly for a feature-fiend like myself.  I
didn't get a chance to try it to evaluate it for sound quality, but
I'm planning to go back.  Does anybody know anything about this phone?
It says "Secure communications" on the feature sticker.  Are they
claiming anything beyond the fact that it's digital and therefore not
clear speech?

  Oh, while I'm asking about 900MHz, one thing has always confused me.
They advertise superb range as a big feature of these phones.  But,
doesn't that increase the likelihood of interference, since your
neighbors 1000 feet away are now actually a possible interference
source?


Thanks!

Mike

PS: Reply by email if possible, please.  I only get to check news once
or twice a week.  I'll post a summary if I get enough replies!

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

From: [e-mail] (Nick Sayer)
Subject: Re: Alphanumeric Pager Software
Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: [phone], log in as 'guest'.
Date: 27 Mar 1994 15:29:21 UTC


Does anyone have a description of the protocol used by such software?
Not everyone is saddled with x86 ISA machines running an OS that was
obsolete ten years ago at its introduction, which probably means we
have to write our own software for alpha paging. If it's possible to
write such a program, then an e-mail -> alpha page gateway is not out
of the question ...


Nick Sayer <[e-mail]>   N6QQQ @ N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NOAM
[phone], log in as 'guest'  PGP 2.2 key and geek code via finger

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Specs For CDPD, Embarc, RAM, Ardis Wanted
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 94 13:54:52 PDT
Organization: McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc.


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

> Would anyone know where I could find the specifications and/or
> communications protocols for communicating with CDPD, Embarc, RAM, and
> Ardis terminals?

CDPD is SLIP;
RAM is MASC for the device; Mobitex for the network.
     (call RAM in New Jersey for Programmer's Interface);
Ardis is Native Mode for the device; MDC 4800/MG Protocol for the network
    (call Motorola in Bothell, WA [phone]; they also have info
    for their devices for RAM);
-EMBARC not quite sure (Motorola in Boynton Beach, Florida).


Regards,

Tom    Internet:[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Nick Sayer)
Subject: Re: Cellular Roaming Charges
Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: [phone], log in as 'guest'.
Date: 28 Mar 1994 02:15:44 GMT


Lars Nohling <[e-mail]>
writes:

> Are then any tricks to cutting costs on the high roaming rates many
> cellular carriers charge?

> Any sort of Resellers who provide discounts like in the Long Distance
> business ?

In any given area there can be up to two cellular companies. One of
them will probably be some sort of variation on "Cellular one", one is
very likely to be either some variation of GTE or a BOC.

Your only choice in the matter is if you are in an area where there
are two services. My phone is a Motorola 550 (one of the more popular
ones, so they tell me. It's a "flip fone" sort of reminiscent of Star
Trek TOS communicators). I can, using RCL * set up how it roams by
telling it which of the two services in a given area it should check
first for roaming. I can change this on the fly (not during a call,
though). So I could conceivably call *611 and ask whoever answers what
their roaming rates are, then switch to the other service and ask them
the same question.  If I don't like the second answer better than the
first, then I will switch back to the first provider and there you go.

I have not yet roamed, so I don't know how successful this algorithm
will be. Hell, for that matter, I haven't yet gotten my first bill
yet. :-) I suspect, however, that I'll switch plans, if not companies.
I am on the only GTE plan I can get (here in the bay area) on a
month-to-month basis without extra cost. For any of the other plans
they want me to sign up for a year at a time. Yeah, right.


Nick Sayer <[e-mail]>   N6QQQ @ N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NOAM
[phone], log in as 'guest'  PGP 2.2 key and geek code via finger

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

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 94 15:05:26 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cell One Switches To11-Digit Dialing


Monty Solomon <[e-mail]> writes:

> Effective March 1, 1994, Cell One/Boston has switched to eleven-digit
> dialing (from 10) for long distance calls outside of A/C 617 or 508.

How have calls been dialed from that system?  (It is not covered by
the history file.)  Was it like that airplane phone where I dialed
only the area code and 7 digit number?  How are other calls dialed?

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #150
******************************