Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/back.issues/1995.volume.15/vol15.iss401-450

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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #401

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 22 Sep 95 15:51:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 401

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Listen to Me on the Radio This Weekend (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Microsoft to Speak at IOC '95 Conference (Tom Geldner)
    Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Clifton T. Sharp)
    Re: AOL and Expectations of Privacy (David B. Hultberg)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Paul S. Sawyer)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Jeff Bamford)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Wes Leatherock)
    Re: 911 Access/Disconnected Phones (Greg Abbott)
    911 Signalling (was Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone) (Paul Cook)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 15:11:54 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Listen to Me on the Radio This Weekend


Fred Goldstein and myself will be guests on the Spectrum show Saturday
night. We both hope you will be able to listen and call in with any
questions you might have.

Emmanuel Goldstein has been the host of this popular program since
its inception a few years ago. The topic for the show this week is
the recent breakup of AT&T into various separate and distinct parts.

Here is how you can listen:

    On shortwave   -   WWCR  Nashville, TN  5065 Kz
    On Satellite   -   Galaxy 6   Channel 14  with Audio at 7.56 wide band
    New York City  -   WCNJ  89.3  and/or 91.9 FM

and, it may be on other stations in your vicinity.

The show is on 10-11 pm Eastern time. Our European readers will need to
get up early Sunday morning I guess!

Please try and tune in; Fred Goldstein and I will appreciate hearing
your comments and questions.


Patrick Townson

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Microsoft to Speak at IOC '95 Conference
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 12:00:44 GMT
Organization: MFPA


Microsoft Added to MFPA Integrated Office Conference '95 Featured
Speaker List

Presentation to focus on multifunction peripheral connectivity
and Windows '95

SAN DIEGO, CA / September 20, 1995 - The Multifunction Peripheral
Association (MFPA) today announced that Microsoft Corporation's Kurt
Delbene, had been named as a featured presenter for the MFPA's
upcoming Integrated Office Conference '95 (IOC '95), September 28 - 29
in Del Mar, CA.

Delbene, Group Manager for Microsoft's Personal Systems Division, is
scheduled to discuss multifunction peripheral (MFP) connectivity in
relation to Windows '95. He will also be presenting Microsoft's
Windows '95 Logical Modem Interface (LMI) technology.

Targeted toward developers, manufacturers and marketers of printer,
fax, scanner, copier and data communications technologies, IOC '95 is
expected to draw some 200 senior engineers, researchers, managers and
executives to the annual event.

Raymond Lutz, MFPA Executive Chair, commented, "We are very pleased
that Microsoft is Joining our outstanding list of speakers
representing most of the multifunction development community's major
players. The momentum and enthusiasm for IOC '95 is highly gratifying
and we think it's safe to say that IOC '95 is now the singlemost
significant MFP industry event going."

For more information about IOC '95, contact the MFPA toll-free at
800-603-MFPA, via fax at 619-447-6872 or by mail at: MFPA, 1010 Old
Chase Avenue, Suite B, El Cajon, CA 92020. Information is also
available via Internet by sending an e-mail message to
"[e-mail]" with the subject "Send IOC 95 Info" or
from the Worldwide Web at "http://www.cognisys.com".

The registration fee for the IOC '95 is $595 for MFPA members and $695
for non-members. Admission includes access to all conference sessions
including the keynote speech by Michael J.  Miller, Vice President and
Editor-in-Chief of PC Magazine.  Admission also includes continental
breakfasts, a hosted luncheon, networking receptions, a "Del
Mar-garita" party plus a complete conference binder. Audio
transcriptions will be available for most conference sessions.
Multiple attendee and other discounts are available. Qualified members
of the press wishing to attend should contact Tom Geldner at
619-578-0096 or via fax at 619/578-0828.

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

The Multifunction Peripheral Association (MFPA) is a non-profit,
industry association established for the promotion and development of
multifunction computer peripheral devices and uniform standards for
computer-based faxing, data transfer, scanning, printing and copying.

MFPA member companies and sponsors of the MFPI / IS-650 standard
include Brother International, Canon USA, Cognisys, Danka/Omnifax,
Destiny Technology, Fujitsu, IBM, InfoNetwork, Konica Business
Machines, Lanier Worldwide, Matsushita Electric, Minolta, Mita
Copystar, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Oce Graphics, Peerless
Systems, QMS, Ricoh, Rockwell International, Sharp, Torrey Pines
Research, Toshiba, Wordcraft International, Xerox and Xionics Document
Technologies.

Raymond Lutz, MFPA Executive Chairman, is Director of Rearch and
Development for Cognisys, Inc., a national contract engineering firm
and multifunction product developer.


MEDIA CONTACT:
Tom Geldner
Geldner Associates
Bus: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Hm: [phone]
Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Clifton T. Sharp)
Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users
Organization: as little as possible
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 17:03:35 GMT


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

> Ward Christianson and Randy Suess started the whole concept in 1979

Christensen.

> By 1985 or so we were seeing more and more BBS's change to 'read
> only access until authenticated' as a result of the increasing vandalism
> and harrassment so many suffered.

Actually earlier. Seems to me it was around 1982 or 1983 when it
started. I recall at that time that I had been "locked out" of one BBS
when this started, even though I had been a long-time user (since
nearly the time the BBS was started); I was rather miffed, as his
logon screen told a story about vandalism etc. being the reason, and I
felt that the implication was that I couldn't be trusted after all
that time.  Another BBS grandfathered all its long-time users, which
seemed more reasonable. I didn't mind later giving my address, phone,
etc. to the sysop of the latter BBS because of the implicit trust.

> New users would often complain, "well I don't know
> who this person (the sysop) is; I am not going to give out my name,
> phone number and address to a stranger", and my answer always was, but
> you expect me to be willing to allow a total stranger to use my
> computer and visit electronically with me in my living room ...

Well, sorta. With two or three notable exceptions since the early
80's, I've chosen not to use the BBSes unless I knew the sysop (at
least by reputation). I don't expect "you" to let me use "your" system
at all (is that too reasonable? :-); I just expect not to have to give
personal information to a total stranger, even if that means I can't
use the total-stranger BBS.

> I'd like to see Caller-ID become a routine
> thing on all incoming modem lines and no postings allowed

Two problems with CNID. One, I don't always call in from my home number,
but sometimes from client sites; this requires the sysop to constantly
update my records by adding and deleting numbers. Two, a call redirector
could cause numerous problems (for a short time) for hundreds of BBSes
who relied on CNID alone.

> And for those privacy freaks who would complain about their freedom
> of speech being chilled and how abused they will become when their
> phone and address are on file with the admin, I would respond "thank
> you for your gratuitous insults regarding my integrity. Find some
> other sucker willing to provide you with a free public toilet."  End
> of sermon.  PAT]

Only the abusers of free speech would assert that free speech implies
anonymity. Indeed, the whole concept of constitutional protection of
same implies that it protects one's ability to safely attach his name
to his speech, without repercussions from government; constitutional
protection wouldn't be needed if "free speech" meant, or even included,
anonymous guerilla attacks.


Cliff Sharp    WA9PDM
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Tell me this Cliff; did you back then ever
dream we would be as advanced as we are today in this concept?  I am
reminded of a message I posted on the Rogers Park Apple BBS (remember that
one, at 312-761-ABBS?) sometime around 1982 saying I did not see any
need for a 1200 baud modem; that 300 was as fast as I could read text
as it scrolled across the screen anyway. When I hooked up my very first
modem (a Hayes modem on a card that went in a slot of the Apple ][+)
back in 1979, I never would have concieved of things being as they are
today. Oh, I also had a Heathkit terminal (actually, they were the
Zenith Z-19 terminals, but when you built them from a Heathkit package
as I did they were called H-19) with a Hayes 300 baud SmartModem. I was
the wonder of my neighborhood. Who would have dreamed it would gotten
to where it is today?

Regards the use of Caller ID on incoming BBS lines, I would never use
it as the sole authenticator. I would use it for advisory purposes only.
In other words, all calls are welcome, but I would like to be able to
show on my opening banner 'you are calling from xxx-xxxx, and this is
being noted in our records.' That would usually do the job I needed
it to do. I sure wish we had Caller ID back then ... oh, do I!!   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: AOL and Expectations of Privacy
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 95 13:29:03 GMT
Organization: C&D Railroad


Last week I attended a Network Security Workshop sponsored by a Navy
activity.  Most of the presentations concerned hardware and software
means of keeping systems secure from hackers and other evildoers.  One
presentation germaine to this thread was presented by a Navy lawyer.
The 4th Amendment to the Constitution and the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act provide protections against monitoring of private communications
but they are not absolute.  The 4th Amendment says "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 ..."  This sounds
good, but the JAG lawyer went on to point out the following exceptions
to the amendment:

* Consent.  If the AOL TOS that you agreed to says that they may
monitor your communications and that by signing the TOS you agree to
such monitoring, then you are out of luck.

* Reasonable Expectation of Privacy.  If you don't have a reasonable
expection of privacy, then you can't object to being monitored.  DOD
and many BBS sysops use this exception by displaying a warning banner
everytime you logon to the system.

* Judicial Warrant

The ECPA, the law that allows the cellular phone industry to claim
that cell phone calls are private, also has exceptions built into it.

* Judicial warrant

* 18 usc SECTION 2511(2)(A)(I).  SYSOP may monitor "in the normal
course of his employment while engaged in any activity which is a
necessary incident to the rendition of his service or the protection
of the rights or property of the provider".

The interpretation given to the above extract from 18USC2511 is that
SYSOPs have a wide latitude in administratively monitoring the
activity on their systems.  It could extend as far as running a
keystroke monitor on one of my users to determine what he/she was
doing that was causing unusually high consumption of system resources
or repeatedly trying to access areas that they weren't supposed to.
However, the lawyer emphasized that everything the sysop did should be
in a defensive mode.  Once a sysop determines that illegal activity
may be taking place, he or she should immediately cease any monitoring
and notify law enforcement personnel.  SYSOPs duties do not include
gathering evidence.


David B. Hultberg, Director      [e-mail]
Information Resources Management [e-mail]
Naval Sea Logistics Center       http://www.nslc.fmso.navy.mil
P.O. Box 2060                    [phone] or DSN 430-4507
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-0795     [phone] or DSN 430-2915(FAX)

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul S. Sawyer)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Date: 22 Sep 1995 16:57:34 GMT
Organization: University of New Hampshire  -  Durham, NH


In article <[e-mail]> Martin McCormick <[e-mail].
okstate.edu> writes:

>    What happened was something that dates back to the 1840's.
> The spring-wound mechanism was probably much like that of a music box.
> As the spring unwound, a wheel with notches cut in to it rotated past
> a switch.  The notches were cut so that a code was sent via telegraph
> wires to the central fire station.  The mechanism probably had a
> governor of some kind to make sure that the speed was fairly constant
> as the spring unwound.

Yes, and setting the timing in each box was an art in itself.  Different
code wheels had to be set so that the time between strokes was constant,
therefore the RPM of the wheel varied greatly from box to box.

>    I have never been to Boston, but their fire department used
> radio frequencies that sometimes propagate in to Oklahoma.  I noticed
> that they had their street boxes tied directly in to the radio system
> so that when somebody pulled a box, one would hear a long tone to get
> everyone's attention followed by the box number pulsed out much like a
> very slow rotary dial telephone.  I seem to remember that the beeps
> were about three or four per second so a person could easily count
> them to determine the number.

This would have been on 33.74 MHz, back when all the fire dispatching
for the city fit on one channel!  Actually, the dispatcher relayed all
the boxes, sometimes using judgment when many boxes came in for a big
fire, etc.; the street boxes (on a "box circuit") come in as three or four
"rounds" (repetitions), and the dispatcher pulled a card for the box
number, set the number on an alarm transmitter, pushed an alert tone
button, then started the transmitter which would transmit only two
rounds (on "alarm circuits") to the station bells and the radio tones.
A second (third, fourth, ...) alarm was indicated by a "2" ("3", "4",
...) then the box number; all out was "2-2; 2-2" then the box number,
so monitoring this one channel at the time gave a pretty good idea of
eveything going on in the BFD!

> After a couple of repeats, the human dispatcher would confirm the box
> number and make sure that the correct engines were heading for the fire.

After he had read the file card for the box.

> The alarm boxes vanished from streets in Tulsa and Oklahoma
> City as well as many other places as soon as 911 became the method of
> choice to report emergencies.  [...]

Which is sad, because even if the phones are in place, it was nice to
have had the separate, dedicated alarm systems as backup.


Paul S. Sawyer                       [e-mail]
UNH Telecommunications            Voice: [phone]
50 College Road                     FAX: [phone]
Durham, New Hampshire  03824-3523

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeff Bamford)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 14:39:11 -0400


In article <[e-mail]>, Mark Brader <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> 911 is put on the front page whereas the seven-digit numbers
>> are relegated to alphabetical listings in the middle ...

> The emergencies pages at the front used to show 911 (and before that
> 361-1111 and before that EM1-1111) for emergencies, all right.  But
> right below that, in smaller print, they used to give the regular police
> number (324-2222, and before that 967-2222).  Seems eminently sensible
> to me.  Anyone know why Bell decided to change it?  It's not as if a
> call to 324-2222 couldn't be transferred to the dispatchers at 911.

    Maybe it depends upon the region.  In Hamilton-Wentworth (a
mere 45 minutes from Toronto) we have all the emergency numbers on the
back side of the front cover.  Most of them are just 911, but there are
a couple of seven digit numbers for one exchange in Niagara region
(905-662).  Page 1 of the directory lists on the special services
numbers (Distress, assualt etc.  i.e. social services).  Page 2 of the
directory has a map of the area with the Police stations marked, each
with their own number for rececption & crime stoppers.  Across the top
of the page is the non-emergency number for the region.

    Out of all the Bell Canada directories that I've seen this is the
best.  It has Postal Codes for the region, maps of Hamilton and Burlington.
A short tourist guide (lists events for the year) is also included, as
well as numbers for the rec. centres, social services, auditoriums -
arenas etc.  This is all included in the middle between the blue and
yellow pages.  (As mentioned before, the blue pages are government listings
 -- these need more work though!)


Jeff Bamford
Email - [e-mail] -- NeXT Mail welcome
Office/Lab: [phone] x3814     Fax: [phone]
WEB Page: <a href="http://audiolab.uwaterloo.ca/"> A.R.G. Home Page </a>

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

From: [e-mail] (Wes Leatherock)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 13:43:00 GMT


Martin McCormick <[e-mail]> wrote:

> The alarm boxes vanished from streets in Tulsa and Oklahoma
> City as well as many other places as soon as 911 became the method of
> choice to report emergencies.  I also remember that many of the street
> boxes had a glass window that one had to break with an attached hammer
> to activate the alarm.  This always seemed dumb and dangerous to me,
> but I am sure there was a good reason for it.

       I did a story about the fire department dispatchers for {The
Daily Oklahoman} in the 1950s, and even then fire alarm boxes were
fairly rare.  (Expensive, not used very often, especially subject to
false alarms, the dispatchers said.)

       However, there was a theoretical fire alarm box number assigned
to every address in the city, and when a fire call came in the dispatcher
checked the street and number and the listing gave the fire alarm box
number (whether theoretical or real) associated with that address.

       Then he checked his card file (on 3x5 cards; this was before the
days of much computer use) for that fire alarm box number and the
card listed all the equipment to be dispatched on first, second and
third alarms.  Really worked quite well.

       Schools, hotels and similar buildings had unique box numbers,
and were automatically responded to initially as a three-alarm fire.

       I believe the idea of the glass window and hammer was to
reduce the number of false alarms; you had to do something more than
just walk by and pull the lever.  This was true in most cities I'm
familiar with.


Wes Leatherock   [e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 11:05:45 CST
From: Greg Abbott  <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: 911 Access/Disconnected Phones


[e-mail] (STemaat)  writes:

> This is very similar to sa service started in the Mississippi service
> area of BellSOuth on July 31. All phone jacks now have the "soft" dial
> tone -- with only two numbers allowed: 6-1-1 (customer service) and
> 9-1-1 (emergency).

> As a 9-1-1 dispatcher, I think it's a great thing -- we only have two
> small problems with it: (1) the line shows up on the ALI (Automated
> Location Indicator) as a business number, which can be misleading to
> someone not familiar with an area, or in an area that's mixed
> business/residential. (2) the number, although it displays for us,
> cannot accept incoming calls. therefore we can't call back if
> disconnected. Also, the caller, obviously, won't know the number.

> I would prefer to see an indicator (such as NOPR for Non-operative),
> in place of the BUSN (Business) designation for these numbers. We
> should also have some sort of Operator-override available (as I
> believe we should on pay phones that don't accept incoming calls). By
> this, I mean we could call the "0" operator, identify ourselves, and
> have the operator ring the number back on disconnect. (This is the
> same procedure we use for emergency traces when people call on an
> administrative line and can't tell us where they are, and their
> condition is too bad to trust that they can reconnect through 9-1-1 --
> a process which can take up to ten minutes if they don't know the
> number they're at.)

Despite the fact that some people may use this method (get a phone,
let it be disconnected) to get 9-1-1 access from their homes without
paying for it, I think it's a good idea.  There are times when people
simply forget to pay their bill or misplace it, etc. and if their
service is shut off, they should still be able to access emergency
services.  I think that Bell Canada is on the right track with their two
month limit for the continuation of this "free" service.  This way,
people are not getting something they have no intention of paying for.
Now before everyone jumps on me about how people have a right to
access 9-1-1, let me just say that unlike some communities, the 9-1-1
system here (and in most places in Illinois) is funded entirely
through a surcharge on each telephone line.  We do not receive
tax-payer dollars from any other source for the 9-1-1 network portion
of the service.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The problem is, even the operator cannot
> ringback to lines which are one-way outgoing only service *unless she
> had the call up to start with and has not released it*. Just 'cold
> dialing' by the operator into a one-way outgoing line will get her the
> same results it gets you: an intercept saying it cannot be reached.  Now
> if she got the call to start with and has not yet released it, then she
> can ring back on the line. What 911 needs obviously is the ability to
> hold up a trunk on an incoming call and only release it when they get
> ready to do so.  PAT]

Basic Type III 9-1-1 provides for call trap which allows the 9-1-1
center to hold the call up for as long as they want to.  With
Enhanced, however, this ability goes away due to the increased
computer switching (selective routing) which is available to direct
the calls.  I am told that the current technology will not allow
Enhanced calls to be held up for traces, etc.  It sure was a great
service in basic though, I don't know how many times I had domestic
disturbance calls where one party is trying to hang up the phone on
the other.  I would start a trace and then just sit there on the line
and hope that someone would pick up again.  On most occasions the
phone would be laid (or thrown) down on the first ring-back and you
could hear some pretty nasty arguments, people being beaten, stuff
broken, etc.  You can not begin to imagine the stress of knowing
someone is on the other end of the line who is in dire need of
assistance and you have no idea where they are at and, like Scott
said, the trace information won't be available for several minutes.
Enhanced 9-1-1 is truly a lifesaver in these cases!


                           99999     11     11
          GREG ABBOTT      9   9      1      1     INTERNET: [e-mail]
       9-1-1 COORDINATOR   99999 ==   1 ==   1     COMPUSERVE: 76046,3107
                               9      1      1     VOICE: 217/333-9889
METCAD                         9      1      1     FAX:   [phone]
1905 E. MAIN ST.               9     111    111    PAGER: 800/222-6651
URBANA, IL  61801                                          PIN # 9541

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

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 95 12:19 EST
From: Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]>
Subject: 911 Signalling (was Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone)


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The problem is, even the operator cannot
> ringback to lines which are one-way outgoing only service *unless she
> had the call up to start with and has not released it*. Just 'cold dialing'
> by the operator into a one-way outgoing line will get her the same results
> it gets you: an intercept saying it cannot be reached.  Now if she got the
> call to start with and has not yet released it, then she can ring back
> on the line. What 911 needs obviously is the ability to hold up a trunk
> on an incoming call and only release it when they get ready to do so.  PAT]

Basic 9-1-1 service used to provide this sort of Called Party Control.
The trunk was configured like a TSPS or CAMA trunk, going directly
from the originating CO to the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point).
When the operator answered, the caller could not go away until the
operator released the trunk.  If the caller hung up, the operator
could flash the trunk and cause the originating trunk to rering the
calling party directly, without a new call being set up via the
network.

With the advent of E911, ALI and Selective Routing, this important
feature went away.  In most systems now the call goes via a 9-1-1
tandem switch which routes the call to an appropriate PSAP, losing the
Called Party Control when it is switched through the tandem.  When the
operator wants to ring back the calling party, a ringback button will
cause the 7 digit number that was grabbed from the ANI to be dialed
back on a regular outgoing phone line with an autodialer.  If the line
is busy, the operator cannot get through.

There are a few smaller communities that have both ANI and Called
Party Control on 9-1-1 trunks.  We make 9-1-1 systems here at Proctor,
and some of our trunks are installed in COs in small communities where
they ring directly into the PSAP.  If the caller hangs up, the
operator just does a hookflash, and our 9-1-1 trunk converts the flash
to TSPS rering protocol that goes back to the switch.  The caller
cannot get away from the 9-1-1 operator just as they cannot get away
from a persistent TSPS operator.

We also now offer a 9-1-1 version of our telephone demonstrator, which
is used by police and fire departments for training school children on
using 9-1-1.  Our demonstrator has that same re-ring feature that the
older 9-1-1 systems had where a hookflash rerings the calling party.


Paul Cook        Proctor & Associates
206-881-7000              Redmond, WA
       [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #401
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #402

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 22 Sep 95 16:15:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 402

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Beach House Payphone (Atri Indiresan)
    Re: Beach House Payphone (Steve Bunning)
    Fire Alarm Telegraphs (was Re: Dialing 911 Instead of 7-D) (Peter Laws)
    Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (Paul S. Sawyer)
    Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (Tony Harminc)
    Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (S.J. Slavin)
    CFP For March 96 Conference on Telecom Systems (Bezalel Gavish)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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.

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

Subject: Re: Beach House Payphone
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 16:07:20 -0400
From: Atri Indiresan <[e-mail]>


In TELECOM Digest V15 #398, [e-mail] (Collin Park)
said:

> The second experience, which is second hand: a friend of mine
> lives in a "company dorm" here in Japan.  The telephone
> "service" there is also very interesting.  All phone calls go
> thru Axxx telephone service, which charges more for
> long-distance calls than NTT or KDD do.  This is absolutely
> astonishing.  Anyway, use of the touch-pad after a call is
> completed results in the call's being disconnected!!  This
> prevents use of some call-back services, as well as preventing
> employees from using the company's voice-mail system.

> Making use of a particular rip-off telecom carrier a condition
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> of rental is probably illegal in the US, but here in Japan I
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> believe it to be a not uncommon practice.  The goverment's
> official position seems to have nothing to do with consumer
> welfare here, which as an American I find a little annoying.

Not exactly. The FCC does allow large aggregators (hotels, universities,
companies, prisons etc.) to set their own telephone policies and
rates. While 10-XXX-0-NXX-XXXX dialing is available in general (and
access to carriers via their 800 numbers or calling cards or to their
operators), Dial-1 or 10-XXX-1 access can be restricted legally. This
is not as bad as the situation you described, but not the best
situation here for people like me who live on University property.

You described the accomodation as a "company dorm". Perhaps private
companies might have even greater latitude in restricting equal
access? Does anyone know the exact legal status? PAT has often
described telephone service in prisons which allows only ripoff
COCOTs, and so, I guess equal access is not for everyone.


Atri Indiresan

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

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 16:36:29 -0300
From: [e-mail] (Steve Bunning)
Subject: Re: Beach House Payphone


In my original posting on this subject, our Moderator commented:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't it have been easier to just unplug
> or bypass the dialer somehow?    PAT]

and [e-mail] (Collin Park) added:

> A fascinating idea. Is it a foregone conclusion that the dialer had to
> be on the premises?  In the rental house we used, there was a locked closet
> for which we weren't given the key. Could that have been the location
> of the mystery dialer?  Maybe if we had cut off the main breaker, the
> dialer would have automagically just become a straight-thru connect to
> the local phone company?  I wonder.

> The second experience, which is second hand:  a friend of mine lives
> in a "company dorm" here in Japan.  The telephone "service" there is
> also very interesting.  All phone calls go thru Axxx telephone service,
> which charges more for long-distance calls than NTT or KDD do.  This
> is absolutely astonishing.  Anyway, use of the touch-pad after a call
> is completed results in the call's being disconnected!!  This prevents
> use of some call-back services, as well as preventing employees from
> using the company's voice-mail system.

The dialer used by the operator service provider in this beach house
was installed in the locked "owners" portion of the house along with
the circuit breakers.  I did go out to the back of the house and
checked the telco demarc.  The demarc was the modern type with an
RJ-11 jack that could be used to separate the inside wiring from the
outside line.  However, the person who installed the dialer bypassed
the telco wiring to the RJ-11 jack and rewired the demarc so that the
dialer connection was crimped _directly_ onto the incoming telco line.
Kind of defeated the whole demarc idea, but made it more difficult to
bypass the dialer.

I also had an experience like the one mentioned above where a
touch-pad caused a call disconnect.  Again, I was at a beach house,
but this time I was dialing a voice mailbox via an 800 number.  The
problem seemed to be that the mailbox system gave back a second
dialtone which caused the beach house phone to disconnect the call.
After much hair pulling, a lot of experimenting, and more than a
little practice, I found I could beat the dialtone detect circuit in
the phone by quickly hitting a digit on the phone key-pad just as the
voice-mail system was giving back dial-tone.  The voice-mail system
would then remove the dialtone before the local phone could detect it.
As the phone allowed free use of the key-pad as long as it didn't
detect another dialtone, I was able to access my voice-mail.


Steve Bunning    | American Computer and Elec. Corp.| 301 258-9850 (voice)
Product Manager  | 209 Perry Parkway                | 301 921-0434 (fax)
TEL*COMM Division| Gaithersburg, MD USA 20877       | [e-mail]
          "Your real-time CDR experts."  See us at TELECOM '95


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What business did the owner have locking
up the circuit breakers where you could not get to them? What if you had
blown a circuit somehow and had to get in there and reset it?  What if
there was some emergency and the power had to be turned off quickly for
the entire house?  In Illinois, owners are NOT permitted to refuse access
(via locked closet or whatever) to the circuit breakers or the gas and
water meters/cutoffs, etc.)    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Peter Laws)
Subject: Fire Alarm Telegraphs (was Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police 7-D)
Date: 22 Sep 1995 16:25:21 GMT
Organization: University of Arkansas


Martin McCormick <[e-mail]> writes:

> What happened was something that dates back to the 1840's.

> credits the city of Boston with having the first alarm box system in
> the 1840's.

April 29, 1852, actually.  I know 'cause I happen to be wearing my Boston
Fire Alarm tee-shirt today. :-) To the best of my knowledge, it still
continues 'til this day.

> that they had their street boxes tied directly in to the radio system
> so that when somebody pulled a box, one would hear a long tone to get

Actually, the alarms are recieved at the FAO and then retransmitted on the
station circuits.  That prevents pulls from adjacent boxes from going to
the stations and gives the FA Operators some discretion over the level of
response.

I think this is a Class B fire alarm system, if I remember my NFPA studies
correctly (I took the civil service test for Fire Alarm Operator in 1988 :-).
A Class A system send the box directly to the stations.  BFD stopped
multicasting on 33.740 MHz in the late 80's, BTW.

I'm trying to compile a list of cities that still use pull boxes (like
most in Mass).  Please reply privately.


Peter Laws<[e-mail]>| Note: This .sig not Windows95(tm) compatible
n5uwy@ka5bml.#nwar.ar.usa.noam |<A HREF="http://comp.uark.edu/~plaws/">geek</A>

All original portions of this posting are Copyright 1995, Peter Laws

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul S. Sawyer)
Subject: Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes
Date: 22 Sep 1995 16:29:48 GMT
Organization: University of New Hampshire  -  Durham, NH


In article <[e-mail]> Tony Harminc <EL406045@BROWNVM.
BROWN.EDU> writes:

> Toronto lost its pole-mounted fire alarm boxes as recently as 1980,
> as I remember.  There are still a few poles with strips of red paint
> around them to be found.  One point that has perhaps not been made
> clear is the reason these boxes had clockwork code senders in the
> first place: they were all connected in parallel on the same wire.
> (Well, there were subsets, of course, but typically all the boxes
> that rang in one station were on one line.)

Actually, they were in series!  Some small towns had a wire that left
the fire station in one direction, looped around town, and returned to
the station from the other direction (called a "balloon loop"). If the
boxes had been in parallel, there would have been no way to have
supervised against a wire break in the system.  The circuit had a
nominal 100mA current flowing normally; an interruption was a "stroke"
on a bell, paper punch, or other alarm indicator, and some small towns
had the clockwork timed slow enough to operate an outside air horn
directly.  One stroke by itself indicated a circuit opening, to be
tracked down and fixed immediately, although one open in such a system
automatically reconfigured the circuit for ground return signalling.
The boxes also sensed whether another box on the circuit was
signalling, and would wait its turn politely so as not to interfere.

> If each box had had a direct wire back to the station there would
> have been no need for pulses and clockwork.

A direct pair like this was used some places, but I think the 100mA
telegraph loop was much more popular.

> As I remember, the wires on the Toronto poles were very thick --
perhaps 10 gauge or thicker.  These wires were strung on the
municipally owned Hydro (electric power) poles and not on telephone
poles.  I have no idea what voltage was used.

Much of the technology was taken from telegraphy, so 10 gauge single
iron wire on glass insulators was used, later 10 gauge Copperweld,
then paired C-rural 10/12/14 gauge, usually with a red vinyl coating.
Underground and in cable, as small as 16 gauge may be used - since
current is 0.1 Amp, the size is for mechanical reliability rather than
electrical requirements.  Voltage is whatever it would take to get 100
mA thru the loop, but usually under 120 VDC.  Around here they share
space on poles above all other communications (Tel, CATV) and below
power.  Older systems are typically on insulators on a short,
white-painted crossarm, while the newer installations are the red
C-wire on J hooks.

Many of these systems are still in use, but many others have been
driven out of existance by a combination of (perceived) high
maintenance, increased municipal non-involvement ("privatization"),
and sales pitches by "The Phone Company" that their services are
everywhere, so the old boxes are no longer needed.  Some time after a
city gives up its own alarm box system, "TPC" decides to remove public
phones, at least in the "worst" neighborhoods where the fire alarm
boxes were needed most ...

Oh, well ...


Paul S. Sawyer                   [e-mail]
UNH Telecommunications        Voice: [phone]
50 College Road                 FAX: [phone]
Durham, New Hampshire  03824-3523


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I remember once as a child watching
them fix one of those boxes which was broken. The repairman took a
phone handset with alligator clips and hooked onto the wire and was
chatting with someone at the other end which I thought at the time
was quite funny. How can you talk over that box, I asked him.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 15:37:04 EDT
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes


Martin McCormick <[e-mail]> wrote:

[Fire alarms boxes that pulsed out their location]

> The alarm boxes vanished from streets in Tulsa and Oklahoma
> City as well as many other places as soon as 911 became the method of
> choice to report emergencies.  I also remember that many of the street
> boxes had a glass window that one had to break with an attached hammer
> to activate the alarm.  This always seemed dumb and dangerous to me,
> but I am sure there was a good reason for it.

Even today many fire alarm pull handles have a glass strip or other
device that doesn't automatically reset itself.  It's to ensure that
misuse can be punished: there can be no excuses like "I was just
looking at it to see how it worked, and I accidently set it off".  You
have to take a very positive action to give the alarm.  It (the
dangling handle and/or broken glass) also makes it obvious to the
repair/inspection people that the unit has been set off and needs
work.

Toronto lost its pole-mounted fire alarm boxes as recently as 1980, as
I remember.  There are still a few poles with strips of red paint
around them to be found.  One point that has perhaps not been made
clear is the reason these boxes had clockwork code senders in the
first place: they were all connected in parallel on the same wire.
(Well, there were subsets, of course, but typically all the boxes that
rang in one station were on one line.)  If each box had had a direct
wire back to the station there would have been no need for pulses and
clockwork.  As I remember, the wires on the Toronto poles were very
thick - perhaps 10 gauge or thicker.  These wires were strung on the
municipally owned Hydro (electric power) poles and not on telephone
poles.  I have no idea what voltage was used.

Tony Harminc

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

From: [e-mail] (SJSlavin)
Subject: Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes
Date: 22 Sep 1995 04:43:55 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (SJSlavin)


As Tony covered -- the old boxes were 19th centurt paper tape coded
signalling; usually over City lines but sometime telco pairs;
maintenance intensive; had to be reset after each use; Current units
are narrowband pulsed, or use cellular phones. (California just arrested
two guys for stealing 220 cellular units and recoding the ID for L.D>
calls).

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 08:03:31 EDT
Subject: CFP for Mar96 conference on telecom systems


               C A L L     for  P A P E R S
       4th International Conference on Telecommunication Systems
            Modelling and Analysis
           March 21-24, 1996 Nashville, TN

Sponsored by:      Bell South Telecommunications
          INFORMS Technical Section on Telecommunications
          INFORMS College of Information Systems
          Owen Graduate School of Management

The 4th International Conference on Telecommunication Systems -
Modelling and Analysis will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on March
21-24, 1996.  The conference location will be the Bell South Tower in
downtown Nashville.  The conference will build on the tradition of the
earlier conferences with a few changes in format due to the new
conference location.  The general idea is to limit the number of
participants, concentrate on a few topics, present new problems and
problem areas, encouraging informal interaction and exchanges of
ideas.    The objective is to advance the state of the modelling and
analysis in telecommunications by stimulating research activity on new
and important problems.

The conference will be divided into segments with each segment devoted
to a specific topic.  This will allow for little conflict between
segments.    All papers will be screened by the program committee
to ensure the quality of presentations.    A decentralized paper handling
process will be used, the Program Committee has been divided along
geographical areas with a separate Program Subcommittee assigned to
each area.  Abstracts and papers should be submitted directly to
Program Committee Chair of the appropriate area.    It is expected
that this will expedite the paper review process.  In response to
suggestions made by last year's participants, social and cultural
activities will be included in the 1996 agenda.

Lead Speakers and Keynote speakers include:

Leonard Kleinrock, "Nomadic Computing and its Implications for Network
Support"

Alan Konheim, "A Monitor for Controlling Peak and Average ATM Input Traffic"

Bezalel Gavish, "Low Earth Orbit Satellite Based Communication Systems -
Research Issues"

The Chairmen of the geographic Program Committees are:

Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia:
        Prof. Richard Harris
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
GPO Box 2476V                Tel: [phone]
Melbourne, 3001             FAX: [phone]
Australia                Email: [e-mail]

Europe:
        Prof. Guy Pujolle
Laboratoire PRiSM
Universite de Versailles - Saint-Quentin
45, avenue des Etats-Unis        Tel: [phone]
78 035 Versailles Cedex         FAX: [phone]
France                    Email: [e-mail]

North America:
        Prof. Andre Girard
INRS-Telecommunications
16, place du Commerce            Tel: [phone]
Verdun, Quebec                FAX: [phone]
Canada    H3E 1H6             Email: [e-mail]

North East Asia:
        Prof. Yutaka Takahashi
Department of Applied Mathematics and Physics
Faculty of Engineering
Kyoto University            Tel: [phone]
Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606    FAX:
Japan                    Email: [e-mail]

South and Central America:
        Dr. Ernesto Santibanez-Gonzalez
School of Industrial Engineering
Catholic University of Valparaiso    Tel: [phone]
Av. Brasil 2147             FAX: [phone]
Chile                    Email: [e-mail]
    and    Prof. Henrique Pacca L. Luna
Department of Computer Science
Federal University of Minas Gerais    Tel:
31270-901 Belo Horizonte - MG        FAX:
Brazil                    Email: [e-mail]

Chairman of the Economics track:
        Prof. Jeffrey Mackie-Mason
Department of Economics         Tel: [phone]
University of Michigan            FAX: [phone]
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1220        Email: [e-mail]
    and    Prof. William W. Sharkey

All other geographic areas:
        Prof. Bezalel Gavish
Owen Graduate School of Management
Vanderbilt University            Tel: [phone]
401 21st Avenue South            FAX: [phone]
Nashville, TN  37203            Email:    [e-mail]


Listed below are some of the potential segments:

Configuration of ATM networks
Internet and its impact on commerce
Topological Design and Network Configuration Problems
Design and Analysis of Local Access Networks and Outside Plant Problems
Low Earth Orbit Satellite communication systems
Cellular Systems and PCS Modelling and Configuration
Time Dependent Expansion of Telecommunication Systems
Designing Networks for Reliability and Availability
Network Design Problems in Gigabit and Terabit Networks
LAN, WAN Global Network Interconnection
ATM, ISDN, BISDN Modeling and Analysis Issues
Artificial Intelligence/Heuristics in  Telecommunication Systems
Quantitative Methods in Network Management
Pricing and Economic Analysis of Telecommunications
Impact of Telecommunications on Industrial Organization
Performance Evaluation of Telecommunication Systems
Distributed Computing and Distributed Data Bases
Security and Privacy issues in Telecommunications
Virtual reality, Multimedia and their impact

The Program Committee is open to any ideas you might have regarding
additional topics or format of the conference.  The intention is to
limit the number of parallel sessions to two.  The conference is
scheduled over a weekend so as to reduce teaching conflicts for
academic participants, take advantage of weekend hotel and airfare
rates and of the many events that take place in the downtown area.

Due to the limit on the number of participants early registration is
recommended.  To ensure your participation, please use the following steps:

1.  Send to the appropriate Program Committee Chair by October 1,
1995, a paper (preferable), or titles and abstracts for potential
presentations to be considered for the conference.    Sending more
than one abstract is encouraged, enabling the Program Committee to
have a wider choice in terms of assigning talks to segments.  Use
E-mail to expedite the submission of titles and abstracts.

2.  Use the form at the end of this message to preregister for the
conference.  Let us also know if you would like to have a formal duty
during the conference as: Session Chair, or Discussant.

3.  You will be notified by December 1, 1995, which abstract/s has
been selected for the conference.  Detailed instructions on how to
prepare camera ready copies will be sent to authors of accepted
presentations.  January 30, 1996, is the deadline for sending a final
version of the paper.  Participants will receive copies of the
collection of papers to be presented.  All papers submitted to the
conference will be considered for publication in the
"Telecommunication Systems" Journal.

The Program Committee looks forward to receiving your feedback/ideas.
Feel free to volunteer any help you can offer.  If you have
suggestions for Segment Leaders (i.e., individuals who will have a
longer time to give an overview/state of the art talk on their segment
subject) please E-mail them to Prof Gavish.  Also, if there are
individuals whose participation you view as important, please send
their names and E-mail addresses to the Program Committee Chairman, or
forward to them a copy of this message.

I look forward to a very successful conference.

Sincerely yours,
Bezalel Gavish

                 Cut Here

    Fourth International Conference on Telecommunication Systems
             Modelling and Analysis
               REGISTRATION FORM           Date: __________________
Location: Nashville, TN
   Dates: March 21, 1996 (afternoon) to March 24, 1996

       Name: ________________________________________ Title: __________________

Affiliation: __________________________________________________________________

    Address: __________________________________________________________________

         __________________________________________________________________

      Phone: ____________________________  FAX: _______________________________

     E-mail: __________________________________________________________________

Potential Title of Paper(s): __________________________________________________

       ____________________________________________________________________


I would like to Volunteer as              Comments
A Session Chair   :  Yes  No   ________________________________________________
A Discussant      :  Yes  No   ________________________________________________
Organize a Session:  Yes  No   ________________________________________________
                   ________________________________________________



REGISTRATION RATES and DEADLINES

                 Last Applicable   Participant Type
                      Date       Academic  Industry
                ----------------   --------  --------
1. Preregistration      Until   Dec. 1, 1996         $ 350     $ 450
2. Registration       Until   Feb. 1, 1996         $ 400     $ 500
3. Registration       After   Feb. 1, 1996         $ 450     $ 650

Mail your registration form and check to:

           Mrs. Dru Lundeng
           Owen Graduate School of Management
           Vanderbilt University
           401 21st Avenue, South
           Nashville, TN 37203, USA
The check should be addressed to:
           4th Int'l. Telecomm Systems Conference

Refund Policy: Half refund, for requests received by February 1, 1996.
           No refund after February 1, 1996.

If you have any questions regarding the conference, please contact Dru Lundeng
at 615-322-3694 or through E-mail at [e-mail].


Bezalel Gavish
Owen Graduate School of Management
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN, 37203
Bitnet: GAVISHB@VUCTRVAX
Internet: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone]                Home: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #402
******************************


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Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 13:34:26 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #403

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 25 Sep 95 13:34:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 403

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More ... (Doug Reuben)
    No Service in Boston for CO/Rhode Island Customers (Doug Reuben)
    Captive Tele-Consumers (Jim Cantrell)
    Book Review: How To Access The Federal Government on Internet (Rob Slade)
    UUNet Drops Access Via Compuserve, Leaves UUCP Customers Hanging (A Boritz)
    Need Assistance Doing ISP Traffic Analysis (Martin J. Slover)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (Doug Reuben)
Subject: Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More ...
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 02:58:07 EDT


Recently, Cell One/NY (00025) announced mandatory use of the *560/*56
Fraud Protection Feature.

This feature forces customers to enter *560+PIN (4 digits) after their
phone has been off for approximately 25 minutes. By doing so, it is felt
that cloning will be reduced as it will be harder to place calls if the
cloner does not know the PIN. (Solution: KEEP THE PHONE ON! - If a cloner
keeps the phone on, then the fraud protection feature is defeated, as it
never 'kicks in').

Despite this obvious flaw, the McCaw/Cell One (now using the silly and
hard-to-say "AT&T Wireless" name just so AT&T can be like Sprint) fraud
protection feature is vastly superior to the "B" side fraud protection
implementation in the Northeast, as on the B side:

(a) a PIN code is required for EVERY call,

(b) if a number is busy you can NOT hit "END" and then "SEND" to re-dial,
    since entering the PIN code erases the destination number,

(c) you waste extra airtime (which NYNEX actually CHARGED for a few months
    ago ... they say they have corrected this now ...),

(d) and you can't use a cellular modem or a Cellular -> RJ-11 adaptor

(HINT: To get them to remove the PIN feature from SNET, NYNEX, or BAMS
(B) accounts, just call and firmly state that you signed up so that you
could use your cellular modem, and that you expect to be able to do so,
BOTH in your home system and while roaming. Don't let them tell you any
nonsense about calling your modem manufacturer, just demand (calmly :) )
that it be removed. They will comply, and if they don't, tell them you
will immediately cancel your service contract with them and NOT pay a
dime in penalty fees, and that you want your monthly "in advance" service
fee returned to you.)

Anyhow, when Cell One/NY initially offered the Fraud Protection feature
to its customers last year, I reported a series of problems with the
feature that made it impractical. For example, if you roamed out of NY
with the feature "on" (ie, outgoing calls were denied), you would not be
able to change call-forwarding on turn call-delivery on or off from
visited (roaming) markets, such as Connecticut's and (then) ComCast's
EMX-based systems. In other Ericsson based markets, such as Albany and
Cantel's eastern Canadian systems, calls were blocked at all times, and
in many cases incoming calls would also fail. In all, the system was so
unreliable and useless that I had them take it off my phone.

It seems that they've made a number of improvements, and that it is now a
generally useful and unobtrusive system, except for one problem:

In the US Cellular/Poughkeepsie (00503) system, (and perhaps in others),
if the fraud protection feature is active (ie, no outgoing calls
allowed), if the phone is registered (turned on) within the system, and a
CO/NY roamer receives a call, it will be sent up to Poughkeepsie and
simply fail. Not message, no fast-busy, just dead air.

This is NOT the way the Fraud PF should work -- incoming calls are ALWAYS
allowed (unless Do Not Disturb is active, but you should be able to turn
Do Not Disturb *350/*35 on and off EVEN with Fraud Protection "on").
Currently, when in the US Cell 00503 system, a CO/NY customer can not
receive calls with the feature on, and has no way to know to turn the
feature on unless he/she tries to place a call and discovers that service
is denied.

I've called CO/NY about this, and they are looking into the problem, but
so far, nothing has been resolved. I'd like to hear from other McCaw/AT&T
customers who have had similar experiences in the instant as well as
other markets, especially Canada.

Other problems with CO/NY:

1. Most other markets do not have recordings to support the fraud
protection feature. So when a CO/NY customer roams into a new market, and
discovers that he/she can not place any calls (or receive them as in the
case with Poughkeepsie), the recording the roamer receives is of no help,
and the roamer has no idea why the calls keep failing.

For example, in Poughkeepsie, there is no recording -- the cell site
simply hangs up on the caller about 3 seconds after the channel is opened
(like Cantel used to). In ComCast (NJ/DE/Philly), the recording states
"If you are having trouble with your service feature, please call 611".
611, unfortunately, goes to a roaming operator when the Fraud Protection
Feature is active! :(

2. Cell One/NY recently, and quite foolishly, commenced mandatory 1+
dialing for most calls, even in many cases for calls within their own
service area. This has been explained to me as a "requirement" since AT&T
now owns them, but unless this "requirement" is specific to AT&T-owned
properties under the MFJ, I am not aware of any such MFJ, DOJ or other
requirement on the Bell-owned carriers. Indeed, most of them do NOT
require 1+ dialing in their markets, ever for roamers.

The 1+ requirement wastes airtime, control channel overhead, and
generally inconveniences customers no end. It is also not the slightest
bit necessary (unless the Ericsson switch, which in order to provide for
equal access, needs to have 1+ dialing. This still does not explain the
requirement that roamers dial 1+ for "local" calls. If it is an Ericsson
requirement, I think Ericsson may want to consider a software release to
correct this).

My cellphone is programmed with mainly 10-digit numbers. In some markets,
10-digit dialing is REQUIRED, and 11 digit will fail. I really don't want
to have TWO sets of numbers in memory, one for CO/NY, the rest for eslewhere.

This is a really frustrating requirement, and unless this is some scheme
by AT&T to get people used to 1+ local dialing because they are dreaming
of local equal access some day :), I'd suggest that CO/NY just get rid of
it. (Note that NYNEX does not require it ...)

3. As a result on the 1+ requirement, you need to dial *71+1+AC+# to
forward a call. However, in most other markets, you can hit *71+AC+# (no
extra "1"), and the call will be processed and sent to NY's switch.

What happens? When a caller calls your CO/NY number that has been
forwarded, they get a recording "Your call can not be completed as
dialed". You need to dial "*71-1-AC+#" from roaming markets as well to
forward your calls properly. Another pain in the neck with is IMHO
unecessary, and will lead to customer confusion. There are so few
customers who use their features currently, in part because of the
complications involved in roaming and previous frustrating experiences;
this new problem makes it even less likely that they will ever want to
use their features.

4. CO/NY customers who forwarded their calls in CT (in the Metro Mobile
system, not in CO/NY's "country" system in Litchfield, CT, which they got
after the local system failed to attract customers. Of course, they were
charging 60 cents per minute for HOME customers in an area of CT populated
mainly by cows...) were NOT able to unforward them, even though Metro
Mobile reported the confirmation tones upon the roamer's request to
unforward the call. This led the customer to think that he/she could
receive calls, when in fact, they were still being forwarded.

After contacting CO/NY, they seem to have swiftly addressed the issue,
however, I'd be interested to hear if RI roamers in the ex-Metro Mobile
system or Western Mass "A" side roamers continue to experience these
problems. (Or am I the only one who drives there? :) )

5. AT&T 500 service is STILL blocked in CO/NY's system, this after two
weeks notification of the problem and a nice letter from AT&T saying "You
may now use 0-500 dialing from your carphone..." Is it just me, or have
things gotten a bit worse with AT&T 500 access AFTER AT&T managed to take
over?

Hmmm ... that should about do it for now. I'll post followups as progress
is made.


Regards,

      Doug Reuben  *  [e-mail]   *  +1 (203) 499 - 5221
Interpage Network Services -- http://www.interpage.net, telnet interpage.net
E-Mail Alpha/Numeric Local/Nationwide Paging, Info., and E-Mail <-> Fax Svcs

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

From: [e-mail] (Doug Reuben)
Subject: No Service in Boston for CO/Rhode Island Customers
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 01:58:40 EDT


Recently, Bell Atlantic Metro Mobile's Rhode Island division was sold to
Southern New England Telephone, the local Bell company in Connecticut, and
the "B" side carrier in CT and (now) all of Western Mass.

Around the same time, Southwestern Bell-Cell One/Boston ridded itself of
its Motorola EMX switches (except for their "partnership"/dually-owned
system in New Hampshire [01485] with Atlantic Cellular-Cell One/VT
[00313], which is still served by their EMX), and after a *very* messy and
unprofessional transition to an AT&T Autoplex switch which went on for a
month or so, has managed to get back to a more or less reliable system.

However, something which no one seemed to notice was that a good deal
of Metro Mobile (errr ... sorry ... SNET/RI) customers were not able
to place or receive ANY calls in the Boston 00007 system. By this, I
mean no 611, no 911, no 0+, nothing! Each time a call was placed, the
caller would get an EQUIPMENT-generated "fast-busy" (ie, the signal
your cellphone makes, NOT the switch). When calling to a RI customer
in the Boston system, calls would simply be treated in RI and were
never sent to Boston.

One of my friends who has been a long time MM/RI customer called me
one day in early July to ask me if something was going on. After
checking it out with him, and confirming his results, I told him to
call MM/RI, and have them fix the problem. So he called, and called,
and called, and each time was met by a very polite representative, but
no one ever called back, and nothing was done.

Moreover, a number of MM/RI customers who we associate with and who
travel to Boston frequently (the Boston system starts 10 miles north of
RI, so there is a lot of cross-traffic) also reported a similar problem,
and after speaking to some of them, learned that they also received no
followup to their inquiries and that nothing had been done -- no one was
able to place or receive calls in the Boston system.

At this point, since we pay for an account with MM/RI for a consultant
who travels to Boston a lot, I decided to get involved, and press them to
correct the situation. I initially spoke with Todd Palmer (who seems to
have a somewhat authoritative position there), who handed me off to Mary
Rigiornio in their Warwick, RI office. Both were friendly and expressed
an earnest desire to correct the problem. When I inquired as to why this
has been going on for *three* months an nothing had been done prior to my
calls, they both had no answer, however.

In any event, this was three weeks ago. I've called both of them a number
of times recently, and neither has returned my calls. The situation is
still the same -- many, if not all, RI and Southeastern Mass "A" (00119)
customers can not place calls in the Boston system. I know from my own
trials that 401-523 and 508-997 do not work at all, and from what I can
tell from other customers' reports who have service on other RI/SE MA
cellular echanges, their success with placing/receiving calls in Boston
has not been any better.

At this point, I've more or less given up with the people in MM(CO)/RI,
and have already made contact with SNET Mobile in New Haven to see if
someone from there can get things moving.

If there are any MM/RI customers who are reading this who have
experienced similar problems in Boston, could you please drop me a short
note and just let me know the area code and prefix of your phone? (I
don't need the whole number). If you are reading this from some Web
Newsreader, go to "http://www.interpage.net", select to leave mail, and
send it with the subject "RI Cell" and I will receive it.

I'll post updates as the situation warrants ...


      Doug Reuben  *  [e-mail]   *  +1 (203) 499 - 5221
Interpage Network Services -- http://www.interpage.net, telnet interpage.net
E-Mail Alpha/Numeric Local/Nationwide Paging, Info., and E-Mail <-> Fax Svcs

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

Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 10:09:21 -0700
From: [e-mail] (jim cantrell)
Subject: Captive Tele-Consumers


[e-mail] (Jerald Pendleton) wrote:

> I recently recieved a bill I incurred during a recent vacation.  I
> made several phone calls from my motel room to numbers within the
> state of California.  They charged me $9.13 for a four minute call
> (apparently four minutes is the minimum) ... The phone was blocked...

I've had my own experiences with these types of scams -- perhaps not scams
technically, but morally.

I have paid innumerable charges from operator assist collect call
outfits that survive by taking advantage of the unwary traveler.  I've
also received innumerable solicitations from these same companies
wanting me to sign up pay phones on their service in order to split
the $2 or $3 per minute charges.

My response when I turn down these opportunities to "TURN THAT PAY
PHONE IN TO A PROFIT CENTER!" is that we provide pay phones for the
convience of our customer, associates, and employees, all of whom we
value to dearly to gouge for nickle and dimes.

It is time we initiate legislative action to provide some protection
for the consumer.  The situation as I see it:

  1. The companies do not provide additional value in exchange for
higher price.  They are not investing in the installation of more
phones but rely on switching these services from other, usually
cheaper, services and provide only what was already available but at
an increased rate.

  2. They prey on an almost captive consumer.  The market base for
these services are primarily people in transit -- customers at motels,
truckstops, hospitals, etc. -- who may not have an understanding of the
alternatives or the costs they are incurring. In many motels, use of
an alternative service is made as difficult as possible.

  3. A sound contract requires a knowledgable agreement by both
parties of the terms.  Although callers undoubtedly realize that they
or the called party will be charged for the call, many are unaware
that the charge may be double or triple the lowest rates available.
Those who accept collect calls made via these companies receive no
warning, sometimes the identity of the service provider AFTER the call
is accepted.

We can't ban these companies from providing service at these
preposterous rates or prohibit hotels and motels from gouging their
customers, however, it is fitting and proper that we require, through
legislative actions at the state and federal levels, that these
services provide the information necessary for the consumer to make a
knowledgable decision.

Every hotel and motel should have rates and alternate carrier
instructions readily available to every phone user; every collect call
should have the rates available or announced to the caller, the rates
and identity of the service provider announced to the recipient of the
call.

The companies that provide these services will complain about the cost
of implementation, but what the heck, were already paying for it.

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

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 12:58:49 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "How to Access the Federal Government on the Internet"


BKHAFGOI.RVW   950712

"How to Access the Federal Government on the Internet", Bruce Maxwell, 1995, 1-
56802-034-1, U$22.95
%A   Bruce Maxwell [e-mail]
%C   1414 22nd Street N.W., Wasington, DC   20037
%D   1995
%G   1-56802-034-1
%I   Congressional Quarterly Inc.
%O   U$22.95 [phone] [phone] fax [phone]
%O   202-822-1423 fax [phone] [e-mail]
%P   402
%S   Washington Online
%T   "How to Access the Federal Government on the Internet"

For those interested in (the U.S.) government, and access to its
information, Maxwell has provided a very useful compendium of
addresses.  As he admits, this is not an exhaustive list to U.S.
federal government systems available through the Internet, but it
definitely gives a good, broad starting field.  University and other
sites with a specialized interest in the government are listed,
although strictly political organizations are rare.  For example, the
"Queer Resources Directory" is included, but the Electronic Frontier
Foundation is not.

The reader is expected to be reasonably familiar with the Internet
use: the information given in the introduction is too brief to be
helpful to a neophyte.  The listings themselves, however, give clear
"vital statistics" on access methods, and a detailed and useful
write-up for each site.

All of that would be extremely valuable for those interested in
government and access to information, but since the feds have fingers
in just about every pie, there is much more.  The various departments
provide information on agriculture, business, computers, demographics,
education, energy, environment, foreign affairs, medicine, history,
employment, law, technology, and transportation.  Government sites
often provide the most informative content to be found in the net.
Maxwell has added to this with a very useful index: I didn't really
expect to find anything under "Viruses, computer" but was pleasantly
surprised to note a pointer to the NIST Computer Security Archive
(http://csrc.ncsl.nist.gov).

For the avid U.S. government watcher, an essential.  For the serious
Internet information gatherer, regardless of nationality, a very
useful resource.


copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKHAFGOI.RVW   950712. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.

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

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

Subject: UUNet Drops Access Via Compuserve, Leaves UUCP Customers Hanging
From: drharry![e-mail] (Alan Boritz)
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 08:08:49 EDT
Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - [phone]


UUNet announced to their customers last week that they were
discontinuing access via Compuserve's packet-switched network by
10/1/95, and phasing in a new V.34 rotary (with much fewer POP's).
The announcement, written 9/15/95, left their customers a little more
than two weeks to change their access arrangements, or find service
elsewhere.  Also in their announcement to UUNet customers, UUNet
staffer Michael Byman announced that they were phasing out uucp
service on the older rotaries.

The only problem, though, is that both uucp and ip customers are
experiencing some severe connect problems through the new V.34 rotary,
which appear to be running Ascend Pipeline Terminal Servers.  UUNet
doesn't appear to be in a hurry to respond to connect problems with
this new (and more expensive) access arrangement, or at least not for
uucp customers (no doubt Microsoft Net customers will be treated a lot
better).  Now that UUNet has expanding their customer base, and will
be publicly traded, one would think they would have the resources to
develop a competent technical support group.  Or perhaps this was the
area within which UUNet stated they had to hire additional qualified
personnel (in their 5/25/95 perspectus).  Time will tell if they
really mean business, or if this is just one very rude way of getting
rid of one class of customer that they may see as less profitable.

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

From: [e-mail] (Martin J. Slover)
Subject: Need Assistance Doing ISP Traffic Analysis
Date: 24 Sep 1995 16:30:49 -0700


I am hoping that this gets out in time but I need some assistance in
doing a report on traffic analysis in regards to setting up an ISP.
Specifically I need comments on what grade of service would I
specifically want?  What demands on the systems cause the most
problems with traffic flow? If anyone can give me some info please
email me at [e-mail].


Thanks...

Max Slover     [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #403
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Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #404

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 25 Sep 95 14:05:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 404

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    President Clinton Speaks on E.T. (Clinton Speech via M. Troutman)
    Carribean Hurricane Damage (FEMA Public Affairs via Danny Burstein)
    GSM Cellular Tariffs For Norway (Markus Schlegel)
    Need DID Access in NY - NYTel Unresponsive! (Doug Reuben)
    Announcing TELECOM UPDATE (Ian Angus)
    Last Laugh! CLID in CA - Alice at the State Bldg! (S.J. Slavin)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: M. Troutman <[e-mail]>
Subject: President Clinton Speaks on E.T.
Date: 25 Sep 1995 14:01:12 GMT
Organization: PSI Public Usenet Link


President Clinton spoke last Thursday to school students in California.
Here are his comments.

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

Remarks By The President On Education Technology And Connecting
Classrooms

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. First of all, I'd like to thank
Mr. Delecourt and all of the people who hosted us here. To Mayor
Jordan and your outstanding California Commissioner of Education
Delaine Eastin and to all of the others who are gathered here today --
thank you very much for being here with us. (Applause.)

I want to say to all the students here that the Vice President and I
are delighted to see you. Normally, we would not want to be responsible
for taking you out of class, but today we think maybe we have a good
reason, and we hope we have a chance to shake hands with a lot of you
as soon as this brief ceremony is over. I want to say to all of the
executives of the information companies that we just met with how very
grateful I am to you and I'll say a few words about them in a moment.

I came here to San Francisco today to issue a challenge to America to
see to it that every classroom in our country -- every classroom in
our country is connected to the Information Superhighway.  To demonstrate
that this is possible, we are all here today to announce a giant step
toward that future. By the end of this school year, every school in
California, 12,000 of them, will have access to the Internet and its
vast world of knowledge. By the end of this school year, fully 20
percent of California's classrooms, 2,500 -- kindergartens, elementary,
middle and high schools, from one end of this state to the other, will
be connected for computers. If that can be done in California, we can
do it in the rest of America.

But the key is to have the kind of partnership that we are celebrating
here.  The job of connecting California schools will be undertaken by
a wide alliance of private sector companies -- among them, Sun
Microsystems, Apple, Xerox Parc, Oracle, 3Com, Silicon Graphics,
Applied Materials, TCI, Cisco Systems and others. Our administration
has brought these companies together, we have set goals, but they are
doing the rest.  Just as the connecting of our classrooms is a model
for the 21st century, so is the way we are doing it here today -- with
government as a catalyst, not a blank check. So today, I challenge
business and industry and local government throughout our country to
make a commitment of time and resources so that by the year 2000,
every classroom in America will be connected.

Tens of millions of parents all across our nation have watched their
children play every kind of video game from Mortal Kombat and Primal
Rage to Killer Instinct and Super Streetfighter. But the really
important new computer game in America is learning. And we are going
to put it at the disposal of every child in this country by the end of
the century.

Last month, I announced a broad initiative to stop our children from
being addicted to tobacco because it was bad for them. Today I hope to
encourage a good habit -- a lifelong commitment to learning.  I want
to get the children of America hooked on education through computers.

Our country was built on a simple value that we have an obligation to
pass better lives and better opportunities on to the next generation.
And we see them all here. Education is the way we make this promise
real. Today, at the dawn of a new century, in the midst of an
information and communications revolution, education depends upon
computers. If we make an opportunity for every student, a fact in the
world of modems and megabytes, we can go a long way toward making the
American Dream a reality for every student. Not virtual reality --
reality for every student.

The facts speak for themselves. Children with access to computers
learn faster and learn better. Scores on standardized tests for
children taught with computers, according to "Apple Classrooms of
Tomorrow," a 10-year report that is coming out in a few days, caused
scores to go up by 10 to 15 percent.  Children mastered basic skills
in 30 percent less time than would normally have been the case. Also,
they stayed in school.  Absenteeism dropped from over eight percent to
under five percent.

I cannot emphasize how important this is at a time when we want people
to stay in school and get as much education as they possibly can.
Technology enriches education, it teaches our children how to learn
better, as the Vice President and I saw with the young people who
walked in with us in their three different exhibitions of learning,
and we thank them for that today.

We must make technological literacy a standard. Preparing our children
for a lifetime of computer use is now just as essential as teaching
them to read and write and do math. With this effort, we are also
reinforcing the core convictions that have stood us so well for so
long. Computers offer a world that lives up to our highest hopes of
equal opportunity for all. And look what we need equal opportunity for
all for.

Computers give us a world where people are judged not by the color of
their skin or their gender or their family's income, but by their
minds, how well they can express themselves on those screens. If we
can teach our children these values, if they can learn to respect
themselves and each other, then we can be certain we'll have stronger
families, stronger communities, and a stronger America in the 21st
century.

I could think of no better place for us to begin than here in
California -- the state that leads the world in technological
innovation. Until now, this leadership too often has stopped at the
schoolroom door, for California ranks 45th in the nation in the ration
of students to computers. While suburban children often have access to
computers in their homes, other children in rural areas and inner
cities pass their school years without coming close to the Information
Superhighway. The longer they're kept away, the less chance they have
of building good lives in a global economy.

Well, thanks to the dedicated Americans gathered here today, all that
is going to change.  These companies who compete vigorously every day
in the marketplace have come together in the classroom. We shared with
them our vision, and they shared with us their ideas, their resources,
and their know-how. Every company represented here today is making a
different contribution, but they're all committed to the goal of
connecting California because they know the future depends upon it.

Sun Microsystems is organizing a coalition of companies and
volunteering in Net Day, an effort to install networks in at least
2,000 schools. And the number is growing with each new company joining
the effort. In the morning, volunteers will arrive at each school. By
noon they will have wired the library, the labs, the classrooms. By
nightfall, those schools will have the technology they deserve.

Smart Valley, a coalition of Silicon Valley companies, has contributed
$15 million to putting technology in our schools. Smart Valley has
agreed to develop 500 model technology schools over the next two
years.

America Online has offered Internet services for a year. Even those
phone companies that are always going after each other on TV have
joined forces in this cause. AT&T will provide Internet access and
voice mail to all California schools. Sprint will help to connect the
schools. MCI will provide software for entry into the Internet and
help to connect the schools. And Pacific Bell, which has led the way
in linking California schools, is accelerating its efforts this school
year by hooking them up to high-speech phone lines.

I want to thank them all, and I'd like to ask the leaders of these
companies here to stand, and I hope the children will give them a
hand, because they've done a great thing for your future.

Please stand up, all of you who met with me earlier today. Thank you
so much. (Applause.)

This is an enormous effort. It will take the same spirit and tenacity
that built our railroads and highways. It will take leadership and
dedication of groups like the advisory council I have appointed on the
Information Superhighway. So let us begin. Let today mark the start of
our mission to connect every school in America by the year 2000.

If we can connect 20 percent of the schools in the largest state in
the nation in less than a year, we can surely connect the rest of the
country by the end of the decade. In the coming days, I will announce
the winners of our Technology Learning Challenge. And over the next
several weeks, I will put forward a public-private partnership plan
that lays out how we can move our entire nation toward the goal of
technological literacy for every young person in America.

Here are its guiding principles: Modern computers in every classroom,
accessible to every student from kindergarten through 12th grade,
networks that connect students to other students, schools to other
schools, and both to the world outside. Educational software that is
worthy of our children and their best aspirations and, finally,
teachers with the training and the assistance they need to make the
most of these new technologies.

Make no mistake: You can count on us for leadership, but the goal we
have set cannot be set and cannot be achieved by government alone. It
can only be met the way these companies are doing it -- with communities,
businesses, governments, teachers, parents and students all joining
together -- a high-tech barn-raising.

What we are doing is the equivalent of going to a dusty adobe
settlement in early 19th century California and giving every child a
slate and a piece of chalk to write with. It's akin to walking into a
rough-hewn classroom in the Sierras of the 1860s and wiring it for
electricity for the first time. It's like going to the Central Valley
in the 1930s to the canvas classrooms of the Dust Bowl refugees and
giving every child this book. Chalk boards, electricity, accessible
books -- there was a time, believe it or not, when all these were
rare.  Now, every one is such a familiar part of our lives that we
take them for granted.

If we stay on course, we'll soon reach a day when children and their
parents and their teachers will walk into a classroom filled with
computers, and not even give it a second thought. Let's go to work.
Our future depends upon it, and these children's lives will be better
for it.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

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

From: [e-mail] (danny burstein)
Subject: Carribean Hurricane Damage
Date: 25 Sep 1995 12:53:31 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway


Some reports from FEMA about the hurricane damage in the Virgin Islands.
Check out the information given regarding utility damage and repairs.

              ---------- Forwarded message ----------

 Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 12:25:53 -0400 (EDT)
 From: Emergency Information Public Affairs <[e-mail]>
 To: [e-mail]
 Subject: SitRep 16p 9/24/95 (part 2)


A Task Force has been established to address fraud, waste, and abuse.
This is standard procedure in all disaster responses managed by FEMA
under the Stafford Act.  The Task Force is intended to stop
individuals who are not entitled to assistance from applying, to
identify those who are not legally in the country, to counter
fraudulent claims, and to prevent fraudulent claims against the
Federal Insurance Administration.

There will be approximately 120,000 lbs. of food shipped into St.
Thomas today for household distribution to all three Virgin Islands
tomorrow.  An estimated 40,000 of the 50,000 residents on St. Thomas
need emergency food at this time.

Current information, including press releases, maps, and weather
information, regarding the status of the Federal response to Hurricane
Marilyn in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is available on the FEMA
Home Page on the Internet at http:\\www.fema.gov .  This information
is being published and managed by FEMA Public Affairs.

Tomorrow (Monday) food will be distributed in bags at all distribution
centers.  Each bag will provide enough food for 2 people for one day.
Larger families may pick up more than one bag, proportionate to the
size of their family.

As we enter the ninth day of operations in the Virgin Islands, the
military has flown 657 sorties of all types bringing in 5.25 million
pounds of cargo.  We are currently delivering 80,000 gallons of water
and 50,000 lbs of ice daily on the islands.  We have delivered 12,000
rolls of plastic, approximately 8,000,000 square feet.

Federal Responders

A total of 2694 federal agency personnel deployed in the field as of today:

Federal Emergency Management Agency
     332 Emergency Management Specialists
     66  MERS/MATTS Communicators

Department of Defense
     16  Mobile Field Kitchen Support Personnel
     225 Mass Care teams
     6   Combat Control Team personnel
     210 Tanker/Airlift Control Element (TALCE)
     112 USACE
     4   NCS
     186 Various affiliations

Federal Law Enforcement
     468 Special Agents and Sworn Officers
     31  Charleston SC Police Officers

Public Health and Related Services
     213 USPHS Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATS)/MSU
     12  DVA
     17  EPA
     9   Food and Consumer Service

Other Departments and Agencies
     282 Incident Management team personnel
     3   Department of Interior (DOI)
     3   Department of Energy (DOE)
     999 American Red Cross (ARC) (not counting PR and USVI volunteers)
     2   Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

ESF #1 (Transportation - Department of Transportation (DOT))

Three plane loads (50 pallets per plane) of plastic sheeting will
depart today for St. Thomas from Jacksonville, FL.  One or two
additional planes will go tomorrow.  All plastic sheeting has now
arrived in Jacksonville. A flight from Dallas to St. Croix will
deliver 50 additional pallets of plastic and is scheduled to arrive at
8:00 pm..

120,000 pounds of food is being sent from Kansas City to St. Thomas
today.  Dog and cat food will be sent September 25 from Atlanta.
Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) personnel from Florida and
Tulsa departed by 11:30 am.  American Red Cross (150 people) are being
transported from Atlanta to St. Thomas.

The ongoing shuttle from San Juan and St. Thomas is carrying approximately
200 people daily.

ESF #2 (Communications - NCS)

Federal disaster veterans state that, overall, this disaster has
created on St.  Thomas the most extensive telecommunications and
electric power infrastructure damage seen in over 20 years (much worse
than Hurricane Andrew in Miami or Hurricane Hugo in VI and South
Carolina).  While Central Office facilities have basically survived,
the island's heavy reliance on aerial distribution plant has crippled
interoffice and subscriber connectivity.

Initial priority has been directed towards restoring the cellular
infrastructure.  Two systems operate on island: VITELCO and
CellularONE. Off-island communications has been aided by AT&T's
restoration of undersea cable connectivity to the Charlotte Amalie
area via microwave links.  The donated MCI satellite phone banks have
been loaded and departed for St. Thomas.  Ground transportation and
refueling requirements for the MCI phone banks are being coordinated
at the Disaster Field Office (DFO).

Skypager service is now working on St. Thomas as of 2:15 pm September
24.  ESF #2 is coordinating restoration of ten lines to Emergency
Broadcast System (EBS) radio station in St. Thomas FEMA, FEMA
personnel are assessing providing a laser shot between Disaster Field
Office (DFO) and Vitelco Central Office.

Vitelco Cellular is on site at Disaster Field Office (DFO) to program
cellular phones for federal response workers.  Vitelco wireless has a
representative on site in Disaster Field Office (DFO) to coordinate
federal disaster telecommunications priorities and requirements.
Vitelco has been appraised of the requirements for the Disaster Field
Office (DFO) and the four Recovery Centers that have been identified,
two on St. Thomas, one on St. Croix, and one on St. John.

One of the 400 MHZ repeaters has been repaired by the service provider
and is operational.  The second repeater has been repaired and is
providing intermittent service.  The service provider will send
additional technicians to the site on September 25.  The 150 MHZ
system ordered by FEMA is operational on a five system portable
repeater network and 200 handsets.  An additional 200 handsets and 5
full size repeaters are on order and expected delivery to St. Thomas
is September 25.

ESF #3 (Public Works and Engineering - Army Corp of Engineers)

A bottled water contract for delivery of 50,000 gallons per day is in
place and will be effective on September 25.  FEMA is arranging
priority movement of 2,800 rolls (20x100 ft. each) of plastic sheeting
from Thomasville and Denton MERS to St. Croix and St. Thomas.
Delivery of the plastic sheeting to St.  Thomas and St. Croix for the
contractor to use in reconstruction work is a pressing issue. Part of
the shipment of four Army Corp of Engineers 750kws generators arrived
in Puerto Rico on a C-5A and are being barged to St.  Thomas.  The
remaining generators are being prepared for movement via C-17 direct
to St. Thomas for use at the hospital.  Five FEMA generators (2-550kw,
3-425kw) will be flown from Jackson, MS, to the Virgin Islands for use
in high priority areas.

ESF #4 (Firefighting - USDA)

Two fire stations on St. Thomas are not functional at this time and
have been de-activated.  Roofing, electricity, communications systems,
and fire suppression equipment have been damaged or destroyed.  The
North Station must be completely rebuilt.  Plans for reconstructing
the stations on St.  Croix and St. John will be delivered by September
24.  Fire operations will continue from the Charlotte Amalie Station
and Tutu Station until further notice.  It should be noted that
response times from the remaining stations to unprotected areas is
greatly increased due to traffic congestion, debris remaining in roads
and increased distances to be traveled.  The build up of debris
between structures on steeper mid-slopes presents an increased fuel
hazard requiring analysis to recommend appropriate strategies for fire
suppression and fuel treatment.

On St. John, there is minor damage to one fire station and roof damage
to a second.  Both stations are currently staffed however.  Response
time to potential incidents is slightly impacted and road debris clean
up is proceeding well.

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

From: Markus Schlegel <[e-mail]>
Subject: GSM Cellular Tariffs For Norway
Date: 23 Sep 1995 12:55:25 GMT
Organization: Telenor R&D


At http://www.unik.no/~markus/norgsm.html you can find a listing of
GSM cellular tariffs for Norway.

Since this page has been unexpectedly successful, I am thinking about
enlarging the view to Europe in general. For this, I would be thankful
if oyu could send me information on this subject.

Please also see the "request for info" at
http://www.unik.no/~markus/gsmhe.html


Thanks,

Markus Schlegel
At UNIK, Center for Technology, University of Oslo (Norway)
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Doug Reuben)
Subject: Need DID Access in NY - NYTel Unresponsive!
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 01:11:06 EDT


We've recently come to the conclusion that DID *may* be better than
adding new phone lines all the time ...:)

With that in mind, I called down to the local New York Telephone business
center in New York City to inquire about rates, how it would be set up,
transition to DID, etc, ie, basic information.

I was told by the rep: "Ok, please fax us the questions and we will have
someone get back to you next week". Ok, well, maybe they think I'm a
vendor or something, so I explain I just want some general information
about the service, and the rep goes "Well, write all the questions down
and fax it to us, and we will get back to you next week."

Errr ... Ok, I thought, maybe I have the wrong office. So once again I
tried "Well, all I really need is to ask some basic questions about
how DID works, rates, how long it generally takes to set up, etc. So I
really don't need to fax anything, 'cause these are sort of general
questions, and don't you have anyone somewhere else to take such
calls?". NYTel's response: "Fax it to us". (I figured the next thing
they would say is "nevermore"! :) )

So before the rep started to break out into a repetitive chorus of
"Quoth the Raven", I figured I'd try one last time: "Look, all I want
you to do is fax me or mail me some literature on DID so that I can
decide if I want to use NYTel, which at this point I am not sure I
do!". And of course you know the answer NYTel gave, so rather than
waste half an hour faxing things to someone who was so enamored by the
concept of faxing that he would probably frame whatever was sent to
him, I figured I'd call the NYTel President's Helpline to see what
they had to offer.

After the usual ten minute wait, I got a rep who at first seemed
interested in helping me, but when I explained the problem, ie, that I
merely wanted to get some more information about DID and that their
business office had been very unhelpful, she quickly lost interest.
(Apparently, the President's Helpline is mainly to prevent irate
telephone customers from calling the NY Public Service Commission. My
complaint really wasn't something you would go to the PSC about, so
she wasn't interested.) She did eventually manage to take my name and
number, and said that someone would call back. She explained that the
people handling DID service have "commitments" to other customers, and
thus couldn't take my call right away.

Huh?!!

Ok, well, maybe I don't know too much about how DID works, but I DO
know what poor service is, and THAT is it! It's outrageous that I or
someone in my office (we only have a small staff, and we are quite
busy) take the time to compose a fax to ask some service rep. at NYTel
some basic questions. Moreover, in the event of a failure, I'd hate to
have to fax a failure report to them and wait a week or so to have the
problem resolved!

So ... any other alternatives besides NYTel? We basically need to have
maybe 100 DID "numbers" route to 10 or so lines, with expansion as our
business grows. We'd like to buy them on a "per-use" basis, ie, we don't
want to get a block of 500 and only use 20 or so for the first few
months.

Signalling to our system is also important, and we'd need an effective
and scaleable method for having DID information signalled to our system.

Any help or responses from other providers besides NYTel/NYNEX would be
appreciated!


Thanks,

      Doug Reuben  *  [e-mail]   *  +1 (203) 499 - 5221
Interpage Network Services -- http://www.interpage.net, telnet interpage.net
E-Mail Alpha/Numeric Local/Nationwide Paging, Info., and E-Mail <-> Fax Svcs

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

From: Ian Angus <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 11:32:07 -0400
Subject: Announcing TELECOM UPDATE


Angus TeleManagement Group is pleased to announce the introduction of
TELECOM UPDATE, a weekly on-line news bulletin for Canadian telecommun-
ications professionals.

TELECOM UPDATE is published on the first business day of each week,
and is distributed without charge. It is available in two formats:

1. On the World Wide Web: go to http://www.angustel.ca, and select TELECOM
UPDATE from the main menu. The current issue and all past issues are available
at that location.

2. By electronic mail: send an email message to [e-mail].
The body of your message should say only subscribe update <Your Name>.

Angus TeleManagement Group is an independent consulting and research firm,
specializing in business telecommunications since 1979. We publish the monthly
magazine TELEMANAGEMENT, and, together with our suster firm, Angus Dortmans
Associates, we provide telecom advisory services to business, government, and
supplier organizations.


IAN ANGUS                       Tel: [phone] ext 222
Angus TeleManagement Group      Fax: [phone]
8 Old Kingston Road             e-mail: [e-mail]
Ajax Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7     http://www.angustel.ca

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

From: [e-mail] (SJSlavin)
Subject: Last Laugh! Status of CLID in CA - Alice at the State Bldg!
Date: 25 Sep 1995 00:37:18 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (SJSlavin)


The FCC Interstate order for CLID remains due 12-1-95. Pacific wants
to offer intrastate at the same time -- makes good sense. But, AHA --
CPUC wants a public education program before they may offer it;
Pacific feels they can provide such a program, but CPUC needs to
approve it first -- can't trust those rascals in LEC-land to put
together a PR campaign, can we? -- and the CPUC won't be able to do
that before Spring, 1996. The State's appeal to the 9th Circuit has
hearings scheduled for November, so CPUC wants the LEC's to ask the
FCC to postpone their nationwide interstate order until California
argues that the feds have no right to pre-empt the state.

Pretty soon Alice will run into the Mad Hatter, crossing Van Ness Ave
going into the State Bldg. One or both must work there on the 5th floor.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #404
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #405

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 25 Sep 95 14:42:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 405

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Gary Novosielski)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Robert McMillin)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Clive D.W. Feather)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Clifton T. Sharp)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (Martin McCormick)
    Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (John Nagle)
    Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (Peter Laws)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Juergen Ziegler)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (David H. Close)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Wes Leatherock)

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 to qualified organizations and individual
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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: [e-mail]
Organization: Small Business Administration
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 95 03:01:43 -0400
Subject: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives


[e-mail] (John Levine) writes:

> This [inability to dial local calls as 1+<home NPA>+<number>] is
> only the case in states where short-sighted people have forced the
> 1+ = toll nonsense. In New  Jersey, the Land of Perfect Dialing, this
> is how it's always worked, you can  dial all calls with 11 digits
> even within your own exchange and it handles them correctly. I
> believe it's the case in most areas where you can dial all intra-NPA
> calls with 7 digits.

Well, "always" is a long time. For the vast bulk of the time since
area codes were invented, we (in New Jersey) never had to dial more
than 10 digits. It wasn't until NJ Bell was getting ready to introduce
the first of the NXX-style central office designations that we were
forced to begin any type of call with a 1+. Prior to that time, the CO
could tell an NPA from an NNX by format alone, so only 10 digits were
needed.

But, though a leading 1 was not required, it was tolerated. In fact,
the CO would absorb an arbitrarily long string of leading 1 digits
without so much as breaking the dial tone. So strictly speaking you
*are* correct that it would have "worked" even back then. I guess we
really are the Land of Perfect Dialing. :)

> Call Trace serves this [unblockable Caller ID] function now. It does
> what caller-ID is frequently misrepresented as doing, collecting the
> calling number of a call that you need to report to the cops.

Don't bet your life on it!

Call Trace, it turns out, is often not much better than Caller ID at
turning up a number. A friend and client of mine recently had a "need
to report" just such a call. He immediately dialed *57 for Call Trace,
and got a recording: "We're sorry, the number cannot be traced because
it is out of the area."

(He reported the call to the cops in any case, of course, and they were as
helpful as they could be, but without the Call Trace information, there's
not much to go on.)

Anyway, I spoke on a three-way with my friend and the folks at Bell
Atlantic, and they confirmed that had the call come from as close as
just across the Hudson in the 212 NPA, Call Trace would *not* pick it
up. Call Trace *will* see past per-line or per-call ID blocking, but
if the Caller ID box would have shown "Out-of-Area," the Call Trace
would probably fail.

In fact, we had reason to believe that the call *did* originate in
NYNEX territory, so I asked BA to contact NYNEX. They did so, and said
that the response from the NYNEX security department was that they
would not supply call detail information without a court order, and
that the entity whose outgoing calls were to be scrutinized would have
to be identified on the warrant / subpoena / whatever. Without call
trace info, where are you going to get a court order?

Fortunately, Call Trace is NOT the last word, but the alternatives all
require some advance preparation, so they are only effective against
repeat offenders.  They're all administered by the telco's Annoyance
Call Bureau, whose number is available from the phone book or the
business offices.

Some of the options in their bag of tricks (at least in Bell Atlanticland)
are are:

1) they can change your number to an unlisted number.

2) they can temporarily re-translate your line to a fictitious number,
and forward your listed directory number to a human intercept
operator. The operator will ask anyone calling your LDN what number
they're calling from, and will attempt to verify that they're telling
the truth. (I had the distinct impression that the ability to verify
this in real time was fairly limited, perhaps not even as good as Call
Trace) If the caller refuses to supply a number, or supplies a known
phoney, he doesn't get through. If he seems okay, the operator will
either ring through, or tell the caller the temporary number at which
you can be reached. (I forget which).

3) they can institute a "Trap-and-Trace" on your line. This, according
to the ACB, requires some additional equipment or other resources to
be dedicated to the line. It also requires your written and signed
authorization, but this can be done by fax, and the setup time is
under two hours. For a period of time which varies from case to case,
typically at least two weeks, each and every incoming call to your
line is automatically traced, if possible, and the information
recorded. According to the ACB rep, the success rate is *much* higher
than with normal Call Trace, as it uses a completely different
technology. For one thing, it will see past many types of forwarding.
Although all calls are traced, only the ones which you identify (by
date and exact time) as being suspicious are forwarded to law
enforcement authorities. As with Call Trace, you are not provided with
the information, only the cops are.

The surprising advantage about all three of these options is that,
unlike Call Trace, they are at no charge to the customer. Even the
change order for the unpublished number is free if it is placed
through the ACB rather than the business office. I'm not sure if the
recurring charges for unpublished numbers are waived, but, as has been
mentioned here I think, the cheaper way to get an "unlisted" number is
to change your directory listing to Joe Doaks, or whatever. There's no
requirement that the name on your account with telco, or any other
business for that matter, has to be your real name. Using a false name
is only illegal (in the U.S.) if your purpose is to defraud someone.

My free advice (worth every penny, as always) to anyone who has the
need to use Call Trace even once, whether it succeeds or not, is to
call the cops on the next call, and the Annoyance Call Bureau on the
call after that. Don't wait for the cops to suggest it; many of them
don't even know it exists.

In the case of calls that are merely annoying, rather than threatening
or otherwise illegal, you can safely leave the police out of the loop
and contact the ACB directly, but absent a police report they might
neglect to mention all of the options up front. Knowing what they are
is then an advantage.


Regards,

Gary Novosielski   GPN Consulting    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert McMillin)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Organization: Charlie Don't CERF
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 16:24:30 GMT


On 18 Sep 1995 01:44:24 PDT, [e-mail] (Dave Yost) said:

> Our telephone systems should be straightforward enough that any child
> capable of remembering their phone number can be taught how to pick up
> any phone and dial their home phone number or 911.

> Try it sometime with a five-year-old.  You can teach her her phone
> number, and you can teach her about 911, but it's really hopeless to
> explain what to do in all the various telephone situations:

[sundry different situations requiring different telephone dialing
sequences deleted]

Mr. Yost goes on to suggest that "We should work toward a standard
that would allow a child to dial simply 1 + area code + number from
any phone ... and get connected to their home."  I presume for the
moment that Mr. Yost is a concerned parent, or certainly, is looking
out for the best interests of some child or children, somewhere.  The
problem I have with this proposal is simply that it takes a
Procrustean approach to child safety, regardless of its effects on
adults.

By this approach, we should make the world completely and utterly safe
for four-year-olds.  This is the rallying cry currently used as a
justification for censoring adults on the Internet.  Adults use cars,
airplanes, lathes, pornography, and slaughterhouses, all of which are
patently unsafe (or at least, unwise) for four-year-old operation.
Not everything can -- or should -- be made child-safe.


    Robert L. McMillin  | [e-mail] | Netcom: [e-mail]
     Jail to the Chief! | WWW: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/rl/rlm/home.html
                      Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Bubba!

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

Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 23:36:03 BST
From: Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]>


> We should work toward a standard that would allow a child to dial
> simply 1 + area code + number from any phone, whether it be a business
> phone, a pay-phone, whatever, and get connected to their home.

The equivalent works just perfectly in the UK, and has done for a long
time. Why can't you lot make it work?

> Business and Hotel phones:
>     Business phones usually require you to dial 9 for an
>     outside line.  Hotels sometimes require 8.  There was
>     a time, back in the old pulse-dial days, when this
>     made some sense.  Now it doesn't.  PBX systems with
>     push-button phones could use the * or # key to access
>     internal dialing, and allow normal dialing to the
>     outside without a prefix.

Our office has a much simpler system:

  * 1XXX to 8XXX reach internal extensions or those in other offices
    on linked PBXs (with a single numbering scheme for the entire
    system, and extension NXXX having a DDI number of [phone] NXXX).
  * Outside numbers can be dialled directly if they include a national
    or international code (which always begins with 0). Or if I want to
    dial another number in 181, or a service code, I prefix the whole
    thing with 9.

So I can dial extension 2345 on our system by:

    2345
    9 371 2345
    9 0181 371 2345
    0181 371 2345
    9 141 0181 371 2345  (with CLI withheld)

(no pauses are ever required; gaps are for clarity only). Once you fix the
area-code-needed/forbidden problem, you could do the same.


Clive D.W. Feather      | Work: [e-mail]        | Gateway House
Senior Manager          | Home: [e-mail] | 322 Regents Park Road
Demon Internet Ltd.     | Tel: [phone]        | Finchley
                        | Fax: [phone]        | London  N3  2QQ

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

From: [e-mail] (Clifton T. Sharp)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Organization: as little as possible
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 17:13:23 GMT


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

> Call Trace serves this function now. It does what caller-ID is
> frequently misrepresented as doing, collecting the calling number of a
> call that you need to report to the cops.

What can Call Trace get that CNID wouldn't report accurately? The only
thing that I've heard about inaccurate CNID so far regards outdial
trunks, which would presumably be reported the same way to Call Trace.


Cliff Sharp
  WA9PDM
[e-mail]

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 95 19:53:33 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


James E. Bellaire <[e-mail]> writes:

> Train the child to dial 911.  Universal 911 is growing and should be
> the most well known way to get help.  '0' is another option in areas
> where 911 does not work.  (Including switchboards with an attendant.)

When my area was cut over to a 1A ESS in 1982 -- before we had 911 --
I found out that the switch was set up to pass 911 calls to the
"dial-0" operator if no 911 service existed.

> If PBX administrators would make 911 (as well as 9-911) work from any
> phone it would be helpful too.  Not too many people would be
> attempting to reach 9-1-1xx-xxx-xxxx numbers (unless they thought they
> were dialing 011 for IDDD access).

Makes perfect sense.  There is a possibility that someone would want
to dial 9-10-xxx for a different LD carrier, but not 9-11-xxx.

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

From: Martin McCormick <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes
Date: 25 Sep 1995 15:19:42 GMT
Organization: Oklahoma State University  Stillwater, OK


In article <[e-mail]> Tony Harminc <EL406045@BROWNVM.
BROWN.EDU> writes:

> the reason these boxes had clockwork code senders in the
> first place: they were all connected in parallel on the same wire.

    You might say that the old fire alarms used a bus architecture.
I wonder if some systems were wired in series with the current serving
as a continuous test on the integrity of the wires?  This is how some
old teletype networks worked with each station able to send to all
others by interrupting the loop each time a character was sent.

    Many fire alarm systems such as might be found in a school or
other public building are designed to draw loop current or send some
other kind of measurable signal to show that the telephone wires to
them are intact.  The pannel in the fire station has red, amber, and
green lights that let the dispatcher see the system status.  The amber
light is called a trouble signal and means that the alarm status is
unknown because of possible line trouble such as backhow fade, gophers,
or water damage.


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK 36.7N97.4W
OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group

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

From: [e-mail] (John Nagle)
Subject: Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 17:39:10 GMT


Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> writes:

> Martin McCormick <[e-mail]> wrote:
> [Fire alarms boxes that pulsed out their location]

      Classically, those are clockwork pulsers, all in parallel on the
same line.  Some versions are "non-interfering"; two boxes won't
transmit at the same time.  (This is an early precursor of Ethernet
collision-detection.)

      Back in 1978, I visited the dispatch center for the San
Francisco Fire Department, and saw how their gear worked.  They had a
quite advanced dispatch center, but they had kept the clockwork pen
and paper-tape registers for the pull box circuits.  This was only a
backup, though; when a box was pulled, a PDP 11/70 watched the pulses
come in, converted it to a box number, and looked up the address.
Nevertheless, the pen recorders continued to operate, printing dashes
on paper strips, for every box pull.  The SFFD had even kept their
stationhouse telegraph, with a big brass key and gong mounted on a
panel alongside a computer display.  It's a very traditional
department.


John Nagle

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

From: [e-mail] (Peter Laws)
Subject: Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes
Date: 24 Sep 1995 19:12:25 GMT
Organization: University of Arkansas


PAT writes:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I remember once as a child watching
> them fix one of those boxes which was broken. The repairman took a
> phone handset with alligator clips and hooked onto the wire and was
> chatting with someone at the other end which I thought at the time
> was quite funny. How can you talk over that box, I asked him.   PAT]

Before radios were common, the deputy/battalion/district chief's aide
had a handset with which he could communicate by voice to Fire Alarm.
There was a jack in the box for this purpose.  Before that, some
systems had manual keys that the aide could use to transmit higher
alarms, all outs, etc.


Peter Laws

If your FD still has a Gamewell or other telegraph system, send me mail -
I'm working on a Box Alarm WWW page!

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

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 14:32:00 MET
From: [e-mail] (Juergen Ziegler)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Organization: Private UUCP Site, Buehl (Baden), Germany


Tony Harminc ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Easy yes -- but a disaster for planning and orderly growth.  This sort
> of design ensures that Germany will not have portable numbers for a
> long time.

I think "disaster" expresses the numbering system in Germany fairly well.
You are absolutely right with your assesment. But I dont want to repeat my
previous posting to this thread.

> Okay -- you are in Germany and you start to dial +1 40 ...

> Now with your scheme, the local switch would have to pick up a trunk to
> somewhere -- to where ?  It isn't even known what country you are calling
> yet!  Then you dial 3 as the next digit, and the switch in Germany knows
> you are calling Canada rather than the USA.  But Germany has trunks to
> at least two points in the area covered by area code 403 - which one should
> it pick up ?  The next digit is 9, but still nothing is known - it could
> be somewhere near Calgary, or over a thousand miles north in the Northwest
> Territories. Only after two more digits (say 79) is it finally known
> what local area the called line is in.

Well, you should not take digit by digit routing verbatimly. Digit by
digit routing does usually not work when calling to a foreign country.
Therefore whenever you call a foreign country, that has a predefined
numbering scheme (e.g.  USA,Canada), the German international gateway
switch will pick up the number of neccessary digits to setup the call
to the foreign switch. But, when you call a number that is invalid
 from Germany (e.g. +1800 or +1900 or +1500 ...) the German international
gateway switch will prompt you that the number is invalid as soon as
this fact can be easily determined. When this happens there should
(and hopefully will) not be a connection established to the USA.  On
the other side, when calling a country that has no predefined numbering
scheme, the switch will establish a connection to the foreign switch,
as soon as it has enough information. But as the foreign switch has
not indicated "number complete" or "number invalid" the German switch
will send further digits to its foreign counterpart.


Juergen Ziegler * [e-mail] * 77815 Buehl (Baden) * Germany

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

From: [e-mail] (David H. Close)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: 25 Sep 1995 05:27:44 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena


I wrote:

> What would it take for an originating switch to accept digits beyond those
> it figures are necessary to complete the call, buffer them, and then
> transmit them after the call is supervised?

[e-mail] (John Levine) writes:

> A major hardware and/or software upgrade to every piece of phone
> equipment in the U.S. that stores or processes phone numbers,
> including everything from central office switches through PBXes to
> memory phones. No dice.

I also got some private mail that misunderstood my question in the
same way, so I thought I should clarify. My suggestion was specifically
intended to be fully optional at the switch level, with conforming and
non-conforming switches fully interoperable. Thus there would be no
need for a change to "every piece of phone equipment in the U.S." in
order to try my suggestion. If it didn't work, fine. If it did, then
changes could be gradual over many years as other changes were made.

The phrase, "digits ... beyond those it figures are necessary to
complete the call," was intended to convey the idea of no change at
all to the present call routing algorithms. One correspondent did
suggest that my idea would require a longer allocation of a "digit
register", which could otherwise presumably be allocated to some other
call after the last functional digit. Of course, I thought that modern
switches did this sort of thing in software, not hardware.


Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA
[e-mail], [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Wes Leatherock)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 20:51:00 GMT


Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> wrote:

 > [e-mail] (Christian Weisgerber) wrote:

      [ ... text deleted ... ]

 > One point remains to be covered, however:

 >> What is a phone number? For the most part, a phone number is a *route*
 >> through the network.

 > This is absolutely not true in North America.  One of the fundamental
 > principles of the NANP long distance network from the earliest days is
 > that of Destination Code Routing.  Each switch in the network is
 > capable of doing a database lookup on (typically) six digits of the
 > phone number to determine the action to take to advance the call.  The
 > individual digits of the number in no way specify the route the call
 > is to take through the network; this is a decision made by each switch
 > as needed, and is based on much more than the digits in the number.
 > Currently available trunks, congestion, previous routing history, and
 > many other factors can be taken into consideration to make routing
 > decisions.

       Translations from the first part of the directory number (the
"prefix," originally two, later three) digits were a part of Panel-Type
(and its IT&T analog, rotary) switches from the beginning of common
control offices in the United States ... I believe around 1920, or a
little earlier.

       Crossbar machines typically looked at the first three digits.
This goes back to the 1930s or 1940s.  All these were used for *local*
calling.  Later when Direct Distance Dialing came into being, some
switches could still get by with three-digit translations (downstream
[higher level] switches doing further translations.  But many had to
be arranged for six-digit translation almost from the start of DDD.
Of course, channels were expensive and scarce in those days; routing
to a distant tandem and back through the originating office was
discouraged or forbidden.  Later channels became so relatively
inexpensive and abundant that this was no longer much of a factor.

           [ ... text deleted ... ]

> Tying the routing of a call to the digits in the number is the
> huge failing of SxS switching systems.

        In the 1940s and 1950s Oklahoma City (all step-by-step) had a
combination of five-digit and six-digit numbers.  Tulsa had a combination
of four-digit, five-digit and six-digit numbers, all coexisting in a
multi-office exchange with all step offices.

        Dallas and Houston were also all step, and the difficulties
there were horrendous.  By the time Houston went to seven-digit
numbers, there were some (local) routes so impossible with step
switches that the dialing instructions from GYpsy (an actual office
I was familiar with in the southwest part of Houston) to some offices
on the northeast side of town were "Dial operator--no charge."

        By this time additions and replacements with common control
offices in all four of these cities were becoming a torrent.

        The southern California area (Los Angeles and environs) solved
this with senders on most or all step offices, which made the translations
and outpulsed probably an entirely different set of numbers (which
could, in the step environment, be of different lengths if necessary).
(The subscriber line number, the last four digits, was not translated,
of course, merely repeated.)

Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> also wrote:

> I say "database lookup" advisedly: in the early days the database
> consisted of plastic cards read mechanically, and database updates
> were made by manually punching new cards.  These days, of course,
> the database is more what we think of when we use that word in a
> computer context: tables in memory or on disk.

      I believe for the first two or three decades they were actually
metal (steel?) cards which had rather large holes punched in them
(much larger than what we think of in punched cards).  They were read
by light beams through them.


Wes Leatherock    [e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #405
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #406

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 25 Sep 95 16:08:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 406

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    AT&T Breakup Memo to Employees (Bob Allen to Employees via Paul L. Moses)
    Book Review: College by Computer (Dan Corrigan)
    UK City (Geographic) Codes (Richard D.G. Cox)
    Cellular Support of 500 Numbers (Lynne Gregg)
    Question on Wireless (Manuel Maese)
    Book Review: "Creating Cool Web Pages With HTML" by Taylor (Rob Slade)
    Interchangable NPA / Official Test Numbers (Michael Fumich)
    Independent Cellular Network (Mark E. Daniel)
    Cordless Phone Range Extenders (Jeffrey C. Honig)
    Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Andrew Luck)
    Canadian Calling Cards in US (Ian Angus)
    The Unthinkable: Two Area Codes For Bridgeport (David W. Tamkin)

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

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 15:50:30 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Paul L. Moses)
Subject: AT&T Breakup Memo to Employees


Hi Pat,

A friend of a friend and so on was the source of this.  Though you would be
interested.

Paul

To All AT&T People,

In just a few minutes, we will issue a press release to announce that
we will restructure AT&T in a way that will allow each of our
businesses to be the best and toughest global competitor in its
market.

Thanks to your hard work, dedication and innovation, AT&T is, without
a doubt, at one of the most successful points in our history.  It's
unusual for a company that is strong and doing well to look at itself
and say, it's time to re-engineer for the future.  But from my
perspective, that's the best time to take bold steps to maximize our
opportunities for future success.

After listening consistently to our customers, our investors, and you,
our associates who work so hard every day to satisfy our customers, we
realized that it was time to move to the next stage of evolving AT&T
into an even better business.

Therefore, we plan to separate AT&T into three publicly-held stand-alone
global businesses that will each be focused on serving its market:

1) We will cluster our Communications Services Group, AT&T Wireless
Services, AT&T Solutions and AT&T Universal Card Services into a
services company that will continue to be called AT&T.  We will also
create an AT&T Laboratories unit that will continue research and
development for this business.  It will have at its core the Bell Labs
group currently dedicated to that activity and a research group
focused on networking and new services innovations.  AT&T will be a
global company with revenues of $49 billion that will be totally
focused on providing the best "anytime, anywhere" communications
services in the world.

2) We will bring together our Network Systems Group, Microelectronics,
Global Business Communications Systems , Consumer Products and the
other businesses in the Multi-Media Products Group into a
communications systems and technology company that would immediately
be one of the largest companies of its kind in the world -- with
revenues in excess of $20 billion.  One of our major competitive
assets, Bell Laboratories, will be the research and development engine
for the new communications systems company.  This company will develop
a new identity that will build on the reputation for reliability,
leadership, technological innovation and customer-responsiveness that
each business enjoys in its market.  Linked with the power of Bell
Labs and its reputation, this company will be a formidable global
competitor in the communications equipment arena -- one of the fastest
growing markets in the world.

3) Global Information Systems (GIS) is taking decisive action to
create a smaller, swifter, more focused business, concentrating on the
three industries in which it has a leading position -- retailing,
financial and communications.  Following this transition, we plan to
make it a stand-alone business focused on serving the computer market.

Lars Nyberg is the right leader to get this business back on track.
His goal is to be world class in a few targeted industry segments and
in delivering high quality computer platforms and services.  I believe
that's not only worth doing but it's do-able.  GIS customers and
employees can count on AT&T's complete support during this transition.
As part of its turnaround effort, GIS will halt manufacture of
personal computers.  It will continue to offer PCs as part of total
solutions through an agreement with an outside supplier that it
expects to announce soon.

4) We plan to sell the remaining interest -- more than 80% -- in our
highly successful financing business, AT&T Capital Corporation, to the
general public or to another company.  The proceeds will be used to
strengthen the balance sheets of the companies.

We hope to complete all of these transactions before January 1, 1997.
We also are considering an Initial Public Offering for about 15% of
the shares of the equipment business in the first half of 1996. Apart
from the shares sold in the public offering, AT&T's three stand-alone
businesses will be owned by the current AT&T shareholders.

THE RIGHT TIME FOR CHANGE

On the one hand, this a very bold move.  On the other hand, with the
dramatic changes in our industry, we now see it as the next logical
turn in our journey since divestiture.

But, let me emphasize, unlike divestiture, this is not a change that
is being thrust upon us. It is a change more analogous to our move to
a business unit structure in 1988.  And I credit that restructure with
providing the focus on individual markets and customer sets that
enabled us to become the $75 billion enterprise we are today.

I have spoken to many audiences about the benefits of AT&T being a
vertically integrated business that had both services and equipment
and computers -- and even in recent years financial services.  There
have been many advantages to our current structure.  And we have
reaped those advantages.

But the dramatic changes in our markets driven by our customers, new
technologies like wireless, and public policy decisions have opened up
so many new opportunities that we need to simplify and more sharply
focus our businesses to respond swiftly and effectively to those
opportunities.

It is no secret that our Network Systems business has been affected by
the conflicts that our Communication Services Group has been having
with the RBOCs both in the public policy arena and increasingly in the
marketplace as we entered the intra-LATA market.  These conflicts
foreshadow similar issues with some PTTs around the world.  Network
Systems' continued success in this marketplace has been a tribute to
the quality of its products and customer responsiveness.

In recent months, it has become clear that the advantages of our size
and broad, diverse product line are starting to be offset by the
amount of time, energy and expense it takes to manage conflicting
business strategies and coordinate activities across a large, complex
enterprise.  No business can afford to waste resources or time in the
competitive environments we face today.

So, in this spirit, we prepare to launch three strong businesses who
come to their markets with a heritage of quality, dedication to the
customer, integrity, innovation, teamwork, and of course, respect for
the individual.

And we provide a structure for those businesses that is less complex
and more focused.  It is a structure that needs fewer internal
meetings and less internal coordination.  It means faster
decision-making, faster delivery of new products to the marketplace
and most importantly, it allows you to focus totally on your customer
and your market.

And all this pays-off by accelerating our growth.


WHAT ABOUT YOU

I understand that many -- if not all -- of you are reading this and
saying "what about me".  Where do I fit in?

The restructuring is subject to resolution of a number of issues which
we expect will take about 15 months.  Let me promise you that we will
be spending a lot of time in the coming months making sure that we
answer your questions openly, honestly and quickly.

I realize that when a change like this is announced, the first concern
is job security. This restructuring is driven by the need for strategic
focus, not force reduction.

Having said that, it is our competitive position that ultimately
determines the size of a business.  And each of these businesses will
be operating in hotly competitive markets.  We've already taken
billions of dollars of cost out of the business but, as all of you
know, there's still more to do. So, while it is too soon to determine
an exact impact, it would be safe to say that the combined new
businesses will have fewer employees than the current AT&T does today.

But let me hasten to point out, that all of these businesses are in
growing markets with major opportunities.  Our guiding transition
principle will be that -- in the main -- each person follows his or
her work.

I also realize that this change has significance beyond job security.
Like you, I am proud of being associated with an organization like
AT&T.  As one AT&T, we made a major contribution to the world's ability
to communicate and share information.

It's important that we acknowledge that emotion as well as some sense
of loss as we look ahead.  But, most importantly, we must carry that
sense of pride into our new companies.  That's the best way for the
heritage of AT&T as a company that stands for quality, reliability,
integrity and innovation to live on.

For those of you who have been with AT&T since before divestiture,
we've seen a great deal of change together.  Frankly, even if you
joined AT&T in the last two years, you've seen incredible changes in
our customers, our competitors and the way in which our industry will
be regulated throughout the world.

When I reflect on the way we handled change in the past 11 years, it
gives me tremendous confidence in the future.  Each change has made us
a better company, a tougher competitor and more responsive to our
customers.

HANDLING THE TRANSITION

The first and most important element of this transition is that we can
not miss a beat on any commitment to our customers.  Let's promise
ourselves that we will not be distracted by the transition and take
our eye off of our most important mission: serving the customer.

The reality is that this restructuring should provide more clarity and
focus to your day-to-day jobs.  And the vast majority of you will
continue doing the exact work that you do today in support of your
customer.

It's inevitable in a transition like this there will be rumors as
people feel uncertain about exactly what will happen.  We pledge to
work very hard to communicate so quickly and completely that we will
keep the uncertainty to a minimum.  In fact, we will be doing special
editions of AT&T TODAY to answer your questions. We will re-double our
employee communications and set up employee question lines starting
next week.

I want to say a few words about the leadership of this business going
forward.  I am immensely proud of AT&T's leadership. Our business unit
presidents and group CEOs -- all of whom are tough competitors heading
up multi-million dollar global businesses -- are the best in the industry.

Naming the permanent leaders is a job the AT&T Board and I will address at
the appropriate time.  We have agreed, however, that I will continue
as Chairman and CEO of the new AT&T -- a challenge that I look forward
to with enthusiasm.

My leadership team will continue in their current capacity, focusing
on the fundamental job of serving customers while at the same time
supporting the transition.

In addition to their regular responsibilities, I have asked Rich
McGinn and Alex Mandl, as heads of the largest businesses in the new
systems company and AT&T respectively, to take charge of the
transition for those companies.  Dan Stanzione, President of Bell
Labs, will work with Rich and Alex to ensure we protect Bell Labs'
world class capabilities through the transition and create an exciting
framework for the new AT&T Labs.  As I said earlier, Lars Nyberg will
have my full support as he refocuses and strengthens GIS.  Tom Wajnert
will continue to lead Capital Corp.

Because of all of these changes, the operating challenges for the next
15 months will be very demanding.  I am absolutely determined that we
will meet all '95 performance commitments. I will look to Vic Pelson
as chairman of the GO team to ensure that we maintain focus on
delivering our operational results.

I have asked Bill Marx, in addition to his operating accountabilities
for the Multi-Media Products Group, to work with Vic on the transition
from the current regional operating model to a new model more suitable
to independent global businesses.  Bill will help ensure that commitments
to our many joint venture partners and global suppliers are met.  And,
Dick Bodman will continue in his role as strategic adviser to our team.

 I will also chair a Steering Committee for the transition composed of
Hal Burlingame, Senior Vice President, Human Resources; Marilyn Laurie,
Senior Vice President, Public Relations and Employee Communications;
Rick Miller, Chief Financial Officer and John Zeglis, Senior Vice President
and General Counsel that will supervise the transition, resolve conflicts,
and stand accountable for the completion of the restructuring process
by the end of 1996.

General Transition Principles

I am confident that the investment we have made in making the Common
Bond values part of the way we do business will pay off as we work
through the many issues surrounding the transition.

These values are reflected in some basic implementation principles that we
feel strongly about and will guide our actions throughout the transition:

1)  Our behavior and decisions will be guided by our Common Bond Values;
2)  We will approach this restructuring as a team and support each other;
3)  Open and frequent communication will be the norm.

Customers

4)  We are here to serve our customers.  The transition should not cause us
    to miss a beat in any customer relationships.
5)  All contracts and commitments -- external and internal -- will be ful-
    filled.

The Business

6)   We will meet our 1995 operational financial targets;
7)   Globalization remains a priority for each of our newly restructured
     businesses.

Human Resources

8)    In  the main, people will follow their work;
9)    Dedicated functions will generally follow their internal customers.
      Shared functions will be divided, although some sharing may occur in a
      few cases for a transition period after the transactions.
10)   Employees who may be dislocated as a result of the marketplace issues or
      the restructuring will have access to opportunities across the enter-
      prise and every effort will be made to place them in a job.
11)   Issues surrounding pension, benefits etc. will be managed in a way to
      assure equitable, consistent treatment.

There will be a news conference today at 2 PM EDT.  It will air live
in all facilities that have viewing capabilities and be on audio
(800-792-8900.  The replay number is 800-475-6701.  The code is
602744.  Outside the U.S., the number is 402-496-9581.  The replay
number is 612-365-3844.  The code is 602744).

We will be using AT&T TODAY, AT&T News and special bulletins to keep
you up-to-date with every aspect of the transition in the coming
months.  We will have a live all-employee broadcast within the next
week or so at which I will take your questions.  Details on the time
of the broadcast and how to send your questions in will be found in
AT&T TODAY.

We have a huge task ahead of us.  We owe it to our customers, our
shareholders and to ourselves to do the best job we've ever done.

Again, I thank you for the hard work and dedication that has enabled
AT&T to take this bold step into the future. I have every confidence
that each part of today's AT&T has the talent, resources, market
position and courage to be the world's leader in its market.


Bob Allen

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

From: Dan Corrigan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: College by Computer
Date: 25 Sep 1995 19:00:38 GMT
Organization: Cape Software


BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Title:  The Internet University - College Courses by Computer
Author:  Dan Corrigan
ISBN:  0-9648112-0-0
Pages:  528, 7.0" X 8.5"
Price:  $26.95
Publisher:  Cape Software Press - P. O. Box 800-5C - Harwich  MA  02645
- [e-mail]

COLLEGE COURSES BY MODEM

A distillation of the country's most comprehensive database of ONLINE
COLLEGE COURSES, this book answers the question, "Now that we've got the
Internet, what do we do with it?". It is written for people interested
in taking college courses from the convenience of home or jobsite.

The Internet University - College Courses by Computer:
     * Details 30+ Universities and Colleges
     * Complete Descriptions for 650+ Courses
     * Lists 1,500+ Internet Sources for FREE Study
     * Assists Search for Online Financial Aid Sources

Four Sections: 1) FUNDAMENTALS - how to get online, with pointers to
additional 'how-to' sources; 2) ONLINE COURSES available today, from a
catalog of 650+ offered by thirty colleges and universities, 3)
LIBRARIES, museums, colleges and universities, etc. available for free
study, and 4) EQUIVALENCY courses (CLEP, CEU, high school, etc.), plus
hundreds of personal enrichment courses; all available ONLINE.

This manual will be the online student's constant companion, providing
the 'needed-to-know' for Internet-based college education.  It is the
most comprehensive list of educational sources available, covering
CONNECTIONS, COURSES, STUDY, and PERSONAL ENRICHMENT.

This book is available by mail for $26.95 + $3.50 s/h.
For orders from Massachusetts please add $1.35 for sales tax.

Order from:
Cape Software Press
P. O. Box 800-5C
Harwich  MA  02645

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 11:14:20 -0400
Subject: UK City (Geographic) Codes


On Tue, 19 Sep 95 [e-mail] (Mark Brader) asked:

> When are they going to start using city codes in Britain that don't
> start with (0)1?

Probably in around 18 months time.  Until then there will in most cases
be too great a risk of a caller dialling a number without the extra "1".

Our regulator has recently completed a period of consultation on future
numbering changes: to which, surprisingly, the number of responses that
were received were significantly greater than the number of responses to
previous consultation exercises.  There is now little doubt that further
changes will be needed, as Reading (area code 1734) has already run out
of numbers, and London itself will have run out of its two area codes (171
and 181) within at best three years, possibly as little as two years.

There are only a small number of available area codes suitable for large
cities: 118 and 119 are readily usable, while 110, 111 and 112 are thought
to be at too great risk of being dialled in error to be used at this time.
One of the options being considered is that of moving London to an 8-digit
scheme, as area code splits are as unpopular here as they are in the USA,
and overlay schemes are highly anticompetitive as we now have extensive
competition for local dialtone.

However the fact that in the UK local numbers outside the major cities
have until now not started with the digit "9", means that some codes can
be reused before the two year safety period is complete, provided that in
the short term all numbers under that code commence with the digit "9".

For example, to provide extra capacity in a city like Belfast (which
is one of those high up the list of places at risk of running out of
numbers) the present area code of 1232 could change to (for example)
an area code of 392, with local six digit numbers currently in the
range 2xxxxx-8xxxxx moving into the new range 92x xxxx to 98x xxxx:
and allowing new numbers to be introduced in the ranges 90x xxxx and
91x xxxx.

Although 392 was previously in use as the area code for Exeter, the fact
that there were never any Exeter numbers in the range (392) 9xxxxx means
that the Telcos can correctly intercept calls intended for Exeter numbers
while allowing calls to reach the new Belfast numbers on (392) 9xx xxxx.

I have seen proposals in Telecom DIGEST for the introduction of 8-digit
local numbers in the NANP, with shorter area codes.  This seems to me to
be a far better way forward than the alternative of further code splits
or overlays, and 8-digit numbers are already in extensive use in Europe
(in Copenhagen and Paris), Japan, and elsewhere.  Who knows, this could
become a world standard!

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG
Telephone: [phone];  Fax: [phone];  VoiceMail: 0941 151515

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

From: Lynne Gregg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cellular Support of 500 Numbers
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 95 11:15:00 PDT


Recently, Doug Reuben posted to the Digest describing a recent change
in the network that disallowed 0+ 500 number dialing.  As another
reader suggested, the cause could be attributed to the Equal Access
conversion.  I can't definitively state that is the case.  However,
I've asked our New York operations to identify and resolve the matter.
I will send another post to the Digest describing the resolution.

Although 1+500 number calling may not be supported for a while
(billing hooks are the issue), operator-assisted calling should be
supported.


Regards,

Lynne Gregg
Product Manager, Personal Services
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
Headquarters
5000 Carillon Point, Kirkland WA  98033
email:  [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 11:55:05 -0500
From: Manuel Maese <[e-mail]>
Subject: Question on Wireless


Dear Pat,

Everyday I enjoy your e-mails with the latest postings to the digest,
even though I'm not an expert in Telco issues and where I'm really
interested is in wireless communications.

So I'd like to ask you if you, as the moderator of this list, have
knowledge of other newsgroups or e-mail dist. lists (unfortunately, I
have no direct access to the USENET, and need to receive everything
via e-mail) that deal with issues more directly related to wireless
comms. (cellular, paging, SMR/ESMR, CT-2, Wireless Local Loop, etc.).
Maybe you know of the addresses of other moderators in communications
groups that I could contact to see if I could subscribe to their lists
also.

I do have to admit that your list does feature quite some wireless
articles, for wich I'm grateful, and keep me up to date with the
situation in India (Techonomist), cellular issues from the consumer's
point of view, etc. (I work for Geotek, an digital SMR provider and I
recognize that most times, providers forget to look at their networks
and services from the eye of the consumer, who's the one paying our
salaries).  I work in International Bus. Development, so if you know
of other dist. lists in other countries that deal with wireless (in
english, spanish, italian & portuguese not a problem), please let me
know also.

Well, thank you very much for your time.  I hope you can help me in
some way.


Thanks again,

Manolo Maese
Geotek Communications, Inc.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps readers will respond direct to
Mr. Maese with information about other mailing lists of interest.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 08:09:09 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Creating Cool Web Pages With HTML" by Taylor


BKCCWPWH.RVW   950711

"Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML", Dave Taylor, 1995, 1-56884-454-9,
U$19.99/C$27.99/UK#18.99
%A   Dave Taylor
%C   155 Bovet Road, Suite 310, San Mateo, CA   94402
%D   1995
%G   1-56884-454-9
%I   IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
%O   U$19.99/C$27.99/UK#18.99 415-312-0650 fax: [phone] [e-mail]
%P   244
%T   "Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML"

As far as a tutorial on basic HTML (HyperText Markup Language) goes,
Taylor runs Lemay's "Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML in 21
Days" (cf.  BKWPHTML.RVW) a very close second.  The material in this
book is clear, well organized, and attractively presented.  An odd
positioning is the early chapter on URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).
This could have been included with or after the chapter on linking,
but there are arguments to be made for its placement up front.  Taylor
then covers basic HTML, text styles, lists, pointers, and multimedia
additions.  There are some solid pointers on common traps for the
novice.

More advanced topics are touched on lightly.  Netscape extensions get
a chapter to themselves, but forms design and HTML+ seem to be
last-minute add-ons.  As for the "coolness" of your Web presentation,
that's up to you.  Design is mentioned briefly in random places.  The
best advice is to be found in the rather ironically named "Announcing
Your Site" chapter -- which primarily announces a number of existing Web
sites on the net.  (The sites listed *are* those which link to others
around the Web -- sometimes for a fee.)


copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKCCWPWH.RVW   950711. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | "virtual information"
Institute for  [e-mail]   |   - technical description of
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/  |     marketing info disguised
User                      .fidonet.org  |     as technical description
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |            - Greg Rose

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

Date: Sun, 24 Sep 95 22:32:00 EST
From: Michael Fumich <[e-mail]>
Subject: Interchangable NPA / Official Test Numbers


The following are the official test numbers for the new NPA's
coming online:

205 / 334  AL    [phone]    1-15-95
206 / 360  WA    [phone]    1-15-95
           WA    [phone]    1-15-95
713 / 281  TX    (281) 792-TEST    3-1-95
602 / 520  AZ    [phone]    3-19-95
303 / 970  CO    [phone]    4-2-95
813 / 941  FL    [phone]    5-28-95
703 / 540  VA    [phone]    7-15-95
404 / 770  GA    [phone]    8-1-95
203 / 860  CT    [phone]    8-28-95
213 / 562  CA    [phone]    9-2-95
305 / 954  FL    [phone]    9-11-95
615 / 423  TN    [phone]  (Chattanooga LATA)    9-11-95
           TN    [phone]  (Knoxville LATA)      9-11-95
           TN    [phone]  (Johnson City LATA)   9-11-95
809 / 441        [phone]  (Bermuda)             10-1-95
503 / 541  OR    [phone]   11-5-95
           OR    [phone]   11-5-95
803 / 864  SC    [phone]   12-3-95
904 / 352  FL                     12-3-95
314 / 573  MO    (573) 792-TEST    1-7-96
214 / 972  TX                      2-1-96
612 / 320  MN    [phone]    3-17-96

Additions to this list are welcome!


Michael L. Fumich   / E-Mail: <[e-mail]> / V-Mail: 708-461-5770

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

Subject: Independent Cellular Network
From: [e-mail] (Mark E. Daniel)
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 95 02:16:44 EDT
Organization: Legendary Systems Incorporated.  Mark's Connection to the WORLD.s


A new Cellular prefix popped up here in Akron, Ohio.  But I can't find
anything about them in the phone book.  And I'm wondering who they are
and where they'll serve and how they'll serve, since we already have
an A carrier (Cellular One) and a B carrier (GTE Mobilnet). I am
courious to find out who ICN is.  Perhaps they have cheap rates. :-).
Any info? I suppose I could try Directory Assistance as a last resort. :-).

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

Subject: Cordless Phone Range Extenders
Organization: Information Technologies/Network Resources;
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 12:39:49 -0400
From: Jeffrey C Honig <[e-mail]>


I just received my "Phone Central" catalog (800/437-2160 if you want
to order one).  In it I see "Cordless Phone Range Extenders" made by
Valor.  They are nothing more than antennas and coax that attach to
the antenna on a 900MHz or 46/49MHz cordless phone base unit to extend
the range.

Has anyone tried one of these?  I have an AT&T 5475 that I can use for
a couple hundred feet on my farm, but I'd like a bit more range.
Eventually I plan on getting a 900MHz phone, but this looks like a
quick $25 solution.


Thanks,

Jeff


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Quick solution perhaps, but considering
that 900 meg phones have come down some in cost, why not just get one
and get it over with?  Then, watch for 'range extenders' on those to
hit the market before long; again mostly being antennas which have been
carefully cut and properly loaded to max out the range, etc.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Andrew Luck)
Subject: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 16:41:52 GMT
Organization: Personal Account w/ PSI , a commercial service provider
Reply-To: [e-mail]


When my wife and I moved to Maryland (410) about 13 years ago, by pure
happenstance we lucked into the 666 telephone exchange (Cockeysville
MD).  With even greater serendipity (or a service representative with
an admirable sense of humor), we were given 5835 for digits 4-7.

This made a really easy phone number for friends and others to remember:

666-LUCK .     On both counts :-) .

Now I am back in the south (Atlanta GA area code 770) and really would
like to get that number back.  But my younger sister (the cynic) says
that in this part of the country there are "rules" against using
certain numbers, such as 666.

Beyond conflicts with area coding, which appears to be on the way out,
are there certain numbers that simply aren't going to be used either
nationally or in certain localities?

How about 777    (three's a charm?)
Or 888   (Dead man's Hand ?)

And is 666 available in area code 1-500 ?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wait until they sit up area code 666 in
some part of the country.  '666' is a number presumed by people of some
religions to be 'very bad'. At one point it was thought that it would
be impossible to find a long distance carrier willing to accept 10666
since it would handicap them in getting new customers (from those religions.)
In the past here in the Digest, we have had articles about places in the
USA and Canada where 666 is used, as in AC-666-xxxx. In a few cases, which
should make everyone feel good, it turned out to be some federal government
agency. I think in one case it was the Internal Revenue Service. Here in
Chicago, 312-MONroe has been around simply forever. It is one of the oldest
exchanges in the city, and a phone district is named for it.   PAT]

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

From: Ian Angus <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 06:49:22 -0400
Subject: Canadian Calling Cards in US


Several weeks ago, TELECOM DIGEST carried several letters relating to
the use of Canadian telco calling cards in the US. The original writer
asserted that AT&T was refusing to validate Canadian cards, presumably
because Canada's major telcos are allied with MCI.

This surprised many people, including me, because our Canadian
callingv cards have always worked in the US in the past. In fact,
after the original letter appeared, I used my Bell Canada card without
trouble in Georgia and Florida.

I have finally tracked down the source of the original writer's conclusion.

CANADA DIRECT is a service offered by Canada's telcos, similar to AT&T's USA
DIRECT. It allows Canadians travelling abroad to reach a Canadian operator and
charge calls to a Canadian calling card at Canadian rates.

On September 1, Canada Direct became available from the United States.
Callers dial 1-800-555-1111 to use the service.

This is unnecessary in most locations, since a Canadian card can be
used simply by dialing "0" or using the payphone's swipe reader. The
major US long distance carriers all accept Canadian cards. However,
some small carriers and private payphone operators don't accept
Canadian cards: the Canada Direct Option can be useful in such cases.


IAN ANGUS                       Tel: [phone] ext 222
Angus TeleManagement Group      Fax: [phone]
8 Old Kingston Road             e-mail: [e-mail]
Ajax Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7     http://www.angustel.ca

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

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 95 18:13 CDT
From: [e-mail] (David W. Tamkin)
Subject: The Unthinkable: Two Area Codes For Bridgeport
Organization: TIPFKAG  [World-Wide Access, Chicago, Illinois  60606-2804]


Stan Schwartz wrote in <[e-mail]> in comp.dcom.telecom:

> Ameritech Illinois has unveiled its much-anticipated boundary proposal
> for two area code zones in Chicago.  The shrunken 312 area code in the
> city center would be larger than originally announced -- peaking north
> of Armitage Avenue and extending to 35th Street on the south, Western
> Avenue on the west and the lakefront on the east.  Everywhere else
> within the city limits would be in a new 773 area code.

Apparently the proposed boundary follows exactly that of Chicago Zone 1,
comprising the Calumet (Calumet CO), Franklin (Canal West, Franklin,
and Lakeshore COs), Monroe (Monroe CO), Superior (Illinois-Dearborn
and Superior COs), and Wabash (Canal East and Wabash COs) Exchanges.

Zones 2 through 11 will switch to 773 (except for the part of Zone 3
in area code 708, which will remain in 708).

You can tell that the mayor no longer lives in the Bridgeport neighbor-
hood: the Calumet, Lafayette (Zone 6), and Oakland (Zone 7) districts
meet in Bridgeport; many calls within the neighborhood will need to be
dialed with eleven digits.  Splitting Bridgeport would have been un-
thinkable in the past.

>...  "It will be an inconvenience at first that will cost us some
> money to change some forms -- but eventually, everybody will get used
> to it," says Steve Larrick, chief executive of Chicago-based Chernin's
> Shoes, whose North Halsted Street store would be just north of the 312
> border in the 773 area.

It should be explained that Chernin's original store on Roosevelt Road
has a Wabash phone number and will remain in 312, so the [still local]
call between there and the Halsted Street store (served by the Lakeview
CO of Chicago Zone 4) will have to be dialed with eleven digits.

Personally, I don't mind that my neighborhood at the city's edge (in
Zone 2) will get the new code instead of keeping the old one.  I think
"773" is grand: it's made up of all odd digits that add up to lucky
seventeen.  Also, if I have to call downtown from a rotary phone my
finger will be less chafed dialing 1312 than 1773.


David W. Tamkin    [e-mail]    MCI Mail: 426-1818

        "When lutefisk is outlawed, only outlaws will have lutefisk."
            -- bumper sticker I saw on a Nova


PS: a very happy hatching anniversary to our Fearless Leader and a
good, healthy, and prosperous 5756 to us all.


TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Indeed, a very happy and prosperous
new year is extended to all our Jewish readers. Things are very very quiet
here in Skokie today, with all the public (and private) schools closed,
most of the small shops closed, and only emergency functions in the Village
government in operation.

Skokie has a reputation for being 'all Jewish', and that is not true. It
is true a sizeable number of residents here are Jewish; certainly many
more than would be customarily found 'on average' in other towns across
the USA. But an interesting thing about our village history is that there
were *no Jews here at all* until about 1950. Prior to that, the village
was largely German with a mixture of other northern European stock. The
close of the Second World War saw both a name change for our village which
previously was known as 'Niles Center, Illinois' to Skokie, and it brought
an influx of Jews from Europe, a large number of whom had been in the
concentration camps. The first ever Jewish religious services here were in
the early 1950's and the small group of people involved met in the
high school auditorium, which they rented for several months in the process
of building their synagogue. Other synagogues were constructed at a rather
rapid pace during the latter years of the 1950's and into the 1960's.

Everyone has always been welcome in this little town, Jewish or not. The
Jews were the newcomers here forty years ago, and nowdays there are lots
of newcomers of many ethic backgrounds and faiths. The sad part though,
is that as the older Jews -- the original ones that is, from the 1950's --
pass on, so much of the heritage and history is lost. The kids just are
not learning it as they should. One day last summer, I was in the park
chatting with a couple of the neighborhood (non-Jewish) teenagers. An old
man walked past and sat at the bench near us. The kids looked at him as
they tend to check-out any older person around them, and one of them
noticed a number tatooed on his arm.

"Hey, checkout the dude with the number tatoo on his arm," said the
one. "Let's go ask him what it means."  We talked about it a few minutes
and they were amazed. Of course these kids have been born even since
Frank Collin and the 'American Nazi Party' had their infamous march
planned for Oakton Avenue. They had never heard of him either. It is
sad ... it really is. Indeed, happy New Year, 5756.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #406
******************************



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          26 Sep 95 22:17 EDT
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Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 12:21:13 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #407

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 26 Sep 95 12:21:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 407

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Why NOT Use 880?  Why Not Use 88x? (Toll Free Numbering) (Paul Robinson)
    New NPA/NXX'S For Ooctober, 1995 (Paula Pettis)
    New Telephone Numbering Plan in Australia (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones" (Les Fairall)
    Summary of RSA/Cylink Situation (was Re: Speaking of Netscape) (P. Kocher)
    Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! (Matthew Richardson)
    French Forum (FRFORUM) Explosion on CompuServe (JeanBernard Condat)
    Help with Rolm!!!! 9751 Questions (Brian Stoll)
    Has Anyone Used This Software? (Steve Morrow)
    Need Information on Latest CDPD Progress (Fardad Vakil)
    Last Laugh! Free SPAM Program (Carl Bittner)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 02:57:41 EDT
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company/TDR, Inc. Silver Spring, MD USA
Subject: Why Not Use 880?  Why Not Use 88x?  (Toll Free Numbering)


There was some mentioning here about the use by Australia of the
"international area code" 1880 for calls dialed into 1800.  I use
quotes around that term because, as it should be well aware to readers
of this forum, 1880 is not now in use as a dialing code, and it might
be confusing, i.e. this was apparently a problem because people expect
the number to be 1800.  But sometimes solutions to problems come from
unusual ideas, as I know from my own business.

Why not have it that way for real?  Use 880 and 800 as the same "area code"!

Why not allow 880 and 800 to both represent the same service code/area
code, and no longer state that 800 is the toll free area code?

Or even easier, have 88x be assigned as the "Toll free code" system,
e.g.  "Dial 188 plus the 8-digit toll-free number." when someone is in
the U.S., Canada and the North American multinational code 1809.

Oh, wait, people will start complaining about loss of their valuable
"800 name" trademarks, e.g. 800-FLOWERS, 800-THE-CARD, 800-TDARCOS,
and, of course, the famous bumper sticker, "How am I driving?  Call
1-800-EAT-S--T".  :)

Companies could still call their numbers 1-800, and they would still
work, but the "technical" number being assigned to callers in 1-800
would actually be 1-880.

Give this a very-long overlay, to allow those who have spent money on
advertising, brand recognition, stationery, to allow them to change
over as new advertising and other such materials are made.  Make it,
say, ten years, e.g. until December 31, 2005.  After January 1, 2006,
the 800 code would be removed from service, possibly being used for
something else after some period of time, maybe around 2008, e.g.
after two years of nonuse.

This concept of a single large range of numbers, e.g. "88 plus 8,"
would simplify the toll-free dialing system since ALL toll-free
numbers[1] in World Zone 1 would be under a single set of codes, i.e.
88 plus a single digit from 0 to 9 and the seven-digit number.  This
would also eliminate the problem of companies despirately wanting to
duplicate their number in the new 888 space which is coming up.
Because now, they would have to duplicate it in all TEN 88
"supercodes" (a new name I've coined to refer to a block of ten
consecutive area codes all beginning with the same two digits.)

This would provide advantages, such as allowing an organization to
give out an eight-letter toll free number, or a ten letter one if the
term they want to use begins with TU-, TV-, UT-, or VU-.  Or they can
still do something similar to what they are doing now:

    "Do you buy diskettes?  Check our lowest prices.  Dial toll-free
     1-88-DISKETTE!  Additionally, do you have a problem and need
     ideas to solve it?  Call 1880-TDARCOS.  From older exchanges dial
     1-800-TDARCOS, all numbers toll free from anywhere in North America!"

    "Do you want to know what's on television?  Subscribe to TV Listings now!
     Call Toll Free 1-TV-SHOWS-4U for our money saving offer!  Fifty-six
     issues, in twelve easy installments of ten dollars, that's only half
     of three times the cover price!  Call Now!"

    "You're stuck in a supermarket checkout stand when suddenly you
     realize you have no cash.  What will you do?  What will you do?  Then
     you remember that your market takes the 'Get InDebt and stay till you
     die card,'  If you don't have it, get it before it gets you.  Dial
     1-88-2-GET-IN-DEBT for a $10 discount off the usual $20 price for our
     free application.  Don't go anywhere unless you Get InDebt first!"

As it is clear, it adds a huge range of new numbers that interexchange
companies can now sell to customers, it creates a single, unified
supercode for assigning ALL transnational toll-free numbers within the
U.S., Canada and the other 1809 countries in the North America dialing
area.

In fact, this idea is so simple, so clean a design and so lacking of any
serious problems in implementing it that I am absolutely certain that it
will never be done!  It's too bad it's not difficult, hard to install,
causes major problems to everyone, and is a pain in the derriere to
implement.  Then I know it would become {standard} almost before you can
blink!



Paul Robinson
General Manager
Tansin A. Darcos & Company/TDR, Inc.

Among Other things, we sell and service ideas.  Call 1-800-TDARCOS from
anywhere in North America if you are interested in buying an idea to solve
one of your problems.  From Australia, dial the international dialing
prefix, then 1-880-TDARCOS.  :)

Footnotes:

[1] The "Enterprise" and "Zenith" pseudo-exchanges are still
grandfathered for current customers for local toll-free extended area
calls, and the exchange 950 in each area code is reserved for
connection to a Feature-Group circuit of either a long-distance
company or a customer wanting FG service as a form of Intra-LATA
toll-free calling.  I do not refer to these as "national" since they
have to be set up specially in each LATA that they are to be enabled.
Also, the 950 exchange is not accessible in a few areas of the country
which have older equipment.

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 95 20:37:00 PDT
Subject: NEW NPA/NXX'S FOR OCTOBER 1995


NPA/NXX additions for October 1995

Note the following lists additions of NPA's & NXX's to North American
Numbering Plan this month.  NPA's which have been used in the past but
for the first time appear in a new state are also shown here.


NEW NPA Count: 1
423 KY

NEW NPA-NXX Count: 356

201-287 NJ  201-395 NJ  201-840 NJ  202-235 DC  202-281 DC  202-314 DC
203-513 CT  203-613 CT  203-619 CT  205-214 AL  206-430 WA  207-521 ME
207-851 ME  209-230 CA  209-791 CA  210-473 TX  210-594 TX  210-764 TX
213-637 CA  214-599 TX  214-738 TX  215-255 PA  215-826 PA  215-845 PA
215-863 PA  216-309 OH  216-717 OH  217-265 IL  218-733 MN  301-664 MD
303-205 CO  303-315 CO  303-407 CO  303-501 CO  303-603 CO  303-715 CO
303-716 CO  303-813 CO  303-975 CO  305-604 FL  305-708 FL  305-816 FL
310-227 CA  310-622 CA  310-680 CA  312-361 IL  313-351 MI  313-398 MI
314-207 MO  314-209 MO  314-305 MO  315-814 NY  316-229 KS  317-216 IN
317-519 IN  317-570 IN  318-427 LA  318-789 LA  360-867 WA  360-874 WA
360-934 WA  404-369 GA  404-549 GA  404-647 GA  404-721 GA  404-747 GA
404-821 GA  405-750 OK  405-819 OK  407-230 FL  407-317 FL  407-370 FL
407-418 FL  407-476 FL  408-952 CA  410-738 MD  412-380 PA  412-420 PA
412-425 PA  412-450 PA  412-460 PA  412-467 PA  412-522 PA  412-552 PA
412-650 PA  412-799 PA  412-850 PA  412-876 PA  412-886 PA  412-888 PA
412-891 PA  412-982 PA  413-457 MA  413-493 MA  413-564 MA  413-626 MA
413-821 MA  413-834 MA  414-215 WI  414-219 WI  414-302 WI  414-303 WI
414-304 WI  414-306 WI  415-439 CA  415-633 CA  415-846 CA  415-874 CA
415-932 CA  423-249 KY  423-272 TN  423-397 TN  423-447 TN  423-554 TN
423-701 TN  423-739 TN  423-881 TN  423-907 TN  423-908 TN  423-916 TN
423-921 TN  423-949 TN  501-617 AR  501-917 AR  502-392 KY  504-428 LA
504-477 LA  504-681 LA  504-794 LA  505-726 NM  507-379 MN  508-341 MA
508-353 MA  508-424 MA  508-551 MA  508-581 MA  508-717 MA  508-923 MA
509-323 WA  509-744 WA  510-563 CA  510-780 CA  510-864 CA  512-436 TX
512-437 TX  512-481 TX  512-494 TX  513-215 OH  513-387 OH  515-362 IA
516-814 NY  518-814 NY  562-808 CA  562-817 CA  601-220 MS  601-578 MS
606-385 KY  607-814 NY  609-814 NJ  610-518 PA  610-530 PA  610-894 PA
612-301 MN  612-403 MN  612-407 MN  612-703 MN  612-806 MN  612-901 MN
612-903 MN  612-904 MN  614-359 OH  614-435 OH  614-941 OH  615-701 TN
615-907 TN  615-908 TN  615-916 TN  615-918 TN  616-398 MI  617-358 MA
617-363 MA  617-882 MA  617-883 MA  619-618 CA  619-639 CA  619-671 CA
702-393 NV  702-495 NV  702-682 NV  702-694 NV  702-730 NV  702-850 NV
702-880 NV  703-575 VA  704-618 NC  707-438 CA  713-500 TX  713-510 TX
713-512 TX  713-970 TX  714-430 CA  714-431 CA  714-460 CA  714-623 CA
714-901 CA  715-685 WI  716-240 NY  716-814 NY  717-221 PA  717-260 PA
717-331 PA  717-360 PA  717-603 PA  717-791 PA  718-537 NY  718-814 NY
719-381 CO  770-549 GA  770-647 GA  770-721 GA  770-747 GA  770-821 GA
801-431 UT  801-767 UT  803-719 SC  803-818 SC  803-819 SC  803-902 SC
804-416 VA  804-896 VA  805-276 CA  805-291 CA  805-572 CA  805-827 CA
808-274 HI  808-581 HI  808-974 HI  808-984 HI  810-337 MI  810-393 MI
810-582 MI  810-584 MI  810-780 MI  810-824 MI  810-835 MI  812-488 IN
813-308 FL  813-636 FL  814-343 PA  814-357 PA  814-363 PA  814-471 PA
814-543 PA  814-644 PA  814-686 PA  814-693 PA  814-762 PA  814-884 PA
814-951 PA  816-220 MO  817-820 TX  818-318 CA  818-588 CA  860-513 CT
860-613 CT  860-619 CT  860-701 CT  860-702 CT  860-704 CT  901-282 TN
901-771 TN  903-981 TX  904-210 FL  904-490 FL  904-515 FL  904-609 FL
904-719 FL  904-820 FL  907-761 AK  908-471 NJ  908-630 NJ  908-904 NJ
909-280 CA  909-716 CA  912-223 GA  912-392 GA  912-899 GA  913-248 KS
913-250 KS  913-323 KS  913-324 KS  913-328 KS  913-498 KS  914-814 NY
916-874 CA  916-875 CA  917-221 NY  917-388 NY  917-695 NY  917-814 NY
917-835 NY  941-401 FL  954-242 FL  954-296 FL  954-316 FL  954-321 FL
954-327 FL  954-349 FL  954-384 FL  954-389 FL  954-572 FL  954-581 FL
954-583 FL  954-584 FL  954-587 FL  954-608 FL  954-627 FL  954-704 FL
954-712 FL  954-713 FL  954-741 FL  954-742 FL  954-746 FL  954-747 FL
954-748 FL  954-749 FL  954-765 FL  954-768 FL  954-774 FL  954-779 FL
954-791 FL  954-792 FL  954-797 FL  954-814 FL  954-831 FL  954-832 FL
954-845 FL  954-846 FL  954-847 FL  954-848 FL  954-851 FL  954-855 FL
954-917 FL  954-968 FL  954-969 FL  954-970 FL  954-971 FL  954-972 FL
954-973 FL  954-974 FL  954-975 FL  954-977 FL  954-978 FL  954-979 FL
954-984 FL  970-407 CO


Paula Pettis
Stuff Software Telecommunications
Email: [e-mail], http://www.gdi.net/stuff/stuff.html

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Telephone Numbering Plan in Australia
Date: 26 Sep 1995 03:49:14 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


Australia is undergoing a nationwide change to standard eight-digit
local numbers and single digit (minus the initial 0) 'super' areacodes.
Many locations are having to undergo a two (or even three) stage
change of local numbers -- with the intermediary stages being that the
first few digits of their current length telephone number are changed,
and the final change being that the latter digits of their former
areacode are tacked onto the front of their current length number.
Except for the major cities, all other locations in Australia are
going to have *new* single-digit 'super' areacodes (minus the initial 0).

There are some reference documents at the website (and ftp sites) of
Australia's TELSTRA (formerly Telecom-Australia) and AUSTEL (the
government's regulatory agency which has taken over the numbering
administration from Telecom-Australia).

SEE:
http://www.telstra.com.au/press/info/8-digits/8-digits.htm
for Geoff Dyer's ([e-mail]) condensed description
of the numbering changes. One of his sources was from a large AUSTEL
document giving more details on the numbering plan changes.

This document can be downloaded from:
ftp://ftp.austel.gov.au/pub/reports/numplan.word.zip
It is a PKZIP-compressed of 22 individual MS-Word 6.0c formatted documents.
The individual 22 filenames when 'unzipped' will in alphabetical order, but
the contents.doc file should help to be a guide to the order of the files.
(There is NO readme.txt file, unfortunately). There are some graphics in
these files which can only be viewed/printed in MW-Word 6.0c or better, but
the text should be viewable/printable in MW-Word 6.0 (or maybe even less).
This document is dated June 1995, and is the second edition of the new
Austalian Numbering Plan. The first edition was April 1993.

Other Austel webpages are at:
http://www.austel.gov.au


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

From: [e-mail] (Les Fairall)
Subject: Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones"
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 01:49:08 GMT
Organization: jaguNET Access Services


I have an 1A2 system with several "single line" phones attached to it.
The 1A2 is strapped with common ringing (provided by a separate ring
generator.  Problem is that if someone answers on a non-key phone
(i.e. a regular off the shelf store bought phone that has been added
w/a single line adapter), the system continues to ring all other
phones for about ten seconds. (I believe that is the standard timeout
for the 400E KTU cards that are in the system.) I remember years ago
seeing a device that you could plug a normal phone into and it would
sense it off hook and satsify the A/A1 connection and make the ktu see
that line as in use. This would be great as it would (1) stop lines
from ringing another ten seconds and (2) actually light the line up in
use.

Any helpful advice would be appreciated. I hope this message makes
sense as I am an amatuer at "antique systems" but still enjoy making
them work.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Use the second (normally unused) pair
in the 'regular phone' to short the A/A1 line. Wire them through a
relay in the 'regular phone' which would close on the phone going off
hook. You will find a spare set of contacts in the phone for that
purpose. When you provide the A/A1 supervision you will get what you
want.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul C. Kocher)
Subject: Summary of RSA/Cylink Situation (was Re: Speaking of Netscape)
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 06:58:58 GMT


John R Levine  <[e-mail]> wrote:

> I got a press release today that said that Cylink had won its patent
> suit against RSA, and the court agreed that RSA had infringed Cylink's
> patents on public key encryption.

It's unfortunately much more complex than this.  The dispute went to
arbitration, where a ruling was made.  Strangely, both parties now
claim to have won completely.  I've never seen two interrpretations of
any legal document that are so different.

There are actually two batches of patents involved in the suit, some
from work done at MIT and some from Stanford.  The MIT patents cover
the RSA cryptosystem (a public key encrytion technique discovered by
the founders of RSA Data Security, or RSADSI, which is a company),
while the Stanford patents include Diffie-Hellman exponential key
exchange and the original idea of public key cryptography.  There are
other ways to do public key cryptography besides RSA, though RSA is
simpler and more popular than the other techniques.  The Stanford
patents, however, appear to cover the whold field of public key
cryptography.

Before this recent ruling, all the patents were controlled by Public
Key Partners (PKP), which was run by Jim Bidzos.  PKP was a
partnership including Stanford, MIT, Cylink, and RSADSI and was run by
Jim Bidzos, president of RSADSI.  Cylink wanted to use and license the
patents on its own, but was blocked by PKP, which started the whole
mess.

RSADSI has been selling toolkits that let people use technologies
covered in the Stanford patents, and Cylink now claims that RSADSI
didn't have rights to do this.  Cylink has reportedly threatened to
charge RSADSI's customers $50,000 each for using patents that weren't
licensed correctly.  RSA has now taken to claiming that the Stanford
patents are invalid, to prevent Cylink from harrassing their
customers.  I think RSA is probably right here, since the Stanford
patents weren't filed properly.  (For example, they were submitted
more than a year after the publication of the techniques they cover.)

Meanwhile Cylink wants to be able to use the RSA cryptosystem without
paying royalties to RSADSI, so they seem to now be claiming that the
MIT patents are invalid!  These patents actually seem fairly strong to
me, so I don't think this claim would be likely to make it very far.

Hopefully we'll know more soon about the situation.  The outcome will
have a big impact on the ability of companies to make and sell
products using cryptography in the USA.  Anything from encrypted
encrypted telephones to secure e-mail to Internet commerce need public
key technologies, so the outcome of the lawyering is quite important.
Currently the patent licensing situation is a huge expensive mess for
anyone trying to bring a product to market, and I'm hopeful that as a
result of all this we'll soon have non-patented ways of doing public
key cryptography.


Cheers,

Paul C. Kocher   Independent cryptography/data security consultant
E-mail: [e-mail]                     Voice/FAX: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Matthew Richardson)
Subject: Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked!
Organization: I.T. Consultancy Limited, Jersey
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 20:50:40 GMT


The details (as described by Netscape) can be found at:-

http://home.netscape.com/newsref/std/random_seed_security.htm

Basically their random number generator (used to generate the encryption
keys) in insufficiently random.  Thus the keys are reasonably easy to
guess and hence break.

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

From: [e-mail] (JeanBernard Condat)
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: French Forum (FRFORUM) Explosion on CompuServe
Date: 26 Sep 1995 18:44:31 GMT
Organization: FranceNet


Bonjour,

Since September 1st, you can access the French Forum (GO FRFORUM) on
CompuServe services. The success will be so great that the French
Paris' accesses was down during a complete night: too many people in
the same forum. More than 4,500 daily users visit this French forum to
find French up-to-date conversations on French subject of interest.

Don't hesitate to visit this uncredible forum.


Jean-Bernard Condat (sysop)
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: JeanBernard writes to the Digest from
time to time on telecom events in France.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Help With Rolm! 9751 Questions
Date: 22 Sep 1995 19:43:54 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Help!!! I need some help with the configuration of the Rolm 9751
models.  I have been told the model 30E is capable of growing to 384
ports. Is that true?

Is it still non-blocking?

They are telling me that I may need to upgrade to a model 30EX. What is
that and why would I need to upgrade?

My company is thinking about networking our offices together and we want
to use the Coronet software. Does anyone use this stuff? Are the features
truely transparent across the network?

Can anyone tell me about the data features of the PBX? I want to send
data thru the telephone but I believe the only options the Rolm offers
is async. Is that true? I was told the highest speeds they handle is
19.2K.

If you have any information on the 9751 product I need your help. Please
post a follow up.


Thanks in advance,

Brian

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Morrow)
Subject: Has Anyone Used This Software?
Date: 26 Sep 1995 21:16:08 GMT
Organization: University of South Florida


Hi,

As we progress in determining requirements for a new telemanagement
system, we've obtained product info from several companies, including:

    Company            Product
    -----------------    -----------------
    Pinnacle Software    Axis
    Telco Research        Tru-Server
    Telemate        TMI 5500
    Angeles Group        Cable Master/Call Master/etc
    PCR                 COMIT

Do any of you use, or have seen, these products?  Any opinions on these
or others would be much appreciated!


Thanks,

Steve Morrow, Coordinator / DBA
University of South Florida
Internet: [e-mail]
Voice: [phone]

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

From: Fardad Vakil <[e-mail]>
Subject: Need Information on Latest CDPD Progress
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 00:00:00 GMT
Organization: Printrak International


Hi there,

I am looking for information and the latest progress on Cellular
Digital Packet Data (CDPD). Your generous responses would sincerely be
appreciated.  Also, I would like to know which company has offered the
best equipment for this technology.

Thanks.

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

From: [e-mail] (Carl Bittner)
Subject: Last Laugh! Free SPAM Program
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 12:32:10 GMT
Organization: Spammers 'R Us
Reply-To: [e-mail]


HERE IT IS:  ABSOLUTELY FREE

Spam as many groups as you want with one command.  Can post same
message to 14,000 groups in just a few hours.

Must have UNIX shell account, the attached script, and create two
ascii text files called groups.txt and message.txt.  The file
groups.txt should contain a list of all groups you want to spam, one
per line. If you want to hit everything, you can just copy your
newsrc file, but you'll have to remove all index numbers and end of
line punctuation.  The message.txt file is the actual message you want
to spam.  It must contain the subject header on the first line, ie:
Subject: Spamming is Fun.

You may add in other headers, such as Organization, Paths, Reply to,
etc, but none are required.  Do NOT put in a newsgroup header.  The
script does that automatically.  There must be a blank line between
the last header and the start of the actual message.

Then, download those two files plus the following script (call it
spamming.fun) to your home directory on the Unix shell account, type
"perl spamming.fun", and sit back to watch the fireworks.


      -----------------------Cut Here--------------------
#!perl
#Assumes both Perl and Inews are accessible through
#your home directory.  If not, either place them in your path
#or adjust the script.
#You must also have a ascii text file called groups.txt, which
#contains a list of each group you want to spam.  One to a line.
#No punctuation at end of line.
#Your spam message must be called message.txt, and it should
#be in ascii.  The first line must be your subject header:
# For example:     Subject: this is spam.
# You may add in other headers if you wish, but there must be a
#blank line before your actual message begins.
#run program by typing "perl spam.pl.
#
#
#!perl
print "Running...\n";
$newsrc =
"$ENV{'HOME'}/testgrps.txt";
open(GROUPS, "$newsrc");
while($group=<GROUPS>)
     {print "Posting to: $group";
 open(NEWS,"|inews -h");
print NEWS "Newsgroups: $group";
 open(MESSAGE, "message.txt");
while($line=<MESSAGE>) {
print NEWS $line;
 }
 close NEWS;
if($?==0) { $success++ }
else { $fail++
}}$total = $success + $fail;print "Tried to post to $total
groups.\n$success OK, $fail failed.\n";

     -------------  cut here  ----------------


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just a couple notes that the author did
not mention. If your groups file includes the names of moderated groups
then attempts to post to them will of necessity fail, with your message
going instead to the moderator's mailbox. You can eliminate this 'problem'
by the addition of a line in the header, but I am not going to tell you
which one, or what it says. Also, you should be aware that running this
script will bring *lots* of attention to your site, and your postmaster/
sysadmin/news person may be busy for several days afterward cleaning
up the mess and responding to hate messages sent threatening to kill
him and you. In turn, he may in the worst case scenario try to hurt you,
and in the best case scenario, simply cancel your account.  People who
respond back to you -- probably several thousand users -- will not wish
you Happy New Year 5756, and they will probably set up a script of their
own to send your spam back to you many times over with their compliments
for your thoughtful gesture.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #407
******************************


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          26 Sep 95 22:15 EDT
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Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 13:12:15 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #408

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 26 Sep 95 13:12:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 408

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Martin Kealey)
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Jerry Pruett)
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Jack Hamilton)
    Re: Cordless Phone Range Extenders (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Interchangable NPA / Official Test Numbers (Scott Robert Dawson)
    Re: Need DID Access in NY - NYTel Unresponsive! (Chuck Poole)
    Re: Canadian Calling Cards in US (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Daniel Ganek)
    Re: Need Help To Deal With "Slamming" (Bruce McGuffin)
    Re: Voice Compression on T1s (Paul O'Nolan)
    Re: FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs (Geoffrey P. Waigh)
    Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line (Patton Turner)
    Re: Listen to Me on the Radio This Weekend (Emmanuel Goldstein)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
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     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
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     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (Martin Kealey)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 95 18:14:10 NZST


Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> wrote on 20 Sep 1995 in
article <[e-mail]>:

> Most of this has been dealt with by people pointing out that compelled
> signalling is widely used in Germany and other parts of Europe, but
> is essentially unknown in North America.

> One point remains to be covered, however:

> [e-mail] (Christian Weisgerber) wrote:
>> What is a phone number? For the most part, a phone number is a *route*
>> through the network.

> This is absolutely not true in North America.

It seems that you are arguing at cross-purposes ...

The term "network" needn't necessarily mean the actual hardware used
to carry the call once a circuit is established, although I don't
warrant that Herr Weisgerber necessarily made that distinction.
Further, the routing for the setup needn't necessarily be along the
same path for the actual call.

A network is simply a collection of nodes and links between them.  So,
there is a virtual network in NANP, which can be navigated by taking
groups of three digits at a time ... it's just that this network is not
isomorphic to the actual phone circuits installed.  What is useful
though is that this "network" can be easily internalised by a human to
whatever level of detail they like.

However, viewed in this way, it seems a rather chaotic compared with
other countries -- only three levels for a whole continent, and
multiple routes to nearby physical locations.  For example, we have up
to four levels of such a virtual network, in a country only 1% the size.

On the subject of internalising rules, I would note also that a
hierachical numbering system similarly reduces the number of rules --
if a number looks similar to mine, then it's nearby, and the call
should be cheap.  For example, numbers in a small town 90 km to the
north are all of the form +64-9-42-26-xxx.  Numbers in the next
calling area are all +64-9-42-xxxxx.  Numbers on the northern side of
my free calling area are +64-9-4xxxxxx; other sectors can similarly be
identified from the first digit and the second digit generally
indicates how far from the centre of town.  A toll call from one of
the northern adjacent calling areas costs more to the southern &
eastern suburbs than to other parts of town.  Area code "9" selects
the northern part of the country.

    -=@@=-

It was noted elsewhere that most countries are moving to uniform
length numbers, partly because it also makes numbers easier for people
to deal with; however this does not stop the demarcation between area
code, prefix and trunk number from varying.  For the mnemonic to be
effective, all that is needed is that the length of all numbers in
each local calling area be the same, or that some very simple rule
exists to distinguish them; how they may divided up into area code,
prefix or trunk isn't necessary to knowing if you have a complete
number.

> Tying the routing of a call to the digits in the number is the
> huge failing of SxS switching systems.

True, but it does lead to a hierachical numbering scheme that makes
life easier for the end users, even if you aren't using SxS any more.
Here in NZ we have 100% digital exchanges, and redundant network lines
all over the place; however, we still have the human advantage of a
hierachical numbering scheme.  In simple terms, the more digits at the
start of a number are the same as mine, the less the call is going to
cost.

[ Also true, we have yet to see portable numbers, but then
  we don't even have any dialtone competitors yet...
  By the way, are land-line numbers portable in NANP yet? ]

> > Okay, you dial +49 or within Germany 0.
> > Now you're on the long distance level of the German Telekom network.
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is the clue that he isn't necessarily refering to the physical
transport network.  Each step represents a "level" for decoding the
number, rather than necessarily an actual switch, although it may have
done originally.

>> You dial          selects
>> - <6>             South western Germany.
>> - 6<2>            The Ludwigshafen/Mannheim area.
>> - 62<1>           The cities of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim themselves.
>> - 621 <5>         Ludwigshafen.
>> - 621 5<8>        The particular part of Ludwigshafen I live in.
>> - 621 58<70460>   That's my line. My phone is ringing!
>>                   (Actually, the final 0 helps selecting a particular
>>                   device on my ISDN line.)

>> Easy, isn't it?

> Easy yes -- but a disaster for planning and orderly growth.  This sort
> of design ensures that Germany will not have portable numbers for a
> long time.

Whilst this may make portable numbers a little more difficult, they
are by no means impossible.

On the other hand it seems that "planning and orderly growth" are in
fact quite WELL catered for - the upgrade path can be made visible
well in advance (possibly decades, but of course it's still possible
for politics to hide this information).  None of this messing round
only getting told 1 year before which new area code you're going to
get because which one will depend on how many other areas are in the
queue ahead of yours, and on who complains loudest so they don't have
to change.

Two points:

(A) considering Germany (or elsewhere).
    Once it is decided that local dialtone is considered a commodity service,
    then it should be detached from the numbering plan, and a separate
    (singular) entity should provide the core lookup services.  I don't think
    there is anything that stops this working with compelled signalling?

(B) considering NANP.
    What you say makes sense in terms of large and growing cities, but there's
    more to life than big cities.  As I understand it, the reason that NANP
    needed to switch to NXX area codes was not because it had run out of
    numbers, but because it had run out of prefixes.  If there hadn't been
    the rigidity that prefixes and area codes be exactly three digits, maybe
    this would have been alleviated.

With the price of connectivity coming down, it is not unreasonable to
consider that proxy lookup services would be at least a reasonable, if
not better approach, than making each switch do its own database
lookup?  Indeed, isn't this how 800 number lookup already works?  The
local switch sees "1800" and then knows "collect 7 more digits and
refer them to Bellcore" (or whoever).  THEN a decision on routing the
CALL is made.

If compelled signalling were used, then the reply from Bellcore could come
back "collect another four digits and refer to agency XXX for the next routing
query".

    -=@@=-

There is an assumption that changing phone numbers is an expensive
exercise; well, I'm not trying to say that it's completely painless,
but if *all* the numbers in an area change by adding a uniform prefix
in front, it's far less expensive than when some numbers change and
others don't.  Furthermore it is relatively fair, since nobody gets to
lobby that they should stay the same while everyone else has to change
area codes.  This makes it more a matter of public education than a
cost to be borne individually.

> Okay -- you are in Germany and you start to dial +1 40 ...
> Now with your scheme, the local switch would have to pick up a trunk to
> somewhere -- to where ?  It isn't even known what country you are calling
> yet!

You note that up to six leading digits may need to be analysed to get
a route *for the connected call* to a normal line, and even more may
be required in other cases.  However I don't think Herr Weisgerber
claimed that you had to take the digits one at a time when choosing
the next node -- it just you have the option of doing it that way since
the numbers are well structured.

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

Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?
From: [e-mail] (Jerry Pruett - KD4CIM)
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 95 17:34:33 -0500
Organization: Vulcan - Live Long and Prosper!


[e-mail] (Andrew Luck) writes:

> Now I am back in the south (Atlanta GA area code 770) and really would
> like to get that number back.  But my younger sister (the cynic) says
> that in this part of the country there are "rules" against using
> certain numbers, such as 666.

Then you need to move to Marrietta - it has 770-666, also Mobile, AL
334-666, Lakeland, FL 941-666.

> How about 777    (three's a charm?)

334-777 Deer Park, AL,
407-777 Indian Harbor, FL,
305-777 Ft. Lauderdale, FL,
404-777 Atlanta

> Or 888   (Dead man's Hand ?)

404-888 Atlanta

404-222, 404-999 are also in Atlanta;
770-333 is in Smyrna, GA;
404/770-444 and 555 are not in use in GA, but there is a 205-444 in
Birmingham, AL. (my office for example)

111 and 555 appear to be the only ones that are off limits - I guess
111 would confuse the switches too much and 555 is reserved for TV
shows and Directory Assistance ;-)

Note that NNXs (or is it NXX now) for 404 and 770 cannot be duplicated
as the permissive dialing period hasn't expired for the 404/770 NPA
split. Information obtained from the FCC #4 Tariffs issued by NECA.

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

From: [e-mail] (Jack Hamilton)
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 19:22:09 GMT
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access


The TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> In the past here in the Digest, we have had articles about places in the
> USA and Canada where 666 is used, as in AC-666-xxxx. In a few cases, which
> should make everyone feel good, it turned out to be some federal government
> agency. I think in one case it was the Internal Revenue Service. Here in
> Chicago, 312-MONroe has been around simply forever. It is one of the oldest
> exchanges in the city, and a phone district is named for it.   PAT]

In San Francisco, the 666 prefix belongs to the University of San
Francisco, a Catholic college (Jesuit, I think).  No doubt some
heathen at Pacific Bell assigned it to them; I'd be surprised if they
requested it, but who knows?  Maybe they wanted to prove some point.


Jack Hamilton  [e-mail]  Sacramento, California, USA  kd6ttl@n0ary
               PGP Key fingerprint: B90D02076A05ADAF 12C1ECF47C4A39E1
               1992 BMW K75RTA             co-moderator, sci.med.aids

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cordless Phone Range Extenders
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 95 22:38:08 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Jeffrey C Honig <[e-mail]> writes:

> I just received my "Phone Central" catalog (800/437-2160 if you want
> to order one).  In it I see "Cordless Phone Range Extenders" made by
> Valor.  They are nothing more than antennas and coax that attach to
> the antenna on a 900MHz or 46/49MHz cordless phone base unit to extend
> the range.

One little problem -- those things are barred by FCC rules, which state not
only that cordless telephones' antennas must be no larger than a certain
size but that they must be *permanently attached* to the unit, precisely to
prevent the antenna from being placed on a rooftop (where it would cause more
interference to other users).  The reason so many 49 MHz base antennas are
available is that they were legal for the older type of cordless phone that
used a much lower frequency (around 1600-1700 kHz!) for the base-to-handset
link; the outdoor antennas only worked for receiving on those, and were
therefore legal.

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

From: [e-mail] (Scott Robert Dawson)
Subject: Re: Interchangable NPA / Official Test Numbers
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 02:38:12 GMT
Organization: InterLog Internet Services


Michael Fumich <[e-mail]> wrote:

> The following are the official test numbers for the new NPA's
> coming online:

> 213 / 562  CA    [phone]    9-2-95

I tried all of the numbers listed, dated as being active, and they all
worked... _except_ [phone]. That one yielded a 'Your call
cannot be completed as dialed' message, which did not sound like the
Bell Canada message. Maybe that one doesn't work from 905?


TTFN,

Scott

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

From: [e-mail] (Chuck Poole)
Subject: Re: Need DID Access in NY - NYTel Unresponsive!
Date: 25 Sep 1995 22:45:14 GMT
Organization: Voiceware Systems, Inc.


[e-mail] (Doug Reuben) writes:

>  We've recently come to the conclusion that DID *may* be better than
>  adding new phone lines all the time ...:)

>  With that in mind, I called down to the local New York Telephone business
>  center in New York City to inquire about rates, how it would be set up,
>  transition to DID, etc, ie, basic information.

Most sales reps don't understand DID much less the way it is
propagated.  Furthermore, they don't really know anything technical
about the equipment (PBX / Hybrids).  Usually, they refer such matters
to a Technical Service Rep.  This person works with a number of sales
reps and answers their questions.  This is the most probable reason
for doing business this way (asking for a fax).  The other problem the
LEC is faced with is the fact that you can get DID service just as
easily from Teleport, and it's probably cheaper.  So therefore, they
have cut back on Technical Service reps (and everyone else) because
their cost of doing business is relatively high.  They know the
writing is on the wall ... but they sure are having trouble adjusting
to the non-monolopy way of doing business.


Chuck Poole
Voiceware Systems, Inc
West Palm Beach, FL

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Canadian Calling Cards in US
Date: 26 Sep 1995 03:21:52 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


Ian Angus <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Several weeks ago, TELECOM DIGEST carried several letters relating to
> the use of Canadian telco calling cards in the US. The original writer
> asserted that AT&T was refusing to validate Canadian cards, presumably
> because Canada's major telcos are allied with MCI.

> This surprised many people, including me, because our Canadian
> calling cards have always worked in the US in the past. In fact,
> after the original letter appeared, I used my Bell Canada card without
> trouble in Georgia and Florida.

> I have finally tracked down the source of the original writer's conclusion.


> On September 1, Canada Direct became available from the United States.
> Callers dial 1-800-555-1111 to use the service.

Using Canada Direct's 1-800-555-1111 will help Canadians travelling in
the US to avoid many of the problems of COCOTS (private payphones) and
their AOSlime operator 'services', if those AOSlimes 'accept' Canadian
issued calling cards.  But since many of these AOSlimers might not
have billing agreements with the local Canadian telcos, they probably
don't 'accept' valid Canadian cards.

And, what do they mean by 'Canadian Rates' for using Canada Direct? Is
it a 'generic' rate from 'anywhere' in the (continental) US? Or is it
a Canadian tarriffed rate billed from the originating US NPA-NXX to
the destination Canadian NPA-NXX? From what I've seen by researching
the toll rates pages in Canadian telephone directories, Canadian rates
to the US seem to be *higher* than US rates to Canada. Rates from the
US to Canada are also much higher than comparable distance rates
within the US domestically (unless you have AT&T's "True World" plan,
which I recently 'had' to get). And domestic rates *within* Canada
(inter-province) have seemed to be higher than Canada to US rates of
comparable distance. Intra-province rates (just like domestic US
inter-state rates) are the highest!

Could it be that Bell Canada (and other Stentor member telcos) want
Canadians travelling in the US to use 1-800-555-1111 since it probably
will cost more than using (10-XXX/101-XXXX+)0+the ten digit Canadian
number?

BTW, I dialed 1-800-555-1111. It only allows you to enter *CANADIAN*
destination ten-digit numbers. It rejected any attempts of
(continental) US numbers. I don't know if this may change in the
future, but I didn't even try to enter a Canadian number, followed by
my AT&T and SCBell card numbers, since they would most likely be
rejected.


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

From: [e-mail] (Daniel Ganek)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 13:49:07 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA


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

> On 18 Sep 1995 01:44:24 PDT, [e-mail] (Dave Yost) said:

>> Our telephone systems should be straightforward enough that any child
>> capable of remembering their phone number can be taught how to pick up
>> any phone and dial their home phone number or 911.

> Mr. Yost goes on to suggest that "We should work toward a standard
> that would allow a child to dial simply 1 + area code + number from
> any phone ... and get connected to their home."  I presume for the
> moment that Mr. Yost is a concerned parent, or certainly, is looking
> out for the best interests of some child or children, somewhere.  The
> problem I have with this proposal is simply that it takes a
> Procrustean approach to child safety, regardless of its effects on
> adults.

> By this approach, we should make the world completely and utterly safe
> for four-year-olds.  This is the rallying cry currently used as a
> justification for censoring adults on the Internet.  Adults use cars,
> airplanes, lathes, pornography, and slaughterhouses, all of which are
> patently unsafe (or at least, unwise) for four-year-old operation.
> Not everything can -- or should -- be made child-safe.

Mr. McMillin is missing the point. We don't propose that 11-digit
dialing be REQUIRED in order to make a phone call. We are simply
stating that it is be ALLOWED.  I certainly don't want to dial a lot a
digits when it's not necessary -- but even this 51 year old has been
in many situations where I'm not sure whether I should use 7, 10 or 11
digits.  My 4 year old is just learning to dial now I and it would be
VERY simple if I could tell him to dial 1-508-nnn-xxxx.

Just yesterday a cell phone user was compaining that he couldn't program
his phone to use 11 digits because some areas don't allow it for local
calls.

I live is one of those brain-damaged states that say that 1+ is a toll
call -- of course with all the dialing plans available that's only true
for ONE plan and that's not even the cheapest!


dan

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

From: [e-mail] (Bruce McGuffin)
Subject: Re: Need Help To Deal With "Slamming"
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 95 10:16:54 -0400
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory


KBC6891 ([e-mail]) wrote:

> A friend of mine in Mass was ripped off by some small long distance
> company by illegal connection without consent.  That person has had
> some deep discount package to call with MCI so he/she called abroad
> alot unknowing that the line had been slammed to some other company.
> That result to a very, very big LD bills with some outrageous charges.

Slamming is illegal. There are various tricks that these companies use
to get you to agree to be switched over without realizing it, but most
do not hold up in court. Both the FCC and the Massachussetts Attorney
General have recently developed an interest in slamming, after basically
ignoring the problem for years. Your friend probably does not need to
sue in civil court. Tell your friend to:

    1) call the attorney general and the FCC to complain;
    2) call the local phone company, tell them he/she was slammed, and
       does not intend to pay the outrageous LD charges, and
    3) call the old long distance carrier, tell them he/she was slammed and
       wants to return to their old service right away.

With any luck at all, that should take care of the problem.


Bruce McGuffin

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

From: Paul O'Nolan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Voice Compression on T1s
Organization: NLnet
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 22:14:00 GMT


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

> I would like to hear from anyone with experience using voice
> compression techniques in T1 muxes. I need as much of the bandwidth of
> my T1s as possible for data, but had to cost-justify the T1s by
> including reductions in voice telco expenses. I will probably be using
> Newbridge muxes (3600 & 3624), which seem to support a voice-path at
> as low as 8kbps. Although it leaves more for data, I'm concerned about
> degraded quality. Of 8, 16 or 32kbps, I'm sure 32 is the least
> objectionable for the telemarketing people who will be on the phones,
> but what kind of quality might I expect?  Are there other mux vendors
> who provide better quality at low bandwidths?

Mark, I'm using a MICOM with 12kpbs (9.6 was noticeably poor) voice
channels.  Newbridge was on the shortlist, as was Netrix. There are
trade offs between quality of voice compression and adaptive
reallocation of bandwidth.

Good luck.

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

From: [e-mail] (Geoffrey P Waigh)
Subject: Re: FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs
Organization: University of Toronto Computing Disciplines Facility
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 18:17:31 GMT


Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> writes:

> It seems implausible that the FCC would attempt to tell US carriers
> that they may not connect to certain numbers outside the US based
> either on the content of certain calls or on the (presumably confidential)
> billing arrangements between the non-US carriers and their subscribers.

Err, why?  The US has a rich history of trying to regulate activities
in foreign countries.  In particular, not too long ago, one of the US
government agencies forced American telco's to block calls to Canadian
service providers that permitted people in America to call Cuba.  I
don't remember how it was resolved, but I think the service providers
just shut down rather get into a prolonged battle.

So long as the telco's moved quickly to block access to "inappropriate"
destinations nodes on the PSTN as they are discovered, I would think that
most of the Christian Fundamentalists would tolerate the situation.


Geoffrey Waigh               Fault-tolerant means you need to drop
[e-mail]     two screwdrivers in the power cabinet.

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

From: [e-mail] (Patton M Turner)
Subject: Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 13:35:31 GMT


Lou DeFonzo <[e-mail]> writes:

> [e-mail] (Rolland Suh) wrote:

>> We are thinking about getting 56KB dedicated line to the Internet.  We
>> already have a T1 voice line, and wondering if it would be cost
>> effective for us to use one of the channels of existing T1, over
>> getting a new dediccated line.  Any idea on this?

> Assuming that you are not using all 24 DS0s, this would be an
> excellent way of gaining internet access. However, this will depend on
> who your carrier is for the T1 and who you are planning to use for
> your Internet Access Provider. This will require that your CSU is
> capable of providing Drop and Insert capability and that it can
> support a DSU. Basically a DSU/CSU with Drop and Insert capability.

It depends on a number of things:  Do you have the space on the T1?  If
the T1 is going to the IXC and the 56 is an inter LATA circuit, you will
save even more.  If the T1 terminates on the LECs switch you will save less.

As the above poster said you will need a CSU/DSU capabile of doing drop
and insert or a D/I channel bank added after the CSU.  This assumes you
don't already use a channel bank in which case you can drop in a OCUDP or
DSUDP card.


Patton Turner  KB4GRZ  FAA Telecommunications  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Emmanuel Goldstein)
Subject: Re: Listen to Me on the Radio This Weekend
Date: 26 Sep 1995 08:59:01 GMT
Organization: 2600 Magazine - The Hacker Quarterly


TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Fred Goldstein and myself will be guests on the Spectrum show Saturday
> night. We both hope you will be able to listen and call in with any
> questions you might have.

> Emmanuel Goldstein has been the host of this popular program since
> its inception a few years ago. The topic for the show this week is
> the recent breakup of AT&T into various separate and distinct parts.

No, the popular show I've been host of for several years is "Off The
Hook" which airs on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York Wednesdays at 10 pm
(moving to Tuesdays at 8 pm starting 10/3). I've gotten a lot of mail
from people wanting to know about this "other" show I'm doing. I've
gotten a bit curious myself.


[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ooops!  That was my error, sorry. The
show I was on Saturday night with Fred Goldstein was Spectrum, not
your show. It was an interesting program, and my thanks to those of
you who listened or called in with comments.     PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #408
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #409

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 26 Sep 95 17:40:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 409

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More (Jeffrey Rhodes)
    Re: IS95 Standard (Sona Kapadia)
    Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Ron Bean)
    Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users ([e-mail])
    Re: Hi-Speed via POTS (Dave Harrison)
    Re: Area Code Split Dates (Robert McMillin)
    Re: Help Needed Increasing UTP Segments (John N. Dreystadt)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Gordon Burditt)
    Re: Voice Compression on T1s (Gerald Mori)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Dik Winter)
    Re: War On Payphones (Nude Maid Service) (Ron Bean)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey Rhodes)
Subject: Re: Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More
Date: 26 Sep 1995 19:38:03 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Doug Reuben) writes:

> Recently, Cell One/NY (00025) announced mandatory use of the *560/*56
> Fraud Protection Feature.

Deleted: an excellent discription of the FPF feature and excellent feedback.

> 2. Cell One/NY recently, and quite foolishly, commenced mandatory 1+
> dialing for most calls, even in many cases for calls within their own
> service area. This has been explained to me as a "requirement" since AT&T
> now owns them, but unless this "requirement" is specific to AT&T-owned
> properties under the MFJ, I am not aware of any such MFJ, DOJ or other
> requirement on the Bell-owned carriers. Indeed, most of them do NOT
> require 1+ dialing in their markets, ever for roamers.

The 1+ requirement is a result of McCaw's conversion to Equal Access
which is required by the 1994 Consent Decree between the DoJ and AT&T.
Now that Cell One/NY has been converted to Equal Access, 60% of all
McCaw/Cellular One markets are converted, which means the company has the
right to call itself AT&T Wireless (which has greater brand name recognition
than McCaw Cellular).

Basically, 1+ ten digits implies that the call will be charged regular
airtime plus maybe something else. Seven or ten digits can imply no
extra charge.  Depending on the cell of origin and the destination
digits dialed, a toll charge is either paid to the mobile subscriber's
Preferred Interexchange Carrier (PIC) or the toll is paid to ATTWS who
is able to route calls on their own facilities within a Local Calling
Service (LCSA). LCSAs are similar to LATAs under the MFJ. ATTWS is
able to route 1+ calls to ATT Commericial Long Lines when the mobile's
IS41 PIC is not locally supported or because the PIC is not known, eg.
not delivered by IS41 or is delivered blank.

You also noticed that roamers need to dial 1+tendigits even when the
tendigits destination is not charged toll. I guess the "roaming" airtime
surcharge is the implied "toll" in this case.

> My cellphone is programmed with mainly 10-digit numbers. In some markets,
> 10-digit dialing is REQUIRED, and 11 digit will fail. I really don't want
> to have TWO sets of numbers in memory, one for CO/NY, the rest for eslewhere.

I like the way my Ericsson TDMA cellphone handles this. I can program
local seven digit numbers and preprogram 1206 to be prepended to any
stored seven digit numbers when the Roaming Lamp is lit on the cellphone.
For the case you mentioned I could change 1206 to 206, but my eleven
digit entries would be useless. A market that supports ten digit toll
dialing and does not support 1+ten digit toll dialing must not be
required to meet Equal Access obligations.

> What happens? When a caller calls your CO/NY number that has been
> forwarded, they get a recording "Your call can not be completed as
> dialed". You need to dial "*71-1-AC+#" from roaming markets as well to
> forward your calls properly. Another pain in the neck with is IMHO
> unecessary, and will lead to customer confusion. There are so few
> customers who use their features currently, in part because of the
> complications involved in roaming and previous frustrating experiences;
> this new problem makes it even less likely that they will ever want to
> use their features.

You're preaching to the choir. This problem can be minimised by requiring
*71+ eleven and rejecting any *71+ < eleven attempts.

Personally, I promote *711 + ten, *71 + ten and *71 + seven as acceptable.
When a mobile dials *71 + seven, they mean MIN's NPA + seven=ten, so when
it comes time to route a forwarded call, they mean 1+ MINNPA + seven=eleven.
I also like the feature *71- to reestablish call forwarding to the
last established call forward to destination without having to resend
the destination.

These dialing features are non-uniform. The Equal Access conversion process
has spurned an internal drive for Standard Customer dialing translations at
all ATTWS switch.

> 4. CO/NY customers who forwarded their calls in CT (in the Metro Mobile
> system, not in CO/NY's "country" system in Litchfield, CT, which they got
> after the local system failed to attract customers. Of course, they were
> charging 60 cents per minute for HOME customers in an area of CT populated
> mainly by cows...) were NOT able to unforward them, even though Metro
> Mobile reported the confirmation tones upon the roamer's request to
> unforward the call. This led the customer to think that he/she could
> receive calls, when in fact, they were still being forwarded.

I hate it when that happens. Personally, I always call my number after
confirmation tone, to make sure what I think happens, really has happened.
IS41 has some holes to fill.


Jeffrey Rhodes at [e-mail]

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

From: Sona Kapadia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS95 Standard
Date: 26 Sep 1995 19:59:00 GMT
Organization: Nokia Group


[e-mail] (Hans Peter Oestergaard) wrote:

> I am currently writing my Masters thesis on Interference Cancellation
> for a DS-CDMA system and therefore need some information to simulate a
> real-world realistic system.

> Is there anybody who could tell me if Qualcomm's proposed standard
> (IS95) are available anywhere on the net or somewhere else where it
> could be ordered and delivered fast. None of the libraries around here
> (In Denmark) seems to be able to get it and the ftp cite at Qualcomm
> doesn't include the main chapters with specific details.

IS-95 is published by TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association). Their
address and number to call for ordering standards, as listed in my copy of
IS-95 is as follows:

Telecommunications Industry Association
Standards and Technology Department
2500 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201

Global Engineering Documents, USA and Canada: 1-800-854-7179
                              International: 303-397-7956


Sona

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 95 19:04 CDT
From: madnix.uucp![e-mail] (Ron Bean)
Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users


[e-mail] (Clifton T. Sharp)  writes:

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

>> New users would often complain, "well I don't know
>> who this person (the sysop) is; I am not going to give out my name,
>> phone number and address to a stranger", and my answer always was, but

   PAT, I didn't mind giving my address and phone number, but some
sysops had a whole laundry list of questions they wanted you to answer
 -- how old are you, what do you do for a living, what brand of CPU do
you have (I always answered "NEC V20", taking the position that "CPU"
means the microprocessor chip and not the whole motherboard).

   I could never figure out what they thought they were going to do
with all that other information -- I think some of them were just on a
power trip. Interestingly, I only had *one* sysop call to verify my
identity. That one was a UUCP site. Once I got access to usenet, I
pretty much gave up on BBS's.

   BTW, back then quite a few sysops still wrote their own software,
sometimes on obscure machines (some even ran in interpreted BASIC,
with a few key routines in assembler). MSDOS clones were still
relatively expensive, and most BBS's had no hard disks (they only
lasted about 8000 hours, which is about a year in continuous use).
About the time clones with hard disks started getting cheaper, shareware
BBS packages were starting to became available, and a lot of non-techies
were becoming sysops.  This changed the character of the BBS world
quite a bit.


madnix![e-mail] (Ron Bean)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I know what you are saying is true. The
age and occupation questions made sense occassionally when the sysop was
trying to run a serious social issues discussion type board (these were
the forerunners of let's say, one of the Usenet groups today dealing
with social issues.) I had a user profile section on one of my BBSs which
users who had contributed to were entitled to review, and because I had
such a wide age span (a couple of guys in their fifties -- older than me
at the time by far; a couple of younger guys about fifteen and every age
in between) it often times helped place their messages in the proper
context by having an idea of *who* was writing them. I always left that
stuff as optional; all I demanded was some recourse to the user in the
event of hassles. Also, for those guys running a so-called 'adult board'
or with an 'adult' section, age was critical to insure they were not
inadvertently providing the younger 'under-age' guys with stuff that
could get the sysop in trouble. I never did run adult stuff so that was
not a concern to me. And yes, some of the sysops indeed were on a power
trip; they exercised considerable authority over their boards, and yet
when inappropriate got posted, they were the first ones to cry and whine
about how 'I cannot be held responsible for stuff posted here.'   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dunscomb)
Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users
Date: 26 Sep 1995 09:06:22 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)


Pat, you're getting "humongous" junk mail on AOL?  Must be that your
celebrity status makes you a magnet for the stuff.  Or maybe you're
just unlucky.  I get and send a lot of e-mail on AOL, all of it
personal and desired, and I see no junk or spam except for a
once-a-month "newsletter" that I never read.  But then, I'm a dull
man.  Or, maybe I'm just lucky.

Since CIS charges for Internet mail, and AOL doesn't, for me it's the
least expensive service around.  (Cheap enough to make me put up with
the kiddycar mail facilities, even. Maybe with AOL 3.0 they'll get mail
facilities as good as those on CIS.   Or, maybe 5.0, or 8  ...)

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Harrison)
Subject: Re: Hi-Speed via POTS
Date: 26 Sep 1995 04:59:28 GMT
Organization: American Tripe Producers Council


Robert Ricketts ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Greetings. I'm looking for a couple of boxes that does the following:

>            A       B         C         D        E        (see below)
>       |         |     |             |     |           |

I think Telebit makes a device to combine multiple dial ups to a single
higher speed.

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 01:24:44 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Robert McMillin)
Subject: Re: Area Code Split Dates


On 21 Sep 1995 07:34:13 PDT, [e-mail] (Linc Madison) said:

> The splits are listed in order by the date of the END of permissive
> dialing.

> NEW OLD  START    FINAL   ST      Place/Comment
>  -- ---  -----    -----   ---------------------------------------------
> 562 310 02/01/97 08/01/97 CA Los Angeles area; details not finalized

Interesting.  According to a recent article in the Marina Del Rey
{Argonaut}, the cutover is scheduled to start around 06/96, with
permissive dialing ending early in 1997 -- a very aggressive schedule.
Also, this list doesn't cover the alleged split of the 818 area code
into 818 and 626 (?) along geographic lines, with San Fernando Valley
cities (Burbank, Pasadena, Studio City, Van Nuys, etc.) retaining the
818 area code, and San Gabriel Valley cities (Azusa, the Covinas,
etc.)  adopting the new 626 NPA.  I heard about this (if I recall, it
was a mailing in my Pac*Bell bill) several months back, but have heard
nothing since.  Am I hallucinating?

Trivia question for fellow Angelenos: within the city limits of Los
Angeles, how many area codes are there?  How many within the County of
Los Angeles?

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

From: [e-mail] (John N. Dreystadt)
Subject: Re: Help Needed Increasing UTP Segments
Date: 23 Sep 1995 15:07:06 GMT
Organization: ICNET... Your Link To The Internet... +1.313.998.0090
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] says:

> The maximum length of an ethernet UTP segment is said to be 300 feet or 100
> meters.  Does anyone know of a low cost repeater or amplifier to allow more
> than this length between the hub and the workstation?

Check out the FAQ for comp.dcom.cabling or comp.dcom.ethernet. There
are several methods for extending the length, but they are going to
depend on the configuration of the rest of your network. You have to
worry about speed of light delays within a single collision domain so
if the rest of your network is large enough, you will have to use a
router. More likely, you can just stick another hub halfway between.
Another option would be to use 10Base-2 (thinwire) between the hub you
need to reach and the workstation as 10Base-2 has about twice the
distance. Many hubs have a single 10Base-2 connector on the back.


John Dreystadt

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

From: [e-mail] (Gordon Burditt)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down
Organization: Gordon Burditt
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 04:16:49 GMT


> We are to blame for this though, in most cases we do not
> take the time to educate the citizens that 9-1-1 is for life
> threatening emergencies *ONLY*.

Please educate the *POLICE* that 9-1-1 is for life threatening
emergencies ONLY.

A few years ago I was the victim of a hit-and-run rear-ender accident.
I was stopped, waiting to turn left, waiting for oncoming traffic to
clear.  The police showed up quickly (I did not have to call them;
apparently there was a cruiser half a block away.)  I had a banged-up
arm but nothing that needed medical attention.  The car seat back
broke.  The car was totalled, although it wouldn't have taken much
damage (e.g. dirty windshield or empty gas tank) to total this junker
car.

The police officer told me I'd need a copy of the accident report for
insurance and to call 911 in a few days.  I ended up asking for a
repeat three times because I didn't believe I was hearing correctly.

Several days later I called the normal police number.  I was told
to call 911 for the accident report.  I refused.  After about
five calls I threatened to sue (I was bluffing) using the name of a
local lawyer a friend had mentioned once, and reminded the officer
that he had the right to remain silent.  Finally I got my
accident report (well, they sent it direct to the insurance company).

They never did catch the guy.  But a few months later they added a
center-turn-lane to the site of the accident.


Gordon L. Burditt    sneaky.lerctr.org!gordon

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

From: [e-mail] (Gerald Mori)
Subject: Re: Voice Compression on T1s
Organization: ComputerLink Internet Direct.
Date: 26 Sep 95 06:54:11 GMT


Jim McGrath ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I would like to hear from anyone with experience using voice
> compression techniques in T1 muxes. I need as much of the bandwidth of
> my T1s as possible for data, but had to cost-justify the T1s by
> including reductions in voice telco expenses. I will probably be using
> Newbridge muxes (3600 & 3624), which seem to support a voice-path at
> as low as 8kbps. Although it leaves more for data, I'm concerned about
> degraded quality. Of 8, 16 or 32kbps, I'm sure 32 is the least
> objectionable for the telemarketing people who will be on the phones,
> but what kind of quality might I expect?  Are there other mux vendors
> who provide better quality at low bandwidths?

  The company I used to work for was heavy into Newbridge muxes for
both voice and data.  I've heard voice calls at 32k and 16k and they
were intelligible with 32k obviously better sounding than the 16k.  I
think 16k is the absolutr minimum you'd want to run at.  Although I
haven't tried 8k myself I spoke to one of the techs who tested a voice
call at 8k and he said it was OK in that you could understand the
person on the other end but the total lack of sound quality it was
somewhat irritating to deal with, whatever that means. :-)

  When we first installed a bunch of 3600s engineering thought it
would be a good idea to put all our voice customers on 32k channels in
order to save money (or make more).  Of course, a lot of customers
were using their voice channels for data as well and that pretty much
put an end to that plan.


Jerry
Internet Direct                Have you heard about our
[phone], 359 lines       our Do-It-Yourself Webserver?
T1 bandwidth, 300-28,800 bps   http://web.idirect.com

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 01:34:50 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers


> One point remains to be covered, however:

>> What is a phone number? For the most part, a phone number is a *route*
>> through the network.

> This is absolutely not true in North America.

Nor is it true in the Netherlands.  But we manage variable length
phone numbers very well.  When somebody dials 06 (the start of the
free and premium numbers, as well as the equivalent of 911 in the US
plus all cellular phones), a connection is made with the central
switch for such numbers in Rotterdam.  No trunk, only a signalling
channel.  Based on what follows said switch will tell the asking
switch to routine it either to some particular switch (which may be
the switch itself if the number translates to a local connection) or
to signal that the number is not in use.

Moreover, because there is a hierarchical structure amongst switches
some things have to go up and down to/from parent/child switches.  For
instance, I dial 0611 (emergency number).  06 goes to Rotterdam which
expects more digits and when it sees the second 1 it decides that the
number expands to a local number and hands it back again.  If I dial
0632032012 again 06 goes to Rotterdam which at some instance (after
320320) knows where the call should be routed to and signals that the
remainder should go to a particular switch.  But similar things work
with area codes.

If I was living in the place were I was born (Warffum) and I were to
dial 0206372010, the switch would know at the digit two that it is not
for itself and would forward it higher up (Groningen).  Groningen can
decide routing when the 0 is received and at that stage forward it to
Amsterdam, setting up a signalling channel between Warffum and
Amsterdam.  And finally when the number is completed a speech channel
is set up for the connection.  However, if the number I dial is in
Delfzijl (05960-..., area code for Warffum is 05950), Groningen might
well decide on a direct link between Warffum and Delfzijl for call
forwarding; bypassing all lines to Groningen (provided of course that
such a link exists).


dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj  amsterdam, nederland, [phone]
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn  amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 95 19:47 CDT
From: madnix.uucp![e-mail] (Ron Bean)
Subject: Re: War On Payphones (Nude Maid Service)


[e-mail] (Edmund C. Hack) writes:

> all this is coordinated via pagers and/or cell phones. In the sex
> trade, if you call an "escort service" or a "nude maid service", the

   Are you saying that "nude maid service" is being used as a
euphemism for prostitution? Too bad, I always liked the idea.

   The first such service I heard about was a guy who called himself
the "Naked Poet Housecleaning Service". He was for real: He'd come to
your house, take off his clothes, *and recite poetry while he cleaned
your house* (yes, he really cleaned the house).  He admitted that it
was a gimmick, but he was unemployed and it worked. Nobody touched
anybody. No word on whether the poetry was any good, but he didn't do
windows (for obvious reasons :-).

   More recently other people have tried larger services, with actual
employees (always female, which does make one wonder...).  As far as I
know, they really did clean houses, and supposedly nobody touched
anybody. IMHO it lost a bit in the translation, and I don't know if
they're still around. Businesses based on gimmicks tend not to last
very long.

   Anyway, it might be worth mentioning that there are people who take
things like nudism and massage seriously; it's not always a cover for
something else (see alt.nude and alt.backrubs).

   Hmm, I think that should be rec.nude, not alt.nude.  We don't get
it here, so I'm going by memory.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There are still 'escort' and 'massage'
services around. So many, in fact, that the few legitimate ones have to
emphasize 'no sex' in their advertising, and even then some customers
assume they only put that there to discourage the perverts without
really meaning it.

About 35-40 years ago, there used to be a daily radio program called
'City Court' which was broadcast live from the police misdemeanor
courtroom at the police administration building downtown. It was on
the air from 9:00 AM until more or less noon every weekday, depending
on when the judge decided to break for lunch. It was a very popular
program, with lots of listeners who had a prurient interest in the
cases on trial that day, and of course the 'trials' themselves were
a joke. Ninety or ninety-five percent of the judge's caseload was sex-
related. There were a few spitters on the sidewalk and litterers and
people who smoked on the streetcars, but by and large it was people
the vice-cops had arrested the night before. In-between the occassional
'refused pay his fare to the streetcar conductor' and 'was caught
shoplifting at Sears' were dozens of prostitution, indecent exposure,
and 'lewd and/or disorderly conduct' cases.

A very popular radio program similar to (but not nearly as sophisticated
as) today's Court TV, people would listen eagerly to see if they recog-
nized the names of any of the people 'on trial' that day. It included a
regular cast of characters; people who were invariably the complaining
witnesses, including five or six 'vice cops' from the Chicago Police
Department, the house detective at the Lawson YMCA, security personnel
at department stores downtown, etc. You were perfectly welcome to be in
the audience if you wanted; all you had to do was show up at the eleventh
floor police courtroom at the main police headquarters each morning. Of
course if you were unfortunate enough to have gotten arrested the night
before, you were on the show whether you liked it or not. The courtroom
itself was a smelly, nasty-looking place, with a large 'bullpen' in back
and a connecting door where the prisoners would come in as they were
called.

The radio station went on the air at 9 although they seldom started the
court until ten or fifteen minutes after that when the judge arrived.
As the first order of business, after the courtoom bailiff had announced
there would be 'no talking, no smoking, no newspaper reading, everyone
pay attention and no disrepect for the court' the bullpen door would open
and anywhere from a dozen to a hundred women would form a line in the
order their names were called. Most were dressed as they had been the
night before when 'on duty', but badly in need by this time of a bath and
clean clothes. Each 'trial' took about ten seconds as the matron would
motion for them to leave tbe bullpen and approach the bench where their
name would be read, and the judge would say 'guilty, punishment is time
served' and bang his gavel, which was the signal for the matron to send
the next one. They would sas-shay across the front of the courtroom in
a beligerant manner, pausing usually to say 'thank you judge' and leave.
Once this exercise was complete, which usually took 10-15 minutes, the
judge would break for coffee and a cigarette, then come back about 9:30
for the next session.

When court resumed, following the bailiff's warning to the audience,
the 'more involved' cases began. These were cases where there was some
dispute in the testimony to be given. The same two vice-cops would stand
there, as case after case was heard. Like poker players, they stood there
with poker faces expecting to win some and lose some; not caring either
way. The cops always had the same old story, with variations: "Well
judge, me and my partner were having breakfast at the drug store in the
Palmer House Hotel. As we were leaving, this woman (here, a pause for
the obligatory identification of the defendant) approached us and offered
to perform a sex act for money."  Naturally, offended by hearing such a
thing they arrested her. The woman of course would explain it in a much
different way. "I left the drug store and was waiting for the elevator
to go upstairs to my room when these men approached me and they asked
me 'how much?'. Well I just ignored them and got on the elevator but they
got on with me and got off on the same floor I got off. They asked me
again, 'how much do you charge?' and I just walked away but as I was
going in my room, the one grabbed me and said I was arrested." The
judge would listen to it all and give his verdict one way or the other.
Roughly half the time he said 'innocent' and the other half the time he
said 'guilty, one month court supervision, twenty dollar fine'.  The
defendant would say thank you, and leave with the two poker faced cops
showing no emotion at all and just standing there for the next case
to be called. Average time for trial was about five minutes, maybe ten.

Now and again they would have a 'major case' such as an alleged house
of prostitution being raided with all the employees and customers who
were present at the time brought in. For some reason, those same two
vice-cops found themselves in more unusual situations in which they were
'shocked and offended' in a day's time than most people find in a lifetime.
By comparison, the 'refused to pay streetcar fare' people and shoplifters,
who were given their trials in the third session when court resumed
about 11:00 AM after the judge took another break were quite tame and
boring.

But City Court was a popular and widely-listened to radio program each
day. A small red light on the judge's podium was used to let the judge
(and others) know when they were 'on the air', and the judge, who had
to run for re-election now and then would make a point of doing all
his blustering and hell-raising when that light was on so everyone
would hear him. Then that light would go off when the radio station
took a break for a commerical message, and that is when the judge
would dismiss the case or say 'guilty, with time served.'   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #409
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #410

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 28 Sep 95 10:33:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 410

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    3rd Quarter NPA Report (David Esan)
    GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS) (Brian McNally)
    Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Christopher Ambler)
    The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Robert Jacobson)
    Traffic Measurement System For UNIX (Didier Bertrand)
    Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (W. Craig Trader)
    CIS no Longer Charges For Internet Mail (Stan Schwartz)
    Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe? (Aldo Cook)
    Lots of Goofups This Week (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
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Esan)
Subject: 3rd Quarter NPA Report
Date: 28 Sep 95 12:02:37 GMT
Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY


This is my quarterly report on the number of exchanges in each NPA in
the NANP.  It is derived from information in FCC #10.  This is article
#17 in the series.  I'm a little late this quarter, but it has been a
busy time, so forgive me.

FCC #10 is a tariff issued by BellCore that contains all the area
codes, exchange combinations in the North American Numbering Plan
(NANP).  It also contains lata information and V&H coordinate
information.  There is a lot of additional information that I don't
use, so I won't add here.  It is available through a number of
sources.  The one closest to the FCC is ITS, which can be contacted at
202-857-3800.  My company compiles this information for use in its
products and does not seem to be interested in selling this
information.  Queries are still flowing through the bureaucracy.

I have used pages that are effective prior to August 20, 1995.  I am not
responsible for the information supplied in FCC #10.

I have not included the following in my counts of exchanges:

  - NXX's that are not dialable by a standard user (ie nxx's that begin
    with a 1 or 0).

  - Mexican exchanges in the 52[1-9] series of area codes.  I've got them,
    you can dial them with 011, but they're not really NPAs.

  - Exchanges that are non-dialable in the 88? series of area codes.  I've
    got those also, but you can't dial them, so I'm not including them.

    Numbers that begin with 88 are nondialable stations in the US, Canada and
    Mexico.  They are ranches in the middle of the Nevada or Texas desert,
    or isolated outpost of civilization (always wanted to use that phrase) in
    the tundra of Canada.  I find place names like the Bar J Ranch, Double B
    Ranch, and JD Dye, Texas, Amargosa, Corncreek and Reese Valley, NV, and
    Chick Lake, Redknife and Taglu, NT.  I gather they are ringdown stations,
    or radio-telephone stations.  [It has been noted in c.d.t. that at least
    two of these numbers are for a bordello on the NV-CA border.]


The fields are:
                        ------------ rank last in April, 1995
          213: 736 (1, 7)
  area code --^^^  ^^^     ^------- number of new exchanges
                    |-------------- total number of exchanges

206: 778 ( 1,   0) 703: 722 ( 6,  23)   813: 707 ( 7,  17)  314: 673 (17, 20)
602: 774 ( 2,  -1) 503: 720 (12,  42)   615: 703 (14,  29)  203: 670 (19, 28)
708: 765 ( 4,  12) 305: 719 ( 9,  34)   214: 700 (15,  31)  212: 657 (16,  0)
713: 740 ( 5,  13) 803: 715 ( 8,  30)   303: 690 (13,  14)  312: 648 (23, 28)
216: 728 (10,  43) 404: 712 (11,  31)   604: 679 (18,  27)  904: 646 (22, 19)

 1. 206 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 2. 602 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 3. 708 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
 4. 713 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 5. 216 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.

 6. 703 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
 7. 503 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 8. 305 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 9. 803 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
10. 404 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.

11. 813 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
12. 615 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
13. 214 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
14. 303 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
15. 604 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.

16. 314 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
17. 203 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
18. 312 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
20. 904 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.

->  The NPA that is largest and is not splitting nor has plans, at this time,
    to split, is 212.

->   The 6 smallest NPA's are:

      906: 117 - Michigan's Upper Peninsula (no change)
      807: 109 - Western Ontario (no change)
      630: 44  - Remnants of 708 proposed split (+15)
      281: 41  - Overlay of 713 (+18)
      441: 18  - Bermuda
      562: 3   - Test exchanges in Los Angeles

->   The NPAs with the greatest growth rates are:

     NPA   % growth

          281   78.26
          630   51.72
          917   12.96
          941   12.66
          334   12.58
          510   10.14
          415   10.14
          215   10.11
          610    9.84
          810    9.74

->   The 10 NPAs with the least growth rates are:

     NPA   % growth
          715     0
          709     0
          507     0
          316     0
          306     0
          212     0
          206     0
          602   -.12  (Probably due to our correcting the our database.)
          902   -.35  (Probably due to our correcting the our database.)
          205   -30.29  (Deletions of 334 area code)

-> There are 93 NPAs (59% of the total, and increase of 7%) that have
   exchanges that are in the x00 to x19 range.  They are:

       201          310        506          619        815
       202          312        510          630        816
       203          313        512          703        817
       204          314        513          704        818
       205          317        517          706        860
       206          334        519          707        903
       209          360        520          708        904
       210          403        540          713        905
       212          404        541          714        908
       213          407        601          718        909
       214          408        602          770        910
       215          409        604          803        912
       216          410        609          804        916
       219          414        610          805        917
       281          415        612          808        919
       301          416        614          809        941
       303          423        615          810        954
       305          501        616          813        970
       306          503        618



-> Just for grins:

   The most used NXX (not counting 555) is 456 used in 126 (80%) npas.

   The least used are:
        311 used only in 212, and 959 used only in 808.

I should note here that these are exchanges that are truly in use, not for
special calling, but in general day to day use.

All the NPAs and the number of nxx's in each are listed below:

206: 778  619: 620  412: 505  801: 437  505: 372  423: 324  806: 271
602: 774  501: 620  614: 499  907: 430  517: 371  808: 323  706: 270
708: 765  817: 612  601: 487  219: 429  905: 369  819: 322  709: 269
713: 740  804: 596  516: 487  408: 424  304: 369  606: 314  603: 266
216: 728  809: 594  714: 485  914: 423  770: 368  218: 314  970: 251
703: 722  414: 579  913: 482  502: 415  204: 367  360: 312  417: 236
503: 720  405: 573  215: 479  919: 414  319: 363  860: 307  707: 224
305: 719  717: 565  810: 473  512: 408  702: 362  812: 306  308: 221
803: 715  317: 556  515: 468  318: 406  909: 357  917: 305  719: 217
404: 712  816: 553  301: 466  406: 404  815: 351  903: 305  506: 211
813: 707  201: 549  416: 465  316: 404  409: 351  712: 299  307: 199
615: 703  617: 547  402: 463  912: 402  334: 349  705: 297  802: 187
214: 700  513: 541  910: 461  519: 402  540: 348  518: 297  607: 185
303: 690  210: 539  306: 459  217: 402  610: 346  315: 296  401: 169
604: 679  410: 537  716: 456  701: 391  541: 346  814: 290  302: 155
314: 673  407: 536  209: 455  805: 389  915: 345  509: 288  413: 150
203: 670  205: 536  313: 454  605: 380  208: 340  901: 287  906: 117
212: 657  916: 535  504: 449  609: 379  941: 338  309: 285  807: 109
312: 648  514: 532  908: 448  418: 374  918: 336  902: 284  630: 44
904: 646  718: 521  704: 445  419: 373  613: 334  608: 284  281: 41
403: 642  415: 521  510: 445  207: 373  715: 328  507: 284  441: 18
612: 639  818: 519  213: 443  618: 372  202: 327  954: 272  562: 3
310: 626  508: 506  616: 439  520: 372


David Esan      [e-mail]

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

From: brian mcnally <[e-mail]>
Subject: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS)
Date: 28 Sep 1995 00:24:57 GMT
Organization: iActive, Inc.


What is the deal with this? Has anyone else head of this?

Is this for real or is this netBS?

Garrick Case
[phone]


AT&T PARADYNE UNVEILS MODERN MODEM TECHNOLOGY, WHICH WILL OPEN THE WINDOW TO
A WORLD OF MULTIMEDIA SERVICES FOR THE MASSES

The new technology will send video and other multimedia offerings over
the copper phone line, thus complementing other AT&T high-speed
solutions for accelerated, universal access to new services.

LARGO, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 21, 1995 - Modem evolution made dramatic
progress today with AT&T Paradyne's introduction of digital
transmission technology that operates more than 70 times faster than
currently available modems and enables widespread video telephony
services over a single, copper, phone line.

AT&T Bell Laboratories and AT&T Paradyne have developed a new
application for its GlobeSpanTM technology platform that is the first
single line solution to transmit simultaneous voice and data at a
range of speeds up to T1 and E1 (1.544 Mbps to 2.048 Mbps) in both
directions. AT&T Paradyne describes this as SDSL (symmetric-digital-
subscriber-line) technology.  GlobeSpan is a current solution to
provide high-speed access over existing phone lines and complements
emerging fiber-based networks. Bi-directional speeds for GlobeSpan
SDSL will range from 128 Kbps to E1, with initial availability set for
December 1995.

Potential applications using GlobeSpan-based products include distance
learning, remote LAN access, work-at-home, high-speed Internet access,
remote medical imaging, remote interactive game participation and
interactive video services.

"This technology will allow worldwide phone companies to make the
information superhighway as universally accessible as today's
telephone, radio and TV services," said AT&T Paradyne Director of
Business Development, Clete Gardenhour. "The technology can open
access to new multimedia telephone communications (MTC) services to
anyone over the common telephone line. At a touch of a button, SDSL
will enable anyone with a telephone line, a telephone and a computer
or television to access new services, while simultaneously conducting
a phone conversation on the same phone line. This is what the
information age promise is all about.

"It's a new communications dimension that will change the use of
telephones, televisions and computers. GlobeSpan technology will
enable on-line service providers to offer video programming via the
computer."

The GlobeSpan chipset enables one common hardware platform to support
SDSL, ADSL (asymmetric-digital-subscriber-line) and HDSL (high-bit-rate,
digital subscriber line) applications. The flexibility of the
GlobeSpan technology to use common chip components will increase chip
volumes and help drive down the costs of products and ultimately, the
cost of provisioning service.

GlobeSpan SDSL offers many advantages. Service providers may use SDSL for
access to multiple data services, including fractional T1/E1, X.25, frame
relay, Internet access and ISDN. Projected transmission distances will reach
more than 17,000 feet (5.1 kilometers) at 384 Kbps, including standard
telephone service on the same phone line.

When phone service is offered with SDSL, it will not be disrupted by the
transmission of data or video, or the loss of customer premises electrical
power. Additionally, the cost of SDSL will be less than HDSL because it
requires nearly one-half of the transceiver components and only one copper
wire phone line.

AT&T Paradyne licenses GlobeSpan technology to worldwide telephone
equipment manufacturers, who include Advanced Video Access(USA),
Cheng-Hwa Communication(Taiwan), Hyundai Electronic Industries Co.,
Ltd.(Korea), Il-Jin Telecom Electronics Co., Ltd.(Korea), IPM Datacom
S.r.l.(Italy), Lucky Goldstar Information & Communications(Korea), NEC
Australia Pty.  Ltd.(Australia), Performance Telecom(USA), Quadraplex
Incorporated(USA), Schmid Telecom(Switzerland), Westell(USA) and
Westell International(USA).

Based in Largo, Florida, AT&T Paradyne is a division of AT&T and a leading
worldwide technology innovator for solutions that allow easy access to
worldwide networks for communications and entertainment.

 [X]  Read GlobeSpan 6M BPS ADSL Transceiver Technology Data Sheet on the
      Web using Adobe TM Acrobat TM

 [X]  Read GlobeSpan E1 HDSL Transceiver Technology Data Sheet on the Web
      using Adobe TM Acrobat TM

 [X]  Read GlobeSpan T1/E1 ADSL Transceiver Technology Data Sheet on the
      Web using Adobe TM Acrobat TM

        [X]  Download FREE Acrobat Reader Software

        [X]  Configure Acrobat Reader Software to read files on the Web

GlobeSpan is a trademark of AT&T.
                  ----------------------------------------
                                    [ ]

                     Meridian - AT&T Paradyne Products

                    Lodestone - Industry News and Views

                           Antares - Other Stuff

                                 Tech Info

                                Axis - Home

   Visitor Feedback Form This link requires a browser that can read forms

                        [e-mail]


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

Check out the URL : WWW.paradyne.att.com and tell me what you think.

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

From: [e-mail] (Christopher Ambler)
Subject: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: 27 Sep 1995 23:44:10 GMT
Organization: Punknet Internet Cooperative, San Luis Obispo, CA


We have 26 lines (residential POTS) and 1 ISDN line into our house. (For
the curious, we have an internet cooperative amongst 20 people, ISDN
carries internet to my house, and then 20 modems take it all over town
to the members).

Pac*Bell told us, when we ordered our last three lines, that we could
only have one of them, and that we were then maxxed out. Their story
is that we've used all the pairs up my street save for the spares to
each other house (for which I've heard anywhere from one to five pairs
per house).

I called "Home Office" on Monday to enquire as to the cost to get two
more lines. I told them that engineering had told me no more unless I
pay for trenching, etc. The lady told me, "Well, there are nine pairs
to your area available, and three available to your house." I found
this hard to believe, but decided to test it, and ordered a line
(POTS/res/meas). She assigned me a number and a date for install.

Today (a day before the install date), an engineer came out and was
rather rude with me, telling me that there's been a block placed on my
address, such that we can have no more lines. He said we can pay
upwards of $10,000 (ten thousand dollars!) to have the area rewired.

But I got a firm commitment from the business office ...

Do I have any recourse here? We need more lines, and this is getting
very frustrating.


(C) Copyright, 1995 Christopher Ambler, Director, Punknet Internet Cooperative
                                                   San Luis Obispo, California
  Punknet: <http://www.punk.net/>
Home Page: <http://www.punk.net/home/chris/>      My hovercraft is full of eels

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Jacobson)
Subject: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Date: 27 Sep 1995 09:01:29 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle


But for the fact that the RBOCs are now independent entities, the AT&T
breakup now being undertaken by the company itself is pretty close to
that originally demanded by the Justice Department before the Reagan
Administration and AT&T renegotiated the Settlement.

The original plan, for those who remember, would have severed AT&T's
network services from its Western Electric manufacturing facilities.

Antitrust lawyers look better and better with each corporate flub.


Bob

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

From: [e-mail] (Didier Bertrand)
Subject: Traffic Measurement System for UNIX
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Hydro-Quebec, Montreal, QC, Canada
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 10:30:44 -0400


I'm looking for a commercial traffic measurement system running on
UNIX (Sun sparc) supporting the Northern Telecom Meridian 1 switch and
that can handle up to 300 switches.

Anybody have an idea?


Didier Betrand, Hydro-Quebec, Quebec, Canada. [e-mail].

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

From: [e-mail] (W. Craig Trader)
Subject: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 20:31:15 GMT
Organization: Datatel, Inc.


Help!  I've been slammed by WilTel (and I can't get up).

I live in Northern Virginia.

I was just checking my August Bell Atlantic bill, where I noted a
strange $5.00 charge for Long Distance Company, 1 line(s) for WilTel,
Inc.  I called Bell Atlantic and asked about it, and they assured me
that the charge was legit.  I replied that I had made no such change,
so they've returned the charge to WilTel, and marked my account for no
further changes.

So I'm OK to date, but what I have questions about is:

1.  What's the contact number for WilTel?

2.  I'm going to see seven weeks worth of phone calls billed to WilTel.  What
    are my rights regarding not paying them?  Do I have to pay WilTel for
    this disservice?

3.  What other steps should I take?

My deepest appreciation in advance for any help that can be rendered in this
time of dire need.


W. Craig Trader, Programmer/Analyst, Datatel, Inc.  <[e-mail]>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This comes up here frequently. You should
pay WilTel the amount you expected to pay your regular carrier. You have
to pay *something* since you did make the calls expecting (I assume!) to
pay for them. Unless you can prove the change was made deliberatly in a
fraudulent way, there is probably nothing more you should do.   PAT]

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

From: Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: CIS No Longer Charges For Internet Mail
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 21:04:51 -0400


[e-mail] (Dunscomb) wrote:

> Since CIS charges for Internet mail, and AOL doesn't, for me it's the
> least expensive service around.  (Cheap enough to make me put up with
> the kiddycar mail facilities, even. Maybe with AOL 3.0 they'll get mail =

> facilities as good as those on CIS.   Or, maybe 5.0, or 8  ...)

Actually, CIS no longer charges for internet mail, and their basic =
monthly plan is the same as AOL's.  ($9.95 for the first five hours,
$2.95 = each additional).  A "frequent user" plan is available for
$24.95 for 20 = hours and $1.95 each additional.


Stan

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

From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe?
Date: 26 Sep 1995 22:25:50 GMT
Organization: Magic Online Services Toronto Inc.


Hi there!

I have been trying to get the answer to this but no one seems to know.
Any help would be appreciated!

My friend's family (in Poland) were watching a local TV program that
mentioned the fact that calling line id was available in the area
(Warsaw).  They would like to know if the calling id boxes that we can
buy here (I'm in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area) would work if they
were sent there?

I thinking that they wouldn't unless the local CO was obviously offering
this service to the public and the boxes were compatible standard-wise
between here and Europe.  Does Poland also run on 210/220 VAC  electricity --
is a converter of some sort required?  Also, do they use the RJ-11/12/45
standards for cabling that we do?


Thanks!

Aldo


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What caller-ID boxes do you know that run
on AC rather than battery?  I have never heard of this.   PAT]

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

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Lots of Goofups This Week
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 10:20:00 CDT


Two major problems this week:  Here in the Chicago area, a contractor
cut through a MAJOR group of cables in one of the western suburbs
leaving several thousand phone subscribers without service. Not for
a few hours; not for the day; *but all this week*!  ... Three or four
west suburban communities have been totally dead since the start of
this week, with Ameritech repair crews working around the clock and
still not able to get it all sorted out. Apparently their outside
plant records at that location were, ummm ... deficient. Day by day
they have been getting customers back online, and the process has
been one of going one by one through *thousands* of pairs which were
not identified correctly and tracing them -- one by one -- out to
the subscriber and back to the central office. Ameritech says their
lawyers are looking into it. They were about ninety percent restored
as of this morning and hope the work will all be complete later
today.

The other major screw-up involved pagers. Did yours go off this week?
Apparently someone in Houston sent a signal to a satellite (?) which
in turn caused several satellite receivers to shut down. Does anyone
have further details on this?

PAT

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #410
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #411

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 29 Sep 95 09:27:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 411

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    UC Berkeley Short Courses on Communications (Harvey Stern)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Richard Eyre-Eagles)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Steven Lichter)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Curtis Wheeler)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Dave Harrison)
    Re: Hi-Speed via POTS (Tim Williams)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Toby Nixon)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: UC Berkeley Short Courses on Communications
Date: 28 Sep 1995 19:46:12 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley


U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces 4 Short
Courses on Broadband Communications, Wireless Networks

SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems, Architectures and
Designs  (November 29-December1, 1995)

It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on
the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM
(Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique.  This course is an in-depth
examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues
for development of future high-speed networks.  Topics include:
Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network
interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network
congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks.  This
course is intended for engineers who are currently active or
anticipate future involvement in this field.

Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn
Polytechnic University.  Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and
has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM
switches, high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow
control in ATM networks.

MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Wide Area Networks, Personal Communication
Systems, Network Management and Control, and Multimedia Applications
(November 2-3, 1995)

This course is designed as a gentle but comprehensive overview of
telecommunications including current status and future directions.
This course traces the evolution of telecommunications, starting from
its voice roots and progressing through local, metropolitan, and wide
area networks, narrowband ISDN, asynchronous transfer mode, broadband
ISDN, satellite systems, optical communications, cellular radio,
personal communication systems, all-optical networks, and multimedia
services.

Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical
Engineering, Columbia University.  He is Director, Center for
Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year
career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former
member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors.

NETWORKS FOR DIGITAL WIRELESS ACCESS: Cellular, Voice, Data, Packet,
and Personal Communication Systems (November 8-10, 1995)

This comprehensive course is focused on the principles, technologies,
system architectures, standards, and market forces driving wireless
access.  At the core of this course are the cellular/microcellular/
frequency reuse concepts needed to enable adequate wireless access
capacity for Personal Communication Services (PCS).  Presented are
both the physical-level issues associated with wireless access and the
network-level issues arising from the inherent mobility of the
subscriber. Standards are fully treated including GSM (TDMA), IS-54
(North American TDMA), IS-95 (CDMA), CT2, DCT 900/CT3, IEEE 802.11,
DCS 1800, and Iridium.  Emerging concepts for wireless ATM are also
developed.  This course is intended for engineers who are currently
active or anticipate future involvement in this field.

Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical
Engineering, Columbia University.  He is Director, Center for
Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year
career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former
member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors.

ATM DATA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS: Internetworking, Signaling and
Network Management (November 27-28, 1995)

This short course examines the key issues involved in designing and
implementing high-performance local and wide area networks.  Topics
include: technology drivers, data protocols, signaling, network
management, internetworking and applications.

Lecturer: William E. Stephens, Ph.D., is the Head of the Wireless and
ATM Networking Group at the David Sarnoff Research Center.  Prior to
this he was Director, High-Speed Switching and Storage Technology
Group, Applied Research, Bellcore.  Dr. Stephens has over 40
publications and one patent in the field of optical communications.
He has served on several technical program committees, including IEEE
GLOBECOM and the IEEE Electronic Components Technology Conference, and
has served as Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communications.

For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines,
instructor bios, etc.) send your postal address or fax to:

Harvey Stern
or Loretta Lindley
U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay
800 El Camino Real Ste. 150
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Eyre-Eagles)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Organization: GoodNet
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995 03:29:57 GMT


Christopher Ambler ([e-mail]) wrote:

> But I got a firm commitment from the business office ...

> Do I have any recourse here? We need more lines, and this is getting
> very frustrating.

I know your situation.  I used to work for Pacific Bell in the Residence
Business Office.  I worked with BBS's.

Unforutnately, us who want more than six lines are really considered
as 'excessive users'.  There was a time when they tried to force all
of the BBSs to business service.

In a residential area, there is at least one cable pair reserved for each
residential unit (this includes apartments and 'rear houses').  This is
caled CT'ing the pairs.

Once you hit your max (which you have), that's pretty much it.  You have
a few choices on where to go from here:

1) Pay the construction charges.  If your operation is long term, it may
be a huge outlay but it may pay-off in the future.

2) Switch your lines to business and consider having your lines brought
on a digital entrance facility.  In this configuration, your lines are
brought in on a T-1.  You will need to purchase 'channel banks' so the
T-1 lines can be converted back to analog so you can use your existing
modems.  Each T-1 only takes 2 pairs and can hold up to -24- lines.
When I worked for Pacific, I tried to get digital entrance facilities
approved for residence, but ol' Paccy*Bell did not budge.

3) Primary Rate ISDN.  23B and 1D channel on your first circuit, 24B on
each additional.  You can have your internet connection ride one of these
channels and have your users ride on the other 22.

4) Pacific Bell's public packet switching.  You can have a high speed
connection to Pacific's network and other users can call a Pacific Bell
port number and type your 'address' then they will be connected to you.
There are a few boards using this.

Unfortunately, Pacific Bell has tolarence for it's high user residential
customers but they will not bend over backwards for them.  Maybe if you
ordered a 100 line Centrex and paid all the installation charges up
front,  you may see some movement in the vertabrae.

I now live in US West area and I am being threatened with construction
charges for anything over six lines, even though the F-2 going down my
street has 15 pairs available (I currently have 2).

Good-Luck ... please E-mail me if I can be of any help.

BTW, are you in Northern or Southern CA?


Richard Eyre-Eagles, KJ7MU
Tempe, Arizona

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven Lichter)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: 28 Sep 1995 14:21:12 -0700
Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University


I guess PacBell could look at your operation as a business, even though
you say it is not. In fact you are all paying for a common point to
access The Internet. Since you live in a non-business area they might not
have enough pairs to supply such a venture. Though they did give you a firm
ok, they may have an out. I guess you could go to the PUC, but then the
PUC in their very strange ways may say that you are in fact a busineness
then your rates will go through the roof. I guess PacBell feels that
since the lines are used just for incoming they are not making any oney
other then the monthly service charge. The PUC is really your only option
and it could blow up in you face.


The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is.
SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub [phone] 2400/14.4 24 hours,
Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. [e-mail]

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

From: Curtis Wheeler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: 29 Sep 1995 04:15:35 GMT
Organization: CCnet Communications


[e-mail] (Christopher Ambler) wrote:

> We have 26 lines (residential POTS) and 1 ISDN line into our house. (For
> the curious, we have an internet cooperative amongst 20 people, ISDN
> carries internet to my house, and then 20 modems take it all over town
> to the members).

[out of pairs story snipped]

> Today (a day before the install date), an engineer came out and was
> rather rude with me, telling me that there's been a block placed on my
> address, such that we can have no more lines. He said we can pay
> upwards of $10,000 (ten thousand dollars!) to have the area rewired.

> But I got a firm commitment from the business office ...

> Do I have any recourse here? We need more lines, and this is getting
> very frustrating.

Your recourse would be the PUC.  I don't work in the common carrier
business so I don't know the facts -- but I would be prepared to hear
that Pac Bell may only be obligated to provided a certain number of
lines to a residence.

Perhaps your cooperative needs to consider an alterative service.  If you
need that much service you may be justifying more digital.

Will the cable facilities in most residential areas support a T carrier
into your living room?  Provisioning and equipment might have apparent
high initial cost but your co-op would probably benefit in the long term.
Sounds like it's time to make some business decisions.


Curtis Wheeler - Pleasanton, CA

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Harrison)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:45:39 GMT
Organization: ViaNet Communications


Pac Bell is well within the tariff, which covers "Special Construction
Charges" for situations like yours.  When they design the outside
plant, they plan for x number of lines per residence.  You were lucky
to get that many lines in the first place.

If you want to invest in a channel bank, you can have 24 lines come
in on four wires (a T1).  Or, you can simply move to a commercial office
where having 50 lines would be no problem.

And by the way, co-operative or not, you should be paying for business
service. You can't argue "we're non profit"... so is the Red Cross and
they pay for the proper service.

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

From: [e-mail] (Tim Williams)
Subject: Re: Hi-Speed via POTS
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 21:42:36 GMT
Organization: Global Communications
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Robert Ricketts <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Greetings. I'm looking for a couple of boxes that does the following:


>           A       B         C         D        E        (see below)
>      |         |     |             |     |           |
>      |         |     |             |     |           |
>      |         |     |             |     |           |
>      |         |     |             |     |           |

>                 -----  28.8 Kbps    -----
>       57.6 Kbps |  b|---------------|b  | 57.6 Kbps
>   DTE ----------|a  |  28.8 Kbps    |  a|----------- DTE
>                 |  b|---------------|b  |
>                 -----               -----

>     A = Serial line, 115.2 kbps
>     B = Box that splits a single 'a' channel into two simultaneous
>         'b' channels.
>     C = Four plain-jane 28.8 kbps modems.  One on each end of two
>         POTS lines.
>     D = Box that merges two simultaneous 'b' channels back into a
>         single 'a' channel.  (Same box used for B)
>     E = Serial line, 115.2 kbps

>  Connection is TWS

>  The DTE would be see the appearance of a plain-jane modem.  Perhaps with
>  special dialing commands to cause the component modems to place their
>  respective calls.  A and E appear as traditional DCE.

>  The beauty of this is high speed through-put using POTS.  I don't have to
>  even settle for two modems.  Perhaps three or four for uncommpressed 115.2
>  thru-put, or more when compressed using special serial ports, e.g.  230.4
>  kbps.  Each box would reassemble arriving packets to the original sequence.

>  Sort of a reverse mux.  Anyone ever seen such a thing?

This is called load-balancing, and many opearting systems (unix based)
allow you to do this completely software based. You can have say 15
28.8 modems all hooked up, and use them together to form a high-speed
connection. Try using Linux or FreeBSD.

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

From: Toby Nixon <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 95 14:01:46 PDT
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives


In Telecom Digest V15 #405, [e-mail] (Robert McMillin) wrote:

>> Our telephone systems should be straightforward enough that any child
>> capable of remembering their phone number can be taught how to pick up
>> any phone and dial their home phone number or 911.

> Mr. Yost goes on to suggest that "We should work toward a standard
> that would allow a child to dial simply 1 + area code + number from
> any phone ... and get connected to their home."

> By this approach, we should make the world completely and utterly safe
> for four-year-olds.  This is the rallying cry currently used as a
> justification for censoring adults on the Internet.  Adults use cars,
> airplanes, lathes, pornography, and slaughterhouses, all of which are
> patently unsafe (or at least, unwise) for four-year-old operation.
> Not everything can -- or should -- be made child-safe.

But in this case, adding some consistency, simplicity, and sanity to
the dialing plan in North America would help a lot more than
four-year-olds. It would, in fact, go a long way toward making it
possible to reliably dial calls from your computer, wherever you might
be. We all know that computers are actually dumber than four-year-olds,
right? This is particularly true when it comes to dialing. Your
computer can't read the template around the phone dial, the card by
the phone, or the front of the phone book. There's no way to connect
your computer to the phone network, and have it ask the network "how
do I dial calls from here?", or to dial "0" and ask the operator for
help.  It can't automatically know whether or not to dial 9 before
some calls, 8 before others, and nothing on yet others. It can't
figure out how to dial 011 or 00 before country codes, or 1 or 0 or
whatever before city codes. Even within a single country, you have
cases where numbers in the same area code as you have to be dialed
sometimes with 7 digits, sometimes with 10, and sometimes with 11, and
there's no way to ask the network which is which; all you can do is
trial-and-error. And the error doesn't have any sort of machine-detectable
tone; it's just an undecodable voice prompt!

Some people have thought of having a database on the net that anyone
could connect to and download dialing rules on a per-exchange basis
(which area codes and exchanges are "same area local", which are "same
area toll", which "foreign area local", etc.), and the part of the
number and prefixes that need to be dialed for each category. If we had
commitments from all local exchange carriers to build and maintain this
database, it might be possible. But I don't think even that would be
good enough. Many LECs have different "subscription" options that let
individual users expand their local calling area on a line-by-line
basis by paying a little extra each month;  even if the database
included all of these options, there's no way for a computer to query
the network and find out which options are enabled on a given line! Is
software going to ask the user to dig out their phone book and latest
phone bill, find the codes that identifying optional local calling area
plans, and type those into the computer so that it knows how to dial
calls? You end up, whatever you do, with the end user needing to do a
bunch of programming or configuration of their computerized dialing
software, and that assumes that they can even find out the current information.

So, why SHOULDN'T the phone network be designed so that computers can
be connected to the network ANYWHERE and be permitted to input a
fully-qualified international number (including country code) and have
the NETWORK figure out how to route the call, instead of the computer
needing to be pre-programmed to know exactly which subset of the phone
number needs to be dialed, along with whatever prefixes are needed?
All we need to do is define some sort of single, nationwide (even
worldwide!), standard prefix that says "what follows is a country code
and nationally-significant number; YOU figure out how to connect me".
So what if it takes a few more digits to dial *00,12068828080 when, if
it was local to me, it could have been dialed as just "8828080" --
those "extra" six digits only took half a second to dial, and I didn't
have to make two or three failed call attempts to find the right digit
sequence! This ought to be implementable on PBXes just as easily as on COs.

We need to get the state public utility commissions out of the business
of dictating dialing procedures, and overcome the fiction that dialing
a "1" before a number means "I have to pay extra for this call". We
need a national consensus among LECs and PBX vendors on what this
prefix should be that allows a fully-qualified international phone
number to follow. Mr. Yost's point about children being unable to
figure out how to dial in an emergency situation is a good one to wake
up regulators, legislators, and telephone system designers who
otherwise might not pay attention to the problems caused by confusion
in the national dialing plan. Once awareness of the problem is raised,
however, I would expect the primary motivation for finding a solution
would be to facilitate shipping and installing shrink-wrapped software
with preloaded phone numbers, distribution of phone numbers and dialing
directories over the Internet that can be dialed anywhere,
simplification of dialing configuration for travelers with computers.


Toby Nixon
Program Manager - Windows Telephony
Microsoft Corporation

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 22:17:25 PDT


Clifton T. Sharp said:

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

>> Call Trace serves this function now. It does what caller-ID is
>> frequently misrepresented as doing, collecting the calling number of a
>> call that you need to report to the cops.

> What can Call Trace get that CNID wouldn't report accurately? The only
> thing that I've heard about inaccurate CNID so far regards outdial
> trunks, which would presumably be reported the same way to Call Trace.

Well for one thing, the CID can be blocked.  Call Trace cannot.  As
somone else pointed out, Call Trace is only good within the LATA
(because it relies upon SS7), but I believe that this will be changing
when the December FCC Caller-ID IXC thing goes into effect.

But, I think it's a major scam that the LECs charge such high prices
for Call Trace (PacBell charges $5/trace).  There is a lot less work
involved for them than setting a trap on the line - they should make it
free or at the most $1 to discourage abuse.


Steve  [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #411
******************************


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Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995 16:21:22 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #412

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 29 Sep 95 16:21:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 412

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Lots of Goofups This Week (Brent E. Boyko)
    Re: Lots of Goofups This Week (danny burstein)
    Re: Lots of Goofups This Week (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: Lots of Goofups This Week (Bill Blackwell)
    Re: Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe? (Jeremy Rogers)
    Re: Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe? (Pat Barron)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (John Levine)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Martin Kealey)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Christian Weisgerber)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Nevin Liber)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Mike Morris)
    Unabomber Full Text Now in Archives (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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
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* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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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] (Brent E. Boyko)
Subject: Re: Lots of Goofups This Week
Date: 28 Sep 1995 13:02:06 -0700
Organization: Loma Linda University


In article <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> The other major screw-up involved pagers. Did yours go off this week?
> Apparently someone in Houston sent a signal to a satellite (?) which
> in turn caused several satellite receivers to shut down. Does anyone
> have further details on this?

Our Pagenet pagers were out of service from about 11:30 P.M. Tuesday night
to 11:30 A.M. Wednesday. The medical staff were not pleased.

According to an Associated Press news article today, a technician at
Space Com, the satellite carrier, accidentally disabled "thousands" of
satellite receivers. Apparently the receivers had to be restored
individually.  The story indicates that five of the national paging
companies use Space Com.

I believe that the individual receivers that they are talking about would
include one at each paging transmitter.


Brent E. Boyko  Telecom Engineer
Loma Linda University Medical Center
[e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 16:37:22 -0400
From: Danny Burstein <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Lots of Goofups This Week


In comp.dcom.telecom you write:

> The other major screw-up involved pagers. Did yours go off this week?
> Apparently someone in Houston sent a signal to a satellite (?) which
> in turn caused several satellite receivers to shut down. Does anyone
> have further details on this?

> Per RISKS Digest, one of the carriers for satellite relay sent out a
> signal which shut down the base receivers in umptity umptity cities.

Huh?

When you send a page the signal gets relayed to <large number> of local
sites which then feed it into local transmitters. WHile this is designed
for the (semi) nationwide coverage, it's often the way your neighborhood
paging system works as well.

Your "satellite pager" does -not- get its signal directly from orbit, but
rather via a terrestrial relay.

So they shut down the local receivers by remote control. Problem was they
couldn't restart them the same way.

This could be due to two reasons:

a) There was a complete shutdown so the receivers didn't get the 'turn
on' signal (after all, they were off....)

b) Pager transmitters are designed so that a group of them spaced,
perhaps, ten miles apart, all go off simultaneously. Although it flies in
the face of everything I know about radio, they can, and do, set off
multiple transmitters to ensure (usually) that the signal covers the
wanted area.

This requires "ultra precise" synchronization. It's quite possible they
were able to turn the units back on, but did not have remote-synch
capability.

Mark> A SpaceCom technician at their uplink facility in Tulsa,
Mark> Oklahoma accidentally send out a spacey command shutting down
Mark> the satellite receivers used by pager systems throughout the
Mark> country, affecting millions of pagers.  SpaceCom supports 5 of

I can picture the guy.  He's waiting for the 'Index restructured'
response, when suddenly the screen starts filling with these:

Message from Chicago2: Shutdown completed.
Message from NewYork4: Shutdown completed.
Message from LosAngeles1: Shutdown completed.
Message from Miami3: Shutdown completed.
Message from NewYork2: Shutdown completed.
etc.

Magnus.

[e-mail] (or [e-mail])

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

From: James E. Bellaire <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Lots of Goofups This Week
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 95 23:04:42 CDT


In TD410 Patrick Townson wrote about this weeks goofs:

You want to know about goof ups?  Someone in the sales department at
my internet provider took an order to change MY email domain over to
uucp (from my current shell/SLIP arrangement).

I noticed that TD was not coming at all since Saturday and sent some
mail to myself which eventually returned via DAEMON.

It is likely that you (Pat) have a box full of DAEMON's from me.  For
that I apologize.  I have firmly instructed my provider not to do this
to you again.

Fortunately lcs.mit.edu has provided me with ftp back issues.  Otherwise I
would have starved from lack of Telecom information.

BTW:  Other than this my provider is an excellent and affordable service.


James E. Bellaire (JEB6) [e-mail]
                   ^^^^  The ruler of this domain!


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I saw a few of those daemons sent by your
provider but ignored them. Do you think your provider will listen to
and abide by your 'firm instructions'?   <grin>  Just a reminder to all
readers that back issues -- fourteen year's worth, thousands of issues --
can be obtained from the Telecom Archives as needed at lcs.mit.edu using
anonymous FTP.  PAT]

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

Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995 09:21:58 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Bill Blackwell)
Subject: Re: Lots of Goofups This Week
Organization: me


According to the Houston Chronicle (_The Paper_(tm)), the shut-downs
were caused when a data entry clerk mistakenly forgot to enter a carriage
return when he was entering in the receiver codes into several paging
companies' satellite uplink ...


Bill Blackwell
[e-mail]
Houston, Texas, USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeremy Rogers)
Subject: Re: Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: AEA Technology
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995 10:46:01 GMT


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

> My friend's family (in Poland) were watching a local TV program that
> mentioned the fact that calling line id was available in the area
> (Warsaw).  They would like to know if the calling id boxes that we can
> buy here (I'm in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area) would work if they
> were sent there?

I don't know about Poland, but NA CLID equipment won't work on BT in
the UK.


Jez

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

Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 15:35:58 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe?


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What caller-ID boxes do you know that run
> on AC rather than battery?  I have never heard of this.   PAT]

My FANS CallScreener plugs into the wall; does not use a battery.


Pat

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

From: [e-mail] (John Levine)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995 19:31:44 GMT
Organization: I.E.C.C.


> there is a virtual network in NANP, which can be navigated by taking
> groups of three digits at a time ...

Not really. Consider area code 809, where you need to decode 809 and
the following three digits to tell what country the call is going to.

>  By the way, are land-line numbers portable in NANP yet? ]

In a few cities. There's still three competing technical schemes for
how portability will work, and no agreement at all on who's going to
pay for it.

> As I understand it, the reason that NANP needed to switch to NXX
> area codes was not because it had run out of numbers, but because it
> had run out of prefixes.  If there hadn't been the rigidity that
> prefixes and area codes be exactly three digits, maybe this would have
> been alleviated.

They'd have had to design things quite differently in the first place;
by the time they started to run out, there weren't 10 contiguous area
codes to allocate any more. The NANP worked great for several decades.
It ran into trouble because a lot of things started to need phone
numbers that nobody'd forseen in the late 1940s, e.g. mobile phones,
pagers, modems, faxes, and individual extensions in a company PBX.

> With the price of connectivity coming down, it is not unreasonable to
> consider that proxy lookup services would be at least a reasonable, if
> not better approach, than making each switch do its own database
> lookup?  Indeed, isn't this how 800 number lookup already works?  The
> local switch sees "1800" and then knows "collect 7 more digits and
> refer them to Bellcore" (or whoever).  THEN a decision on routing the
> CALL is made.

That's right. It's also the most likely scenario for local number
portability, although it's still possible that they'll use a scheme
that assigns each prefix to a switch (the same as now) and effectively
call-forwards calls that aren't homed in that switch.

> If compelled signalling were used,

Ah, but it's not. And that's the issue, isn't it?


Regards,

John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY
Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"
and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be

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

From: [e-mail] (Martin Kealey)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 95 20:15:46 NZST
Organization: Kurahaupo Migratory Canoe


I really must stop doing this thing of answering multiple points in one
article - but never mind for now.

[1]

>> virtual network in NANP ... groups of three digits at a time ...

> Consider area code 809

It still goegraphically reduces to "the Carribean & misc other bits" -
maybe not a great increase in specificity, but still a reduction to a
nameable geographic entity.  Many area codes are a lot more specific.

I'm not claiming that this is a perfect mental model, but it's at least
somewhat useful, else there wouldn't be people who learn off all the area
codes "for fun" because there wouldn't be any point to learning them.

[2]

>> If compelled signalling were used,

> Ah, but it's not. And that's the issue, isn't it?

Quite true; the point I'm trying to get at is that compelled
signalling doesn't necessarily mean opening a voice-grade path all the
way to the far end, so while it's not entirely without cost, that cost
is pretty insignificant; for example, far less than the voice-grade
path used to signal ring-back in a lot of networks.  (It is
conceivable that there may even be a net benefit from cost reductions
elsewhere.)

Sending one keypad digit takes only 4 bits; even if it were to get say
512 bits of framing overhead added, that still only amounts to about 4
ms of voice time - or a fraction of a cent for the entire phone
number, to even the most distant part of the world.


Cheers,

Martin D Kealey  36.88888S/174.72116E   ## Science Fiction Modellers' Club of
<[e-mail]>               ## New Zealand     <[e-mail]>
voice [phone]  fax [phone]  ## all SF catered for; email for info

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

From: [e-mail] (Christian Weisgerber)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 20:50:21 MET


Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> writes:

>> What is a phone number? For the most part, a phone number is a *route*
>> through the network.

> This is absolutely not true in North America.

Well, AFAIK you can roughly tell the location of +1-xxx-yyy-zzzz if you
know xxx and yyy. (With the obvious exception of 1-800 and other kinds
of portable numbers.)

> Each switch in the network is capable of doing a database lookup on
> (typically) six digits of the phone number to determine the action to
> take to advance the call. The individual digits of the number in no
> way specify the route the call is to take through the network; this is
> a decision made by each switch as needed, and is based on much more
> than the digits in the number. Currently available trunks, congestion,
> previous routing history, and many other factors can be taken into
> consideration to make routing decisions.

You have to realize that the routing example I gave was simplified a
lot, partly to show my point, partly because I'm not all that familiar
with the details of SS7 routing. Of course a switch can sit there and
collect further digits before making a routing decision, and routing in
Germany is also influenced by trunk availability, congestion, and many
other factors. I think you try to point out differences that don't
exist.

[ my example deleted ]
> Easy yes -- but a disaster for planning and orderly growth.

Why so? I don't have a history of the development of the German
numbering plan and I am too young to remember much of it, but growth
works nicely by expanding into formerly unused portions of the numbering
plan. If a dead end should really come up somewhere, the situation can
be relieved by inserting a single digit somewhere, which is certainly no
worse than North American area code splitting.

The latest major event was the integration of the former East German
network, +37.<area code>.<number> as +49.3<area code>.<number>. No
sweat, since the 3* area code range had wisely been reserved...

> This sort of design ensures that Germany will not have portable
> numbers for a long time.

Germany has had toll free, special service, and other kinds of portable
numbers for several years by now. Their prefixes lead to one of several
centralized switches that perform a data base lookup, negotiate some
billing details with the originating and true destination switch, and
return the true number to place the call to.

Basically, this scheme could be extended to all numbers but I'm not
aware of any plans to do this. As long as the call charges are dependant
on the distance, a principle that doesn't seem to be going out of
fashion anytime soon, a mapping of area code and location remains
desirable.

> Okay -- you are in Germany and you start to dial +1 40 ...
> Now with your scheme, the local switch would have to pick up a trunk to
> somewhere -- to where ?

Why should it have to pick up a trunk yet? You miss the point of a SS7
signaling network, where all the switches are connected by what amounts
to a packet-switched network independant of the voice circuits. A trunk
isn't selected until the destination switch has signalled back.

> It isn't even known what country you are calling yet! Then you dial 3
> as the next digit, and the switch in Germany knows you are calling
> Canada rather than the USA. But Germany has trunks to at least two
> points in the area covered by area code 403 - which one should it pick
> up? The next digit is 9, but still nothing is known - it could be
> somewhere near Calgary, or over a thousand miles north in the Northwest
> Territories. Only after two more digits (say 79) is it finally known
> what local area the called line is in.

When I dial '+...' ("00..." in Germany) my switch forwards further
digits to one of several switches responsible for handling
international destinations. The default one from here is in
Frankfurt/M. When I dial +1.40 all that happens is some signaling
traffic. Now, when I dial +1.444 I at once get an intercept.
Obviously, there's a lookup that checks for valid North American area
codes. Apart from this, the switch in Frankfurt just sits there and
collects digits until a 10-digit North American number is completed.
Then it makes a routing decision and actually sets up the call.


Christian 'naddy' Weisgerber    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Nevin ":-]" Liber)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 10:45:12 -0700
Organization: University of Arizona CS Department, Tucson Arizona


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Gordon Burditt) wrote:

> Please educate the *POLICE* that 9-1-1 is for life threatening
> emergencies ONLY.

Good luck.  It seems that if you don't phone it in on 911, they just don't
seem to care.

A couple of years ago I was the victim of a hit and run by a drunk driver
in Chicago.  Since no one was injured, I phoned it in on the non-emergency
line.  When I finally got through, they told me since no one was hurt,
they couldn't be bothered to come out to the scene.  If I wanted, I could
come down to the station and make a statement.  Luckily, my automobile was
still driveable, and I did so.  They reluctantly (kept telling me it
probably wouldn't do any good, etc.) wrote down the information about the
accident.  I bet that I would have gotten better treatment if I had just
called 911 in the first place.

Do they record non-emergency calls to the police, fire department, etc.?
Maybe they ought to start ...


Nevin ":-)" Liber       [e-mail]    [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Morris)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995 03:46:58 GMT


[e-mail] (Wes Leatherock) writes:

> Martin McCormick <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> The alarm boxes vanished from streets in Tulsa and Oklahoma
>> City as well as many other places as soon as 911 became the method of
>> choice to report emergencies.  I also remember that many of the street
>> boxes had a glass window that one had to break with an attached hammer
>> to activate the alarm.  This always seemed dumb and dangerous to me,
>> but I am sure there was a good reason for it.

> I believe the idea of the glass window and hammer was to
> reduce the number of false alarms; you had to do something more than
> just walk by and pull the lever.  This was true in most cities I'm
> familiar with.

I spent one summer working for an alarm company and was fortunate
enough to spend some time with the head technician, who was kind
enough to "walk" me through a sample of each kind of alarm system.
The street boxe (and some of the older building alarm) circuits
use a technology called a McCullogh (Mccullock? McCulloch? sp? I never
saw is written - just heard it spoken) circuit.  Addresses were
assigned by breaking tabs off a code wheel in the box, and each of
three positions had five tabs.  The spring mechanism had enough energy
to turn the wheel at least three revolutions, many times five.

The "console" was basically a buzzer and a light for each circuit --
when a box was tripped the buzzer/light would be "read" by an
operator, who then looked up the number in a card file. Some panels
had 50 circuits.  The circuit used a higher voltage DC (100-150v) that
is alternately shorted and grounded by the leaf switch that rode the
edge of the code wheel in the box.  The system was designed to provide
a usable signal even if one wire of the pair was open.

He told me the glass was there to keep the bugs, snow, dirt and rain
out of the clockwork/cam/leaf switch mechanism.

This is from a 20 year old memory, so I hope I got it right.

Eric Ewanco <[e-mail]> writes:

<snip about reporting a stolen car, and the phone book didn't list
the pots line number for the police where it could be easily found>

> So I called that number and they referred me to another seven digit
> number.  (Apparently I had reached some sort of administrative office
> or something.)  So I dialed that SEVEN DIGIT NUMBER and imagine my
> surprised when I hear, "911, please report your emergency."  What
> ensued was a somewhat tense conversation, because I was understandably
> confused as I stayed on the line and argued that I didn't call 911,
> but a seven digit number.  (In retrospect I probably should have just
> apologized and hung up.  Understandably the dispatcher was a bit curt
> as she explained that I had dialed the seven digit number which
> patched into the 911 system.)

Here in the L.A. area quite a few amateur radio autopatches are set
up to take the phone number and validate it before taking the actual
phone line off hook and dialing it. Many are set up to convert 911
into a 7 or 10 digit number (most use the 7/10-digit version of the
CHP LA dispatch 911 number). There is a classic story in the local
ham radio circles about one of the early cellphone 911 calls to the
Whittier Police Dept (an L.A. suburb) reporting a traffic accident.
They sent the ambulance to the address shown on the screen: the cell
switch site. Another story has a autopatch user calling 911 and
the police show up at the ham radio repeater site.

In both stories the city name changes with the telling, and I've never
been able to pin down the source of either story. Urban legends.
But the stories point out that 7/10 digit alternatives to 911 are useful.

>> Our phone books tell us to use 911 only for emergencies. The local
>> police stations in Chicago on the other hand tell us to use 911 for
>> everything.  Who is correct on this?

> Well, I think that with the shift of emphasis to 911, the organization
> and promotion of seven-digit police numbers has become chaotic through
> neglect. 911 is put on the front page whereas the seven-digit numbers
> are relegated to alphabetical listings in the middle, with no indication
> which ones are for police dispatchers, which ones are administrative,
> which ones are for which communities, and so forth.  The telephone
> pinball I had to put up with in this experience was inexcusable, as
> one number directed me to another and another, or maybe nobody answered
> or whatever.  Part of the fault lies with the police department then,
> I think, for failing to provide a clearly defined and effective
> alternative to 911 for non-emergency numbers.

> Hence it may be no wonder that people are more inclined just to dial
> "911" when they want the police for whatever reason.

> I think the solution is to clearly identify emergency and non-emergency
> numbers, and under what circumstances they should be called, and then
> make sure that the people who answer them can direct them correctly.

It's my opinion that the designers of the phone books are a bit to
blame. They should include the 7 (or 10) digit non-emergency number of
the police on the same page as the 911 listing. Pacific Bell uses the
inside of the front cover (both white and yellow pages) to list the
cities that the book serves, and the emergency number (911 in 72 point
type, in red ink), and the nonemergency police and fire numbers for
those cities.

The police are a bit to blame also for the poor design of the system
that doesn't have a non-emergency number to call 24 hours, and the
workaround the dispatchers have to use to get around that design
(call 911).

And it would be nice to have a standard non-emergency number: perhaps
912 or 999 could be used?  All the hardware is in for 911, all it would
take is programming, and public education.


Mike Morris                                [e-mail]
#include <disclaimer.std.h>       I have others, but this works the best.
   This message assembled from 100% recycled electrons (and pixels).

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

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Unabomber Full Text Now in Archives
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995  16:00:00 CDT


Thank you to everyone who sent the full text of the Unibomber manifesto
to me. I got several copies, which certainly filled my mailbox in a
hurry. A copy has been placed in the Telecom Archives for anyone who
wants to read the entire thing. You can use two methods of getting it.
The traditional one, anonymous ftp is available at lcs.mit.edu.  You
would login anonymous, using your name@site as password. Then you must
'cd telecom-archives/reports'. If you prefer to do it by email, you
can send a request to the Telecom Archives Email Information Service
for automatic handling. The instructions for this are:

Send email to [e-mail].
The subject line does not matter.

As the text in your message:

REPLY yourname@site
GET unabomber
END

The above will get you several files in email with the complete text
plus the rebuttal messages which appeared here awhile back. I hope
you have time to read it all over the weekend!

If you don't have the current HELP, INFO and DIRECTORY files for the
Archives, you can order those also by adding those three commands in
your email, prior to the END:

HELP
INFO
DIRECTORY
END

Patrick Townson

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #412
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #413

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 3 Oct 95 13:50:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 413

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape (Linc Madison)
    911 as quid pro quo (Mike Wengler)
    Citizen Intercepts 911 Calls; Assists Police (Steve Bauer)
    1996 ACM SIGOPS Workshop on Wide-Area Distributed Systems (Andy Tanenbaum)
    New US Area Code Test Numbers (Clarifications) (Michael Fumich)
    Universal Service Policy Documents Available (Robert Deward)
    What's With This 814 Prefix in New York? (John Levine)
    AT&T's New Role with Unitel in Canada (Martin Stewart)
    Trouble With NPA 860 (Alan Lange)
    Speakers Wanted: Data Over Digital Cellular - CelluComm '96 (K. Zsigo)
    DateLine NBC to Air Segment on How to Stop Junk Calls ([e-mail])
    Programmer Position/Job offering (Ibis Fontes)
    What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 09:01:00 GMT


Well, this has been quite a fun and exciting weekend for my telephone.
A few months ago, I finally got a separate line for my modem.  I also
got a two-line phone.  My directory listing is the modem number.

Saturday morning at about 8:15, my (non-listed) voice number rang, to
bring me word from a delightful gentleman who wanted to know how I plan
to pay the $992.73 in delinquent charges on my credit card.  Yes, it
happens that someone else with the same first and last name and middle
initial, with some other coincidental details with my life, has skipped
out on yet another creditor.  I told him (although I didn't get the
impression he was convinced) that I have never had a credit card from
the bank he named, nor have I ever lived in the city where his deadbeat
last listed an address.

Sunday morning (clearly one day too late), I discovered that my voice
line was dead.  My two-line phone has the "in use" light burning
steadily for that line, but gives dead air.  My single-line phone when
attached to that line gives dead air and dead keypad.  I called 611 and
filed a service request, and assured the clerk that I had tried
disconnecting all of my subscriber equipment and that the fault
persisted.  The clerk performed a basic line test (during which the "in
use" light blinked off momentarily) and reported that the line was
"open" but that he couldn't isolate the fault specifically.  There was
the usual warning about the charge if the fault were with my equipment
and so forth.  A technician is supposed to check on it tomorrow.

The annoying red tape is yet to come, though.  I picked up the working
line and dialed the non-working number.  It just rings away merrily with
no indication of a problem.  I thus called back to 611 and asked them to
divert my number to a "temporarily out of service" recording until they
fix it.  NO CAN DO.  That requires approval from the Business Office,
which isn't open on Sunday.  Apparently this is to prevent the repair
office from making an unauthorized diversion of my line to a recording,
in case some scofflaw calls up impersonating me and reports trouble on
my line just to harrass me.  Now, let us bear in mind that the repair
clerk I spoke to had my billing name and address on his screen and had
also run a test of the line which verified that there was in fact
trouble on the line.  He had already verified my identity as the owner
of the line.  Thus, they have NO EXCUSE for refusing to put the
recording on my number, but they still refuse.

If my line isn't fixed tomorrow, I will certainly raise a stink about
that fact, and also about the repair office's refusal to take a
perfectly logical and obvious step.  There is no justification for
placing that function with the business office; clearly, it MUST reside
with the repair office.


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps they would have been willing to
forward the bad line to your other line for the day or so needed.  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 2 Oct 95 08:54:21 EDT
From: [e-mail] (Mike Wengler)
Subject: 911 as quid pro quo


Talking about Bell Canada's Soft Dial Tone allowing 911 calls for two
months only, I wrote:

In the article describing Bell Canada's introduction of soft dialtone on
unsubscribed lines, it was stated:

>> A secondary benefit of Soft Dial Tone is that, in the event of an
>> emergency, students can call 911 emergency service without having
>> regular phone service during September and October.

I wondered:

> Can Bell Canada really be so cavalier to only provide 911 service for
> two months?

PAT replied:

> I don't think telco is required to provide its services for free on
> an unlimited basis. Where would you draw the line?

A reasonable question.  If I owned the facility (University dorms in the
Canadian message) I would inform the phone company that if the line was
alive *at all* it would carry 911 to something other than an intercept
telling you to call the business office to subscribe.  And that failing
that, they could get their lines off my property.

If I were Bell, and I left a live line laying around, while I was busy
making sure it could connect to the business office I'd program in
going right through to 911 as well.

Telco doesn't have to come and give me phone service if I don't want
to pay for it.  But I'll be damned if I'll let them leave *their*
outside plant in my apartment, house, or dorm room all set to take a
business order, but not working on 911.  This isn't a matter of taking
something "as a right" from the phone company.  This I would justify
as "quid pro quo", they get to leave live lines around to make it easy
for people to sign up for service is the quid, and those same live
lines don't give me an intercept when I'm lying helpless on the floor,
hoping I don't die until their business office reopens Monday morning
to process my order.

Just my Humble Opinion.


Mike Wengler
http://www.he.net/~wengler/VoiceNet/ or ftp://he.net/pub/wengler/index.txt
Phone/Fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Bauer)
Subject: Citizen Intercepts 911 Calls; Helps Police
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 03:37:14 -0500


Forwarded FYI to the Digest. A great report about someone getting involved.

911 phone line crossed

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- When Rosa H. Dickson answered her telephone, the
caller requested an ambulance.

It took only a moment to figure out that the caller had dialed 911 and got
Dickson instead.

"When I realized what happened, I dialed 911 and couldn't get 911," she said
Monday.

For a half-hour last Wednesday, Dickson tried to help 911 callers as
best she could by passing them on to police. She received two calls
for rescue crews and one for police between about 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.

The first thing she did, however, was alert police that there was a phone
problem.

Gene Scott, account manager for Bell Atlantic, said the phone system
was upgraded in July and the mix-up occurred during maintenance. He
said a company computer mistranslated some of the phone numbers and
routed the 911 calls to Dickson, whose number doesn't include a 9 or a 1.
"We've done this 100 times and never had a problem. It's not going to
happen again," Scott said.

One woman misrouted to Dickson apparently gave her a wrong number.
When police couldn't reach her, they called Dickson back. About the
same time, the woman called 911 again and got Dickson again. Dickson
got the woman's correct number and relayed it to police.

The City Council honored Dickson with a proclamation Monday night and
she received a standing ovation from a City Hall audience.

"I was just doing my duty," she said.

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

From: [e-mail] (Andy Tanenbaum)
Subject: 1996 ACM SIGOPS Workshop on Wide-Area Distributed Systems
Organization: Fac. Wiskunde & Informatica, VU, Amsterdam
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 1995 22:48:34 GMT


                               Call for Papers
                     Seventh ACM SIGOPS European Workshop
                  Systems Support for Worldwide Applications
                    2-4 September 1996, Connemara, Ireland

     In the past, each computer had its own users and jobs.  The task
of the operating system was to allocate resources among competing
users.  With the advent of LANs and the Internet, multiple computers
could collaborate to per- form specialized tasks for a modest number
of sophisticated users.  In the future, most computers will be
connected to what is often called the "Information Superhighway."
This as-yet-unbuilt system will allow hundreds of mil- lions of
ordinary citizens to access global information and participate in
applications of unprecedented scale.

     The requirements of the system software will change accordingly.
The emphasis will shift from enforcing local kernel-user protection
boundaries to enabling groups of users to collaborate and access
information efficiently.  New models, tools, and other software will
be required. In this workshop, we will explore these issues.  Possible
topics include:

        - Wide-area distributed systems for millions of users
        - Tools, models and infrastructure for global applications
        - Life after the World Wide Web
        - Caching and replication
        - (Distributed) management of (distributed) services
        - Resource and information discovery services
        - Systems support for multimedia applications
        - Systems aspects of security and reliability

     Attendance is limited to 50 people, by invitation only. The
workshop will be held at the Renvyle House Hotel in Connemara,
Ireland.  It is a small, secluded site on the Renvyle Peninsula,
surrounded by water on three sides and 200 acres of hotel land and
mountains on the remaining side.

     Papers will be selected on the basis of ability to foster
discussion, originality, and appropriateness to the workshop topic.
Accepted papers will be distributed to the workshop attendees and via
the web.  A few papers may be selected for publication in Operating
Systems Review.

     For additional information,  submission instructions,  and photographs of
the workshop site, see the workshop's web page:

                http://plastique.stanford.edu/sigops96/


Program chairman                         Program Committee

Andrew S. Tanenbaum                     Ozalp Babaoglu, Univ. di Bologna
Dept. of Math. & Computer Science       Jean Bacon, Cambridge University
Vrije Universiteit                      Mary Baker, Stanford University
De Boelelaan 1081a                      Yolande Berbers, Kath. Univ., Leuven
1081 HV Amsterdam,Holland               Andrew Black, Oregon Graduate Inst.
Email: [e-mail]                     Frans Kaashoek, MIT
FAX: [phone]                     Barbara Liskov, MIT
                                        Karin Petersen, Xerox PARC
Important dates:                        Willy Zwaenepoel, Rice University
Position papers due: 1 March 1996
Acceptance notice: 15 May 1996          General chairman
Final 8-page papers: 15 July 1996       ----------------
Workshop date: 2-4 Sept. 1996           Andrew Herbert, ANSA ([e-mail])

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

Date: Mon, 02 Oct 95 21:54 EST
From: Michael Fumich <[e-mail]>
Subject: New US Area Code Test Numbers (Clarifications)


Recently I submitted to TELECOM Digest (Issue #406), a list of test
numbers which are used to determine whether calls to the new-style US
area codes are being completed properly. Several people wrote me with
questions and comments. I hope the following clarifies things a little.

This list was compiled from LEC and Bellcore sources only, not news
report or advertisements. In addition, I have personally completed
calls to ALL the numbers on the list thru the Bermuda (441) split on 1
Oct 95. This includes the 562-317-0317 So. California test number
which several have reported as not working. If the number does "not"
work from your location, it may be that the new area code is not yet
loaded into your exchange.  I have found that the LEC's do not always
meet the deadlines required.  If this is the case, call your local
repair service and report the problem to them. And get a Trouble
Ticket number too! When I couldn't get thru to 360 (WA) I reported the
matter to Ameritech repair (611). I had a feeling I wasn't being taken
seriously and got the stock "your problem should be resolved before
5:PM tomorrow" reply. When I asked for a report number, suddenly there
was furious keybourd pecking. "One moment sir, the computer suddenly
went down. What was the problem again?" ;+)

Successful completion of these calls will get a LEC recording which states
that you are reaching the XXX test number.

Calling some of these numbers may incur a charge. Calls to the 334 (AL) and
770 (GA) test numbers have been reported as chargable by AT&T and Sprint.

The numbers on the list are all that I have available at this time. I will
post updates to this newsgroup as additional information becomes available.


Michael L. Fumich   / E-Mail: <[e-mail]> / V-Mail 708-461-5770

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Deward)
Subject: Universal Service Policy Documents Available
Date: 03 Oct 1995 15:50:34 GMT
Organization: The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA


There's been a lot of discussion online about Universal Service.  But
most of the talk concerns whether people should be entitled to
wideband or broadband and what information they should be able to
access free.

That's putting the cart before the horse!  Here in California -- and
California is not the only state -- no plan exists to fund even voice
service at its present level of penetration when competition blasts
away the old subsidy system.

Whether your interest is education, health care, or promoting
representative government, Universal Service is a key concern.  Some
documents raising fundamental Universal Service issues are now
available free from Pacific Telesis.

On the Pacific Telesis Home Page (http://www.pactel.com) look in "What's
New."

If you prefer a fax, phone toll free (nationwide) 1-800-704-4636, pick any
category, and then punch in one of these numbers and your fax number:

970 for Basic Facts about Pacific Bell's Universal Service plan
971 for a summary of Pacific Bell's Universal Service position
972 for a brief history of Universal Service.


Bob Deward, Pacific Telesis External Affairs, S.F.
voice:  415-394-3646

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

From: [e-mail] (John Levine)
Subject: What's With This 814 Prefix in New York?
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 13:28:30 GMT
Organization: I.E.C.C.


I note that the New York NPAs 315, 516, 518, 607, 716, 718, 914, and
917 (that is, all of them except 212) just gotten new "814" prefixes.
Most of those NPAs still have plenty of NNX prefixes left, and it's
unusual to assign the same prefix everywhere at once.

I'd guess that NYNEX is planning some new category of rip-off, er,
added value service. Anyone know anything?


Regards,

John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY
Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"
and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 06:38:52 +0800
From: [e-mail] (Martin Stewart)
Subject: AT&T's New Role with Unitel in Canada


Pat,

I was just wondering if you had heard anything or received anything
concerning the recent announcement by AT&T of their intended
additional investment into Unitel in Canada.  Unitel is essentially
owned by three banks due to its enormous debt.  AT&T has agreed to
purchase up about 48% of the ownership into Unitel from Rogers and
Canadian Pacific.  They are able to increase their ownership above the
regulated 33% foreign ownership clause stipulated by the CRTC somehow
by having various AT&T owned shell companies purchase into Unitel.

Anyways, I haven't seen any mention of this in your news group and as
it is quite a newsworthy event, I figured I would inquire.


Regards,

Martin    CTI Telecommunications


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Very little has come this way on this,
so perhaps some of our Canadian readers with knowledge will contribute
to the thread.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 02 Oct 1995 20:10:19 EDT
From: Alan Lange <[e-mail]>
Subject: Trouble With NPA 860


The front page of {The Hartford Courant} on Saturday 9/30/95 reports
on trouble with the new NPA in Connecticut.  It appears that not all
calls using the new code are being completed.  Several businesses who
have already changed their advertising and stationery are finding some
of their customers cannot reach them.  AT&T and SNET both deny that it
is a problem in their switches.  SNET says they receive around five
complaints each day about the problem.  SNET is handling each complaint
by contacting the company that handled the outgoing call.

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

From: [e-mail] (Konstantin Zsigo)
Subject: Speakers Wanted: Discuss Data Over Digital Cellular - CelluComm '96
Date: 3 Oct 1995 05:00:31 GMT
Organization: Netcom


We are looking for panelists to speak at a particular session in the
upcoming CelluComm '96 Cellular Data Conference. The panel is focused
on the transmission of data over digital cellular networks, including
upbanded GSM (PCS-1900), CDMA, TDMA, and Omnipoint.  We would like to
hear commentary about the availability of both circuit-switching,
packet-switching, short-message services, and channel/time aggregation
for video-over-cellular.  The audience would also be very interested
in the availability of equipment for these systems, as most are either
carriers, manufacturers, or corporate customers.

We consider "cellular" for this conference as either 850 or 1900MHz
systems deployed in North America. Other sessions will consider CDPD
over AMPS, CS/CDPD over AMPS/N-AMPS, and basic circuit-switched
cellular with special modem protocols and other radio-level
enhancements.  Audience members range from engineers to upper
management to data specialists. Therefore, discussions should contain
a balance of both technical and marketing issues, as we do not have
separate engineering/marketing tracks by design.

CelluComm is the only industry conference dedicated exclusively to
cellular data. It will be held in St. Louis, MO USA on May 20-22,
1996. For more information about speaking opportunities, exhibiting or
attending, please contact Zsigo Wireless at 517-337-3995, or send
electronic mail to [e-mail]. Fax information to
517-337-5012. Surface mail to 2875 Northwind Drive, Suite 232, East
Lansing, MI 48823 USA.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: DateLine NBC to Air Segment on How to Stop Junk Calls
Date: 03 Oct 1995 07:34:53 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Prvt Ctzn)


On Friday, October 6th, DateLine NBC will air a segment about the
Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (TCPA).  It will feature two
members of Private Citizen, Inc. that have collected thousands of
dollars from telemarketers ... just for calling.

One, a grandmother, who sued a newspaper and collected $2000. The
other, a guy in California who has collected over $6000 from
telemarketers, in out-of-court settlements within the past 14 months.
If you want to learn more about cutting junk calls, tune in DateLine
NBC on Friday, or call Private Citizen, Inc. at 1/800-CUT-JUNK today.

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

From: [e-mail] (ibis fontes)
Subject: Programmer Position/Job offering
Date: 02 Oct 1995 22:24:51 GMT
Organization: Florida International University, Miami


Presently seeking programmers to design, code, and implement telephony
applications which involve networking with a DCO, TCP/IP and utilizing
the X.25 network.  Will work on several platforms including UNIX System V,
AIX, Informix and New Era.  Must be willing to take on a project and
perform by a set deadline.  Enthusiasm is a definite requirement.
C programming knowledge is mandatory. Accounting knowledge a plus.

Submit your resume along with a list of educational accomplishments
and/or pursuits, list your GPA and specify your salary requirement.
This position may require relocation to Culpeper, Virginia. Applicants
may fax the above information to 305-372-0435 or via e-mail to
[e-mail].

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 04:42:31 -0400
From: John R Levine <[e-mail]>
Subject: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?


I see in the press releases that after the three-way AT&T split, the
piece that handles telephone service and stuff like that will be
called AT&T.  The other two pieces, the one that builds equipment and
the one that sells computers, remain unnamed.  Clearly, this is a job
for The TELECOM Digest.

The obvious names, of course, are Western Electric and NCR.  Can we
come up with anything better?


Regards,

John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY
Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"
and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think there is a better choice
than 'Western Electric'. Sorry John, you won't get any better than that.
But, I'll listen to suggestions.

As I write this, the 'trial of the century' with OJ Simpson has ended
with a verdict of innocent on all counts. What a complete spectacle the
entire thing has been. The closing press conference with Fred Goldman
was particularly touching to me. Of course it is only partly over. The
analysis and commentary will go on for a long time.    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #413
******************************


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          4 Oct 95 2:51 EDT
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Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 18:09:20 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #414


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 3 Oct 95 16:52:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 414

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    The Rush For Unabomber's Essay (Patrick Townson)
    AIN/SS7 Modeling Job Opening (David Lin)
    Updated GSM List (Jurgen Morhofer)
    4th Intl Conf on Spoken Language Processing (ICSLP 96) (Jim Polikoff)
    Optus CEO Resigns (Grahame Lynch)
    Cap'n Crunch WEB Pages Now On-Line (John T. Draper)
    European Council Statement on Encryption (Marc Schaeffer)
    Payphones For Prisons ([e-mail])
    Last Laugh! Heavenly Phone Calls = Hellish Long Distance Bill (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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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, 3 Oct 1995 16:03:05 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Subject: The Rush For Unabomber's Essay


I am sitting here amazed watching the requests flow into the archives
for the Unabomber's complete essay. The volume of requests for that
file alone (actually a collection three files: the complete essay and
the earlier abridged version plus the 'rebuttals and commentary' file)
have overwhelmed the email server and caused some delays for everyone
who wanted to use the Telecom Archives this past weekend. Hopefully
all requests have been filled. If you have not received the files, you
should re-order them at this time.

I finally got a call from a fellow at the FBI in San Fransisco on
Monday, and I put him in touch with a correspondent here who had given
much of the background information printed in the Digest. We will see
what comes of it, if anything.

In other news today, the 'trial of the century' came to a dramatic
conclusion with OJ found not guilty. Nearly everyone seemed to assume
that the speed of the jury deliberations 'almost certainly' meant a
finding of guilty. What a mockery the whole thing was!  Although there
was certainly a preponderance of evidence pointing to OJ as the guilty
person, preponderances don't count in the USA. Absolute proof is the
only standard accepted, and it would appear the prosecution just could
not pull it off. Certainly some of their witnesses were not of the
caliber they might have been were a prosecution victory to be assured.
I feel extremely sorry for Goldman's family; he was certainly one victim
in the case; his only act was being in the wrong place at the wrong
time, or would you say the wrong place at the right time.


PAT

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

From: [e-mail] (David Lin)
Subject: AIN/SS7 Modeling Job Opening
Date: 3 Oct 1995 00:22:24 GMT
Organization: U S WEST Advanced Technologies


Please send your resume to Kristein Tait. All mail to me will
be ignored. Her e-mail address is: [e-mail]
Her US mail address is:

U S WEST Advanced Technologies
4001 Discovery Dr., Suite 220
Boulder, CO 80303

U S WEST Advanced Technologies has one MTS opening in the Network
Performance Modeling group to do performance simulation and analysis
in the areas of SS7 network and AIN services. The goals are to examine
the impacts of AIN services on SS7 networks, and to build tools to
allow services planners to plan the growth of SS7 networks and AIN
equipment accordingly.

U S WEST Advanced Technologies is the research and development
subsidiary of U S WEST who is the Regional Bell Operating Company that
serves 14 Western States -- excluding California and Nevada. The
Network Performance Modeling group is part of the Network Architecture
and Standards (NAS) department of U S WEST Advanced Technologies.  The
group's mission is to use modern network performance analysis
techniques (such as discrete-event simulation, queueing theory, etc)
to provide planning guidelines for the development and operation of U
S WEST's communications networks.  We have research interests and
capabilities in AIN, CCS/SS7, ATM, SMDS, Frame Relay, Cell Relay, and
broadband networks.

The work location is at the University of Colorado Research Park,
Boulder, Colorado.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Member of an R&D group applying discrete-event simulations to analyze
existing and future telecommunications networks and protocols, and to
develop planning tools for them.

Individual responsibilities will include:

(1) As part of a team, develop computer based models of existing and
future networks and the signaling and data delivery protocols to be
used on them.  The models will be used to verify adequacy of the
networks and protocols against the anticipated use of services by our
customers.  An additional objective of this work is to develop a core
performance modeling capability so that networks can be easily
tested for adequacy against new or alternative services and uses of
the network. The work includes specification of data needs from the
actual networks and services as they are deployed so that accuracy
of the models can be assessed and improved.

(2) Monitor external and internal research and development to identify
technology advances that could affect the cost, quality,
functionality, or feasibility of multimedia telecommunications
products, services, networks and protocols.

(3) Work with the Modeling group in Applied Research department to
explore system design trade-offs and to develop optimization
procedures to improve network efficiencies and/or to reduce total
costs.

(4) Identify network bottlenecks and recommend improved and
optimized solutions to business and market people.

(5) Work with market and network people to understand market
needs and evolving network capabilities.

(6) Facilitate the transfer of new technologies and services into
network deployment.


Required Qualifications:

PhD (or MS with relevant experience) in EE, CS, Physics, Applied Math,
or an advanced degree in a related field plus prior work experience.
Candidates at the BS level with exceptionally relevant experience will
also be considered.

Extensive working experience in CCS networks and/or AIN services.

Extensive experience and knowledge of computer based modeling
techniques and computer and/or data communications networks,
equipment, and protocols.


Desired Qualifications:

A background in queueing theory, probability, and stochastic process.

A background in Statistics.

Prior experience in the telecommunications industry.

U S WEST Advanced Technologies is an equal opportunity employer.

                           --------

1911, when 1+911 is a long distance call ...

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 10:22:52 +0100
From: Jurgen Morhofer <[e-mail]>
Subject: Updated GSM List


(Changes in the list marked by "*")

Date 1995-09-29.

Country      Operator name          Network code   Tel to customer service
 ------      -------------          ------------   -----------------------
Andorra      STA-Mobiland           213 03
Argentina
Australia    Optus                  505 02         Int + 61 2 978 5678
             Telecom/Telstra        505 01         Int + 61 18 01 8287
             Vodafone               505 03         Int + 61 2 415 7236
Austria      PTV Austria            232 01
Bahrain      Batelco
Belgium      Belgacom               206 01         Int + 32 2205 4000
Brunei
Cameroon
China
Croatia
Cyprus       CYTA                   280 01
Denmark      Sonofon                238 02         Int + 45 80 20 21 00
             Tele Danmark Mobil     238 01         Int + 45 80 20 20 20
Egypt
Estonia    * EMT                    248 01         Int + 372 639 7130
           *                                       Int + 372 524 7000
           * Radiolinja Estonia     248 02         Int + 372 639 9966
Fiji
Finland      Radiolinja Finland     244 05         Int + 358 800 95050
             Telecom                244 91         Int + 358 800 7000
France       France Telecom         208 01         Int + 33 1 44 62 14 81
             SFR                    208 10         Int + 33 1 44 16 20 16
Germany      D1, DeTeMobil          262 01         Int + 49 511 288 0171
             D2, Mannesmann         262 02         Int + 49 172 1212
Gibraltar    GibTel                 266 01
G Britain    Cellnet                234 10         Int + 44 860 321321
             Vodafone               234 15         Int + 44 836 1100
Greece       Panafon                202 05         Int + 30 944 00 122
             STET                   202 10         Int + 30 93 333 333
Guernsey     Guernsey Telecom
Hong Kong    HK HTCLGSM             454 04
             SmarTone               454 06         Int + 852 2880 2688
             Telecom CSL            454 00         Int + 852 2803 8450
Hungary      Pannon GSM             216 01         Int + 36 1 270 4120
             Westel 900             216 30         Int + 36 30 303 100
Iceland      Post & Simi            274 01         Int + 354 96 330
India        PT SATELINDO
Indonesia    TELKOMSEL              510 10
Iran         T.C.I.
Ireland    * Eircell                272 01         Int + 353 42 31999
Israel       Cellcom Israel Ltd
Italy        Omnitel                222 10         Int + 39 2 41431
             SIP                    222 01         Int + 39 6615 20309
Japan
Jersey       Jersey Telecom         234 50         Int + 44 1534 88 28 82
Kuwait       MTC                    419 02         Int + 965 484 2000
Laos
Latvia       LMT                    247 01         Int + 371 2256 7764
                                                   Int + 371 2256 9183
                                                   Int + 371 2934 0000
Lebanon      Libancell
Liechtenstein                       228 01
Lithuania    Mobilios Telekom
Luxembourg   Telekom                270 01         Int + 352 4088 7088
Macao
Malaysia   * Celcom                 502 19
           * Binariang              502 12
Malta        Advanced
Marocco      O.N.P.T.               604 01
Monaco       France Telecom         208 01
             SFR                    208 10
Namibia    * MTC                                   Int + 264 81 121212
Netherlands  PTT Netherlands        204 08         Int + 31 50 688 699
New Zealand* Bell South             530 01         Int + 64 9 357 5100
Nigeria
Norway       NetCom                 242 02         Int + 47 92 00 01 68
             TeleNor Mobil          242 01         Int + 47 22 03 03 01
Oman
Pakistan
Phillipines
Portugal     Telecel                268 01         Int + 351 931 1212
             TMN                    268 06         Int + 351 1 793 91 78
Qatar        Qatarnet               427 01
Rumania
Russia       Mobile Tele... Moscow  250 01         Int + 7 095 915-7734
             NW GSM, St. Petersburg
SaudiArabia
Singapore    Singapore Telecom      525 01
Slovenia
South Africa MTN                    655 10         Int + 27 11 445 6000
             Vodacom                655 01         Int + 27 82 111
Sri Lanka    MTN Networks Pvt Ltd
Spain        Airtel
             Telefonica Spain       214 07
Sweden       Comviq                 240 07         Int + 46 586 686 10
             Europolitan            240 08         Int + 46 708 22 22 22
             Telia                  240 01         Int + 46 771 91 03 50
Switzerland  PTT Switzerland        228 01         Int + 41 46 05 64 64
Syria        SYR-01                 223 01
             SYR MOBILE SYR         263 09
Taiwan
Thailand     TH AIS GSM             520 01         Int + 66 2 299 6440
Turkey       Telsim                 286 02
             Turkcell               286 01         Int + 90 800 211 0211
UAE          UAE ETISALAT-G1        424 01
             UAE ETISALAT-G2        424 02
Uganda
Vietnam


             |------------|
             |o          o||
             |o TradeNet o||    Jurgen Morhofer
             |o    --    o||
             |o Business o||  [e-mail]
             |o   for    o||  Tel:[phone]
             |o tomorrow o||  FAX:[phone]
             |o          o||  GSM:[phone]
             |============||     Rome, Italy
               ============|

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

From: [e-mail] (Jim Polikoff)
Subject: 4th Intl Conf on Spoken Language Processing (ICSLP 96)
Date: 03 Oct 1995 15:42:21 -0400
Organization: AI duPont Institute


      IIII   CCCCC    SSSSS   LL       PPPPPP        999999      666666
       II   CC   CC  SS   SS  LL       PP   PP      99    99    66    66
       II   CC       SS       LL       PP   PP      99    99    66
       II   CC       SSSSSSS  LL       PPPPPP        9999999    6666666
       II   CC            SS  LL       PP                 99    66    66
       II   CC   CC  SS   SS  LL       PP           99    99    66    66
      IIII   CCCCC    SSSSS   LLLLLLL  PP            999999      666666

         Fourth International Conference on Spoken Language Processing

                             ******

                            October 3-6, 1996

                         Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel

                           Philadelphia, PA, USA

                             ******

   ________________________ ICSLP 96 Organizers____________________________

      H. Timothy Bunnell, Chair
      Richard A. Foulds, Vice-Chair
      Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories
      Wilmington, DE, USA

   ______________________________ICSLP______________________________________

      ICSLP unites researchers, developers, and clinicians for an exchange
      on a wide variety of topics related to the spoken language processing
      of humans and machines. Conference presentations range from basic
      acoustic phonetic research to clinically oriented speech training
      devices to speech-based natural language interfaces for man-machine
      interaction.  ICSLP 96 will feature technical sessions of both oral
      and poster format, plenary talks, commercial exhibits, and daily
      special sessions. In addition, satellite workshops will be held in
      conjunction with the conference in the areas of interactive voice
      technology, spoken dialogue, speech databases and speech I/O, and
      gestures and speech. A new emphasis for ICSLP 96 will be on the
      clinical applications of speech technology, including the use of
      speech technology based applications for persons with disabilities.


   _________________________Conference Update_________________________9/27/95

      Dates to Note:

        January 15, 1996    - Paper abstracts due for review
        March 15, 1996        - Acceptance notification
        May 1, 1996        - Deadline for papers (camera-ready, 4 pages)


      Prospective authors are invited to submit papers relevant to spoken
      language processing in any of the conference Technical Areas.
      Abstracts of proposed papers must be received by the ICSLP 96
      Organizing Committee no later than January 15, 1996. Papers will be
      selected by the ICSLP 96 Technical Program Committee and assigned for
      presentation in poster or oral format. English is the working language
      for the conference. Submission of an abstract implies a commitment to
      submit a four page, camera-ready version of the paper and to present
      the paper in either an oral or poster session if the abstract is
      accepted. Participants will be expected to pay their own registration
      fees, travel, and accommodations for ICSLP 96.


    _____________________Submission of Abstracts____________________________

      Abstracts must be received by the ICSLP 96 Organizing Committee no
      later than January 15, 1996. Abstracts may be submitted either by post
      or by e-mail following these guidelines:

          + One page, 400 word maximum
          + Technical Area(s) indicated in order of preference
         using the codes (A - X) below.
          + Title of the proposed paper clearly indicated
           + Preference for paper or poster clearly indicated
          + If sent by post, submit four (4) copies of the abstract
          + If sent by e-mail, use plain text (ASCII) format only

      Each abstract must also include the following contact information:

          + Author name(s)*
          + Postal mailing address
          + Phone number
          + Fax number
          + E-mail address

      E-mailed abstracts will be acknowledged by e-mail within 48
      hours of submission. If you do not receive e-mail
      confirmation, we have not received your abstract! Please
      check the e-mail address and resubmit. Please do not e-mail
      multiple copies for any other reason.

     *Please be sure that the primary contact person is noted if it is
      someone other than the First Author.

     Mail or send abstracts to:

           ICSLP 96
          Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories
           A.I. duPont Institute
           P.O. Box 269
           Wilmington, DE 19899
           E-mail: [e-mail]

 ________________________Technical Areas___________________________________

      A. Production of spoken language
      B. Perception of spoken language
      C. Robust speech modeling and speech enhancement
      D. Speech coding and transmission
      E. Automatic speech recognition
      F. Spoken language processing for special populations
      G. Phonetics and phonology
      H. Spoken discourse analysis/synthesis
      I. Synthesis of spoken language
      J. Applications for people with speech/language/hearing disorders
      K. Databases and standards for speech technology
      L. Prosody of spoken language
      M. Speech analysis and parameterization
      N. Spoken language acquisition/learning
      O. Integrating spoken language and natural language processing
      P. Hardware for speech processing
      Q. Neural networks and stochastic modeling of spoken language
      R. Dialects and speaking styles
      S. Instructional technology for spoken language
      T. Speaker/language identification and verification
      U. Human factors and assessment in spoken language applications
      V. Spoken language dialogue and conversation
      W. Gesture and Multimodal Spoken Language Processing
      X. Other

 _____________________Registration Information______________________________

      Full registration includes:
      Admission to technical sessions, Reception, Banquet,
      Proceedings (printed & CD-ROM)

      Limited registration includes:
      Admission to technical sessions, Reception, Proceedings on CD-ROM

      Early Registration fees:
                  Member*  Non-Member  Student
          Full        $425      $525         $250
          Limited        $300      $400         $150

      Late registration:
          After June 21, add $60
          After August 9, add $100

      Additional Tickets:
          Banquet         $50
          Reception         $50

      Additional Proceedings:
          Printed        $125
          CD-ROM         $15

      * See Sponsoring and Cooperating Organizations.

 ________________________Satellite Workshops________________________________

      The following Satellite Workshops will be held immediately before or
      after the ICSLP 96 conference.

      1. IVITA

      The 3rd IEEE workshop on Interactive Voice Technology for
      Telecommunications Applications (IVTTA) will be held at the AT&T
      Learning Center, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, from September 30 -
      October 1, 1996. The IVTTA workshop brings together applications
      researchers planning to conduct or who have recently conducted field
      trials of new applications of speech technologies.  Due to workshop
      facility constraints, attendance will be limited primarily to
      contributors. For further information about the workshop, contact:

          Dr. Murray Spiegel
          Bellcore
          445 South Street
          Morristown, NJ, USA
          e-mail: [e-mail]
          Phone:  [phone]; Fax: [phone]

      Submit abstracts (400 words, maximum 1 page) before April 1, 1996 to:

          Dr. David Roe
          IEEE IVTTA `96
          AT&T Bell Laboratories, Room 2D-533
          Murray Hill, NJ 07974
          e-mail: [e-mail]
          Phone:  [phone]; Fax: [phone]

      2. ISSD-96

      The 1996 International Symposium on Spoken Dialogue (ISSD-96) will be
      held on October 2 and 3 at the venue of ICSLP 96. It is intended to be
      a forum of interdisciplinary exchange between researchers working on
      spoken dialogues from various points of view. The first day is devoted
      to invited lectures followed by sessions of both invited and
      contributed papers, which will be continued on the second day as
      special sessions of ICSLP 96. Papers submitted to ICSLP 96 (Technical
      Areas H,L,O,U,&V) may be selected for presentation at the
      symposium. For further information about the symposium, contact:

          Prof. Hiroya Fujisaki, Chairman, ISSD-96
          Dept. of Applied Electronics
          Science University of Tokyo
          2641 Yamazaki, Noda, 278 Japan
          e-mail: [e-mail]
          Phone:  [phone]; Fax: [phone]

      3. COCOSDA Workshop 96

      COCOSDA Workshop 96 will be held on Monday, October 7 at the Wyndham
      Franklin Plaza Hotel. The International Coordinating Committee on
      Speech Databases and Speech I/O Systems Assessment (COCOSDA) has been
      established to promote international cooperation in the fundamental
      areas of Spoken Language Engineering. Previous meetings have taken
      place in Banff 1992, Berlin 1993, Yokohama 1994 and Madrid 1995.
      Program and registration information for COCOSDA 96 will be forthcoming
      in later announcements.  For more information about COCOSDA, consult
      the Web Page at http://www.itl.atr.co.jp/cocosda.

      4. WIGLS

      Workshop on the Integration of Gesture in Language and Speech (WIGLS)
      will be held October 7 and 8. This Workshop will consider the
      integration of gesture and spoken language in intelligent
      human/computer interfaces, advanced assistive technology for
      individuals with disabilities, telemanipulation and robotics systems,
      and human conversation. Gestures including hand postures, dynamic arm
      movements, facial expression, and eye gaze will be considered along
      with more traditional lip shapes and handwriting movements. For further
      information, contact:

          Dr. Lynn Messing
          A. I. duPont Institute
          P.O. Box 269
          Wilmington, DE 19899
          e-mail:  [e-mail]
          Phone:   [phone]; Fax: [phone]


 _____________Sponsoring and Cooperating Organizations________________________

          The Acoustical Society of America
          The Acoustical Society of Japan
          American Speech and Hearing Association (Pending)
          Australian Speech Science and Technology Association (Pending)
          European Speech Communication Association
          IEEE Signal Processing Society
          Incorporated Canadian Acoustical Association
          International Phonetic Association
          For additional sponsoring organizations, contact ICSLP 96.

 _____________For more information about ICSLP 96, contact_____________________


          ICSLP 96
          Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories
          A.I. duPont Institute
          P.O. Box 269
          Wilmington, DE 19899
          Phone: [phone]
          TDD: [phone]
          Fax: [phone]
          Email: [e-mail]
          WWW: http://www.asel.udel.edu/speech/icslp.html
          FTP: zeppo.asel.udel.edu:pub/ICSLP

      A two-page PostScript format copy of the most recent Conference
      Announcement and Call for Papers can also be obtained by anonyomus
      ftp. Connect to host zeppo.asel.udel.edu, cd to directory pub/ICSLP96,
      and get call.ps.Z in binary mode. The file must be uncompressed with a
      unix compatable uncompress program before being printed. This plain
      text version of the announcement is located in the same directory as
      file call.txt


 ______________________International Advisory Board__________________________

             Hiroya Fujisaki - Founding Chair
             Science University of Tokyo
             Tokyo, Japan

      Jens Blauert                            Louis C. W. Pols
      Ruhr-Universitat Bochum                 University of Amsterdam,
      Bochum, Germany                         Amsterdam, The Netherlands

      Anne Cutler                             Lawrence Rabiner
      Max Planck Institute for                AT&T Bell Labs
      Psycholinguistics                       Murray Hill, NJ, USA
      Nijmegen, The Netherlands

      Gunnar Fant                             Katsuhiko Shirai
      Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)     Waseda University
      Stockholm, Sweden                       Tokyo, Japan

      John Laver                              Kenneth Stevens
      Humanities Research Board of            Massachusetts Institute
      the British Academy                     of Technology
      Edinburgh, Scotland                     Cambridge, MA, USA

      Joseph Mariani                          Yoh'ichi Tohkura
      LIMSI-CNRS                              ATR Human Information
      Orsay, France                           Processing Research Lab
                          Kyoto, Japan

      J. Bruce Millar                         Victor Zue
      Australian National University          Massachusetts Institute
      Canberra, Australia                     of Technology
                          Cambridge, MA, USA

      John Ohala
      University of California
      Berkeley, CA, USA

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 02:08:27 +1000
From: [e-mail] (Grahame Lynch)
Subject: Optus CEO Resigns


OPTUS CEO RESIGNS
Copyright Communications Day (Australia)

Australia's no 2 carrier Optus Communications' CEO Bob Mansfield has
resigned his position to join the Australian Fairfax publishing group
as its chief executive.

    The move is not expected to be officially announced until this
morning, but was leaked yesterday to ABC Television and other
journalists.

    Optus was caught on the hop by the revelation last night,
having not released a public statement on the move as at 2am Eastern
Australian time this morning. Its public affairs section was
continually engaged last night.  AAP reported last night that Optus
had refused to comment on the news.

    Mansfield is to take over at Fairfax from November, according
to today's Sydney Morning Herald. He will replace existing CEO Bob
Mulholland who is departing his position one year earlier than
expected. Fairfax published Australia's leading newspapers The Sydney
Morning Herald and The Melbourne Age.  MONTHS OF SPECULATION:
Mansfield's departure ends months of speculation about his position at
Optus. In that period he has been besieged by rumours that
shareholders were dissatisfied with Optus' latterday performance under
his stewardship. The commissioning of McKinsey & Co to undertake a
major management review of Optus fuelled this speculation. The review
is scheduled to report next week.

    Mansfield's future at Optus Communications was probably
untenable, anyhow.  The company appears set to become a mere shell of
its current self, restricted largely to cost-based interconnect
revenues derived from resale to pay TV joint venture Optus Vision,
which is set to assume ownership of the carrier's vast residential and
small business customer base.

    Mansfield suggested in late August that Optus Vision and Optus
Communications would not even offer unified billing at first, but
Optus Vision CEO Geoffery Cousins said last week that the there will
be seamless integration of the two offerings with "one company, one
sales force". He said that Optus Communications would only look after
corporate customers in future.

    Cousins already appears to have assumed the public role in
guiding the network's future marketing and strategic direction.  OPTUS
ACHIEVEMENTS: Despite all of this, Mansfield's achievement at Optus
has been considerable by any standard. He has guided the company from
startup in 1991/2 to a A$1.5b annual turnover based on an estimated
14% share of long distance and international traffic and a 30%-34%
share of mobile connections.

    The company has disappointed some with the limited focus of
its services but in retrospect it was probably wise for it to avoid
some of its early potentially expensive plans for payphones, a
commercial ISDN service and extensive suburban fibre loop-based
business services.

    Mansfield's greatest achievement was probably the high profile
he created for the group through his extensive advocacy of Optus
services via the media. He is one of the most recognised business
faces in Australia with his Sydney North Shore rugby union player
demeanour serving more than probably any other single factor to blunt
Optus' foreign ownership image problems.  WHERE NOW FOR OPTUS?
Mansfield's departure will not be good for Optus, at least in the
short term. The last senior expatriate executive in the company, chief
operating officer Ian Boatman (from Cable & Wireless), is expected to
return to the UK soon. Boatman and Mansfield are regarded as Optus'
two most outstanding executives to date.

    Also, staff morale in Optus Communications is reportedly at an
all-time low with an attitude permeating the place that Optus Vision
has a much brighter future and will glean the fruits of their labour.
Mansfield's departure may serve to reinforce this attitude among some
staff.

    Any drastic changes or rationalisations that may eventuate
from the McKinsey review could fuel this discontent.

    Of the remaining executives, chief financial officer John
Greaves would appear to be the best qualified for the top job, but it
is more likely to go to an outsider.

    Mansfield's departure probably also rates as a negative for
the company's proposed float.

    WHAT FOR FAIRFAX? Optus' loss is surely Fairfax's gain. The
newspaper group has been left at the starting gates in the convergence
race, with yesterday's failure of its pay TV joint venture with the
ABC symbolic of the company's inability to adapt to the new media
environment.

    Mansfield brings with him an experience of the telecomms and
convergence environment unequalled among Australian CEOs.

This article appeared in September 29 {Communications Day}, a daily
Australian comms news service. E-mail [e-mail] for more
details.  GRAHAME LYNCH Editor, Communications Day, Communications
News & Analysis, Mobile News & Analysis Writer, Business Review
Weekly, Comms Network, Australian Pay TV News, Broadcast Engineering
News.

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

From: John T. Draper <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cap'n Crunch WEB pages now on-line
Date: 03 Oct 1995 18:25:29 GMT
Organization: Programmers Network


Greetings,

Many of you Telecom folks know about Cap'n Crunch, but I still get
lots of people asking how I got that name. Well, it's now explained in
gory detail, as well as my early days of hacking Ma Bell and some
great stories I tell.  So I invite all you TELECOM Digest readers
to visit my "home" in cyberspace.  In there, you'll get to meet me,
see my home, hang out in the town square, see what I do for work, and
read some amazing stores I tell that have never been told before. Now
that the statute of limitations is up, I can talk about it.

Point your browser to:   http://www.well.com/user/crunch/
and surf your wa wa off!!


Cheers,

Crunchman - Web weavers

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 95 14:15:00 MET
From: [e-mail] (Marc SCHAEFER)
Subject: European Council Statement on Encryption
Organization: ALPHANET NF - Research and information - Not for profit


Does someone know something about the rumoured European Council
Statement on Encryption ?  I have heard it may establish a central
(possibly private) organization which would be holder for keys.

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

From: [e-mail] (Latin Net)
Subject: Payphones For Prisons
Date: 03 Oct 1995 10:28:59 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Latin Net)


I represent a group in Mexico that has a contract for 13 prisons in
and around Mexico City for telephone equipment. This group has asked
me to research putting pay-phones in these prisons for inmate use.  I
really would like to find a company that specializes in this market
that would be interested in expanding internationally. Can anyone
point me in the right direction?


Andrew Salisbury [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 95 13:47:15 EDT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Last Laugh! Heavenly Phone Calls = Hellish Long Distance Bill


The Dialog (Catholic diocese of Wilmington, Delaware) has on page 5
of its 21 September issue a cartoon with the following caption:

"We think it's wonderful that you want to play 'priest', dear, but
daddy and I are concerned about all these phone calls to the Vatican."

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #414
******************************



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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #415

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 3 Oct 95 18:14:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 415

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Karen Jensen)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Bill Fenner)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Patton M. Turner)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Chris Mayer)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Fred R. Goldstein)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (John Higdon)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Toby Nixon)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Mike Morris)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Dave Yost)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Wes Leatherock)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (M. Troutman)
    Re: Unabomber Full Text Now in Archives (Scot E. Wilcoxon)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Karen Jensen, CPA)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: 3 Oct 1995 05:00:44 GMT
Organization: Netcom


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Christopher
Ambler) writes:

> We have 26 lines (residential POTS) and 1 ISDN line into our house. (For
> the curious, we have an internet cooperative amongst 20 people, ISDN
> carries internet to my house, and then 20 modems take it all over town
> to the members).

> Pac*Bell told us, when we ordered our last three lines, that we could
> only have one of them, and that we were then maxxed out. Their story
> is that we've used all the pairs up my street save for the spares to
> each other house (for which I've heard anywhere from one to five pairs
> per house).

> I called "Home Office" on Monday to enquire as to the cost to get two
> more lines. I told them that engineering had told me no more unless I
> pay for trenching, etc. The lady told me, "Well, there are nine pairs
> to your area available, and three available to your house." I found
> this hard to believe, but decided to test it, and ordered a line
> (POTS/res/meas). She assigned me a number and a date for install.

> Today (a day before the install date), an engineer came out and was
> rather rude with me, telling me that there's been a block placed on my
> address, such that we can have no more lines. He said we can pay
> upwards of $10,000 (ten thousand dollars!) to have the area rewired.

> But I got a firm commitment from the business office ...

> Do I have any recourse here? We need more lines, and this is getting
> very frustrating.

Maybe you can get a T1 in to your house. It only takes two pairs. Pac
Bell installed mine for free for our business. You may need to pay a
move charge to move your existing trunks to the span. Maybe they would
wave the move charges to get 18 of your existing pairs. I have a used
channel bank for sale.

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Fenner)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 07:55:01 PDT
Organization: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center


In article <[e-mail]>,
Christopher Ambler <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Their story is that we've used all the pairs up my street save for
> the spares to each other house (for which I've heard anywhere from one
> to five pairs per house).

We had a similar problem; when we moved in, PAC*Bell said that we only
had four pairs available for our house; we wanted three POTS and two
ISDN lines.  They ended up putting a box they call a DAML on one of
the pairs, which gives you two POTS lines over one pair.  Apparently, it
uses a 2B1Q physical layer just like ISDN, and apparently does the
A<>D, dialtone generation, tone recognition, etc. in the garage.

We are using the two POTS lines both for modem lines, and although the
S/N ratio dropped a couple of dB when switching from a fully analog
line to one of these DAML'd lines, we don't have any connection
problems because of it.

So, perhaps you can get them to put these DAML boxes on some of your
pairs and double the number of POTS lines into your house.


Bill

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

From: [e-mail] (Patton M Turner)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 02:07:08 GMT


I supprised PacBell doesn't just put a slick in you basement (or in
your front yard :-)).  If you are getting ISDN you are 18,000 feet or
less from either the CO or SLC.  It seems it would behove them to get
rid of the bridge taps, splice in a pair of span repeaters, and the
ISDN line should carry a T span (with a second pair).  Then they can
feed you the ISDN line with a BRITE card.  Of course you many not want
a SLC in your bedroom, but it is the ultimate sign of computer
geekdom.

Let me guess though, your fellow coop members dial in close to 24 hrs a
day, only hanging up when the carrier is lost.  I bet PacBells attitude
has something to do with this.


Pat

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

From: Chris Mayer <[e-mail]>
Organization:  IncidentNet
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 21:45:48 -0800
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?


> From: [e-mail] (Dave Harrison)

> And by the way, co-operative or not, you should be paying for business
> service. You can't argue "we're non profit"... so is the Red Cross and
> they pay for the proper service.

  Unless I read wrong, he is operating out of his home, and if so,
Pacific Bell has a special program called "Cottage Industries" for
home businesses.  A rep told me that there would be no problem with
bringing in additional lines on the residential rate, although the
only drawback is that you don't get any business line pluses such as a
line in the yellow pages and a line in the business white pages.


IncidentNet(tm) - Fire, Police and EMS Information Services
Chris Mayer, Owner     National ID: (Net/3500)

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 13:05:15 -0400
From: Fred R. Goldstein <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?


[e-mail] (Christopher Ambler) wrote:

> We have 26 lines (residential POTS) and 1 ISDN line into our house. (For
> the curious, we have an internet cooperative amongst 20 people, ISDN
> carries internet to my house, and then 20 modems take it all over town
> to the members).

I have to admit that while I consider myself a respectable telco
basher, my sympathies are with PacBell here.  I realize that some BBSs
can use residence service, and an Internet coop running from a house
and NOT charging money can use residence service by the same standard,
but let's not get carried away.

We had a case in Cambridge a few years ago.  Channel 1 began as a
residential BBS, but grew to dozens of lines.  It was really kludgey;
they had dozens of PCs on shelves with separate modems and everything,
working out of a tiny house on a back street.  The city made them move
it to a commercial zone.  Last time I looked, they were in the same
building as Delphi Internet, but the latter is moving to larger
quarters in Lowell.

Anyway, there _is_ a way to get some relief from the 20-line limit.
Turn some of the lines into (residential) ISDN BRIs.  Each has two B
channels.  There are some devices (Adak makes one) that convert it
into two analog POTS jacks. In effect it's doubling the capacity of
each pair, even if you don't have people dialing in on ISDN.  And some
devices have modems built in.  Check out the ISDN web page that Dan
Kegel maintains on: http://alumni.caltech.edu/~dank/isdn


Fred R. Goldstein  [e-mail]
Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc.  Cambridge MA
USA [phone]

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

Organization: Green Hills and Cows
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 13:19:59 -0700
From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?


Dave Harrison <[e-mail]> writes:

> And by the way, co-operative or not, you should be paying for business
> service. You can't argue "we're non profit"... so is the Red Cross and
> they pay for the proper service.

The tariff does not agree with you. There are specific points involving
business service:

1. The phone is installed in a business location;

This means an office building or structure in a business district. Or
it means in a business environment that is not a domicile. The Red
Cross has offices downtown; the poster is in a home.

2. The number is advertised;

The Red Cross even runs media ads. The poster does not.

3. The number is answered as a business;

The Red Cross answers, "Red Cross...". A modem answering is neutral
(neither necessarily business nor residence).

I have been around and around with Pac*Bell types who try to regrade
various services to business. I always win when we get down to the
wording in the tariffs.


John Higdon  |    P.O. Box 7648   |   [phone]     |       FAX:
[e-mail] | San Jose, CA 95150 |   +1 500 FOR-A-MOO    | [phone]
             |         http://www.ati.com/ati             |


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would have to take exception with John's
third point, 'the number is answered as a business' and 'a modem is
neutral (neither necessarily business or residence)'. A phone which is
answered with a person's name (for example, an direct-dial extension at
a company where the user replies, 'John Smith speaking') could have the
same kind of neutrality of which you speak, but no one would be fooled
into thinking that John Smith was going to have a social call and there-
fore should be charged residence rates. Likewise, merely because the
human brain cannot decipher via the ear what a modem is 'saying' -- we
hear only the squeaks and hisses -- that does not mean that the message
delivered to the caller is a neutral one. When the message is interpreted
by a similar device -- just as when a foreign speaking person's message
is translated for us -- the context might well be business. If the
message sent as interpreted by the modem on the other end of the line
says 'you are connected to the XXX Internet Gateway Service' then it
is indeed quite arguable that the service should be classified as business.
The context is all-important here. On the other hand if the modem replies
with a message saying 'this is X, I am a deaf person; you have reached
my residence and this is how I communicate' then obviously you are talking
about residential service.

I do not know about the tariff in California, but the tariff here states
things a bit differently. (1) any service which is not exclusively for
the personal use of the residents of a domicile is a 'business' service.
(2) at an address which has historically been used for business, then
any service installed there must be business service; however at an
address which has historically been residential in nature then residence
service is available *unless the line is being used for business purposes.*
(3) there are no distinctions made between 'for profit business' and 'not
for profit business'. There are no distinctions made between social and/or
religious organizations and businesses. The only distinction made is if
the phone is in an historically residential area and if it is intended for
the non-business exclusive use of the residents therein, in which case
residence service is an available option to the subscriber.

The error by telco is one of nomenclature. Long ago the types of service
should have been described as 'exclusive personal use by one or more
individuals at a place of residence' and 'all other service.' Then either
you qualify for the less expensive rates or you do not.  PAT]

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

From: Toby Nixon <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 95 12:16:29 PDT
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives


Steve Cogorno  <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Toby Nixon said:

>> So what if it takes a few more digits to dial *00,12068828080 when, if
>> it was local to me, it could have been dialed as just "8828080" --
>> those "extra" six digits only took half a second to dial, and I didn't
>> have to make two or three failed call attempts to find the right digit
>> sequence! This ought to be implementable on PBXes just as easily as on COs.

> This is already the case.  Dialing 1+NPA for calls within that NPA will
> go through.  This is part of the "new" NANAP numbering system.
> If your LEC is doing it differently, then they should be told
> that they are not following the proper dialing procedures.

The North American Numbering Plan Adminstration at Bellcore has no
legal authority to mandate dialing procedures in the LECs. That
authority rests with the public utility commissions in each state, at
least for now. Only a couple of states currently permit 1 + NPA + 7D for
local calls, and the blame for this rests squarely with the PUCs. One
of the states that permits universal 11-digit dialing is California,
and the PUC there is to be commended for that. But this is the
exception, not the rule.

> Even if you COULDN'T dial 1+NPA calls, this is an extremely easy
> problem to fix in a software environment.

Baloney.  It's only appears to be "extremely easy" to those who
haven't actually tried to deal with designing software to do this,
across the country and around the world.

> First, create a user profile for the CALLING number:
>    area code
>    outside line access (8,9,nothing,etc.)
>    long distance access (1,0 for charge, 102881 for AT&T, etc.)
>    suffix (calling card, charge account, etc.)
>    country

> Then for each stored number:
>    area code
>    phone number
>    country

> When the user calls from a new location, he or she changes the CALLING
> number data to include the new area code and outside line access. The
> computer then the desired number against the current area code and if
> they are different it dials it.

> The AppleTalk Remote Access software has a good example of this: it's
> called DialAssist.

Well, the Dialing Properties feature in Windows Telephony is a good
example, too. And since the ongoing design of that feature is my
responsibility, I hope you respect the fact that I have a pretty good
feeling for what is required. You are greatly oversimplifying the
problem! I started out thinking it was as simple as you state, and
wish that it were true -- but it isn't. Reread my previous messages.
Look at what the reality is out in the world.

It is NOT as simple as "if the country code is different, dial the
international prefix then the country code". If you're in Italy
calling San Marino, you dial "0549" then the local number, instead of
"00378"; if you're in San Marino calling Italy, you dial "0" and the
city code, not "0039"; if you're in Singapore calling Malaysia, you
dial "0" and the Malaysian city code, not "00560"; if you're in Mexico
calling a country in WPA 1, you dial "95" plus the area code, not "98"
plus the country code (1) like for every other country in the world.
If you're in Russia dialing Estonia, you prefix the local number with
"8 014" instead of "8 10 372".  I could go on and on with these
exceptions -- I have two full pages of them.

Likewise, dialing within countries is not so simple. In Austria, the
city code for Vienna is "1" if you're calling in from outside the
country, but "222" if you're calling from inside! In France, if you're
outside Paris, your city code is "null" (you don't have one) while it
is "1" inside Paris, but if you're inside Paris and the destination
number doesn't have a city code, it doesn't NECESSARILY mean that you
need to dial the "16" long distance prefix (if the local number starts
with "15", it is a toll free number that doesn't need the prefix). If
I'm in the 416 NPA (Toronto) and I'm dialing certain exchanges in the
Toronto suburbs (NPA 905), I must dialing then using NPA+7D, but other
exchanges that aren't local calls to me must be dialed as 1+NPA+7D;
this situation exists in Dallas, Houston, Washington DC, Atlanta, and
Miami, and is spreading. There's simply NO WAY TO KNOW whether a given
call to another NPA must have, or not have, the leading "1", without a
huge database -- and you can't load that database from some central
repository, because the exchanges that are local TO YOU can vary based
not only on the exchange you're calling from, but on the basis of
optional subscription plans.

It is, in fact, a monumental software engineering problem. It is an
awful data collection problem as well. None of it would be necessary if
there was a *real* nationwide standard dialing plan that allowed all
calls to be dialed the same way, but there isn't, your assertion
notwithstanding.

> Let's leave the  re-engineering where it belongs: with the computer
> people who want to interface into the public TELEPHONE network.

Why? There's ample processing power in all those 5Es, 4Es, and DMS-100s
out there to route the call properly even if it has "extra digits". The
phone network is being re-engineered all the time by the PUCs, who have
imposed or are imposing ridiculous 10-digit local dialing across NPA
boundaries in a half-dozen metro areas already, and the problem is
growing. In every one of these cases (except maybe the overlay NPAs in
Houston, which will require universal 10-digit dialing between them
starting next year), dialing correctly requires either acquiring or
building a database to know, for each exchange, which exchanges in the
same NPA must be dialed as 7 or 11 digits, and which exchanges in the
other NPAs must be dialed as 10 or 11. And, no, they do NOT have
permissive 11-digit dialing for non-toll calls in ANY of these places!


Toby Nixon
Program Manager, Windows Telephony
Microsoft Corp.

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Morris)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 04:06:27 GMT


James E. Bellaire <[e-mail]> writes:

> In TD389, Dave Yost <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> Business and Hotel phones:
>>    Business phones usually require you to dial 9 for an
>>    outside line.  Hotels sometimes require 8.  There was
>>    a time, back in the old pulse-dial days, when this
>>    made some sense.  Now it doesn't.  PBX systems with
>>    push-button phones could use the * or # key to access
>>    internal dialing, and allow normal dialing to the
>>    outside without a prefix.  We could require new
>>    systems to offer this facility, and old ones could
>>    be required to offer it as a software upgrade if
>>    feasible.  (The phone system manufacturers should
>>    welcome this revenue opportunity.)

> No thanks.  I like being able to dial direct digits on inside calls.
> * and # are used for accessing specific functions on PBXs (like remote
> call pickup and direct trunck selection) so requiring all PBXs to
> change would lose the availability of these features.

I agree with Mr. Bellaire. Let's leave the PBX systems as simple as
possible for the majority of the users. The place where I'm currently
working has five-digit extensions, and ties up all of 1 centrex prefix
and portions of two others. Dialing five digits to get the next desk over
seems to be a bit much already -- having to dial * or # first? No thank
you.  I'd love to have the PBX software take one, two or three digits as
"shortcut" dialing -- if I dial one digit, take my number, truncate the
last digit, add the one I dialed and connect me. Same with two or three
digits.  Yes, I know it won't work with 9 or 0, but it would be nice.
Yes, I'm aware that large C.O. level centrex PBXs have intercom functions.

>> Calling from within the area code:
>>    If you dial your own area code, you get a recording
>>    saying you did something wrong.  This should be
>>    reprogrammed so that such a call goes through as a
>>    normal local call.

> Absolutely.  All local calls should be connected and billed as local
> calls regardless of 1+, NPA+, or 7D (where permitted) pattern used.
> This would help travelers more than missing children since they would
> not have to reprogram their pocket dialers (or minds) every time they
> changed local calling areas.

One pet peeve I've had with terminal programs with dialing directories
is that I have to edit the phone file when I change area codes. I'd
love to just enter 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx for each number, and then enter
the area code that I'm calling from in a different field, and the
program would "know" not to dial 1-xxx then they match.

>> Special hookups for emergencies:
>>    In the case of a lost or kidnapped child, a
>>    subscriber should be able to request that a special
>>    unblockable Caller ID logging unit be attached to
>>    their line so that the police or FBI can trace a
>>    relevant incoming call when alerted.

> Available on a limited basis now (for prank calls mainly).  Just dial
> a * something code and the number is logged.  Report the call to the
> police or telephone company and they investigate (without telling you
> the number).  Call-back * codes could also be used to store this
> number in some switches.

Hopefully you;ve reported the person missing before you get the call,
so when you hit *67 (is that the code?) the police can act quickly.

> If PBX administrators would make 911 (as well as 9-911) work from any
> phone it would be helpful too.  Not too many people would be
> attempting to reach 9-1-1xx-xxx-xxxx numbers (unless they thought they
> were dialing 011 for IDDD access).

I've seen a few that did that. Dial 9 to get outside? fine. "11" times
out and translates to 911. Doesn't take rocket science - just decent
software.


Mike Morris     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 12:13:44 GMT


Clifton T. Sharp ([e-mail]) writes:

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

>> Call Trace serves this function now. It does what caller-ID is
>> frequently misrepresented as doing, collecting the calling number of a
>> call that you need to report to the cops.

The answer is that it allows you to collect the calling number of a
call that you don't need to report to the cops.  I would prefer to use
cops when there's an emergency, and to use less expensive measures
when there is not.  An anonymous phone call is often an annoyance, but
it is seldom an emergency.


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

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 12:42:27 PDT


Toby Nixon said:

> So what if it takes a few more digits to dial *00,12068828080 when, if
> it was local to me, it could have been dialed as just "8828080" --
> those "extra" six digits only took half a second to dial, and I didn't
> have to make two or three failed call attempts to find the right digit
> sequence! This ought to be implementable on PBXes just as easily as on COs.

Toby,

This is already the case.  Dialing 1+NPA for calls within that NPA
will go through.  This is part of the "new" NANAP numbering system.
If your LEC is doing it differently, then they should be told that
they are not following the proper dialing procedures.

Even if you COULDN'T dial 1+NPA calls, this is an extremely easy
problem to fix in a software environment.  First, create a user profile
for the CALLING number:

    area code
    outside line access (8,9,nothing,etc.)
    long distance access (1,0 for charge, 102881 for AT&T, etc.)
    suffix (calling card, charge account, etc.)
    country

Then for each stored number:
    area code
    phone number
    country

When the user calls from a new location, he or she changes the CALLING
number data to include the new area code and outside line access. The
computer then the desired number against the current area code and if
they are different it dials it.

The AppleTalk Remote Access software has a good example of this: it's
called DialAssist.

Let's leave the  re-engineering where it belongs: with the computer
people who want to interface into the public TELEPHONE network.


Steve    [e-mail]

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 95 12:15:14 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Toby Nixon <[e-mail]> writes:

> So, why SHOULDN'T the phone network be designed so that computers can
> be connected to the network ANYWHERE and be permitted to input a
> fully-qualified international number (including country code) and have
> the NETWORK figure out how to route the call, instead of the computer
> needing to be pre-programmed to know exactly which subset of the phone
> number needs to be dialed, along with whatever prefixes are needed?

That could be done easily enough -- all AT&T (or whatever the new
hardware company will be called), Northern Telecom and others have to
do is rewrite their switch software.  However, this would eliminate
the safety feature that now exists in most (but not all) areas where
you can't accidentally dial a toll call as a local one or vice-versa.

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Yost)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses
Date: 03 Oct 1995 12:03:28 -0700
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.


Toby, I agree with everything you say.

I'm glad to hear from many people how much hope there is for
simplified dialing from direct lines and for good call tracing.  I
hope that the good examples of these become universal.

Here are some answers to other points raised by others.

Many of you seem to not be too well in tune with what might go through
a child's mind.  Yes, I agree that it's a good idea to teach them to
call 911 (when they're old enough -- see below) and it would be good
to fix the systems so at least that would always work.  But then, what
shall the child do when they're not sure their fear merits a call to
911?  I would hope they would call home.  And what if they're afraid
that the big authorities at 911 would say they're crying "Wolf"?
They'd want to call home instead.

And there are situations when your child would want to call home
simply because they're afraid or don't feel well, and they don't want
to disturb other people or are embarrassed or afraid to disturb them,
like when they stay overnight somewhere.  This is not life-threatening,
but still, a person, the child, is suffering.  Must we be hard-hearted
and defend our crufty system that some of us love the way it is?

I could revise my instructions to the child to this:

    "Pick up any phone, dial our home telephone
    number, and we'll answer.  If that doesn't
    work, call 911 if it's an emergency.  Even if
    you don't get to speak, it will help to know
    where you called from."

Another problem is that really tiny children can be taught their phone
number, way before they're able to understand what an emergency is,
and way before it's appropriate to get them thinking about what they
would do if they were kidnapped or caught in some sort of disaster.
If you raise this kind of issue with a really small child, it can be
terrifying to them.  A friend gave us a videotape to show our then
3-year-old daughter about what to do if you're approached by a
stranger or taken away by them.  I wish we'd looked at it before
showing it to her.  It was quite nicely done, but still she was very
frightened by it, and had nightmares about it for a long time.

This is why I made such a big issue of dialing home rather than 911.
911 is problematic, especially for really young children, when calling
home is not.

0 would be good if it always worked because it's presumably a number
you can call in something less than an emergency, but it often doesn't
work.  Many, many companies in my experience send 0 calls to a
recording except during business hours, many even during business
hours.  Besides it has some of the same problems from the child's
perspective that 911 does.  I don't see a need to take on making 0
work for kids everywhere if we can get phone numbers and 911 to work
nicely.

Here I must confess that while the child safety concern was what
pushed me over the edge to raise the dialing weirdness issue, I too
think there are other less urgent reasons to deal with it.  Yes, I'm a
dad of a small child, but I'm also a user of phones and computers
myself.  In addition to Toby's excellent points about computer
dialing, there is another annoyance.  Haven't you ever picked up the
phone at work and started to dial a number without the 9?  Haven't you
ever picked up the phone at home and started to dial 9?  This kind of
mistake is not stupidity or some kind of disability, it's what happens
with wetware.  And it is evidence that there is something wrong with
the usability of the system.

I admit that my proposal for putting through calls from pay phones
without paying and without having to speaking to an operator need some
work, but think the goal is a good one, and it should be worked out.
The same goes for phones in elevators, lobbies, and other places where
companies now summarily block outside or long distance calls.  In
working it out, we would have to take into consideration language
barriers and fear at having to talk to a strange adult (operator).


Dave Yost     Apple ATG

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

From: [e-mail] (Wes Leatherock)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 20:11:00 GMT


Toby Nixon <[e-mail]> wrote:

> But in this case, adding some consistency, simplicity, and sanity to
> the dialing plan in North America would help a lot more than
> four-year-olds. It would, in fact, go a long way toward making it
> possible to reliably dial calls from your computer, wherever you might
> be. We all know that computers are actually dumber than
> four-year-olds, right?

       There are many more people out there that are not computer
users than those who are computer users.  And while you may be used to
dealing primarily with computer users who move their computers from
place to place, even the vast majority of the (rather small, in the
overall scheme of the world) number of people who have computers do
not move them from place to place or even from one line to another.

> We need to get the state public utility commissions out of the
> business of dictating dialing procedures, and overcome the fiction
> that dialing a "1" before a number means "I have to pay extra for this
> call". We need a national consensus among LECs and PBX vendors on what
> this prefix should be that allows a fully-qualified international
> phone number to follow.

        I would hope that LECs and PBX vendors would be much more
interested in the interests of the entire population than the small
number of computer users who would see any benefit at all from this
proposal.  And I can assure that in many large parts of the country it
is by no means a "fiction" that dialing 1 before a number means it
will cost extra for the call.  A vast part of the population is
concerned about whethe or not it will cost extra for the call,
although perhaps the few number of people who will be benefitted by
this proposal do consider cost of no interest.  But the vast majority
of the population does worry about money and costs.

> Mr. Yost's point about children being unable to figure out how
> to dial in an emergency situation is a good one to wake up
> regulators, legislators, and telephone system designers who
> otherwise might not pay attention to the problems caused by
> confusion in the national dialing plan. Once awareness of the
> problem is raised, however, I would expect the primary
> motivation for finding a solution would be to facilitate
> shipping and installing shrink-wrapped software with preloaded
> phone numbers, distribution of phone numbers and dialing
> directories over the Internet that can be dialed anywhere,
> simplification of dialing configuration for travelers with
> computers.

       If this would be the primary motivation, it would indeed mean
that the whole world has been remade for the benefit of software
companies, including the one that seems to have been the most
successful of all under the present system.

       I hope the regulators, legislators and telephone system
designers continue to be considered about the people of the U.S.A.
rather than the convenience and profitability of software companies
and a small percentage of the population who takes their computers to
different phone systems and has no concern at all about how much it
will cost them.


Wes Leatherock   [e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

From: M. Troutman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Date: 03 Oct 1995 14:58:25 GMT
Organization: PSI Public Usenet Link


Contact Bell Atlantic and have them place a block on your line.  They
are very friendly :) and the service is free.  I was slammed twice by
MCI, and I haven't had a problem with them since.

Next, find WilTel's phone number.  Here is their web site ...

http://www.wiltel.com/corporat/cfwt.html

Harass them.  Let them know how much you dislike them.

Try [e-mail] ... send hate mail!


MT - Vienna, VA

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

Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 10:58:11 -0500
From: Scot E. Wilcoxon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unabomber Full Text Now in Archives
Organization: FieldDay


A local newspaper also published the entire Unabomber text.

"Pocket Unabomber Text"

Editor's note: After intense internal debate, the {Twin Cities Reader}
has decided, in the interest of reader safety, to publish the entire
Unabomber manifesto."

The whole thing fits on a 3 by 5 inch card.  The text is somewhat smaller
than the legible version which required several pages in larger papers.


Scot E. Wilcoxon    [e-mail]

1. Laws are society's common sense, written down for the stupid.
2. The stupid refuse to read.  Thank you for choosing to read.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just a reminder to readers who have
asked about the full Unabomber text that it is available in the Telecom
Archives. You can either get it using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu or
by using the Telecom Archives Email Information Service. To use the
latter, send email to '[e-mail]'. The subject does not
matter. As the entire text of your message issue these commands at
the left margin, just as shown here:

REPLY yourname@site
GET unabomber
END

If you wish more information about the Telecom Archives Email Information
Service and the hundreds of files available in addition to the past four-
teen year's of this Digest, then add the commands:

INFO
HELP

prior to the END instruction.  The Unabomber text is quite large and
will be sent to you in several parts, numbered appropriatly.    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #415
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #416

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 3 Oct 95 19:36:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 416

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? ([e-mail])
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Stan Schwartz)
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Tony Harminc)
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Arthur L. Shapiro)
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Rich Osman)
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (Robert Casey)
    Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes? (David Breneman)
    Re: Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More (Alan Boritz)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Thomas Villinger)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (John David Galt)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Boyce G. Williams, Jr.)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Al Varney)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: [e-mail] (BUBEYE!)
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 21:39:16 GMT


[e-mail] (Andrew Luck) writes:

> Now I am back in the south (Atlanta GA area code 770) and really would
> like to get [my 666-XXX number] back.
> How about 777    (three's a charm?)
> Or 888   (Dead man's Hand ?)

666 and 777 are unassigned in the Atlanta area, but 888 is on a 1AESS.

> And is 666 available in area code 1-500 ?

Yes, and it is assigned to "Nationwide Wireless."

The following NPA's have an active 666 prefic within them:

201  217  405  516  617  817
202  218  406  540  703  818
203  302  410  603  713  900
207  303  415  605  714  903
208  305  419  606  800  904
210  312  500  608  803  913
212  318  501  610  804  914
213  334  503  614  810  916
214  360  505  615  813  918
216  402  513  616  816  941

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

From: Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 11:11:31 -0400


[e-mail] (Andrew Luck) wrote:

> Beyond conflicts with area coding, which appears to be on the way out,
> are there certain numbers that simply aren't going to be used either
> nationally or in certain localities?

> How about 777    (three's a charm?)
> Or 888   (Dead man's Hand ?)

In the 516 NPA in New York, 666, 777, and 888 are in the normal
exchange "pool".  In 516 as well as many other areas of the country,
a service called "MovieFone" (Phone?) uses 777-3456 (FILM).  888 has
TicketMaster in it (888-9000).

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wait until they set up area code 666 in
> some part of the country.  '666' is a number presumed by people of some
> religions to be 'very bad'.

A few years ago, New York radio show host Howard Stern discussed a
frustrating weekend going house hunting with his friend Andrew
(formerly Dice) Clay.  According to Stern, they had found the perfect
house on the water in Bay Shore (Long Island).  Dice was all set to
buy the house until he found out that the current phone number was in
the 666 exchange.  Go figure.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I can tell you that Howard Stern has
problems that go a lot deeper that whatever phone exchange he uses.
For the second time in as many years, his radio show was dropped here
in the Chicago market this past week. Citing the generally crude and
lewd broadcasts for which he is famous -- or infamous -- the station
bought off his contract and took him off the air at the end of last
week. Would you believe WJJD (another station here at 1160 AM) agreed
to take him. I guess they hope someone will start listening to their
very low-ranked station now that they have Stern to insult and abuse
people over the air at their location.    PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 95 15:07:40 EDT
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?


[e-mail] (Andrew Luck) wrote:

> Beyond conflicts with area coding, which appears to be on the way out,
> are there certain numbers that simply aren't going to be used either
> nationally or in certain localities?

Certain NXXs are never going to be assigned for use with AMPS cellular
phone service.  This is because the truly bizarre design of AMPS
allows the routine transmission of certain prefixes (as would be
common in a metro area) to be confused with the framing bits in the
paging channel data stream.  Strange but true!  I have a list of these
'forbidden' prefixes at home and can post them if there's any interest.
Many of them are ineligible on other grounds (e.g. starting with 1 or
0).


Tony Harminc

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: 03 Oct 1995 09:17:00 GMT
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?


I didn't spot this one in the various replies; apologies if it's a
dup.  My sister's residence, in the little village of Manhattan NYC,
is (212) 666-xxxx.  I'd say it's a source of pride with her.


Arthur L. Shapiro        [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As Howard Stern would say, is your sister
a devil worshipper? <grin> ...  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 95 8:15:41 CDT
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?


> that in this part of the country there are "rules" against using
> certain numbers, such as 666.

Umm, is this the "Central Office of the Beast?"

Sorry, I couldn't resist.  I'm going to my room now sir.


[e-mail]    (Rich Osman)  SwRI didn't say it, I did.
[phone] (w)      [phone] (h;v/msg/fax)

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Casey)
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 22:09:12 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jack Hamilton) writes:

> The TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

>> In the past here in the Digest, we have had articles about places in the
>> USA and Canada where 666 is used, as in AC-666-xxxx. In a few cases, which
>> should make everyone feel good, it turned out to be some federal government
>> agency. I think in one case it was the Internal Revenue Service. Here in
>> Chicago, 312-MONroe has been around simply forever. It is one of the oldest
>> exchanges in the city, and a phone district is named for it.   PAT]

> In San Francisco, the 666 prefix belongs to the University of San
> Francisco, a Catholic college (Jesuit, I think).  No doubt some
> heathen at Pacific Bell assigned it to them; I'd be surprised if they
> requested it, but who knows?  Maybe they wanted to prove some point.

Here in Northern New Jersey (201), there's a 666 exchange.  It's just
a random assignment, mostly in Westwood, NJ.  It feeds the usual mix
of homes and small businesses, nothing special about it here.

I would like to see area code 666 be assigned somewhere in the
Bible Belt.   :-)  :-)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Either that, or possibly in Hell, Michigan.
Hell, a small village of a couple thousand people is located about 20
miles northeast of Ann Arbor. Coming down from Luddington to Ann Arbor
several years ago, we went through Hell on the way to the University of
Michigan campus. At that time, the major highway there was undergoing
repairs and was down to one lane in each direction with cars diverted
over onto the shoulder of the road in a sort of make-shift lane they
had setup for the southbound traffic. Far from having a nice paved road
with an easy ride to Hell, the traffic jam was horrendous that day.

The little village used to be famous for its branch of the US Weather
Bureau located there, and its reports each winter when the bitterness
of January in Michigan would cause a report to be issued saying that
"Hell Froze Over". A lot of people who had promised to only do one
thing or another when that condition occurred suddenly found themselves
obliged to honor their commitment. Otherwise, the sole industry in
this farm community with a large state forest at its southern end
seems to be a tourist shop and restaurant. The tourist shop has such
novel items as T-shirts on sale with the inscription "I've Been Through
Hell"; coffee mugs with the same inscription; and maps of the State of
Michigan with the highways outlined which point to their town and
the notation "When you tell someone to go to Hell it would be a good idea
to have a map showing them how to get there."

This is not a recent creation; the village has been there for over a
century. Drive north on interstate 75 out of Ann Arbor to the junction
of State Highway 36, then go west about ten miles and there it is. Phone
service is either from the Pinckney or Dexter, Michigan phone exchanges,
depending on where in Hell you are calling from. I say let's assign them
666-666 as their own area code and prefix.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (David Breneman)
Subject: Re: Forbidden? Exchange Prefixes?
Date: 03 Oct 1995 19:42:19 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jack Hamilton) writes:

> The TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

>> In the past here in the Digest, we have had articles about places in the
>> USA and Canada where 666 is used, as in AC-666-xxxx. In a few cases, which
>> should make everyone feel good, it turned out to be some federal government
>> agency. I think in one case it was the Internal Revenue Service. Here in
>> Chicago, 312-MONroe has been around simply forever. It is one of the oldest
>> exchanges in the city, and a phone district is named for it.   PAT]

> In San Francisco, the 666 prefix belongs to the University of San
> Francisco, a Catholic college (Jesuit, I think).  No doubt some
> heathen at Pacific Bell assigned it to them; I'd be surprised if they
> requested it, but who knows?  Maybe they wanted to prove some point.

I know this is probably taking this conversation way far afield, but
are there really many mainstream Christians who believe in this 666
stuff?  My impression was that it fell some place between the Shroud
of Turin and "Moses was a Space Alien" in the big list of Dubious
Western Religion Legends.  It originated with a mistranslation from a
bible four or five generations back from the King James version (which
is a translation of a translation of a translation, etc.).

Typical disclaimers (I am not my employer's Biblical Scholar)...


David Breneman
Unix System Administrator        Mail: [e-mail]
IS - Operations                  (Formerly: ~@mccaw.com)
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.     Phone: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You mean AT&T did *not* hire you to
read and interpret the scriptures?  <grin> ... yes, there are some
religions who have strong feelings about 666 and who accept without
reservation the Book of Revelations.

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 00:38:23 GMT


Jeffrey Rhodes ([e-mail]) writes:

> In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Doug Reuben) writes:

>> 2. Cell One/NY recently, and quite foolishly, commenced mandatory 1+
>> dialing for most calls, even in many cases for calls within their own
>> service area.

I have subscribed to MetroOne, CellularOne, AT&T Wireless of New York
since 1986.  I have always programmed my speed-dials as 1+ ten digits,
even when the area code is my own.  This has always worked in the NYC
area, and it has always worked when roaming with no need to change
anything in the phone.  I have roamed into all of the neighboring A
systems without experiencing any difficulties with dial plan.  I have
also roamed to Washington, Baltimore, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco,
Dallas, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh without having to change any of
my 11-digit speed-dials.

Landline phones in New Jersey allow 1+ ten digits even for local
calls, and even when not required.  It made perfect sense to me to
allow the same flexibility for cellular users in this area.

Where is there a problem?


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

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

Subject: Re: Cell One/NY Fraud Control Problems, More
From: drharry![e-mail] (Alan Boritz)
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 06:32:51 EDT
Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - [phone]


In comp.dcom.telecom, [e-mail] writes:

>> 2. Cell One/NY recently, and quite foolishly, commenced mandatory 1+
>> dialing for most calls, even in many cases for calls within their own
>> service area. This has been explained to me as a "requirement" since AT&T
>> now owns them, but unless this "requirement" is specific to AT&T-owned
>> properties under the MFJ, I am not aware of any such MFJ, DOJ or other
>> requirement on the Bell-owned carriers. Indeed, most of them do NOT
>> require 1+ dialing in their markets, ever for roamers.

> The 1+ requirement is a result of McCaw's conversion to Equal Access
> which is required by the 1994 Consent Decree between the DoJ and AT&T.
> Now that Cell One/NY has been converted to Equal Access, 60% of all
> McCaw/Cellular One markets are converted, which means the company has the
> right to call itself AT&T Wireless (which has greater brand name recognition
> than McCaw Cellular).

An operational detail that CellOne had forgotten to mention, though,
is that quite a few cellphones have to be reprogrammed to dial
properly in the NY market.  For example, we always have used 1+
dialing on our A phones at work, but NONE of our A phones will store
the "1" in speed dial locations.  Any customers from other markets may
also find they can't use their speed dial because their equipment may
not store the leading "1," either.  In the former case, CellOne will
pick up the tab for reprogramming.  However, in the latter case, the
roaming customers will be unable to use their built-in speed dial.
That's not a trivial matter in the event you're using an employer's
phone with restricted dial features (i.e. speed dial only), of if you
just need to dial a dozen or so numbers that you only have in memory
but don't have on paper anywhere handy.

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

From: [e-mail] (Thomas Villinger)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 09:08:56 +0100
Organization: MUC.DE e.v -- private Internet access


[e-mail] (Martin Kealey) wrote:

> Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> wrote on 20 Sep 1995 in
> article <[e-mail]>:


>>> Okay, you dial +49 or within Germany 0.
>>> Now you're on the long distance level of the German Telekom network.
>                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> This is the clue that he isn't necessarily refering to the physical
> transport network.  Each step represents a "level" for decoding the
> number, rather than necessarily an actual switch, although it may have
> done originally.

As example, if you call from Ulm to Neu-Ulm which are some hundred
meters apart but are located in differen states who dont get routed
via Munich and Stuttgart which would be the "normal" hierarchical
routing scheme, you do get a direct link because the exchange in Ulm
checks its database and knows to take the direct route.

>>> You dial          selects
>>> - <6>             South western Germany.
>>> - 6<2>            The Ludwigshafen/Mannheim area.
>>> - 62<1>           The cities of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim themselves.
>>> - 621 <5>         Ludwigshafen.
>>> - 621 5<8>        The particular part of Ludwigshafen I live in.
>>> - 621 58<70460>   That's my line. My phone is ringing!
>>>                   (Actually, the final 0 helps selecting a particular
>>>                   device on my ISDN line.)

>>> Easy, isn't it?

>> Easy yes -- but a disaster for planning and orderly growth.  This sort
>> of design ensures that Germany will not have portable numbers for a
>> long time.

> Whilst this may make portable numbers a little more difficult, they
> are by no means impossible.

Why should it be impossible to get portable numbers? I don't see any
difference to the problems as they occur in a fixed numbering scheme.
We already do have "portable" numbers (think of all the mobile phones
which are in fact portable numbers) and guess what i works :). Note
that we do have a hierarchical numbering system but still work with
databases, so it might be possible that a certain group of numbers get
collected in an exchange aand are routed after the last digit which
contains the necessary information is collected.


Thom

Dive Safely!
Thomas Villinger, Munich, Germany
[e-mail] or [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 01:39:10 PDT


Martin Kealey said:

> Quite true; the point I'm trying to get at is that compelled
> signalling doesn't necessarily mean opening a voice-grade path all the
> way to the far end, so while it's not entirely without cost, that cost
> is pretty insignificant; for example, far less than the voice-grade
> path used to signal ring-back in a lot of networks.  (It is
> conceivable that there may even be a net benefit from cost reductions
> elsewhere.)

I can assure you that those cost reductions would be very slow to
realize because changing the entire network would cost huge amounts of
money.

This thread has gone on for quite some time, but I'd like to add two
points and then that's it for me:

1) The whole point of variable length numbers is moot (or at least
academic) because there are at least 660 new area codes that are
unassigned. That's more than 600 million new numbers that can be put
into service.

2) If it HAD been cheaper, faster, easier, etc. to convert to variable
length phone numbers instead of introducing the new numbering plan,
don't you think Bellcore would have done that?


Steve    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 95 11:28:58 PDT


>> ... If there hadn't been the rigidity that
>> prefixes and area codes be exactly three digits, maybe this would have
>> been alleviated.

> They'd have had to design things quite differently in the first place;
> by the time they started to run out, there weren't 10 contiguous area
> codes to allocate any more. ...

They could not have avoided going to NXX area codes, but there are
groups of ten contiguous codes NOW that are free and could be assigned
this way.  27x and 32x for example.  That would seem to me a much
friendlier setup than an overlay.

Of course, in the place that needs it the most, Los Angeles, it is
already too late.  Greater LA already has five whole area codes to
itself and uses parts of two more -- and two of the five are now about
to split!  If they went to 2+8 numbering, their two digit code would
be full before 2000.  Maybe we should just keep the existing codes and
go to 3+8 ...

It sure sounds like the equipment is capable of any of these things.
That makes the whole question a matter of taste and/or politics, not
engineering.


John David Galt

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

From: [e-mail] (Boyce G. Williams, Jr.)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 13:07:56 GMT
Organization: VA Commonwealth University


Changing the subject a little, can anyone tell me where I can find a
list of the display images used with the variable-length phone numbers
used internationally?  That is: for any country code, the typical
length of the number and where the dashes go.

I have a database of country codes and the name of the country that
goes with it, but not much more.  My only "source" giving a clue about
the display is an "Airman's Guide" I found in a bookstore where a
German phone number is displayed as eleven digit "WW-XXXX-YY-ZZZ",
English as eleven digit "WW-XXX-YY-ZZZZ" and Japan as ten digit
"XX-YYYY-ZZZZ".  The first three digits is the country code, so how
does the remainding numbers appears locally in that country?

The reason for this request is I must format the numbers on a locally
produced telephone bill I send to other departments.  It's a matter of
pride that I want to get the images right instead printing all
thirteen digits, making the image look junky, or truncate the trailing
zeros, not knowing the first+ zero is actually part of the number I
should be printing.


Thanking y'all in advance,

Boyce Williams

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

From: [e-mail] (Al Varney)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 20:05:22 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Toby Nixon <tnixon@microsoft.
com> wrote:

> In Telecom Digest V15 #405, [e-mail] (Robert McMillin) wrote:

>>> Our telephone systems should be straightforward enough that any child
>>> capable of remembering their phone number can be taught how to pick up
>>> any phone and dial their home phone number or 911.

>> Mr. Yost goes on to suggest that "We should work toward a standard
>> that would allow a child to dial simply 1 + area code + number from
>> any phone ... and get connected to their home."

> So, why SHOULDN'T the phone network be designed so that computers can
> be connected to the network ANYWHERE and be permitted to input a
> fully-qualified international number (including country code) and have
> the NETWORK figure out how to route the call, instead of the computer
> needing to be pre-programmed to know exactly which subset of the phone
> number needs to be dialed, along with whatever prefixes are needed?

   This capability is available in ISDN, since the "caller" can provide
unambiguously the TYPE of NUMBER and the full number of DIGITS, along with
a Transit Network selection (IXC)

> All we need to do is define some sort of single, nationwide (even
> worldwide!), standard prefix that says "what follows is a country code
  ^^^^^^^^^
    You mean the ITU's "00" isn't a standard?

> So what if it takes a few more digits to dial *00,12068828080 when, if
> it was local to me, it could have been dialed as just "8828080" --
> those "extra" six digits only took half a second to dial, and I didn't
> have to make two or three failed call attempts to find the right digit
> sequence! This ought to be implementable on PBXes just as easily as on COs.

   The main problem here is that you want a computer interface to the
phone network, but you're using (or emulating) a human interface.  And
you left out the Carrier selection string, the call waiting
suppression code, and potentially an authorization/calling-card code,
followed by an end-of-dialing indicator.

    "*00,*72,10288,12068828080#" .... Really begs for a digital (like
ISDN) interface, doesn't it.  Then you also get real call progress
information (not just tones) and real answer indications and real call
disconnect information.

> We need to get the state public utility commissions out of the business
> of dictating dialing procedures, and overcome the fiction that dialing
> a "1" before a number means "I have to pay extra for this call". We
> need a national consensus among LECs and PBX vendors on what this
> prefix should be that allows a fully-qualified international phone
> number to follow.              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    That's known as an E.164 number.

Al Varney


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As a note of conclusion to this issue,
most of our readers will receive this issue of the Digest as Yom Kippur
is underway; a time of much significance and importance. To all our
Jewish readers may I extend my kind thoughts and best wishes on this
occassion as well as renew the thoughts expressed here one week ago
for a most joyous and happy new year 5756.  PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #416
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #417

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 3 Oct 95 20:32:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 417

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Michigan Telecom Bill Raises Costs For Accessing Online (Richard Stoddard)
    Voice File Conversion Program-press release ([e-mail])
    Wanted: Bell System Picturephone (William King)
    Re: Lots of Goofups This Week (Dale Robinson)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (David E.A. Wilson)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Tom Horsley)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Richard Eyre-Eagles)
    Re: 911 as quid pro quo (Mark Brader)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Mark Brader)
    Re: The Rush For Unabomber's Essay (TELECOM Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

Date: Tue, 3 Oct 95 19:49 EDT
From: Richard H. Stoddard <[e-mail]>
Subject: Michigan Telecom Bill Raises Costs For Accessing Online


   The Michigan Legislature is now rewriting the state's telecommunications
act.  While the bill, which is supposed to be introduced on Thursday,
October 5th, by Sen.  Matt Dunaskiss, addresses many different issues
affecting telecom providers and consumers, SOME OF THE PROVISIONS WILL
SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE PHONE BILLS FOR ANYONE WHO REGULARLY ACCESSES
THE INTERNET OR OTHER ONLINE SERVICES, AND FOR RESIDENTS OF SMALLER
COMMUNITIES IN THIS STATE.  (It goes unmentioned what this will do to
families with teenage children.)

    This bill moves us much closer to having local telephone service
billed in the same way long-distance service is: based on frequency,
distance, AND DURATION.  The committee staff in fact testified that in
the future they envision local calls being billed just as long
distance calls are.

    More and more people are accessing the Internet for both business
and personal use.  We are increasingly able to do our banking,
shopping, pay our bills, and plan vacations online.  Kids are able to
do the research they need for their schoolwork online.  Businesses,
both small and large, are increasing their presences on the web.  But
if Ameritech and the other phone companies gets their way, the meter
will be running every second we are logged on.

    The bill's sponsors talk about furthering the development of the
information superhighway, but this bill provides for toll booths every
mile.

    The bill reduces the number of allowable calls to 200 per month,
with the charges for extra calls determined by the phone company, not
the Public Service Commission.  (Residents currently get 400 calls per
month, with extra calls billed at 6.2 cents per call.)

    The bill also allows for billings based on frequency, distance,
and duration, or combinations of those factors.  While the bill allows
consumers to determine which of those methods they want (provided it
is technologically feasible, whatever that means), it will be much
easier for the phone companies to structure the rates to make the
"flat rate with a limit of 200 calls" much more expensive, pushing
people into metered service.

    The bill also allows automatic rate increases up to the consumer
price index less one percent, even though the actual cost of providing
the service is going down.  Furthermore, once a service is "competitive" --
meaning that there is more than one provider, the service SHALL be
deregulated -- and you can be at the mercy of the phone companies!

    Finally, the bill REQUIRES that phone companies increase their
rates in smaller communities in Michigan on the premise that they are
"below cost" currently, even though a company may be making significant
profits on local service on a statewide basis.  Based on figures we
have seen from other states, this may lead to rate increases of 200 - 300
percent in some communities.

    The bill is not available online, but copies of the bill can be
obtained from your state legislator.  However, you can access
testimony provided to the committees earlier this year. All testimony
is archived at <gopher://mdenet.mde.state.mi.us:70/11/tech/mta>.  (My
testimony, which covers this issue as well as issues like number
portability, can be found at:
<gopher://mdenet.mde.state.mi.us:70/00/tech/mta/950426/Stoddard>.)

    We will be pushing a number amendments during the upcoming
process.  At a minimum, we will be attempting to eliminate the local
measured service provisions, the automatic rate increases, and the
proposals to jack up rates in smaller communities.  But we need your
help to have any chance against the high-priced lobbyists and campaign
contributions of the phone companies.  It is critical, therefore, that
people immediately contact their state senators and representatives
and express their concerns about these provisions.

    Interested people should contact their own legislators, but they
should also contact members of the committees with jurisdiction over
the bill.  If you are unsure who your legislators are, contact your
county clerk for information.

    The Senate Technology and Energy Committee, which is chaired by
Sen.  Dunaskiss, will hold a hearing on the bill on Wednesday, October
11, at 3:00pm.  The bill, which is on a fast track because the current
law expires at the end of this year, may be reported out by the
committee that day.

    Because the bill is starting in the Senate, it is imperative that
you contact your senator and members of the Senate committee
immediately.  Members of the Senate Technology and Energy Committee,
their addresses, and their phone numbers are provided below.

    However, it is not too soon to also begin contacting members of
the House of Representatives.  Again, please contact your own state
representative along with members of the House Public Utilities
Committee.  Contact information for House members is also provided
below.

    You should contact legislators by regular mail or telephone.  If
you use E-mail, please also send a letter by mail, since many of them
may not know how to use E-mail yet.  The Legislature is just now
making E-mail available to members and their staffs, and many of them
have not had training yet.

    Finally, you should pass the word to other Internet or bulletin
board users in Michigan.  If you have access to more local newsgroups,
you may repost this provided you do so without alteration.  This
legislation will affect all of us.

    I will provide more information on other provisions of the bill in
the near future, along with periodic updates on the bill's status.
You may also contact me for additional information.

    Thank you.


                        CONTACT INFORMATION
SENATE
Members of the Senate Technology and Energy Committee are as follows:

         COMMITTEE                            PHONE
         Sen. Matt Dunaskiss, Chair        517-373-2417
         Sen. Mike Bouchard                517-373-2523
         Sen. Bill Schuette                517-373-7946
         Sen. Jim Berryman                 517-373-3543
         Sen. Dianne Byrum                 517-373-1734

Regular mail* can be addressed to all senators as follows:
         Senator (Name)
         P.O. Box 30036
         Lansing, MI   48909
    *Most senators do not have e-mail addresses yet.


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

The House of Representatives has a web site with members' names,
addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses (for those that have
e-mail).  Its URL is http://www.house.state.mi.us/; a list of
committee members, along with links to their addresses and phone
numbers, is at http://www.voyager.net/house/commpubutl.html.


Richard H. Stoddard        [e-mail]
Michigan Consumer Federation    Phone [phone]
115 W. Allegan, Ste. 500    Fax: [phone]
Lansing, Michigan 48933

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Voice File Conversion Program
Date: 2 Oct 1995 18:38:52 GMT
Organization: Tatro Enterprises
Reply-To: [e-mail]


For more Information, Call: 205-650-0095
or: [e-mail]

Huntsville, 2 October, 1995

Telephony File Format Coinverter

For Immediate Release:

    Tatro Enterprises is pleased to announce the release of their
telephony file format conversion program. the program will enable all
IVR developers toi convert voice files from all generally used
vox-formats to all commonly-used wav-formats and back. This will allow
the editing and recording of voice files in the familiar Windows environ-
ment and converting the files back to vox-format for inclusion in
IVR-applications. The full program retails for US $20.00 plus $3.00
shipping and handling. A demonstration program is available which will
let you convert files from vox- to wav-format using the default
settings. Bulk conversion of files in one directory with directory
synchronization is possible. The program runs under Windows 3.11,
Windows NT, and Win 95.

The following file-formats are supported:

VOX-Format Options:
PCM (8 bit) (ALaw-encoding possible)
ADPCM (4 bit)
- both 6000 Hz and 8000 Hz

WAV-Format Options:
8000 Hz
11025 Hz
22050 Hz
44100 Hz
- 8 bit or 16 bit per Sample
- Mono or Stereo

The demonstration program can be downloaded from the following internet site:
ftp: vespucci.iquest.com  /tatro-enterprises/demo/vfc.zip

or

http://iquest.com/~btatro

Tatro Enterprises. All other brands and product names are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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

From: [e-mail] (William King)
Subject: Wanted: Bell System Picturephone
Date: 3 Oct 1995 06:06:55 GMT
Organization: HITL, University of Washington (Seattle)


I would like to acquire a Bell Picturephone (probably a Mod II).  It
need not be a working unit.  If you have two, I might be interested in
the set.  Please contact me if you want to sell a Picturephone or if
you know of someone who might.


Thank you,

Joey King
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

From: Dale.Robinson@NCOM_MAIN.ccmail.nt.gov.au
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 13:01 CST
Subject: Re: Lots of Goofups This Week


Pat Townson wrote:

> The other major screw-up involved pagers........
> Does anyone have further details on this????

Pat,

You have probably have seen dozens of replies to your query, but here's my
5c worth.

  From the FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS,
  Digest Volume 17, Issue 37:

 ----- Start Cut & Paste -----
 Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 8:43:49 PDT
 From: "Peter G. Neumann" <[e-mail]>
 Subject: SpaceCom technician disables pagers massively

A SpaceCom technician at their uplink facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma
accidentally send out a spacey command shutting down the satellite
receivers used by pager systems throughout the country, affecting
millions of pagers.  SpaceCom supports 5 of the largest 10 paging
outfits.  This happened at 1 a.m. yesterday, and each receiver had to
be manually reprogrammed -- which took all day until most of the
service could be restored.  Al Stem, VP and GM of SC said, "This
hasn't ever happened before.  And we're putting additional systems in
place to make sure it never happens again."  [Source: AP report, seen
in the San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Sep 1995, p. A2.]

I guess they haven't been reading RISKS.  Wow, what a user interface!
Sort of like being able to type rm * without any confirmation
required.  Accident?  Malicious act?  Whooops?  PGN]

     ----End Cut & Paste-----------------------

You would think that there would be a way to prevent this.  Maybe the
technician's level of authority was inappropriate?

Or was it a case of tiredness that caused the technician to mistype the
command and hit the GO key.  I've seen similar things done to IBM
Mainframes :-).

I damm well hope it WASN'T intentational!

May I add that comp.risks is a "Good" read!


Regards,

Dale

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

From: [e-mail] (David E A Wilson)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Date: 3 Oct 1995 17:21:11 +1000
Organization: University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.


[e-mail] (Mike Morris) writes:

> It's my opinion that the designers of the phone books are a bit to
> blame. They should include the 7 (or 10) digit non-emergency number of
> the police on the same page as the 911 listing. Pacific Bell uses the

Here in Australia we have a similar system (000 instead of 911) and
here is what we get inside the front cover of our phonebook. It seems
to address many of the points raised.

LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY                [red 17mm high]
FIRE        [black 10mm high]
POLICE            "        000        [red 43mm high]
AMBULANCE        "    (24 hour service)    [black 6mm high]

* ASK THE OPERATOR FOR THE SERVICE YOU NEED
* WAIT TO BE CONNECTED
* THIS IS A FREE CALL

Privacy Considerations

When reporting an emergency by calling 000, the telephone number and
address from where you are calling, may be disclosed to the Emergency
Service to enable a quicker response to the emergency.  If you do not
wish to have the telephone number and address details disclosed, you
must call the Emergency Service direct.

        Personal Emergency Numbers
Fire    ........    Police    ........    Ambulance    ........
Doctor    ........    Hospital........    Dentist        ........

OTHER 24 HOUR EMERGENCY NUMBERS ON PAGE 29        [red 5mm high]


David Wilson    Dept CompSci Uni Wollongong Australia    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Horsley)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Date: 03 Oct 1995 11:10:32 GMT
Organization: Harris Computer Systems Corporation
Reply-To: [e-mail]


> And it would be nice to have a standard non-emergency number: perhaps
> 912 or 999 could be used?  All the hardware is in for 911, all it would
> take is programming, and public education.

I've always thought a standard non-emergency number would be nice.
There are all kinds of things "the authorities" ought to be notified
of (things like overgrown plants blocking visibility at intersections,
big potholes, out of order traffic signals, etc). Most of the time, it
is way too much trouble to figure out who to call to report something
like this (especially in my part of south Florida where there tend to
be 5,221 separate small communities all crammed together and you never
really know if you are in Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano, Margate, Tamarac,
etc...)


[e-mail]
Home: 511 Kingbird Circle Delray Beach FL  33444
Work: Harris Computers, 2101 W. Cypress Creek Rd. Ft. Lauderdale FL  33309
Support Project Vote Smart! They need your support in non-election years too!
(email [e-mail], 1-800-622-SMART, http://www.vote-smart.org)

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Eyre-Eagles)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Organization: GoodNet
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 00:40:34 GMT


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would have to take exception with John's
<<SNIP>>
> I do not know about the tariff in California, but the tariff here states
> things a bit differently. (1) any service which is not exclusively for
> the personal use of the residents of a domicile is a 'business' service.

California's tariffs define residential service as telephone service
that is used *mostly* for social and domestic purposes.

California defines a residence location (in A2.22 I think it was) as a
location designed for residential living and has things such as a bed,
kitchen, etc.  I had one customer who had residence service in a known
commercial location. I had a maintence supervisor go out there to inspect
the location (for tariff compliance reasons) and they had a bed and a
kitchen there.  Residential service!

> (2) at an address which has historically been used for business, then
> any service installed there must be business service; however at an
> address which has historically been residential in nature then residence
> service is available *unless the line is being used for business purposes.*

Refer again to above.


Richard Eyre-Eagles, KJ7MU   Tempe, Arizona

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Brader)
Subject: Re: 911 as quid pro quo
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 00:19:18 GMT


> Talking about Bell Canada's Soft Dial Tone allowing 911 calls for two
> months only ... I wondered:

>> Can Bell Canada really be so cavalier to only provide 911 service for
>> two months?

> ... If I owned the facility (University dorms in the Canadian
message) I would inform the phone company that if the line was live
*at all* it would carry 911 ...

I guess Pat didn't run my reply on this point the last time around.
Cc'd to the above poster this time.  Please go back and reread the
original article, or take my word for this:

The article did *not* say that soft dial tone was being tried and would
provide access to 911 for the first two months.  It said that soft dial
tone *was being tried for two months*, and would provide access to 911.

All clear now?


Mark Brader         "A clarification is not to make oneself clear.
[e-mail]           It is to PUT oneself IN the clear."
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto       -- Lynn & Jay, "Yes, Prime Minister"

My text in this article is in the public domain.

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Brader)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 00:26:50 GMT


>> Call Trace serves this function now. It does what caller-ID is
>> frequently misrepresented as doing, collecting the calling number
>> of a call that you need to report to the cops.

> The answer is that [caller-ID] allows you to collect the calling number
> of a call that you don't need to report to the cops.  I would prefer to use
> cops when there's an emergency, and to use less expensive measures
> when there is not.

Is it not actually correct that Call Trace collects the calling number
of the call *in case* you need to report it to the cops?  And
furthermore, it does it in a way that isn't dependent on your own
honesty and record-keeping; that's not the case if you get the number
from caller-ID (or from Last Call Return in areas where it provides
the number),


Mark Brader, [e-mail]    "Every new technology carries with it
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto      an opportunity to invent a new crime"
                            -- Laurence A. Urgenson

My text in this article is in the public domain.

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

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 18:19:54 -0400
Subject: Re: The Rush For Unabomber's Essay


In article <[e-mail]> I wrote:

> I finally got a call from a fellow at the FBI in San Fransisco on
> Monday, and I put him in touch with a correspondent here who had given
> much of the background information printed in the Digest. We will see
> what comes of it, if anything.

In private correspondence someone replied:

Pat, you might be interested in knowing that the STANDARD FBI
procedure would have been to have a LOCAL FBI agent contact you
directly, present his badge (identification) and request information.
That info would then have been checked locally (or fowarded to the
proper agent in the area in question who *could* properly and
*personally* verify/check your data).  Having dealt with this agency
in the past, I find it somewhat strange that you were contacted by
telephone only ...

Are you *sure* that you spoke with the FBI ?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you know ever since that time when
I fell off the turnip truck and banged my head on the ground when I
landed I have not been thinking too clearly. Do you think someone may
have played a trick on me?  Actually what happened was I got a call
Monday morning while I was over at the IHOP across the street for my
breakfast. When I got back a message on the answering machine said to
please call this fellow. He gave a number for voicemail and a general
switchboard number, something-7400 in San Fransisco. I rang that number
and a woman answered saying 'FBI'. I left a message for him on his
voicemail and he called back a bit later. I assume there could have
been some massive plot, but it seems unlikely. He did offer to give
me what was termed an 'event number' which was my proof of the conver-
sation in the event my nomination for Unabomber of the Year turns out
to agree with theirs. I know I could certainly use the money from any
reward given although it is quite unlikely I will get anything. My
personal suspicion is they gave up on personal interviews with people
who 'know exactly who the unabomber is' somewhere after the first
thirty thousand interviews or so.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #417
******************************


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Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 22:38:36 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #418

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 3 Oct 95 22:38:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 418

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Legal Notice: MCI 900 Number Settlement Claims (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Re: Area Code Split Dates (Phil Ritter)
    Re: Area Code Split Dates (David R. Sewell)
    Need Technicians Worldwide! ([e-mail])
    Re: CIS No Longer Charges For Internet Mail (Ed Greenberg)
    Re: CIS No Longer Charges For Internet Mail (Kevin Kadow)
    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Marvin Vis)
    Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS) (Steve Schaefer)
    Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS) (John R. Levine)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Andrew C. Green)
    Phone Number to Word Converter (John Mayson)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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, 3 Oct 1995 21:58:23 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Legal Notice: MCI 900 Number Settlement Claims


This is a legal notice of a Class Action. Please read it carefully.
Discuss it with your attorney before taking any action. If you choose
to participate, you must follow the instructions given below EXACTLY
as they are stated.

You may be eligible to make a claim and receive Certificates for free long
distance calls in accordance with a class action settlement approved by
the Federal District Court in Augusta, GA between class plaintiffs and
MCI Telecommunications Corporation.

In order to be eligible to make a claim, you must have paid, during the
period January 1, 1988 through November 1, 1994 for one or more telephone
calls to 900 numbers provided by MCI in connection with programs offering:

   Sweepstakes, wagering, games of chance, awards, prizes, gifts
   or information on unclaimed funds,   AND/OR  financial information
   services, credit cards, information about 'credit repair', catalog
   cards, or information on obtaining credit cards.

You need to have paid for calls to 900 numbers provided by MCI to one
or more of these categories, however your payment may have been made
to your local telephone company or direct to MCI. You may NOT have
disputed or refused the request for payment, nor may you have received
a goodwill credit or adjustment on your telephone bill as a result of
billings for calls to the above types of 900 numbers.

The long distance company on your home telephone does not need to be
MCI in order for you to claim and use a certificate, however only
calls made during the time period above *via MCI and billed to you by
MCI directly or through your local telephone company as billing agent
for MCI are covered by this settlement*.  Calls to 900 numbers placed
through AT&T, Sprint or any other long distance carrier do not count
for the purpose of this settlement. AT&T and Sprint have elected to
NOT participate in the settlement.  You will not receive certificates
for any calls to 900 numbers made using the services of AT&T, Sprint
or other carriers.

To use the certificates, MCI 'Dial One Plus' customers will complete
their calls in the normal way, by direct dialing the numbers of their
choice. Non-MCI customers (that is, those whose one-plus dialing
connects to another carrier's lines) will be instructed how to place
calls over the MCI network to use the certificates.

MCI has the right to investigate and challenge any claim and to verify
the information you submit. If MCI chooses to investigate, challenge
or audit your claim, you will be notified and given an opportunity to
respond. You are admonished by the Court that the willful filing of
a false claim may constitute the federal crime of 'mail fraud' and
may cause you to be found in Contempt of Court.

   -----------------------------------------------------------
            900 Number Settlement Proof of Claim Form

You are required to complete the following information in order for
your claim to be processed. Your claim cannot be processed unless
this information is complete and legible.

NAME______________________________________CITY_________________________

ADDRESS___________________________________STATE_____ZIP CODE___________

You must identify the *home* telephone number(s) used to make 900 calls
and check the box which represents the actual or estimated payments
made by you for 900 number calls using MCI services between January 1,
1988 through November 1, 1994 for the following types of programs,
less any credits or refunds you received from MCI ** or any telephone
company ** in reference to these programs.


PART I                                PART II

For programs offering sweepstakes,    For programs offering financial
wagering, games of chance, awards,    services information, credit cards,
prizes, gifts or information on       catalog cards, information on
unclaimed funds.                      obtaining same or 'credit repair'.

Home telephone number(s) used to      Home telephone number(s) used to
make 900 calls:                       make 900 calls:

(___)___________________________      (___)____________________________
(___)___________________________      (___)____________________________

Check box which applies to your       Check box which applies to your
estimated or actual payments.         estimated or actual payments.

__$10  __$20 __$30  __$40 or more     __$10 __$20 __$30  __$40 or more

__Other amount: _________________     __Other amount: __________________

   YOU MUST SIGN AND DATE THIS FORM IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE PROCESSED.

Certification: I hereby affirm that the information on this Proof of
Claim form above and below is true and correct to the best of my
knowledge and that this Proof of Claim Form has been read, understood
and affirmed by me.

Date:________  Sign name_____________________ Print name____________________

Optional information below will assist the Administrator in verifying
your claim and speeding its processing. You may also attach copies of
postcards, letters, phone bills or other records which relate to your
claim.

Month(s) and Year(s) 900 calls were made? _________________________________

900 Numbers called? _______________________________________________________

Names of 900 Programs? ____________________________________________________

Name(s) of Company Soliciting 900 Calls?___________________________________

Mail just this claim form -- NOT the entire legal notice -- before
March 31, 1996 to:

      900 Number Settlement Administration
      PO Box 33308, Washington, DC 20033

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

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING OUT THE CLAIM FORM:

1. If you are eligible, please complete the Proof of Claim form
printed above and mail it to 900 Number Settlement Administration,
PO Box 33308, Washington, DC 20033. The deadline for submitting
the form is March 31, 1996. Claims postmarked after that date will
be discarded.

2. In Part I and/or Part II, identify the *home* telephone numbers
used to place the calls and check off the estimated or actual amount
you paid, less any refunds or credits given to you by MCI or any
other telephone company. Give your honest estimate if you do not
know the exact amount. If there is no box for the amount you wish
to claim then use the box marked 'other'.

3. If you are submitting this claim in a representative capacity for
someone else who is eligible, you must attach proof of your authority
to act as representative for the person whose claim you are submitting.
If you hold that person's power of attorney, kindly so demonstrate.

4. Be sure to sign and date the form. Unsigned forms will not be pro-
cessed, nor will they be returned for correction. At the same time,
please note that by signing your name, you are affirming that the
statements you are making are true and correct to the best of your
knowledge. The making of false statements to the Court subjects you
to punishment under the law.

5. If you have questions about completing the Proof of Claim form, you
may call toll-free to 800-421-1269.

TO RECIEVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT ITSELF OR THE CLASS
ACTION SUIT WHICH WAS FILED AGAINST MCI, OR TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL
COPIES OF THE CLAIM FORM, CALL TOLL FREE 800-871-5409.

DO NOT TELEPHONE OR WRITE THE COURT ASKING FOR INFORMATION.
DO NOT TELEPHONE OR WRITE THE CLERK OF THE COURT.
DO NOT TELEPHONE OR WRITE TO MCI ABOUT THIS MATTER.
DO NOT TELEPHONE OR WRITE TO YOUR LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPANY.

** All correspondence must be through the telephone numbers given
above and the post office box address given above. **

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

This is a legal notice, and by your response to the notice or your
failure to respond you will be bound to the conditions and terms
set forth. Always consult with your own attorney about legal matters
and follow your attorney's advice before making any response to
notices published by the Court.


Published by order of the Federal District
Court in Augusta, Georgia.

October 3, 1995

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

Date: Wed, 04 Oct 95 03:58:58 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Phil Ritter)
Subject: Re: Area Code Split Dates


> Trivia question for fellow Angelenos: within the city limits of Los
> Angeles, how many area codes are there?  How many within the County of
> Los Angeles?

Inside LA city limits:     3 (213, 310, 818)
Inside LA County:          6 (Add 714, 805, 909)
Inside LA LATA (LATA 730): 8 (add 520, 619)

These totals do not include 562 any potential split for 818.  These
would bring the total in LA County to 8 NPAs and LATA 730 to 10
(whether or not the total inside LA city limits changes depends upon
the exact NPA boundaries).

The 213 NPA is entirely contained inside the LA City Limits.  The
others are partly (or mostly) outside the LA {City Limits, County,
LATA}.  They are included if any part is included inside the respective
boundaries.

The 619 NPA is scheduled to split too. It appears that the part that
remains 619 will all be in the San Diego LATA and part of the new code
will be in the LA LATA.  This split will not change the number of codes
in the LA LATA.

Finally, note that including 520 in the LA LATA is not a typo (Yes,
that is the 520 that covers western Arizona after the 602/520 split).
Yes, these codes are in Arizona.  The LATA line, however, crosses over
the state line to included 9 exchanges in western Arizona.  Wierd.
(Actually, until the permissive period for the 602/520 split ends, a
purist would claim that there are 9 codes in LATA 730, but thats would
just be picking nits...).


Phil Ritter    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (David R Sewell)
Subject: Re: Area Code Split Dates
Date: 04 Oct 1995 01:48:02 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona, Unix Users Group


In article <[e-mail]>, Linc Madison <lincmad@netcom.
com> wrote:

> I was going through Steve Grandi's list of area code splits (FTP from
> gemini.tuc.noao.edu, /pub/grandi/npa1995.txt) and thought I would add a
> summary just listing the dates that area code splits become final.  This
> list only includes geographic splits, not overlays, and it only includes
> those splits for which both the initial effective date and the final
> (end of permissive dialing) date have been announced.  Check Steve's
> file for more details.

> The splits are listed in order by the date of the END of permissive
> dialing.

> NEW OLD  START    FINAL   ST      Place/Comment
> -- ---  -----    -----   -- -------------------------------------------
> 520 602 03/19/95 10/21/95 AZ Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma (all but Phoenix)

After Tucson businesses (mostly) raised hell about problems inbound
calls have had under the new code, the Arizona Corporation Commission
just mandated *much* looser final deadlines: 31 December 1996 for
Tucson, 30 June 1996 for other affected areas.

It will be interesting to see if this response to discontent sets
any precedent.


David Sewell   [e-mail]
Temporary Internet gypsy (packrat's net is down for major repairs)

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Need Technicians Worldwide!
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 1995 04:51:01 GMT
Organization: Adhesive Media, Inc.


New World Telecom L.L.C. needs qualified telecommunication technicians
around the world.  Applicants should be able to work in on-premise
phone rooms of large businesses.  Also should own laptop computer, be
PBX (PABX) knowledgeble, able to work closely with NWT on equipment
programming and be certified, bonded and insured.

Applicants interested should send email to: [e-mail]
and put --technician-- in the subject line.

Additional information and detailed questionairre's will be sent out
upon contact.

**WE NEED QUALIFIED TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNICIANS IN ALL COUNTRIES
OUTSIDE U.S.///very lucrative offering**

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

From: [e-mail] (Ed Greenberg)
Subject: Re: CIS No Longer Charges For Internet Mail
Date: 04 Oct 1995 00:10:13 GMT
Organization: Best Internet Communications


In article <[e-mail]>, Dunscomb <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Since CIS charges for Internet mail, and AOL doesn't, for me it's the

CIS no longer charges for internet mail.  You read or download your
internet mail using the free hours per month just like any other mail.
Of course, if you use more hours than you are given, you pay for them,
but isn't that true of all services?


Ed Greenberg           [e-mail]        Ham Radio: KM6CG
                    http://www.greenberg.org/

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

From: [e-mail] (Kevin Kadow)
Subject: Re: CIS No Longer Charges For Internet Mail
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: MSGNet, Chicago
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 15:11:07 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>
wrote:

> [e-mail] (Dunscomb) wrote:

>> Since CIS charges for Internet mail, and AOL doesn't, for me it's the
>> least expensive service around.  (Cheap enough to make me put up with
>> the kiddycar mail facilities, even. Maybe with AOL 3.0 they'll get mail
>> facilities as good as those on CIS.   Or, maybe 5.0, or 8  ...)

> Actually, CIS no longer charges for internet mail, and their basic
> monthly plan is the same as AOL's.  ($9.95 for the first five hours,
> $2.95 = each additional).  A "frequent user" plan is available for
> $24.95 for 20 = hours and $1.95 each additional.

Strange. The September {Computer Shopper} quotes CompuServe's Jane
Torbica as saying "... no, we have no plans for free E-mail", in an
article on advertising supported mail services.

Now if only CompuServe would offer "normal" mail addresses instead of
their numeric userID- though I offer an alternative, giving a
human-readable address that can be forwarded anywhere, including
CIS...


[e-mail]   Kevin Kadow
Yes, I do speak for MSG.Net -- http://msg.net/
Your own domain name/e-mail for only $49/year, no setup fee: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Marvin Vis)
Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Date: 03 Oct1995 19:42:47 GMT
Organization: U S WEST Advanced Technologies


> But for the fact that the RBOCs are now independent entities, the AT&T
> breakup now being undertaken by the company itself is pretty close to
> that originally demanded by the Justice Department before the Reagan
> Administration and AT&T renegotiated the Settlement.

> The original plan, for those who remember, would have severed AT&T's
> network services from its Western Electric manufacturing facilities.

Regarding the breakup, has anyone speculated about the driving forces
behind the move?  Of course, there are the factors that AT&T has presented
as their motivations (those of speed/responsiveness, targeted stock, etc.),
but has anyone tried to think of other reasons?

For example, with the latest trend in legislation to move toward
deregulation, could AT&T be setting up for the "deregulation age" so that,
when the time comes, some of their moves in the communications world won't
prompt action/question by the FCC, since they've broken themselves up and
don't look like such a "bully" in the area (so to speak :)?  Perhaps they
even feel that this breakup might prompt faster movement of deregulatory
legislation.

Sorry, I'm not trying to start flames ... I'm just an inexperienced player
that's curious.  ;)  Any ideas/comments?


M.

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Schaefer)
Subject: Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS)
Date: 03 Oct 1995 19:15:50 GMT
Organization: Pacific Lightwave


In article <[e-mail]>, brian mcnally <[e-mail]>
says:

> What is the deal with this? Has anyone else head of this?

> The new technology will send video and other multimedia offerings over
> the copper phone line, thus complementing other AT&T high-speed
> solutions for accelerated, universal access to new services.

This is accurate, I suspect, but this is not "on POTS".

> AT&T Bell Laboratories and AT&T Paradyne have developed a new
> application for its GlobeSpanTM technology platform that is the first
> single line solution to transmit simultaneous voice and data at a
> range of speeds up to T1 and E1 (1.544 Mbps to 2.048 Mbps) in both
> directions.

> At a touch of a button, SDSL will enable anyone with a telephone
> line, a telephone and a computer or television to access new services,
> while simultaneously conducting a phone conversation on the same phone
> line. This is what the information age promise is all about.

The same copper pair is used to carry both data and voice.  This is
not to say that the data is carried "on" the POTS service in the sense
that a modem signal is.  The GlobeSpanTM technology involves new
equipment at both the customer and the carrier ends of the circuit.
I'm not clear as to whether it typically requires changes to the
in-line amplifiers between the subscriber and the telco office.

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

Date: Tue, 3 Oct 95 00:47 EDT
From: [e-mail] (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS)
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.


> What is the deal with this? Has anyone else head of this?

SDSL is real, but it's not all that revolutionary.  The predecessor
ADSL provided T1 one way, 64K or so the other way over copper, SDSL
gives you T1 both ways.  The phone line is indeed copper, but it
requires fancy equipment at each end, like ISDN only more so.  I
believe it has stringent requirements both on maximum line length and
line quality.

ADSL always seemed to be like a reasonable technology for client
network users, but it never went anywhere.  Don't know why.


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail], Trumansburg NY
Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"
and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be

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

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 13:07:25 -0500
From: Andrew C. Green <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number


[e-mail] (Mike Morris) writes:

> There is a classic story in the local
> ham radio circles about one of the early cellphone 911 calls to the
> Whittier Police Dept (an L.A. suburb) reporting a traffic accident.
> They sent the ambulance to the address shown on the screen: the cell
> switch site. Another story has a autopatch user calling 911 and
> the police show up at the ham radio repeater site.

> Urban legends.

Well, not quite. I was saving this for a RISKS article, but will
probably never get around to it:

Last month I had some car problems and found myself stranded in a parking
lot in Mount Prospect, IL. "No problem," I thought. "I'll use my car phone
to call the Allstate Motor Club for a tow." Dialed the 800 number and
landed in a voicemail menu. One option offered to direct my call to the
nearest towing company _automatically_; i.e. just stay on the line and
(presumably) the system would do a database lookup of towing companies
based on the ZIP code of the ANI of my call, then forward my call to the
service station selected. Ah, but I'm on a _cellphone_, not a land line;
how will the system locate me?

I found out soon enough. The phone was answered by a towing company in
Schaumburg. What's in Schaumburg? Ameritech Cellular, my cellphone company.
The ANI address was apparently that of the point where my cell call was
dropped into the main telephone network, which for the purposes of my call
was giving bogus information to Allstate's automated location lookup. It
took a second call to their 800 number and a breakout to a live operator
in order to get a number for the Mount Prospect towing company. Do you
you think Allstate will start wondering why so many of their motorists
seem to break down in Schaumburg?  :-)


Andrew C. Green            [phone]
Frame Technology Corporation
Advanced Product Services
441 W. Huron               Internet: [e-mail]
Chicago, IL  60610-3498    FAX: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Mayson)
Subject: Phone Number to Word Converter
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 95 15:45:33 EDT


I must've really been bored today.  I wrote a Unix Korn Shell program
that takes a telephone number in the XXX-XXX-XXXX format and produces
a listing of everything those ten digits will spell.

The program is crude and I'm sure someone could write a better one,
but for what it is, I can't see investing too much time into it.


[cut here]
  ----8<-------------------------------------------------------------------

#!/bin/ksh
# name        : phonenym
# author      : John Mayson <[e-mail]>
# description : A very crude program that generates all possible "words"
#               from an NANP telephone number.
# date        : Mon Oct 02 14:30:26 EDT 1995

USAGE="usage: $0 XXX-XXX-XXXX"

case $# in
  0) echo ${USAGE};;
  *) case $1 in
       -\?)   cat <<!
$0

NAME
    $0 - Phone Name

SYNOPSIS
    $0 XXX-XXX-XXXX

DESCRIPTION
    $0 takes a NANP telephone number and produces all possible words from
    that telephone number.

INVOCATION
    The following invocation options are interpreted by $0:

    $0 XXX-XXX-XXXX (accepts NXX format NPAs).

BUGS
    Accepts invalid telephone numbers (e.g. 911-118-9876)

!
              ;;
       *) if [ `echo $1 | wc -c` -ne 13 ]
      then
        echo ${USAGE}
        exit -2
      fi
      for line in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
      do
        digit=`echo $1 | cut -c${line}`
        case ${digit} in
            1) word[${line}]="1" ;;
            2) word[${line}]="A B C" ;;
            3) word[${line}]="D E F" ;;
            4) word[${line}]="G H I" ;;
            5) word[${line}]="J K L" ;;
            6) word[${line}]="M N O" ;;
            7) word[${line}]="P R S" ;;
            8) word[${line}]="T U V" ;;
            9) word[${line}]="W X Y" ;;
            0) word[${line}]="0" ;;
        esac
      done
      for bit9 in `echo ${word[1]}`
      do
        for bit8 in `echo ${word[2]}`
        do
          for bit7 in `echo ${word[3]}`
          do
            for bit6 in `echo ${word[5]}`
            do
              for bit5 in `echo ${word[6]}`
              do
                for bit4 in `echo ${word[7]}`
                do
                  for bit3 in `echo ${word[9]}`
                  do
                    for bit2 in `echo ${word[10]}`
                    do
                      for bit1 in `echo ${word[11]}`
                      do
                        for bit0 in `echo ${word[12]}`
                        do
                echo "${bit9}${bit8}${bit7}-${bit6}${bit5}${bit4}-${bit3}${bit2}${bit1}${bit0}"
                            done
                          done
                        done
                      done
                    done
                  done
                done
              done
            done
          done | pr -4 -a -t
    ;;
     esac
esac

  ----8<-------------------------------------------------------------------
[cut here]


John Mayson | Palm Bay, Florida | [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #418
******************************


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Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 19:18:10 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #419

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 5 Oct 95 19:18:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 419

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Only You Can Prevent Slamming! (Stuart Zimmerman)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Jim Jacobs)
    Re: Caller ID Boxes on Line Voltage (Chris Farrar)
    CDPD Training (Tyler Proctor)
    Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Jeffrey Yee)
    Keeping Up With Our Neighbors, the Unabombers (Danny Burstein)
    Universal Service Hearings In Northern Calififornia Now (Robert Deward)
    Conference: Internet and Telecoms in Brazil (Dave Sosa)
    Job Opening at BellSouth (Chendong Zou)
    Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (was: New US Area Code Test Numbers) (R McMillin)
    Conference: Number Portability II and Number Administration (Kevin Shea)
    California Telecom Bill Lowers Cost For Residents (Gary D. Hodge)
    USOC and Facility Interface Codes (Paul Cook)
    Last Laugh! Trying to Call the Nowhere Man (Gary D. Shapiro)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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, 5 Oct 95 15:52 EST
From: Stuart Zimmerman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Only You Can Prevent Slamming!


    There have been a number of articles in the Digest and the
mainstream media about slamming (when a long distance carrier causes
the local telephone company to convert a customer's PIC to that long
distance carrier without consent).  I heartily encourage your readers
to contact their local telephone company and request that company's
"Carrier Block" or equivalent.

    That service (free at the companies I have checked), prevents
a long distance carrier from ordering a change in your long distance
carrier without your request directly to your local telephone company.
(This may be slightly inconvenient, but it is far easier than cleaning
up after a "slam".)

    The FCC is working on changing the rules of carrier switches
to avoid slamming, but the "Carrier Block" service (name may vary) is
an easy and probably free way to avoid the problem now.

    For readers who have gotten slammed, my company offers a
service where we will reprice your calls and deal with the local
telephone company, and both long distance companies to insure that you
pay no more than you were supposed to.  Please E-Mail me or call
800-313-6631 for more information.


Stuart Zimmerman   Fone Saver, LLC
"Saving consumers and businesses money on Long Distance"
[e-mail]

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 95 10:36:14 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to W. Craig Trader <[e-mail]>:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This comes up here frequently. You should
> pay WilTel the amount you expected to pay your regular carrier. You have
> to pay *something* since you did make the calls expecting (I assume!) to
> pay for them. Unless you can prove the change was made deliberatly in a
> fraudulent way, there is probably nothing more you should do.   PAT]

Which is really a shame, because the slammer then gets the revenue.
The way I'd like to see it work would be that you'd have to pay *your*
LD carrier as if you hadn't been slammed; this would appropriately
punish the slammer.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But what if the carrier handling your
calls is not the one at fault?  Suppose the error was made at the
local telco level by a clerk who changed your line to another carrier
instead of the line they were supposed to change? i.e. a person with a
number similar to yours wants to change to MCI, but in error telco
transposes a couple of digits and changes your line to MCI instead. Should
you then 'punish the slammer' in this case by not paying at all? I don't
think the revenue trade-offs are that significant. In other words AT&T
gets paid for slams sent their way in error just as MCI gets paid for slams
sent thier way in error. None of the LD carriers are getting rich from
slams with the additional paperwork involved, etc to reverse it.   PAT]

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

Subject: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
From: [e-mail] (JIM JACOBS)
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 95 02:42:00 -0400
Organization: PC-Help! BBS Tampa Fl. 813.949.4993
Reply-To: [e-mail] (JIM JACOBS)


> I was just checking my August Bell Atlantic bill, where I noted a
> strange $5.00 charge for Long Distance Company, 1 line(s) for WilTel,
> Inc.  I called Bell Atlantic and asked about it, and they assured me
> that the charge was legit.  I replied that I had made no such change,
> so they've returned the charge to WilTel, and marked my account for no
> further changes.

> So I'm OK to date, but what I have questions about is:

> 1.  What's the contact number for WilTel?

The number is 800-324-2222

> 2.  I'm going to see seven weeks worth of phone calls billed to WilTel.
> What are my rights regarding not paying them?  Do I have to pay WilTel
> for this disservice?

See the comment left by Pat at the end of your original message.

> 3.  What other steps should I take?

WilTel was acquired by LDDS Communications in December of 1994. LDDS,
now known as WorldCom, Inc. stopped adding it's own new customers to
the WilTel customer base in February 1995.  However, business written
by resellers is still being added.  Therefore, it is most likely that
a reseller was probably responsible for this occurance. If the reseller
is slamming other carrier's customers, this practice violates the
reseller's agreement with WilTel and (I believe) can be considered
grounds for termination of the agreement. Call WilTel / WorldCom at
the above number and inform them about what has happened.


Jim Jacobs, Senior Communications Consultant, WorldCom, Inc., Tampa FL
voice   800-275-9090
fax     [phone]
e-mail  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Chris Farrar)
Date: 05 Oct 95 18:38:56 -0400
Subject: Re: Caller ID Boxes On Line Voltage
Organization: FidoNet Nameserver/Gateway


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What caller-ID boxes do you know that run
> on AC rather than battery?  I have never heard of this.   PAT]

Pat, I have a "Bell Canada T-450" (aka TAI 450).  It uses a transformer
plugged into the wall, and a barrel type connector in the device.  It
takes a 9-volt batter to provide memory backup (much like an alarm
clock).

I've never heard of a caller id box that runs solely on batteries.


Data from the back plate:
TAI Model 450
Telecommunication Accessories
S          I          D
A Division of TIE/communications Canada Inc.
Made in Canada


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is quite interesting. The unit
sold by Ameritech with their name on it comes from a company called
CIDCO, and other than the phone line which plugs into the unit, it
is powered entirely from a nine volt 'D' battery which seems to last
for several years.   PAT]

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

From: Tyler Proctor <[e-mail]>
Subject: CDPD Training
Date: 5 Oct 1995 21:06:14 GMT
Organization: CompuServe, Inc. (1-800-689-0736)


Course Description:

    This two-day course is a technical primer in the development
of Cellular Digital Packet Data Applications.  It will provide you
with an overview of CDPD, a foundational understanding of TCP/IP, and
an opportunity to develop a wireless CDPD application in class.  CDPD
modems will be provided, as well as testing software.

    You will learn in a small group environment with plenty of
individual help. You will be working in both a live and a simulated
environment to make the most of your time.  For more information For
times, location, and all general information pertaining to the
program, call Jonathan Smith at 602-302-9884, or e-mail to
[e-mail].

    For course materials, billing, and content information,
please call Zsigo Wireless Data Consultants at 800-594-5102, or
e-mail to [e-mail].  E-mail technical questions to
Wireless Connect at [e-mail].

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey Yee)
Subject: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 5 Oct 1995 09:13:07 -0700
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada


I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal from to
synchronize their clocks and equipment. I was in a CO one time when i
worked for a telco as a student. I noticed that there was this device
that annouced the time every 5-10 seconds or so and it had a panel on
the front with time precise to 100ths of a second (I think).

Is there a national reference that all telcos go by? Is it a satellite
signal, radio signal, or what? IF so Where is it and is there only one?

Just curious.

Thanks.

iNTERNET Alpha pager ->[e-mail]
                     ->[e-mail]
   WWW -> http://unixg.ubc.ca:780/~jyee


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They get it from America OnLine by clicking
on the clock icon. <grin> ... Actually what happens when you use the most
recent version 1.6 of AOL software, clicking on the clock icon sends you
to .... surprise!  {Time Magazine}. It seems that the software has the
clock icon 'point to' 'time' which used to get you the time of day. Then
{Time Magazine} came online there and bought the rights to the keyword
'time'. Therefore, the keyword for time of day had to be changed from
'time' to 'clock'. No one has bothered to make the change in the software
yet.

There are two sources of standardized time information in the USA. These
are the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC and the National Bureau of
Standards in Boulder, Colorado. Both maintain highly accurate clocks which
are regulated or governed by natural forces in the universe including
gravity and the sun's rotation around Skokie, Illinois. <trying to keep
a straight face here> ... Both services have links to other clocks to help
them maintain their accuracy. NBS operates two radio stations which give
the correct time each minute. They are WWV and WWVH, which can be heard
at 5,10,15 and 20 mhz on most shortwave radios. We could have long discuss-
ions here about those two stations; they are both fascinating operations.
USNO also has a public service. For a good time, call 900-410-TIME at just
fifty cents per call. If you think fifty cents is too much to pay (or you
are like me and wonder why you should have to pay for it at all) then you
can dial 202-653-1800, which is what the 900 number translates to.

Using your computer's communication program and a modem set to 1200 baud,
you can get a dislay on your computer screen showing the correct time by
calling USNO at 202-653-0351 or NBS at 303-494-4774. I shall stifle my
desire at this time to discuss the old (defunct for almost thirty years)
Western Union Time Service, which got its feed from USNAVOB.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (danny burstein)
Subject: Keeping Up With Our Neighbors, the Unabombers
Date: 4 Oct 1995 23:12:22 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway


Forwarded FYI to the Digest by Danny Burstein, as broadcast on WVOA,
the Voice of America radio service.

DATE=10/4/95    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-186349 TITLE="UNABOMBER" TRAIL (L-O)
BYLINE=PAUL FRANCUCH   DATELINE=CHICAGO
CONTENT=     VOICED AT:

INTRO: A CHICAGO NEWSPAPER REPORTS (WEDNESDAY) THAT FEDERAL
INVESTIGATORS ARE FOCUSING ATTENTION ON COMMUNITIES IN THE NORTHERN
SUBURBS OF CHICAGO AS THEY CONTINUE THEIR SEARCH FOR AN ELUSIVE SERIAL
KILLER COME TO BE KNOWN AS THE "UNABOMBER."  V-O-A'S PAUL FRANCUCH HAS
MORE DETAILS FROM CHICAGO.

TEXT: THE NAME COMES FROM THE SUSPECT'S TARGETS WHICH INCLUDE
UNIVERSITIES AND AIRLINES.  FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS SAY THE BOMBER, WHOM
THEY BELIEVE TO BE A MIDDLE-AGED MAN OF SLIGHT BUILD, HARBORS
SUSPICION OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY AND HAS ACCORDINGLY TARGETED AN AIRPLANE
MANUFACTURER, AN AIRLINE, AN AIRLINE EXECUTIVE, AND SEVERAL
UNIVERSITIES WHICH DO MAJOR RESEARCH INTO COMPUTERS AND OTHER HIGH
TECHNOLOGY.

SINCE HE BEGAN HIS TERRORIST STRING OF LETTER BOMBS BACK IN 1978, THE
UNABOMBER HAS STRUCK AT LEAST 17 TARGETS, KILLING THREE PEOPLE AND
LEAVING MORE THAN 20 OTHERS INJURED.

MANY OF THE UNABOMBER'S TARGETS HAVE BEEN IN THE CHICAGO AREA, AND
SOME OFFICIALS SAY CLUES POINT TO THE SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES OF "SKOKIE"
AND "NILES" AS PLACES WHERE THE SUSPECT MAY HAVE GROWN UP AND ATTENDED
SCHOOL.

THE NEWSPAPER "THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE" REPORTS SOURCES IN THESE
COMMUNITIES SAY THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, OR "F-B-I," HAS
BEEN COMBING THROUGH RECORDS OF ABOUT TEN STUDENTS LIVING IN THE AREA
DURING THE 1970S.  THE F-B-I IS REPORTEDLY LOOKING FOR STUDENTS WHO
MAY HAVE BELONGED TO SCHOOL CLUBS WHICH DEALT WITH ECOLOGICAL ISSUES
AND THE EMERGING PHENOMENON OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS, CHECKING FOR A
CROSS LINK IN MEMBERSHIP.

THE F-B-I WILL NOT CONFIRM THAT IT HAS MADE THE SEARCH, BUT A
SPOKESMAN FOR THE BUREAU IN CHICAGO DID SAY THEY ARE INVESTIGATING
LEADS IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS.

                         // REST OPT  //

SINCE THE INVESTIGATION TO FIND THE UNABOMBER BEGAN, THE F-B-I HAS
RECEIVED MORE THAN 20-THOUSAND TIPS.  A ONE-MILLION DOLLAR REWARD FOR
HIS ARREST HAS BEEN OFFERED.  A MANIFESTO WRITTEN BY THE UNABOMBER
ENTITLED "INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE" WAS PRINTED BY THE
NEWSPAPER "THE WASHINGTON POST" A FEW WEEKS AGO.  THE UNABOMBER
INFORMED INVESTIGATORS HE WOULD STOP HIS KILLING IF THE MANIFESTO WERE
PRINTED IN EITHER "THE WASHINGTON POST" OR "THE NEW YORK TIMES." THE
TWO PAPERS AGREED TO SHARE COSTS AND PRINTED THE MANIFESTO AS A
SUPPLEMENT TO THE "POST."  THE PAPERS PUBLISHED THE CONTROVERSIAL
MESSAGE AT THE URGING OF PRESIDENT CLINTON'S ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET
RENO AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE F-B-I.(SIGNED)


NEB / PCF / BD/PT

04-Oct-95 8:01 PM EDT (0001 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Deward)
Subject: Universal Service Hearings In Northern California Now
Date: 5 Oct 1995 21:00:23 GMT
Organization: The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA


If you are concerned about continuing affordability and access to
telecommunications, you still have a chance to make your thoughts
known to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC.  But you've
got to hurry.

There are six remaining CPUC Public Participation Hearings on
Universal Service in Northern California.  All begin at 7:00 p.m.

October 5 -- Fresno, State Offie Building, Auditorium, 505 Van Ness Avenue
October 11 -- Roseville, Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Drive
October 12 -- San Jose, City Council Chambers, 801 North First Street
October 12 -- Volcano, Armory Hall, 2 Consolation Street
October 19 -- Redding,City Council Chambers, 1313 California Street
October 24 -- Eureka, County Board of Supervisors Chambers, County Courthouse,
              825 Fifth Street

If you can't attend a public hearing, you can still communicate with
the CPUC:

You can write to the Public Advisor, California Public Utilities
Commission, 505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 5303, San Francisco, CA 94102.
Or you can e-mail to [e-mail].  Explain your
comments concern "Universal Service Rules," Decision 95-07-050.

For more information, you can access the CPUC's gopher.  A fact sheet
is at gopher://nic.cpuc.ca.gov:70/00/telecom/universal_service/factsht.txt.

The entire text of the CPUC's proposed decision is at
gopher://ni.cpuc.ca.gov:70/00/telecom/universal_service/d9507050.txt.
Put plenty of paper in your printer; the decision runs 55 pages.

You can also check out the Pacific Telesis Web page at http://www.pactel.com.
Look under "What's New."


Bob Deward, Pacific Telesis External Affairs, S.F.
voice:  415-394-3646

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

Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 12:53:56 PDT
From: Dave Sosa <[e-mail]>
Subject: Conference: Internet and Telecoms in Brazil


I realize this is a late post, but I only just heard of this yesterday.

The Brazil Society of N. California with the Pan American Society of
California and the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco are sponsoring
a seminar Thursday, October 5, 1995 at the ANA Hotel in SF.  The title
is:

INTERNET AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BRAZIL

Contact # is [phone] (ARBI Transnational)


David W. Sosa               [phone]
Dept. of Ag Economics       [phone]
University of California    [e-mail]
Davis, CA 95616

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

From: [e-mail] (Chendong Zou)
Subject: Job Opening at BellSouth
Date: 5 Oct 1995 20:46:13 GMT
Organization: College of Computer Science, Northeastern University


Posted for a friend, please direct all inquires to the contact
info. below. Thanks.


            JOB OPENING AT BELLSOUTH TELECOMMUNICATIONS


DATE:        October 3, 1995
CONTACT:     Send resume to '[e-mail]' and
             reference to Dr. Eric Kai.

Position: Contract Software Engineer
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Company:  BellSouth Telecommunications, the regulated subsidiary of BellSouth
Corporation.  BellSouth has revenues in excess of $16 billion and assets of
$28+ billion and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Responsibilities:
The individual will work in a team to be responsible for the design and
development of a radio network planning tool for the wireless communications
networks such as cellular and PCS.  Coding, testing, integration and system
testing activities are required.

Experience/Skills:
Successful candidates must have MS degree in CS, EE or related dicipline plus
3+ years solid software development experience in C and X/Motif on UNIX
platform.  Candidates with equivalent experience will be considered.  Having
development experience in Geographical Information System environment and
familiar with the TIGER data from the US Census Bureau and/or DEM (Digital
Elevation Model) data from USGS will be helpful.  Knowledge and working
experience on RF system design, RF propagation analysis, traffic analysis, and
outage prediction for wireless communication systems are highly appreciated,
but not required.

RATE: depending on experience.

OTHER: Individual applicants only, no search firms please.
       Mark contract applicant on resume please.


RESPOND ONLY TO ADDRESS GIVEN ABOVE.


Chendong Zou                                 Internet: [e-mail]
College of Computer Science, Northeastern University
360 Huntington Avenue #23CN, Boston, MA 02115     Phone: [phone]
WWW: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/zou              Fax:   [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert McMillin)
Subject: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (was: New US Area Code Test Numbers)
Organization: Charlie Don't CERF
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 08:20:57 GMT


Michael Fumich recently published a list of test numbers for new area
codes. It has been the case (in LA, at least) that the various local
telephone companies have tried to keep NXX exchanges separate from
valid local NPA numbers.  So, for instance, you won't get 818-818-xxxx
or 714-818-xxxx, 213-805-xxxx, etc.  The point, I suppose, is that
someone wanted to eliminate some confusion. (But IMHO, anyone living
in El Lay or any large U.S. city who doesn't give out all ten digits
is asking for trouble.)  I noticed that in the LA area, 562 is a valid
prefix in 213, 714, and 818.  Question: do the telcos now plan on
ignoring this convention?  There's currently no 562 in 310, so
562-562-xxxx isn't a possibility -- yet.  But will we see such a
beastie?  How about 714-714-xxxx or 805-818-xxxx?


 Robert L. McMillin  | [e-mail] | Netcom: [e-mail]
  Jail to the Chief! | WWW: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/rl/rlm/home.html
                   Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Bubba!

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

From: [e-mail] (Kevin J. Shea)
Subject: Conference: Number Portability II and Number Administration
Date: 5 Oct 1995 05:14:29 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Telecom Research Services is pleased to announce:

Conference 502 - "Number Portability II & Number Administration"

When:  November 29 & 30, 1995
Where: Meadowlands Sheraton Hotel - East Rutherford, New Jersey

Detailed information about the conference can be found at our web page,

http://Gramercy.ios.com/~telres/telres2.html

If you can't access the web site, or would like more information, send
an email to [e-mail].  Or you can call us at 201-535-2765.

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

From: [e-mail] (Gary D. Hodge )
Subject: California Telecom Bill Lowers Cost For Residents
Date: 5 Oct 1995 16:06:10 GMT
Organization: Netcom


In California, phone bills have dropped. With the announcement that
rates, such as IntraLATA, Intrastate/InterLATA, and even Interstate,
were lowered by 15 to 20 percent.  I couldn't believe eyes when my
phone bill showed a 20 percent drop. I really thought my flat rate was
good before, but now, wow !!!

As far as I know, this is only applicable through certain carriers,
but, watch out for those that can't guarantee rates of six cents/minute.


Gary Hodge   [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 5 Oct 95 13:47 EST
From: Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]>
Subject: USOC and Facility Interface Codes


How can I find a list of USOC and Facility Interface Codes, along with
their definitions and specs?  I've tried websearches and looking
through the FCC stuff online, and have found nothing.  All I have for
reference is an old Pacific Northwest Bell COG book.

Does anyone know if there is a USOC or FIC for a PS ALI trunk?  Or
would it just be defined with whatever code is used for a standard
two-wire, loop-reversing trunk?

(PS:  ALI I believe stands for Public Switched Automatic Location
Identification, where a 7 digit MF ID of the calling party is
sent from a PBX to an ALI tandem switch in order to identify a
calling party who is placing a 9-1-1 call from behind a PBX).


Paul Cook   Proctor & Associates
206-881-7000   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gary D. Shapiro)
Subject: Last Laugh! Trying to Call the Nowhere Man
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 1995 15:42:49 -0700
Organization: Emperor Clothing Co.


I feel like I'm trying to telephone that Nowhere Man character.

My former housemate had her own telephone line and had her account
tranferred to her new location, although the number had to change.  The
old number is supposed to refer to the new one for 60 days.  This was to
take place on Friday.

When I called the old number on Saturday, I got a "no longer in service"
message.

When I called the old number on Tuesday, it answered with a very short
beep and nothing else.  I reported the problem.  The gentelman who
took my call had a hard time understanding why I, not the subscriber
and not even a relative, was concerned enough to report the problem.

When I call the old number today, I get this Zen puzzle:

   The number you have dialed, XXX-XXXX, is a working number.
   Please check the number and dial again.

Roll that one around in your brain for a while.

When I call the new number, it rings four times, then there's a
discontinuity and it rings once more.  Then I hear this:

   Sorry, voice mail service is temporarily not available for
   this telephone.  Please consult your directory for the main
   number of the business you would like to reach.  Goodbye.

I called Operator just so someone else could have a good laugh.  Then
I called repair service, and they agreed there was a problem with the
referral.  For the other problem, they said they couldn't address the
problem because my former housemate was not at home when they came by
and that she has to call to make another appointment.  How could this
be a problem with her equipment?  I doubt if she ordered call
forwarding.

Needless to say, I live in the domain of GTE (Goofy Telephonic Entertainment).

Gary D. Shapiro...on the WWW at http://www.rain.org/~gshapiro/


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, your Zen puzzle is not a puzzle
at all, or least its a very simple one. Most calls reaching intercept have
been dialed direct, and the computer merely reads back what it received
and tells you what is wrong. If the error was that the number you dialed
is correct *but you misdialed it* and reached (some other) non-working
number then the computer will recite the number *you actually dialed* and
upon hearing it the assumption you will say, 'oh gee, I dialed wrong' and
you will hang up and dial over. On the other hand, if you had dialed the
number correctly then your call would have gone through.

But a small number of intercepts reach an operator instead. The number of
these is getting fewer and fewer, but it was much more common when there
was a hodge-podge of switches and central office equipment in larger cities.
For example, here in Cbicago, if the equipment was not able to ascertain the
number you dialed for some reason, you were cut to an operator who responded
'Chicago Special Operator, what number did you dial?'. You would tell her,
and *she* would 'bubble in' or key the number into the computer for a res-
ponse.  So far so good. But when you reached the computer direct, there was
no doubt what number you had dialed. Right or wrong the computer told
you the number and that it was wrong ... otherwise intercept never would have
seen it. When reaching the operator instead, you had to say the number you
*thought* you dialed. You *thought* you dialed my working number but
instead you dialed some other non-working number.  The operator was at
your mercy; all she could input was what you told her you did.  If it
turned out that the number *was* good and that your misdialing was the
problem, a recording had to cover that situation as well, thus the
message that 'the number you dialed *IS* a working number ...  please
hang up and dial again.' As a result, 'operator handled intercept' (as
opposed to direct dial reaching intercept) can occassionally see good
numbers as a result of the customer misdialing.

Does anyone remember that mess of a few years ago when some of the
carriers were playing tricks by not allowing a voice path to open until
supervision was established?  Of course when operators answer you there
is no supervision for billing purposes. Normally the intercept messages
are just one way requiring you to listen. You don't speak back to them. In
the case of 'operator handled intercept' of course it took a two-way
conversation: the operator asking what number you dialed, you respoding
and the computer speaking about what the operator punched in. If you
placed your call via some carrier that did not open a voice path until
supervision and you wound up getting a Bell Inward Operator at some place
handling intercept duties, you could not speak to her.

She would respond something like, 'Southern Bell Inward, what number did
you dial?'.   You would respond but she could not hear you. She would
scream in the phone a couple more times at you and you would scream back
at her to no avail -- there was no talking path!  Thus came the now
seldom heard 'intercept' message, "In certain cases, customers of long
distance companies other than AT&T may not be able to speak with the
operator when she answers. If this has happened to you, please hang up
and dial *your own operator* to ask for assistance."  I think all those
kinks have since been resolved; there are virtually no 'operator handled
intercept' situations any longer.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #419
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #420

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 5 Oct 95 21:37:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 420

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Remarks on the German Phone System (Marko Ruokonen)
    Broad Computer Telephony Patent Sweep! (Kingsley G. Morse Jr.)
    Zmodem and Win Programming Comms API (Miguel Angel)
    Competitive Markets (Dominic Pinto)
    Berkeley Advanced Product Development Courses (Harvey Stern)
    Conference: Merging Your Organization Onto the Internet ([e-mail])
    Correction Re: A History of the Early Days of Usenet (Mark Crispin)
    Last Laugh! A Day Without OJ (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
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On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 05 Oct 95 10:29:38 EDT
From: Marko Ruokonen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Remarks on the German Phone System


I followed the discussion about the "Variable length problem" here in
this newsgroup and thought I'd give some comments on this.

I am 30 years old and I do no business in the telecommuncations field,
so my view is a non-technical but instead that of an interested user
of the phone system.

Germany has variable length phone formats. However, nobody seems to
actually have a big problem with that, not even callers from the US
who kind of expect that the "outside world" is entirely different.
("It's a phone system, but not as we know it.")

I remember when about 20 years ago the city of Frankfurt/Main changed
its area code from 611 to just 69 to make room for extra numbers and
to stay below the internationally allowed maximum length, so obviously
they were preparing to introduce eight-digit numbers back in the 70s. I
don't know how long the "permissive dialing period" was or if there
even was one. However, this is the _only_ change of a _major_ city I
can remember -- not talking about the changes coming out of German
Unification.

Before Unification, West-Berlin used area code 30 as the only city in
the 3x range of numbers. All East German cities went into 3x. Before
Unification East-Berlin was dialable from West-Germany as 00372 (+37:
east Germany, 2: East Berlin) but as 0372 (note missing '0') from
West-Berlin, making it in fact a "domestic" call. I think this little
fact also expressed the wish for "Berlin" to be a single city.

After Unification I think all East-Berlin numbers got some number
prefixed (8 or 9?) and went into 30, which became the area code for
all of Berlin.

Also 15-20 years ago, I remember there were "shortcut" numbers to dial
in addition to area codes. Dialing from Duesseldorf to Cologne one
could use 0221 + number or just 90 + number (or was it 91? Well you get
the picture). However, these numbers were not assigned uniformly
from city to city. Once I tried to call home and -- used to calling from
Duesseldorf -- dialed 9x + number. Too late I realized that I *was* in
Cologne and found myself talking to some lady in I-don't-know-where.
You may think there is no big difference dialing 0221 (four digits)
instead of 9x (two digits). But in the mid-70s, tone dialing was
"science fiction" to the German Telekom and it made a difference
dialing two instead of four digits.

Those '9x' numbers were abandoned sometime in the 70s and dialing a
'9' would get you an immediate "No number" recording ("Kein Anschluss
unter dieser Nummer")

At present, you can (at least in Cologne) guess whether a number is an
ISDN line or not. If it starts with a '9', you can be 'pretty' sure it
is. We have 989 xxxx while our neighbours have 89 xxxx.

No problems with this -- only our pizza service often hesitated to
take our order because of the "uncommon" exchange "989" (they are used
to 89 as being "near" to them).

Which brings me to another topic: How to expand reserve number space?

A lot of seven digit numbers have zero as their third number, so there is
the plan: avoid '0' as the first number after the exchange when using
six digits. If numbers are needed, start opening the nn0 "exchange"
*years* before it even *gets* tough.  Then, move numbers 89nxxx into
89m nxxx (m and n should not be equal to avoid ambigious numbers) and
you get lots of new numbers with only number changes, never area code
splits or overlays (I hope we *never* get overlay area codes ... what
a messy idea). Standardized anouncements can be put on the old 89nxxx
numbers: "The new number is <8> <9> <1> <n> <x> <x> <x>").

As a remark: We (my parents and as soon as I had my own phone) _never_
changed numbers (and "of course" area codes). There has been one
re-assignment of exchanges to consolidate a new numbers. My grandmother's
phone was moved from 62xxxx to 64xxxx sometime during the late 70s or
early 80s. Note that no extra digit was introduced to make it seven
digits long. I think this was done to group neighbourhoods to the same
exchanges.

Offices reserve a block of numbers to get dial-in service: The main
number is sometimes as short as three digits to keep the overall
length below the max. You dial the extension you want.  Sometimes,
because of a real number shorage, this does not work out: A company I
do business with has a phone number of 976 xxx0 (right: ISDN and I can
tell the area in Cologne where they are) The problem is that their
main number is already seven digits long and extensions are two
digits, thus (dialing it instead of the '0') forms an eight digit
number. Cologne already has a three digit area code and thus, the
national number for the extensions would be eleven digits.

Where is the problem? Nowhere. Except that Telekom notified the
company that extensions may not be reachable from outside Germany,
_especially_ mentioning the US. So, they installed a seperate line for
the fax and got a seven digit number for it. Interestingly, no other
country was mentioned having problems with eleven digit numbers.

As a matter of fact, I like this system more than dialing a
"switchboard" to get connected (this is the 20th century after all) or
to have different numbers for switchboard and dial-in as I encounter
in the US. It's easy to remember: If I don't know the extension, I
dial '0' instead. If I there is no ringing, I'll add another '1' and
get the switchboard. Switchboards have 0 or 01 as the last digits. In
fact, you can always dial '01' directly without waiting for ring,
since the extra '1' will be dropped if it's not needed.

The rest of this message compares some aspects of the German phone
system (I'm used to) and the US system (I got to use during some stays
over there):

Concering time-outs? Sorry, there is no need for timeouts just because
of variable length numbers. Even in the above case for the switch-board,
as I explained.

I got to know timeouts when I visited the US, I was not aware of any
timeouts before that. To put the record straight: we had pulse dial
until last year and when dialing the last digit, it took about two
seconds to complete a call within the city and some more outside the
city. In some cases one could her the relays "clak-clak-clak" of
numbers being dialed after you completed dialing.  But as soon as that
was done, there was a connection, _never_ some seconds of silence
(timeout) for some extra digits.  When I now dial some number I can
figure if the target switch is digital or analog. Digital is almost
immidiate, analog takes an extra second or two, but never a four or
five second timeout.

Another weirdness I encountered is "same area code -- long distance"
dialing.  Here, if you dial the same areacode (or leave it out if you
prefer) you always are doing a local call. Therefore, there is no such
thing as '1' means toll.  Dialing your area code makes no difference
_at all_ concerning completing the call or charging. It may give you a
different line (speaking of quality).  Sometimes lines used by area
code dialing are better than just dialing them as without area code. I
used that practice when I was unable to connect via modem to a local
BBS.

And you could get through to directory assistance faster if you used 0
+ areacode + 1188 instead of just 1188 (which was notoriously overloaded).
Domestic DA over here was always 1188, dispite the city you are looking for.
Then, 1188 was changed to 01188, so it could not be dialed as 0 +areacode +
1188 (guess why <g>). I remember times when DA was 118, then 1188 and
now 01188, maybe to make room for other special services.

Talking on a US pay phone long distance without being disconnected
when you used up your change? Thanks, that's a great way of doing
cheap calls. I know this constitutes fraud, but why is it made _that_
easy? I did not do it, I paid the "extra" dime.

Over here, you are just cut off (which is right IMO: no pay -- no
service). There IS a display showing you how much money is still
unused, so you can prepare for more change or end the call gracefully.

Another thing that _really_ got me mad was the complicated dialing in
the US: I had to call someone while waiting for a plane at Logan
International Airport in Boston/MA. I had a calling card (AT&T) and
some change.

First, I tried a NYNEX pay phone. I expected this call to be local, so
I used my change. Then, I was told (recording) that this call would
require some more change. I assumed it would therefore be LD. So, I
decided to use my calling card. Starting another call, the phone
simply went *dead* and did not come back to life even after replacing
the handset and waiting for some seconds. So, I found one of those
"2000" AT&T phones with keyboard and "all the works". I swiped my card
through the reader and started punching 0617xxxxxxx. But as I dialed
the '0' (as I thought using a calling card required), I got an
immidiate display "your call cannot be completed". Somewhere on the
phone, there was a note: "Dial 1 when using calling cards". This all
recalled from memory, but that's about the story.

And asking around in 508 land if I have to use '1' before a number in
the same area code (because it's toll) for each call is somewhat
unnecessary, believe me.  Redialing? Next question, please.

As I mentioned at the beginning, these are the views of a user, not
someone involved in the technology. But phones are made for the people
to _use_ them, not to _understand_ the technology behind it.  I wonder
how all this will change when competion is supposed to start in 1998.

Comments are welcome.


Marko Ruokonen
Cologne / Germany


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The reason our payphones -- or at least
the 'Genuine Bell' payphones do not cut someone off in mid-sentence
when the time is up is because it is thought to be discourteous and
a poor business practice. It is considered better to let the person
have a chance to immediatly say goodbye and disconnect voluntarily or
remain on the line with an operator asking for additional money if
the parties wish to continue talking to each other. There can be and
certainly is some fraud as a result of this, but it apparently is
considered minor in comparison to the inconvenience callers would
have in needing to redial and start the call all over again if all
they needed were a few more seconds. How many constitutes 'a few more'
is open to debate. Operators are trained to use judgment in allowing
the call to remain connected while requesting more money, etc.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Kingsley G. Morse Jr.)
Subject: Broad Computer Telephony Patent Sweep!
Date: 4 Oct 1995 23:36:50 -0700
Organization: Network Access Services, Inc.


I need a reality check.

The September issue of {Computer Telephony} magazine published a
shocking article saying that a new partnership, named RAKTLP, owns
MANY CT patents which are SO broad that they could even make end users
who write CT applications at home liable!

Their 25 patents cover a WIDE range of interactive technology,
including merchandising, promotions, home shopping, securing
information from databases by telephone, and various uses of 800 and
900 numbers.

These may seem obvious and unpatentable, but West Interactive, a CT
service bureau, paid $4.4 million dollars for patent infringment, not
to mention ongoing royalties. Evidently American Express and First
Data Corp. have licensed the patents too. And RAKTLP is sending more
letters to other CT service bureaus.

The article, which was published WITHOUT the author's name, by the
way, said that "In theory, anybody who rolls their own CT-based
information-transaction app is liable, including end users who, more
and more, are using easy-to-use app gens to do just that from their
own premises." Are they liable?

Since this article was the first time I'd heard about these patents,
I'd like to ask for a reality check from the net at large. Are these
facts correct? Do these patents affect individuals programming
computer telephony applications at home?


Kingsley G. Morse Jr.

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

From: [e-mail] (Miguel Angel)
Subject: Zmodem and Win Programming Comms API
Date: 5 Oct 1995 13:29:13 GMT
Organization: GSyC, Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.


We need C source code for Zmodem protocol programming as well as the
Windows programming communications API.

Thanks for any message that anybody can mail to me, and ftp places are
welcome for this porpose.


Miguel A. Gallardo, President of APEDANICA
Carlos III University Associate Professor
P.O. Box 17083 - E-28080 Madrid (Spain)
Tel: [phone] - FAX: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
ASOCIACION PARA LA PREVENCION Y ESTUDIO DE DELITOS, ABUSOS Y NEGLIGENCIAS
EN INFORMATICA Y COMUNICACIONES AVANZADAS (APEDANICA)

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

From: Pinto, Dominic <[e-mail]>
Subject: Competitive Markets
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 95 16:15:00 GMT


Pat,

I'm looking at -- in the UK context primarily - the implications for
'dominant' carriers of an increasingly aggresive and competitive
market (or perhaps markets). Markets in the geographical sense as well
as non-geographical (e.g. customer segmented), and also where there
are fairly or increasingly artificial distinctions say between
wireless, wireline, and satellite based services.

I've noted that AT&T has been seeking to be regarded by the FCC as a
non-dominant carrier -- with further relaxation on pricing -- advance
filing notice reducing to one day -- quoted as the main advantage.
But the details of the arguments seem to be a little thin or
alternatively unclear. AT&T claim that whilst they may have 60% share
(of the U.S. long-distance market, I assume!), they are not able to
control prices or keep competitors out - i.e. AT&T is unable to act
independently of the market and has no (dominant) market power.

Can anyone help or provide pointers to useful sources or studies
dealing with for example these kind of questions? Such as: what are
the characteristics of a sufficiently competitive market (i.e.,
sufficiently competitive and self-sustaining so as to no longer need
market/economic regulation), and what criteria can or might be used to
determine whether or not a participant is dominant?


Dominic Pinto

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Berkeley Advanced Product Development Courses
Date: 6 Oct 1995 00:23:37 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley


University of California, Berkeley, Extension announces:

"ADVANCED PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT"

A series of five 1-day coordinated courses, October 23-27, 1995 at the
San Francisco International Airport

"WHEREAS THE BATTLEGROUND OF THE '80S WAS QUALITY, THE COMPETITIVE
BATTLEGROUND OF THE '90S WILL BE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT"

---Red Poling, former CEO, Ford

This series presents an advanced approach to product development to
help you achieve:

*Lowest possible total cost
*Ultrafast time to market
*Broad market acceptance
*Rapid and efficient customization
*Responsiveness to changing market conditions

THE COURSES (October 23-27)

1.  Advanced Product Development Management
2.  Product Definition Using QFD: Quality Function Deployment
3.  Agile Product Development for Mass Customization, JIT,
    BTO, and Flexible Manufacturing
4.  Low-Cost Product Development
5.  Design for Manufacturability

LECTURERS

DAVID M. ANDERSON, a consultant based in Lafayette California.  He
holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley, and has
more than 21 years of industrial experience, including 13 years of
consulting work. He is the author of two books published by the
Harvard University Press: "Design for Manufacturability: The New
Product Development Imperative" (1990) and Mass Customizing Products"
(to be published in 1996).  His next book will be "Low Cost Product
Development." Anderson has taught New Product Development in the
Management of Technology Program of the Haas School of Business and
the University of California, Berkeley.  In addition he has given
numerous corporate product development seminars internationally, and
at many companies, including several divisions of Hewlett-Packard.

CHARLES A. COX, instructor for Product Definition using QFD, is a
Certified Management Consultant and Certified Quality Engineer.  An
engineer by training, he has more than 17 years of consulting
experience in the management and service sectors, working with large
and small organizations to implement customer- driven product or
service design systems and procedures.  His latest publication is "The
Executive's Handbook on Quality Function Deployment" (John Wiley, to
be published in 1996).

COMPANIES MAY BUY SEATS

The fee for each one day course is $395.  The fee for the entire
five-course series is $1,495.  There is a 10 percent discount for
three or more enrollments provided they are submitted together.
Companies may "buy seats" for the series and send appropriate people
each day.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For a free detailed brochure describing the series send your
postal address to:

[e-mail]

Specify the "Advanced Product Development Series"

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

From: [e-mail] (USPDI)
Subject: Coference: Merging Your Organization Onto the Internet
Date: 5 Oct 1995 01:08:40 GMT
Organization: U.S. Professional Development Institute



                         National Conference on
              MERGING YOUR ORGANIZATION ONTO THE INTERNET
                  Theme: Successful Implementation
                         November 13-16, 1995
     Sheraton National Hotel * Arlington, Va. (Washington, D.C.)

  This Conference Teaches Workable Internet Implementation Solutions

                           ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

SCOPE AND PURPOSE

The conference is organized to benefit both current and prospective users
of the Internet, including executives, managers, technical/communications
specialists and contracting professionals. Focused workshops explore
special interest areas, while the conference sessions give attendees an
opportunity to expand their knowledge of practical marketing and operating
applications, management methods and technical information.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

This intensive program of workshops and conference sessions is designed to
facilitate usage of the Internet by any organization. It will assist your
organization in implementing all aspects of a successful Internet strategy
including:

* Defining the business uses for Internet and developing an integrated
  Internet strategy;

* Implementation including: the connection,  servers, user workstations,
  training;

* Security considerations and solutions;

* Business applications including: marketing, ordering, customer support;

* World Wide Web servers and page development.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

* Managers and technical staff needing an understanding of the Internet
  potential and usage;

* Business and government managers responsible for improving the
  operations of their organizations;

* Private sector executives responsible for marketing products and
  services;

* Operations personnel involved in MIS, IRM, systems operations, network
  management and other aspects of implementing Internet usage.

CONFERENCE VOLUME

Collections of presentation and reference materials will be provided to
each participant of the conference, briefings and technical workshops.
Participants will also receive "Internet: A Knowledge Odyssey (Business
Edition)," a multimedia reference guide and tutorial on CD-ROM, designed
for business and professional users.

HIGHLIGHTS

27 Plenary and Concurrent Sessions:
* User Track
* Implementation Track
* Applications Track

MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS:
* Increasing Internet Productivity with the Latest Tools
* Conducting Business Over the Internet
* Developing a Corporate Internet Strategy

TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS:
* Security Systems on the Internet
* Setting Up and Operating Internet Gateways and Web Servers
* Constructing a Successful Web Site

In cooperation with:
D.C. Chapter -- Internet Society
Association of Online Professionals
Capital PC Users Group

Conference Management by:
U.S. Professional Development Institute

             FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mail:   USPDI, 1738 Elton Road, Suite 304; Silver Spring, MD 20903
Phone:  [phone]
Fax:    [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] (Subject: Interne#t Conference)
Web:    http://www.clark.net/pub/uspdi

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

Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 17:06:55 PDT
From: Mark Crispin <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Mark Crispin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: A History of the Early Days of Usenet
Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Earlier on Thursday I commented that
TELECOM Digest was the oldest mailing list on the Internet. I got
the following note of correction this evening.   PAT]


Pat -

[e-mail] is older than Telecom; I've been a member
since 1977.  [e-mail] is also older, having been founded in 1979
(as TOPS-20@SU-SCORE).

 -- Mark --

DoD #0105, R90/6 pilot, FAX: [phone]  ICBM: N 47 39'35" W 122 18'39"
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:  Perhaps I should have said 'on the modern
Internet' or 'on the Internet as we know it today', but that would have
been weaseling out a little, wouldn't it?   PAT]

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

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Last Laugh! A Day Without OJ
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 21:15:00 CDT


Our first full day in a year without the spectacle of the century
broadcast live around the world ... but the first day of many for
commentaries that will probably go on so long that no one will
remember quite for sure what happened by the time it finally ends.

What was it the orange juice people said about a day without OJ
is like a day without sunshine?

After my comments here yesterday, someone wrote me to say the proper
term for what happened was the  jury aquitted him. They did not
'find him innocent', they did not 'find him not guilty'. I guess there
is an important distinction we should remember.

Anyway, some OJ jokes to share with your friends and co-workers. If
you enjoyed the 'dancing Itos' comedy routine on the 'Tonight Show'
then perhaps you will enjoy these also.

 *******

OJ called his attorney recently. Do you know what OJ wanted? He asked
the attorney 'Those were expensive gloves. When do I get my gloves back?"

 *******

OJ has a new email address for anyone who wants to write him. It is
really easy to remember:

        "slash slash slash slash backslash backslash slash escape"

 *******

After he got home, OJ got a phone call from former President Reagan.
The call went like this:

"OJ, this is President Reagan calling. I wanted to congratulate you
on your victory in the court. Once things have settled down for you
again, Nancy and I would like to invite you and your lovely wife Nicole
to join us for dinner."

Okay, I admit they're a little sick. But so was the whole trial. Aren't
you enjoying the miracle of modern telecommunications which allowed the
whole world to participate in the circus?


PAT

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #420
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #421

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 6 Oct 95 00:49:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 421

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Voice Compression on T1s (Matt Noah)
    Re: Voice Compression on T1s (Andrew Salisbury)
    Re: Voice Compression on T1s (Bob Stone)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Earl Wallace)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Fred Atkinson)
    Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel (Jeffrey Rhodes)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses (Marko Ruokonen)
    Re: ROLM Help Request by Brian Stoll (Lou Jahn)
    Where Can I Find CAT5 Standards/Specs? (Timothy H. Ohara)
    Centrex Information Wanted (James Deibele)
    Re: Payphones For Prisons (Peter M. Weiss)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Sam Spens Clason)
    Re: European Council Statement on Encryption (Sam Spens Clason)
    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Robert Virzi)
    Re: Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones" (Mike Morris)
    Re: Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones" (Ed Greenberg)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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*************************************************************************
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     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
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     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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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 Noah)
Subject: Re: Voice Compression on T1s
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 15:49:29 GMT
Organization: ACT Networks, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Jim McGrath ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I would like to hear from anyone with experience using voice
> compression techniques in T1 muxes. I need as much of the bandwidth of
> my T1s as possible for data, but had to cost-justify the T1s by
> including reductions in voice telco expenses. I will probably be using
> Newbridge muxes (3600 & 3624), which seem to support a voice-path at
> as low as 8kbps. Although it leaves more for data, I'm concerned about
> degraded quality. Of 8, 16 or 32kbps, I'm sure 32 is the least
> objectionable for the telemarketing people who will be on the phones,
> but what kind of quality might I expect?  Are there other mux vendors
> who provide better quality at low bandwidths?

We have toll quality voice at 8 kbps.  As for the T1 interface, check
with our Marketing Department. (805)-388-2474 x226.

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

From: [e-mail] (Latin Net)
Subject: Re: Voice Compression on T1s
Date: 05 Oct 1995 11:01:39 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Latin Net)


Mark,

I am running into a very similar dilema except I am trying to reduce
the network cost of E-0's from Mexico City. I was also hoping to use a
Newbridge product to get more workable voice lines per E-0.  Please
let me know if you find a good solution, and I will do the same.


Andrew Salisbury

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

From: Bob Stone <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Voice Compression on T1s
Date: 5 Oct 1995 22:41:28 GMT
Organization: JT&T, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> Paul O'Nolan,
[e-mail] writes:

>> I would like to hear from anyone with experience using voice
>> compression techniques in T1 muxes. I need as much of the bandwidth of

Voice & Data Systems manufactures a new telecom technology called
Terra Globe - virtual Global System. Terra Globe sends real-time fax,
fax-mail, and voice-mail as packetized data over the enterprise data
network.

The real-time fax function called Terra FaxPAD compresses and
multiplexes fax 20 to 1. Fax sent with Terra FaxPAD uses just 1/20 of
the bandwidth normally required. Many users have had to eliminate or
reduce voice compression because of problems with fax. Since 25% to
45% of all voice traffic is fax, by packetizing the real-time fax you
can save significannt bandwidth and run your voice at the compression
you find best.

See our web page for more details: http://www.fairfield.com/terra_globe


Regards.

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

From: [e-mail] (Earl Wallace)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 11:49:44 -0700
Organization: WTC


> And by the way, co-operative or not, you should be paying for business
> service. You can't argue "we're non profit"... so is the Red Cross and
> they pay for the proper service.

Funny you should mention that.  I'm planning on running a zillion
Centrex ISDN PRI's into my home over the next few years and they are
all 100% business lines.  Yet, Im going to pay the National Debt off
with my "Trench And Engineering Fees".  Well, one could say that since
I'm paying business rates I should get some sort of break, eh?

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 09:29:07 -0400
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?


> 3. The number is answered as a business;

> The Red Cross answers, "Red Cross...". A modem answering is neutral
> (neither necessarily business nor residence).

> I have been around and around with Pac*Bell types who try to regrade
> various services to business. I always win when we get down to the
> wording in the tariffs.

    Hmmm, this puts my situation in a border area.

    I have remote call forwarding on my home phone.  When I work,
I generally forward my line to my desk at work and answer with my
company name.  Interesting dilemna here should a telco person call my
home during the time I am forwarded to my office.  Any feedback.


Fred

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey Rhodes)
Subject: Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel
Date: 05 Oct 1995 23:42:23 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article [e-mail], Lou DeFonzo <[e-mail]> () writes:

> [e-mail] (Rolland Suh) wrote:

>> We are thinking about getting 56KB dedicated line to the Internet.  We
>> already have a T1 voice line, and wondering if it would be cost
>> effective for us to use one of the channels of existing T1, over
>> getting a new dediccated line.  Any idea on this?

> Assuming that you are not using all 24 DS0s, this would be an
> excellent way of gaining internet access. However, this will depend on
> who your carrier is for the T1 and who you are planning to use for
> your Internet Access Provider. This will require that your CSU is
> capable of providing Drop and Insert capability and that it can
> support a DSU. Basically a DSU/CSU with Drop and Insert capability.

This is good advice but the story isn't finished. You will need to
negotiate with the T1 carrier to provide the Drop and Insert
capability to the Internet at the other end of the T1. Not all T1
carriers/providers are currently capable to be Internet Service
Providers.

Also, there are two types of Drop and Insert DSU/CSUs. One type is
intended for fractional T1 and terminates a T1. A cascadable DSU/CSU
allows you to Drop and Insert and pass the T1 signal to another
DSU/CSU. You will want a cascadable Drop and Insert DSU/CSU.

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

Date: 05 Oct 95 10:29:25 EDT
From: Marko Ruokonen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses


In Telecom Digest Volume 15, Issue 415 [e-mail] (Dave
Yost) wrote:

> [...] Haven't you ever picked up the phone at work and started to
> dial a number without the 9?  Haven't you ever picked up the phone at
> home and started to dial 9?  This kind of mistake is not stupidity or
> some kind of disability, it's what happens with wetware.  And it is
> evidence that there is something wrong with the usability of the
> system.

Think about a fax machine dialing a wrong number because someone
entered the number in a wrong "format" (leaving out 9 or prefixing it
with '9' where it should not).  This happened at a company that I do
consulting for here in Germany, a country with variable length
numbers. A document had to be faxed to Maidenhead (Great Britain).

The fax number was something like +44 628 ... . Dialing would be:
0(get outside line)+00(international)+44628(Maidenhead)+(rest of no.)

Note: This was before "Phone day", so no '1' before the 628 code.

Some days later I answered a call for the person who sent the fax and
was on vacation at that time.  The guy at the other end was furious
and shouted he would sue me for harrasing phone calls.

Well, I managed to get the word out of him that he lived in the town
of Wittmund in Northern Germany. I asked what his phone number was (no
caller-ID yet :-() and - bingo - it was: 04462 8+something.

I explained that someone here had left out an extra '0' to reach an
outside line and so on. Ok, so what?

He told *his* side of the story:

That fax was programmed to call during off-peak (cheaper) hours and
called this poor guy *in the middle of the night* over and over again
*for days*.  He complained at the phone company (Telekom) and they
quickly found out it was a fax that did the harrassing calls. They
installed a fax machine at his home and that's how he got the
company's phone number.  In effect, the phone company helped this guy
to get after the harrasser himself and I'm sure this is not how it
done here in Germany.

And what's more: even dialing 0+0044+ would get you nowhere at that
company because they use a different code for international
destinations: 98+00+country code+rest of number.

This is because of special tariffs based on volume and they claim
that's the only way they can do book-keeping on the international
calls and get discounts from Telekom.

The problem here is that "getting outside line" and "long distance"
both use '0' and can thus get you way off.

How to change this? I believe this is a difficult task if everybody
insists to have his favorite dialing scheme spared from change.
Therefore, there will not be a common plan to ever come into
existence.

Examples:

How many people object to making '00' the international access code
and '0' the long distance code _worldwide_? Don't come up saying "but
we already have '0' for alternate billing / operator". That's exactly
what I mean. There should be ways to implement uniform dialing, even
if it would take ten years in transition.

How about 112 as an emergency number instead of 911? I've heard that
112 is very easy to dial even if there's no light to see the pad or
the dial.

Conclusion: It's not the best ideas that win, but those that are "rushed" to
market go gain share quickly.


Marko Ruokonen / Cologne, Germany
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A perfect example of a fax machine giving
all sorts of grief to innocent people occurred here in Chicago several
years ago when the First National Bank had a fax machine programmed to
dial out at the close of business each day to various branches of the
bank with whatever it was being transmitted among them. Somehow the
klutz who programmed the autodial function managed to get '011' in the
dialing string. 7 or 8 pm here each day and after midnight in Germany
some poor family there was getting awakened by a ringing phone and
greeted by silence when they answered. Not once of course, but several
times in a row each night until finally the machine would give up and
move on to other numbers on its list. After a couple weeks of this, the
family was understanably very annoyed and frightened, so they went to
Telekom asking for help.

Telekom traced the call back to the USA and asked AT&T to intervene or
look into the matter. Of course a few more days had passed by that
time, rendering the family's phone almost useless all night long. AT&T
found it was coming from Chicago and brought it to the attention of
Illinois Bell, which in turn traced it back pretty quickly to the First
National Bank. Whoever at IBT handled the bank's account called their
contact at the bank to ask for assistance. According to the report on
it later, 'the bank has (this was some years ago) idiots working in
their telecom department.' The telco person said it was like talking to
a brick wall. No one seemed to understand what was the problem or what
was wanted. Telco finally got someone who grudgingly agreed to 'look into
it and get it taken care of.'

You think that solved the problem? A week later the Germans reported the
problem hasn't been cured at all; that the calls are still continuing.
At this point AT&T leans and breathes a little harder on IBT and quite
embarassed about it, IBT sent someone over to the bank to talk to the
people. The VP-Telecom was not in at the time, and it was the same run-
around with incompetent people who could 'only follow policy'.  The IBT's
guy's response was to go back and order a disconnect on that line. A day
or two later when the bank complained about the line being 'out of order'
he read them the riot act and *finally* got someone to go reprogram the
fax machine.

Well, the fax calls stopped going to the German family alright, but soon
enough the monthly phone bill arrived for the bank, and although it is
always a huge bill, they did look it over from time to time and when
page after page after page of one minute calls to a number in Germany
show up the bank's response was to call and complain, asking for credit
on account of 'some screw up by the phone company'. The person calling
had no knowledge whatsoever of the problem that had gone uncorrected for
close to a month. Apparently no one there mentioned it. All very self-
righteous, he wanted credit since this was being charged against his
department's budget. This was like the frosting for the cake, and the
telco man read him the riot act also and concluding that 'you are not
to ever call here direct again. Take any and all complaints to your
telecom department, period.'

Then there was the guy who ran the Fido BBS here in Chicago about ten
years ago whose script for National Mail Hour had an error in it and
he kept waking up some 75 year old woman at 3 AM. This was a local call,
and it went on for about a week until finally the IBT Security Department
looked into it. Not knowing exactly what was going on -- this was ten
years ago in the 'early days' of BBS'ing -- telco security and Chicago
police got warrants and went out there to kick his door in and confiscate
everything telephone-related they could find. The woman was ready to
sue telco, and telco told this guy if she sues us we are going to have
you added as a defendant in it. The deal they finally cut with him was
he had to *immediatly* remove his modem and computer from the phone line
and not re-attach it to the line until it had been inspected and found
to be in good working order AND to immediatly and permanently discontinue
all BBS operations. That was the part that stung. "Of course," said telco,
"if you don't think we have the authority to make that demand, you can
always sue us, and the woman who you *harrassed* is ready to sue you as
well. Let the court straighten it out."  He thought it prudent to close
his electronic doors.   PAT]

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

Date: 05 Oct 95 20:17:19 EDT
From: Lou Jahn <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: ROLM Help Request


Brian Stoll asked for help with a ROLM PBX.

Brian,

I am not certain if you've tried it, but ROLM has an excellent
Consultant Liaison program. You can contact them via 1-800-538-8154.
Ask for Bob Lee -- he knows PBXs and the 9751 like nobody you've seen
(and if he can't answer he'll get one for you).

Secondly, failing that call Society of Telecommunication Consultants
and ask them to give you a local wizard on the 9751.  They have some
super members, many focused on ROLM PBXs. Call Susan Kuttner at
1-800-782-7670.

Sure one or both of these will be helpful.


Lou

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

From: [e-mail] (Timothy H Ohara)
Subject: Where Can I Find CAT5 Standards/Specs?
Date: 6 Oct 1995 02:19:51 GMT
Organization: UB


Does anyone have any suggestions where I could find specs and
standards for CAT 5 cabling on the net?

Thanks in advance.

Please E-Mail [e-mail]


Timothy H. O'Hara                  Senior, Electrical Engineering
State University of New York at Buffalo   tohara @ eng.buffalo.edu
World Wide Web Home Page: "http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~tohara"

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

From: [e-mail] (James Deibele)
Subject: Centrex Information Wanted
Date: 5 Oct 1995 18:21:17 -0700
Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access [phone]


I tried checking the archives at lcs.mit.edu and the local technical
bookstore (Powell's Tech here in Portland) and am coming up empty on
information on Centrex.  I have an article out of {Teleconnect} magazine
and a long fax from US West and that's about all I've got.

We're looking to replace our ancient Telplus 16x48 phone system which
uses proprietary digital phones with something a bit more up-to-date.
We're not that unhappy with the Telplus except that we'd like to graft
voicemail and auto-attendant features onto it and we've been told that
while it does have analog capability it doesn't work all that well
(which is different than what the installer told us ... oh, well).

Because of the rate that things are changing I'm not wildly interested
in buying a nice PBX that will turn out to be useless for voice over
ethernet or video conferencing or whatever it turns out that we'll be
doing a couple of years from now.  If I can buy some $50 phones that
work with a standard RJ-11 and use them for a year or two we can just
give them to employees when we go to ISDN at every desk or whatever.

Are there any books readily available on Centrex?  Any archive sites?
Any references to software vendors who would let us control Centrex
features ourselves without having to go through US West (there's
supposed to be a couple of programs that do this)?


Thanks.

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

Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 15:05:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: Peter M. Weiss <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Payphones For Prisons
Organization: Penn State University


Don't forget to research the RISKS of pay phones in prisons by
searching the archives of the RISKS-Forum Digest.  Current issues
available on Usenet group COMP.RISKS which has pointers to other
resources.


Pete Weiss, Penn State

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

From: [e-mail] (Sam Spens Clason)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: 5 Oct 95 21:01:38 GMT


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Thomas Villinger) writes:

> [e-mail] (Martin Kealey) wrote:

>> Tony Harminc <[e-mail]> wrote on 20 Sep 1995 in
>> article <[e-mail]>:

>>>> Easy, isn't it?

>>> Easy yes -- but a disaster for planning and orderly
>>> growth.  This sort of design ensures that Germany will not
>>> have portable numbers for a long time.

>> Whilst this may make portable numbers a little more
>> difficult, they are by no means impossible.

> Why should it be impossible to get portable numbers? I don't
> see any difference to the problems as they occur in a fixed
> numbering scheme.  We already do have "portable" numbers
> (think of all the mobile phones which are in fact portable
> numbers) and guess what i works :). Note that we do have a
> hierarchical numbering system but still work with databases,
> so it might be possible that a certain group of numbers get
> collected in an exchange aand are routed after the last digit
> which contains the necessary information is collected.

Our toll-free numbers in 020 (= +1 800) used to be geographic when
they were introduced some ten (?) years ago.  A call to 020-796xxx was
routed to the area code switch in e.g.  Stockholm where xxx was
resolved, 020-797xxx onto e.g Gothenburg etc.

After a couple of years this was dropped and SS7 signaling with
IN-db's was introduced.  020 numbers are now of variable length (020+
4, 6 or 7 digits) and more carriers than Telia now offer them.  The
change of standard length from 6 to 7 enabled new carriers to have a
slice of 020 and introducing shorter special numbers (e.g. 020-0031 as
prefix to hide CLI) and at the same time not having to change the old
(vanity) numbers.

So yes, portable numbers can be introduced very easely.  Introducing
IN-db's for parts of the geographical number range should be no
problem since, if my memory serves me right, up to seven digits can be
used when determining to which network entity the call is to be
routed.


Sam
http://www.nada.kth.se/~sam,  [e-mail],  [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Sam Spens Clason)
Subject: Re: European Council Statement on Encryption
Date: 5 Oct 95 22:39:19 GMT


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Marc SCHAEFER) writes:

> Does someone know something about the rumoured European Council
> Statement on Encryption?  I have heard it may establish a central
> (possibly private) organization which would be holder for keys.

Not much, but statements (or whatever they're called) aren't mandatory
(=European law).


Sam
http://www.nada.kth.se/~sam,  [e-mail],  [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Virzi)
Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Date: 5 Oct 1995 21:34:53 GMT
Organization: GTE Laboratories, Waltham, MA


In article <[e-mail]>, Marvin Vis <mvis@advtech.
uswest.com> wrote:

> Regarding the breakup, has anyone speculated about the driving forces
> behind the move?  Of course, there are the factors that AT&T has presented
> as their motivations (those of speed/responsiveness, targeted stock, etc.),
> but has anyone tried to think of other reasons?

I thought it was so that the equipment ATT could sell more stuff like
switches.  In the phone business LECs and {Whole}ATT are each others
biggest customers.  LECs buy lots of stuff like switches and fiber and
whatnot from ATT, and then sell ATT for local access and the like.

Now that parts of ATT are going in to direct competition with LECs,
for example in the mobile environment, LECs are thinking that maybe
they ought to be buying from some other vendor.  Or at least that is
how the story goes. This upsets the balance.  So by spinning off
equipment from network services, the equipment ATT should be treated
like all the other equipment vendors (Nortel, Ericcson, Motorola,
etc.).  I would think that would take a bit of convincing, but then
nobody has asked me.


Bob Virzi    [e-mail]     [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Morris)
Subject: Re: Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones"
Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 06:18:21 GMT


[e-mail] (Les Fairall) writes:

> I have an 1A2 system with several "single line" phones attached to it.
> The 1A2 is strapped with common ringing (provided by a separate ring
> generator.  Problem is that if someone answers on a non-key phone
> (i.e. a regular off the shelf store bought phone that has been added
> w/a single line adapter), the system continues to ring all other
> phones for about ten seconds. (I believe that is the standard timeout
> for the 400E KTU cards that are in the system.) I remember years ago
> seeing a device that you could plug a normal phone into and it would
> sense it off hook and satsify the A/A1 connection and make the ktu see
> that line as in use. This would be great as it would (1) stop lines
> from ringing another ten seconds and (2) actually light the line up in
> use.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Use the second (normally unused) pair
> in the 'regular phone' to short the A/A1 line. Wire them through a
> relay in the 'regular phone' which would close on the phone going off
> hook. You will find a spare set of contacts in the phone for that
> purpose. When you provide the A/A1 supervision you will get what you
> want.   PAT]

I have a 1A2 here in the house -- in fact my modem is going thru it
right now.  Most Bell-clone instruments have a set of hookswitch
contacts that can be freed up and wired to the second pair of the
RJ-11.

If not, call Greybar or Alltel and ask for a TA-1 - it's a little
black box made by TT Systems in NYC (914-968-2100) that has a two-wire
RJ-11 jack and a four-wire 6" RJ-11 plug-ended cord.  Works just fine
to solve problems like this. In fact I may be ordering another half
dozen real soon now. I have one on my modem, one on my answering
machine, one on each port of the three-port conferencing bridge, one
on each port of the five-port announcing system at a friend's movie
theater that still has a 584-shelf running ... etc.


Mike Morris                                [e-mail]
#include <disclaimer.std.h>       I have others, but this works the best.
   This message assembled from 100% recycled electrons (and pixels).

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

From: [e-mail] (Ed Greenberg)
Subject: Re: Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones"
Date: 05 Oct 1995 15:06:24 -0700
Organization: Best Internet Communications


In article <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor noted
in response to Les Fairall <[e-mail]>:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Use the second (normally unused) pair
> in the 'regular phone' to short the A/A1 line. Wire them through a
> relay in the 'regular phone' which would close on the phone going off
> hook. You will find a spare set of contacts in the phone for that
> purpose. When you provide the A/A1 supervision you will get what you
> want.   PAT]

It's important to get the right set of contacts involved here. The
order in which the contacts for Tip/Ring and A control are made and
broken are important.

When answering the call, make (close) A-A1 BEFORE allowing the phone
line itself to be connected.

When hanging up, break (open) A-A1 AFTER disconnecting the line.

If A breaks first on disconnect, the line will go on hold instead of
hanging up.


Ed Greenberg           [e-mail]        Ham Radio: KM6CG
                    http://www.greenberg.org/

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #421
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #422

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 6 Oct 95 15:28:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 422

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Phil Schoendorff)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Bill Walker)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Linc Madison)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (John David Galt)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (John David Galt)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (David H. Close)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (John Thompson)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Al Varney)
    Call for Vocoders for Testing Reannouncement (Rob Morgenstern)
    Re: Broad Computer Telephony Patent Sweep! (Chris Gettings)
    Re: California Telecom Bill Lowers Cost For Residents (Steven Lichter)
    Caller ID Expansion Stalled (Krusty Robinson)
    CT Applications - Pricing Policy (Manoj Bhatia)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Phil Schoendorff)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: 6 Oct 1995 13:57:44 -0400
Organization: The Greater Columbus FreeNet


Well I don't know how everyone else might take it but, I just talked
to what used to be an AT&T employee.  A little unsure of the final
situation but they seem to be taking it well.  They were trying to
find a new name for their section and someone came up with another
damned acronym.

    TWATT  for This Was A T T


Phillip A. Schoendorff

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Walker)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 1995 11:21:34 -0800
Organization: Qualcomm, Inc.


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

> I see in the press releases that after the three-way AT&T split, the
> piece that handles telephone service and stuff like that will be
> called AT&T.  The other two pieces, the one that builds equipment and
> the one that sells computers, remain unnamed.  Clearly, this is a job
> for The TELECOM Digest.

A person I talk to at the part that builds equipment has taken to saying
her employer is "the company formerly known as AT&T".


Bill Walker - [e-mail] - QUALCOMM, Inc., San Diego, CA USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 11:02:20 GMT


Ed Ellers ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Toby Nixon <[e-mail]> writes:

>> So, why SHOULDN'T the phone network be designed so that computers can
>> be connected to the network ANYWHERE and be permitted to input a
>> fully-qualified international number (including country code) and have
>> the NETWORK figure out how to route the call, instead of the computer
>> needing to be pre-programmed to know exactly which subset of the phone
>> number needs to be dialed, along with whatever prefixes are needed?

> That could be done easily enough -- all AT&T (or whatever the new
> hardware company will be called), Northern Telecom and others have to
> do is rewrite their switch software.  However, this would eliminate
> the safety feature that now exists in most (but not all) areas where
> you can't accidentally dial a toll call as a local one or vice-versa.

This is a commonly-held misconception.  In fact, allowing, for example,
1+NPA+NXX-XXXX for *ABSOLUTELY ANY* call within the NANP would not in
any way even compromise this "safety feature."  The translation of this
number in billing terms is, "put this call through, WHETHER OR NOT a
toll applies."  If in fact the call is local, the fact that you dialed
it with a 1 in front DOES NOT change that!!!

In areas where the difference between local and toll calls is both
distinct and severe, it is reasonable to REQUIRE a 1 on all toll calls.
However, it is entirely STUPID and POINTLESS to *prohibit* the 1 on
local calls.  It serves ABSOLUTELY no valid purpose.

So, to the PUCs of states like Texas, I say unequivocally, ALLOW
11-digit dialing for ALL calls.  There is no EXCUSE for doing otherwise.

This isn't just a matter of computers.  If I'm in Dallas and need to
call someone in Arlington, *WHY* should I be required to know whether
the number I'm dialing is a Metro number?  If I dial 1-817-265-xxxx
instead of 817-265-xxxx, the call should go through WITHOUT INTERCEPT
and WITHOUT CHARGE.  By dialing the 1, I indicated willingness to pay a
toll *IF* it applies; so, I get a nice surprise at the end of the month
when the call doesn't appear on my bill.

If Dallas goes through with the 214/972 overlay as currently planned
(although a Digest reader I know from high school tells me there is talk
of doing a split roughly along the loop freeway), the situation will get
even worse: there will be four different area codes with some numbers
requiring 1 and others prohibiting it, with no easily remembered
pattern.  Make that 5 area codes if 817 also overlays, as rumored.

The one difficulty in North America with allowing users to dial the full
international number is that we would have to change the dialing prefix
for operator-assisted international calls from 01 to 010.  Otherwise,
dialing 011612NXXXXXX could be either an operator-assisted call to
Minneapolis (01-1-612...) or a direct-dialed call to Sydney, Australia
(011-61-2...) [Even when Sydney switches to 8-digit numbers, it would
require too many digits to decide, and there are other examples.]

And as for the so-called "international standard" of 00, we in North
America will comply just as soon as the "standard" allows for
subscriber-dialed operator-assisted calls.  Until then, a standard that
was written with deliberate and malicious disregard for the requirements
of the North American network will be disregarded, as it should be.


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 95 11:07:21 PDT


> One pet peeve I've had with terminal programs with dialing directories
> is that I have to edit the phone file when I change area codes. I'd
> love to just enter 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx for each number, and then enter
> the area code that I'm calling from in a different field, and the
> program would "know" not to dial 1-xxx then they match.

WinFaxPro, a program to send and receive faxes on a PC, does not have this
problem.  Like you, I have not found a modem program that doesn't have it.


John David Galt

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 95 11:33:16 PDT


PAT writes:

> I do not know about the tariff in California, but the tariff here states
> things a bit differently. (1) any service which is not exclusively for
> the personal use of the residents of a domicile is a 'business' service.
> (2) at an address which has historically been used for business, then
> any service installed there must be business service; however at an
> address which has historically been residential in nature then residence
> service is available *unless the line is being used for business purposes.*
 ...
> The error by telco is one of nomenclature. Long ago the types of service
> should have been described as 'exclusive personal use by one or more
> individuals at a place of residence' and 'all other service.' Then either
> you qualify for the less expensive rates or you do not.  PAT]

It's still a matter of opinion, for two reasons:

1) The fact that someone may do a lot of entertaining, parties and the
like, does not make his/her home a "business."  Social gatherings are
part of the normal use of a residence.  Internet use is to my phone
what a party is to my home: part of residential use, as long as I
don't create a public nuisance.

2) The analogy goes further: suppose I start selling software, Tupperware,
or Amway stuff at my parties?  (Still assuming that I don't create a
nuisance such as excessive noise ...)  No reasonable jurisdiction
would want to shut me down for violating residential zoning, unless I
make enough money that the IRS would call it a business rather than a
hobby.

I would assume that the original poster's operation falls into the "hobby"
category -- because I know about 20 people who have similar systems in
their homes.  None of them has a prayer of competing with the major
commercial ISPs, and none of them wants to try -- each serves a small
circle of friends.


John David Galt

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

From: [e-mail] (David H. Close)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: 6 Oct 1995 06:21:13 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:
> The error by telco is one of nomenclature. Long ago the types of service
> should have been described as 'exclusive personal use by one or more
> individuals at a place of residence' and 'all other service.' Then either
> you qualify for the less expensive rates or you do not.  PAT]

The error is classifying service at all. At one time, percentage of time
the line was in use may have justified higher rates due to expensive
lines. But today, service is essentially without cost beyond overhead.
There is no remaining justification for charging residences less or
businesses more except that there are more residences and their occupants
vote. See the cover story in this week's issue of the {Economist}.


Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA
[e-mail], [phone]
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Thompson)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 95 05:32:58 GMT
Organization: Monmouth Internet Corporation


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jeffrey Yee)
wrote:

> I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal from to
> synchronize their clocks and equipment.

PAT responded,

> There are two sources of standardized time information in the USA. These
> are the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC and the National Bureau of
> Standards in Boulder, Colorado.

> Using your computer's communication program and a modem set to 1200 baud,
> you can get a dislay on your computer screen showing the correct time by
> calling USNO at 202-653-0351 or NBS at 303-494-4774. I shall stifle my
> desire at this time to discuss the old (defunct for almost thirty years)
> Western Union Time Service, which got its feed from USNAVOB.    PAT]

There is a neat little shareware Windows program out there called TimeSync.
It connects to the USNO Internet Time Server at tick.usno.navy.mil, and sets
your computer's clock to the USNO's time.  It's easy to use, as long as you
know how many minutes difference you are from UTC.  I'm not exactly
sure where you get it, but I'll e-mail it to anybody who asks.  (I did
try to telnet to 'tick', but got nowhere).


John Thompson
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I telnetted to tick without any problem (that
is to stay the network was up; there were no connectivity problems) but I
had no login for it of course. I tried FTP thinking there might be stuff
in a public directory, but tick does not allow anonymous ftp connections.
Is there also a DOS version of this that you are aware of?    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Al Varney)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 14:25:01 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Martin Kealey <martin@kurahaupo.
gen.nz> wrote:

>>> If compelled signalling were used,

>> Ah, but it's not. And that's the issue, isn't it?

> Quite true; the point I'm trying to get at is that compelled
> signalling doesn't necessarily mean opening a voice-grade path all the
> way to the far end, so while it's not entirely without cost, that cost
> is pretty insignificant; for example, far less than the voice-grade
> path used to signal ring-back in a lot of networks.  (It is conceivable
> that there may even be a net benefit from cost reductions elsewhere.)

   I'd be interested in the type of signaling between switches you
imply does not require reserving a circuit when sending the first
batch of digits.  The ITU-T standards I recall insist on a circuit ID
in the IAM (repeated in SAMs).  While the circuit may not actually be
cut through for voice, it is tied-up from the moment of the IAM being
transmitted until the last digit is dialed.  After all, you don't want
to ring a line unless there is a circuit available and ready to cut
through, right?

   The ring-back (audible ring) signal needs to be sent via a real circuit,
since there is no other means of insuring the circuit can be cut through
after answer without clipping the initial "hello".  And, of course, since
the circuit is sitting there anyway (after the first IAM), it might as well
be used.

   Again, from what I know (and I'd like to be wrong here):

     Compelled signaling has significant circuit holding times when R2
     signalling is used through several switches and long numbers are being
     dialed.  The holding times do NOT change when SS7 is used, unless
     dialing is faster that the R2 signalling times (for example, ISDN can
     give the originating switch the entire number "en bloc", and SS7 would
     save some time).

   In the USA, a similar problem occurs when "overlap MF" outpulsing
is used to access an Interexchange Carrier (IXC).  To save post-dial
delay time, the call begins routing to the IXC when there are 4 more
digits yet to dial -- on average, the dialing time is about the time
needed to seize circuits to the IXC and outpulse ANI information.  The
actual dialed digits are not sent until the last four been collected.
This is an attempt to balance the extra holding time of circuits with
the desire to reduce the delay after dialing caused by the amount of
data signaled by MF.

   With SS7 in the USA, there is no need for "overlap" outpulsing.
NPAs and NXXs of nearby NPAs are screened for validity as they are dialed,
but the call is not sent outside the originating switch until all digits
have been dialed.


Al Varney

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

From: Rob Morgenstern <[e-mail]>
Subject: Call for Vocoders For Testing Reannouncement
Date: 6 Oct 1995 16:38:03 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corp.


The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in cooperation with the
International Civil Aviation Organization's Aeronautical Mobile
Communications Panel is soliciting vocoder manufacturers to evaluate
current technology for application to air traffic control communications.
Following is the text published in the Commerce Business Daily by the
FAA Technical Center.  This information is being posted to TELECOM Digest
in hopes of expanding the coverage of this information.


          VOICE DIGITIZING EQUIPMENT FOR EVALUATION OF
      APPLICABILITY TO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL APPLICATIONS

POC Anthony (Buzz) Cerino, [phone].
Alternate Contacts: John Petro [phone], Ed Coleman [phone].

It is the intent of the FAA to evaluate technology in the area of
voice coding equipment to determine applicability for use in national
and international air/ground communications.  Suppliers willing to
assist in this effort are encouraged to contact the above for the
purpose of submitting equipment for evaluation.  Subject equipment
will be evaluated within a standardized test bed.  For specifications
and information on the standardized test bed please contact the above
contact points.

Equipment not meeting the following requirements shall not be
tested further:

a) Maximum bit rate of 4800 bps (including all FEC);
b) Maximum back-to-back delay of 80 msec;
      back-to-back delay less than 80 msec is desired
      back-to-back delay measured from analog input of test bed to
         analog output of test bed through the correlation of voice
         waveforms;
c) An integer number of Vocoder frames shall be equal to 120 msec;
d) Operate in a half duplex push to talk (PTT) mode;
e) Equipment provided must interface with the standardized test
    bed setup;
     The encoder and decoder shall be two separate units;
     RS422 into and out of the encoder;
     RS422 into and out of the decoder;
     Obtain a copy of test bed specifications from above contacts;
f) Duplicates of submitted equipment must be available for testing
    by multiple international sources (at reasonable cost).

The following performance criteria shall apply:

a) Good voice quality maintained down to a BER of 1x10-3;
b) Intelligibility should be maintained down to a BER of 2x10-2;
c) Intelligibility maintained at a maximum bit rate of 4000 bps or
    less (including all FEC) for special operations;
d) Voice quality performance in high level background noise environments;
e) Voice quality performance in tandem with other digital voice
    techniques;
f) Voice quality performance using speakers of multiple languages.

All submissions must include or shall not be tested:

1. Complete documentation on system operation;
2. Company policy regarding algorithm licensing;
3. Disclosure plans for international standardization and manufacturing.

Any equipment/documentation submitted shall be considered proprietary
and not be provided to any competitor. The FAA will not be responsible
for any costs incurred by any contributor as a result of their
participation, and there is no guarantee of any solicitation as a
result of this study.  Equipment should be submitted no later than
January 12, 1996, after which no updates in software or hardware will
be considered.  All equipment/documentation will be returned following
completion of the evaluation. Any questions regarding this CBD should
be submitted in writing to Mr. Cerino via FAX@[phone].  (0102)
FAA Technical Center, Contracts section, ACT-131, Atlantic City
International Airport, NJ [08405]


Robert Morgenstern   [e-mail]
Center for Advanced Aviation System Development

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

Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 09:29:39 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Chris Gettings)
Subject: Re: Broad Computer Telephony Patent Sweep!


I did not see the article however, I do know of a company which had
some patents on telephone keypad dialing sequences.  Believe it or
not, this guy had a patent on certain methods of entering alphanumeric
characters with the standard 12 button keypad.  These included
striking the "2" key three times to enter a "C" and some other
"techniques."  I was very suprised that he was granted patents some
time in the 70s since the very presence of three letters on each key
anticipates some way of using them in data entry.  If anyone held a
patent I was sure that it would be Bell Labs, Western Electric or
another early telco.

However, apparently this small company was apparently able to obtain
and uphold some rights to this technique.  They have reportedly been
successful at obtaining HUGE royalties and settlements from a number
of large companies which make fax machines since this technique is
often used to enter the fax transmission header which prints out on
the top of the fax.  (Seeking royalties and settlements is all they
do!) I am trying to find the literature I was given by an executive of
the company and I will post more info.  I am very interested in other
info on the RAKTLP too, although I think it is a different group.


Chris Gettings, Lead Lunatic
[e-mail]
www.econnect.net

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven Lichter)
Subject: Re: California Telecom Bill Lowers Cost For Residents
Date: 6 Oct 1995 08:43:44 -0700
Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University


[e-mail] (Gary D. Hodge ) writes:

> In California, phone bills have dropped. With the announcement that
> rates, such as IntraLATA, Intrastate/InterLATA, and even Interstate,
> were lowered by 15 to 20 percent.  I couldn't believe eyes when my
> phone bill showed a 20 percent drop. I really thought my flat rate was
> good before, but now, wow !!!

> As far as I know, this is only applicable through certain carriers,
> but, watch out for those that can't guarantee rates of six cents/minute.

Your Intra and Interlata rates may have dropped, but you now pay about
20% more for you basic phones monthly rates, plus the taxes have
increased, so unless you make a lot of toll calls you bill will have
increased and will continue to do so. Also when next year comes around
and you can pick your own local dial tone you can expect more of an
increase, more so if you pick another carrier other then the basic
phone company you have now. Unless they have their own equipment
they will have to resell your local carrier's trunks or another one
that has trunking and that will also require that a service fee will
be paid to the local carrier for using their facilities. In the
long run only large customers will save money and they already have
those options.


The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is.
SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub [phone] 2400/14.4 24 hours,
Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Krusty Robinson)
Subject: Caller ID Expansion Stalled
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 06:45:26 GMT


    ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Southwestern Bell on Thursday yanked a plan
to sell detailed information about people to the businesses they call
after criticism it was a threat to customers' privacy.

    The service would have given businesses the names, telephone
numbers and addresses of callers, along with demographic information
compiled by Equifax Inc., a national credit reporting and information
service.

    But the phone company withdrew its proposal for the Caller
Intellidata after Missouri Public Counsel Martha Hogerty persuaded
utility regulators to put it on hold and schedule a public hearing
for Nov. 16.

    "We want to take more time to insure that Missouri regulators
have a comprehensive understanding of the parameters of the proposed
service," said Terry Freeman, Bell's area manager of product management.

    Southwestern Bell may again seek approval for the program later
this year or in early 1996, Freeman said.

    "Consumers should not be forced to become statistics in a
marketing study merely by placing a telephone call," Hogerty said.
She called the service an abuse of the company's local telephone
monopoly and said it "smacks of Big Brother."

    Bell wanted to sell businesses monthly reports about their
callers. The reports would include the date and time of each call, the
caller's name, telephone number, street address, city, state, nine-digit
zip code and whether the number is a residence or business.

    Bell would get that information from its own computerized
files.  The company also would give businesses a statistical profile
of their customers as a group, using demographic information from
Equifax, Hogerty said. The information would include income, lifestyle,
education, neighborhood and other information from census reports.

    Bell maintained the demographic information cannot be tied to
a specific caller. The profiles are for general areas, such as zip
codes or census tracts, and not for individuals.

    Bell already offers the service in Wichita and Topeka in
Kansas and in Houston and Austin in Texas.

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

Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 12:47:03 +0000
From: manoj bhatia <[e-mail]>
Subject: CT Applications - Pricing Policy
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada


To all the Computer Telephony (CT) application developers, I have some
queries on pricing policies of the CT app gen companies in the market
(like Stylus,Parity, Technically Speaking, Apex etc).

 1) Why are some of these vendors charging run-time fees on the
application developer toolkit they offer, while some are not? Is it a
question of pure volume of sales or is it something else?

 2) What is the relation between the number of lines supported for an
application (say voice mail)and the number of ports of a typical
Dialogic card (say 2port , 4 port or T1/E1) supports? e.g. How far a
typical voice mail application software (the app-gen and the source
code) gets affected by the number of ports that the card supports?


Thanks in advance,

manoj

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #422
******************************


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Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 16:22:35 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #423

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 6 Oct 95 16:22:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 423

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Garrett A. Wollman)
    Re: Area Code Split Dates (Richard Eyre-Eagles)
    Re: Area Code Split Dates (Craig Milo Rogers)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? ([e-mail])
    Re: Canadian Calling Cards in US (Tony Harminc)
    Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (Gabe Wiener)
    Re: Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe? (Claes Gussing)
    Re: Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones" (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!  (Robert Ricketts)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
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* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
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     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (Garrett A. Wollman)
Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Date: 6 Oct 1995 15:34:54 GMT
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science


In article <[e-mail]>, Marvin Vis <[e-mail].
com> wrote:

> Regarding the breakup, has anyone speculated about the driving forces
> behind the move?  Of course, there are the factors that AT&T has presented
> as their motivations (those of speed/responsiveness, targeted stock, etc.),
> but has anyone tried to think of other reasons?

I think it's pretty clear, actually, what the driving forces are.
Consider the following facts:

1) AT&T is the RBOCs' principal supplier of switches and related
equipment.

2) AT&T is also a large long-distance company.

3) The RBOCs want to compete with AT&T in the LD market.

4) AT&T wants to compete with the RBOCs in the LEC market.

5) NCR has been a money sink since AT&T bought it.

I'd say the writing has been on the wall for some time now ...


Garrett A. Wollman    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Eyre-Eagles)
Subject: Re: Area Code Split Dates
Organization: GoodNet
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 09:30:24 -0400


<<SNP>> (not snip!, I'll explain later)

> The 213 NPA is entirely contained inside the LA City Limits.  The
> others are partly (or mostly) outside the LA {City Limits, County,
> LATA}.  They are included if any part is included inside the respective
> boundaries.

Wrong ... according to my maps, the following municipalities are in the
213 area code:

City of Los Angeles
City of West Hollywood
City of Glendale (less than 10 streets)
City of South Pasadena
City of Beverly Hills (about a 1 sqare mile area)
City of Culver City (3 streets)
City of Monterey Park
City of Montebello (virtually the entire city)
City of Vernon
City of Highland Park
City of Maywood
City of Commerce
City of Inglewood (portions)
City of Lynwood (small part)
City of Hawthorne (east of Crenshaw, north of El Segundo)

> Finally, note that including 520 in the LA LATA is not a typo (Yes,
> that is the 520 that covers western Arizona after the 602/520 split).
> Yes, these codes are in Arizona.  The LATA line, however, crosses over
> the state line to included 9 exchanges in western Arizona.  Wierd.
> (Actually, until the permissive period for the 602/520 split ends, a
> purist would claim that there are 9 codes in LATA 730, but thats would
> just be picking nits...).

Unless they changed it, there is one exchange (Winterhaven, CA) in
area code 619 that is in the PHOENIX LATA (666) due to its closeness
to Yuma, AZ.

I think it is the Blythe, CA central office ... which is a Contel exchange,
has both a 619 and a 602 code in the same switch.


Richard Eyre-Eagles, KJ7MU     Tempe, Arizona

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

Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 13:09:26 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Craig Milo Rogers)
Subject: Re: Area Code Split Dates
Organization: USC Information Sciences Institute


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
edu (David R Sewell) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]>, Linc Madison <lincmad@netcom.
> com> wrote:
>> NEW OLD  START    FINAL   ST      Place/Comment
>> -- ---  -----    -----   -- -------------------------------------------
>> 520 602 03/19/95 10/21/95 AZ Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma (all but Phoenix)

> After Tucson businesses (mostly) raised hell about problems inbound
> calls have had under the new code, the Arizona Corporation Commission
> just mandated *much* looser final deadlines: 31 December 1996 for
> Tucson, 30 June 1996 for other affected areas.

    Prescott keeps getting left off the list!  According to the
Friday, 22 Sep 1995 edition of the {Sierra Vista Herald}:

21-Oct-1995    Permissive dialing ends except in Falgstaff, Yuma,
            Prescott, and Tucson.

30-Jun-1996    Permissive dialing ends in Flagstaff, Yuma, and Prescott.

31-Dec-1996    Permissive dialing ends in Tucson.

    The article said that, according to Jack Ott, numbering
adminstrator for US West, phasing out permissive dialing by prefixes
hasn't ever been tried before.  "The potential is high for a real
mess."


Craig Milo Rogers

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 1995 05:59:45 GMT
Organization: MCSNet Internet Services


John R Levine <[e-mail]> wrote:

> The other two pieces, the one that builds equipment and
> the one that sells computers, remain unnamed.  Clearly, this is a job

Since mean ol' Uncle Scrooge is no longer with us, how 'bout Huey,
Lewy, and Dewy?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Some of their competitors are hoping it
will turn out more like Moe, Curley and Larry of The Three Stooges.  PAT]

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

Date: Fri, 06 Oct 95 14:39:29 EDT
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Canadian Calling Cards in US


Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Using Canada Direct's 1-800-555-1111 will help Canadians travelling in
> the US to avoid many of the problems of COCOTS (private payphones) and
> their AOSlime operator 'services', if those AOSlimes 'accept' Canadian
> issued calling cards.  But since many of these AOSlimers might not
> have billing agreements with the local Canadian telcos, they probably
> don't 'accept' valid Canadian cards.

The best situation is when the AOSlime *does* accept Canadian cards, but
does *not* have a billing arrangement with Canadian telcos.  It has
happened.  :-)

> BTW, I dialed 1-800-555-1111. It only allows you to enter *CANADIAN*
> destination ten-digit numbers. It rejected any attempts of
> (continental) US numbers. I don't know if this may change in the
> future, but I didn't even try to enter a Canadian number, followed by
> my AT&T and SCBell card numbers, since they would most likely be
> rejected.

I called 800 555-1111 from here (905) and got "bing-bing-bing
Welcome to <snip> Bell Long Distance / Bienvenu a <snip> l'Interurbain
Bell".  The <snip>s were little hesitations, leading me to think that
they tailor the greeting to the caller's location.

I was prompted for the destination number and keyed in 504 865-5954.
Prompted for calling card number, and I keyed my valid Bell Canada
issued number.  The message then said "please hold for operator
assistance".  Ringing, then - "What the?! ... uh, Bell Canada - how
may I help you?"  The operator was completely flumoxed by how my call
was presented on her screen.  She was friendly and we chatted a bit -
the call showed up in some format she had never seen, evidently
flagged as a Canada Direct call, but with calling and destination
numbers listed in a funny way.  She wanted me to hold while she got
her supervisor to come and look at the display, but I didn't want to
wait that long just then.  It wasn't clear if she could advance the
call.  She was in Montreal, btw.

The other thing of note was how incredibly slow the automated system was.
Every stage took at least five, and some closer to ten seconds.  Normal
calling card validations go through in one or two seconds at most.


Tony Harminc

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

From: [e-mail] (Gabe Wiener)
Subject: Re: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes
Date: 06 Oct 1995 12:53:33 -0400
Organization: Panix


In article <[e-mail]>, Peter Laws <[e-mail].
edu> wrote:

> Before radios were common, the deputy/battalion/district chief's aide
> had a handset with which he could communicate by voice to Fire Alarm.
> There was a jack in the box for this purpose.  Before that, some
> systems had manual keys that the aide could use to transmit higher
> alarms, all outs, etc.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, my parents bought me an antique New
York City telegraph fire-alarm box which I still have.  It has an
elaborate clockwork mechanism which transmitted the telegraph pulses,
as well as a manual telegraph key, and a regular 19th-century-style
telegraph sounder!

I've been looking for a date on the thing, but haven't come across one
in 20+ years of scrutinizing it.  I wish there were a reference book
in which one could find info on such boxes.

In the 1970s, New York had mechanical boxes which were not entirely
dissimilar from the one I have.  About 1975, they replaced them all
with two-way voice units which can ring either fire or police
depending on which button you press.  There have been many times
where the city has tried to take the system out of service, but they
have all failed.  So even though we have full 911, the alarm boxes
are still found on many street corners.

I hear that the city General Svcs office sells the old boxes still,
and one day I'll take a trip to the middle of nowhere and see if they
have any in their disposal lot.


Gabe Wiener  Dir., Quintessential Sound, Inc. |"I am terrified at the thought
Recording-Mastering-Restoration [phone] | that so much hideous and bad
PGM Early Music Recordings ---> [phone] | music may be put on records
[e-mail]     http://www.panix.com/~gabe | forever." --Sir Arthur Sullivan

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

From: Claes Gussing <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Will NA Caller ID Boxes Work in Europe?
Date: 06 Oct 1995 08:54:00 GMT
Organization: Ericsson


<[e-mail]> wrote:

> My friend's family (in Poland) were watching a local TV program that
> mentioned the fact that calling line id was available in the area
> (Warsaw).  They would like to know if the calling id boxes that we can
> buy here (I'm in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area) would work if they
> were sent there?

> I thinking that they wouldn't unless the local CO was obviously offering
> this service to the public and the boxes were compatible standard-wise
> between here and Europe. Does Poland also run on 210/220 VAC electricity?
> Is a converter of some sort required?  Also, do they use the RJ-11/12/45
> standards for cabling that we do?

I know it would not work in Sweden anyway. Here they send a sequence
of DTMF-signals prior to the first ring-signal. I beleive that in
North America the caller-ID is implemented such that something similar
to a modem-connection is established and then the info is transferred.

Yes, they have 230 VAC/50 Hz in Poland.


Claes   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Need Information on 1A2 System Using "Regular Phones"
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 1995 10:28:28 GMT


Les Fairall ([e-mail]) writes:

> I have an 1A2 system with several "single line" phones attached to it.

You don't say what kind of single line phones are attached.  If
they're Western Electric 500 or 2500 sets, they are designed for this
eventuality.  There is a wiring option within the set which provides
A-lead control on the black/yellow pair in the mounting cord.  The
modification consists of using one of the contact sets in the
switchhook to connect A and A1 when off-hook.  If this is what you
need, I may be able to find the ancient Bell System Practice document
which describes what wires to move within the set to accomplish this
modification.


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

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

From: Robert Ricketts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Organization: Panhandle Eastern
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 16:23:09 GMT


[blurb about unauthorized slamming deleted]

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This comes up here frequently. You should
> pay WilTel the amount you expected to pay your regular carrier. You have
> to pay *something* since you did make the calls expecting (I assume!) to
> pay for them. Unless you can prove the change was made deliberatly in a
> fraudulent way, there is probably nothing more you should do.   PAT]

I'm unsure quite how this works.  If I receive a package addressed and
delivered to me (e.g. not delivered to the wrong person) that I did
not order, I believe I have the right to keep it without paying for it
even if billed at a later time.  (An obvious exception is the negative
option refusal method used by record and book clubs.  But with those,
the negative option refusal is part of the contract you agree to.)

In the case of long distance, if I'm slammed to a different LD
provider (e.g.  no consent) then why should I have to pay?  PAT is
correct in saying that I should expect to pay for the calls -- and I
do expect to pay.  But I expect to pay company X for those calls, not
company Y who slammed me.  Changing LD carriers should require a
signed authorization, or a PIN.  (The PIN would be spoken to the LEC
who would then flag the account as authorized to be switched to
company Y)

If I subscribe to the {Houston Post} (ex-local newspaper), then I'm
certainly not going to pay the {Houston Chronicle} if they toss their
paper on my lawn for a month without my consent.  (Sadly, the {Houston
Post} is now defunct -- after being in business 100+ years.)

If users were relieved of having to pay toll charges to companies who
slam to get customers, then slamming would slow way way down.  A bill
insert could explain this to users, making sure everybody knows their
rights.


!cheers

Robert K. Ricketts   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you pick up the paper which was tossed
in your yard and read it on a regular basis without attempting to mitigate
the newspaper's loss in delivering to you in error, then you may be in
fact responsible for payment, and it could be said that you have unlawfully
enriched yourself at the newspaper's expense. Regards packages delivered
which you did not order, it all depends on if there was *some basis for
the company to have sent the package out to start with*. If they can
produce an order form from *someone* then that will serve to show their
good faith in having shipped the merchandise. Maybe they got the name and/or
address wrong, or perhaps as a joke someone filled in a coupon with your
name and address on it. Once again, you have an obligation under the
law to mitigate the losses to the company. You may not unlawfully enrich
yourself. The rule about not having to pay for (or return) merchandise
which comes unsolicited to you in the mail only applies when there was
no basis of any kind for it to be sent out.

That law was written a number of years ago for a specific reason: some
sleazy companies were taking advantage of the greiving families of dead
people. In the one widely publicized case, a company was scanning the
obituary notices each day looking to see who had passed away. They were
then imprinting a message in gold on the front of a large 'Family Bible'
saying 'to my loving family from (deceased person's name)'. They then
sent it out with an inflated invoice shipped to the deceased person.
The family would receive the Bible and the invoice in the mail a few
days later with a note on the invoice saying 'here is the lovely Bible
you ordered for your family.'

Naturally the relatives would assume old Granddad or Grandma 'must have
ordered it before they passed away'. They'd see the lovely pictures
in the Bible along with the big section in the middle for the recording
of 'family tree' information, marriage and death records, etc ... and
to honor their deceased family member and see to it that (s)he did not
leave any unpaid bills behind, the family would send the money to the
company, never even questioning whether or not the purchase was legitimate.
All they thought about, at that time of mourning, was they wanted to
do the right thing for their parent who had passed away, etc. 'Obviously'
the deceased person had intended this as a gift for the family and the
children or widow or whoever wanted to do 'the right thing'.

When the scam got publicized, several million of those Family Bibles had
been shipped out by the lowlife scum responsible for the fraud, and
several million inflated invoices had also been paid. The Congress of
the United States -- not ordinarily a body that sets much of a moral
or ethical standard for the rest of us -- itself got quite nauseated by
that one, and passed the 'no payment required for unsolicited merchandise
rule'. They passed it to protect -- let's be frank -- honest and well-
meaning, but poorly educated Americans who had been defrauded at a time
in their life when they were already greiving because of a loss.

That's how that rule came to be passed back in the 1950's; not so that
people today could stiff a long distance carrier out of a few dollars due
to a clerical error made somewhere. The rule is, if there is/was *any
basis* for the action to take place (signed order, phone call from someone,
etc) and the company acted in good faith, then you are *not* permitted
to benefit from the error the company made.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #423
******************************


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Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 09:12:39 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #424

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 9 Oct 95 09:12:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 424

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Krusty Robinson)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Clarence Dold)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Stan Schwartz)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise Time Information? (Joseph Singer)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Dale Robinson)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Damon Kelly)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Mark Gabriele)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Clarence Dold)
    602/520 Split (Richard P. Nickum)
    Calling Card Billing (Ole J. Jacobsen)
    Slick Unit For POTS (Jason Philbrook)
    Dealing With Bell Atlantic re Line Noise (Ken Bass)
    Bell Name Change (Stan Schwartz)
    Economist Article on Telecom (Tony Harminc)
    Old Telco Question (Stan Schwartz)
    Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (Richard Eyre-Eagles)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
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     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
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     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (Krusty Robinson)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 00:52:30 GMT


>> I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal from to
>> synchronize their clocks and equipment.

>> There are two sources of standardized time information in the USA. These
>> are the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC and the National Bureau of
>> Standards in Boulder, Colorado.

>> Using your computer's communication program and a modem set to 1200 baud,
>> you can get a dislay on your computer screen showing the correct time by
>> calling USNO at 202-653-0351 or NBS at 303-494-4774.

You can also pick up the time signals on shortwave radio from Boulder
and Hawaii on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz.  You will hear second ticks
with a voice time announcement between :50 and :00.  Their signals
also serve as a frequency standard.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since WWV and WWNH can frequently both be
heard in many parts of the central and western United States, there is an
interesting method for keeping the voice messages separate. The tone
signals and ticks are heard at the same time, but the tone discontinues
at the fifty second mark with only the ticks in the background. The
recorded message from WWVH in Hawaii is heard first (a woman's voice) and
the time announcement for WWV in Boulder follows immediatly. That is done
so that the people who hear both at the same time don't heat the two
voices at the same time. She gets five seconds then he gets five seconds.
At the top of the minute, a signal tone and then the frequency tone begins
again. During certain minutes of the hour, there is no frequency tone and
other reports are given instead such as atmospheric conditions. A certain
number of minutes in each hour are given over to WWV and a certain number
are given over to WWVH. During the minutes when there is a message being
spoken by either one, the other one silences its frequency tone as well.
Its a fun thing to listen to but I would not want to listen all day. A
similar service exists in Canada called Radio Station CHU.     PAT]

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

From: Clarence Dold <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 9 Oct 1995 02:10:29 GMT
Organization: a2i network


Jeffrey Yee ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal from to
> synchronize their clocks and equipment. I was in a CO one time when i

Available from OAK.Oakland.EDU 141.210.10.117

Directory SimTel/msdos/clock/
usnotime.zip  B    2173  870822  Set your system clock to US Naval Obsv. time

There is also a version for UNIX...


Clarence A Dold - [e-mail]
                - Pope Valley & Napa CA.

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

From: Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 1995 19:32:34 -0400


In TELECOM Digest #419, TELECOM Digest Editor' wrote:

> Actually what happens when you use the most recent version 1.6 of
> AOL software

I assume you're using a Mac (for shame!) because the most recent
version of AOL for Windows is 2.5.

> If you think fifty cents is too much to pay (or you
> are like me and wonder why you should have to pay for it at all) then you
> can dial 202-653-1800, which is what the 900 number translates to.

You can also call 303-499-7111 for the same thing.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am not using Mac. I am using a DOS based
machine; an old 386 I have here.   PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1995 17:47:19 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Joseph Singer)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise Time Information?
Reply-To: [e-mail]


[e-mail] (Jeffrey Yee) writes:

> I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal from to
> synchronize their clocks and equipment.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:

> For a good time, call 900-410-TIME at just fifty cents per call. If
> you think fifty cents is too much to pay (or you are like me and
> wonder why you should have to pay for it at all) then you can dial
> 202-653-1800, which is what the 900 number translates to.

Sorry Pat, but this is not quite correct.  910-410-TIME translates to
303-499-7111.  It's the WWV number.  The 202 number you mentioned is the
National Bureau of Standards in Washington, DC.  If you'll dial all three
numbers you'll find that the 303 number is the same as the 900 number.


JOSEPH SINGER              SEATTLE, WASHINGTON USA            [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 1995 06:24:53 +0930
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?


Jeffrey Yee wrote, amongst other things:

> Is there a national reference that all telcos go by? Is it a satellite
> signal, radio signal, or what? IF so Where is it and is there only one?

Pat Townson replied:

> Using your computer's communication program and a modem set to 1200 baud,
> you can get a dislay on your computer screen showing the correct time by
> calling USNO at 202-653-0351 or NBS at 303-494-4774. I shall stifle my
> desire at this time to discuss the old (defunct for almost thirty years)
> Western Union Time Service, which got its feed from USNAVOB.    PAT]

Or using the technology of the internet, visit the USNO web page at:

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/time.html

Which has lots of info about time! :-)

The phone number you mentioned Pat is/has changed from 202-653-0351 to
202-762-1594.

I often wonder why, that with all this technology on my desk, I still
ONLY get the same amount of work done???


Regards,

Dale

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

From: [e-mail] (Mr. Damon Kelly)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 8 Oct 1995 19:12:57 -0400
Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore County


In article <[e-mail]>, John Thompson <jthompson@
monmouth.com> wrote:

> (I did try to telnet to 'tick', but got nowhere).

Connect to port 13 next time.

I like the information provided by the World Wide Web.  All the
mysteries and incantations of sync-ing your system clock with USNO's
equipment can be found <a href="http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/ntp.html">
here. </a>

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: ...
> Is there also a DOS version of this that you are aware of?    PAT]

I suppose that there are NTP daemons you can run on DOS boxes
connected to the Internet.


-d


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Trying socket 13 did work correctly.
Henceforth anyone interested do it this way:
     telnet tick.usno.navy.mil 13

The '13' on the end means you want to telnet to socket 13 on that
machine. When you do, watch the interesting display on your screen
once it connects.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Gabriele)
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Date: Sun, 08 Oct 1995 17:23:43 -0800
Organization: RAND


Patrick Townson wrote:

> ...That's how that rule came to be passed back in the 1950's; not so that
> people today could stiff a long distance carrier out of a few dollars due
> to a clerical error made somewhere. The rule is, if there is/was *any
> basis* for the action to take place (signed order, phone call from someone,
> etc) and the company acted in good faith, then you are *not* permitted
> to benefit from the error the company made.   PAT]

Right, but the point here is that "slamming" is NOT an act made in
good faith.  It is a fraudulent action taken by a disreputable sales
representative.  When I have been slammed by a company (it was a
reseller called "Cherry Communications"), I was called by a telemarketer
who asked if I wanted to switch to them.  I responded: "Not only no,
but hell no."  (This is an exact quote; after I said "no" the first
time and the saleslime tried again, I repeated it twice. I was
otherwise pleasant in my demeanor and tone of voice.)

A month later, my bill came from Cherry Communications.  It was for a LOT
more than I had figured the calls would cost with my real carrier (then
MCI).

That's fraud, and it's wrong.  I did wind up paying (I think) just about
what MCI with all of the various discounts would have cost for those
calls, as I refused to pay their inflated charges (although it was quite
difficult to try and figure out exactly *what* all the discounts were
supposed to be).  This cost several hours of my time, and I was NOT happy
about a company whose representatives acted in bad faith to defraud me
being enriched thereby in ANY amount, even though it was less than they
had tried to charge me.

"Clerical errors" are probably not the cause of most "slams".  Perhaps the
best way to deal with this is to have the telemarketers eat the charges
for "slam-refusal" telephone services; this would provide a disincentive
that might actually curtail these irritations.


Mark Gabriele   (PGP public key available upon request)
[e-mail]

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

From: Clarence Dold <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Date: 9 Oct 1995 02:16:45 GMT
Organization: a2i network


Robert Ricketts ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I'm unsure quite how this works.  If I receive a package addressed and
> delivered to me (e.g. not delivered to the wrong person) that I did
> not order, I believe I have the right to keep it without paying for it
> even if billed at a later time.  (An obvious exception is the negative
> option refusal method used by record and book clubs.  But with those,
> the negative option refusal is part of the contract you agree to.)

But you _did_ order the package (place the phone call).  You're upset
that it didn't come from the company that you ordered it from, but
they might be a supplier to a clearing house that you don't know.

If your carrier-of-choice is a switchless reseller, he might carry your
traffic on Wiltel.  If he fails, or Wiltel fails, to update their ANI-table,
they will handle you as a casual caller, and send out a bill.

Regardless of how it happened, including malicious slamming, _you_ placed
the phone calls.  Why should they be free?


Clarence A Dold - [e-mail]
                - Pope Valley & Napa CA.

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard P. Nickum)
Subject: 602/520 Split
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 16:06:12
Organization: Pacific Gas & Electric Co.


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Craig Milo
Rogers) writes:

> Subject: Re: Area Code Split Dates

> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
> edu (David R Sewell) writes:

>> In article <[e-mail]>, Linc Madison <lincmad@netcom.
>> com> wrote:
>>> NEW OLD  START    FINAL   ST      Place/Comment
>>> -- ---  -----    -----   -- -------------------------------------------
>>> 520 602 03/19/95 10/21/95 AZ Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma (all but Phoenix)

>> After Tucson businesses (mostly) raised hell about problems inbound
>> calls have had under the new code, the Arizona Corporation Commission
>> just mandated *much* looser final deadlines: 31 December 1996 for
>> Tucson, 30 June 1996 for other affected areas.

> Prescott keeps getting left off the list!  According to the
> Friday, 22 Sep 1995 edition of the {Sierra Vista Herald}:

> 21-Oct-1995     Permissive dialing ends except in Falgstaff, Yuma,
>                 Prescott, and Tucson.

> 30-Jun-1996     Permissive dialing ends in Flagstaff, Yuma, and Prescott.

> 31-Dec-1996     Permissive dialing ends in Tucson.

>        The article said that, according to Jack Ott, numbering
> adminstrator for US West, phasing out permissive dialing by prefixes
> hasn't ever been tried before.  "The potential is high for a real
> mess."

Note that as of now, I still have been unable to call numbers in Yuma
or in Tucson Arizona from northern California (San Francisco, or
Suisun City) using the 520 area code (on ATT)

I am continuing to use 602.  Has anyone else noticed this?

On an unrelated note, it was great to see Ehud on the list, that is a
name from my distant past days at the good old University of Arizona -
and the "Mosiac" house on Speedway blvd.


Richard Nickum    Price Waterhouse

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

Date: Sun, 8 Oct 95 17:32:07 PDT
From: Ole J. Jacobsen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Calling Card billing


Something happened today which had my blood boiling. I received a bill
from Pac*Bell demanding immediate payment of my long distance balance
since this had exceeded their idea of "normal". All the calls were
made on my AT&T calling card while travelling in France and England,
it is pure coincidence that I am now home and received the bill. It is
due on October 11, 5 days from now, two of those days are weekend
days.

I called and complained and the payment people at Pac*Bell apologized
stating that I had been a long time good customer and this letter should
not have been sent out. However, I did some further investigation and
discovered that Pac*Bell sets a credit limit which they pass on to AT&T
and it is AT&T which triggers the "pay now or else" letter which is
issued by Pac*Bell. It comes with a nice little note which says it will
only cost $20 to have service restored, but by the way they want a
deposit of $2555.00 (that's right two-and-a-half THOUSAND dollars!).

Since this letter was obviously triggered automatically I have two options
to avoid this hassle in the future:

1. Negotiate a higher limit with Pac*Bell;

2. Switch to direct billing from AT&T and set my own limit with them
   (they don't insist on any limit ["we want your money"], but it is
   probably a good idea to have the calling card self-destruct at a
   preset limit in case of fraud.)

The customer service rep with AT&T promised to pass on my comments
regarding how silly this mechanism is. If AT&T is concerned about my
long distance spending habits while I am on the road, they should
invalidate my card and say "please call us" instead of triggering
possible disconnection of local phone service back home.

All involved parties seem to agree that this is nonsense, we shall see
if it gets fixed.



Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report,
Interop Company, a division of SOFTBANK Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive,
Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Ph: [phone] Fax: [phone].

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

From: Jason Philbrook <[e-mail]>
Subject: Slick Unit for POTS
Date: 9 Oct 1995 01:12:53 GMT
Organization: Midcoast Internet Solutions


My phone company (Nynex) is thinking about putting a slick unit in my
basement. A slick unit takes in several T1's and puts out close to a
hundred POTS lines.

I run an ISP in Maine.

I've investigated different options, and since Nynex is paying for
this, It's a better deal than a channel bank as far as we are
concerned.

The other option would be to buy a channel bank and what Nynex calls a
FlexPath T1. This figured to be about $80/line/month. Ouch.

So the Slick is looking pretty good at $34/line/month.

<b>There are two type of Slicks and I'm interested in hearing what
other people's experiences are with them.</B>

Nynex voiced concern (who woulda thought?) that some slicks might not
be able to support full speed 28.8 connects,something of extreme
importance for an ISP.

One type is a "Universal Slick" which will allow DDS2 as well --
something I won't be needing much more of with the recent arrival of
Frame Relay.

The other type is just a "Slick" I guess. It does not incorporate DDS2
capabilities, but it can only handle 60-somthing of the 96 lines it
carries simultaneously.  Works great with modems.

Nynex says another ISP in Clinton Mass had trouble with a slick unit.
They also use slick units on the side of the road in remote locations
to extend POTS far beyond the normal range of the CO, such as rural
areas. These people use modems just fine. Of course Maybe the slick in
clinton was improperly installed and tuned, but I don't have too much
confidence when Nynex tells me these things.

Thanks for any comments!


Jason Philbrook   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ken Bass)
Subject: Dealing With Bell Atlantic re Line Noise
Date: 8 Oct 1995 19:47:19 -0400
Organization: Clark Internet Services, Inc., Ellicott City, MD USA


Does anyone have PERSONAL experience dealing with Bell Atlantic to
resolve problems with a noisy phone line? I can just barely get 14400
bps. I just upgrade to a 28.8k modem and it is hell.

I ordered a second phone line, but it is just as bad.

To eliminate concerns about inside wiring (my house is only two years
old), I moved my computer very close to my basement window, ran a wire
outside and directly into the network interface. (Having disconnects
all wire into the house.) Still problems.

So I bought Shielded Twisted Pair and ran that from the box to a jack
in the basement. Same problem.

My modem (Zyxel Elite 2864) has a mode which reports S/N ratio and RX
level. On these poor connections I got between 13-20db SNR and -33dB
receive level. Does anyone know what the standards are?

The levels seem to fluctuate a lot. When it rains it seems to be worse.

I believe we are served off of a SLC. But I'm not sure the distance.

Any first hand experience would be appreciated.


Ken

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

From: Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bell Name Change
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 1995 19:36:45 -0400


In TELECOM Digest #419, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> She would respond something like, 'Southern Bell Inward, what number did
> you dial?

I just thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that earlier this
week, the name change became official.  Southern Bell and SouthWestern
Bell became BellSOUTH.

Even though I always thought it would be a good name for the Mexican
Telephone Company, how long before Taco Bell changes its name to
BellSPICY ?

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

Date: Sun, 08 Oct 95 20:37:03 EDT
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Economist Article on Telecom


TELECOM Digest readers may be interested in The Economist's survey of
telecommunications in their September 30th, 1995 issue.  Titled The
Death of Distance, it discusses the rapidly approaching future world
where it costs as much (as little) to call the next continent as it
does to call the next house.  I read the article on paper (I subscribe
to this excellent newspaper), and only then noticed that they have
made it available on their Web site http://www.economist.com/ .

No connection/just satisfied customer/etc.


Tony H.

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

From: Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Old Telco Question
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 1995 20:50:57 -0400


I was walking in one of the yuppified sections of Uptown Charlotte
today, when I noticed a person-hole cover that said "W.U.Tel.Co."
Would someone care to explain if Western Union had telephone or
telegraph lines buried down there, and if it was telephone -- when did
they own local telcos?


Stan


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was probably an access point for
Western Union Telegraph Company cables. They were never in the local
telco business. Did they have a large office in Charlotte at one
time or another?  I do know that if you go over on LaSalle Street
in in the south end of downtown Chicago I used to see a few of those
mainly in the vicinity of WUTCO's large office building and wire
center.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Eyre-Eagles)
Subject: Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (was: New US Area Code Test Numbers)
Organization: GoodNet
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 1995 20:10:37 -0400


Robert McMillin ([e-mail]) wrote:
<SNP>

> beastie?  How about 714-714-xxxx or 805-818-xxxx?

The "So-Cal Area Code Conflict" prefixes do exist.  They are used for
WATS services (not diallable on a POTS line).  I think there is an
818-805 and an 818-213 out of SHOKCA04.

There is an 818-909 in Van Nuys/Cedros, there is POTS and DID on this
prefix.  It was established before the 909 NPA came in.  There is also a
310-909.

What's funny is that the old 213-310 was in Santa Monica and was a
Centrex prefix dedicated to GTE (before all of their departments were
moved to Thousand Oaks, then dissolved).  But then, the 310 area code
came along.  GTE conveniently cancelled the 213(310)-310 prefix.

There is a 562 in 213, 310 and 818.


Richard Eyre-Eagles, KJ7MU     Tempe, Arizona

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #424
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #425

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 10 Oct 95 10:30:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 425

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Atri Indiresan)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Hovig Heghinian)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Mark Malson)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Matthew Lasater)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (David Kirsch)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Wilson Mohr)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Gary D. Shapiro)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Greg Hennessy)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Pieter Jacques)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (John R. Covert)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (David Breneman)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (John N. Dreystadt)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Michael Shields)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Steven Lichter)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (John Thompson)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Peter Lamasney)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Linc Madison)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Gordon Burditt)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Chris Whittenburg)

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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On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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     ------------------------------------------------------------

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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 1995 10:52:45 -0400
From: Atri Indiresan <[e-mail]>


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I telnetted to tick without
> any problem (that is to stay the network was up; there were
> no connectivity problems) but I had no login for it of
> course. I tried FTP thinking there might be stuff in a public
> directory, but tick does not allow anonymous ftp connections.
> Is there also a DOS version of this that you are aware of?

To get time service at this (and any other Unix computer), you need to
specify socket 13. Here is the output I got:

telnet tick.usno.navy.mil 13
Trying 192.5.41.40...
Connected to tick.usno.navy.mil.
Escape character is '^]'.

US Naval Observatory Master Clock, Washington, DC
Estimating network time delay for 4 seconds...delay =   20.5 ms
MJD   DOY  UTC(USNO) (*<CR><LF> = on-time mark, follows ASCII)
49999 282 142613 UTC
*
[many more deleted]
49999 282 142633 UTC
*
Connection closed by foreign host.

[question: what is MJD?]

For an ordinary machine (like mine), you would usually see the system
time once, and obviously this is as accurate as my wrist watch when I
last set the time!

telnet crazies 13
Trying 141.213.10.74...
Connected to crazies.eecs.umich.edu.
Escape character is '^]'.
Mon Oct  9 10:50:07 1995
Connection closed by foreign host.


Regards,

Atri

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

From: [e-mail] (Hovig Heghinian)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 9 Oct 1995 16:29:25 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Reply-To: [e-mail]


[e-mail] (Krusty Robinson) writes:

> You can also pick up the time signals on shortwave radio from Boulder
> and Hawaii on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz.  You will hear second ticks
> with a voice time announcement between :50 and :00.  Their signals
> also serve as a frequency standard.

Does anyone know how to build a WWV receiver -- i.e., a self-setting
clock?  Isn't there a Heathkit for this type of thing?


Hovig Heghinian <[e-mail]>
Department of Computer Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh my! Are the Heathkit people still in
business?  I haven't heard from them in a few years, except for a couple
messages from someone saying they thought Heathkit was gone. I built my
very first terminal from a Heathkit back about 1980. It was essentially
the Zenith Z-19, but when you put it together as a Heathkit it was called
the H-19. They had a computer to go with it called the H-89. I certainly
wish they were still around because it was a marvelous educational thing.
Does anyone know what their status is these days?   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Malson)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information
Organization: Xetron Corporation
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 18:36:45 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Stan Schwartz <stan@vnet.
net> wrote:

> In TELECOM Digest #419, TELECOM Digest Editor' wrote:

>> Actually what happens when you use the most recent version 1.6 of
>> AOL software

> I assume you're using a Mac (for shame!) because the most recent
> version of AOL for Windows is 2.5.

Actually, the latest version for the Mac is 2.6.  AOL mailed it to me and
I didn't even have to ask.


Mark Malson    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Matthew Lasater)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 1995 12:33:50 -0700
Organization: SPPPS


> There is a neat little shareware Windows program out there called TimeSync.
> It connects to the USNO Internet Time Server at tick.usno.navy.mil, and sets
> your computer's clock to the USNO's time.  It's easy to use, as long as you
> know how many minutes difference you are from UTC.  I'm not exactly
> sure where you get it, but I'll e-mail it to anybody who asks.  (I did
> try to telnet to 'tick', but got nowhere).

There is a similar product for Macintosh, called AutoClock. (On a Mac,
of course, you don't have to tell the application where you are or
whether you're on summer time or not; the system know what time it's
in.) Aside from setting your clock, it will figure how fast or slow
your system clock is and continuously correct for this. It takes at
least two samples for the auto-compensation to be possible, and
AutoClock will check with the server periodically to refine it's
adjustments. I haven't set my computer's clock or had it off by more
than two seconds in years.

Happily using a Microsoft-free machine.

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

From: [e-mail] (David Kirsch - SunNetworks Manager)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information
Date: 9 Oct 1995 19:40:57 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Actually, FWIW ... the 202 dial number for time synch is the Atomic Clock
maintained at the Naval Observatory on Mass Ave. in DC. It is in the
same compound as the Vice President's residence. Probably one of the
best houses and grounds in the capital actually.


Cheers,

David K.

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

From: [e-mail] (Wilson Mohr)
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 11:36:18 -0500
Subject: Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?


[e-mail] (John Thompson) writes:

> There is a neat little shareware Windows program out there called TimeSync.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is there also a DOS version of this that
> you are aware of?    PAT]

Courtesy of your local Archie server:

Host wuarchive.wustl.edu    (128.252.135.4)
Last updated 05:12 18 Sep 1995

Location: /systems/ibmpc/win3/uploads
FILE    -rw-r--r--  210167 bytes  03:08  7 Sep 1995  timesync.zip


Wilson Mohr     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gary D. Shapiro)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 00:09:40 -0700
Organization: Emperor Clothing Co.


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John
Thompson) wrote:

> There is a neat little shareware Windows program out there called TimeSync.
> It connects to the USNO Internet Time Server at tick.usno.navy.mil, and sets
> your computer's clock to the USNO's time.  It's easy to use, as long as you
> know how many minutes difference you are from UTC.

There's even a neater little freeware Macintosh program out there
called AutoClock, except that it makes a long-distance phone call.  It
knows about time zones, standard and daylight savings time, and sets
the Macintosh clock.  But what's "neater" about it is that if you use
it to set the Macintosh clock again at some later date, it computes
how much your computer clock drifts and from then on will make
periodic adjustments.

I probably found it at an info-mac mirror site.


Gary D. Shapiro...on the WWW at http://www.rain.org/~gshapiro/

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

From: [e-mail] (Greg Hennessy)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 08:21:36 -0400
Organization: Clark Internet Services, Inc., Ellicott City, MD USA


> The phone number you mentioned Pat is/has changed from 202-653-0351 to
> 202-762-1594.

The phone numbers at the US Naval Observatory have not changed as of
this date.

Working for, but not speaking for, the USNO, Greg Hennessy


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: After receiving that earlier message, I
dialed 0351 and still got through on it; I don't know what the 1594 number
is for.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Pieter Jacques)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 9 Oct 1995 13:23:26 -0400
Organization: Rutgers University


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I telnetted to tick without any problem (that
> is to stay the network was up; there were no connectivity problems) but I
> had no login for it of course. I tried FTP thinking there might be stuff
> in a public directory, but tick does not allow anonymous ftp connections.
> Is there also a DOS version of this that you are aware of?    PAT]

You need to telnet to port 37, at which point tick will send you 4
bytes of binary information which contain the current time in a Unix
internal time format.  The windows program mentioned does just that,
then converts the binary data and sets your PC's clock.  I'm not aware
of a DOS version of this, and a few minutes spent just now looking
over Unix "man" pages didn't reveal the exact content of the binary
data.


Pieter Jacques   ([e-mail])

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

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 95 19:03:09 EDT
From: John R. Covert <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?


All of this discussion of where _you_ can get precise time information
may have nothing at all to do with the phone companies.

I have evidence, in phone bills involving forwarded and/or roaming calls,
that the telcos really aren't all that good about precise time info.

I can show you a bill with the start time shown for the "home" portion and
the "roam" portion of a call differing by _four_ minutes.  The carriers
were NYNEX Mobile and Bell South Mobility.


john


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, they (the telco) don't care anymore
about that stuff. The scandal is how far off some of them can be in
their public announcements. Our local one here, giving the time and
temperature is operated by Centel on 708-296-7666. You get a short little
blurb about whatever telco wishes to sell you presently followed by the
time, temperature and a short summary of the weather. The forecast they
give is just a reasonable guess, and I think the time they announce is
only a 'guesstimate' also.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (David Breneman)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 9 Oct 1995 02:53:03 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.


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

> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jeffrey Yee)
> wrote:

> (I did try to telnet to 'tick', but got nowhere).

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I telnetted to tick without any problem (that
> is to stay the network was up; there were no connectivity problems) but I
> had no login for it of course. I tried FTP thinking there might be stuff
> in a public directory, but tick does not allow anonymous ftp connections.
> Is there also a DOS version of this that you are aware of?    PAT]

It's not "tick", it's "tock"!  And, you telnet on port 13.  viz.:

> telnet tock.usno.navy.mil 13
> Trying 192.5.41.41... Connected to tock.usno.navy.mil.
> Escape character is '^]'.

> US Naval Observatory Master Clock, Washington, DC
> Estimating network time delay for 4 seconds...delay =   55.6 ms
> MJD   DOY  UTC(USNO) (*<CR><LF> = on-time mark, follows ASCII)
> 49999 282 023614 UTC
> *
> 49999 282 023615 UTC
> *
> 49999 282 023616 UTC
> *

etc ...


David Breneman
Unix System Administrator             Mail: [e-mail]
IS - Operations                               (Formerly: ~@mccaw.com)
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.                  Phone: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So either tick. (or) tock.usn.navy.mil
will work?     PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (John N. Dreystadt)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 9 Oct 1995 21:04:47 GMT
Organization: ICNET... Your Link To The Internet... +1.313.998.0090
Reply-To: [e-mail]


If you are getting service directly from an Internet Service Provider,
see if they have a time server. The Internet protocols include
something for distributing time information. Sorry but I can't
remember the name for sure but I think it is NTP (Network Time
Protocol). Client software is available for most machines that will
set the local machine's clock to the time given on a server machine.
Internet Service Providers get their time from a small number of
machines that get their time from USNO directly.  The protocol
computes round trip times and does some averaging to determine the
exact time. Then your machine has the exact time.


John Dreystadt


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Check out the 'date' command on a
Unix machine, and read the 'date' man pages. Please note that the
Unix command 'time' comes up with something totally different.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael Shields)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 00:18:54 -0000
Organization: Tembel's Hedonic Commune


You might be interested in two WWW pages:

<URL:http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/> is the USNO Directorate of Time, and
tells you lots about official US time and how the USNO provides it to
the public.

<URL:http://www.ucla.edu/campus/computing/time/> points to software for
time synchornization for Mac, Unix, and Windows, thought you probably
shouldn't use UCLA's servers if you're off-campus.

And the easy way to get time is to telnet to tick or tock on port 13.

Shields.

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven Lichter)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 19:43:08 -0700
Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University


We are now setting our clocks or will in the near future to GPU's
(Global Positioning Satellites. I don't know where that comes from
though. All system clocks are being linked now.


The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is.
SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub [phone] 2400/14.4 24 hours,
Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Speaking of setting clocks, we will be at
that semi-annual point in a couple weeks here in the USA in which most of
us will set our clocks back one hour. Where years ago it used to be done
on the first Sunday in October (and the last Sunday in April in the other
direction) we now do it on the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday
in October, so enamored are we of the extra hours of daylight during the
summer.

When Wally, the clock repairman from Western Union dealt with this forty
years ago when WUTCO had their Time Service operating, he said it took
them two days every spring to set the clocks forward but *three* days to
set them all 'backward' in the fall. In the spring they would start on
the Friday before the official Sunday forward movement and go to hundreds
of offices where their clocks were located. It took roughly one minute to
open the case, reach in, push the hand around the dial once, close the
case and leave. It did not matter if they got it *exact* -- as long as
they pushed it foreward to within two minutes before or after where it
should be -- since on the next hourly pulse from the master clock, the
minute hand would get jerked into the correct position. The setting circuit
and the clock's internal gears had a two minute tolerance for clocks which
were incorrect. They would go office to office and get all the clocks on
Friday for the companies which were not open on Saturday, and they would
spend all day Saturday getting those which were open on weekends. In a
large highrise office building, one guy would spend a couple hours getting
all the clocks there, then move on to another building. They tried to get
it all done on Friday and Saturday, but they sometimes had a few left overs
to get on Monday.

In the fall though, it was a different problem. On a WUTCO clock, you could
not move the minute hand backward further than the twelve. Generally they
had to move the hands *forward* 11 hours except in the few cases where
they arrived for the fall setting at 58 or 59 minutes past the hour (or on
the hour exactly) in which case they could get a full one hour backward ro-
tation to a point 'close enough' that the master clock would handle the
small difference on the next pulse. This additional time spent manually
moving the clock hands added about a half day to their project, and Wally
said they always had 'quite a few' to finish on Monday morning. Then they
had some customers who did not want the clock changed at all. These were
usually state and local governments who did not observe the federal rule
on daylight savings time. For all intents and purposes, they were on the
same time as everyone else; they simply refused to set their clock to the
'new' time, preferring instead to open and close their doors and conduct
their business one hour earlier during the summer so they would be in
synch with the rest of the community.

Wally noted how one year, when quite a few of the 'Time Service guys' were
on strike for some reason or another, the few who remained on the job were
confronted with 'spring ahead' and they estimated it would take about a
week to get all the clocks set, but at the last minute some of the strikers
came in long enough to help them do that task before walking out again. PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Thompson)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 06:23:57 GMT
Organization: Monmouth Internet Corporation


>Is there also a DOS version of this that you are aware of?    PAT]

I am relatively certain that the software is only available for Windows.
I found the ftp site where a copy of the software can be obtained, and
didn't find any other versions.  It's at ftphost.cac.washington.edu, in the
directory /pub/winsock.

One quick correction:  I originally said that the software was shareware.  I
must reverse my statement to say that it is freeware, authored by Brad Greer
at the University of Washington.


John Thompson                        |   1-908-988-6520     Home
Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ  USA             |   1-908-515-2137     Numeric pager
                                     |   1-500-265-1582     MCI 500
e-mail: [e-mail]       |   1-800-449-JOHN     AT&T Toll-free
pager:  [e-mail]       |   (can you tell I'm a telecom junkie?)

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 12:19:46 GMT
From: Peter Lamasney <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!


[bunches of stuff deleted]

Robert Ricketts <[e-mail]> sez:

> If users were relieved of having to pay toll charges to companies who
> slam to get customers, then slamming would slow way way down.

Yes, "slow way way down" as in "stop altogether!"  See these skid
marks?

and:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you pick up the paper which was tossed
> in your yard and read it on a regular basis without attempting to mitigate
> the newspaper's loss in delivering to you in error, then you may be in

Who's to say they're doing it "in error"?  Could be a promotion, for
all I know, and a quite lengthy one at that.  And I can't see that I
have any responsibility to expend energy trying to determine the
reason for the paper's regular appearance.  I consume all sorts of
stuff without attempting to mitigate a loss, and apparently they're
happy with the situation, because they keep doing it.

> That's how that rule came to be passed back in the 1950's; not so that
> people today could stiff a long distance carrier out of a few dollars due
> to a clerical error made somewhere.

A couple of points here -- if it's _really_ only "a few dollars,"
what's the problem?  Kiss it off and get on with your business/life.
If it's _not_ a few dollars (perhaps because of the number of
occurrences), then maybe you should get your act together!  So long as
there is no penalty for sloppy or inaccurate behavior, it will
continue.

The "clerical error" argument is rubbish.  My pappy always said that
everybody is responsible for their own errors.  So if _I_ get to pay
because _you_ made an error (be it "clerical," "honest mistake" or
whatever), that must mean that _you_ get to pay for _my_ next error,
right?

The waitress makes a clerical error and writes my order down wrong ...
(the disposition of the food is entirely up to them, and sometimes
they just leave it).

"It was a computer error" -- there's a hot one.  Let's see if we can't
(1) shuck the responsibility off somewhere else, (2) onto something
mysterious that nobody understands anyway.  Well, ok, perhaps the Data
Processing Department has an appetite for the bill, then.  And that
must mean that you get to pay for my next computer error, right?

"It was an honest mistake" -- well, no aspersions are being cast upon
anyone's motives.  Just agree to pay for my next honest mistake and
we're home free.


Pete   [e-mail]
They felt sorry for O.J. because he was a widower.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe they felt sorry for him because
he is a widower. Seen on Compuserve CB the other night: someone logged
in using the handle 'Marcia Clark' who sent out a message saying, "That
bastard had the nerve to call my office and ask when he could have
his gloves back."  Oh well ...    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 16:01:40 GMT


Clarence Dold ([e-mail]) wrote:

>> I'm unsure quite how this works.  If I receive a package addressed and
>> delivered to me (e.g. not delivered to the wrong person) that I did
>> not order, I believe I have the right to keep it without paying for it

> But you _did_ order the package (place the phone call).  You're upset
> that it didn't come from the company that you ordered it from, but
> they might be a supplier to a clearing house that you don't know.
[ ... ]
> Regardless of how it happened, including malicious slamming, _you_ placed
> the phone calls.  Why should they be free?

If I order a software package from XYZ mail order, and somehow that
order is fraudulently intercepted by PDQ mail order, which sends me
the item I ordered and sends me a bill, it is still unordered
merchandise: I did not order that merchandise FROM THAT VENDOR, and I
therefore do not owe PDQ one red cent for the merchandise.

As for Pat's point that the "slam" may have been a clerical error at
the local telco, I would bet that such honest errors are a very small
percentage of slams.  (Besides that, every carrier tells you to call
1-700-555-4141 to verify that your carrier has been switched, so you
would likely figure it out pretty quickly, as opposed to a "slam"
which catches most people off guard, unless they happen to verify
their carrier on a routine basis.)  Even in such a case, I think the
carrier should write off the charges on a goodwill basis, most
especially since that's probably less costly to the carrier than
figuring out what credit to issue to balance the charges to what the
carrier-of-choice would have charged.

In short, I think the only thing that will significantly reduce
slamming is to make a firm rule that any company that slams my phone
line gets NOTHING from me for those calls, provided I give notice in a
reasonably timely manner.


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And provided that once you know of the
problem you *immediatly* quit using the carrier's services, prepending
the requisite 10xxx code to regain the carrier you desire until the
service has been reinstated. See, its not only that slamming goes on.
People find out they have been slammed, and then proceed to milk it to
the hilt for a month or two, running up huge bills all the while claiming
ignorance. Then of course comes the bill and they claim they knew nothing
of it.

There is where the 'mitigation of loss' comes in to it. You are a smart
person. You know someone screwed up somewhere, either accidentally or
on purpose. The law says you cannot take advantage of someone else's
misfortune. And would you believe it ... gasp!  There are people in
the world who get called by a carrier soliciting their business who
give their verbal okay in a phone call to the change of carrier only
to later be called by their original carrier asking 'what for' ... and
rather than admit they okayed the switch, they claim they did not. Some
people give a verbal okay on the phone knowing that later on they can
claim there was slamming and they'll get to play the injured party and
not have to pay for the 'contested' calls. So it works both ways.  The
general public is just as good at con-artistry as are the carrier
marketing reps.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gordon Burditt)
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Organization: "Gordon Burditt"
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 14:30:33 GMT


>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This comes up here frequently. You should
>> pay WilTel the amount you expected to pay your regular carrier. You have

I don't agree.  You should pay your regular carrier the amount you
expected to pay your regular carrier (that carrier's rates).  This
*COULD* be zero (unlikely, but it could happen) if your calling plan
charges by "hours" and the slammed calls wouldn't have cost you
another hour (Anyone still do that?  This kind of plan used to be
popular.)  It could be zero if you work for a phone company and get
free long distance up to a limit (which you wouldn't have gone over)
as a job benefit.

If the incremental cost of the calls would have been negative, you
should collect that from the slammer (e.g. 25% off if you spend $25 a
month, and this month you came two cents short of $25 because the
slammer grabbed a $1 call near the end of the month.  The slammer owes
you about $5.)

>> to pay *something* since you did make the calls expecting (I assume!) to
>> pay for them. Unless you can prove the change was made deliberatly in a
>> fraudulent way, there is probably nothing more you should do.   PAT]

> yourself. The rule about not having to pay for (or return) merchandise
> which comes unsolicited to you in the mail only applies when there was
> no basis of any kind for it to be sent out.

Even if they sent the package by mistake, this still does not obligate
me to do more than inform them of where the package is and how they
can come and pick it up.  If they ask me to do more than that, rest
assured their own "handling" charges WILL be used against them.
If they want rain-proof storage in a place where it's less likely to
be stolen than the front yard, they can ask for and pay for it through
the nose, cash in advance.

> That's how that rule came to be passed back in the 1950's; not so that
> people today could stiff a long distance carrier out of a few dollars due
> to a clerical error made somewhere.

I believe the intent of the rule is still to prevent a long distance
carrier from stiffing a customer out of a few dollars due to a, um,
"mistake" which is usually at best criminal negligence and at worst
massive fraud (although it may be the fault of telephone solicitors
hired by the LD company, not the LD company itself, doing most of it).

If the LD company doesn't in good faith believe they have a SIGNATURE
of someone authorized before making a switch, I call that criminal
negligence.  If the LEC accepts any switch request from a long-distance
company, knowing that it is a long-distance company (that is, it is a
business of a type known to slam regularly), without seeing a signature,
I call that criminal negligence.   I suspect at least 90% of slamming
fits this description.

> The rule is, if there is/was *any basis* for the action to take
> place (signed order, phone call from someone, etc) and the company
> acted in good faith, then you are *not* permitted to benefit from the
> error the company made.  PAT]

So why is the company permitted to benefit from the error it made?

I propose the settlement be made like this:

Customer complains when he first notices the slamming (which is
likely to be a few weeks after the end of the first billing period
after the first call after the slam, when he looks at the bill).
Customer needs to get in the habit of dialing 10XXX on all LD calls.

- Customer pays regular LD company (the one he was slammed away from)
that company's normal rates.  This amount could be zero with calling
plans.  Negative amounts are collected from the company at fault.

- Company at fault pays customer an amount equal to the LEC's "switch
fee" for customer's assistance in fixing their records.  This amount
doubles for each separate slam after the third one in a 10-year period.

- Company at fault (possibly LEC) pays LEC to switch customer back.

- Company at fault pays triple amount billed for slammed calls to FCC's
Slamming Enforcement Fund.

How do you determine who's at fault?  Like this:

- If the LEC cannot or does not produce a signed and dated request
(or a request for a switch from a LD company with a claim they have
such a request on file, although I'd really like to see this practice
stopped dead -- the LD company should have to deliver the original
signed request) for a switch, the LEC is at fault.  If the LEC cannot
identify who made the request, the LEC is at fault.

- If the LD company cannot or does not produce a signed and dated
request they claimed to have on file, the LD company is at fault.
If the LD company's records have been destroyed by fire, the LD
company is at fault.

- If the signed and dated request is in the name of someone not authorized
to make switches for that line, and the request is not forged, that person
is at fault (and really stupid if they used their real name!).

- If the signed and dated request is forged in the name of the subscriber,
it's the forger who is at fault but you'll probably never catch him,
unless it turns out to be a telephone solicitor who was hired by/on behalf
of the LD company.

- If the signed and dated request is forged in the name of someone other
than the subscriber, the company that first accepted the request and failed
to check that the names match is at fault.


Gordon L. Burditt   sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon

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

From: [e-mail] (Chris Whittenburg)
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Date: 10 Oct 1995 04:11:42 GMT
Organization: WilTel
Reply-To: [e-mail]


M. Troutman ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Next, find WilTel's phone number.  Here is their web site ...
> http://www.wiltel.com/corporat/cfwt.html
> Harass them.  Let them know how much you dislike them.
> Try [e-mail] ... send hate mail!

I really don't think any of your above recomendations will help
anything.  LDDS WorldCom, as WilTel is now known, can be reached at
1-800-864-4060.  A more general web site address is just
http://www.wcom.com

Instead of sending hate mail, some investigation might be possible
on our part to determine who put the request in to change
preferred carriers.

Maybe customer service can determine if it was a WorldCom reseller,
which was the source of the problem, and take some sort of action.


Regards,

Chris Whittenburg
Data Network Engineer    [phone]
LDDS Worldcom        [e-mail]
<a href="http://phantom.wiltel.com:2080/~chrisw">Me.</a>

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #425
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #426

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 10 Oct 95 15:48:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 426

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Casting the Net" by Salus (Rob Slade)
    India Telecom Summit 1995 in Washington DC, November 30 (Rishab A. Ghosh)
    12 Months to the Numbering Change in Finland (Kimmo Ketolainen)
    The New "israel.dcom.isdn" (Meir Guttman)
    New Bell Canada 900 Service Features (Dave Leibold)
    New List: mtalist - Michigan Telecom Act Re-write List (Thom Byxbe)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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, 09 Oct 1995 18:23:46 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Casting the Net" by Salus


BKCSTNET.RVW   950807

"Casting the Net", Peter H. Salus, 1995, 0-201-87674-4, U$26.85
%A   Peter H. Salus
%C   1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA   01867-9984
%D   1995
%G   0-201-87674-4
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
%O   U$26.85 [e-mail] [e-mail] 800-822-6339 617-944-3700
%P   297
%T   "Casting the Net"

As with his earlier "Quarter Century of UNIX" (cf. BKQRCNUN.RVW),
Salus has collected the important players and papers, to set out a
history of the modern computer net.  (This is not limited to the more
strictly defined Internet, but encompasses the global, interconnected
data communications web which John Quarterman (after William Gibson)
has dubbed "The Matrix.")

As well as the conceptual and ARPANET foundations, there are snippets
from the development of Ethernet; email; OSI and protocol wars; UNIX;
Usenet; Bit, Fido, and proprietary nets; applications; and security.
A selection of the less serious RFCs provide diversions throughout the
book.

Salus' sources are excellent, but his writing style tends to be a bit
terse.  Still, for those who are seriously interested in the history
of the net, this is reliable material, compiled in one place.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995  BKCSTNET.RVW   950807. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]
Institute for  [e-mail]
Research into  [e-mail]
User           [e-mail]
Security       Canada V7K 2G6

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

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 13:38:58 -0700
From: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh <[e-mail]>
Subject: India Telecom Summit 1995 in Washington DC, November 30


The World Research Group is organising the India Telecom Summit '95,
a 2-day forum in Washington DC on November 30 and December 1. Special
guest speakers include India's Communications Minister and Chairman,
Telecom Commission, as well as US Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown,
and FCC Chairman Reed Hundt.

My newsletter on India's information industry, The Indian Techonomist
 -- published from New Delhi -- is the official publication.

I've enclosed the programme of the summit and registration info. More
details will be available shortly at http://dxm.org/summit95/ The
Indian Techonomist is at http://dxm.org/techonomist/ For a request
form for a free sample issue of the Techonomist, send a blank mail to
[e-mail]

Rishab Aiyer Ghosh ([e-mail])
Editor & Publisher, The Indian Techonomist

INDIA TELECOM SUMMIT 1995

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 1, 1995
LATHAM HOTEL - WASHINGTON, D.C.

AN INTERNATIONAL FORUM EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY
INDIA'S TRANSITION TO AN OPEN, MARKET-ORIENTED SYSTEM


MEET WITH LEADING DEVELOPERS, FINANCIERS, REGULATORS, AND
TELECOM EXECUTIVES IN INDIA'S RAPIDLY CHANGING
TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKET

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS
     Sukh Ram, Minister of Communication, Government of
India
     R.K. Takkar, Chairman Telecom Commission and Secretary,
Department of Telecommunications, Government of India
     Honorable Ron Brown, Secretary, U.S. Department of
Commerce

CONTRIBUTING ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE:

AT&T, CPInternational, Ex-Im Bank, US West, HCL Corp, Tata
Incorporated, PanAmSat TRW/Odyssey, India America Chamber of
Commerce, US-India Business Council, Satellite Industry
Association, U.S. Dept. of State, IFC, TIA, IMTA, Global
Telesystems Group

HEAR THE VERY LATEST INFORMATION AND FORECASTS ON:

Emerging telecom regulatory reforms and policy
Licenses up for tender
Increasing financeability
Alternatives to government guarantees
Development in wireless satellite digital and mobile
communications
Streamlining the approval process
Establishing fair, efficient bidding and negotiations

PROGRAMME IN BRIEF

***Day One*** Tuesday, November 30, 1995

8:30 OPENING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR
   Mark Riedy, Partner; Chairman India Practice
   Reid & Priest, L.L.P.
8:45 KEYNOTE: AN OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN INDIA
   The Honorable Sukh Ram, Minister of Communications
   Government of India
9:30 THE OUTLOOK FOR THE TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA
   Narayan Valluri, Minister (Economics)
   Embassy of India, Washington DC
   R.K. Takkar, Chairman Telecom Commission & Secretary,
   Department of Telecommunications
   Government of India
   Richard Barber, Executive Director
   Pacific Telecommunications Council
10:15 PRIVATIZATION & COMPETITIVENESS IN THE
INTERNATIONAL TELECOMSECTOR
   Ambassador Vonya B McCann,
   United States Coordinator, International Communications
   and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State
   Judith O'Neill, Chair Telecom Practice
   Reid & Priest, L.L.P.
   Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of
   Commerce
11:15 DOING BUSINESS IN INDIA
   Karan Swaner, Executive Director, US-India Business
   Council
   Ginger Lew, General Counsel, U.S.Department of Commerce
   Ashok Mehta, President, Tata Incorporated
   Patricia Paoletta, Director, U.S. Trade Policy, U.S.
   Trade Rep.
12:00 LUNCHEON REMARKS
   The Honorable Ronald Brown,
   Secretary of Commerce
   U.S. Department of Commerce
1:30 INDIAN TELECOM DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIBERALIZED
ENVIRONMENT: NEEDS, ECONOMICS OF OPERATION AND STAKEHOLDERS'
PROSPECTS
   Diju Raha, General Manager, Internatioanl R&D Operations
   Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
2:15 LEGAL OBSTACLES TO DOING BUSINESS IN INDIA
   Mark Riedy, Partner, Chairman India Practice
   Reid & Priest L.L.P.
   David Hardy, Partner, Reid & Priest L.L.P.
3:15 A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INDEPENDENT REGULATORY
STRUCTURE
   Moderator: Eric Nelson, Vice President
   Telecommunications Industry Association
4:0 DEVELOPING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
   Moderator: Peter Purushotma, President
   HCL Corporation, Advanced Technologies Group

***Day Two*** Wednesday, December 1, 1995

8:0 OPENING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR
   Rajiv Khanna, Presidient,
   India America Chamber of Commerce and Parrtner,
   LeBoef, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P.
8:30 GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON
INDIA
   Carol C. Darr, Associate Administrator, Office of
   International Affairs, NTIA, U.S.Department of Commerce
   Jeffrey M. Conklin and Beth A.Perdue
   Managing Partners, CPInternational
9:10 ATTAINING FULL DIGITAL NETWORK BY THE YEAR 2000
   R.K. Takkar, Chairman Telecom Commission and Secretary
   Department of Telecommunications
   William Carter, President
   AT&T Submarine Systems International
9:50 THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT CAPITAL
   Vipul Prakash, Senior Investment Officer
   International Finance Corporation
   Vincent D. Salvatore, Jr., of Counsel, Reid & Priest,
   L.L.P.
10:30 EX-IM BANK FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR EXPORTS TO INDIA
   Kevin G.O'Connor, Business Development Officer
   Export-Import Bank of the United States
11:05 FINANCING TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROJECTS IN INDIA
   Deborah A.DeMasi, Chairman Infrastructure Finance
   Reid & Priest, L.L.P.
11:50 LEAPFROGGING INTO NEW SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGIES
   Mike Nelson, Office of Science and Technology Policy
   Executive Office of the President
   Tedson J. Meyers, Partner, Reid & Priest, L.L.P.
12:20 BASIC TELEPHONY: BRINGING INDIA INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
   Moderator: Diljeet Titus, Partner, Singhania & Company
1:00 LUNCHEON REMARKS
   The Honorable Reed Hundt, Chairrman
   U.S. Federal Communications Commission
2:00 MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF BUILDING
THE TELECOM NETWORK
   Moderator: Janet Hernandez, Associate, Reid & Priest,
   L.L.P.
2:55 GLOBAL SATELLITES AND THEIR ROLE IN LINKING INDIA
   Clayton Mowry, Associate Director
   Satellite Industry Association
   Tim Logue, Associate, Reid & Priest, L.L.P.
   Craig Moll, Regional Director South Asia,
   Middle East, Africa, PanAmSat
   Tom Tycz, Chief, Satellite Division
   U.S. Federal Communications Commission
3:35 WHAT ROLE WILL MOBILE TRUNK RADIO PLAY IN WIRELESS
TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENT?
   Moderator: Christopher Rogers
   Senior Advisor to the Chairman, Nextel
4:15 COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
   John McPhee, Director, Office of Computers & Business
   Equipment, U.S. Department of Commerce
   Frank Dorian, Tandem Computers
4:55 CLOSING REMARKS:OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE
   Mark Riedy, Partner, Chairman India Practice, Reid &
   Priest, L.L.P.

TO REGISTER:
Phone: [phone] (toll free)
Fax: [phone]
Or write to:
   Customer Service Dept
   World Research Group
   12 E, 49th St, 17th Floor
   New York, NY 10017

REGISTRATION FEE: $ 1295 for the 2 day conference. Fee includes lunch,
refreshments, and conference documentation.

CANCELLATIONS: Your registration may be transferred to a member of
your organization up to 24 hours in advance of the conference. All
cancellations received on or before November 15, 1995 will be subject
ot $ 195 administrative charge. We regret that no refund for
cancellations will be made after this date.

CONFERENCE VENUE: Latham Hotel 3000 M Street, N.W  Washington, D.C.
20007, Phone : [phone]. Fax [phone]

SPECIAL TRAVEL RATES AVAILABLE: As the World Research Group's official
travel agent, Zenith Travel can offer specialy negotiated rates to
atendees. Call 1-800-221 2786 or 212-251-1455 and specify that you are
attending the india Telecom sumit conference when making your
reservation.

HOTEL ACCOMODATION: Mention the World Research Group for specially
reduced rates at the Latham Hotel. To take advantage of this discount
contact the hotel directly by Tuseday, November 14, 1995.

REGISTRATION FORM

YES Please register the following attendee (s) for the
India Telecom Summit
Name:
Company:
Position:
Division:
Approving Manager:
Address:
City:               State:              Zip:
Telephone:
Fax:
Enclosed is a check / Mastercard / Visa / American Express
Card#:         Exp. Date:
Signature
Please send me information on Exhibtions     Sponsorship
(Please photocopy this form for additional attendees and pass
it on to another colleague).


The Indian Techonomist - newsletter on India's information industry
http://dxm.org/techonomist/                             [e-mail]
Editor and publisher: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh           [e-mail]
Vox [phone]; 3760335;     H 34 C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA

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

From: [e-mail] (Kimmo Ketolainen)
Subject: 12 Months to the Numbering Change in Finland
Organization: Turun yliopisto =B7 University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 16:53:33 GMT


The largest single numbering change in Finland this far occurs on
Saturday 12 Oct 1996 at 00.00. The change affects most numbers in
the country:

    * All current 75 area codes are rearranged to only 13
    * Mobile phone and pager networks retain their codes
    * The leading digit 9 changes to the leading digit 0
    * 00 is introduced as a neutral international access code

BACKGROUND

The process of harmonizing the different access codes and emergency
numbers with those of the Western Europe began in early 1990's. One
of the major differencies has been the emergency number which has
been throughout the years 000 (and 002, 005) in Finland, whereas
in many other countries 00 has been used as the international line
access code. To free up the 00* number space, the standard EU emergency
number 112 was introduced in Finland in 1992, and a recording was put
behind 000 to tell callers to dial the proper number.

During the last five years the number of different area codes has been
coming down slowly with occasional merges. Currently, the number of
them is 75, and it will remain the same until next October.

The year 1994 brought finally competition to all the remaining
monopoly fields of telecommunications. At the same time, the concept
of 13 large telecommunications areas was introduced, and area code
billing was abolished making all calls within a telecommunications
area billable at the local call rate. The 13 areas are approximately
the same as the provinces of the country with few small local
exceptions, and a separat= e code of the capital area.

Subscriber numbers have been changed gradually to make most of them
seven digits long. The largest changes occur in 1995 and 1996, and the
last numbers change in 11 Oct 1996, on the last day of the old area
cod= e system. On 12 Oct 1996 none of the old area codes is usable.


NEW AREA CODES

    Area/Province   New code Old codes
    Aland Islands   018      928
    Central Finland 014      941 942 943 944 945 946 947
    Hame            03       916 917 918 919 931 932* 933 934 935 936 937
    Kuopio          017      971 972 977 978 979
    Kymi            05       951 952 953 954
    Lapland         016      960 9692 9693 9694 9695 9696 9697 9698
    Mikkeli         015      955 956 957 958 959
    North Karelia   013      973 974 975 976
    Oulu            08       981 982 983 984 985 986 988 989
    Turku and Pori  02       921 922 923 924 925 926 930 932* 938 939
    Uusimaa I       09**     90
    Uusimaa II      019      911 912 914 915
    Vaasa           06       961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968

    *) Exception: the current area code 932 splits as follows: the
       municipality of Huittinen belongs to the new area code 02; the
       four other municipalities of Mouhijarvi, Suodenniemi, Vammala
       and Aetsa belong to the new area code 03.
    **) Capital area

    Example 1, national dialing: [phone] changes to [phone]
    Example 2, int'l dialing: [phone] changes to [phone]
    Example 3, national dialing: (90) 1234 5678 changes to [phone]
    Example 4, int'l dialing: [phone] changes to [phone]


MOBILE PHONES AND PAGERS

Mobile phone and pager networks retain their codes. Only the leading
digit nine changes to the digit zero which is dropped when dialing
from abroad.

    Example 1, national dialing: 940 555 5508 changes to 040 555 5508
    Example 2, int'l dialing: [phone] does not change


INTERNATIONAL ACCESS CODES

The new neutral international access code 00 is taken into use to
accompany the various operator-specific codes such as 990, 994 and 999.
There is no word yet on how these access codes will change in the future.


SPECIAL SERVICES CODES

There is no word yet on how and when the remaining special services
codes, toll and toll free numbers in the leading digit 9 system will
change. A large part of them have been already moved to the leading
digit 0 system.


Kimmo Ketolainen   Internet <[e-mail]>   Telefonkartensammler

Yo-kyla 84 A 10    WWW http://iki.fi/kk   IAP http://www.sci.fi
FIN-20540 Turku    GSM [phone]   Tel [phone]

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

From: Meir Guttman <[e-mail]>
Subject: The New "israel.dcom.isdn"
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 16:02:41 EET
Organization: NetVision LTD.
Followup-To: israel.dcom.isdn


Hello all ISDN'ers in Israel!

Welcome to the new "israel.dcom.isdn" USENET news-group.  I hope this
group will help us all in our respective interests as users,
professionals and "innocent bystanders", caught in the ISDN pond.

As at least one of the people who promoted and asked for this news
group to be created, I am taking the liberty of putting some
guidelines for the mission and purpose of the group.  These are of
course put as a basis for debate.  All of you are urged to put forward
their opinions, especially where they *oppose* those outlined here.

I am proposing the purpose of this group to be:

1)    The discussion of ISDN issues *related to Israel*.  It is assumed
    that ISDN issues of general interest are better handled on the
    general news group "comp.dcom.isdn".

2)    A forum for the announcement, discussion, debate, petition, and
    suggestions regarding ISDN related policies, tariffs, standards,
    services, etc. of:
    *    The Ministry of Communications
    *    BEZEQ
    *    Cellular Phone Service Providers
    *    International Call Carriers
    *    Internet Service Providers

3)    Questions, experience (good and bad) and help with the usage of
    ISDN equipment.

4)    Posting commercial "News release" bulletins of interest to the ISDN
    community.

5)    Announcements of compliance approval by the proper authority of
    equipment, software and services.

6)    Announcing events (conferences, exhibitions, lectures, etc.) and
    Call-for-Papers of interest to the ISDN community.

7)    Monthly posting of the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) document.
    (The undersigned volunteered to collect and edit the FAQ, see
    related posting)

This article is cross-posted also to the "comp.dcom.isdn" and the rest
of the "comp.dcom.xxx" hierarchy.


Meir Guttman  <[e-mail]>
Phone [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 07 Oct 95 00:42:40 -0400
Subject: New Bell Canada 900 Service Features


This is an announcement of some new Advantage 900 Service features.
These are proposed for 1st November 1995 implementation, subject to
CRTC approval.

1) 900 Caller Identifier

The 900 number operator can receive the caller's number ... call blocking
(*67) will allow callers to suppress the Calling Line ID, though.

2) Dialed Number Identifier

When more than one 900 number terminates at the same location (for
purposes of identifying which commercials prompt which calls, etc),
this feature will allow the service provider to identify which 900
number was dialed by the caller. Bell will identify this in a special
"800-0/1XX-xxxx" format for use with CMS and Centrex setups. ISDN and
PBX setups will have the actual called number delivered.

3) Area Code Route

A 900 call can be terminated at different locations according to the
area code from which the 900 number was dialed.

4) FlexRoute

Calls can be routed to different terminating centres based on time
and day; this can be used to take advantage of different provincial
holidays and different time zones.

5) Emergency Route

Calls can be re-routed to a different terminating centre in the event
of an emergency or other disruption. The 900 service provider informs
the phone company to implement an emergency route in such situations.

6) Courtesy Response

A voice announcement is provided at times when the 900 call cannot be answered.


Fidonet:  Dave Leibold 1:259/730
Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Thom Byxbe)
Subject: New List: mtalist - Michigan Telecom Act Re-write List
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 1995 01:17:22 GMT
Organization: DigitalRealm.com
Reply-To: [e-mail]


mtalist on [e-mail]

A Moderated mailing list has been started to discuss the Michigan
Telecommunications Act re-write currently underway in the Michigan
legislature. This list will act as a tool to communicate information
about the act and it's ramifications on the citizens of Michigan.

This act is being rushed through committee and there is very little
time to act.  Please use this tool to communicate opinions and to
rally support.  It is IMPORTANT that we move VERY quickly to ensure
that this rewrite is fair to ALL of Michigans citizens.

For more information on the act please visit this WWW site:

http://www.rust.net/~jack/mta.html


TO SUBSCRIBE send e-mail to: [e-mail]

Place the word SUBSCRIBE in the Subject line and *ONLY* your
E-Mail address in the body of the message

TO UNSUBSCRIBE send e-mail to:  [e-mail]

Place the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject line and *ONLY* your
E-Mail address in the body of the message


TO CONTRIBUTE to the list send mail to:  [e-mail]

List Owner: Thom Byxbe <[e-mail]>

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #426
******************************


Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa05458;
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Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 20:00:57 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #429

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 10 Oct 95 20:00:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 429

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Cross-Canada Trip (Dave Leibold)
    Dutch Renumbering Scheme Almost an April 1 Joke (Alex van Es)
    Distributed Line Hunt (Kevin Kadow)
    Telecommunications Survey (Judith Oppenheimer)
    Telecommunications Survey in _The_Economist_ (Bob Goudreau)
    California Opportunity/Help Wanted (Bob Schwartz)
    Enterprise Management Summit '95 - Free Exhibits Pass ([e-mail])
    Opinions on PC-Based IVR Systems (Wynn Quon)
    Redundant Systems (D. Matthew Ford)
    Periphonics VPS 7000 For Sale (James Wiley)
    FCC Issues NPRM re Toll Free Numbers (Judith Oppenheimer)
    Circuit ID Formats (Randy Tischler)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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: 09 Oct 95 23:53:38 -0400
Subject: Cross-Canada Trip


I had the opportunity to travel throughout Canada in August, some of
it by rail (an endangered species here), the rest by bus.

Cards ...

This was a good opportunity to try out a few of the pre-paid phone
cards that are now available to Canadians. This included a $15 value
Bell Canada "Hello" pass which was included with VIA Rail's Canrailpass,
a Trendwatch card, and a Callsaver card.

All these cards operate using an 800 number access, with a "PIN" or card
number code. The prepaid amounts associated with the cards is reduced as
calls are made. Customer service numbers were printed on all three
brands of cards. PIN numbers were 8 digits for Trendwatch, 10 digits
for Callsaver, and 12 digits for Bell/Stentor's Hello pass.

The Hello pass operation was straightforward enough, but the recorded
introductory greeting changed according to which province one was in.
In British Columbia, the greeting would mention "BC Tel" while in
Manitoba it would say "MTS". The confusing part occurs when users are
prompted to enter their "BC Tel", "MTS" or "MT&T" Hello card numbers,
even though the card itself may have been bought in Bell Canada territory.

I noticed no call supervision problems, especially with the Hello
pass, although another make of card (Cardinal) warns that billing
begins after five rings. It's normally possible to access touch-tone
operated services after placing the call (again, different card
companies may give different results).

Rates: the Hello pass costs start at 50c/min for calls within a
province, or $1 within Canada to another province. The Callsaver
card has the lowest rates based in the 416/905 area codes; that is,
a call placed from anywhere in Canada or the USA to a 416/905 point
costs the lowest 50c/min rate (to the rest of Canada and continental
USA, the Callsaver rate is 65c/min). All cards are generally good
at indicating how much time is left to complete a given call, or
otherwise indicates how many units are left to be used.

Wild North-West ...

The Edmonton-Yellowknife bus trip takes two transfers and just under
23 hours to do. One bus stop was at Indian Cabins, Alberta (just a few
km south of the NWT border); this place has but 8 residents connected
with a highway store. One can find a radio payphone there (lift the
receiver, wait for the radio operator, arrange for payment accordingly).
Arctic Frontier Carriers, the bus operator responsible for the Hay
River/Enterprise to Yellowknife link of the trip, lives up to its
name: the driver has radio contact throughout the trip, particularly
useful considering there are very few settlements along the way, and
plenty of gravel road to boot.

In Yellowknife, Northwestel's offices take up one of the taller buildings
in the city (just down the street from where I stayed, at one of the other
taller buildings).

This city of 15k has most of the telephone features taken for granted
in the rest of North America: credit card dialing, call waiting,
reasonable quality connections. The various phone cards can even be
used in the north, thanks to 800 number access.

Other Yellowknife features:

* Free local phone calls could be made from the tourist centre.

* One of the streets there is actually called Ragged Ass Road (one wonders
  why the city can't seem to maintain a street sign for this :-)).

* Summer months are actually quite warm, despite the northern latitude.
  Gardeners are very active as are cyclists. The winter months are something
  else, though.

* Canada Post ate the postcard sent to my parents ... this is but one
  of the reasons many Canadians have a healthy respect for the USPS.
  Other postcards did at least reach their destinations. 'Net postcards
  here we come...

Not as Wild West ...

Edmonton: Ed Tel maintains a historical telephone museum in this city,
complete with various phones, a caller ID demo, a chance to play with
limited versions of step-by-step, crossbar and electronic switches, and
even a few examples of telephones that survived fires (albeit in different
shape than they were originally). A few of the exhibits once lived in
Toronto's Ontario Science Centre, such as a wire-pair matching game
(i.e. learn how to tell which ends of two-colour coded wires will make
the connections). The Ed Tel museum is not to be confused with the
less elaborate "Vista 33" which is AGT's mini-museum. I don't know if
there are plans to merge the two (or if this had been done, since I
didn't visit Vista 33 this time).

Saskatoon: The Diefenbaker centre is a museumish building on the U. of
Saskatchewan campus that is named after the former Prime Minister.
Among the Diefenbaker memorabilia sits a blue-turquoise coloured telephone
with a handset plaque that reads:

   "Presented to the Rt. Hon. John G. Diefenbaker, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
   Prime Minister of Canada, who used this instrument in conversation
   with President J.F. Kennedy of The United States of America Between
   Whitehorse, Y.T. and Hyannisport, Mass. July 22, 1961 to inaugurate
   the Canadian National Telecommunications Canada-Alaska Microwave
   System."

Winnipeg: MTS announced its "Name That Number" service, a pay
offering where callers dial 555.1313, give up to two subscriber
numbers for 50 cents, and get the names for those numbers. Similar
services exist in the U.S. in places such as Chicago and Tampa. This
was subject to CRTC approval.

The trains often take breaks of 10-60 minutes at certain stations.
These allow for such things as servicing, crew changes, etc. Many
passengers often take such opportunities to wander around, make phone
calls, check out the town scenery. At one such break, the Sioux
Lookout, Ontario has no payphones; the nearest ones found were at a
convenience store across the street (and both were utterly
dysfunctional when I found them on the eastbound journey back to
Ontario).

Looking East ...

Not much to report on the Atlantic, other than MT&T's payphones in
Halifax are mostly without phone books. In better news, the main library
in that city has a terminal or two connected to the Chebucto Free-Net,
and even had some colour WWW browser terminals on hand.

Montreal was the first place I spotted Bell Canada's specially-equipped
payphones for their forthcoming QuickChange/LaPuce EEPROM cards. This
should begin to bring Canada up to the sorts of card services available
in many other nations.

Those are just a few scattered highlights of this year's big vacation.
The Canadian Thanksgiving weekend has just begun, so holiday greetings
as appropriate.


Fidonet:  Dave Leibold 1:259/[e-mail]
Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 20:09:35 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Alex van Es)
Subject: Dutch Renumbering Scheme Almost an April 1 Joke


October 10th is a date marked on many company calenders here in the
Netherlands. For a change the reason is not a national holiday but on
this day almost six million phone numbers are going to be renumbered.
Phonenumbers starting with 020 (Amsterdam), 010 (Rotterdam), 070 (The
Hague) and the cities Almere and Almelo are not being affected by the
renumbering.

Nationwide the Dutch PTT has been spreading renumbering guides. Other
products that are available are PC programs to convert data files and
portable calculators that can convert numbers for you.

Your truly is one of the person being affected by this renumbering
scheme.  Luckily my phone number is only going to get a extra digit,
changing the number from 055-421184 into 055-5421184. Unfortunatly
there are many people being less lucky, getting an extra digit PLUS a
total new areacode.

PTT is appearantly expecting a lot of trouble coming out of this
renumbering, therefore the old numbers will also keep on working for
the coming six months.  In the beginning of April the old numbers will
be disconnected. And that is in my opinion where the problems are
going to start. Many people will not change their friend's phone number
straight away. After all, converting phone numbers is not the most
interesting job to do, and so many people decide to delay it till some
rainy Sunday afternoon. And if that rainy Sunday is not coming along
to soon, they probably trashed their renumbering guide, forgetting all
about it. And then around the beginning of April trouble is going to
start. All of the sudden you will be forced to dial the new number.

Luckily the PTT is spending millions in commercials reminding people
to dial the new number from October 10th on.

The reasons for the renumbering are;

- making the European 112 alarm number possible
- creating space for extra numbers
- leaving room for competition

Especially that last reason "leaving room for competition" is mentioned
a lot as a good reason. "The dutch market wants a second telecom provider,
so we had no choice then to renumber and create space"; almost blaming
the dutch customer for wanting a second provider.


Alex van Es
[e-mail], Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
Phone:[phone]  Pager:[phone] (CT-2 Greenpoint)
Voicemail: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Kevin Kadow)
Subject: Distributed Line Hunt
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: MSGNet, Chicago
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 05:58:39 GMT


Does anybody have information on the Distributed Line Hunt service?
Getting information from Ameritech is like pulling teeth.

Apparently this differs from a standard hunt group in that the switch
"remembers" which line answered a call last, then presents the next
call on the next line in sequence. Possibly also known as "Uniform
Call Distribution".

This is useful for when you have a pool of people taking phone orders
and you don't want all the calls to go to the person on line 1 because
all the calls ring there first and hunt down.

Here's the question:

My provider has 64 lines, of which 1/3+ are USR Couriers with the
33.6Kbps software. Right now all the USR modems are at the "bottom" of
the hunt, so people who call the first number hunt through all 64
modems, and people who call the 40th number get the first of the USR
modems.

If service is switched to a DLH(UCD?) hunt group, will I still be able
to get a 33.6 connection by calling the 40th number, or will the call
go to the next modem after the one that answered the call before mine?

Basically what I want to know is if DLH applies to just the first hunt number
or to every number in the group.


Thanks!

[e-mail]      Kevin Kadow

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

From: Judith Oppenheimer <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 18:38:26 -0400
Subject: Telecommunications Survey


The URL also contains a new web d.comm site.

> From [e-mail] Sat Oct  7 14:13 EDT 1995
> The latest Telecommunications Survey of The Economist is available on:
> http://www.economist.com


Judith Oppenheimer, President
Interactive CallBrand(TM):  Strategic Leadership, Competitive Intelligence
[e-mail].    Ph: +1 800 The Expert.    Fax: [phone].

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

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 00:04:01 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Telecommunications Survey in _The_Economist_


Readers of the Digest may find the 32-page survey of telecommunications
in the September 30th issue of _The_Economist_ magazine to be of some
interest.  You don't even need to be a subscriber to see this survey;
it's available on the World Wide Web at http://www.economist.com .

On a related note, the acknowledgements in the survey mention a
Jonathan Solomon as one of those due thanks.  This wouldn't happen
to be the TELECOM Digest's own "JSol", would it?


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


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I don't know if it is or not. I
have heard nothing about it. If it is, maybe he will write and tell us.
I can't really imagine it being anyone else.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Bob Schwartz)
Subject: California Opportunity/Help Wanted
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 15:13:53 -0800
Organization: BCI


I've been asked to post this Help Wanted and to field replies. Recent
articles quote ISDN "cheerleaders" as saying that sales are exploding as
more and more people and businesses want faster ways to access the World
Widw Web while sending and recieving pictures, spreadsheets, and large
files.
                     --------------------

POSITION: Sales, commissioned

LOCATION: California. Telecommute from your home. Company located in Marin
County.

DESCRIPTION: Developing leads and closing sales of ISDN (business and
residential), Centrex, and LEC call discount plans.

Please send cover letter and resume: E-Mail, [e-mail] or Fax
[phone] Attn. Bob Schwartz. No voice calls please.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Enterprise Management Summit '95 - Free Exhibits Pass
Date: 10 Oct 1995 20:26:07 GMT
Organization: Netcom


If you would like to attend Enterprise Management Summit'95, free
SummitPlus show floor passes are available by calling 800-340-2111. You
can also register by accessing the Summit web site at
http://www.summit.micromuse.com.  The SummitPlus pass includes access
to:

* Show floor on October 23, 24, and 25.
* Solutions Centers on Asset Management (sponsored by Intel), Help Desk
(sponsored by Remedy), and Proactive Management (sponsored by CoroNet).

* Keynote addresses by Don Haile of IBM (Managing Information In The
Next Millennium), Jonathan Roberts of Microsoft (Microsoft's Back
Office Strategy), and Making Enterprise Management Work - A Real
World Perspective sponsored by Network Computing Magazine.
* The Wall Street Journal's "Measuring Your Marketability"
* All 14 Product Directions Sessions

Summit '95 will be held this October 23-27 at the Dallas InfoMart. The
theme this year is 'Managing Technology to Meet Business Needs'. Major
areas covered this year include asset management, software
distribution, help desk, applications management, and proactive
management. There will be 57 tutorials and technical sessions, and 50+
exhibitors. The 1995 Summit Shoot-Out will feature Bull, Cabletron,
DEC, IBM, and SunSoft competing head-to-head to show the most effective
enterprise management solution.

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

From: [e-mail] (Wynn Quon)
Subject: Opinions on PC-based IVR Systems
Date: 10 Oct 1995 17:44:45 -0400
Organization: Mitel Corporation


Hi, we're looking for an Interactive Voice Response system with an Applications
Generator package that runs on a PC under Windows 95.

What are your best recommendations?  Is there a mainstream product out there
which is the industry leader?

Our requirements are:

* must be highly reliable
* ability to support concurrent voice mail and audiotext applications
* excellent technical support
* user-friendly interface
* ability to access a proprietary database (using ASCII command strings
  over an RS232 port) based upon voice response events
* price is not a major factor but is a consideration
* what's more important is that we want to avoid products that are likely to
  be orphaned either through poor support or business problems

The selected package will be part of an OEM offering in conjunction
with a Mitel system, hence the requirement for excellent technical
support.

Please respond via post and e-mail.


Thanks!

Wynn Quon    Mitel Corp.

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

From: [e-mail] (DMatthewF)
Subject: Redundant Systems
Date: 9 Oct 1995 12:34:00 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)


Hi,

     We have two T-1's coming in from two different LD carriers.  They
both come from the same NJ Bell CO (609-784).  Is there a way to have
one of them come from different CO's on different lines so that if
there is a problem between the CO and us, we can still have service
through a different CO?  Our customers have been saved from an outage
on one of our LD carriers before because they could call a different
800 number to access us over a different carrier, but if the CO or the
line coming from the CO has a problem.  Any comments appreciated.


D Matthew Ford    [e-mail]

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

From: wiley@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_DOMAIN_FILE (James Wiley-TSU)
Subject: Periphonics VPS 7000 For Sale
Date: 10 Oct 1995 21:49:23 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX


Tarleton State University has a Periphonics model VPS 7000 voice
response unit for sale.  Please contact me for more information.  TSU
is in Stephenville Texas.


Thanks,

James L. Wiley
Tarleton State University
Steohenville TX  76402
[e-mail]
817.968.9397

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

From: Judith Oppenheimer <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 11:39:26 -0400
Subject: FCC Issues NPRM re Toll Free Numbers


The FCC has issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 95-419)
regarding "The Fair and Efficient Use of Toll Free Numbers".

Comments in this proceeding are due November 1, 1995, and reply comments
are due November 15, 1995.


Judith Oppenheimer, President
Interactive CallBrand(TM):  Strategic Leadership, Competitive Intelligence
[e-mail].    Ph: +1 800 The Expert.    Fax: [phone].
ICB publishes inTELigence, the newsletter that separates fact from fiction.
 Call or email for a sample issue, and subscription information.

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

From: [e-mail] (Randy Tischler)
Subject: Circuit ID Formats
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 09:06:16 EDT


It dawned on me the other day that, of all the acronym lists and
telecom term glossaries and LATA maps and telco test numbers available
in the Telecom Archives and in other places on the net, there is
nothing regarding circuit IDs.

I have noticed that different telcos follow different formats
depending on things like the bandwidth of a circuit, the physical
location on one end or the other (or both), the LATA in which it
resides, etc.  Others are just a blob of numbers after some
predictable string of letters and/or numbers.

Has anyone compiled a list of these, and if so, where might I find
this?


Randy

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #429
******************************


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Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 17:12:08 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #428

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 10 Oct 95 17:12:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 428

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Hugh Pritchard)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (David L. Kindred)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Gordon Burditt)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Henry Baker)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Israel Moskowitz)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Bud Couch)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Robert Casey)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Gary D. Shapiro)
    Re: Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape (Mark E. Daniel)
    Re: Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape (Bill Fenner)
    Re: Bell Name Change (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Re: Bell Name Change (John Levine)
    Re: Bell Name Change (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Bell Name Change (Stan Schwartz)
    Re: Bell Name Change (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Bell Name Change (Eric Hunt)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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, 10 Oct 95 10:53 EST
From: Hugh Pritchard <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise Time Information?


In a recent posting, [e-mail] (Joseph Singer) claimed that

> Sorry Pat, but this is not quite correct.  910-410-TIME translates to
> 303-499-7111.  It's the WWV number.  The 202 number you mentioned is the
> National Bureau of Standards in Washington, DC.  If you'll dial all three
> numbers you'll find that the 303 number is the same as the 900 number.

While I know nothing about the WWV number, I do live in the Washington
Metro area, and Pat is right: 202-653-1800 is the U.S. Naval Observatory
Master Clock Time Announcement number.  From the "Blue Pages" part of
the Bell Atlantic (C&P Telephone) Northern Virginia directory:

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
     Navy Department Of The
          Naval Observatory Mass[achusetts] Ave at 34th St NW
               Master Clock Time Announcement.....900-410-8463
               Guard Desk-General Info............202-653-1507
               Tour Info-Recorded Message.........202-653-1543

The headquarters of the "National Bureau of Standards" is no longer in
downtown DC.  It relocated (in the '70s, I believe) to Gaithersburg,
Montgomery County, Maryland; and was renamed the "National Institute for
Standards and Technology" (NIST).  Any NIST phone numbers would have the
area code 301.


Hugh
[e-mail]
[phone]

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 16:21 EDT
From: [e-mail] (David L Kindred )
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?


Someone a while back wrote:

> I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal
> from to synchronize their clocks and equipment.

I have not yet seen anyone mention Radio Station WWVB, a 60 khz
broadcast that also originates from Colorado.  This longwave station
has the advantage over the shortwave stations that there is little, if
any, problem caused by signal fading, multipath interference, etc.
The WWVB receivers I have seen offer 1 pps and 1 khz clock outputs
that are not only accurate, but in sync with the Colorado master
clock.  Unfortunately, the WWVB receivers are not cheap.

There are also GPS receivers dedicated to providing just the time, and
also providing 1 pps clocks and the like.  These also seem to be more
expensive than some of full function GPS receivers, but do include
RS-232 ports and the like.

My employer has been including WWVB or GPS clocks in our larger
systems for many years.  Unfortunately, not all of the telco's
equipment is connected to such a time source.  I can recall several
cases where all hell broke loose when a CO tech misread his/her watch
(or calendar) and a 1AESS or 2BESS mis-recorded large quantities of
call records.  Definitely not a pretty sight.


EMail: [e-mail]   Phone: [phone] x222
Snail: Securicor Telesciences Inc, 351 New Albany Rd, Moorestown, NJ 08057-1177
Web:   http://www.telesciences.com/~kindred/index.html

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

From: [e-mail] (Gordon Burditt)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Organization: "Gordon Burditt"
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 06:59:01 GMT


> There is a neat little shareware Windows program out there called TimeSync.
> It connects to the USNO Internet Time Server at tick.usno.navy.mil, and sets
> your computer's clock to the USNO's time.  It's easy to use, as long as you
> know how many minutes difference you are from UTC.  I'm not exactly
> sure where you get it, but I'll e-mail it to anybody who asks.  (I did
> try to telnet to 'tick', but got nowhere).

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I telnetted to tick without any problem (that
> is to stay the network was up; there were no connectivity problems) but I
> had no login for it of course. I tried FTP thinking there might be stuff
> in a public directory, but tick does not allow anonymous ftp connections.
> Is there also a DOS version of this that you are aware of?    PAT]

This server probably uses NTP (Network Time Protocol) to transfer time
information over the net.  One-shot setting of the time would be done
with a program like 'ntpdate' on UNIX and I think there are DOS and
Windows ports of it, not necessarily with that name.  Some versions of
the client program prefer to use multiple servers (to detect servers
with bogus time), and they measure round-trip times of packets to
compensate for the network delay.  They also average several samples
from each server.

There is no "login" although servers can restrict who they will talk
to by IP address.  Most servers are very strict about who they will
accept time information FROM.  You don't want some joker goofing up
your clock.

UNIX systems and other multi-tasking systems can keep their clocks
sync'd to a server by running an ntp daemon.  This corrects not only
the current time, but it can also adjust the system clock frequency (a
correction is applied by the OS) to compensate for errors in crystals.
This keeps the clocks in better sync even if they lose net connectivity.
These systems can also act as servers for other systems.  You can
probably get accurate time within tens of milliseconds.  A really
serious server like tick probably won't want load from ftp or telnet
interfering with time service.  If there are public documents for ftp,
they are probably on another host.

There is a hierarchy of time servers.  A server like tick or one
connected to a radio clock (such as a GPS receiver, WWV receiver,
or in Germany, a DCF77 receiver) driven from a time reference is a
stratum 1 server.  There are a lot of public stratum 2 or stratum 3
servers that sync from stratum 1 or 2 servers.  It may be better to
sync from a server close to you in network path (like the one at
your ISP) than having everyone go directly to tick over a long
network path.  It is definitely better to have an office of a
few thousand systems obtain time from a couple of local servers (which
sync from stratum 2 servers) rather than all of them going directly
to the stratum 1 servers.  They will at least stay close to each
other if the office is cut off from the net.

A lot of the methods used in NTP, including the use of stratum "number
of hops from the reference" numbers to avoid loops and deal with
network partitioning, were developed by the Bell System originally, or
at least they made extensive use of it.


Gordon L. Burditt    sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon

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

From: [e-mail] (Henry Baker)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Organization: nil organization
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 20:20:18 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] wrote:

> John R Levine <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> The other two pieces, the one that builds equipment and
>> the one that sells computers, remain unnamed.  Clearly, this is a job

> Since mean ol' Uncle Scrooge is no longer with us, how 'bout Huey,
> Lewy, and Dewy?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Some of their competitors are hoping it
> will turn out more like Moe, Curley and Larry of The Three Stooges.  PAT]

Between these three pieces and the Baby Bells, don't we now have the
Decibels?


www/ftp directory:
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/home.html

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

From: [e-mail] (Israel Moskowitz)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 00:21:17 -0400


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

> I see in the press releases that after the three-way AT&T split, the
> piece that handles telephone service and stuff like that will be
> called AT&T.  The other two pieces, the one that builds equipment and
> the one that sells computers, remain unnamed.  Clearly, this is a job
> for The TELECOM Digest.

How about  AT&T  BT&T  CT&T ?


[e-mail]   Israel Moskowitz   WA2ZKG

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

From: [e-mail] (Bud Couch)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Organization: ADC Kentrox Industries, Inc.
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 11:31:42 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill
Walker) writes:

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

>> I see in the press releases that after the three-way AT&T split, the
>> piece that handles telephone service and stuff like that will be
>> called AT&T.  The other two pieces, the one that builds equipment and
>> the one that sells computers, remain unnamed.  Clearly, this is a job
>> for The TELECOM Digest.

> A person I talk to at the part that builds equipment has taken to saying
> her employer is "the company formerly known as AT&T".

I don't understand what is taking them so long ... unless one of the
executive staff has a brother-in-law "conman^H^H^H sultant" that they
are trying to employ to come up with a name.

After all "Bell Labs/Western Electric" was good enough for the first eighty
years or so.


Bud Couch - ADC Kentrox   [e-mail] (192.228.59.2)

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Casey)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 04:30:33 GMT


How about:

Moe, Larry and Curley

Huey, Duey, and Louie

(I used to work for the phone company (AT&T Bell Labs) untill I had a
manager who shafted me.  "The people of Bell Labs are very good, they
have to be, to achieve what they do dispite the awful management there!

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

From: [e-mail] (Gary D. Shapiro)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 15:21:55 -0700
Organization: Emperor Clothing Co.


Why not just A, T and &T ?

Gary D. Shapiro...on the WWW at http://www.rain.org/~gshapiro/
The quote that solves all problems goes here, but I've lost it.

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 22:32:02 EDT
From: [e-mail] (Mark E. Daniel)
Subject: Re: Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape


I'm having a problem similar to that.  Except that my line isn't
really dead.  It's just "off-hook" though nothing connected to that
line is really off-hook.  My two-line phone hapily reports "in-use" on
that line.  But I can't get it to go back on-hook.  Ameritech might
even fix it if they ever get around to it.  Oh the fun of phone
trouble and oh the stupidity of repair droans ... "Do you have a
cordless or an answering machine?" ARGGG!  Oh.  The line actually
comes and goes.  When you can dial on it there is plenty of static.
Then you just won't be able to make it go back on-hook after a call.


Mark E. Daniel
[e-mail] (paged Notify)
[e-mail] (Direct INet [POP3])

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

From: [e-mail] (Bill Fenner)
Subject: Re: Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 10:00:58 PDT
Organization: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center


In article <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor noted
in response to something from Linc Madison <[e-mail]>:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps they would have been willing to
> forward the bad line to your other line for the day or so needed.  PAT]

PAC*Bell did this for us when our main line went dead -- we have two
other POTS lines, with unlisted numbers and used for modem calls.
When I complained about the fact that they claimed it was going to
take two days before someone could come out and take a look at it, they
offered to call-forward to one of the other lines, and I played some
demarc games and wired that line to the house jacks.  So we lost the
use of a modem line, but people could still call us.

(BTW, the situation when we lost one of our lines sounds a lot like
Linc's -- one of N lines goes, but in our case the telco said there was
a ringer on the line when I had it unplugged from the demarc!  I spoke
with a supervisor and suggested that our pair had been stolen by an
installer [our neighborhood is short on pairs] and all of a sudden he
found an open at the CO!  Amazing.)


Bill

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bell Name Change
Date: 9 Oct 1995 14:31:48 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]> wrote:

> I just thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that earlier this
> week, the name change became official.  Southern Bell and SouthWestern
                                                                 ^^^^^^^
> Bell became BellSOUTH.


Just being nitpicky here-

I live in New Orleans which is (was) South CENTRAL Bell (a BellSouth Company).
                                           ^^^^^^^
South *Central* Bell covers (covered) Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
Tennessee, Kentucky, while Southern Bell is (was) Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina

South *Western* Bell is another operating company (and regional corporation)
altogather (since the 1984 split) which covers Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma,
Kansas, Missouri.

And BTW, the logo for the 'regulated operating telephone company' division is
the 'slanted' print of BELLSOUTH, with the word BELL in bold, but they *did*
retain the actual little blue bell (circa 1970 version) with the name change.
At least that is how it looks on the recent bill inserts describing the name
change.

About three or four years ago, there was a public notice that
BellSouth was applying to the FCC (and other federal agencies) as well
as all nine states' regulatory agencies for the 'name-merger'. A few
months ago, it was announced that South Central Bell was changing its
name to BellSouth. Sometime earlier this year, Business Office and
Repair reps would answer the line as BellSouth. Last week, the 'ID'
recording/jingle on 0+ inTRA LATA calls changed from South Central
Bell to BellSouth and the 'live, human' operators were beginning to
answer as BellSouth on operator assisted calls, altho' I think that
some of them *might* still answer (or begin to answer a call) as South
Central Bell (or Southern Bell for their territory) out of habit.

Anyway, the bill insert requests customers to begin making out their
checks to BellSouth. I've always made out *my* checks to "The South
Central Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company" even tho' SCBell never had
the '& Telegraph' as part of their name, while Southern Bell DID. Bell
always accepted my checks, and I would assume that they will continue
to do so even if I continue to make them out to the more 'traditional/
nostalgic' sounding name.


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

From: [e-mail] (John Levine)
Subject: Re: Bell Name Change
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 1995 16:45:29 GMT
Organization: I.E.C.C.


> I just thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that earlier this
> week, the name change became official.  Southern Bell and SouthWestern
> Bell became BellSOUTH.

Depatment of minor corrections: BellSouth is what used to be Southern
Bell and South Central Bell.

Southwestern Bell, which is its own RBOC, turned into SBC (named after
their stock ticker symbol) but the last I heard their telco arm was
still Southwestern Bell.

This seems to be this year's fad in the RBOCs, since NYNEX got rid of
the New England Tel and New York Tel, and Bell Atlantic got rid of all
their great old company names including the Chesapeake and Potomac
telephone companies and Diamond State Tel.

US West merged their telco operations together some years ago, but
considering the black eye they've given themselves with their
horrendous third-world quality service in the southwest (reports of
waiting a year for service to be connected), it's about time for them
to pick a new name, too.


Regards,

John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY
Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"
and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be

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

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 16:38:03 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: Bell Name Change


Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]> wrote:

> I just thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that earlier this
> week, the name change became official.  Southern Bell and SouthWestern
> Bell became BellSOUTH.

Actually, the two former subsidiaries of BellSouth were Southern Bell
and South *Central* Bell.  Southwestern Bell is another RBOC entirely.


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

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

From: Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bell Name Change
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 19:02:44 -0400


> Depatment of minor corrections: BellSouth is what used to be Southern
> Bell and South Central Bell.

Whoops, you're right.  MeaTeleCulpa.

> This seems to be this year's fad in the RBOCs, since NYNEX got rid of
> the New England Tel and New York Tel, and Bell Atlantic got rid of all
> their great old company names including the Chesapeake and Potomac
> telephone companies and Diamond State Tel.

It seems like BellSOUTH's new name was partially to give it a bit more
recognition at the '96 Olympics in Atlanta (BellSOUTH's HQ).  They
call themselves the "Official Telephone Company of the '96 Olympics".
Like there's a choice?  That's like calling Georgia the "Official
State of Atlanta".

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Bell Name Change
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 01:43:48 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]> writes:

> I just thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that earlier this
> week, the name change became official.  Southern Bell and SouthWestern
> Bell became BellSOUTH.

Nope, the other one is (was) South Central Bell.  Actually the parent
company has been called BellSouth since divestiture; it covers exactly
the same territory Southern Bell did before South Central Bell was
spun off in 1968, so the two have become one again.

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

From: [e-mail] (Eric Hunt)
Subject: Re: Bell Name Change
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 14:18:06 -0600
Organization: Lil' Ole' Me


I was in Birmingham, Alabama three weeks ago and noticed that they were
changing the South Central Bell tower downtown to say "BellSouth" on
the top instead of the simple Bell logo that had been there since the
tower was built.


Eric Hunt     [e-mail] (preferred)
Austin, TX    [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #428
******************************


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Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 16:30:02 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #427

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 10 Oct 95 16:30:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 427

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Final CFP: JSC Special Issue on ETL (Mehmet Orgun)
    New French Numbering Plan (Patrick Raffin)
    Motorola GSM 8200 - Problems? (H.C. Eng)
    Information Needed About AT&T 7400A L1 DSU and NT1U-200 ([e-mail])
    Need Past Issues of IEEE Communications Magazine (Jim Miller)
    28800 Works Fine on Second Line, But Not on First (Toby Nixon)
    Wanted - Information on Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set ([e-mail])
    Battery to a Device (Bruce Roberts)
    Converting V&H Coordinates to Latitude and Longitude (Sam Hartley)
    Caller ID During Call Waiting (Paul Cook)
    Scan and Reject Program From Pacific Bell (Daryl Frame)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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, 9 Oct 1995 10:54:08 +1000
From: Mehmet Orgun <[e-mail]>
Subject: Final CFP: JSC Special Issue on ETL (Extended Deadline)


 [ NOTE: Deadline for submissions has been extended to 31 Oct. ]

            The Journal of Symbolic Computation
        -----------------------------------
        [Editor-in-Chief: Bruno Buchberger]

        Special Issue on Executable Temporal Logics
      Guest Editors: Michael Fisher, Shinji Kono, Mehmet Orgun

            Call For Papers
            ---------------

BACKGROUND: Logical representations have been widely used in Computer
Science and Artificial Intelligence. In recent years, particularly
with the advent of languages such as Prolog, the direct execution of
such representations has been shown to be both feasible and useful.
Logic-based languages have been used, not only for applications such
as the animation of logical specifications, the characterisation of
database queries and knowledge representation, but also as high-level
programming languages in their own right. However, as the problems
tackled have become more complex, the requirement for more powerful
logical representations has been growing. In particular, since the
concept of time is of central importance to an increasingly wide range
of applications, including the representation of time-dependent data
and the specification and verification of concurrent and distributed
systems, many logics incorporating temporal notions are being
developed and applied.

It is not surprising, therefore, that executable temporal logics have
been proposed in order to provide system developers with access to
these, more powerful, logical techniques. Just as the development of
sophisticated, and relatively efficient, theorem-proving techniques
for first-order logic led to executable forms, such as Prolog, so the
development of executable methods for temporal logics has often been
based on temporal theorem-proving techniques. However, each particular
executable temporal logic combines not only a logical perspective, but
also an operational model, drawn from its intended application areas.
Thus a wide range of languages have appeared, exhibiting a variety of
characteristics and execution mechanisms. Consequently, such languages
have a variety of application areas, such as temporal databases,
temporal planning, animation of temporal specifications, hardware
simulation, and distributed AI.

OBJECTIVES: The Journal of Symbolic Computation is planning a special
issue on Executable Temporal Logics, scheduled to appear in 1996.
High quality original research papers are solicited on all aspects
relating to the foundations, implementation techniques and
applications of languages based upon temporal logic. The research
described must not only incorporate an adequate level of technical
detail, but must also provide a clear indication of both the utility
and the applicability of the results.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to,

   * theoretical issues in executable temporal logics
   * design of executable temporal logics
   * relationship between execution and temporal theorem-proving
   * operational models and implementation techniques
   * programming support and environments
   * comparative studies of languages
   * relationship of executable temporal logics to (temporal) databases
   * applications and case studies

Because of the nature of the journal, it is particularly important
that submissions, even purely theoretical ones, indicate the
algorithmic relevance and applicability of the approach.

Papers must be original and must not have been previously published or
simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere. The papers will be
reviewed based on their originality and technical quality, relevance
to the special issue theme, and the extent to which they will advance
the frontiers of knowledge in this area.

In addition to longer papers, we would welcome short papers (5 to 10
pages) describing specific features or novel applications of
executable temporal logic.

Submissions should follow the JSC style guide available from

    ftp://ftp.risc.uni-linz.ac.at/pub/jsc

LaTeX users are encouraged to use the jsc.sty file.

Electronic submission is strongly encouraged (either as self-contained
LaTeX, or postscript). Submissions, either electronic or a paper copy
of the full paper, should arrive no later than October 31st 1995, and
should be sent to  the principal guest editor:

        Michael Fisher
    Department of Computing
    Manchester Metropolitan University
    Manchester M1 5GD
        United Kingdom

    Tel:    [phone]
    Fax:    [phone]
    Email:  [e-mail]


GUEST EDITORS:

    Michael Fisher
          (details as above)

    Shinji Kono
    Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Inc.
        3-14-13, Higashi-gotanda
    Shinagawa-ku
    Tokyo 141
    Japan
    Email:     [e-mail]

    Mehmet Orgun
    Department of Computing
    Macquarie University
    Sydney  NSW 2109
    Australia
    Email:     [e-mail]

IMPORTANT DATES:

Submissions of full papers due:          October 31st, 1995
Notification of acceptance/rejection:    January 15th, 1996
Revised final manuscripts due:             April 15th, 1996

Queries concerning this special issue are welcome and should be
forwarded to the email addresses above.

Information about the special issue will be available via the WWW page:

      http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/RESEARCH/jsc-extl.html


Mehmet A Orgun                  Tel: [phone]
Department of Computing         Fax: [phone]
Macquarie University            E-mail: [e-mail]
Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia     URL: http://www-comp.mpce.mq.edu.au/~mehmet

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

From: [e-mail] (patrick raffin)
Subject: New French Numbering Plan
Date: 9 Oct 1995 11:03:33 GMT
Organization: Fluctuat nec mergitur (as of today)
Reply-To: [e-mail]



FRANCE NEW NUMBERING PLAN

On 18 October 1996, most French telephone numbers will change.

Here is what will happen, as far as it is documented now.  All errors
and omissions are mine (P. Raffin, 1995/10/08, [e-mail]).


0. French Telcos

France Telecom is the public operator until 1998. They have a monopoly
on non-mobile phones. They have also mobile networks (pagers, analogic,
GSM, CT2).  SFR (Societe Francaise du Radiotelephone) has two mobile
networks: one analogic and one numeric (GSM) network.

Bouygues has a pager network (Ermes). They have a license for a DCS
1800 mobile network.

There are experiments for DECT networks as well.

1. Numbering plan in France today

1.1 Normal numbers

Today, setting apart some special services which are on 2 or 4 digit numbers,
all French phone numbers have 8 digits, plus one digit for the Paris area.

Their format is: Z.AB.PQ.MC.DU, with Z being 1 or nothing, and A being
neither 0 nor 1.  (Note 1)

1.2 Area codes

There are two areas in France: the Paris area and the rest of France.
For Paris, there is an area code: the digit 1 (Z.AB.PQ.MC.DU)
There is no area code for the rest of France.
When calling inside the Paris area, you dial 8 digits;
when calling from Paris to outside its area, you dial "16" plus 8 digits;
when calling from ouside Paris to Paris you dial "16" plus "1" plus 8 digits;
when calling from outside Paris to outside Paris you dial 8 digits.

1.3 Special numbers

Special numbers on 8 digits are (no area code):
    01 to 04 plus 6 digits: Eurosignal pagers (France, Europe)
    05 plus 6 digits: toll free numbers
    06 plus 6 digits: some other pagers
    07 plus 6 digits: GSM mobile phones for France Telecom
    09 plus 6 digits: GSM mobile phones for SFR

1.4 Basic special services

Basic special services are on 2 digits, extended special services are on
either 4 or 8 digits.

The basic services are:
    11    electronic directory (Minitel)
    12    directory assistance
    13    to report problems, out of service lines
    14    your local telco office (France Telecom)
    15    health emergency
    16    inter area calls
    17    police
    18    fire brigade
    19    international
    10    currently not assigned

1.5 Extended services

The extended services begin with 36; there are too many to list them all.
Some have 4 digit numbers, some have 8 digit numbers, all begin with 36.
(Note 2)

Some of the 4 digit services are:
    3612: Minitel mailboxes
    3613, 3614, 3615, 3616, 3619: welcome screen for
        thousands of Minitel services (different tariffs)
    3618: Minitel-to-Minitel (for deaf persons..)
    3610, 3650: France Telecom calling card (automatic, operator)
    3644: line testing robot
    3655, 3656: telegrams (by phone, by Minitel)
    3658: info about your phone bill
    3672: voice mailboxes
    3699: speaking clock

Some of the 8 digit services are: (36xx plus 6 digits)
    3606: Transpac (X25 public PSN)
    3623, 3624, 3625, 3626, 3627, 3628, 3629: direct access (different tariffs)
        to some Minitel services
    3660: some pagers (operator assisted calls)
    3663, 3664, 3665, 3666, 3667, 3668, 3670: phone kiosk (different tariffs)
    3673: voice mailboxes

1.6 Other services

Other services (some need a subscription):
    *55* 4 digits #        rings your phone at the given time
    #55* 4 digits #        cancels this
    *#55* 4 digits #    to verify this service
    *21* 8 or 9 digits #    forwards your calls to the new number
    #21#            to disable call forwarding
    *43#            to enable second call on same line
    #43#            to disable call waiting
    when you have 2 calls at the same time, you use the "flashing" key
        plus "2" to switch from one to the other, or plus "3" for
        a conference

1.7 International access

The prefix for international and oversea access is 19.
International and overseas departments and territories:
    19 plus country code: direct dialing
    19 33 plus country code: operator assisted call
    19 33 12: directory assistance (33 is the country code for France,
                    12 is the number for DA in France)
    19 33 00 plus country code: to call a foreign operator (calling cards)

1.8 Calling France

When calling a number in France you dial your international access
code plus 33 for France and either 1 plus 8 digits (Paris) or only 8
digits (outside the Paris area).


2. New numbering plan

2.1 Normal phone numbers

On 18 oct 1996 at 23h, the numbers will be modified as follows:
  numbers in the Paris area will be 01 plus today's number
    (ABs: 30 34 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 53 55 60 64 69)
  numbers outside the Paris area will be 0x plus today's number:
  x= 2 for the North West
    (31 32 33 35 37 38 39 40 41 43 47 48 51 54 96 97 98 99)
  x= 3 for the Nort East
    (20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 44 60 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89)
  x= 4 for the South East
    (42 50 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 90 91 92 93 94 95)
  x= 5 for the South West
    (34 45 46 49 55 56 57 58 59 61 62 63 65)

2.2 Area code

No area code, you dial 10 digits in all cases.

2.3 Special numbers

Toll free numbers: 05 plus 6 digits will become 0800 plus 6 digits.
All mobile numbers: 06 plus today's number on 8 digits.

2.4 Basic services

Remain on 2 digits: 12 13 14 15 17 18.

2.5 Extended services

Remain on 4 digits: most of the 36xx numbers.  Most of the 36 plus 6
digits numbers will become 0836 plus 6 digits.  The 3663 numbers
(charged as a local call) will become 0801 plus 6 digits.

2.6 Other services

[TBS; should not change]

2.7 International and oversea

The 19 is replaced by 00.  Oversea departments will be accessed as if
they were internal French numbers: 0 plus "country" code plus internal
number on 6 digits, instead of using 00.  ("Country codes": 262
Reunion, 269 Mayotte, 508 St Pierre et Miquelon, 590 Guadeloupe,
594 Guyane, 596 Martinique)  (Note 3)

2.8 Calling France

When calling a number in France you dial your international access code
plus 33 and 9 digits (the 10 digit French number without the leading 0).

Notes:

Note 1: Z.AB.PQ.MC.DU: Z stands for Zone, and MCDU for "milliers,
centaines, dizaines, unites".  I don't know where AB and PQ come from.

Note 2: The use of 36 is for historical reasons: the first Minitel
experiments happened in a town whose phone numbers began with a 6, at
a time where they were on 7 digits; this town was in an area which
received a 3 as first digit when they switched to 8 digits. As people
and machines were used to dial such numbers as 613.13.13, then
(3)613 ... which was shortened to 36.13, this number stuck.  Many
service providers spent a lot of money on commercials for 36.15
services.  The AB 36 was carefully preserved across all following
numbering plans.

Note 3: care was taken that there is no confusion between local numbers and
oversea numbers: 0262, 0269, 0508, 0590, 0594 and 0596 are unique to oversea).


Patrick Raffin    e-mail : [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (H.C. Eng)
Subject: Motorola GSM 8200 - Problems?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 15:24:06 GMT
Organization: Pacific Internet, Singapore


I have a Motorola GSM 8200 phone.  I bought Motorola thinking that it
would have the best RF performance.  But my experience proved
otherwise.  RF performance was bad, and this was easily verified when
I operate it side by side with a Motorola 7200.  Lately, I heard that
there are some software bugs with the 8200, something like it locking
to the weakest signal instead.  Does anyone have more specifics on
this problem, if it is real?


H.C.Eng   Singapore

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Info Needed AT&T 7400A L1 DSU and NT1U-200
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 06:51:23 PDT
Organization: CCnet Communications (510-988-7140 guest)


Installation Practice, wiring, general info needed for 7400A,
also for NT1U-200.

Thanks.

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

From: [e-mail] (JAM2904)
Subject: Need Past Issues of IEEE Communications Magazine
Date: 10 Oct 1995 21:23:19 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (JAM2904)


Urgently need past issues of IEEE Communications Magazine to replace some
lost in recent vandalism of my personal property.  The issues I need are:
Mar. 90, July 90, Nov. 90, Feb. 92, May 92, Aug. 92, Dec. 92, Mar. 93,
Aug. 94, Jan 95.

IEEE reprint services only provides issues for prior three years; microfilm
for older issues.  "Ask IEEE" provides photocopies for $54 each!  I really
need good original magazines.  Willing to pay reasonable price if you
have these and no longer need them.  Thanks!


Jim Miller
594 Acacia Ave.
Melbourne, Fl. 32904 ([e-mail]   or  [e-mail])

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

From: Toby Nixon <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 12:58:44 PDT
Subject: 28800 Works Fine on Second Line; But Not First


I finally got tired of my wife and kids picking up the phone while I
surfin' the net (or whatever) from home, and broke down and sprung for
a second line. GTE hooked up the line to the demarc, and I ran an
entirely new cable direct from the demarc to a jack in my office, into
which the modem is plugged.

On the first line, I'd been lucky to even get 26400 bps connections,
and usually had 24000 or 21600.  Now, though, every call I've made to
a V.34 modem on the second line has connected at 28800.  I suspect the
difference results from the haphazard wiring on the first line -- it's
really a mess with cable run over and next to AC lines, light fixtures,
multiple stars, lots of unused branches, etc. -- a real do-it-yourself
special (by previous homeowners, not me).

Anyway, maybe this is a reasonable tip for folks who never seem to be
able to get 28800: not only will a second line keep your calls from
being interrupted, but it might, if you wire it directly, improve the
performance as well.


Toby

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

From: [e-mail] (RadMan)
Subject: Wanted - Information on Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set
Date: 9 Oct 1995 23:16:25 GMT
Organization: Internet Access Inc.  <613> 225-5595


I need some simple tech specs on HARRIS DRACON TS21 BUTT Test Set,
namely, I need someone to open their unit and tell me where the two
wires from both RECEIVER and SENDER carbons get connected on the main
PCB. I called HARRIS DRACON at the 800 number and they were helping to
an extent but wanted me to send it into REPAIRS @ $80 for the shot.
This is really a no - brainer and I am qualified to do something this
simple. I bought this unit at a swap meet and some gorilla tried to
rewire it I guess, but never made notes and now I am stuck. I got some
WIN CARDFILES with valuable Canadian Interconnect data in a database
plus a very cool vendor information and grey market PBX/KEY CPE contacts I
can share as INFO payment.

HARRIS DRACON TS21 -020 model, mfr 8250 date board assy # 021-721848-001,
all the silkscreen contacts start with "E" (ie E10 and E11...)


John R 613-224-2922 but email back to [e-mail].
See what I do at http://www.ottawa.net/~radcom

Thanx a bunch, the RadMan, in Ottawa, Ontario.

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

Subject: Battery to a Device
From: [e-mail] (Bruce Roberts)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 12:27:00 -0800
Organization: Panasia BBS - North Hollywood, CA - [phone] - No Fees!
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Bruce Roberts)


Looking for a device to connect battery to a device and keep it out of
the D4 channel bank card that feeds it.  I have the -48V, just need
the interface.  Thanks in advance,


TTFN -br-
Bruce Roberts, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Xrictus)
Subject: Converting V&H Coordinates to Latitude and Longitude
Date: 10 Oct 1995 14:52:47 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Xrictus)


Does anyone have the algorithm that Bellcore uses to convert Lattitute and
Longitude to V&H coordinates (or visa versa)?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.


Sam Hartley    Engineering - FCI

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 13:11 EST
From: Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID During Call Waiting?


Is anyone manufacturing Customer Premises Equipment yet which meets
the Bellcore spec for receiving Caller ID during a Call Waiting
signal?


Paul Cook           Proctor & Associates
[e-mail]    Redmond, WA

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 13:59:25 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Daryl Frame)
Subject: Scan and Reject Program From Pacific Bell


Does anyone know anything about the new Pacific Bell program called
Scan and Reject?  It is intended to restrict the maximum charge that
can be billed in California by independent phone companies.  This new
program is supposed to go into effect starting December 1, 1995.

Part of the criteria that is checked in the EMI record is whether the
call originated from a COPT phone.  If it did, then the charges are
calculated by Pacific Bell based on some new formula and compared with
the charges found in the EMI record.  If the COPT computed charges are
greater, the call record is rejected!

Can anyone provide any specifics on this new program?

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #427
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #430

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 10 Oct 95 20:51:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 430

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Dave LeVasseur)
    Re: Dealing With Bell Atlantic re Line Noise (H.D. Knoble)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Bob Goudreau)
    Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Barry Margolius)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Gordon A. Lew)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Dale Farmer)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Ron Bean)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options? (Mike Curtis)
    Re: Slick Unit for POTS (David C. Pratt)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! (Robert Ricketts)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 00:54:28 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Wes Leatherock <[e-mail]> writes:

> There are many more people out there that are not computer
> users than those who are computer users.  And while you may be used to
> dealing primarily with computer users who move their computers from
> place to place, even the vast majority of the (rather small, in the
> overall scheme of the world) number of people who have computers do
> not move them from place to place or even from one line to another.

But a lot of people do use telephones in cities other than their own,
and would benefit from being able to dial a call in a consistent
manner regardless of location.

Say I head east from Louisville on I-64, and at some point I realize I
need to call someone in Louisville to ask the address of my
destination in Lexington.  Depending on how far I've driven when the
light bulb comes on in my head, I may be able to place this call by
depositing a quarter and dialing seven digits, or I may need to dial
eleven digits and deposit more money.  I don't know exactly where that
point is along I-64, but I know it's there.  What harm would it do to
set things up so that, when I dial eleven digits, I will be connected
even if I'm still in the Louisville calling area?

> If this would be the primary motivation, it would indeed mean
> that the whole world has been remade for the benefit of software
> companies, including the one that seems to have been the most
> successful of all under the present system.

Ah.  Another Microsoft basher.  Why is it that so many people on
Usenet seem to think that whatever is good for Microsoft is bad for
the world?

Linc Madison <[e-mail]> writes:

> In areas where the difference between local and toll calls is both
> distinct and severe, it is reasonable to REQUIRE a 1 on all toll calls.
> However, it is entirely STUPID and POINTLESS to *prohibit* the 1 on
> local calls.  It serves ABSOLUTELY no valid purpose.

I guess the one reason for doing this (aside from it being a holdover
from old switches that couldn't pass a 1+ local call back into the
local network) would be that allowing 1+ local dialing would lull some
people into believing that certain numbers they called were toll
calls, just because they *thought* they were such and found that a 1+
call would go through.  I'm not so sure this isn't outweighed, as you
say, by the ease of allowing 1+ for anywhere to anywhere.

> And as for the so-called "international standard" of 00, we in North
> America will comply just as soon as the "standard" allows for
> subscriber-dialed operator-assisted calls.  Until then, a standard that
> was written with deliberate and malicious disregard for the requirements
> of the North American network will be disregarded, as it should be.

Expect to get flamed for being undiplomatic, ignorant of the ways of
the world, an ugly American imperialist, etc., etc.  (Not by me, though!)

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

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 13:10:25 CDT
From: Dave LeVasseur <[e-mail]>
Subject: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives


In Telecom Digest #421, Marko Ruokonen wrote:

> Think about a fax machine dialing a wrong number because someone
> entered the number in a wrong "format" (leaving out 9 or prefixing it

We, like many large businesses, occasionally get fax calls to our
"front desk" number.  This caused our receptionists some consternation
since these calls, once started, came every five minutes or so.  We
finally hit on the idea of connecting a fax machine to one of our DID
lines.  The department that uses that fax can still give out the fax
number (since it is a DID) AND our receptionists can forward a fax
call to it for reception.  This also allows them the satisfaction of
picking up the fax and calling the perpetrator to give them the proper
fax number.


Dave LeVasseur, R&D Mgr, Midcom, Inc. N0DL [e-mail]
Watertown, SD USA

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 11:12:44 EDT
From: H. D. Knoble <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Dealing With Bell Atlantic re Line Noise
Organization: Penn State University


I live on a rural line which goes about .4 miles up my lane. I had
noisy lines too once. Called the local Bell of Atlantic office (near
Bellfonte, PA) and made an appointment to talk with the resident
engineer there. He had some tests run and it was determined that the
line running up my lane was at fault. They stretched a brand new line
in, mounted a new service box on my private pole. This solved my
problem and allows easier diagnostics in the event a tree or something
"injurs" the line in the future (I live in the middle of a forest).

Bell is always doing maintenance on their lines. When miles and miles
of lines may be overgrown, have old less reliable junctions and
repeaters, etc., they value customer input so their priorities match
customer satisfaction better. Ask for an appointement with the local
Bell office engineer or CEO and then go out there and explain exactly
what problems you're having. Get your facts at to times of day, line
speeds, weather, dependency, etc. Make damn sure that you don't have
any electrical line (e.g., power cord for your PC; power supply, lamp
cord, etc.) within six inches of the phone line coming out of your
modem or modem card; even if you have to tape your phone line away
from these.  Also make sure the same is true in your house or
basement; that is, electrical inductance can and does mess up modem
connections big time.

Before you use your points with the Bell engineer, you also may wish
to borrow another V.32 modem and try that to make certain it isn't a
modem problem on your end. After doing this homework, then meet with
Bell and ask for some testing to see if the problem can be isolated,
or if the local Bell engineer already knows about a potential stretch
of borderline data service problem in your neighborhood.

It is my understanding that V.34 technology is pushing the present
limit of standard phone lines. That you get 14.4 reliably says the
lines aren't all that bad. Depending on where you are located, and
where the source of the noise is, it may or may not be economically
feasible to do a quick fix.  The local Bell engineer can tell you
where you stand in this regard -- assuming you are not on a Sprint
phone:-)

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 11:03:43 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers


[e-mail] (Thomas Villinger) writes:

> Why should it be impossible to get portable numbers? I don't
> see any difference to the problems as they occur in a fixed
> numbering scheme.  We already do have "portable" numbers
> (think of all the mobile phones which are in fact portable
> numbers) and guess what i works :). Note that we do have a
> hierarchical numbering system but still work with databases,
> so it might be possible that a certain group of numbers get
> collected in an exchange aand are routed after the last digit
> which contains the necessary information is collected.

I think you're missing the point.  The term "portable numbers" is not
a synonym for "portable telephones".  Rather, it refers to the ability
to *change your telco while still retaining the same telephone
number*.  Obviously, this isn't much of an issue yet in your country,
where Deutsche Telekom is still an almost total monopoly.  But it's
about to become important here in the US, as competition for local
telephone service is starting to appear.  And we've already crossed
the number-portability bridge when it comes to 800 (toll-free)
numbers, where the recipient pays for the call, and thus gets to
choose which long-distance carrier will handle the call.

You can no longer assume *anything* about an 800 number (geographical
destination or carrying telco) by looking at some leading prefix; you
have to parse the entire number and then look it up in a database in
order to route it.  Long-term general number portability could mean
that eventually *every* number works like this, allowing people to
have "lifetime phone numbers" that stay with them even if they move to
another state or choose to be served by another telephone company.
Any scheme that relies on inferring such routing information from
anything less than the entire phone number is thus an impediment to
number portability.


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

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

From: [e-mail] (Barry Margolius, NYC)
Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number
Organization: Misconfigured client newsreader
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 15:10:47 GMT


[e-mail] (Mike Morris) wrote:

> The police are a bit to blame also for the poor design of the system
> that doesn't have a non-emergency number to call 24 hours, and the
> workaround the dispatchers have to use to get around that design
> (call 911).

> And it would be nice to have a standard non-emergency number: perhaps
> 912 or 999 could be used?  All the hardware is in for 911, all it would
> take is programming, and public education.

Seems to me that we already have a standard non-emergency number: it's
911.

Whether right or wrong, the police have apparently designed a response
system around using 911 for both emergency and non-emergency problems.
Everyone here seems to think this is blatantly stupid, but I'm not so
sure.  In any case, it's the way the police (at least here in NYC)
have implemented the system, and for us to continue to abuse the
system by calling the local numbers out of stubbornness is wrong.  For
example, it is my understanding that in New York, the local station
cannot dispatch an officer, so if you call the local station to
complain about, say, a drunk singing loudly at 2AM, they must then
call 911 to get an officer dispatched.

So, stupid system or not, it seems like we should be trying to use the
existing system to it's best effect, or trying to change it; but
trying to use the existing system as if it were the system we wanted
is counter productive to both the individual and the system.


Barry F Margolius, New York City (speaking for himself, not his employer)
[e-mail]    For PGP Key, finger [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Gordon A. Lew)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 01:05:39 GMT
Organization: Internet Oklahoma


[e-mail] wrote:

> Jeffrey Yee wrote, amongst other things:

>> Is there a national reference that all telcos go by? Is it a satellite
>> signal, radio signal, or what? IF so Where is it and is there only one?

For those who might be interested, I have a small (5500 bytes) DOS
program which will dial either the Naval Observatory or NIST and will
then set your computer's clock to the correct time.  It adapts to all
time zones, and provides DST corrections automatically.  Send me an
e-mail if you want a copy of the program.  While it does generate a
long-distance call, the call durtaion is generally about 25 seconds,
so cost is minimal.  A description of the formats, etc. is below:

Note: NIST will now accept connections at 1200, 2400, 4800 or
      9600 BPS

                         DESCRIPTION OF THE NIST
                 AUTOMATED COMPUTER TELEPHONE SERVICE (ACTS)

                                     D  L D
              MJD  YR MO DA H  M  S  ST S UT1 msADV        <OTM>
             47999 90-04-18 21:39:15 50 0 +.1 045.0 UTC(NIST) *
             47999 90-04-18 21:39:16 50 0 +.1 045.0 UTC(NIST) *
             47999 90-04-18 21:39:17 50 0 +.1 045.0 UTC(NIST) *
             47999 90-04-18 21:39:18 50 0 +.1 045.0 UTC(NIST) *
             47999 90-04-18 21:39:19 50 0 +.1 037.6 UTC(NIST) #
             47999 90-04-18 21:39:20 50 0 +.1 037.6 UTC(NIST) #
             etc..etc...etc.......

UTC = Universal Time Coordinated, the official world time referred
to the zero meridian.

DST = Daylight savings time characters, valid for the continental U.S., are
set as follows:

  00 = We are on standard time (ST).    50 = We are on DST.

  99 to 51 = Now on ST, go to DST when your local time is 2:00 am and
  the count is 51.  The count is decremented daily at 00 (UTC).

  49 to 01 = Now on DST, go to ST when your local time is 2:00 am and
  the count is 01.  The count is decremented daily at 00 (UTC).

The two DST characters provide up to 48 days advance notice of a
change in time.  The count remains at 00 or 50 at other times.


LS = Leap second flag is set to "1" to indicate that a leap second
is to be added at 23:59:60 (UTC) on the last day of the current UTC
month.  The LS flag will be reset to "0" starting with 23:59:60
(UTC).  The flag will remain on for the entire month before the
second is added.  Leap seconds are added as needed at the end of any
month.  Usually June and/or December are chosen.


DUT1 = Approximate difference between earth rotation time (UT1) and
UTC, in steps of 0.1 second.         DUT1 = UT1 - UTC


MJD = Modified Julian Date, often used to tag certain scientific
data.


The full time format is sent at 1200 Baud, 8 bit, 1 stop, no parity.
The format at 300 Baud is also 8 bit, 1 stop, no parity.
At 300 Baud the MJD and DUT1 values are deleted and the
time is transmitted only on even seconds.


Maximum on line time will be 56 seconds.  If all lines are busy at
any time, the oldest call will be terminated if it has been on line
more than 28 seconds, else, the call that first reaches 28 seconds
will be terminated.


Current time is valid at the "on-time" marker (OTM), either "*" or
"#".  The nominal on-time marker (*) will be transmitted 45 ms early
to account for the 8 ms required to send 1 character at 1200 Baud,
plus an additional 7 ms for delay from NIST to the user, and
approximately 30 ms "scrambler" delay inherent in 1200 Baud modems.
If the caller echoes all characters, NIST will measure the round
trip delay and advance the on-time marker so that the midpoint of
the stop bit arrives at the user on time.  (In actuality, only the
OTM need be echoed).  The amount of msADV will reflect the actual
required advance in milliseconds and the OTM will be a "#".  The
NIST system requires 4 or 5 consecutive delay measurements which are
consistent before switching from "*" to "#".  If the user has a 1200
Baud modem with the same internal delay as that used by NIST, then
the "#" OTM should arrive at the user within +-2 ms of the correct
time.  However, NIST has studied different brands of 1200 Baud
modems and found internal delays from 24 ms to 40 ms and offsets of
the "#" OTM of +-10 ms.

For many computer users, +-10 ms accuracy should be more than adequate
since many computer internal clocks can only be set with granularity
of 20 to 50 ms.  In any case, the repeatability of the offset for the
"#" OTM should be within +-2 ms, if the dial-up path is reciprocal and
the user doesn't change the brand or model of modem used. This should
be true even if the dial-up path on one day is a land-line of less
than 40 ms (one way) and on the next day is a satellite link of 260 to
300 ms.  In the rare event that the path is one way by satellite and
the other way by land line with a round trip measurement in the range
of 90 to 260 ms, the OTM will remain a "*" indicating 45 ms advance.


For user comments write:
NIST-ACTS
Time and Frequency Division
Mail Stop 847
325 Broadway
Boulder, CO  80303


                   NAVAL OBSERVATORY FORMAT

                DDDDD jjj hhmmss UTC crlf*crlf

   DDDDD is the MJD as in the NIST format.

   jjj is the day number of the year.

   hhmmss is the hour, minute and second.

   As in the NIST format, the '*' is the OTM, but there is
   no allowance for transmission delays, nor does it change.


Gordon A. Lew    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dale Farmer)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 22:27:53 GMT
Organization: Cyber Access Internet Communications, Inc.


Clarence Dold ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Jeffrey Yee ([e-mail]) wrote:

>> I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal from to
>> synchronize their clocks and equipment. I was in a CO one time when i

    A couple of years ago, (last time I got a standard reference
catalog from them.)  The National Bureau of Standards had in their
catalog a dos program that would using a modem call and sync your PCs
clock to the Naval Observatory clock to some obscenely high standard
of accuracy, way higher than the out of the box PC is capable of.

    It was five bucks or so, probably just enough to pay for it's
costs of copying & shipping the disks.  Some of the other reference
materials were VERY expensive.


Dale

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 18:57 CDT
From: madnix.uucp![e-mail] (Ron Bean)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since WWV and WWNH can frequently both be
> heard in many parts of the central and western United States, there is an

   If you write to the station they'll send you a booklet that explains all
this and more. They announce the address on the half-hour, but here it
is:

NIST/Radio Station WWV
2000 East County Rd 58
Ft Collins CO  80524

In addition to WWV and WWVH, the booklet describes a coded time signal (no
voice) broadcast on WWVB at 60kHz, and another time signal broadcast from
the GOES satellites (GOES = Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite).

Since many Digest readers are interested in history, I'll copy the
timeline from the booklet:

March 1923 First scheduled broadcasts of WWV, Washington DC
April 1933 WWV gets first 20 kW transmitter, Beltsville, Maryland
Jan   1943 WWV relocated to Greenbelt, Maryland
Nov   1948 WWVH commenced broadcasts, Maui, Hawaii
Jan   1950 WWV added voice announcements
July  1956 WWVB began 60 kHz broadcasts (as KK2XEI), Sunset, Colorado
April 1960 WWVL began 20 kHz experimental broadcasts, Sunset, Colorado
July  1963 WWVB began high power broadcasts, Ft Collins, Colorado
Aug   1963 WWVL began high power broadcasts, Ft Collins, Colorado
July  1964 WWVH added voice announcements
Dec   1966 WWV relocated to Ft Collins, Colorado
July  1971 WWVH relocated to Kauai, Hawaii
June  1972 First leap second in history was added to UTC time scale
July  1972 WWVL went off the air
Jan   1974 Voice announcements changed from GMT to UTC (WWV/WWVH)
July  1974 GOES satellite time code initiated
March 1975 Frequency calibration network using network color TV
           became a nationwide service
Feb   1977 20- and 25-MHz broadcasts from WWV and 20 MHz broadcasts from
           WWVH were discontinued
Dec   1978 20 MHz broadcasts from WWV were reinstated
Feb   1984 Frequency Measurement Service began
March 1988 Automated Computer Time Service (ACTS) began on experimental
           basis  [this is the dial-up modem service]


madnix![e-mail] (Ron Bean)

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 01:13:03 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


<[e-mail]> writes:

> I have remote call forwarding on my home phone.  When I work,
> I generally forward my line to my desk at work and answer with my
> company name.  Interesting dilemna here should a telco person call my
> home during the time I am forwarded to my office.  Any feedback.

It shouldn't be hard at all for the phone company to determine that
you had call forwarding turned on, to a business number, at that time.
I can't see them squawking about it.

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Curtis)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Options?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 13:59:05 -0700
Organization: KAIWAN Internet (310-527-4279,818-756-0180,909-785-9712)


>> (2) at an address which has historically been used for business, then
>> any service installed there must be business service; however at an
>> address which has historically been residential in nature then residence
>> service is available *unless the line is being used for business purposes.*

> Refer again to above.

> Richard Eyre-Eagles, KJ7MU   Tempe, Arizona

Amateur radio repeaters are usually located at commercial radio sites.
Historically, the phone company has insisted that autopatches (telephone
line access) use commercial lines, even though business communication is
expressly forbidden by the FCC.  Several years back, this was overturned,
and amateur autopatches may insist on residential service even though the
autopatch is located in a commercial site.


   Mike Curtis
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 02:15:32 -0400
From: Pratt, David C. (REU) <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Slick Unit for POTS


> <b>There are two type of Slicks and I'm interested in hearing what
> other people's experiences are with them.</B>

A "slick" refers to a SLC-96, which stands for Subscriber Loop Carrier
and carries 96 POTS lines over 2 or 4 DS1 (T1) spans.  A SLC is AT&T's
brand of Digital Loop Carrier (DLC) although in the telco most folks call
a DLC a "SLC."

General requirements for DLC can be found in TR-57.

> One type is a "Universal Slick" which will allow DDS2 as well --
> something I won't be needing much more of with the recent arrival of
> Frame Relay.

It's not so much that there are two types of DLC, it's that there are
2 ways to set it up.  "Universal" means that the interface at the
central office is analog.  That is, there is a SLC-96 terminal in the
central offIce which has 96 phone line inputs.  These are wired onto
96 conventional phone lines out of the switch then transported over
the DS1 links out to the remote terminal where the telephones are
acutally connected.  Since there are two ends to the system the
non-Bell world calls this method of setting up the DLC "Double-Ended."

The other method to connect a DLC is "integrated." (In non-Bell
referred to as "single-ended") In an integrated system the Remote DLC
is connected directly into the switch on DS1 lines.  The SLC
interfaces to the switch according to a spec in TR-8.  A newer
standard, TR-303 is beginning to roll out now.  The 60 lines off hook
at one time is a restriction on the 5ESS switch module (DCLU, the
newer one is called IDCU) on how many lines can be active at once.
Integrated has the advantage of eliminating back-to-back analog
devices which can degrade the audio.  On traditional SLC you are
correct in stating that designed special services like DDS and FX will
not work -- this is because the traditional way to deliver these is
thru analog connections at the CO.

Several newer DLC systems are available that can give you the best of
both worlds -- both integrated and universal in the same system.  Use
the integrated for low cost, high-quality POTS, and groom channels to
universal for specials.

> Nynex voiced concern (who woulda thought?) that some slicks might not
> be able to support full speed 28.8 connects,something of extreme
> importance for an ISP.

Most all DLC technology has trouble in some cases with high modem
speeds.  This is because DLCs are designed and tested to a set of
specs (TR-57) which describe VOICE characteristics.  In addition the
tariffs are written around VOICE parameters.  The telco cannot
guarantee that your modem will work at ANY speed, even 1200 baud!
They do, however, do the best they can because competition is
beginning to sprout up and they don't want to alienate people too
much.

In general I would suggest that integrated SLC is better - it
eliminates back-to-back hybrids.  Also try to take a little
responsibility yourself for getting the modems working -- study the
modems and figure out how to set their transmit and receive levels.
This is the main problem with using DLC vs cable -- the DLC levels are
higher since it hasn't gone thru the cable loss.  If you adjust your
modem to account for the "short loop" you'll be in better shape.


Dave Pratt   [e-mail]

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

From: Robert Ricketts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Organization: Panhandle Eastern
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 20:08:19 GMT


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And provided that once you know of the
> problem you *immediatly* quit using the carrier's services, prepending
> the requisite 10xxx code to regain the carrier you desire until the
> service has been reinstated. See, its not only that slamming goes on.
> People find out they have been slammed, and then proceed to milk it to
> the hilt for a month or two, running up huge bills all the while claiming
> ignorance. Then of course comes the bill and they claim they knew nothing
> of it.

It would be pretty easy to see through the claim of ignorance made by
a party who racked up huge charges just for a month or two just to take
free advantage of service.

>> I'm unsure quite how this works.  If I receive a package addressed and
>> delivered to me (e.g. not delivered to the wrong person) that I did
>> not order, I believe I have the right to keep it without paying for it
>> even if billed at a later time.  (An obvious exception is the negative
>> option refusal method used by record and book clubs.  But with those,
>> the negative option refusal is part of the contract you agree to.)

> Clarence Dold <[e-mail]> wrote:
> But you _did_ order the package (place the phone call).  You're upset
> that it didn't come from the company that you ordered it from, but
> they might be a supplier to a clearing house that you don't know.

And a call to that supplier inquiring about the package arriving from
the clearing house would yield that information, in which case I have
no objection.

But if I subscribe to, say, AT&T then all of the sudden start getting
serviced and billed by MCI, then I cry foul.  Wether or not I received
service from MCI is beside the point.  The point is I did not authorize
MCI to change my service -- they offered without my consent, so they
pay.

(AT&T and MCI were used as examples.  I have no complaints about either
company.)

> That's how that rule came to be passed back in the 1950's; not so that
> people today could stiff a long distance carrier out of a few dollars due
> to a clerical error made somewhere. The rule is, if there is/was *any
> basis* for the action to take place (signed order, phone call from someone,
> etc) and the company acted in good faith, then you are *not* permitted
> to benefit from the error the company made.   PAT]

But the company did NOT act in good faith.  That's the whole point.  I
have received packages in the mail before, sometimes quite valuable,
that I did not order.  One call to the company generates an apology
and a UPS call tag is promptly mailed to me.  I affix the tag and send
it back.  No problem.

Now, were I to knowingly continue to receive free products and
services for months on end or even take extraordinary advantage of
them, then *I* would not be acting in good faith, and I should pay.
But that's not what started this thread.  It started because Wiltel
acted in bad faith by enganging in slamming, a frequently occuring
practice.  Wiltel should not be rewarded with compensation of any
amount for their fraudulent behaviour, even at prevailing market
rates.  Otherwise, why would they stop?  Economic disincentive will
slow them down.  Sadly, slamming will continue as many people who are
slammed probably don't realize it -- they just continue to pay their
bill.

As for clerical errors, that could not happen if, as I originally
posted, the LEC required a PIN or SIGNED letter authorizing the
change.

PS: I received a printed copy of my original post via *inter-office
mail* from an anonymous sender with some important people CC'd.
Whoever you are, your anonymous mailing was cowardice and in poor
taste.  Please identify yourself.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #430
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #431

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 11 Oct 95 19:21:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 431

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS) (Henry Baker)
    Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS) (Rupert Baines)
    Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS) (Chris Batts)
    Re: CIS No Longer Charges For Internet Mail (Mike Curtis)
    Re: Caller ID During Call Waiting (Lynne Gregg)
    Answering Service For Inbound Telemarketing (Andrew Salisbury)
    Re: Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape (Mike Curtis)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Kee Chan)
    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Clive D.W. Feather)
    Re: Payphones For Prisons (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Old Telco Question (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Re: Last Laugh! Trying to Call the Nowhere Man (Scott Montague)
    New Telecom WWW Page ([e-mail])
    Administrivia: Lost Mail Tuesday Overnight/Wednesday (Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Henry Baker)
Subject: Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS)
Organization: nil organization
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 20:34:30 GMT


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

>> What is the deal with this? Has anyone else head of this?

> SDSL is real, but it's not all that revolutionary.  The predecessor
> ADSL provided T1 one way, 64K or so the other way over copper, SDSL
> gives you T1 both ways.  The phone line is indeed copper, but it
> requires fancy equipment at each end, like ISDN only more so.  I
> believe it has stringent requirements both on maximum line length and
> line quality.

There were several companies showing SDSL/ADSL at Telecom'95 in Geneva.
Prices are $1500-$2000 for the equipment at both ends per subscriber at
medium volume production.  At high volume, the costs could drop precipitously.

Of course, you still have the problem of paying for multi-megabit links
from your local switch to somewhere else, which could cost > $500/month.

What's needed is for an entire town in the U.S. to switch to this technology
at one time.  This would enable a real test of what's possible.
It should be a relatively wealthy community.

Suggestions:

Jackson Hole, Wy.
Montecito, CA
Aspen, CO
parts of Long Island, NY
 ....


www/ftp directory:
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/home.html

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

From: Rupert Baines <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS)
Date: 11 Oct 1995 00:52:25 GMT


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

>>> What is the deal with this? Has anyone else head of this?

> SDSL is real, but it's not all that revolutionary.  The predecessor
> ADSL provided T1 one way, 64K or so the other way over copper, SDSL
> gives you T1 both ways.  The phone line is indeed copper, but it
> requires fancy equipment at each end, like ISDN only more so.  I
> believe it has stringent requirements both on maximum line length and
> line quality.

ADSL is an alternative, not a "predecessor".  Many (most ?)
applications will prefer higher speed but assymetric access: ANSI have
recently standardised ADSL as T1.413 with rates of 6.1Mbps downstream
and up to 640Kbps duplex over a CSA loop (12 kft). Higher speeds for
shorter reach, or lower rates for longer.  This is over a standard
copper loop, at the same time as normal POTS (they co-exist), but it
does require a modem at each end (one at home, one at CO, where it can
connect to a nice big OC-n pipe).

Why the asymetry? More people watch videos than make them, more people
download web content than host it at home. Nuff said.
And even the "low speed" duplex is many times basic rate ISDN...!
(NB  The assymetry can't be *too* severe - say 10:1 - or data protocols
get bottlenecked by slow ACK return).

> ADSL always seemed to be like a reasonable technology for client
> network users, but it never went anywhere.  Don't know why.

It's getting there. A lot of trials, and commercial boxes are staring
to appear.  Most so far are based on AT&T's chipset, which is
non-standard-compliant (shades of V.terbo ?), but a ANSI compliant
chipset has been announced by Analog Devices/Aware, and Motorola,
Orkit, Alcatel have their own developments; companies such as Westell
are releasing solutions.

You can expect to see ADSL modems getting common next year.


Rupert Baines   ADSL Marketing   Analog Devices

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 11:35:17 -0400
Subject: Re: GlobeSpan (ISDN Speeds on POTS)
Organization: Aware, Inc.


In response to a recent query about AT&T Paradyne's GlobeSpan, John
Levine, [e-mail], remarked about ADSL (Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line).

> SDSL is real, but it's not all that revolutionary.  The predecessor
> ADSL provided T1 one way, 64K or so the other way over copper, SDSL
> gives you T1 both ways.  The phone line is indeed copper, but it
> requires fancy equipment at each end, like ISDN only more so.  I
> believe it has stringent requirements both on maximum line length and
> line quality.

> ADSL always seemed to be like a reasonable technology for client
> network users, but it never went anywhere.  Don't know why.

ADSL is a communications technology that increases the usable
bandwidth of a single copper telephone line, allowing audio, data and
video communications without interruption of normal phone service
(POTS).  While John's comments were correct as far as they go, ANSI
standard ADSL data rates are much higher than the data rates he
stated.  Standard compliant ADSL provides for up to 6Mb/s downstream
and 640kb/s upstream (or duplex) throughput over CSA loops of up to
12k feet on 24 gauge twisted pair copper wire.  Faster rates are
probably achievable over shorter loops.  While these aren't LAN
speeds, they're a lot faster than a T1 or ISDN, much less a 28.8
modem.  ADSL falls under the auspices of the ANSI T1E1.4 working
group.  The data rates John stated were for AT&T Paradyne's
implementation of ADSL, which is not ANSI standard compliant.  I think
ETSI has adopted ANSI's ADSL standard as well.

While there are various approaches for implementing ADSL, ANSI chose
discrete multitone (DMT) as the modulation technique for provisioning
ADSL.  DMT was picked as the modulation scheme of choice because of
it's inherent superiority in resistance to RF and narrowband
interferes compared to single carrier modulation techniques.  Simply
put, higher data rate throughput.

ADSL was originally proposed several years ago by Bellcore for
delivering video services to residences, however interest waned as the
telcos soon realized that no financial model could justify
provisioning networks for ADSL based on cash flows solely from
residential customers.  Also, technology providers could not deliver
product with adequate performance characteristics in a timely fashion.
Interest has recently resurfaced due to the quickly growing demand for
high speed data services, particularly Internet access, by both
business and residential consumers. Data service isbelieved to be a
financially viable service for the telcos to offer.  The key to the
ADSL market is seen as getting the incremental cost of ADSL devices,
such as modems, router cards or switch modules for COs, down to some
magic number ($300 per end has been frequently mentioned) that the
market will bear.

Although several companies are working on ADSL products, Analog
Devices is currently the only chip vendor with ANSI standard compliant
product available to telecomm OEMs.  Several trials around the world
using ADSL technology have been conducted proving the technology works
and more are planned.  Other services envisioned for ADSL include
telecommuting/remote LAN access, distance learning and video
conferencing.  Higher speed versions of ADSL called VDSL (Very high
speed ADSL) are planned (26 to 51Mb/s downstream) for more advanced
architectures like FTTC (Fiber-to-the-Curb) with shorter loop lengths
of 3k feet or less.

ADSL is seen as playing a crucial role in the deployment of broadband
services until broadband cabling reaches all prospective subscribers,
which could take 10 years or more.  The installed copper architecture
represents the most significant investment by the telcos.  Reusing
those loops for broadband architectures would save a large amount of
capital and speed up introduction of multimedia services.  ADSL is a
physical layer protocol and could therefore run just about anything on
top of it including images, digital video, voice, ISDN, TCP/IP, ATM,
ethernet or token ring packets.  It will not handle broadcast video.


Contact the ADSL Forum for more information.
http://www.sbexpos.com/sbexpos/associations/adsl/home.html or
[e-mail].

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Curtis)
Subject: Re: CIS No Longer Charges For Internet Mail
Date: 10 Oct 1995 14:17:32 -0700
Organization: KAIWAN Internet (310-527-4279,818-756-0180,909-785-9712)


Ed Greenberg ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In article <[e-mail]>, Dunscomb <[e-mail]>
> wrote:

>> Since CIS charges for Internet mail, and AOL doesn't, for me it's the

> CIS no longer charges for internet mail.  You read or download your
> internet mail using the free hours per month just like any other mail.
> Of course, if you use more hours than you are given, you pay for them,
> but isn't that true of all services?

Nope -- there are LOTS of ISPs who offer shell accounts for very
cheap.  I pay $15 per month to Kaiwan for unlimited usage.  The shell
account allows me to do one thing at a time (i.e. ftp, mail, www,
etc.), and permits SLIP emulators such as TIA during non-prime time
(you get bounced if you use TIA, etc., during 6 pm to 11:59 pm)

Kaiwan covers much of Southern California with local access numbers.
I don't have them handy, but feel free to drop me email and I'll look
them up for you.


Mike Curtis   [e-mail]

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

From: Lynne Gregg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID During Call Waiting
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 16:08:00 PDT


Paul Cook asked:

> Is anyone manufacturing Customer Premises Equipment yet which meets
> the Bellcore spec for receiving Caller ID during a Call Waiting
> signal?

Yes, several manufacturers are working on wireline terminals.  AT&T
Wireless Services supports Caller ID with Call Waiting in it's network
(TDMA cellular sets).


Regards,

Lynne

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

From: [e-mail] (Latin Net)
Subject: Answering Service For Inbound Telemarketing
Date: 10 Oct 1995 16:05:12 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Latin Net)


My company is trying to find an answering service to handle a large
volume of calls through a voice mail / auto attendant setup. We have
been talking to Sprints' Telemedia service and want to see if there
are other companies who might be suitable. We want to be able to send
aprox 20,000 mins per month through this platform. Does anyone have
any suggestions.


Thanks,

Andrew Salisbury

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

From: [e-mail] (Mike Curtis)
Subject: Re: Dead Line, Annoying Red Tape
Date: 10 Oct 1995 13:36:16 -0700
Organization: KAIWAN Internet (310-527-4279,818-756-0180,909-785-9712,714-638-4133,805-294-9338)


> ...  I thus called back to 611 and asked them to
> divert my number to a "temporarily out of service" recording until they
> fix it.  NO CAN DO.  That requires approval from the Business Office,
> which isn't open on Sunday.  Apparently this is to prevent the repair
> office from making an unauthorized diversion of my line to a recording,
> in case some scofflaw calls up impersonating me and reports trouble on
> my line just to harrass me.

This is a valid concern.  I've had my business lines disconnected by a
former associate who owed me money and didn't like the fact that I
refused to pay for some shared yellow pages advertising (in his name)
until he'd settled up.  I'd much rather apologize to people on Monday
for the outage over the weekend than lose my business lines during
business hours.


Mike Curtis    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Kee Chan)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: 10 Oct 1995 22:42:02 GMT
Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Reply-To: [e-mail]


> I see in the press releases that after the three-way AT&T split, the
> piece that handles telephone service and stuff like that will be
> called AT&T.  The other two pieces, the one that builds equipment and
> the one that sells computers, remain unnamed.  Clearly, this is a job
> for The TELECOM Digest.

I think the best names are : AT&T, Western Electric, and National Cash
Register :-)


Kee   [e-mail]

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 01:20:25 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Garrett A. Wollman <[e-mail]> writes:

> 1) AT&T is the RBOCs' principal supplier of switches and related
> equipment.

> 2) AT&T is also a large long-distance company.

> 3) The RBOCs want to compete with AT&T in the LD market.

> 4) AT&T wants to compete with the RBOCs in the LEC market.

> 5) NCR has been a money sink since AT&T bought it.

6) AT&T wouldn't mind being able to sell switches to other long distance
> companies, either.

According to a recent AT&T Technical Journal (available on their Web
site in Acrobat format), they just recently finished installing new 1B
processors on all of their 4ESS toll switches, which previously had 1A
processors (same as those on the 1AESS analog end office switch,
AFAIK).  There are less than 150 of these switches in existence, and
less than ten are in use outside AT&T.  Somehow I can't see AT&T
putting all that money into developing a new fault-tolerant processor
for an ESS unless they hoped to sell some more switches with that
processor, and from what I've seen there isn't much demand for new
processors for 1AESS analog switches.

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

Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 10:39:45 +0100 (BST)
From: Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]>


> Changing the subject a little, can anyone tell me where I can find a
> list of the display images used with the variable-length phone numbers
> used internationally?  That is: for any country code, the typical
> length of the number and where the dashes go.

> I have a database of country codes and the name of the country that
> goes with it, but not much more.  My only "source" giving a clue about
> the display is an "Airman's Guide" I found in a bookstore where a
> German phone number is displayed as eleven digit "WW-XXXX-YY-ZZZ",
> English as eleven digit "WW-XXX-YY-ZZZZ" and Japan as ten digit
> "XX-YYYY-ZZZZ".  The first three digits is the country code, so how
> does the remainding numbers appears locally in that country?

I doubt you'd ever find such a thing. For example, the following are all
correctly formatted UK telephone numbers:

    [phone]
    [phone]
    [phone]
    (01234) 77777
    (012 468) 34567
    (012 468) 4567
    0800 123456
    0763 123456
    07010 123456
    0800 1111

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: Re: Payphones For Prisons
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 00:43:30 GMT


For prison phones, check out Omniphone.  They offer COCOT-style high-
security telephones of various kinds, including a system designed
specifically for correctional institutions.


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

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Old Telco Question
Date: 9 Oct 1995 14:43:29 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]> wrote:

> I was walking in one of the yuppified sections of Uptown Charlotte
> today, when I noticed a person-hole cover that said "W.U.Tel.Co."

Again, speaking of namechanges and manhole covers, New Orleans still
has many manhole covers (which I've seen Bell maintenance workers
still going into) which state 'CT&T'. Back in the earlier decades of
this century (I don't have the *exact* years of name changes), the
local telco was known as The Cumberland Telephone & Telegraph Company.
It *was* a Bell operating company, and I *think* that it served the
*same* five states which South Central Bell later handled. Sometime in
the 1920's or 30's it was either merged into, or changed its name to
*Southern* Bell.

Sometime around 1970. AT&T's Bell System carved out a new Bell
operating company name -- South Central Bell, only to be remerged with
the four states of Southern Bell as BellSouth with the 1984 divestiture-
and now with the actual names of operating companies.

Sometime in the late 1960's or early 1970's, Pacific Northwest Bell (covering
Oregon, Washington, southern part of Idaho) was 'carved' out of Pacific
Telephone & Telegraph (now Pac*Bell). Pac NW Bell was 'put-into' US West
rather than Pacific*Telesis corporation in the 1984 Bell System breakup.

There were many many other names of Bell operating companies used through the
years. These have faded from memory due to mergers and name changes, most of
which happened prior to 'The War' (WW-II).


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

From: [e-mail] (Scott Montague)
Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Trying to Call the Nowhere Man
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 19:46:17 GMT
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Pat, you asked:

> Does anyone remember that mess of a few years ago when some of the
> carriers were playing tricks by not allowing a voice path to open until
> supervision was established?  Of course when operators answer you there
> is no supervision for billing purposes. Normally the intercept messages
> are just one way requiring you to listen. You don't speak back to them. In
> the case of 'operator handled intercept' of course it took a two-way
> conversation: the operator asking what number you dialed, you respoding
> and the computer speaking about what the operator punched in. If you
> placed your call via some carrier that did not open a voice path until
> supervision and you wound up getting a Bell Inward Operator at some place
> handling intercept duties, you could not speak to her.

> She would respond something like, 'Southern Bell Inward, what number did
> you dial?'.   You would respond but she could not hear you. She would
> scream in the phone a couple more times at you and you would scream back
> at her to no avail -- there was no talking path!  Thus came the now
> seldom heard 'intercept' message, "In certain cases, customers of long
> distance companies other than AT&T may not be able to speak with the
> operator when she answers. If this has happened to you, please hang up
> and dial *your own operator* to ask for assistance."  I think all those
> kinks have since been resolved; there are virtually no 'operator handled
> intercept' situations any longer.

Well, not quite.  Up here in Bell Canada land, we still have operator
handled intercepts (try [phone] or [phone], provincial
parks that have shut down for the season).  This is for the REALLY old
crossbar and stepper switches in remote northern Ontario.  She will
answer with a "Bell Canada, What number did you dial please?".
Unfortunately, according to Radio Services, customers from certain
American carriers *such as AT&T* will not be able to speak to the Bell
Canada operator, which of course annoys the heck out of them.

My question: if American carriers allow voice path on domestic unsupervised
calls, why won't they allow it with a reputable interoperable company such
as Bell Canada?


Scott.

(Who still is annoyed that Bell has a short 4 sec timeout between
dialed digits)

Scott Montague         / "Montague of \ 4th Kingston Assistant Cub Leader
[e-mail] \ the Mounted" /  *  Proud to be Canadian   *

<<Les renseignements dans ce message sont egalement disponible en francais.>>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried those two numbers you suggested
as examples, and both simply rang and rang and rang with no answer from
anyone, let alone an operator.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Anadigicom)
Subject: New Telecom WWW Page
Date: 11 Oct 1995 15:30:34 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Anadigicom)


The new www site above has information for applications involving T1/E1
rate conversion, signaling conversion, channel bank multiplexing equipment
and much more!


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If I get one plug in the mail each day
for some new WWW site, I must get a dozen!  Most I just dispose of
without using since I had to be a billboard for everyone else. Then
someone sends along one that looks like it might be interesting, like
this guy, and he fails to give the actual www address. I suppose one
could probably locate it with a bit of trial and error, however you
would think when someone wants me to advertise for them, they'd at least
send full information on how to reach them. I guess interested parties
can write to the above and ask how to connect with his web page.   PAT]

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

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Administrivia: Lost Mail Tuesday Overnight/Wednesday
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 19:03:00 CDT


Due to a malfunction here, all EDITORIAL mail sent to the Digest from
about 9:00 PM Tuesday night through about 6:00 PM Wednesay was lost
in processing. If you wrote to me and got back an autoreply from
anytime late Tuesday evening through late afternoon Wednesday, chances
are likely your mail *was not received* even though you got a receipt
saying it was. Please send it again. I receive on average about 600-700
pieces of email daily. I believe that all mail relating to subscriptions
and other stuff was received and processed correctly.

PAT

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #431
******************************


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Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 22:50:32 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #432

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 11 Oct 95 22:50:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 432

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Civics Lesson (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? ([e-mail])
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (George Fry)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Ed Ellers)
    Update on GLU (R. Jagannathan)
    Updated GSM List (Jurgen Morhofer)
    Automatic Privacy Cord ([e-mail])
    CCITT Standards ([e-mail])
    AT&T Passageway CTI (Eric Griffith)
    Re: Old Telco Question (Paul J. Zawada)
    Administrivia: Lost Mail Tuesday Overnight/Wednesday (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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
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     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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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: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Civics Lesson
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 19:40:00 CDT


Today students, we shall examine different government agencies and their
purposes.

FCC - The Federal Communications Commission has the responsibility of
regulating the airwaves and the phone companies.

FAA - The Federal Aviation Administration has something to do with
airplanes and their flying around in the USA.

Let's see ... what about the United States Customs Service?

Well ... they are in charge of manufacturing and distributing child
pornography on the Internet. They have a pretty large operation for
that in south Florida now. Their objective is to entrap whoever they
can by sending it out through email to see who takes the bait. They
also get involved in 'hot chat' looking for people interested in the
garbage they have for sale.

Now of course if they were to send it out from a site with an address
ending in .gov or .mil or similar, only someone like your Editor, who
fell off the back of the turnip truck yesterday would be inclined to
exchange any correspondence with them at all. So they had to find some
other Internet service provider willing to give them a few bogus accounts
and ficticious names to use.

Wait a minute, I hear you saying ... what sort of service provider would
deliberatly allow child pornography to be pushed out into the net via
their site?  Well, America OnLine would do it. When Steve Case was
approached by the Customs 'service' asking for a few accounts and screen
names to be used specifically for the purpose of sending out child porn
to unsuspecting netters, he agreed. After all, the FBI was already doing
their thing on AOL, so why not let Customs in on it also?

By their own admission in recent articles in the mainstream press, the
United States Customs Service took over a child pornography operation
in Florida about two years ago, and has continued to operate it. What
they did not go into detail about however was how they go about finding
people they can set up. And that is what it amounts to; it is a numbers
game to get as many arrests and convictions as possible. Someone has
decided there are zillions and thousands of pedophiles on the net and
they have to all be rounded up -- no matter who gets hurt in the process.

Customs uses screen names such as 'Confused Teen' to hang around on line
in places like the gay chat rooms on AOL, along with Teen Chat and
Romance Connection, two other popular chat areas on that system. They
do it with the full knowledge and blessings of AOL management. Confused
Teen and his 'younger brother' start up conversations with suspected
pedophiles -- users whose names have been supplied to them by AOL --
to see what they can get cooking ... and a couple of 'teenage girls'
(yeah ... you bet!) work the heterosexual side of the house making
the same kind of agressive approaches.

Soon enough, the conversations get steamy and the guys respond like,
well, like guys will respond. Pretty soon the .gif files start coming,
etc. Then comes a little more hardcore stuff and maybe you would like
to order more, eh?  It can be sent direct to your computer from ours,
here in south Florida at the offices of the US Customs Service, d/b/a
Confused Teen. Of course they don't tell you *that*. And if you don't
want to order it today, we will keep sending you a little every few
days until you do decide to order some.

Some AOL users were just junking it on arrival. Deleting the mail and
ignoring it. Now and then one might send it to TOSAdvisor with a com-
plaint, but not often; you know how it goes. When Customs tried to
arrest a couple people they had *entrapped* into purchasing their stuff,
the people quite correctly managed to get it deleted from the computer
before the federal officers got there which made it hard for the Customs
people to prove the 'pedophiles' were in possession of it.

To fix that little problem, AOL agreed to change the email software so
that users CANNOT delete mail they receive. All email received there
is now stored *in your account, in your storage space* until AOL gets
good and ready to delete it. If the user attempts to delete unwanted
mail, he gets back a system response saying 'We have removed the delete
function from mail since you don't need it any longer. We will delete
it in a few days. In the meantime, we will just save it over here in
another folder for you.'  ... how terribly thoughtful and gracious of
them, don't you think?  It sure makes it a lot easier to be certain
that someone will be 'in possession' of something nasty when the law
comes a-calling at their door.

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

That's what happened to a Chicago Police officer here recently. A very
high-ranking officer, a watch commander in his district ('watch commander'
here is the title for the supervising officer of an entire police
district for certain hours of the day) wound up with child pornography
in his email at AOL. By coincidence -- the merest coincidence of course --
federal agents were at his house *the day it arrived* with a search
warrant. How is that for slick timing?   <grin> ...

The media in Chicago has withheld his name from publication to protect
his privacy in this early stage of the investigation. He has been
temporarily assigned a job with no public contact pending a complete
investigation. He maintains his complete innocence, and we shall see,
I guess, what we shall see as things move along.

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

And I bet all this time you thought the pedophile stink over at AOL
consisted of users complaining that other users were bothering them ...
or kidnapping their children. Its understandable you feel that way,
since that's what AOL would like to have you believe. And yes, there
is a grain of truth in that I suppose, but the reality is some of the
tax dollars you pay are being used to pay the salaries of some slimeballs
whose job is to sit at a keyboard and try to entrap you into accepting
child porn so they can come out and arrest you for being in possession
of it the next day.

One has to wonder if Steve Case really likes having that sort of thing
go on over his network.  Cynics might say that Case has found that federal
judges and federal agents are really good at enforcing the TOS which
his Guides are rapidly losing control over ... but others suggest that maybe
the real reason he tolerates the spying on and entrapment of users is
because he has no choice in the matter. Maybe the feds got something
on him and got him to flip also, eh?  Maybe his arm (or something else) is
getting twisted to force his cooperation.

It is getting harder and harder these days to sing 'America the Beautiful'
and really mean it. Ugly things are all around us and show no signs of
going away anytime soon.

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

In other news about the recent AOL busts, the two guys here in Chicago
who were arrested *and charged* -- out of what was it, over a hundred
people hassled? -- have already had their day in court. Yep, that quick.
Mr. Zucker had his pre-trial hearing on October 5 and he pleaded guilty.
Mr. Zemke's attorney said to my correspondent that "there won't be any
trial", so I guess we can figure that one out also.


PAT

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 12 Oct 1995 00:00:19 GMT
Organization: Duke Power Company
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Michael Shields)
writes:

> You might be interested in two WWW pages:

> <URL:http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/> is the USNO Directorate of Time, and
> tells you lots about official US time and how the USNO provides it to
> the public.

> <URL:http://www.ucla.edu/campus/computing/time/> points to software for
> time synchornization for Mac, Unix, and Windows, thought you probably
> shouldn't use UCLA's servers if you're off-campus.

There's also an OS/2 utility called 'NISTIME' (a UNIX port) that sets your
PS'c clock to the NIST time.  It's a free utility that can be found at many
OS/2 sites.  I got my copy from Hobbes.

This is a neat utility.  When you start the program, it connects to
the NIST server and compares your PC's clock with the standard.  If
your PC's clock needs adjusting, it will ask you if you want to
update your PC.  I usually start the utility like this: echo y |
nistime.  This will update my PC's clock without asking me.


Tom
(on time)

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

From: [e-mail] (George Fry)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 17:16:52 MST
Organization: Aviso Micro Technology


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dale Farmer)
writes:

> Clarence Dold ([e-mail]) wrote:

>> Jeffrey Yee ([e-mail]) wrote:

>>> I have a question. Where does telco obtain their time signal from to
>>> synchronize their clocks and equipment. I was in a CO one time when

A quite accurate source of time signal (within a microsecond or so) is
available from the Navstar Global Positioning Satellite system.  I
understand that many telcos use this source of time signal.

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

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 01:33:50 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


John R Levine <[e-mail]> writes:

> The obvious names, of course, are Western Electric and NCR.  Can we
> come up with anything better?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think there is a better choice
> than 'Western Electric'. Sorry John, you won't get any better than that.

I'm tempted to suggest "Western Telecom" or just "WEC," given that
Western's two offshoots -- Northern Electric and Nippon Electric --
are, of course, now called Northern Telecom and NEC.  (Actually,
Western was often referred to as "WECo" within the Bell System.)

As for NCR, that hasn't been called NCR for a while; they call it AT&T
Global Information Solutions, and they may just call it GIS after the
AT&T name is dropped.

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

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 95 16:02:32 PDT
From: R. Jagannathan <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Update on GLU


One of the problems in distributing GLU (and its Lucid) has been the
license agreement that users had to execute, a tedious process at
best.  Users will soon (end of this month) be able to download GLU
binaries for their favourite (Unix) machines by pointing and clicking
over the Web.  The license agreement will essentially be an
electronic shrink-wrap.

The latest version of GLU will support:

* PVM as well as TCP/IP protocols for parallel GLU execution
* single-master/multiple-worker as well as multi-master/multi-worker
  program architectures for GLU execution
* the OUP book syntax of Lucid


More soon,

R. Jagannathan                phone: [phone]
SRI International            fax:   [phone]
Computer Science Laboratory        email: [e-mail]
333 Ravenswood Avenue            www: http://www.csl.sri.com/~jagan
Menlo Park, California 94025, U.S.A

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

From: Jurgen Morhofer <[e-mail]>
Subject: Updated GSM List
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 22:00:00 GMT


For the latest edition of this list look at my Web-Site:
http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~jutta/gsm/gsm-list.html
kindly supplied by Jutta Degener.

(Changes in the list marked by "*")

Date 1995-10-12.

Country      Operator name          Network code   Tel to customer service
 ------      -------------          ------------   -----------------------
Andorra      STA-Mobiland           213 03
Argentina
Australia    Optus                  505 02         Int + 61 2 978 5678
             Telecom/Telstra        505 01         Int + 61 18 01 8287
             Vodafone               505 03         Int + 61 2 415 7236
Austria    * PTV Austria            232 01         Int + 43 222 79744
Bahrain      Batelco
Belgium      Belgacom               206 01         Int + 32 2205 4000
Brunei
Cameroon
China
Croatia
Cyprus       CYTA                   280 01
Denmark      Sonofon                238 02         Int + 45 80 20 21 00
             Tele Danmark Mobil     238 01         Int + 45 80 20 20 20
Egypt
Estonia      EMT                    248 01         Int + 372 639 7130
                                                   Int + 372 524 7000
             Radiolinja Estonia     248 02         Int + 372 639 9966
Fiji
Finland      Radiolinja Finland     244 05         Int + 358 800 95050
             Telecom                244 91         Int + 358 800 7000
France       France Telecom         208 01         Int + 33 1 44 62 14 81
             SFR                    208 10         Int + 33 1 44 16 20 16
Germany      D1, DeTeMobil          262 01         Int + 49 511 288 0171
             D2, Mannesmann         262 02         Int + 49 172 1212
Gibraltar    GibTel                 266 01
G Britain    Cellnet                234 10         Int + 44 860 321321
             Vodafone               234 15         Int + 44 836 1100
             Jersey Telecom         234 50         Int + 44 1534 88 28 82
             Guernsey Telecom
           * Manx Telecom
Greece       Panafon                202 05         Int + 30 944 00 122
             STET                   202 10         Int + 30 93 333 333
Hong Kong    HK HTCLGSM             454 04
             SmarTone               454 06         Int + 852 2880 2688
             Telecom CSL            454 00         Int + 852 2803 8450
Hungary      Pannon GSM             216 01         Int + 36 1 270 4120
             Westel 900             216 30         Int + 36 30 303 100
Iceland      Post & Simi            274 01         Int + 354 96 330
India        PT SATELINDO
Indonesia    TELKOMSEL              510 10
Iran         T.C.I.
Ireland      Eircell                272 01         Int + 353 42 31999
Israel     * Cellcom Israel Ltd                    Int + 972 2 795944
Italy        Omnitel                222 10         Int + 39 2 41431
             SIP                    222 01         Int + 39 6615 20309
Japan
Kuwait       MTC                    419 02         Int + 965 484 2000
Laos
Latvia       LMT                    247 01         Int + 371 2256 7764
                                                   Int + 371 2256 9183
                                                   Int + 371 2934 0000
Lebanon      Libancell
Liechtenstein                       228 01
Lithuania    Mobilios Telekom
Luxembourg   Telekom                270 01         Int + 352 4088 7088
Macao
Malaysia     Celcom                 502 19
             Binariang              502 12
Malta        Advanced
Marocco      O.N.P.T.               604 01
Monaco       France Telecom         208 01
             SFR                    208 10
Namibia      MTC                    649 01         Int + 264 81 121212
Netherlands* PTT Netherlands        204 08         Int + 31 350 688 699
           * Libertel               204 04         Int + 31 6 0500
New Zealand  Bell South             530 01         Int + 64 9 357 5100
Nigeria
Norway       NetCom                 242 02         Int + 47 92 00 01 68
             TeleNor Mobil          242 01         Int + 47 22 03 03 01
Oman
Pakistan
Phillipines
Portugal     Telecel                268 01         Int + 351 931 1212
             TMN                    268 06         Int + 351 1 793 91 78
Qatar        Qatarnet               427 01
Rumania
Russia       Mobile Tele... Moscow  250 01         Int + 7 095 915-7734
             NW GSM, St. Petersburg
SaudiArabia
Singapore    Singapore Telecom      525 01
Slovenia
South Africa MTN                    655 10         Int + 27 11 445 6000
             Vodacom                655 01         Int + 27 82 111
Sri Lanka    MTN Networks Pvt Ltd
Spain        Airtel
             Telefonica Spain       214 07
Sweden       Comviq                 240 07         Int + 46 586 686 10
             Europolitan            240 08         Int + 46 708 22 22 22
             Telia                  240 01         Int + 46 771 91 03 50
Switzerland  PTT Switzerland        228 01         Int + 41 46 05 64 64
Syria        SYR-01                 223 01
             SYR MOBILE SYR         263 09
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand     TH AIS GSM             520 01         Int + 66 2 299 6440
Turkey       Telsim                 286 02
             Turkcell               286 01         Int + 90 800 211 0211
UAE          UAE ETISALAT-G1        424 01
             UAE ETISALAT-G2        424 02
Uganda
Vietnam
Zimbabwe   *


Jurgen Morhofer         [e-mail]
Tel:[phone]      Fax:[phone]

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

From: Sheri <[e-mail]>
Subject: Automatic Privacy Cord
Date: 11 Oct 1995 00:16:29 GMT
Organization: Network Access Services, Inc.


Has any one had any luck with the Viking Automatic Privacy Cord?  It
supposedly replaces the standard modular line cord connecting the
phone, fax, or modem and prevents interruption of a telephone conver-
sation or data transmission already in progress.

I'm considering recommending it for a client who wants to use it in an
office situation with a telephone and four modems sharing the same
line ...


Thanks,

Sheri

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

From: SYSADMIN <[e-mail]>
Subject: CCITT Standards
Date: 10 Oct 1995 17:13:48 GMT
Organization: Science Systems Ltd


Does anyone know of FTP sites where the CCITT Spec's can be obtained?

Please mail here to the Digest, and I would be most obliged if you
would respond also to [e-mail].

Thanks in advance.

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

From: [e-mail] (Eric Griffith)
Subject: AT&T Passageway CTI
Date: 11 Oct 1995 05:31:10 GMT
Organization: ix.netcom.com


Has anyone had any experience in using AT&Ts Passageway CTI boxes for
interfacing G3I phonesets to computer RS 232 ports? I just bought ten
of these units and although the device is impressive, the included
software "Fastcall" is really not. Has anyone been able to access the
unit outside of AT&T's own software?

My application is to do database lookups based on ANI information
passed to the phoneset, as well as some outbound calling for a
customer service application running under Lotus Notes.

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

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 95 12:34:02 -0500
From: Paul J Zawada <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Old Telco Question


TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was probably an access point for
> Western Union Telegraph Company cables. They were never in the local
> telco business. Did they have a large office in Charlotte at one
> time or another?  I do know that if you go over on LaSalle Street
> in in the south end of downtown Chicago I used to see a few of those
> mainly in the vicinity of WUTCO's large office building and wire
> center.  PAT]

Most of those WU manholes are still there, although some of them may
now say ATS.  Access Transmission Services bought a significant amount
of WU's conduit plant and pulled fiber through it.  ATS was subsquently
aquired by MCI and is now a wholey-owned subsidiary of MCI-Metro. MCI-Metro
is the arm of MCI that is planning on selling local telephone service
in the major metropolitan areas.  MCI-Transmission also contracts to
ATS to plow in relatively short fiber routes (> 100 miles or so).

So while WU may never had been in the local telco business, it looks
like MCI will use their conduit to provide said service ...


Paul J. Zawada          Sr. Network Engineeer
[e-mail]    National Center for Supercomputing  Applications
[phone]         http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/People/zawada

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

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
SubjectL Administrivia: Lost Mail Tuesday Overnight/Wednesday
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 22:20:00 CDT


In case you missed the message in the last issue, the incoming mail
here for Wednesday got trashed in processing. This would involve the
mail which arrived between about 9:00 PM Tuesday night and late after-
noon on Wednesday. If you sent me mail during that period of time it
mostly was lost without being read *even if you did get an autoreply
saying I got it.*  Only EDITORIAL mail was involved. It is safe to
say if you wrote me anytime Wednesday morning or afternoon you should
send it again.


PAT

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #432
******************************


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Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 14:02:37 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #433

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 12 Oct 95 14:02:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 433

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    How to Make Dial-up Stay Up as Long as Possible? (M.C. Wong)
    Connecting Modem to Multi-line Phone (Tom Spielman)
    FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Keith Knipschild)
    European Numbering Plans and Telecom Policy (Bill Ciminelli)
    Bell Atlantic Mobile $25 Offer (James B. Langridge)
    Internet Voice Mail (Jack Bryar)
    Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones (Sub Ramakrishnan)
    A Question About Special Access Surcharge (Jingshong Xie)
    Phone Number to Word Converter (Edward A. Kleinhample)
    Statewide Exchange for South Carolina (Fred Atkinson)
    Payphone Data (Phone Numbers and Address) (Jim Crider)
    Numbering Plan Change in Israel ([e-mail])
    Legal Slamming (Fred Atkinson)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Michael Shields)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (M C Wong)
Subject: How to Make Dial-up Stay up As Long as Possible?
Date: 12 Oct 1995 02:27:17 GMT
Organization: Hewlett Packard


Hi,

    I wonder if anyone has any good advices/suggestions of making a
dial-up link stays up as long as possible?

    The reason I asked is that, like many others, I am connected to
the net on a permanent SLIP link, and every now and then the line gets
reset by the telco, sometimes it can go as frequent as few times a day
(which I suspect may also be noise anyway). The cost of redialing is
only a small price to pay, but the interruptions it costs is the
worst.

    Even with auto-redial enabled, the answering modem may get into a
non-functioning state and sometimes it thinks it is still off-hook and
auto-redial can never succeed without having to reset the modem manually.

    I wonder has anyone tried increasing the carrier drop time-out
value with their modem and got positive result?

    Please reply/post your experience/advices/suggestions/tips etc ...

    Thanks in advance.

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Spielman)
Subject: Connecting Modem to Multi-Line Phone
Organization: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 02:31:57 GMT


I've had trouble getting a modem to work on a multi-line phone system.
The jack seems to be the same, but the modem doesn't get a dial tone.
I've seen some modems that have multi-line features.  Do I need one of
these?  Can I do it at all?


Thanks,

Tom

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 01:13:15 -0500
Subject: FAX Machine as Page Scanner


In the July, August, September, or October issue of {Popular Electronics},
or {Electronics Now}, there was a schematic of a simple circuit that
would allow one to connect a FAX Machine to a Fax Modem.  This would
let you scan a page to the computer.

Does anyone have this schematic or the magazine? I think the circuit
consisted of two  nine-volt batteries.


[e-mail]            SLIP/PPP Internet Address
[e-mail]      BBS Internet Address
Http://www.asb.com/usr/keith  My WWW Page URL Address
[e-mail]         Ham Radio AX25 Packet Address
70302,2701                    CompuServe Address
K.Knipschild                  GENIE Address


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An even easier way of doing this involves
merely a fax machine and a second phone line. Hook your fax machine to
one phone line, and your computer with fax/modem card to the other phone
line. Have the fax machine call the computer and feed it whatever you
want scanned. You will get it in the output from your fax/modem card.
Use whatever software came with your fax/modem card to convert the file
to a way it can be viewed on your computer. Deal with it however you
want at that point, sending the file wherever.  Really quite simple.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (WCiminelli)
Subject: European Numbering Plans and Telecom Policy
Date: 12 Oct 1995 07:06:59 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (WCiminelli)


Can some one direct me to sources of information on two topics:

1) A description of Europen market telephone numbering plans, both current
and planned changes

2) Any general information on European Telecom policy, status of
deregulation etc.

Any help would be appreciated!


Regards,

Bill Ciminelli    [e-mail]

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

Subject: Bell Atlantic Mobile $25 Offer
From: [e-mail] (Langridge, James B)
Date: 12 Oct 95 07:22:22 EDT


Bell Atlantic Mobil recently mailed out a certificate offering it's
cell customers involved in the 703/540 area code change $25 to
reprogram their phone with the new 540 area code and advising them
that if the phone is not reprogrammed by 1996 that it will no longer
be able to make or receive calls.  I considered this a great offer
considering I can program my phone myself.

After programming my phone (a couple of days ago) and receiving
several calls since then, I called BAMS to let them know I had
reprogrammed my phone and was calling to get my $25.  Upon hearing
that I had reprogrammed my phone myself the phone droid in a concerned
voice advised me that he wasn't sure that it would work since the cell
number for the new AC is not automatically reserved for the customer.
A cell agent must call to have the new number reserved and activated
for me.  After explaining that I have indeed been able to receive and
make calls since I changed the area code in the NAM programming, he
then tried to call my phone (which is out in the car) and got the
standard recording that the cell customer he had called was not
available.

Not convinced that everything is working he contacted the orders and
operations department and had my number with the new AC activated.
Then came back on the line to say everything should work now but if
not, please let BAMS know.  Oh yes, Let's not forget the $25.  He
advised me that the $25 offer was intended only for people who take
their phone to a cell agent for reprogramming ... kind of a way to make
up for the inconvenience.  Then offered me $12.50.  Of course, the
certificate said nothing like that.  So I stood firm and was told I
would receive the full $25.  We'll see on my next bill. And I wonder
why a cellular carrier would not automatically reserve active cell
numbers for it existing customers in the new area code.  This guy told
me that I might have had to change my number had it been assigned to
someone else with the 540 area code.

You know, I just can't help but feel like someone just tried to steal
something from me anytime I have to deal with the phone company.


James B. Langridge
[e-mail] (Office)

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 11:04:33 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Jack Bryar, Sajual Systems & Consulting)
Subject: Internet Voice Mail


I am looking for any information concerning using the 'net as a means for
narrowcasting/multicasting voice mail messages via a process of:

        [local voicecall over traditional phone]
                -to-
        [ISP based converter]
                -to-
        [ISP based re-converter]
                -to-
        [local voice call to phone of recipient].

Are there existing developers of such systems?  What is the response
of ISP's to the idea of providing such a service?  Are the regulatory
"gotcha's" that would make this difficult.

Understand that we know about the voice over the net products, but
since the net is essentially packetized, with no ability to reserve
continuous bandwidth, we think that "real-time voice" isn't going to
be satisfactory for many applications. (we do NOT want flames from
Iphone or vocal tec users on this point, please) For the purposes of
our clients, we think that messaging would be a more appropriate use.

Also, we have worked with Wave files as MIME extensions, but again, not
everyone has a multimedia PC, and everyone DOES have a phone.

Given that the successful installation of such systems would require
the active participation of Internet Service Providers, it would be
important to know if there are groups within the CIX that are studying
the provision of such services. What kind of response would the
regulatory community have to such systems, especially if the service
extended outside of the affiliated set of businesses that have asked
us to investigate this technothey extended outside of gy for their
internal use?

Thank you for your kind attention to this inquiry.


J.V. Bryar     Sajual Systems & Consulting, Inc.
"Technical Due Diligence" (sm) Investigations
Project Management and Prototyping
Cambridge MA and Grafton VT
802-843-6101 Fax: [phone]

Partner - NORTHERN MEDIA SOLUTIONS
Telecommunications Applications Evangelists
and Strategic Integration Consulting
[phone] email: [e-mail]

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

From: Sub Ramakrishnan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 11:24:24 -0400
Organization: Bowling Green State University


I am trying to reach a number in Austria, from US. The number is,
011(43)(xxx)yyy; 43 is Austria, xxx and yy are the area codes, and the
local number. A computer answers this number and asks me to press 1
for service_1, 2 for service2 etc..

I get connected to the computer OK but nothing happens when I press 1. My
USA phone is tone. Note that when I tried this Austrian number from
Austria it works without any problem.

I suspect that the tones transmitted from USA (after you reach the
computer) may not be of the same frequency the Austrian system
expects ... but any solutions or alternate theories? Are there any
boxes one can buy in Radio Shack that I can interface with my (US)
phone to resolve the problem?


Sub Ramakrishnan    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jingshong Xie)
Subject: A Auestion About Special Access Surcharge
Date: 12 Oct 1995 12:13:37 -0400
Organization: Project Glue, University of Maryland, College Park


According to FCC Tariff:

"The Special Access Surcharge will apply to each interstate Special
Access Service that terminates on an end user's PBX or other device
where, through a function of the device, the Special Access Service
interconnects to the local exchange network.  Interconnection
functions include but are not limited to wiring and software
functions, bridging, switching or patching of calls or stations."

Could gurus out there explain how to read this?  Does "interstate"
mean "between two States (i.e. Maryland, Virginia)"?  And what is
considered as "Special Access Service"?

Thanks a lot.


Jingshong Xie

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

Date: 12 Oct 95 10:14:47 EDT
From: Edward A. Kleinhample <[e-mail]>
Subject: Phone Number to Word Converter


John Mayson's shell program from the 3-Oct Digest sparked my interest.
I dug up a pair of little C programs that I presented to my students
in a C class last spring.

   ---------- cut here-----------
/*
    Program     TelNum.c
    Find Mnemonic name from telephone number.

    Adapted from pascal code by Tom Swan (Dr. Dobbs - June 93)
*/

#include <stdio.h>

char    *TelDial[10];
char    *inString;
char    *outString;
long    nCount;


int     ValueOfChar( char c )
{
    return ( (char) ( c - '0' ) );
}



void    Permute( int n )
{
    int i, digit;

    digit = ValueOfChar( inString[n] );

    for( i=0 ; i < 3 ; i++ )    {
        outString[n] = TelDial[ digit ][ i ];
        if( n == strlen( inString )-1 )     {
            nCount++;
            printf( "%s\t", outString );
        }
        else
            Permute( n + 1 );
    }
}



void    main()
{
    TelDial[0] = "   ";     TelDial[1] = "   ";
    TelDial[2] = "ABC";     TelDial[3] = "DEF";
    TelDial[4] = "GHI";     TelDial[5] = "JKL";
    TelDial[6] = "MNO";     TelDial[7] = "PRS";
    TelDial[8] = "TUV";     TelDial[9] = "WXY";

    inString = (char *) calloc( 1, 32 );
    nCount = 0;

    printf( "Telephone number: " );
    scanf( "%15s", inString );
    if( strlen( inString ) > 0 )    {
        outString = (char *) calloc( 1, 32 );
        strcpy( outString, inString );
        printf( "\n\n" );
        Permute( 0 );
        printf( "\n %ld combinations\n\n", nCount );
    }
}


  ---------- cut here----------
/*
    Program         TelName.C
    Display Phone number from a mnemonic phone name

    adapted from pascal code by Tom Swan (Dr. Dobbs - June 93)
*/
#include <stdio.h>


int     i;
char    TelNumber[15];
char    *TelDial[10];
char    LetterSet[] = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTUVWXY";     /* note Q/Z ommitted */

char    DigitToLetter( char c )
{
    int i,j;

    c = toupper( c );       /* make upper-case */
    for( i=0 ; i<=9 ; i++ )   {
        for( j=0 ; j<3 ; j++ )   {
            if( c == TelDial[i][j] )    {
                return ( (char) ( i + '0' ) );
            }
        }
    }
    return ( c );       /* default */
}




void    main()
{
    TelDial[0] = "   ";     TelDial[1] = "   ";
    TelDial[2] = "ABC";     TelDial[3] = "DEF";
    TelDial[4] = "GHI";     TelDial[5] = "JKL";
    TelDial[6] = "MNO";     TelDial[7] = "PRS";
    TelDial[8] = "TUV";     TelDial[9] = "WXY";

    printf( "Enter Telephone Name: " );
    scanf( "%15s", TelNumber );
    printf( "\n\n" );

    for( i=0; i < strlen( TelNumber ); i++ )    {
        printf( "%c", DigitToLetter( TelNumber[i] ) );
    }
    printf( "\n\n" );
}

    ---------- cut here---------------


Ed Kleinhample - Land O' Lakes, FL - [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 13:04:51 CST
From: Fred Atkinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Statewide Exchange for South Carolina


   Does anyone know anything about a 'statewide' 440 exchange that I
have been told is springing up in South Carolina?

   The reason I ask is that I am trying to get a friend of mine (he
lives in a little rural town that is long distance to all major
cities) on a local Internet service provider.  I spoke to one provider
who says that a new 'statewide' exchange (440) was springing up and
they were going to offer an access number on it.  She was not sure
whether non-BellSouth telephone subscribers would be able to access
it, though.

   I called BellSouth to find that no one in the business office knows
anything about it.  That doesn't mean anything, though, based upon my
past experience with telephone company business offices.  Often times
those who sell the service are the last to be told.

   The 803 directory assistance says they show 440 as a Columbia
exchange but couldn't see that any numbers were assigned to it at
least as yet.

   If anyone has ANY information about it, I would be very grateful if
you'd reply.  My friend is a highly technical type and has been
wanting Internet access for some time.  He'd be grateful, too.  I
don't want to get his hopes up and find out that this is just bad
information (no, I haven't told him as yet).


Fred Atkinson

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 12:11 EST
From: Jim Crider <[e-mail]>
Subject: Payphone Data (Phone Numbers and Address)


I'm looking to obtain a data source for all payphone (public and
private) phone numbers with address information within the U.S.  Does
anyone have this information or know who I could contact to obtain it?

I'm willing to pay for it.


Jim Crider              Internet: [e-mail]
Arlington, VA USA       Voice: 703 415 2506  Fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Numbering Plan Change in Israel
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 05:09:44 GMT


I've heard rumors that Israel is going to switch from the current
numbering scheme (one-digit area code + six or seven digits local
number) to flat seven-digit numbers with no area code. Is that true
and if yes, when the permissive dialing starts?


Thanks,

Leo

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 08:24:40 CST
From: Fred Atkinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Legal Slamming


I got home last night and found a three dollar check in my mailbox.
It said that this long distance company (one I've never even heard of
with rates that could save as much as fifty-five percent over AT&T)
was giving me a calling card (gratis) and for three dollars per month
they could have the charges added to my local phone bill.

Well, the calling card I won't use.  The print on the back of the three
dollar check (where you endorse it) says that you are authorizing them to
switch your long distance carrier to their service.  It always pays to read
the fine print.

Another fresh approach to slamming.  Since they would have a signed
document (the check) authorizing them to switch you, they would've
gotten away with it scott free.

They claim their rates are so much lower than AT&T yet they provided
no documentation as to what their rates are.  That makes me more leary
than I already was.


Fred


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Three dollars?  Three dollars??? I would
never let anyone do it to me for three dollars. What a bunch of cheapskates
they are. This is not a 'fresh approach to slamming' by any means. It
has been around for years, but the checks are usually a lot more. Fifteen,
twenty or thirty dollars are much more common offers. They must not think
much of your business relationship with them Fred; otherwise they would
have offered you more also. AT&T offered me twenty-five dollars to come
back to them after I signed up with Sprint to get the fax card a few years
ago, and heck, I don't even pay my phone bill at all until I can't avoid
it any longer and am about to get cut. Three dollars?  Geeze.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael Shields)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 12 Oct 1995 07:59:11 -0000
Organization: Tembel's Hedonic Commune


In article <[e-mail]>, Atri Indiresan <[e-mail].
edu> wrote:

> To get time service at this (and any other Unix computer), you need to
> specify socket 13.

Port 13.

> [question: what is MJD?]

Modified Julian Day.  I've appended <URL:http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/
mjd.html>.

Loose ends:

* Yes, both tick and tock will work.  tock is probably less busy.

* The advantage of the 900 number over the 202 number is that it is
  guaranteed not to travel over a satellite.  Is this true of all 900
  numbers?

* NTP is still the best way to get time, because a great deal of research
  has gone into it.  See if your ISP offers NTP service.  Better NTP
  clients will run continuously, computing drift and adjusting for leap
  seconds; for Unix, get xntpd from <URL:ftp://louie.udel.edu/pub/ntp/>.
  On a LAN, it can get your clocks within < 1 ms on some platforms.

Here's more than you ever wanted to know about MJD.

  -- cut here --

                             MODIFIED JULIAN DATE

   The Modified Julian Day (MJD) is an abbreviated version of the old
   Julian Day (JD) dating method which has been in use for centuries by
   astronomers, geophysicists, chronologers and others who needed to have
   an unambiguous dating system based on continuing day counts.

   The JD counts have very little to do with the Julian calendar which
   was introduced by Julius Caesar (44 BC) and in force until 1682 when
   Pope Gregory directed the use of an improved calendar, now known as
   the Gregorian Calendar. In the case of the Julian day count, the name
   was given because at the time, the Julian calendar was in use and,
   therefore, the epoch of the day count was fixed in respect to it. The
   JD counts days within one Julian Period of exactly 7980 Julian years
   of 365.25 days.

   Start of the JD count is 12 NOON 1 JAN -4713 (4712 BC, Julian
   Proleptic Calendar). Note that this day count conforms with the
   astronomical convention starting the day at noon, in contrast with the
   civil practice where the day starts with midnight (in popular use the
   belief is widespread that the day ends with midnight but this is not
   the proper scientific use).

   The Julian Period is given by the time it takes from one coincidence
   to the next of a solar cycle (28), a lunar cycle (19), and the Roman
   Indiction (a tax cycle of 15 years). At any rate, this period is of
   interest only in regard to the adoption of the start, at which time
   all periods counted backwards were in coincidence.

   The Modified Julian Day, on the other hand, was introduced by space
   scientists in the late 50's of this century. It is defined as

   MJD = JD - 2400000.5

   The half day is subtracted so that the day starts at midnight in
   conformance with civil time reckoning. This MJD has been sanctioned by
   various international commissions such as IAU, CCIR, and others who
   recommend it as a decimal day count which is independent of the civil
   calendar in use. To give dates in this system is convenient in all
   cases where data are collected over long periods of time. Examples are
   double star and variable star observations, the computation of time
   differences over long periods of time such as in the computation of
   small rate differences of atomic clocks, etc.

   The MJD is a convenient dating system with only 5 digits, sufficient
   for most modern purposes. The days of the week can easily be computed
   because the same weekday is obtained for the same remainder of the MJD
   after division by 7.

   EXAMPLE: MJD 49987 = MON., 27 SEPT, 1995

   Division of the MJD by 7 gives a remainder of 0. All Mondays in 1995
   have this same remainder of 0.


Note that for 1993 the MJD = 48987 + DOY
          For 1994 the MJD = 49352 + DOY
          For 1995 the MJD = 49717 + DOY
          For 1996 the MJD = 50082 + DOY

where DOY is the Day of the respective Year.


   The MJD (and even more so the JD) has to be well distinguished from
   this day of the year (DOY). This is also often but erroneously called
   Julian Date, when in fact it is a Gregorian Date expressed as number
   of days in the year. This is a grossly misleading practice that was
   introduced by some who were simply ignorant and too careless to learn
   the proper terminology. It creates a confusion which should not be
   taken lightly. Moreover, a continuation of the use of expressions
   "Julian" or "J" day in the sense of a Gregorian Date will make matters
   even worse. It will inevitably lead to dangerous mistakes, increased
   confusion, and it will eventually destroy whatever standard practices
   exist.

   The MJD has been officially recognized by the International
   Astronomical Union (IAU), and by the Consultative Committe for Radio
   (CCIR), the advisory committee to the International Telecommunications
   Union (ITU). The pertinent document is

   CCIR RECOMMENDATION 457-1, USE OF THE MODIFIED JULIAN DATE BY THE
   STANDARD FREQUENCY AND TIME-SIGNAL SERVICES.

   This document is contained in the CCIR "Green Book" Volume VII.
   Additional, extensive documentation regarding the JD is contained in
   the Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and Nautical
   Almanac, and in the yearbooks themselves, now called The Astronomical
   Almanac. The Almanac for Computers also provides information on such
   matters.

   NOTE: The MJD is always referred to as a time reckoned in Universal
   Time (UT). The same is not true for the DOY. This is usually meant in
   a local time sense, but in all data which are given here at the
   observatory, we refer the DOY to UT also, except where specifically
   noted. One could call it then something like Universal Day of the Year
   to emphasize the point. However, this would introduce a completely new
   term, not authorized by any convention. Moreover, it is not really
   necessary to use a different term because we simply follow logically
   the same practice of extending a time and date measure to the UT
   reference as we do when we give any date or hour.

   NASA sometimes uses what they call the Truncated MJD or TJD. It is
   simply the MJD less the first digit. The above used date would be 6324
   Note, however, that in this case the remainder for the days of the
   week comes out differently (3 for Mondays).


LITERATURE:

Gordon Moyer, "The Origin of the Julian Day System", Sky and Telescope,
vol. 61, pp. 311-313 (April 1981).   See also a subsequent letter
by R.H. van Gent, Sky and Telescope, vol.62, p.16 (July 1981).

Last but not least, see also the Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical
Almanac pp. 600 etc.  This is the current, revised issue published by
University Science Books, FAX [phone], ISBN 0-935702-68-7.

Gernot M. R. Winkler
formerly with
U.S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY
3450 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE NW
WASHINGTON DC  20392-5420


Shields.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #433
******************************


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Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 17:55:08 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #434

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 12 Oct 95 17:55:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 434

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Recourse? (Edward A. Kleinhample)
    Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Recourse? (Tom Watson)
    Re: Caller ID During Call Waiting (Peter Polishuk)
    Re: Old Telco Question (David Breneman)
    Re: New French Numbering Plan (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: How to Make Dial-up Stay up As Long as Possible? (Pete Kruckenberg)
    Re: Dutch Renumbering Scheme Almost an April 1 Joke (Piet van Oostrum)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Tony Harminc)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Daryl R. Gibson)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (David Breneman)
    Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel! ([e-mail])
    Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Peter Corlett)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Peter Corlett)
    Re: Connecting Modem to Multi-Line Phone (Pete Kruckenberg)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? (Roger Wells)
    Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information? ([e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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*************************************************************************
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*************************************************************************

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     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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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: 12 Oct 95 15:07:52 EDT
From: Edward A. Kleinhample <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Recourse


On issue 422, Dave Close adds:

> The error is classifying service at all. At one time, percentage of time
> the line was in use may have justified higher rates due to expensive
> lines. But today, service is essentially without cost beyond overhead.
> There is no remaining justification for charging residences less or
> businesses more except that there are more residences and their occupants
> vote. See the cover story in this week's issue of the {Economist}.

As long as there is government regulation of LECs, there is
justification for the classification of service as residential or
business. Business customers tend to be clustered together in
geographically small urban areas, requiring a less expensive physical
plant to service the large number of circuits needed by modern
business. Because these customers are paying a premium price for their
services, the telco is less fussy about pulling an additional pair of
wires their way. The bulk of telco's profits come from this class of
service.  The residential customers tend to be spread out with a small
number of subscribers over a large geographic area - this means a more
expensive physical plant, and lower revenues. The residential class of
service is largely subsidised by the business class revenues in order
to keep costs relatively level.  There has been talk of doing away
with allocation of revenues and allowing telco to charge a subscriber
what it costs to provide them service. Those of us who live well
outside of primary business centers will find ourselves paying
considerable more for our home telephone service.


Ed Kleinhample
Network Systems Guru and General Practitioner of PC hardware
Land O' Lakes, FL.    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Watson)
Subject: Re: Pac*Bell Lied, Do I Have Any Recourse?
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 12:33:03 -0700
Organization: The 3DO Corporation


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Mike
Curtis) wrote:

> Amateur radio repeaters are usually located at commercial radio sites.
> Historically, the phone company has insisted that autopatches (telephone
> line access) use commercial lines, even though business communication is
> expressly forbidden by the FCC.  Several years back, this was overturned,
> and amateur autopatches may insist on residential service even though the
> autopatch is located in a commercial site.

Been there, done that.

Boy did it take a whole lot of fighting with Pacific Ding-A-Ling, but
when I mentioned Amateur Radio, something clicked.  You should see
what installers do when they need to go to a mountaintop and I'm over
two counties away from the site.  The problems I had also involved the
fact that the hill is half way between two CO's and they couldn't
decide which prefix I should get.  They insisted that an installer go
to the hill.

The other problem is that I have instruments connected to the line, and
other bozos visiting the site would go INSIDE my cabinet to make calls.  I
would get phone bills and then call up the number and complain.  It would
keep on happening, so I decided to fight back.  I changed the lines to
ground start.  The abuse stopped immediately!!  I felt vindicated.


Tom Watson    [e-mail]   (Home: [e-mail])


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Are you suggesting that 'other bozos'
at the location did not know how to jump a ground start line and get
dial tone? Was there no source of ground in the vicinity?  And then,
how did your users make outgoing calls?   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 18:35:02 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Caller ID During Call Waiting
Organization: Nortel (Northern Telecom)


In article <[e-mail]>, Lynne Gregg <lynne.gregg@attws.
com> wrote:

>> Is anyone manufacturing Customer Premises Equipment yet which meets
>> the Bellcore spec for receiving Caller ID during a Call Waiting
>> signal?

> Yes, several manufacturers are working on wireline terminals.  AT&T
> Wireless Services supports Caller ID with Call Waiting in it's network
> (TDMA cellular sets).

Northern Telecom also has equipment that meet these standards.


Peter Polishuk   Nortel Marketing Communications
Switching Networks  ESN 255-4295 or 992-4295
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (David Breneman)
Subject: Re: Old Telco Question
Date: 12 Oct 1995 19:26:10 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> Paul J Zawada <[e-mail].
edu> writes:

> TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]>:

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was probably an access point for
>> Western Union Telegraph Company cables. They were never in the local
>> telco business.

Deletions...

> So while WU may never had been in the local telco business, it looks
> like MCI will use their conduit to provide said service ...

But, Western Union *was* in the local telephone business!  They bought
the rights to all of Thomas Edison's telephone patents, including his
superior carbon-granule microphone, and went in head-to-head
competition with Bell in many markets.  And, they almost drove Bell
out of business until an agreement was reached whereby WU would stick
to (what's now called) data and Bell would stick to voice transmission.
This all happened in the 1880s.  The main reason WU surrendered its
phone service to Bell was that they didn't think there was much future
in it -- their main fear was that Bell would establish a network of
lines on the "pretext" of providing phone service, which could later
be converted to telegraphy in competition with WU.  When the agreement
was reached, Bell was no longer a threat.

Yeah.


David Breneman
Unix System Administrator       Mail: [e-mail]
IS - Operations                 (Formerly: ~@mccaw.com)
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.    Phone: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In fact, a regular poster here has a
neat .sig file he attaches occassionally which quotes the contents
of a memo circulated among Western Union executives in the 1880's
telling how they believe the telephone to have little value to them.
Little did they know.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 14:39:44 -0500
From: James E. Bellaire <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: New French Numbering Plan


[e-mail] (patrick raffin) wrote:

> FRANCE NEW NUMBERING PLAN

> On 18 October 1996, most French telephone numbers will change.

With no permissive period?  Ouch!

> Here is what will happen, as far as it is documented now.  All errors
> and omissions are mine (P. Raffin, 1995/10/08, [e-mail]).

I think I got the regular numbers right, from an international perspective:

 Paris               now +33-1-xx-xx-xxxx    will be +33-1-xx-xx-xxxx
 NorthWest France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-2-xx-xx-xxxx
 NorthEast France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-3-xx-xx-xxxx
 SouthEast France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-4-xx-xx-xxxx
 SouthWest France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-5-xx-xx-xxxx

I am assuming that the +33 then eight digit rule also applies to
pagers/mobiles, and eight digit special services when calling from
outside France, making

 Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-01-xxxxxx
 Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-02-xxxxxx
 Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-03-xxxxxx
 Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-04-xxxxxx
 Toll Free           now +33-05-xxxxxx       will be +33-800-xxxxxx
 Other Pagers        now +33-06-xxxxxx
 GSM - France Tel    now +33-07-xxxxxx       will be +33-807-xxxxxx
 GSM - SFR           now +33-09-xxxxxx       will be +33-809-xxxxxx
 Extended Services   now     36-xxxxxx       will be    0836-xxxxxx

But you do not mention what is happening to the pagers.  Are they
moving to the +33-8 range with the mobile phones?

I assume that the 1x services are not available from outside France, but are
the 36xx / 36xx-xxxx services available?  Is Toll Free available out of
country?

TIA for any clarifications.


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Pete Kruckenberg)
Subject: Re: How to Make Dial-up Stay up As Long as Possible?
Date: 12 Oct 1995 19:53:53 GMT
Organization: inQuo Internet [phone]


M C Wong ([e-mail]) wrote:

>     I wonder if anyone has any good advices/suggestions of making a
> dial-up link stays up as long as possible?

Two things.

First, contact your phone company and ask them to stop testing the line.
They have stuff that periodically tests analog lines to make sure they're
in working condition. However, this causes problems when it's a modem
line. Just tell them it's a line used for modem communications and they
should be able to remove the testing. Be sure to have it done on both
ends of the call.

Second, make your modems more tolerant of intermittent signal loss (which
is what happens), configure them with the command ATS10=100 (or some
other high value). This will let the modem continue trying to connect in
spite of a long loss of carrier. Be sure to use this command on both
modems, and save the configuration into NVRAM (usually using the AT&W
command). I've had good success with using this.

You're still going to get disconnects now and then, so be sure your
modem's configured to make DCD follow the actual carrier detect, rather
than be held high artificially. And be sure to write all configuration
changes to NVRAM so you don't lose them.

Another thing you might do is have a separate daemon that periodically
pings the other end of the SLIP connection, and if it can't see the other
end, hard-resets the modem (usually done by dropping DTR). If you had this
on both ends, it'd eliminate most of your modem hang problems.


Good luck.

Pete Kruckenberg    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Piet van Oostrum)
Subject: Re: Dutch Renumbering Scheme Almost an April 1 Joke
Date: 12 Oct 1995 12:33:49 +0100
Organization: Universiteit Utrecht, Dept. of Computer Science


[e-mail] (Alex van Es) (AvE) writes:

> PTT is appearantly expecting a lot of trouble coming out of this
> renumbering, therefore the old numbers will also keep on working for
> the coming six months.  In the beginning of April the old numbers will
> be disconnected. And that is in my opinion where the problems are
> going to start. Many people will not change their friend's phone number
> straight away. After all, converting phone numbers is not the most
> interesting job to do, and so many people decide to delay it till some
> rainy Sunday afternoon. And if that rainy Sunday is not coming along
> to soon, they probably trashed their renumbering guide, forgetting all
> about it. And then around the beginning of April trouble is going to
> start. All of the sudden you will be forced to dial the new number.

On the first day, the PTT reported that 30% of the calls used the new
numbers, while 49% used the old numbers, the rest being numbers that don't
change. I think this is not bad for a first day.

Secondly, they will monitor the change rate and adapt the advertising. So
if next year too many people are still using the old numbers you can expect
a flood of commercials.

Finally, I think there will be no abrupt shutting off the old numbers
but there will be a period where a message will be given if you dial
the old number.


Piet van Oostrum <[e-mail]>
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/~piet

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 16:07:58 EDT
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?


Ed Ellers <[e-mail]> wrote:

> I'm tempted to suggest "Western Telecom" or just "WEC," given that
> Western's two offshoots -- Northern Electric and Nippon Electric --
> are, of course, now called Northern Telecom and NEC.  (Actually,
> Western was often referred to as "WECo" within the Bell System.)

Northern Electric was hardly an "offshoot" of Western Electric.  Yes,
for many years Northern built sets and CO equipment under licence from
WE, but they also had a thriving business making the likes of radios,
power cable, and even refrigerators!

Western Telecom might be fine, but they'd need to watch out for
Western Telephone and Telecommunications (WT&T), a tiny Toronto
company that specializes in old electromechanical key systems and
PBXs.  (Of course suggestions that WT&T's name was chosen to try to
confuse people are preposterous ...)

Northern Telecom has recently taken to calling itself Nortel; I'm not
sure what Nortel Manufacturing (a maker of glassblowing equipment)
thinks of this.  No clash unless it comes to fibre, perhaps ?


Tony Harminc

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 09:38:35 MST
From: Daryl R. Gibson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?


Since the stock ticker designator for AT&T is "T", I thought we could always
call them "T2" and "T3"

Those of you who haven't heard of "Terminator 2" will no doubt not get this
joke ...


Daryl
[phone]       [phone]
[e-mail]     [e-mail]

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

From: David Breneman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: 12 Oct 1995 01:50:24 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.


[e-mail] (Bud Couch) wrote:

> After all "Bell Labs/Western Electric" was good enough for the first eighty
> years or so.

If you'll recall, part of the consent decree was that AT&T could not
use the Bell name.  The one exception was Bell Labs, and the reason
had to do more with national prestige than any business reason.  If
you will remember, right after the breakup, AT&T changed it's name to
the name it had prior to becoming AT&T - American Bell.  This was the
name used in the late 1800s.  I still have a 9-track tape of UNIX
Version 7 for the 3B15 at home, with stickers all over it saying
(paraphrased) "Please note that all instances of the name American
Bell should be construed to be American Telephone and Telegraph
Company."  An acquaintance who worked for AT&T Computer Systems even
saved the name sign off the building.  "American Bell Computer
Systems."  Maybe now that time has passed and so many of the "Baby
Bells" have dropped the Bell name, AT&T will be allowed to adopt it
again for one of more of their divisions, but I doubt it.

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

From: [e-mail] (DHarper521)
Subject: Re: Help! I've Been Slammed by WilTel!
Date: 12 Oct 1995 06:54:32 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (DHarper521)


Wiltel has recently been purchased by LDDS. You may wnat to look them up
in the book.

As far as your rights, you will need to pay what your charges would have
been on the carrier you wnat or originally had. You will also want to have
the phone company "freeze" your PIC. Meaning that the phone company will
not change your carrier without your written approval. Slamming is
typically a result of the carrier sending in a request for your line to be
PICd to them.

There are very tight FCC regulations around this issue today. They have
recently changed many of the requirements in favor of the consumer and the
carriers that are attempting to run a clean shop.

You can also file a complaint with the FCC and Public Service Commission.
This may not result in anything other than a mark against the carrier. If
they get enough marks they get investigated and in amny cases fined.

An Operator Services Provider (ONCOR) was recently fined $500,000 for
slamming 92 payphones.

The system does work.

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

From: [e-mail] (Peter Corlett)
Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Aston University
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 11:13:41 GMT


In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Boyce G. Williams,
Jr.) writes:

> I have a database of country codes and the name of the country that
> goes with it, but not much more.  My only "source" giving a clue about
> the display is an "Airman's Guide" I found in a bookstore where a
> German phone number is displayed as eleven digit "WW-XXXX-YY-ZZZ",
> English as eleven digit "WW-XXX-YY-ZZZZ" and Japan as ten digit
> "XX-YYYY-ZZZZ".  The first three digits is the country code, so how
> does the remainding numbers appears locally in that country?

UK numbering isn't quite like that; there are several schemes. The 0
prefix is just to indicate to the equipment that you are making a
national call, and is not part of the number (but is still written.)

Metropolitan areas, with seven digit codes:

 (01x1) xxx xxxx [Old traditional areas]
 (011x) xxx xxxx [New areas, created 4/95 due to number shortage]

Other STD areas:

 (01xxx) xxxxxx
 (01xxx) xxxxx
 Some exchanges in the middle of nowhere are given as
 (01xxx xx) xxxx

 Whether these actually have four digit local numbers, I don't know. I though
 these had all been removed until one popped up on my bill. I know no way
 of identifying such exchanges without a lookup table.

Special services, without 01 prefix:

 0xxx xxxxxx


Peter Corlett ** [e-mail]
http://www.aston.ac.uk/~corlepnd

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

From: [e-mail] (Peter Corlett)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Aston University
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 10:45:19 GMT


In article [e-mail], Ed Ellers <[e-mail]> writes:

> Toby Nixon <[e-mail]> writes:

>> So, why SHOULDN'T the phone network be designed so that computers can
>> be connected to the network ANYWHERE and be permitted to input a
>> fully-qualified international number (including country code) and have
>> the NETWORK figure out how to route the call, instead of the computer
>> needing to be pre-programmed to know exactly which subset of the phone
>> number needs to be dialed, along with whatever prefixes are needed?

> That could be done easily enough -- all AT&T (or whatever the new
> hardware company will be called), Northern Telecom and others have to
> do is rewrite their switch software.  However, this would eliminate
> the safety feature that now exists in most (but not all) areas where
> you can't accidentally dial a toll call as a local one or vice-versa.

Seems that the US phone system is rather odder than I thought ...  My
number is [phone] xxxx, and a favourite BBS is [phone] xxxx.
As the BBS is local, I can dial 449 xxxx as this is a local code, or
0121 449 xxxx -- which is what is actually dialed. 0044 121 449
xxxx is also a possibility, although it is a bit silly for my
purposes.

BT basically scrapped all the local access numbers (i.e. 9x was a shortcut
to another local exchange) and forced everyone to use full national numbers
except for your own exchange. Extra routing and billing intelligence was
introduced to handle the extra cases.

The situation is made a bit trickier by using an alternative carrier,
which means the user has to make the distinction, but you can arrange
a very good price deal with BT, which becomes cheaper than the other
operators.

So, basically whether you are local, long distance or international from
a UK number, you can dial the same thing.


Peter Corlett  [e-mail]
http://www.aston.ac.uk/~corlepnd

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

From: [e-mail] (Pete Kruckenberg)
Subject: Re: Connecting Modem to Multi-Line Phone
Date: 12 Oct 1995 19:56:47 GMT
Organization: inQuo Internet [phone]


Tom Spielman ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I've had trouble getting a modem to work on a multi-line phone system.
> The jack seems to be the same, but the modem doesn't get a dial tone.
> I've seen some modems that have multi-line features.  Do I need one of
> these?  Can I do it at all?

If your multi-line phone system is digital, you'll need some kind of
convertor or a special modem. Many digital phone systems have options or
ports for analog lines, so you could possibly use one of those if your
system supports it.

It sounds like you are not on an analog phone system or you would at least
get dial-tone. You could try testing the line with an analog phone (just
bring one in from home) and see if you get anything on it. If you do,
it's a modem problem. If you don't get a dial tone on the phone, you'll
need to look into the other options for using your analog modem with your
digital phone system.


Pete Kruckenberg    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Roger Wells)
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?
Date: 12 Oct 1995 14:41:49 GMT
Organization: U.S. Intelco Networks, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]>, Atri Indiresan <[e-mail].
edu> writes:

> US Naval Observatory Master Clock, Washington, DC
> Estimating network time delay for 4 seconds...delay =   20.5 ms
> MJD   DOY  UTC(USNO) (*<CR><LF> = on-time mark, follows ASCII)
> 49999 282 142613 UTC
> *
> [many more deleted]
> 49999 282 142633 UTC
> *

> [question: what is MJD?]

I'll venture a guess; was this by any chance for Sunday, 8 Oct. 1995?
The so-called Julian Date for 8 Oct is 2449999, so I'll guess that MJD
is the Julian Date minus 2400000 or else modulo 100000.

The Julian Date counts the number of days from the start of the Julian
epoch, some day several thousand years B.C.  This date was chosen, if I
recall, because the leap-year cycle, lunar cycle, and calendar were in
sync; details are a bit rusty in my mind.

The person who developed the Julian Date, and I forget his name, named
it for his father, who's given names were Julius Ceasar.  It has nothing
to do with the Julian calendar except that both were named, directly or
indirectly, after Julius Caesar.


Roger Wells

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 19:31:33 -0700
Subject: Re: Where Do They Get Precise TIME Information?


>  [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So either tick. (or) tock.usn.navy.mil
>  will work?     PAT]

    "Ve haf ways of making you tock!"


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Are we finished with this thread now? All
in favor of ending it raise your hand.  Good, it is unanimous.    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #434
******************************


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Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 19:41:22 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #435

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 12 Oct 95 19:41:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 435

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Call Waiting/Three Way Calling on Your 800 Number (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Information Wanted About "AT&T ProData II" (Bob Natale)
    Where to Find SMDR and SMDI Specifications? (Bill Dietrich)
    Internet Interbackbone Connectivity (Jeroen Doucet)
    Re: CCITT Standards (Andy Behrens)
    Re: CCITT Standards (Robert Shaw)
    Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (Peter Mansfield)
    Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (Carl Moore)
    Re: Automatic Privacy Cord (Paul Cook)
    Re: Citizen Intercepts 911 Calls; Helps Police ([e-mail])
    Re: Distributed Line Hunt (Steve Uhrig)
    Re: Caller ID During Call Waiting? (Dan J. Rudiak)
    Re: Last Laugh! Trying to Call the Nowhere Man (Scott Montague)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 18:57:36 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Call Waiting/Three Way Calling on Your 800 Number


I had an interesting chat a couple days ago with Steve Betterly from
MyLine, the remarkable 800 service offered by Call America. I have
pointed out some of the features of MyLine 800 service here before,
but with the recent additions they have made to the service, this
seems like a good time to mention them once again.

MyLine is a user-programmable forwardable 800 service. When you sign
up you get a personal 800 number, and you can also have a number in
the 408 or 415 area code if you want one. The reason for having a
non-800 number on their system is in the event you have a lot of
incoming international traffic where the 800 number might be difficult
to reach.

When dialing your 800 (or 415/408) number, the system answers with
a recorded greeting in your own voice saying something like:

    Please hold while your call is transferred to me.

If you enter your master pin at this point, you go into maintainence
mode to make changes in forwarding, check voice mail, establish a
new speed dial list, or making outgoing calls. You might also ask
for a wake-up call or a few other things.

If the caller enters a two digit 'priority code' then his call is
transferred to the number you have established as the place where
you want priority calls to ring at. If the caller does not enter a
code, then the system rings through to you at whatever number you
gave it.  If priority calls or regular calls are unanswered, then
the caller is transferred to the voicemail of your choice, including
the one offered on MyLine itself. You can either announce the priority
code as part of your greeting message or not as you wish. You might
want to just keep it confidential so that only certain people (who
use it) can get through to you with the rest of your calls going to
voicemail instead.  For instance, you might program the MyLine system
to send all of your calls to voicemail except the priority ones. Or
perhaps routine calls would ring one place and priority calls would
ring elsewhere.

You can also program in the number of your fax machine, since MyLine
is very good about detecting fax calls when they arrive at your 800
number. If you don't have your own fax machine, then maybe it is the
number for the fax machine at the local Kinko office. You can be in
the middle of a chat with someone and press * to switch to fax mode
if you wish. The system will respond that it is transferring your
call to your fax line.

The really neat new features though which have been added this past
week are 'virtual call waiting' and 'virtual three way calling'. It
works like this:

Suppose you are on the MyLine switch. Either you have just answered
an incoming call or you have called in via MyLine to make an outgoing
long distance call or you are in maintainence mode. In any event,
MyLine knows you are on the system. Now if a call comes in for you
while you are already connected via MyLine, the caller will get your
usual greeting and will hear simulated ringing while MyLine cuts in
on you with a tone signal and a message saying 'Excuse me, you have
another call waiting.'  By pressing the buttons 1, 2, or 3 on your
phone at that point, one of these things happens:

Press 2:  whatever call you were on (or action you were taking)
          goes on hold. The system responds 'party one is now on
          hold' and it connects you with the new caller.

Press 1:  The reverse occurs, with party two going on hold and you
          get reconnected to party one.  You can toggle back and
          forth as much as desired.

Press 3:  You get a conference between yourself and both parties.

So far as I know, MyLine is the only carrier which allows a three-
way conference call that *you did not originate*.  Usually you have
to originate at least one side of a three way call, or at least the
second party. With MyLine, you can be at home talking on call that
came in over your 800 number and with 'virtual call waiting' take
the one call while holding the other, or establishing a conference.

To drop either party while retaining a connection with the other,
you go to that party and let them disconnect. You then get the one
that was left. Or if you prefer, press * and the party you are
connected with goes to voicemail.

With 'virtual three way calling' the process is similar, but you
originate two outgoing calls at once in a conference or you are
accepting an incoming call and press the required buttons to make
an outgoing call which you then conference in. It is more or less
like three-way calling works on your phone now, but I think MyLine
is the first and only company making it possible on your 800 number.

If you like the idea of easily programmable remote call forwarding
but don't like the idea of having to pay for everyone who decides
to call your 800 number, then you give out only the 408/415 version
of your number to those individuals.

MyLine now also offers message store and forward service. You can
record a message and have it delivered to any phone number in the
world in your own voice at the time you specify. A front end
message says who it is for so that person can be called to the
phone at the distant end.

MyLine has an automated wakeup service and a callback service for
international callback. I often times tell MyLine to wake me in
the morning at the time I specify.  It calls me at the time specified
and requires me to enter my master pin. If I fall back asleep in
the process, it waits a couple minutes and calls me again.

Overall, MyLine is the best 800 service I have ever seen, and I
have tried quite a few. You get a genuine 800 number of your own
(not one of the bogus shared number 'insert the pin' type offered
by MCI).  Although Cable and Wireless still offers their programmable
800 number, they don't come close to all the additional services
MyLine offers. And of course, where Sprint, AT&T and others are
concerned who only offer the traditional style 800 service that just
rings at some fixed location, MyLine runs circles around all of them.

MyLine is a very good alternative to 500 service as well. Although
500, as sold by AT&T has some nice features, it is still tricky
getting calls through at times, and you don't get any of the extras
MyLine offers such as automatic recognition of fax tones on incoming
calls, callback service or additional numbers in regular use for
international purposes, etc. Another way you can use MyLine is as
a 'number referral' service. In maintainence mode you can toggle
between 'automatic call forwarding' and 'number referral' mode.
In number referral mode, the system does not send along your calls
as they come in. Instead it announces that 'your party can be reached
at the number AC-xxx-xxxx. Please hang up and dial AC-xxx-xxxx'.
This way, the called party has to pay for talking to you.

When I chatted with Steve Betterly a couple days ago I told him I
would specifically mention the new 'virtual call waiting' and 'virtual
call conferencing' features of MyLine which had been added this week.
Some of you signed up with MyLine in the past because I mentioned it
and if you were not yet familiar with it, now would be a good time
to inquire.

The rates are about the same as any other 800 service on your
inbound/outbound traffic and the monthly fee is very low also.

Steve Betterly <[e-mail]> will send you the full details.


PAT

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 16:06:59 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Bob Natale)
Subject: Information Wanted About "AT&T ProData II"


In the process of spec'ing a billing system, someone suggested that I
consider the "AT&T ProData II" product, either as a model for or as a
component of a possible solution.  Unfortunately, despite a significant
effort involving a number of knowledgeable people and several false
leads within AT&T, we have been unable to locate any source of
information about this product.

Does anyone know of it?  Perhaps, it's not an AT&T product, but is a
product of some other supplier?  Can anyone suggest any other search
paths we might take?  (The leads inside AT&T wound up in something
like the Software Defined Network Marketing Group, before reaching the
dead ends.)


TIA ... cordially,

Bob Natale            | ACE*COMM              | 301-258-9850 [v]
Director              | 209 Perry Pkwy        | 301-921-0434 [f]
Network Mgmt Products | Gaithersburg MD 20877 | [e-mail]

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

From: Bill Dietrich <[e-mail]>
Subject: Where to Find SMDR and SMDI Specifications?
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 13:16:00 PDT


Where can I find specifications of SMDR (Station Message Detail
Recording?) and SMDI (Station Message Detail Interface?) formats?
(I've looked in the BellCORE catalog.)

My understanding is that these are ASCII data sent over an RS232 line.
SMDR is output from a PBX, and reports call information (stations
and lines involved, duration, etc).  SMDI is bidirectional and can
tell the PBX to route calls to stations and lines.

I'd appreciate any information to correct my understanding of these,
point to any official specifications, and also give some sense of how
"standard" this is from PBX to PBX.  (The one PBX manual I've found
SMDR in also contains lots of features to customize the output, which
implies that there can be a lot of variation.)


Thanks,

Bill Dietrich   Voysys Corp
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeroen Doucet)
Subject: Internet Interbackbone Connectivity
Date: 12 Oct 1995 14:19:02 GMT
Organization: Knoware Internet


Hello,

My name is Jeroen Doucet. I am a student in Communication Science in
the University of Amsterdam. Currently I am doing research on inter-
connectivity.  I remeber that there is some standard agreement between
different backbone operators to share the cost of interconnectivity.
Does anybody know if there is a standard agreement and what this looks
like? If not, how do the bigger service providers arrange this?


Thanks in advance,

Jeroen Doucet   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Andy Behrens)
Subject: Re: CCITT Standards
Organization: Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 05:28:05 GMT


SYSADMIN ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Does anyone know of FTP sites where the CCITT Spec's can be obtained?

ITU (formerly known as CCITT) recommendations are available at:

    http://www.itu.ch/

in a variety of formats and languages.  Unfortunately, the ITU has
decided to make the online recommendations available only to
subscribers, for a hefty fee.  Annual fees start at 1600 Swiss Francs
(US$ 1840) and go up from there.

But you can browse through the titles of the recommendations at no
charge.


Andy

Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.  (Anne Herbert)

Andy Behrens                   <[e-mail]>
Burlington Coat Factory, Schoolhouse Lane, Etna, N.H. 03750

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 13:29:43 CET
From: SHAW [phone] <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: CCITT Standards


> Does anyone know of FTP sites where the CCITT Spec's can be obtained?

ITU-T Recommendations (ex-CCITT) are available at the ITU's WWW site
(http://www.itu.ch) Browsing of titles and status information, etc. is
free but downloading standards electronically requires a name and
password given when you subscribe to the service on a yearly basis.
Information about subscribing is available at the address above or
from [e-mail].


Robert Shaw    ITU
Information Services Department
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As many of our readers know, the ITU is
one of the principal sponsors of this Digest. Along with Microsoft,
they provide generous funding on a regular basis to keep this Digest
alive.  My thanks.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 16:12:20 +1000
Subject: Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (was: New US Area Code Test Numbers)


> There is a 562 in 213, 310 and 818.

If this is the case, then how and why was 562 selected as a relief NPA
for the Los Angeles (310) area??

It has always been my understanding that with the advent of
interchangeable NPA/NXXs a prerequisite for NPA selection was that the
NXX in question was not assigned as a CO code in that NPA, and
preferably not in adjacent NPAs (especially in metro areas with
multiple codes).

Can anyone shed any light on this?


Peter Mansfield     Sydney, Australia
Tel: [phone]   Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 12:44:16 EDT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate


The published instructions for some local calls to other area codes
are NPA+7D (can or must omit leading 1), and this puts restrictions on
the use of some area codes as prefixes.  I have heard of this
happening across 214/817 border in Dallas/Fort Worth area and across
416/905 border at Toronto.  Close to home, this happens:

-across 301/410 border in Maryland;

-between area codes in the DC area (703,202,301);

Due to the use of "extended local" in Virginia, I looked up the use of
540, which had been proposed for Leesburg (not any more).

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 12:31:00 EST
From: Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Automatic Privacy Cord


Sheri <[e-mail]> writes:

> Has any one had any luck with the Viking Automatic Privacy Cord?  It
> supposedly replaces the standard modular line cord connecting the
> phone, fax, or modem and prevents interruption of a telephone conver-
> sation or data transmission already in progress.

Viking started making these shortly after our 1960s era patent on
automatic exclusion devices ran out.

The way these work is they prevent access to the line when you go
off-hook until they verify that the line voltage is 48 vdc.  So they
insure privacy for all other devices that share a line.  When an
exclusion module is hooked to a phone or other device, all other
extensions are protected from interruption by that device if they have
grabbed the line first.  You can use these in series with any or all
phones on a line, and any device that doesn't have one can jump in on
any call.

We make these in both modular and hard wired versions, both balanced
and unbalanced, and voltage or current operated modules.

Contact us for more information on our exclusion modules at:

Proctor & Associates         email: [e-mail]
15050 NE 36 St               phone: [phone]
Redmond, WA  98052-5378        fax: [phone]


Paul Cook

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

From: [e-mail] (STemaat)
Subject: Re: Citizen Intercepts 911 Calls; Helps Police
Date: 12 Oct 1995 08:38:25 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)


> mistranslated some of the phone numbers and routed the 911 calls to
> Dickson, whose number doesn't include a 9 or a 1.

For those who don't know -- that's because all 9-1-1 is, is a
forwarding to a *real* (though unpublished) phone number. We
ocasionally get calls showing 911-000 as the phone number. These are
people who've stubled across the direct number to that particular
9-1-1 phone.

So she didn't have to have a 9 or a 1 in her number!


Best,

Scott


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For example, in Chicago the number
312-787-0000 is the same as 911.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Uhrig)
Subject: Re: Distributed Line Hunt
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 02:56:57 GMT
Organization: BrightNet


[e-mail] (Kevin Kadow) wrote:

> Does anybody have information on the Distributed Line Hunt service?
> Getting information from Ameritech is like pulling teeth.

> Apparently this differs from a standard hunt group in that the switch
> "remembers" which line answered a call last, then presents the next
> call on the next line in sequence. Possibly also known as "Uniform
> Call Distribution".

Yes this is a modified form of Circular Hunt.

> My provider has 64 lines, of which 1/3+ are USR Couriers with the
> 33.6Kbps software. Right now all the USR modems are at the "bottom" of
> the hunt, so people who call the first number hunt through all 64
> modems, and people who call the 40th number get the first of the USR
> modems.

> If service is switched to a DLH(UCD?) hunt group, will I still be able
> to get a 33.6 connection by calling the 40th number, or will the call
> go to the next modem after the one that answered the call before mine?

Maybe, when you call the 40th line number and it is busy the switch
will connect you to the line that has had the lowest usage.  This
could be say line 5.

> Basically what I want to know is if DLH applies to just the first hunt number
> or to every number in the group.

It applies to every number in the group.


Steve Uhrig    [e-mail]   Chillicothe, Ohio

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

From: Dan J. Rudiak <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Caller ID During Call Waiting?
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 10:51:37 -0600
Organization: Calgary Free-Net


On Tue, 10 Oct 1995, Proctor & Associates wrote:

> Is anyone manufacturing Customer Premises Equipment yet which meets
> the Bellcore spec for receiving Caller ID during a Call Waiting
> signal?

Check out the Vista/PowerTouch 350 phones at:

http://www.nortel.com

Dan J. Rudiak
SYSOP - the Penalty Box 1:134/[e-mail]     [phone]
President; Cambridge Bay Sports Holdings Inc. - Owners of:
   Cambridge Bay Islanders - C.O.A.C.H Fantasy Hockey League Franchise
   Cambridge Bay Omingmak - F.C.L.F. Fantasy Football League Franchise

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

From: [e-mail] (Scott Montague)
Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Trying to Call the Nowhere Man
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 03:54:50 GMT
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Pat, in reference to 705-234-2222 and 705-864-1160's 'live intercept'
you said:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried those two numbers you suggested
> as examples, and both simply rang and rang and rang with no answer from
> anyone, let alone an operator.   PAT]

True, true!  I made an error.  Those phones will be disconnected as of
the end of NEXT week (ie. about the 23rd).  Doh!  Until then, you'll
be ringing into the air, literally (as those phones are radiophones,
and as the radios are disconnected, the tower will just keep ringing,
ringing, etc.

Try again in a week or so and you'll see what I meant.

Hanging my head in shame,

Scott


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For shame! Causing me to print something
incorrect in this Digest in which nothing has ever been incorrectly
stated before. Oh well, there has to be a first time for everything,
however in a day or so, selective amnesia will have caused me to forget
that I said this. Let's quit for today and go out and enjoy the last
of the beautiful weather while it still is here: Indian Summer in Chicago
today -- 80 degrees!  This weekend, get those furnaces ready to go.  PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #435
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #436

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 13 Oct 95 14:52:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 436

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    EC Plans Encryption Rules For Internet in Europe (F. Denis)
    Re: AT&T Passageway CTI (John Romano)
    Re: A Auestion About Special Access Surcharge (Fred R. Goldstein)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Edwin Green)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Robert Schreibmaier)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Paul C. Kocher)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Information Wanted For AIN on Cellular Phone (Jeehyun Paik)
    Information Wanted on Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set (RadMan)
    Re: Connecting Modem to Multi-Line Phone (Bruce Wilson)
    Re: Legal Slamming (David Brod)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (F. Denis)
Subject: EC Plans Encryption Rules For Internet in Europe
Date: 13 Oct 1995  12:00:00 CDT


This comes from {Nature}, a magazine in France.
Vol 377  #6547   September 28, 1995

`EC PLANS ENCRYPTION RULES IN BID TO POLICE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY'

Paris. The European Commission is to propose legislation to police the
information superhighway that will include powers to decrypt confidential
telephone and computer communication.

   The commission's move follows concern over the perceived increase
in the `illegal' use of the Internet, including the proliferation of
pornography and the unauthorized release of classified documents.

   It also coincides with a similar proposal from the 34-nation-member
Council of Europe. The proposals would, if passed into law, effectively
end the Internet's status in the 15 member states of the European
Union (EU) as an unregulated medium for the free flow of information.

   But they have also raised questions about the possible violation of
telephone and computer privacy, as well as the preferred choice of
encryption/decryption system.

   The proposal to introduce Europe-wide surveillance guidelines has
been confirmed by a senior official responsible for encryption and
data security in the French government.  He says that Brussels is
working closely with the Senior Officers Group for Information
Security Systems (SOGIS), a collection of experts from EU countries,
chaired by the commission itself.

   The commission is expected to publish its guidelines later this
autumn, detailing the powers of enforcement to be given to regulatory
authorities. as well as a preferred choice of decryption system. The
guidelines will then be considered by the EU's Council of Ministers
and the European Parliament.

   But a spokesman for the commission's telecommunications directorate
says that the decryption mechanism is likely to be based on a version
of the `key escrow system'. This refers to the policy under which
users of encryption systems give copies of their decryption keys
either to their government or to a third party that the government
trusts. The keys can be handed over if the government, on production
of a court order, wants to monitor encrypted information.

   The system being considered by the commission will enable EU
countries to monitor encrypted telephone and computer communications
in member states. Thus if someone in Germany makes a call to Italy,
agencies in both countries would possess the key enabling them to
decrypt the call.

   Siguificantly, the commission will also propose that member states
choose private `trusted third parties' rather than government
departments to regulate computer and telephone networks. it is thought
to believe that this move will secure greater public support for the
proposals.

    But civil liberties groups remain sceptical, and maintain that the
use of `third parties' to police the Internet raises its own
questions, one of which is deciding which party to trust and ensuring
they all remain trustworthy. `It is difficult to trust these third
parties," says Simon Davies from the organization Privacy
International. "There is no guarantee that the keys [to decryption]
will not be corruptly accessed within the `trusted' organization."

    Critics of the commission's proposals also include information
technology specialists, although their concerns are different. Ross
Anderson. a senior research associate in computer and communications
security at the University of Cambridge's Computer Laboratory says
that the Council of Ministers will need to iron out various issues
before the key escrow system is fit for use.

   One factor, says Anderson. is that such a system ironically falls
victim to precisely what it is trying to protect - namely. national
security.  If you are a banker doing a politically sensitive deal -
such as renegotiating the Eurotunnel debt - then the UK government
will certainly not want the French to get that key."

   Similarly. the decryption key for a secure telephone bought in
Britain will be kept at the government's General Communications
Headquarters. But if it is taken into France and used to call someone
in Germany, the French government "will inevitably want a copy of the
key", says Anderson.

   This direct conflict of national security priorities, adds
Anderson. makes it hard to "specify a system which satisfies the
curiosity of intelligence agencies. while still providing meaningful
privacy to users".

   A parallel proposal for decryption was announced earlier this month
by the Council of Europe. Peter Csonka, head of the council's Crime
Problems Division, said its 18 suggestions were long overdue following
concern that "electronic information systems and electronic
information may also be used for committing criminal offences".

   The council's suggestions include giving investigating agencies the
right to search computer networks and seize offending, unauthorized or
illegal material. The proposals will also require providers of
telecommunication networks to "avail themselves of all necessary
technical measures that enable the interception of telecommunications
by investigating authorities".


F Denis    [e-mail]
indosuez bank, media consultant

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

From: John Romano <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: AT&T Passageway CTI
Date: 13 Oct 1995 18:21:52 GMT
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory


[e-mail] (Eric Griffith) wrote:

> Has anyone had any experience in using AT&Ts Passageway CTI boxes for
> interfacing G3I phonesets to computer RS 232 ports? I just bought ten
> of these units and although the device is impressive, the included
> software "Fastcall" is really not. Has anyone been able to access the
> unit outside of AT&T's own software?

> My application is to do database lookups based on ANI information
> passed to the phoneset, as well as some outbound calling for a
> customer service application running under Lotus Notes.

There is a API available for the Passageway desktop unit which the last
time I saw it.  It had a set of C function calls you could build on.  Should
be available through your account exec (make sure they get you the version
for Definity, there's also an API for the Passageway for Merlin and the two
are not interchangable).

Caller-ID and ANI are something we had a hard time pulling out with the API.
We could find no way to access what would be in the DCP world analagous to
the Q.931 calling party information element.  Basically all you could get was
any info routed to the display, which in some cases meant the number was
missing or incomplete (example:  If the call was forwarded the number would
get cut off).

I wonder if any other Third Party software houses has done Fastcall one
better ...


Good luck,

John Romano   Telecommunications Engineer
JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory
Eyes:  [e-mail]
Ears:  [phone]

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

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 09:27:49 -0400
From: Fred R. Goldstein <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: A Auestion About Special Access Surcharge


Jingshong Xie asks in V15 I433, According to FCC Tariff:

> "The Special Access Surcharge will apply to each interstate Special
> Access Service that terminates on an end user's PBX or other device
> where, through a function of the device, the Special Access Service
> interconnects to the local exchange network.  Interconnection
> functions include but are not limited to wiring and software
> functions, bridging, switching or patching of calls or stations."

> Could gurus out there explain how to read this?  Does "interstate"
> mean "between two States (i.e. Maryland, Virginia)"?  And what is
> considered as "Special Access Service"?

"Special Access" is FCC jargon for leased lines.  ("Switched access"
refers to circuits within the switched telephone network.)

The tariff means that IF you have a leased line that crosses a state
boundary (note: LATAs are NOT relevant) that carries telephone calls
INTO the local exchange network in one state from callers in another
state, THEN you are subject to a surcharge.  This is sometimes called
the "leaky PBX", where for instance you have a tie line (special access)
between a PBX in New York and a PBX in New Jersey, and in addition to
sending calls between PBX users, you allow users in New Jersey to make
calls that are local to New York via the tie line.  So the NJ PBX routes
calls to the NY PBX and the NY PBX routes them to the public network.
Voila, you're "leaking", or carrying interstate local exchange traffic
across a special access facility.  This tie line is thus "contaminated"
and subject to a surcharge of $25/64k channel/month.

It is possible to order Feature Group A (POTS lines under interstate
tariff) lines to your PBX for the exclusive use of interstate calls.
If you route ALL interstate calls to the FGA trunks, and don't "leak"
onto the state-tariffed local exchange trunks, then the special access
surcharge doesn't apply.  And if you don't do this "tail-end hop off"
at all, the surcharge doesn't apply.  You just certify to the phone
company that there is no surchargeable leakage, and you don't pay the
$25/channel.


Fred R. Goldstein      [e-mail]
Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc.  Cambridge MA  USA [phone]

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

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 95 07:39:01 EST
From: [e-mail] (Edwin Green)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Organization: AT&T


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> [e-mail] (Bud Couch) wrote:

>> After all "Bell Labs/Western Electric" was good enough for the first eighty
>> years or so.

> If you'll recall, part of the consent decree was that AT&T could not
> use the Bell name.  The one exception was Bell Labs, and the reason
> had to do more with national prestige than any business reason.  If
> you will remember, right after the breakup, AT&T changed it's name to
> the name it had prior to becoming AT&T - American Bell.  This was the
> name used in the late 1800s.  I still have a 9-track tape of UNIX
> Version 7 for the 3B15 at home, with stickers all over it saying
> (paraphrased) "Please note that all instances of the name American
> Bell should be construed to be American Telephone and Telegraph
> Company."  An acquaintance who worked for AT&T Computer Systems even
> saved the name sign off the building.  "American Bell Computer
> Systems."  Maybe now that time has passed and so many of the "Baby
> Bells" have dropped the Bell name, AT&T will be allowed to adopt it
> again for one of more of their divisions, but I doubt it.

Actually AT&T never changed its name to American Bell.  American Bell
was formed in 1983 as a fully-separated subsidiary of AT&T.  Its
purpose was to allow AT&T to sell phones, PBXs, etc. on the open
market.  To do that, AT&T had to have a separate set of books so it
could prove that there was no cross-subsidizing from network revenues.
The icon for American Bell was the Death Star which was adopted by
AT&T in 1984 after it divested itself of the local operating
companies.  American Bell lived on for a year or so.  I don't remember
when the name was dropped completely.


Edwin G. Green                [e-mail]
<space available> Laboratories     317-845-3659
6612 E 75th Street  Indianapolis, IN 46250-2856

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 01:52:43 GMT


[e-mail] (Bud Couch) wrote:

>> After all "Bell Labs/Western Electric" was good enough for the first eighty
>> years or so.

> If you'll recall, part of the consent decree was that AT&T could not
> use the Bell name.  The one exception was Bell Labs, and the reason
> had to do more with national prestige than any business reason.  If
> you will remember, right after the breakup, AT&T changed it's name to
> the name it had prior to becoming AT&T - American Bell.  This was the
> name used in the late 1800s.  I still have a 9-track tape of UNIX
> Version 7 for the 3B15 at home, with stickers all over it saying
> (paraphrased) "Please note that all instances of the name American
> Bell should be construed to be American Telephone and Telegraph
> Company."  An acquaintance who worked for AT&T Computer Systems even
> saved the name sign off the building.  "American Bell Computer
> Systems."  Maybe now that time has passed and so many of the "Baby
> Bells" have dropped the Bell name, AT&T will be allowed to adopt it
> again for one of more of their divisions, but I doubt it.

I know I'll be sorry, but...  8^{)

The joke going around these parts is that they'll bring back John Mayo
to be President of the new firm, called Bell Laboratories Technologies.
Yes, that would be BLT with Mayo.

Sorry.


Bob Schreibmaier K2PH          | AT&T Bell Laboratories
Internet: [e-mail] | Middletown, N.J. 07748

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul C. Kocher)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 05:50:48 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Daryl R. Gibson <[e-mail].
edu> wrote:

> Since the stock ticker designator for AT&T is "T", I thought we could always
> call them "T2" and "T3"

> Those of you who haven't heard of "Terminator 2" will no doubt not get this
> joke ...

I thought it was funny but didn't get the Terminator 2 reference -- I
thought you were talking about T1s and T3s in the telephone sense ...
(I think I need to spend more time in the real world ...)


Cheers,

Paul C. Kocher              Independent cryptography/data security consultant
E-mail: [e-mail]             Voicemail: 415-354-8004, FAX: [phone]

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: 13 Oct 1995 19:31:09 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


David Breneman <[e-mail]> wrote:

> If you'll recall, part of the consent decree was that AT&T could not
> use the Bell name.  The one exception was Bell Labs, and the reason
> had to do more with national prestige than any business reason.  If
> you will remember, right after the breakup, AT&T changed it's name to
> the name it had prior to becoming AT&T - American Bell.  This was the
> name used in the late 1800s.

(snip)

> "Please note that all instances of the name American Bell should be
> construed to be American Telephone and Telegraph Company."  An
> acquaintance who worked for AT&T Computer Systems even saved the name
> sign off the building.  "American Bell Computer Systems."  Maybe now
> that time has passed and so many of the "Baby Bells" have dropped the
> Bell name, AT&T will be allowed to adopt it again for one of more of
> their divisions, but I doubt it.

If I remember right, the 'recent' usage of the name "American Bell"
began in January 1983, one year *before* the effective date of the
breakup. I remember seeing large fullpage newspaper ads in January
1983 for American Bell's computers and business telephone systems.
American Bell's logo was the current *fried-brain* of today's AT&T
rather than the post-1970 blue Bell logo.

I don't remember whether it was in 1982 or 1983 when the 'good Judge'
<ha ha> restricted the 'new' AT&T from using the Bell name or logo
after the breakup, but if I'm not mistaken, Greene did allow AT&T to
continue using the Bell name (and logo?) in its (new/developing)
overseas operations (AT&T International). I think I'd seen the name
"American Bell International" back in 1983. This name did *not* apply
to AT&T's marketing of international toll calls (011+/01+) from within
the US, but rather AT&T's holdings and operations within other
countries.

The 'recent' use of American Bell disappeared rather quickly, even for
American Bell International. Bell Labs seems to be the *only* present-day
usage of the Bell name within AT&T, and they call it "AT&T Bell Labs".
I have never seen any present day usage of the traditional Bell logo
anywhere within AT&T. Even the IDDD instruction booklets published in
1983 with the Bell logo and the inscription "Bell System" had this
identification pasted over with the *fried-brain* logo and the letters
"AT&T" when being distributed beginning in late 1983.

As for "All AT&T is Divided into Three Parts":

Many competing oil companies all are officially known as "Standard
Oil" - with a state's name following. As for GIS, they should simply
go back to NCR, but the other two companies should continue to have
AT&T as part of their name. Equipment should be known (IMHO) as "AT&T
Western Electric" and Long Distance & Cellular should be known as
"AT&T Long Lines". (How about a fourth company being spun off- not to
be known as AT&T Cellular or AT&T Wireless, but calling it McCaw <g>).

As for the Regional (formerly Bell) holding companies dropping the
'Bell' name, let's not forget that New York state's BOC telco was
*not* known by a 'Bell' name - it was "New York Telephone Company".
What I *do* find ironic is that California was "Pacific Telephone &
Telegraph" under the Bell System, using the Bell logo but not the
name. When Pacific*Telesis corporation was 'created' for the CA & NV
BOC's, they changed CA's to Pacific*Bell, but they dropped the Bell
logo in favor of the touchtone star!?!?

And prior to the divestiture, how many average Joe six-packs referred
to long distance as "AT&T". Even AT&T promoted itself as "The Bell
System".  Yes, people who owned stock or worked for Long Lines
frequently used the name AT&T, but most of us referred to telephone
service as "The Telephone Company", "The Bell System" or the actual
name of our local Bell or independent telco! And while I would like to
see the name "Western Electric" come into official use again, most
people didn't use that name on a daily basis, even tho' (except for
people with 'foreign-attatchments' or those who lived in independent
telco territory) we *used* WECO phones every day- and EVERY one of
those phones have Western's name stamped in every handset and most
have Western Electric stamped somewhere on the phone's base-housing as
well. BTW, as late as the 1920's, WECO made electric fans, lamps,
vacuum cleaners, etc. as well as AT&T/Bell's telephones. Western
Electric dates back *prior* to the invention of the telephone!

And as for WUTCO, sometime in the early years of this century, I think
that AT&T owned the controlling stock of Western Union Telegraph Co.
It was in 1912 with the Kingsbury Committment (which also established
the 'current, traditional' relationship between AT&T/Bell and the
'independents') which required AT&T to divest itself of Telegraph
operations. Of course AT&T and WUTCO had a friendly relationship for
many many decades after that - but a somewhat rocky one. AT&T/Bell had
numerous involvements into telegraphy and data all along, in
competition with WUTCO- TWX, Dataphone, etc.

Just my thoughts for today.


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeehyun Paik)
Subject: Information Wanted For AIN on Cellular Phone
Date: 13 Oct 1995 07:41:54 GMT
Organization: KMTRC TaeJeon Korea


[e-mail] wrote:

I'm looking for AIN platforms for cellular phone.  Before starting
project, I need some information about SSP.  I need to get some
information about basic call model which can be adapted to cellular
phone. Can anybody give me this information?


Thanks,

Jeehyun Paik                | e-mail: [e-mail]
Address : KMT Research Centre.        | Tel    : [phone]
      Research Division I.        | Fax    : [phone]
      58-4, Hwaam-Dong, Yuseong-Gu  |
      Taejon City, Republic of Korea|

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

From: [e-mail] (RadMan)
Subject: Information Wanted on Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set
Date: 13 Oct 1995 03:27:26 GMT
Organization: Internet Access Inc.  <613> 225-5595


I need some simple tech specs on HARRIS DRACON TS21 BUTT Test Set,
namely, I need someone to open their unit and tell me where the two
wires from both RECEIVER and SENDER carbons get connected on the main
PCB. I called HARRIS DRACON at the 800 number and they were helping to
an extent but wanted me to send it into REPAIRS @ $80 for the shot.
This is really a no - brainer and I am qualified to do something this
simple. I bought this unit at a swap meet and some gorilla tried to
rewire it I guess, but never made notes and now I am stuck. I got some
WIN CARDFILES with valuable Canadian Interconnect data in a database
plus a very cool vendor information and grey market PBX/KEY CPE
contacts I can share as INFO payment.

HARRIS DRACON TS21 -020 model, mfr 8250 date board assy # 021-721848-001,
all the silkscreen contacts start with "E" (ie E10 and E11...)


John R 613-224-2922 but email back to [e-mail].
See what I do at http://www.ottawa.net/~radcom

Thanx a bunch, the RadMan, in Ottawa, Ontario.

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

From: [e-mail] (Bruce Wilson)
Subject: Re: Connecting Modem to Multi-Line Phone
Date: 13 Oct 1995 02:08:00 GMT
Organization: DES MOINES INTERNET, DES MOINES, IA
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Tom Spielman) writes:

> I've had trouble getting a modem to work on a multi-line phone system.
> The jack seems to be the same, but the modem doesn't get a dial tone.
> I've seen some modems that have multi-line features.  Do I need one of
> these?  Can I do it at all?

Do you have the modem's manual?  If you do, does it say anything about
a jumper or dip switch setting for operation such as this?  Most
probably, you'll need a SLT port on the key system or a way to tap a
single pair coming directly from the demarc.

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

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 23:04:41 -0500
From: [e-mail] (David Brod)
Subject: Re: Legal Slamming


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Three dollars?  Three dollars??? I would
> never let anyone do it to me for three dollars. What a bunch of cheapskates
> they are. This is not a 'fresh approach to slamming' by any means. It
> has been around for years, but the checks are usually a lot more. Fifteen,
> twenty or thirty dollars are much more common offers. They must not think
> much of your business relationship with them Fred; otherwise they would
> have offered you more also.

This is true. I have several phone lines. I am offered (and accept) $50.00
checks all the time to switch the LD's on these lines. I actually do not
care who the carrier is on those lines, as I do not call out on them anyway.
It is a second income for me!

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #436
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #437

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 17 Oct 95 10:52:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 437

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    NYNEX Goes National With Online Yellow Pages (Barry M. Brooks)
    "B-Side" Systems Added to NACN? (Doug Reuben)
    Update on Telecommunications Act Rewrite (Michigan Consumer Federation)
    Middle East Telecom Publications (Sam Bahour)
    Audio Signal Directly Into Phone Line? ([e-mail])
    Monterey Mobile Computing and Communications Show (Charles P. Cummiskey)
    End-User Call Accounting Software (Matthew Dukleth)
    International Fax From Canada? (Dale Robinson)
    Payphones in Australia (Dale Robinson)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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: BARRY M. BROOKS <[e-mail]>
Subject: NYNEX Goes National With Online Yellow Pages
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 95 08:49:53 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


News Release
Contact:  Phil Santoro  508 762-1326

NYNEX goes national with online Yellow Pages.
Connecting businesses and consumers nationwide over the Internet.

 MIDDLETON, Mass. (Oct. 17, 1995) -- NYNEX today announced that it has
expanded its online Yellow Pages service so that consumers can now
find virtually any business in the United States.  There is no charge
to consumers for the service.  NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages (TM),
available on the Internets World Wide Web (http://www.niyp.com), now
offers consumers 16.5 million business listings from throughout the
nation.  The directory includes business type, name, address, and
telephone number.  It is the United States' first and only complete
online national business phone directory.  Since May, NYNEX has
offered its regional business phone listings on the service.

 NYNEX creates advertising on the service for interested businesses.
Advertising units range from brief business profiles for $100 to four
pages of display advertising for about $3,000.  Already, NYNEX has
created ads for some 2,500 businesses.

 In addition, the NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages currently offers
direct links to the Web sites of businesses and offers any business
the opportunity to hot link their Web site to their listing.

 The NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages is the most comprehensive
Web-based shopping directory available, said Mat Stover, president and
chief executive officer of NYNEX Information Resources Co.  For the
first time there is a national directory to bring buyers and sellers
together.  The NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages lets individual shoppers
create their own directory experience -- listing the products and
services they need by category, neighborhood, city, state, or even the
entire nation.

  Other NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages enhancements announced today include
the following:

 --Web site reviews and ratings. When shoppers look up popular
headings, they will find a summary and rating of linked Web sites.
For example, someone looking for a specific brand of car may click on
a nearby button to get performance data on the car manufacturer and
its current models.

 --A section called Your World, where consumers can connect directly
to Web sites that may help them in their daily lives.  Subjects
include, travel, music, movies, children, the 1996 Olympics, and even
seasonal topics like Halloween.

 --A streamlined design and more powerful search tools, which make
navigating the service quicker and easier than ever.

 Users will find the NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages well-organized and
easy to navigate.  It is organized by familiar A-Z shopping headings
much like traditional Yellow Pages directories and may be searched by
business name, type of business and geography.

 Other special features include a Hot Sites list of new and exciting
Web sites, and a special text capability to provide access for the
visually impaired.

 Businesses and consumers nationwide can learn more about the service
by accessing it on the Internet at http://www.niyp.com or by calling
1-800-356-9639.

 NYNEX Information Resources Co., based in Middleton, Mass., is a
leading provider of printed, online, interactive, and data base
information services.

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

From: [e-mail] (Doug Reuben)
Subject: "B-Side" Systems Added to NACN?
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 08:10:58 EDT


Yesterday, I was driving in Southern New Hampshire near the Vermont
border. This area is covered by Cell One of Vermont (the "A" carrier, SID
00313) and US Cellular (the "B" carrier, SID 01484).

The "A" carrier uses a Motorola EMX switch, which used to be very nicely
integrated into the "A" side EMX "DMX" network which all of the
southern/central New England carriers shared before Boston converted to
AT&T switches. More recently, after Boston's conversion, networking to the
Vermont system has been pretty poor - features do not work, and the call
delivery has been a bit awkward. (Note that this is not a problem of
linking an EMX to an Autople per se, as it is done very nicely between
Metro Mobile's "A" system in CT and BAMS's "B" system in the Mid-Atlantic
region. It is just that CO/VT and CO/Boston do not seem to know how to do
this well. The collapse of ALL feature access in their Concord/Lakes
Region "partnership" service in SID 01485 is an example of this apparent
lack of technical expertise).

On the other side, the "B" carrier has traditionally lagged far behind
 -- it only got Follow Me Roaming last year, and currently does not
have any sort of B-side automatic call delivery which all of its
neighboring "B" side systems have.

However, yesterday, while driving through on NH-9 through Keene, NH, I
tried my usual call to set up FMR, but hit *350 (the NACN "A" side
activation code) instead of *18 (the FMR "B" side code). To my surprise,
it worked! I then did a series of other tests, such as listening to
recordings (all have standard NACN messages, but with a THREE letter
switch code instead of two, in the instant case "MAN-XX" [MANchester? It's
not really near Manchester, though...]).

I then switched my phone to my Cell One/NY (technically AT&T Wireless, but
I'll never use that silly name! :) ) account, and ALL feature codes
worked, I was able to get calls, unanswered calls were redirected to
voicemail, etc. In other words, the "B" side was fully active on and
compliant with all NACN standards and protocols (as far as I could tell).

I also tested it with my Metro Mobile account, and Cell One Boston
account, and both worked fine. Indeed, features which I *should* be able
to use on the "A" side CO/VT 00313 system which no longer do worked
perfectly on the "B" 01485 US Cell system. Thus, if you are a CO/Boston
customer who needs to forward calls to voicemail, you CAN'T do it from
the "A" side, where you would normally roam, BUT, if you switch to the
"B" side, you can! (A ridiculous situation, but it is not unique - take
the example of Metro Mobile 00119 customers in the Comcast/NJ/DE/Philly,
where all they can do is receive calls, bit if they flip to the "B" side
and use BAMS, all features AND call delivery work. Even Boston customers
can use their features by switching to BAMS in these markets, although
they do not have call delivery on BAMS, and need to switch back to the A
side in order to receive calls.)

In effect, this allows me to get a very well covered service area.
Since BOTH the "A" and "B" sides will deliver calls to me, and since I
autonomously register on both, I can set my phone to scan for both
systems, and if one side is not available, to use the other. Thus, if
my phone is set on the A side, and I drive into an area which is dead
for CO/VT, the phone will switch to the B carrier (US Cell) and
providing they have coverage, I will still be able to receive my
calls.

The situation with Philly is similar, but since BAMS's B properties are
not on the NACN, the ability to receive calls on both systems in the same
(Philly, DC, Western PA) market is limited to Metro Mobile customers who
have a special call delivery system set up with the BAMS B systems.

In any event, the addition of a "B" side system to the NACN is an
interesting and welcome milestone. Not only can I receive calls on my
CO/NY account while in southern VT and NH (the "A" side is NOT on the
NACN), but I can have my CT and Boston accounts scan both systems and
create a higher likelihood that I receive an inbound call by allowing me
to rely on two systems instead of one. This is a BETTER situation than I
(or anyone else, I think) has in my home system, where you are not
allowed to roam on the other side (which is understandable) and thus can
not take advantage of the broader coverage potential of two systems
instead of just one.

If anyone else finds other B systems on the NACN and/or knows of similar
instances of automatic call delivery on BOTH systems in a given market,
please let me know.


      Doug Reuben  *  [e-mail]   *  +1 (203) 499 - 5221
Interpage Network Services -- http://www.interpage.net, telnet interpage.net
E-Mail Alpha/Numeric Local/Nationwide Paging, LinkAlert, E-Mail <-> Fax Svcs

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

From: [e-mail] (Michigan Consumer Federation)
Subject: Update on Telecommunications Act Rewrite
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 95 10:59:45 GMT
Organization: Sojourn Systems Ltd.


The Senate Technology and Energy Committee will be considering SB.722,
the rewrite of the Michigan Telecommunications Act, at its meeting
Wednesday, October 18th.  It is the committee chair's intent to report
it out of committee that day; it would likely be considered by the
full Senate early the following week.

    There has already been a lot of discussion about the bill.
This bill will increase telephone rates for almost all Michigan
residents over the next four years, especially for outstate residents,
online service users, and families with teenage children.  The key
anti-consumer provisions of the bill are as follows:

    1. It reduces the so-called flat-rate option from the current
400 to 200 calls per month and allows the telephone company to
determine how much to charge for the calls over that limit.

    2. It continues provisions in the current law allowing for
billing for local service based on frequency, distance, and duration
of the calls.

    3. It will force rates up in outstate communities by as much
as 200 to 300 percent.

    4. It allows telephone companies to increase their rates
automatically every year whether they can justify the increases or
not.
    A copy of the bill is available online downloading online at
<http://www.migov.state.mi.us/mta/mta.html >.

    Ameritech has made it clear that it wants to be able to bill
for local service just like long-distance service: based on frequency,
duration, and distance.  And the bill's sponsor, Sen. Mat Dunaskiss
(who is also the committee chair), has indicated that this is the way
it will be in the future.

    While the bill allows customers to choose which billing option
they prefer, these provisions and those that dramatically reduce the
Michigan Public Service Commission's authority make it much easier for
Ameritech to push customers into metered service.

    Local telephone service costs are less "usage-sensitive" than
ever before.  In fact, some local telephone companies around the
country claim that it costs more to bill for service based on the
number of calls than it does to just provide unlimited flat-rate
service.

    Local telephone service is the on-ramp to the Information
Superhighway.  We are already using online services for education,
shopping, to pay our bills, to arrange vacations, and for many other
purposes.  It is critical that these on-ramps remain affordable for
all residents, no matter where they live in the state.  It is also
critical that we preserve universal service for those who may not want
to use online services.

     It is important for you to immediately contact your state
senators and representatives about this bill and indicate your strong
opposition to any metered billing for local telephone services.  You
should contact legislators by regular mail or telephone.  If you use
E-mail, please also send a letter by mail, since many of them may not
know how to use E-mail yet.  The Legislature is just now making E-mail
available to members and their staffs, and many of them have not had
training yet.

        LEGISLATIVE CONTACT INFORMATION

A list of state senators and representatives by districts is available
at <http://mlink.hh.lib.umich.edu/MI-govt/MI-govt-index.html>.  If you
aren't sure what district you live in, the number should be printed on
your voter registration card.

SENATE
Members of the Senate Technology and Energy Committee are as follows:

         COMMITTEE                   PHONE
         Sen. Matt Dunaskiss, Chair     517-373-2417
         Sen. Mike Bouchard           517-373-2523
         Sen. Bill Schuette           517-373-7946
         Sen. Jim Berryman            517-373-3543
         Sen. Dianne Byrum            517-373-1734

Regular mail* can be addressed to all senators as follows:
         Senator (Name)
         P.O. Box 30036
         Lansing, MI   48909
    *Most senators do not have e-mail addresses yet.


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The House of Representatives has a web site with members' names, addresses,
phone numbers, committee assignments; and e-mail addresses (for those that
have e-mail).  Its URL is <http://www.house.state.mi.us/>.

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

From: Sam Bahour <[e-mail]>
Subject: Middle East Telecom Publications
Date: 16 Oct 1995 22:10:16 GMT
Organization: Applied Information Management


Anyone know of the available telecom industry magazines and trade
journals that focus on the Middle East market? A list with phone/email
numbers would be helpful.


Sam Bahour    email [e-mail]
Applied Information Management        Sam Bahour, President
2986 Roosevelt Drive                  U.S. 216-759-2738
Youngstown, Ohio  44504-1204          Offsore 011-972-2-995-2626
Offsore Office: P.O. Box 3651, El-Bireh, West Bank, via Israel

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

From: [e-mail] (TGI)
Subject: Audio Signal Directly Into Phone Line?
Date: 16 Oct 1995 12:41:24 -0700
Organization: Online at Wimsey Information Services
Reply-To: [e-mail]


How can I play audio directly into the phone line?  I'd like to
connect an RCA-style input to a phone jack so I can play audio
directly from the stereo/computer output into the phoneline.  What
interfacing electronics is required?

NOTE:  This is not for hacking/phreaking I just want to play computer samples
       or music directly into the line during a phone conversation.


Thanks,

[e-mail]

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

From: Charles P. Cummiskey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Monterey Mobile Computing and Communications Show
Date: 16 Oct 1995 23:25:55 GMT
Organization: Internet Alaska, Inc.


The MONTEREY MOBILE COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS SHOW will be held from
5:30PM to 10:00PM on October 26, 1995 in the Barbara McNitt Ballroom of the
historic Naval Postgraduate School (formerly the Del Monte Hotel) in
Monterey, California.

The highlights of this year's show are Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
and palmtop computing solutions oriented towards the needs of busy mobile
professionals.  Cellular phones, wireless modems, pagers, mobile radios, PC
Cards, and mobility-oriented hardware and software products of all types
will be showcased by numerous manufacturers and vendors (to include products
by Hewlett Packard, Apple, Psion, Sharp, Casio, Motorola, Educalc, ACE,
etc.).

There is NO COST for attending the show, which includes a series of
presentations on various mobility issues.  Free entertainment, hors
d'oeuvres and a cash bars will all contribute to a lively atmostphere. A
HP200LX and Apple Newton are among the many prizes to be raffled off.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

For more information, please email or call the Show Coordinator, Jim
Cummiskey ([e-mail]) at [phone] or [phone] for more
information.

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

From: [e-mail] (Matthew Dukleth )
Subject: End-User Call Accounting Software
Date: 16 Oct 1995 01:41:14 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Does anyone know of any commercially available end-user call accounting
software?  For example, you could receive your call records on floppy
and use this software to analyze your long distance bill.  I have been
unable to find much information on this subject.  Thanks!

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 13:08:48 +0930
Subject: International Fax From Canada?


Hi,

I have a friend of a friend (we'll call them A) in Canada trying to
fax my friend (we'll call him B) in Darwin, Australia.

The receiving fax (Person B) is at 9600bps, software is Win Fax Pro 3.

Person B is getting a lot of "Invalid Data" warnings from WinFax Pro.

I suspect that part of the problem is satellite latency, so my
questions are:

When a person from Canada dials a person in Australia, is the link via
satellite?  If yes, can you "force" the call to use landlines?  How?

We in Australia are able to select whether we want to route our call
over satellite, or land/sea line by dialing an appropriate prefix.

0011 - is the normal ISD prefix.
0015 - is what we call International Fax.
 From the telephone book:
"0015 International Fax is a network of specially selected lines which
provide optimum quality for overseas facsimile calls"

What they (Telstra) really mean is that the call will generally be
routed on landlines, depending on line-loading at the start of the
call.

Thanks in advance for help.


Regards,

Dale

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 13:13:35 +0930
Subject: Payphones in Australia.


Pat,

This is from the Telstra Web page
(http://www.telstra.com.au/prod-ser/payphone/intro.html).
It's about our payphone system and you may find it of interest:

Telstra Payphone Services
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doing Business
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Payphone Services currently operates more than 84,000 payphones across
Australia.

Approximately 38,000 public payphones are fully maintained and
operated directly by Payphone Services, from major city centres
(locations are featured in some major city street directories) to the
most remote areas of the country. In fact more than 300 payphones are
solar powered, an innovation to overcome power supply problems faced
in distant regions.

The remaining 46,000 are leased or sold to private businesses, in the
form of Goldphone or Bluephone.

On average more than 95 per cent of payphones are in working order at
any given time through an active maintenance program.

Payphone Service employs around 1000 staff across Australia. The
National General Manager of Telstra Payphone Services is Ms. Janet
Sayer.

Payment made easy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Payphones accept a variety of payment methods including:

Phonecard[TM] - the convenient prepaid card is available in $5, $10,
$20 or $50 denominations, eliminating the need for payphone customers
to carry change. Phonecard[TM] can be purchased at more than 15,000
retail outlets nationally, including most newsagencies, pharmacies and
kiosks and can be used in approximately 28,000 payphones across
Australia.

Coin - the vast majority of public payphones accept 10 cents, 20
cents, 50 cents and $1 coins.

Credit/Eftpos - increasingly popular, particularly for travellers and
business people. Creditphones accept most credit cards and are
predominantly located in major airports, shopping centres and
transport hubs.

Services for the Disabled
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 1993, Payphone Services began a concerted campaign to improve
services to people with differing disabilities. A comprehensive
modification program has resulted in more than 1000 payphones modified
with special features to assist people making calls when out and
about. Modifications include lowering the payphone height and
installing longer phone cords to assist access for people in
wheelchairs and with walking frames, as well as for children. Audible
signals have been added to indicate to visually impaired users when a
Phonecard is nearing the end of its value.

Selected payphones have also had hearing aid couplers, special volume
control and handsfree operation added to further assist customers.

In addition, 20 Payphone TTY (tele-typewriter) units have been
installed in major capital cities, specifically for people with speech
and hearing impairment. Following the success of this initial stage, a
further 50 Payphone TTY's have been purchased for installation in
regional centres across Australia in the second half of 1995.

     --- End of Page ---

Regards,

Dale Robinson

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #437
******************************


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Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 12:07:15 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #438

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 17 Oct 95 12:07:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 438

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Power and the Internet Domain (Jesse Hirsh via Sean Murphy)
    Shutdown of Email -> Usenet Gateway (Danny Burstein)
    Help Wanted With PHS Standard (Francois Denis)
    Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines (Jerry Pruett)
    Faxback Modem With Credit Card Abilities? ([e-mail])
    Calling 911 Where No 911 Service Exists ([e-mail])
    AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics (Jason Fetterolf)
    Internet Over the Atlantic (Stuart D. Brorson)
    Commercial Satellite Communications Help Wanted (James E. Diskin)
    AT&T Switch Access via PC (Sean Doherty)
    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Tayeb Damerji)
    Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Raymond Charles Jender)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Edward A. Kleinhample)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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, 16 Oct 1995 16:14:27 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Sean Murphy - RTC Enterprises)
Subject: Power And The Internet Domain


Forwarded to the Digest FYI.

"Power and the Internet Domain"  by Jesse Hirsh

This story is almost too easy to believe.

Turns out (no surprise really) that the Internet domain registration
monopoly (internic.net) is indeed owned by the military-industrial-
biological complex. For once it's as if the double-speak vanishes and
the truth is as open as a web page.

Now Internet domain registration will begin to be priced according to
user-fees starting at $50 annually. One source, one collecter of fees.
One databank with all Internet registration ...

Scientific Applications International Corp.

To quote web reviews (emag):

"The company, with over 20,000 employees and 450 locations around the
world, reported $1.9 billion in gross revenues in 1994. Over 90% of its
income was generated by government contracts - more than half of that
from defense, intelligence, and federal law enforcement contracts."

They are a large military technology corporation. Check out some of the
projects that are listed in the corporate report:

- National Security: "Our advanced technology for the Army Global Command
and Control System will allow quick response deployment and tracking of
troops in simulated or actual evetns."

- Information Management: "SAIC is supporting Department of Defence's
renovation of the 52-year-old Pentagon, one of the largest buildings
in the world and workplace for nearly 25,000 people. Under U.S. Armyd
network" of shared communications and computing services.  We are
designing the network to operate more efficiently than today's
disparate systems, yet require less human and fiscal resources to
operate and maintain."

- Military Technology: "Our contribution to the U.S. Navy/Defense Nuclear
Agency Electro-Thermal Chemical Gun illustrates this new focus."

WAIT A MINUTE, READ THAT SENTENCE AGAIN...

- Military Technology: "Our contribution to the U.S. Navy/Defense Nuclear
Agency Electro-Thermal Chemical Gun illustrates this new focus."

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE DECIPHER THIS?

- Law Enforcement: "A new SAIC system will give federal, state and local
law enforcement agencies fast, on-line access to criminal histories."

- Environment: "SAIC supports the decontamination and decommissioning of
defense plants and military facilities."

These guys are some bad dudes.

To quote web review (emag):

"In 1990 SAIC was indicted by the Justice Department on 10 felony
counts for fraud in its management of a Superfund toxic cleanup site.
(SAIC pleaded guilty.)  In 1993 the Justice Department sued SAIC,
accusing it of civil fraud on an F15 fighter contract.  In May 1995,
the same month SAIC purchased NSI, the company settled a suit that
charged it had lied about security system tests it conducted for a
Treasury Department currency plant in Fort Worth, TX. (The company
paid the government $125,000 to cover the cost of the investigation as
part of that settlement.)"

So why is this coming up now?

SAIC with the purchase of NSI, which owns Internic.net, now controls
all Internet domain registration. A monopoly that now wants to charge
$50 annually for every domain name. Turn the funnels of money on.

For those who don't know internic.net is the "central" (catch that one),
registration point for the Internet. Operated in conjunction with AT&T,
internic.net is the biggest reference source on the net. Every time you
send an email with an address like "lglobal.com", that name is referenced
to internic.net and converted to an I.P. address such as 210.50.120.2
which denotes network topography.

So again the military controls the maps and the bureacracy.

You've got to go see their board of directors page. It's incredible.

As an expression of global empire, SAIC is as naked as an oligarchy can be.
Their board of directors, 23 white men, 1 white woman, and 1 perhaps
southern european woman. Two generals, one admiral, vice-chairman of bank
of america.

> From:  Wes Thomas <[e-mail]>

> The press recently reported that the National Science Foundation>has turned
> over Internet Domain Name registration to Network>Solutions, Inc. (NSI) of
> Herndon, VA. The press failed to note some interesting connections.

> Tomorrow morning (Sept. 26), Web Review, a biweekly online magazine
> (see >Special Report at http://gnn.com/wr/) will reveal that NSI
> was purchased in May by Scientific Applications International
> Corporation (SAIC) of San Diego. SAIC is a $2 billion company
> indicted by the Justice Department on ten felony counts for fraud
> in managing a Superfund toxic cleanup site (SAIC pleaded guilty)
> and sued by the Justice Department for civil fraud on an F-15
> fighter contract.

> SAIC's board members include Admiral Bobby Inman, former NSA head
> and deputy director of the CIA; Melvin Laird, Nixon's defense
> secretary; and retired General Max Thurman, commander of the Panama
> Invasion. Recently departed board members include Robert Gates,
> former CIA director; William Perry, current Secretary of Defense;
> and John Deutch, the current CIA director. Current SAIC government
> contracts include re-engineering information systems at the
> Pentagon, automation of the FBI's computerized fingerprint
> identification system, and building a national criminal history
> information system.

goto http://www.saic.com/ and pick the corporate report.

it's some crazy pages, almost wonder if they're real...

Check out http://www.lglobal.com/TAO/

   <---- End Included Message ---->


R E A L    T I M E    C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
land: 2050 Claremont, suite 25  Montreal, Quebec CANADA   H3Z 2P8
tel: [phone]     fax: [phone]    email: [e-mail]
http://www.cam.org/~murphy

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

From: [e-mail] (danny burstein)
Subject: Shutdown of Email -> Usenet Gateway
Date: 17 Oct 1995 11:47:52 -0400


Afraid, as per the attached message, that the influx of the Great Masses
of the Unwashed <tm> has led to the shutdown of a very useful service, the
email->usenet gateway at texas.edu.

*sigh*

  From: [e-mail]
  Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 20:31:25 -0500
  Subject: mail-to-news error

There is no longer a mail-to-news gateway on cs.utexas.edu.  It became
a magnet for abuse, which we are no longer willing to endure.  No, I
am not aware of any other similar gateways.  Sorry.

------- original message appended -------

<snip>

[e-mail] (or [e-mail])


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just one more sign of the times; another
example of the handwriting on the wall for Usenet isn't it ...  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (francois Denis)
Subject: Help Wanted With PHS Standard
Date: 13 Oct 1995 10:49:19 GMT
Organization: CNAM


Hi,

I am working as a telecom analyst in Paris and I am looking for recent
ressources about low tarifs mobile for mass consumers.  In France
people get a look on PHS system run in Japan by firms like DDI and (of
course) NTT.  Do you know where I can find some reports and figures on
the net about this technology and other similar low costs mobile
experiments in the world?

Thanks for your help.


[e-mail]

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

Subject: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines
From: [e-mail] (Jerry Pruett - KD4CIM)
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 95 07:26:24 -0500
Organization: Vulcan - Live Long and Prosper!


I have run across a regulatory issue that I can't quite figure out.
There are a number of examples, but to zero in on one:

South Haven, MS is in the Memphis, TN LATA and is also in the
free-calling area of metro Memphis.  Do calls from South Haven to
Memphis fall under state PSC jurisdiction or under FCC jurisdiction?
It *appears* that South Haven falls under the jurisdiction of the TN
PSC for POTS service (I am sure that MS has figured out how to at
least collect taxes from the situation), but a private line from South
Haven to Memphis falls under FCC jurisdiction.  I have always known
that LATAs can span state boundaries, but I have just encountered the
jurisdicational issue as to where to go for tariffs for different
services.

Other examples:
St. Louis, MO - East St. Louis, IL
Reno, CA - Reno, NV
West Memphis, AR - Memphis, TN.

Any thoughts or clarification would be appreciated.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Also consider the case of Antioch, Illinois
and North Antioch, Wisconsin; Beloit, Wisconsin and South Beloit, Illinois;
Hammond, Indiana and Calumet City, Illiniois; Whiting, Indiana and selected
exchanges in Chicago, Illinois, etc.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Faxback Modem With Credit Card Abilities?
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 10:31:12 -0400
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Maas Storage Technologies


I'm currently working on setting up a business that would be vending
market information via "fax-back". My question is, is there anything
out on the market that will take credit card numbers and then fax the
information? This seems to be the best way to collect the fees. But,
I'm fairly new to this and open to suggestions. Thanks.

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Calling 911 Where No 911 Service Exists
Date: 17 Oct 1995 16:21:24 GMT
Organization: MHVNet, the Mid Hudson Valley's Internet connection
Reply-To: [e-mail]


While reading my local fire department's annual newspaper, an article
titled "PLEASE DON'T (DO NOT) CALL 9-1-1 IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY"
caught my eye.

There is no 911 service in this part of New York State (near Poughkeepsie)
and there won't be for about two years.  According to this article, if
you dial 911 here, you will get an operator "somewhere in the United
States."  It notes that the last time it happeded here, the operator
was in Florida and it took about 30 minutes to dispatch the fire
department.  Fortunately, the fire burned itself out.

What should happen if you call 911 in an unserved area?  Obviously, 30
min delays in an emergency would be a disaster sometimes.  I don't
have any good ideas what should happen ... should it just give a fast
busy to indicate a non-working number, or a recorded message, or ????
There are problems with each of these options.  Going to a local
operator would be the best, but local operators don't seem to exist
any more.

What happens in other places?  Is there a better solution?


George   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In the few remaining cases here where no
911 service exists (primarily because two or more very small communities
are served by the same phone exchange and the authorities cannot decide
among themselves which one should handle the calls), dialing 911 reaches
a recording which says "If you have an emergency, please hang up and dial
the operator now."  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 09:41:29 -0400
Subject: AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics


Dear Telecom Digest:

I recently received a call from AT&T (regarding my residential
service), and they offered me a $70 check, and 50% off their regular
rates for the next three months, if I would "switch back" to their
service.  Having been lied to by them once before, where they promised
me a check for $50, and only sending me one for $15, I was suspicious,
and lack respect for them, but the salesperson assured me that this
was a true deal, and so I toyed with them, and said I would only
switch if I got a check for $150.00 first. The salesperson said: "Not
a problem, sir", and said that I would get a check for $150.00, 50%
off their regular rates (which is how much, now, hmmm...) for the next
three months, and that I could call him if there was a problem, and he
even gave me his extension at AT&T's main number.

Well, two days ago (five days after being PIC'ed over to AT&T) I got a
check for ... $15.  Wow, could they have switched and baited me twice?
YES, but never again ... how can I take action against AT&T for their
misrepresentations, and report them to the FCC?

Has anyone else ever reported these slimy tactics of theirs?

Any help with this would be truly appreciated, as a call back to this
salesperson will result in a 15 minute hold on the phone, waiting to get
through.


Thanks,

Jason Fetterolf   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Stuart D. Brorson)
Subject: Internet Over the Atlantic
Date: 17 Oct 1995 08:43:18 GMT
Organization: UNI-C, Danish Computing Centre for Research and Education.


Hello --

This is just a short question.  I recall hearing somewhere that the
internet has only two T1 lines and an E1 line going over the Atlantic
(between Europe and North America).  Is this true, or just a silly
rumor?  Does anybody have suggestions about where to find such
information reliably?


Thanks,

Stuart Brorson  Copenhagen

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

From: [e-mail] (James E. Diskin)
Subject: Commercial Satellite Communications Help Wanted
Date: 17 Oct 1995 14:30:24 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park


Hi folks,

I am a stupid lowly grad student taking a course in Satellite
Communications.  I need to define a commercial application.  I have
chosen video-teleconferencing.  I am looking for people with
experience with commercial satellite communications systems to
correspond with.  I have studied a lot, and can actually ask some
halfway intelligent questions.  Are you familiar with link budgets,
EIRPs, PFDs, TASO, the Crane model, etc?

Please email me at [e-mail].

Sincere thanks to anyone who may take the time to respond, and thank
you all for your time.


Jim Diskin

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

Subject: AT&T Switch Access via PC
From: [e-mail] (Sean Doherty)
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 10:57:00 -0640
Organization: Channel 1(R) 617-864-0100 Info


I would like to use the PC and modem on my desk to access a System 75,
G2 and G3 switch.  I've tried using Procomm Plus's ATT 4410 emulation
but something is funny with the keyboard.  What software/emulations
are other tech's using?  Does any body have any suggestions?  Is their
an AT&T BBS with these type of utilities?  Any thoughts would be
greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

Sean Doherty

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

From: [e-mail] (Tayeb Damerji)
Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Date: 17 Oct 1995 15:38:45 GMT
Organization: Interactive Telecom, Inc. [phone]


Garrett A. Wollman ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In article <[e-mail]>, Marvin Vis <[e-mail].
> com> wrote:

>> Regarding the breakup, has anyone speculated about the driving forces
>> behind the move?  Of course, there are the factors that AT&T has presented
>> as their motivations (those of speed/responsiveness, targeted stock, etc.),
>> but has anyone tried to think of other reasons?

> I think it's pretty clear, actually, what the driving forces are.
> Consider the following facts:

> 1) AT&T is the RBOCs' principal supplier of switches and related
> equipment.

I thought Nortel had a larger share of the RBOC business for switches,
access and transport equipment and services.

AT&T main startegic focus is to get a bigger portion of the high
margin global telecom market place, in order to do this it has to
project the image that it is a very competitve, innovative company.
One of the main manifestations of this would be rapid service
introduction.  E.g. being the first company to introduce ATM, having a
SONET network, etc. These criteria are especially important to network
managers of the Fortune 1000 companies. Telcos make most of their
profits serving these large accounts.

With its old structure AT&T was unable to react fast enough to changes
in technology and be the first with new services. AT&T does not have a
credible Internet startegy and it is loosing the lead to MCI in data
networks.  Since data networks are poised to become the main medium to
transport voice, this places AT&T in a precarious strategic position.
The main business advantage that AT&T has is its image, and the high
quality service it provides, but its competitors are catching up.

So dividing AT&T in three was the best strategy to make the telcom
services unit more competitive and agile.


Tayeb Damerji                  Tel.[phone]
Interactive Telecom Inc.              Fax.[phone]
204 -190 Colonnade Rd                 Email: [e-mail]
Nepean , Ont K2E 7J5, Canada          Web: http://www.intertel.net

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Keeping NPA/NXX Separate
Date: 17 Oct 1995 19:50:27 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


Bellcore's Numbering Administration (and previously AT&T Long Lines)
did not recommend using the home NPA code as an NXX, nor even adjacent
NPA codes. There were several guidelines listed in various editions of
"Notes" (Notes on the Network 1980, Notes on the BOC Intra-LATA
Networks 1983 & 1986, BOC Notes on the LEC Networks 1990 & 1994)
spelling out how local numbering/code administrators should assign NXX
Central Office codes, particularly in areas where 'interchangeable'
(N0X & N1X) office codes had been introduced. The ICCF/INC has
guidelines on this as well.

The situation is going to get messier with new NPA splits announced almost
every week, and now with interchangeable NPA codes. If mandatory ten-digit
local dialing really does take effect in Houston and Dallas, it won't
matter if 713-713, 713-281, 281-281, 281-713 are assigned in metro Houston,
and similar combinations of 214 and 972 (along with 817 and whatever
it will be announced) for the Dallas/Ft.Worth metro areas.  Does it
really matter if someone has the seven digit number such as 234-234x?
It might in some rural areas which do allow local dialing of four or five
digits as well as the standard seven digits, but even shorter local dialing
in rural areas is fast becomming a thing of the past.

I know that within toll-free (not always?) 800, 800-800 and 800-888
are available, as well as 800-900, 800-500, 800-600, 800-700, etc, but
the 800 Special Areacode is a non-geographic mandatory ten-digit situation
(along with 500, 600, 700, 900, etc). I think that there is a 900-800
and a 900-900 as well, but I don't have the Bellcore TRA office code
lists in front of me right now.

According to my December, 1994 Bellcore TRA 'Industry Numbering Plan Guide'
fiche, ALL possible 792 combinations of NXX codes were allocated
within the 800 special areacode. The N11 combinations have usually NOT
been used for standard central office codes. 800-555 went into the
'general portability' pool of 800-NXX's sometime in Nov. or Dec. 1994
according to one of my Bellcore NANPA IL mailings.  Also according to
the December, 1994 INPG fiche, the 800-N12 and 800-N02 combinations (total of
16) which had been previously reserved to 'Radio Common Carriers' (and
the *same* 800 + seven-digit number could be reused from state to state
with the 800-N02's and 800-N12's, just like the *old* pre-CCS
inTRAstate 800-NN2's) were instead identified as regular 800-NXX codes
(general portability). A small handful of 800-NXX codes were assigned
to Carribean carriers for terminating 800 calls there, and 800-855 was
still listed as for Deaf and Hearing Impaired toll free assignments, to
be carried by AT&T, Bell, traditional independents, and Canada's
Stentor companies, etc.

However, I was informed about a month ago (and now I've noticed in
some ads on radio/TV/newspapers) that there are 800 numbers now of the
form 800-N11-XXXX. I would only *hope* that they did *not* assign
800-911,

Even the best of us have from time to time called some 800 numbers by
simply dialing the seven digits - I've done it myself before. Maybe if
800-911 is NOT assigned for numbers, they could just route it to the
local 911. Where there are no major switch programming/hardwiring
problems, Bellcore recommends that 1-911 and 0-911 route to the local
911 emergency answering bureau.

A few months back, there was some questions about NPA-0XX-XXXX and
NPA-1XX-XXXX being assigned as POTS numbers. This would not be
workable with geographic/POTS areacodes since NPA-1XX and NPA-0XX are
still special internal telco routings, and for rating purposes,
NXX-1XX and NXX-0XX begin special billing (non-line number based calling
cards). But there are NO special billing cards that begin 800-1XX or
800-0XX, and I think that Bell/AT&T/etc. has discontinued special
internal routing numbers using 800-1XX & 800-0XX. There was some
discussion by the ICCF and the INC about assigning 800 numbers with
these 200 possible new 'office' codes. Even the 'independent' 800
numbering administrator included these 200 codes (800-0XX and 800-1XX)
as 'still spare' for 'possible future assignment/use'.

This plan was abandoned since it would only make 200 new codes
available and customers might become confused when seeing 800 numbers
of that form- and might just not dial them or might try dialing
without the 800 (and getting blocked or cut to operator, or even a
toll number), so they instead decided on the 888 new toll-free code
since it would make 792 (or even 799 or 800) new 'office' codes
available (but what a joke that's been!). BTW, if I dial 1 (or 0) +
NPA + 1XX/0XX (geographic NPA's, tho') from the 1AESS offices here, I
get cut to a recording from the local neighborhood switch. But if I
dial 1-800 + 1XX/0XX + XXXX, the switch waits a half-second longer,
and I'm cut thru to the BellSouth tandem (probably associated with the
800 database) and I get the recording from *there*. It seems that *my*
local telco had the foresignt to allow 800-0XX and 800-1XX just in
case they are to be used later.


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Organization: AT&T NSC, 2600 Warrenville, Lisle, IL
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 13:48:50 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>,  <[e-mail]> wrote:

> The joke going around these parts is that they'll bring back John Mayo
> to be President of the new firm, called Bell Laboratories Technologies.
> Yes, that would be BLT with Mayo.

> Sorry.

    I thought he didn't want to come back, so its BLT, hold the Mayo!


Raymond C. Jender
AT&T Network Systems (for now)

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

Date: 17 Oct 95 04:32:07 EDT
From: Edward A. Kleinhample <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What to call the Three parts of AT&T


On Fri, 13-Oct, Edwin Green writes:

> The icon for American Bell was the Death Star which was adopted by
> AT&T in 1984 after it divested itself of the local operating
> companies.

I always thought that the use of the "Death Star" as the corporate
icon for AT&T was particularly interesting -- certainly deserving of
some kind of "Truth in Advertising" award. :-)


Ed Kleinhample -- General Practitioner of PC systems
Land O' Lakes, FL.    [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #438
******************************


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Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 13:21:06 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #439

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 17 Oct 95 13:21:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 439

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Your Name is Copyrighted! (Phil Pucci)
    Recorded Solicitations (Stan Brown)
    Satellite FAQ / Information Needed (Matt Birkner)
    Re: Distributed Line Hunt (Carter Sanders)
    Re: Distributed Line Hunt (Laura Twombly)
    Re: New French Numbering Plan (Patrick Raffin)
    Re: Numbering Plan Change in Israel (Amos Shapira)
    Re: Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones (Marko Ruokonen)
    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Norman R. Tiedemann)
    Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Jim Cantrell)
    Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Collin Park)
    Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Henry Baker)

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 to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: [e-mail] (Phil Pucci)
Subject: Your Name is Copyrighted!
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 95 15:34:04 GMT


In article <45tnpd$[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Clinton S. Gallagher) wrote:

> One court has already ruled that your name is yours and is thus copyright
> material. An individual is now suing a company for reselling his name on a
> list.

I read the same article.  I feel upbeat about the potential for a ruling for
the plaintiff, thus cutting down my load of junk mail, but I still have enough
pessism in "the system" to withold any wagers on the _final_ decision.

> The article goes on to suggest that this may put an end to the direct
> mail industry. It would also force Ameritech to rebate every listing that was
> published in their directories and of course put CD Phone books out of
> business as well.

"It ain't necessarily so."  <Oops, considering the nature of this thread I
better cite a reference to Gershwin: Porgy and Bess>.

Seriously, I believe many people will give authorization for posting
their name (and maybe addresses) to the phone book people.  That is
what some analysts were stressing about the ramifications of the up
coming ruling.  That being, individuals must grant authorization to
use of their name (and address) such as those sold in mailing lists.
I could, for example, grant the right to Ameritech (or any other
publisher) to publish my name in a phone book but _not_ to sell it to
others.

The CD-ROM people have another twist on this subject.  I have heard
that some of these companies typically scan (OCR) existing directories
for their data (rather than pay the publishers such as Ameritech for
the information).  When one of the publishers (Nynex, Bell South, SBC,
US West, Ameritech, Pac Bell, etc.) sued them for copyright violation,
the CD-ROM people came out on top.  I do not remember the exact ruling
(does anyone out there know?).

Does this mean that someone could legally put the data of one of those
phone book CD-ROMs on the 'net without fear of recrimination.  Heck,
they probably did not pay anyone for the data (only the formatting,
search mechanisms, etc.).  If only the raw data was displayed using an
alternate search mechanism, then it seems to be as fair as not
requiring a CD-ROM publisher to compensate the original publishers
(telco publishing groups).


Phil Pucci
Milwaukee, WI USA
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 13:40:46 -0400
From: Stan Brown <[e-mail]>
Subject: Recorded Solicitations
Organization: Oak Road Systems, Cleveland Ohio USA


Recently I've started receiving unsolicited sales calls that are 100%
recorded.  I thought in the U.S. it was a legal requirement that such
a call must begin with a human, who is allowed to turn you over to a
recording.

Is my memory faulty?  Or was that formerly the rule and it's been
changed?  I could find nothing about it in the U.S. Government's
Consumer Resource Handbook.


Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems      Cleveland, Ohio  USA      [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another source of annoyance are those
phone calls which begin with answering the phone and hearing a recorded
announcement saying 'we have an important call for you; but right now
all representatives are busy, please hold the line.'  I hang up on those
instantly. I don't care if the holding time is only ten seconds, they
have lost me the minute they dial my number and in effect tell me their
time is more valuable than mine.    PAT]

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

From: Matt Birkner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Satellite FAQ / Information Needed
Date: 16 Oct 1995 17:15:02 GMT
Organization: Exide Electronics


Is there a FAQ available for satellite information?  Specifically, I am
looking at purchasing a dish for corporate use that can:

1.  Receive broadcasts from CNN, HBO, Weather Channel, etc ...
2.  Receive private broadcasts from Sun, Microsoft TV, etc.

Can anyone direct me to some resources on this topic?  What systems are
being used today by IT Managers?  What features are good to consider?  What
satellite systems are the most flexible for new technologies?


Thanks in advance.

Matt Birkner     Senior Network Engineer
Exide Electronics   919-870-3071
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 15:49:41 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Distributed Line Hunt
Organization: Bell Northern Research


My answers here should be regarded as DMS-100 specific, but it sounds like
that's what you're dealing with.

[e-mail] (Kevin Kadow) wrote:
<snip>
> Apparently this differs from a standard hunt group in that the switch
> "remembers" which line answered a call last, then presents the next
> call on the next line in sequence.

That's right.  DLH is essentially a circular hunt group that remembers
the last line to which a connection was attempted.

> Possibly also known as "Uniform Call Distribution".

No.  UCD is a more basic predecessor of ACD.  It is not a hunt group.

> My provider has 64 lines, of which 1/3+ are USR Couriers with the
> 33.6Kbps software. Right now all the USR modems are at the "bottom" of
> the hunt, so people who call the first number hunt through all 64
> modems, and people who call the 40th number get the first of the USR
> modems.

> If service is switched to a DLH(UCD?) hunt group, will I still be able
> to get a 33.6 connection by calling the 40th number, or will the call
> go to the next modem after the one that answered the call before mine?

One piece of info which you've left out here is whether all members of
the DLH will have DN's.  They might not.  A DLH may have members which
don't have DN's.  If this is the case, the facility to dial into a
specific member of the group may be lost by using a DLH.  If you're
thinking of switching to a DLH, make sure and ask about this.  Charges
may differ based on how many DN's you consume.

Feel free to email me with more specific questions -- if you could
find out if you're on a DMS, that would help.


Carter Sanders   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Laura Twombly)
Subject: Re: Distributed Line Hunt
Date: 17 Oct 1995 00:00:04 GMT
Organization: Pacific Bell
Reply-To: [e-mail]


[e-mail] (Kevin Kadow) wrote:

> Apparently this differs from a standard hunt group in that the switch
> "remembers" which line answered a call last, then presents the next
> call on the next line in sequence. Possibly also known as "Uniform
> Call Distribution".

[Stuff deleted]

> Basically what I want to know is if DLH applies to just the first
> hunt number or to every number in the group.

In the 5ESS and the 1AESS switches, hunt groups can have "hunt"
numbers and "non-hunt" numbers.  Especially in the case of UCD hunt
groups, it is useful to have a non-hunt number associated with each
line for trouble shooting.  The hunt numbers will do the UCD hunting,
while the non-hunt numbers, as their name suggests, will not hunt at
all, but will only attempt to complete to the line (terminal) that
they are associated with.

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

From: [e-mail] (patrick raffin)
Subject: Re: New French Numbering Plan
Date: 16 Oct 1995 12:10:17 GMT
Organization: Fluctuat nec mergitur (as of today)
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]>, James E. Bellaire <bellaire@tk.
com> writes:

>> [e-mail] (patrick raffin) wrote:

>>> FRANCE NEW NUMBERING PLAN

>>> On 18 October 1996, most French telephone numbers will change.

>> With no permissive period?  Ouch!

There should be a three month permissive period. Or even shorter!

But no definitive doc is yet published.

A 24 page booklet will be sent to all telecom professionals in 2/3 weeks.
Non-professional users will receive this information in August/September,
1996.

>>> Here is what will happen, as far as it is documented now.  All errors
>>> and omissions are mine (P. Raffin, 1995/10/08, [e-mail]).

>> I think I got the regular numbers right, from an international perspective:

>>  Paris               now +33-1-xx-xx-xxxx    will be +33-1-xx-xx-xxxx
>>  NorthWest France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-2-xx-xx-xxxx
>>  NorthEast France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-3-xx-xx-xxxx
>>  SouthEast France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-4-xx-xx-xxxx
>>  SouthWest France    now +33-xx-xx-xxxx      will be +33-5-xx-xx-xxxx

That's right.  Note that we write numbers as (1) xx.xx.xx.xx for Paris
(Z.AB.PQ.MC.DU), and xx.xx.xx.xx or (16) xx.xx.xx.xx for outside
Paris.  Note that the current numbering plan ordered the "departments"
counterclockwise (from 2x in the North, 3x in Normandy, to 8x in the
East) and the new plan orders the areas clockwise !

>> I am assuming that the +33 then eight digit rule also applies to
>> pagers/mobiles, and eight digit special services when calling from
>> outside France, making

>>  Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-01-xxxxxx
>>  Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-02-xxxxxx
>>  Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-03-xxxxxx
>>  Eurosignal Pagers   now +33-04-xxxxxx
>>  Toll Free           now +33-05-xxxxxx       will be +33-800-xxxxxx

The 05 are not accessible from outside France. These are internal
toll-free numbers.  Cf the 1-800 US numbers :-) There are companies
outside France with toll free numbers available from France, they have
05 90 xx xx or 05 91 xx xx numbers.

>>  Other Pagers        now +33-06-xxxxxx

Including the Tattoo, Kobby, Tam-tam offers (marketing names).  They will
be +33-606-xxxxxx.

>>  GSM - France Tel    now +33-07-xxxxxx       will be +33-607-xxxxxx
>>  GSM - SFR           now +33-09-xxxxxx       will be +33-609-xxxxxx
>>  Extended Services   now     36-xxxxxx       will be    0836-xxxxxx

Right.  Special case: the 36-63-xxxx will be 0801-63-xxxx.

>> But you do not mention what is happening to the pagers.  Are they
>> moving to the +33-8 range with the mobile phones?

All pagers and mobile phones will be moving to the 33-6 range.  This
includes also the CT2 phones (Pointel, Be-Bop).  Today they have
ordinary numbers. There are CT2 phones in a few cities, such as Paris
-AB: 54-, Lille, Strasbourg.)

>> I assume that the 1x services are not available from outside
>> France, but are the 36xx / 36xx-xxxx services available?

No 36-anything service is, to my knowledge, available from outside France.

>> Is Toll Free available out of country?

I believe that French companies wishing to have a toll free number available
out of France must contract with the telcos from the countries where they
wish to offer this service.

And [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau) wrote:

>> So you will not be able to dial a local call with just 8 digits anymore?

Right.

>> I guess this will make France the largest country in the world with
>> national full-number dialing.

>> Coupled with the other changes you describe, it also means that the
>> first digit of any number dialed must be one of 0 (for national or
>> international calls),
>>                    1 (for the 2-digit 1x numbers),
>>                    3 (for the 4-digit 36xx numbers),
>>                    or # or * (for call features).

That's how I see it too.

>>> Remain on 2 digits: 12 13 14 15 17 18.

>> So, what happened to 11?

The electronic directory will switch to 3611.  BTW, it's a *wonderful*
service. Allowing to search by city, but also by street address (can
be restricted to search for professionals only), or by a group of
neighbouring cities, or even a full "department".  Even older persons
are able to use it (who could not use a PC..).  Some friends and
families were reunited thanks to this service!

>> I presume this was freed up in order to allow the EU-standard 112
>> emergency number.

The 112 will be in service later, at the end of 1996 or in 1997.  Note
that it is already in use for the SFR GSM network.


Patrick Raffin                          e-mail : [e-mail]
Bull S.A                Tel    : [phone]
Rue Jean Jaures B.P.68 , C4/022         Bullcom: (23)76105
78340 Les Clayes sous Bois FRANCE        Fax    : [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Amos Shapira)
Subject: Re: Numbering Plan Change in Israel
Date: 16 Oct 1995 13:41:10 GMT
Organization: Inst. of Comp. Sci., Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel


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

> I've heard rumors that Israel is going to switch from the current
> numbering scheme (one-digit area code + six or seven digits local
> number) to flat seven-digit numbers with no area code. Is that true
> and if yes, when the permissive dialing starts?

It's partly true -- as far as I heard they are going to change to flat
*8*-digits codes, simply appending the one-digit area code to the
number so you have to dial all 8 digits no matter what area code you
are calling from.

This would mean that they'll have to append another digit to all (?)
numbers outside the 03 (Tel-Aviv metropolitan) and 02 (Jerusalem)
areas, as well as to most 02 numbers.

If I remember right then this is scheduled to happend within a year or
two, but Bezeq (the Israeli PTT, aka Nezeq (Hebrew for "Damage"))
never announced this, I just heard about it over the global Israeli
bulletin board (il.board) about a year ago.


Cheers,

Amos Shapira       133 Shlomo Ben-Yosef st.
Jerusalem 93 805   ISRAEL  [e-mail]

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

Date: 17 Oct 95 08:28:48 EDT
From: Marko Ruokonen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones


In TELECOM Digest Volume 15 : Issue 433, Sub Ramakrishnan
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> I am trying to reach a number in Austria, from US. The number is,
> 011(43)(xxx)yyy; 43 is Austria, xxx and yy are the area codes, and
> the local number. A computer answers this number and asks me to press
> 1 for service_1, 2 for service2 etc..

> USA phone is tone. Note that when I tried this Austrian number from
> Austria it works without any problem.

> I suspect that the tones transmitted from USA (after you reach the
> computer) may not be of the same frequency the Austrian system
> expects ... but any solutions or alternate theories?

I think Austrian phones use the same DTMF frequencies as the US
phones; I tried this when using my AT&T calling card from an Austrian
phone and punched the numbers via the keypad. The connection went
through without any problem. So the US recognized the DTMF from
Austria and therefore, the computer in Austria should use the same
DTMF as the US.

However, Austria has some strange area codes that are different when
dialed from within Austria then when dialing from abroad. Vienna has
an area code of 222 when dialed within Austria, but 1 otherwise.

That is, you dial:

0222 yyy when calling Vienna from within Austria, but
011 43 1 yyy when calling Vienna from the US.
I wonder why this is done, but anyway.

I'm not sure if there are other area codes that are irregular also.

My guess would be to check the area code with international DA (or a
telcom archive) to make sure it is indeed the city you intend to
reach. Maybe the line you connect to by using the "wrong" area code os
a service line. Interesting that the service line does not react to
the DTMF tones, however.

Hope that helps in any way.


Marko Ruokonen   Cologne/Germany
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Norman R Tiedemann)
Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 18:55:09 GMT


Let me make a few corrections and comments on this most recent
article. (And give my suggestions for the "new" company names.)

Ed Ellers writes:

> According to a recent AT&T Technical Journal (available on their Web
> site in Acrobat format), they just recently finished installing new 1B
> processors on all of their 4ESS toll switches, which previously had 1A
> processors (same as those on the 1AESS analog end office switch,
> AFAIK).  There are less than 150 of these switches in existence, and
> less than ten are in use outside AT&T.

There are almost 180 4ESS in the world today. Seven are in foreign
contries; six are owned by independents and thirty owned by the RBOCs,
and the remaining almost 140 are owned by AT&T. The 1A processor is
basically a very stupid controller. Its memory buses cycle time is
700nsec and has 22 bit addressing.  (Yes to be exact they are 24, but
two bits were never implemented.) After all 20 years ago, why would
anyone need that much processing power or addressing space. It has
hard limits on the number of terminations and number of busy hour call
attempts it can do based on its base cycle time of checking every
termination. Calls today are 100 times more complex than 20 years ago:
database dips, special features, signalling, etc.  the 1A just could
not keep up.  And BHCA capacity was dropping because of the increased
complexity. Studies were done which indicated it would be cheaper to
upgrade the processor than install more switches and waste
terminations on intraAT&T trunks.

> Somehow I can't see putting all that money into developing a new
> fault-tolerant processor for an ESS unless they hoped to sell some
> more switches with that processor, and from what I've seen there isn't
> much demand for new processors for 1AESS analog switches.

You can't see a company replacing 20 year old technology in the piece
of equipment that switches all AT&T toll calls and provides a major
share of its revenue and profits? Why not?  Are you still using your
Commadore PET-64 computer? :-) :-) Unfortunately a plug compatible 1B
was not available off the shelf so one had to be developed.  The 1B
had to be designed to match the existing peripherals, so it's not a
general purpose processor.

Secondly, It is very difficult to "build" a 4ESS switch, since a lot
of the components are no longer available. IMHO I don't see us selling
many of them.

In reality the 5ESS is the switch that has been sold to most RBOC's
and internationally, and the hope is that the RBOC's would be willing
to buy more and more features on the 5ESS after the split.

Now for the really interesting part:

The popular choices for names for company B and C are:

B:  @#$^@&# <- an unpronouncable symbol formally know as AT&T
B:  WE:tNG (Western Electric: The Next Generation), ala StarTrek
C:  NCR Classic, ala Coke


Norm Tiedemann
WE:tNG - Bell Labs  Naperville, IL  60566
[e-mail] <- at least for a while yet

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

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 10:54:44 -0700
From: [e-mail] (jim cantrell)
Subject: Re: Fax Machine as Page Scanner


Although Microsoft included fax support in Win95, don't expect to do
anything as exotic as this with it.  I took a look at the product and
discovered that one is limited to veiwing or printing.

The default archiving is in compressed mail files readable only, I
beleive, by MS Exchange.  The two options for getting a fax to a
discreet file are print to a PRN file, where it should print directly
to a printer, or saving as an AWD, which appears to be a proprietary
format that MS cooked up special for the occasion.

I don't know that anyone has any tools to manipulate AWD files; the
file spec is not listed as available spec to paste a picture in MS
Word6 documents.  If there is a way to import a custom cover page for
fax use, I didn't find it.

If your fax board came with software, odds are good that it will
support the PCX format.  PCX, same as DCX with support for multiple
page images, is pretty broadly supported in image and OCR software.

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

From: [e-mail] (Collin Park)
Subject: Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner
Date: 16 Oct 1995 01:31:16 GMT
Organization: HP Asia Pacific Product Operations, Kobe, Japan


[e-mail] wrote:

> Does anyone have this schematic or the magazine? I think the circuit
> consisted of two  nine-volt batteries.

I'd like to see this, too!  Or at least a precise reference to the
article ...

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An even easier way of doing this involves
> merely a fax machine and a second phone line. Hook your fax machine to
                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

$700 up front, $40/month whether you use it or not.  Plus a monthly
touch-tone fee, don't remember how much.  Don't forget that we get
charged for every single call (except the 0120- "free dial" ones)

> want at that point, sending the file wherever.  Really quite simple.  PAT]

Simple enough!  But not cheap, at least not here in Japan.  Unless
somebody else is paying your phone bill :-)


Regards,

Collin


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you mean to tell me that the installation
of a phone line in Japan costs seven hundred dollars? That's awful!   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Henry Baker)
Subject: Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 16:09:56 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] wrote:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An even easier way of doing this involves
> merely a fax machine and a second phone line. Hook your fax machine to
> one phone line, and your computer with fax/modem card to the other phone
> line. Have the fax machine call the computer and feed it whatever you
> want scanned. You will get it in the output from your fax/modem card.
> Use whatever software came with your fax/modem card to convert the file
> to a way it can be viewed on your computer. Deal with it however you
> want at that point, sending the file wherever.  Really quite simple.  PAT]

One caveat -- I have found that the ~200dpi resolution of the fax
machine is not enough to allow 'optical character recognition' (OCR)
programs to convert the stuff to ascii.  These programs seem to like
300-400 dpi or better to work well.


www/ftp directory:
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/home.html

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #439
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #440

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 18 Oct 95 08:30:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 440

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (David Breneman)
    Re: Power And The Internet Domain (Tom Coradeschi)
    Re: Caller ID During Call Waiting? (Jeffrey Rhodes)
    Re: 28800 Works Fine on Second Line; But Not First (Wayne Huffman)
    Re: Legal Slamming (Jim Cantrell)
    Re: Legal Slamming ([e-mail])
    Re: How to Make Dial-Up Stay Up as Long as Possible (Thomas Lapp)
    Re: European Numbering Plans and Telecom Policy (Yves Blondeel)
    Re: European Numbering Plans and Telecom Policy (Juha Veijalainen)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Jan Mandel)
    Re: Information Wanted For AIN on Cellular Phone (Ken Hester)
    Re: Information Wanted on Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set (Chris Boone)
    Employment: Telecom Consultant in Denver, CO Area ([e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Breneman)
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: 17 Oct 1995 18:36:27 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> Tony Harminc <EL406045@BROWNVM.
BROWN.EDU> writes:

> Ed Ellers <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> I'm tempted to suggest "Western Telecom" or just "WEC," given that
>> Western's two offshoots -- Northern Electric and Nippon Electric --
>> are, of course, now called Northern Telecom and NEC.  (Actually,
>> Western was often referred to as "WECo" within the Bell System.)

> Northern Electric was hardly an "offshoot" of Western Electric.  Yes,
> for many years Northern built sets and CO equipment under licence from
> WE, but they also had a thriving business making the likes of radios,
> power cable, and even refrigerators!

Deletions...

NEC started life as Nippon Columbia, the Japanese division of the
Columbia Graphophone Company, later known in the US as Columbia
Records, now apparently known as Sony Records.  Since the Columbia
trademark is now owned by two competing companies in Japan, I'd
assume that NEC has the rights to it in their domestic market, but
that's only a guess.


David Breneman
Unix System Administrator     Mail: [e-mail]
IS - Operations                      (Formerly: ~@mccaw.com)
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.          Phone: [phone]

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

From: Tom Coradeschi <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Power And The Internet Domain
Organization: Electric Armts Div, US Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 20:19:33 GMT


[e-mail] (Sean Murphy - RTC Enterprises) writes:

> Forwarded to the Digest FYI.

> "Power and the Internet Domain"  by Jesse Hirsh

> This story is almost too easy to believe.

> Turns out (no surprise really) that the Internet domain registration
> monopoly (internic.net) is indeed owned by the military-industrial-
> biological complex. For once it's as if the double-speak vanishes and
> the truth is as open as a web page.

So what else is new? The "old" registry was at nic.ddn.mil. Or have you
forgotten that (assuming you ever knew it)?

> Now Internet domain registration will begin to be priced according to
> user-fees starting at $50 annually. One source, one collecter of fees.
> One databank with all Internet registration ...

Nyet. Internet != Internic registrations. Assuming that this is so is
incorrect. It's not even all US registrations (although it is the
majority of them).

> Scientific Applications International Corp.

> - Military Technology: "Our contribution to the U.S. Navy/Defense Nuclear
> Agency Electro-Thermal Chemical Gun illustrates this new focus."

> WAIT A MINUTE, READ THAT SENTENCE AGAIN...

> - Military Technology: "Our contribution to the U.S. Navy/Defense Nuclear
> Agency Electro-Thermal Chemical Gun illustrates this new focus."

> CAN SOMEONE PLEASE DECIPHER THIS?

It says that they're working on a US Navy/DNA ETC Gun program. What's so
difficult to understand about that?

> These guys are some bad dudes.

Then I must be too (see Org line in my header).

> SAIC with the purchase of NSI, which owns Internic.net, now controls
> all Internet domain registration. A monopoly that now wants to charge
> $50 annually for every domain name. Turn the funnels of money on.

Again. This is patently incorrect.

> For those who don't know internic.net is the "central" (catch that one),
> registration point for the Internet.

Incorrect.

> registration point for the Internet. Operated in conjunction with AT&T,
> internic.net is the biggest reference source on the net. Every time you
> send an email with an address like "lglobal.com", that name is referenced
> to internic.net and converted to an I.P. address such as 210.50.120.2
> which denotes network topography.

Incorrect. Don't understand how the DNS works, do you?

> So again the military controls the maps and the bureacracy.

Well, we did invent it. Or have you forgotten that?

> You've got to go see their board of directors page. It's incredible.

Who cares? The operation of the InterNIC is done, as are many US
Government activities, via a contract. NSI has that contract now. You
are free to form a company and bid it the next time it's up for
renewal (just keep checking the Commerce Business Daily for the RFP
announcement).

In summation, I'd like to offer the following: get a grip. The issue
of $50/domain as a registration fee is one thing (good or bad, I'm not
quite sure yet). This whole idea of "the military is taking over the
internet" is a crock.


   tom coradeschi <+> [e-mail]
 http://k-whiner.pica.army.mil/tom/tom.html

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey Rhodes)
Subject: Re: Caller ID During Call Waiting?
Date: 17 Oct 1995 20:46:22 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


IS-54 Rev B provides "Flash With Info" message on the voice channel
blank and burst, so TDMA cell phones can receive Calling Number ID at
the same time as the call waiting tone is heard.

While posting refers to landline Caller ID, isn't it nice to know that
every TDMA cellular phone in this country is all ready for call
waiting CNI and is only requiring the carrier to implement ISUP and
any CNI for this service?

Of course, each TDMA manufacturer enhances the CNI feature differently.
My TDMA cell phone only shows the number, I can't redial it. TDMA cell
phones made within the last year or so have the ability to transfer
received CNI numbers to the 99 alpha memory for speed calling. When
you have the number in the internal alpha memory, the next call from
that number displays the alpha name!


Jeffrey Rhodes at [e-mail]

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

From: Wayne Huffman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 28800 Works Fine on Second Line; But Not First
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 07:47:20 -0400
Organization: Internet Interstate


I live in a high-rise apartment building - Bell Atlantic just installed a
second line (No. VA - Wash. DC area) Runs at 28800 every time. I made sure
I had a clean pair to the main distribution frame in the basement. The
installer was very helpful (7 1/2hrs late though!) It helped that I am a
retired AT&T Tech. At my old residence (a NEW condo), I had such bad
crosstalk that both the voice and data lines were unusable sinultaneously.
This turned out to be due to cheap non-twisted pair wire run by the
builder. There was no way to run new wire from the NI to my unit, so I had
the data line disconnected. _Use good wire_!! It is well worth the small
additional cost (like the paint cost in a paint job, the wire is the cheap
part of the job, but the most difficult to redo once the walls go up!)
Those little twists make all the difference.


Wayne Huffman

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 00:54:46 -0700
From: [e-mail] (jim cantrell)
Subject: Re: Legal Slamming


The practice of sending checks, endorsement of which authorizes the payee to
be your long distance carrier, is a common practice these days.  However, $3
seems a bit chintzy when you consider that changing carriers often incurs a
$5 fee from the local office.  Personally, I got $75 from The Big Carrier
and cashed it.

The long distance market is extremely competitive these days and may well
become more so since the FCC deregulated AT&T's rate making.  If anyone out
there has rates that are not in the teens or lower, you haven't been shopping.

There are three broad technical categories of long distance carrier today.
The top of the heap is occupied by those with an extensive network: AT&T,
MCI, Sprint, and, since their acquisition of Wil-Tel, LDDS.  These guys can
pretty much carry your traffic over their own hardware from local exchange
to local exchange in the US. Pricing depends on volume.  Big volume, big
discounts.  The home user gets modest discounts, business users get
discounts according to volume but also get the benefit of having a carrier
with name recognition.  Name recognition can be a critical factor when the
boss wants to know why the 800 number isn't working.

The next rung from the top is relatively new and belongs to those carriers
who have networks that are less extensive.  They may have local or regional
services and point to point between major cities, but rely on the major
networks to carry much of their traffic.  They have major investments in
facilities and hardware and are aggressively building a  business customer
base.  Many are poised to take advantage of local exchange competition and
grab market from the baby Bells.  Some may offer home service and  some
businesses, where the service purchaser feels secure enough to flirt with
the bleeding edge,  may be able to work out a very good deal from these
guys -- some are very hungry for market share.

The third technical category is occupied by those with little or no
hardware or network.  As a minimum, they must have at least one
employee who serves as general manager, sales, customer service, and
provisioning liaison.  The two subcategories within this group are
aggregators and resellers.  With an aggregator, you become a
subaccount of their account with one of the major carriers and get the
benefit of the larger discount available on their large volume and in
exchange, you send them a portion as payment.  In general, you have
been solicited by an aggregator when someone calls and tells you that
you are now eligible for additional discounts from AT&T.  Some of
these people have sleazy marketing practices -- identifying themselves
as a representative of AT&T is common, sending a request directly to
accounts payable for copies of the last AT&T invoice in order to
insure the company received all the discounts it was eligible for is
the sleaziest I've run across (possesion of the invoice will convince
the local telco to slam you).

Resellers do exactly that.  They profit on the price difference
between purchase and sale, much like the department store buying
wholesale and selling retail.  You can usually get your choice of
major carrier at a reasonable price.  The big difference between
aggregator and reseller is who cuts the invoice.  Resellers get call
detail tapes from the carriers, sort the charges, and invoice you
directly.  Depending on the talent and skills of the people employed,
this can cause big headaches (I know!), but the same problems arise
with the majors ( I Know!).  Small businesses can save some money
using third tier providers, but must shop carefully.  Some may do
household phones if you have a bit of volume.

DISCLAIMER:  Entire market subject to shift, change, and reconfigure at any
moment.

Jim's shopping tips:
 - Beware of salespersons bearing percentages.  Get base rates pinned down
first.
 - Pin down the method of application of multiple discounts.
 - Buy flat rates when possible, base rates are subject to fluctuation.
 - Bargain interstate rates are great, but always check the price of
intrastate and others.
 - Never provide copies of invoices for analysis (or any other reason), get
their best rates and do your own math for each type of call in each
jurisdiction.
 - Get it in writing and always, always check the math, both yours and theirs.

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

From: [e-mail] (DHarper521)
Subject: Re: Legal Slamming
Date: 17 Oct 1995 02:56:47 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (DHarper521)


There is good news on this front from the FCC. They recently passed a
ruling that requires the LOA (Letter of Authorization) to be seperate
from any inducements, be them in the form of monies or trips. The
verbage must be clearer as to what you are signing when you endorse
these BIG checks.

What will happen when the RBOCs are allowed in this business?

It should be fun.

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

From: [e-mail] (Thomas Lapp)
Subject: Re: How to Make Dial-Up Stay Up as Long as Possible
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 02:24:35 EDT


>     I wonder if anyone has any good advices/suggestions of making a
> dial-up link stays up as long as possible?

>     The reason I asked is that, like many others, I am connected to
> the net on a permanent SLIP link, and every now and then the line gets
> reset by the telco, sometimes it can go as frequent as few times a day
> (which I suspect may also be noise anyway). The cost of redialing is
> only a small price to pay, but the interruptions it costs is the
> worst.

The whole point of dial up circuits is for TEMPORARY use.  If you want
a PERMANENT connection, then you buy what is called a leased line
circuit.  You can get them at voice grades and run your modems over
them with no trouble.  Pat, I'm surprised that you didn't comment on
this message.  Why do people think that they can just have a dial-up
line running all the time and pay less than what a leased line costs?
The whole reason dial-up rates are cheaper is because the lines are
not used ALL the time by one user, and thus the cost is distributed
over many customers.  If people start knocking up dial-up circuits all
the time, then the cost of dial circuits will go up.


tom
internet     : [e-mail] or
             : [e-mail]
Location     : Newark, DE, USA

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

From: Yves Blondeel <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: European Numbering Plans and Telecom Policy
Date: 17 Oct 1995 21:15:00 GMT
Organization: T-REGS


Hello Bill, you asked for sources of information.

Here are a few pointers:

> 1) A description of European market telephone numbering plans, both current
> and planned changes

ECTRA, the European Committe for Telecommunications Regulatory Affairs
(i.e. a multilateral body containing the national telecoms regulatory
authorities of Western and Central/Eastern European countries) has a
'Project Team' which deals with numbering and has been quite active in
recent months (several relevant documents have been produced,
including reviews of the situation at the national level and proposals
for Euro-level harmonisation).

If you wish to formally obtain information and documents directly from the
ECTRA 'Project Team' on numbering, I suggest you contact Mr Jukka
Kanervisto of the European Telecommunications Office (ETO - a sub-body of
CEPT/ECTRA). He is a Finnish numbering specialist and the author/editor of
several recent ECTRA documents (dated 1994 and 1995). The ETO address is:

European Telecommunications Office
Holsteinsgade 63, 2
DK-2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]

If you do not wish to take these formal steps, I could probably let you
have copies of certain important documents (but I must first verify whether
it is permitted to forward them). In any case, I suggest you specify more
precisely what exactly it is you wish to know.

I have detailed regulatory numbering information on several European
countries in Europe, with a focus on those countries which have made the
most substantial progress in numbering reform in the context of the
introduction of competition in the telecommunications services and
infrastructure sectors (i.e. Finland, Sweden, UK).

Concerning the United Kingdom, I suggest you check out the Annual Report by
the Numbering Scheme Manager which can be found on:
http://www.open.gov.uk/oftel/oftelwww/annrep95.htm

> 2) Any general information on European Telecom policy, status of
> deregulation etc.

Hmm. That's a *very* broad question. General advice: don't rely on magazine
articles.

Probably the best thing to do is to refer to the proceedings of the
conference 'Implementing European Telecommunications Law' of 21-22 November
1994. This particular conference was organised by the European Commission
(DGXIII A2). I co-authored one of the papers (somewhat outdated already).

Contact address:

European Commission
DGXIII A2 - secretariat of Mr Piero Ravaioli
Avenue de Beaulieu 9
B-1160 Brussels
General telephone number of the European Commission [phone]


Best of luck!

Yves Blondeel  <[e-mail]> ..dissent is (of) the essence..
Keen observer of telecommunications regulation throughout Europe
Research Park, Kranenberg 6, B-1731 Zellik, Belgium
Tel [phone]  Fax [phone]

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

From: Juha Veijalainen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: European Numbering Plans and Telecom Policy
Date: 18 Oct 1995 12:13:43 GMT


[e-mail] (WCiminelli) wrote:

> 1) A description of Europen market telephone numbering plans, both current
> and planned changes

> 2) Any general information on European Telecom policy, status of
> deregulation etc.

You could try

    http://www.thk.fi/

the Telecommunications Administration Centre in Finland.  It has
information on the Finnish telecommunications (telephone and radio).
It is convieniently in the English language (Finnish and Swedish are
available, too).

THK page does not give information on the European Telecom policy,
but it does have some useful links to other pages.

In Finland long distance, international and mobile networks are open
for competition.  There are three long distance companies, four inter-
national operators and two mobile network operators.

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

From: [e-mail] (Jan Mandel)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Date: 17 Oct 1995 22:53:36 -0600
Organization: University of Colorado at Denver


Peter Corlett ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Seems that the US phone system is rather odder than I thought ...  My
> number is [phone] xxxx, and a favourite BBS is [phone] xxxx.
> As the BBS is local, I can dial 449 xxxx as this is a local code, or
> 0121 449 xxxx -- which is what is actually dialed. 0044 121 449
> xxxx is also a possibility, although it is a bit silly for my
> purposes.

To add to the confusion, US phone books to not list instructions how
to dial long distance or international, saying "contact your long
distance carrier", but do not say how to do THAT. What a mess.


Jan Mandel, Center for Computational Math,
University of Colorado at Denver  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ken Hester)
Subject: Re: Information Wanted For AIN on Cellular Phone
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 00:37:37 -0400
Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jeehyun
Paik) wrote:

> [e-mail] wrote:

> I'm looking for AIN platforms for cellular phone.  Before starting
> project, I need some information about SSP.  I need to get some
> information about basic call model which can be adapted to cellular
> phone. Can anybody give me this information?

Check out Bellcore's home page.  There are many AIN related materials
available for order.  http://www.bellcore.com/

Also EBS in Trumbull, Conn. USA will be happy to sell you a SS7 development
platform for cellular.  You can reach EBS at [phone].

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

From: Chris Boone <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Information Wanted on Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set
Date: 17 Oct 1995 16:41:14 GMT
Organization: GSU/ENTERGY


I'll look at my TS21 and get back to ya by Monday or call me at
409-525-2001 and I'll pass it to ya over the phone live ...

We use a lot of those models.


Entergy telecom
Chris Boone WB5ITT          Compuserve 72732,2610
PO Box 3102                 FIDO 1:106/4267
Conroe, Texas 77305-3102    Sysop WBBS @ 409-447-4267

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 18:30:05 -0400
Subject: Employment: Telecom Consultant in Denver, CO Area


BVI Interactive, an interactive voice response marketing company, is
seeking the services of a telecom consultant in the Denver area for
site installation commencing in early 1996.

The job will entail helping BVI install PC-Based IVR systems behind
PBX's and ensuring that the two systems interface.  The consultant
will be expected to train BVI personel in the installation process,
effectively eliminating the consultant position over time.

This is part time work and will not lead to a full time opportunity.

Interested parties should respond via e-mail to [e-mail].

If one has had experience in this sort of installation in the past,
please provide an estimate as to the amount of time and corresponding
cost associated with such a job.


Thank you.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #440
******************************


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Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 09:12:03 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #441

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 18 Oct 95 09:12:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 441

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Power And The Internet Domain (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: Power And The Internet Domain (Henry Baker)
    Re: AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics (Lowell Kim)
    Re: AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics (Bob Bulmash)
    Re: NYNEX Goes National With Online Yellow Pages (John Levine)
    Re: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines (John N. Dreystadt)
    Re: ??? 800-MY-ANI-IS ??? (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Re: Distributed Line Hunt (Matt Gebhardt)
    Re: Recorded Solicitations (Bob Bulmash)
    Re: Satellite FAQ / Information Needed (Glen L. Roberts)
    Wanted: Rockwell GVS 3000 Digital Switch (Vincent Moore)
    Help: Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set (John Radisch)
    SS7 Information Available on WWW site ([e-mail])
    Information Needed - Internal Corporate Telephone Charge-backs (Leo Berz)
    Help Needed With SMDS (Phil Ho)
    Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Joe J. Harrison)
    Still More About the Octothorpe (Marc Schaefer)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

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

From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Power And The Internet Domain
Date: 17 Oct 1995 16:08:37 -0700
Organization: Rockwell International - CMC Network Products


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Sean Murphy -
RTC Enterprises) writes:

> "Power and the Internet Domain"  by Jesse Hirsh
> Turns out (no surprise really) that the Internet domain registration
> monopoly (internic.net) is indeed owned by the military-industrial-
> biological complex. For once it's as if the double-speak vanishes and
> the truth is as open as a web page.
> Now Internet domain registration will begin to be priced according to
> user-fees starting at $50 annually. One source, one collecter of fees.
> One databank with all Internet registration ...

> Scientific Applications International Corp.

And at the end:

> goto http://www.saic.com/ and pick the corporate report.
> it's some crazy pages, almost wonder if they're real...

At first I was wondering what they have been smoking in the
smoke-filled rooms where you've been hanging out, but then I realized
that you are posting from Canada ...

SAIC is indeed a defense contracting company; mostly they I have known
the business line where they place engineers into (U.S.) DoD sites on
a contract basis to allow the government institution to hire people
that command higher pay than the GSA ratings for which the position is
classified. As you will have noted from the Web site, they are owned
by the employees, and they have defined a code of ethics for their
business. Hardly the deeply sinister company that you are trying to
paint.

The Internet registration functions were originally funded by the
(U.S.) Department of Defense through a contract with SRI International
in Menlo Parlk, California. Then the contract was transferred to
"Government Services Incorporated" in Virginia, which was a subsidiary
of NSI (I think that stood for Network Solutions, Inc.) and the (U.S.)
National Science Foundation picked up the tab.

You may have heard that there is a loud cry in the United States to
scale back the government, and NSF is withdrawing the funding for
this activity. This is why the funding now has to come from user fees.
The fees are not outrageous.

If you don't want to pay the fees, there are other domains in which you
can register, such as the country code domains (.CA for Canada, .US for
USA). Since these are under different administrations, I would expect
them to have different funding mechanisms. Personally, I think .COM
is an abomination, and most users ought to register in the geographical
domains, but then I'm not in any position to impose my personal taste.

If you think the current (new) model is so bad, why don't you propose
a better alternative ?

Lars Poulsen           Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
Rockwell Network Systems   Phone:        [phone]
7402 Hollister Avenue      Telefax:      [phone]
Santa Barbara, CA 93117       Internets: designed and built while you wait

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

From: [e-mail] (Henry Baker)
Subject: Re: Power And The Internet Domain
Organization: nil organization
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 01:32:14 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Sean Murphy
- RTC Enterprises) wrote:

> For those who don't know internic.net is the "central" (catch that one),
> registration point for the Internet. Operated in conjunction with AT&T,
> internic.net is the biggest reference source on the net. Every time you
> send an email with an address like "lglobal.com", that name is referenced
> to internic.net and converted to an I.P. address such as 210.50.120.2
> which denotes network topography.

This makes for almost trivial 'traffic analysis', and due to the income
from the $50/domain/year, they get _paid_ to do it!!

I haven't check the number of active domains recently, but this could
eventually add up to serious money -- $50 million or so.


www/ftp directory:
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/home.html

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 21:02:39 PDT


[e-mail] said:

> Well, two days ago (five days after being PIC'ed over to AT&T) I got a
> check for ... $15.  Wow, could they have switched and baited me twice?
> YES, but never again ... how can I take action against AT&T for their
> misrepresentations, and report them to the FCC?

When I switched back to AT&T, I got a similar offer.  And like you, I
received a small check shortly after the switch.  I later found out
that this was to cover the charge from Pacific Bell to change carriers.
My promotional check arrived a week later.

I would wait another week, and then if you still haven't received it,
call and demand a new check be issued.


Steve   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Lowellkim)
Subject: Re: AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics
Date: 18 Oct 1995 09:26:47 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Lowellkim)


Why don't you take the time to find out which company you like best
and then stick with it. It's not hard to find out how much you're
being charged for your long-distance service; just look at your bill.
Some simple math will give you the answer. AT&T offered me $40 and 40
percent off for four months. I told them to forget it because I was
already getting that kind of deal with my current company.

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

From: [e-mail] (Prvt Ctzn)
Subject: Re: AT&T's Bait and Switch Tactics
Date: 17 Oct 1995 22:45:51 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Prvt Ctzn)


The FCC will only take written complaints.

If you've got the dates and names of the individuals involved at AT&T,
I think it wuld be more fun to call AT&T at their Basking Ridge NJ
HeadQuarters (your local AT&T service rep can connect you for free).
Ask to speak with their executive complaint department, and tell them
the story.  Be sure to get a date from them by which they will
respond, and tell them that if they don't resolve the issue by giving
you what they promised, you wil have to assume it was interstate
fraudulent advertising.

You may also want to mention that you will be reporting back to this
newsgroup regarding the outcome of your conversation, and that my firm
(Private Citizen, Inc.) will be anxiously following the matter.

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

From: [e-mail] (John Levine)
Subject: Re: NYNEX Goes National With Online Yellow Pages
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 23:05:26 GMT
Organization: I.E.C.C.


> MIDDLETON, Mass. (Oct. 17, 1995) -- NYNEX today announced that it has
> expanded its online Yellow Pages service so that consumers can now
> find virtually any business in the United States....
> NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages (TM),
> available on the Internets World Wide Web (http://www.niyp.com), now
> offers consumers 16.5 million business listings from throughout the
> nation.  The directory includes business type, name, address, and
> telephone number.  It is the United States' first and only complete
> online national business phone directory.

It's not a bad service, albeit their geography is a bit grainy for my
taste. (When I'm looking for a pizza, a list of every pizza place
within 150 miles of here is not all that useful.)

But the most amazing thing about this all-U.S. Yellow Pages is that
it's physically located in France! It's in the Paris suburbs. Try a
traceroute to www.niyp.com and you'll see your packets hop across the
Atlantic and bounce around in France before finally arriving.

NYNEX had a deal with Minitel and for a while you could call into
Minitel from the New York area, using PC software they gave out to
simulate a genuine 1200/75 bps Minitel terminal with a little text
only screen. It was kind of fun but kind of overpriced if you speak
French, utterly unusable otherwise. Evidently this is what finally
came of that deal.


Regards,

John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY
Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"
and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I always assumed that people who ate pizza
on a regular basis had a speed dial button on their phone devoted to
that purpose so they did not have to look up the number each time.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (John N. Dreystadt)
Subject: Re: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines
Date: 18 Oct 1995 02:41:05 GMT
Organization: ICNET... Your Link To The Internet... +1.313.998.0090
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] says:

> I have run across a regulatory issue that I can't quite figure out.
> There are a number of examples, but to zero in on one:

> South Haven, MS is in the Memphis, TN LATA and is also in the
> free-calling area of metro Memphis.  Do calls from South Haven to
> Memphis fall under state PSC jurisdiction or under FCC jurisdiction?
> It *appears* that South Haven falls under the jurisdiction of the TN
> PSC for POTS service (I am sure that MS has figured out how to at
> least collect taxes from the situation), but a private line from South
> Haven to Memphis falls under FCC jurisdiction.  I have always known
> that LATAs can span state boundaries, but I have just encountered the
> jurisdicational issue as to where to go for tariffs for different
> services.

Based on previous experience, the FCC also has control over the POTS
rates.  Historically, the AT&T rates for intra-LATA/interstate rates
were the exact same as the inter-LATA/interstate rates with the exact
same mileage bands. Of course, the large mileage bands were unused,
there are no Latas that are 3000 miles across.


John Dreystadt

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: ??? 800-MY-ANI-IS ???
Date: 18 Oct 1995 13:24:37 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


Yesterday, Tues 17 Oct.95, I could *NOT* get a number readback on
800-692-6447 (MY-ANI-IS). I only got a 'other-common-carrier' type of
dialtone (~440 Hz). I tried to enter various touchtone strings (I
entered 700-555-4141 just for the heck of it), and received an
'invalid-entry' type of recording. The recording did NOT identify who
they were- but the recorded voice and letter code at the end of the
recording was that of MCI's.

I don't know if MCI itself was providing the actual readback on
800-MY-ANI-IS, but they probably were the long-distance carrier for
the 800 call itself.

This happened yesterday from my office phone (on a PBX), from my home
phone ('enhanced' POTS line), and from my cellular. It is happening
this morning (8AM Central Time, Wednesday 18 Oct.95) from work (it
also happened earlier this morning from home), and I had some friends
in Minnesotta and Seattle try it last night. They also got the 'MCI'
dialtone!?!?!

I know that sometimes there is a fault in the equipment -- but maybe
the provider has suspended the service -- or maybe you have to enter
some kind of PIN or code.

Also, my Central Office switch-based ANAC code hasn't worked (from the
switch which serves my home telephone number) since Sunday. Someone
told me that in their location (this was in another state) that they
enter whatever N11 is used for them, followed by the seven 2's (or
'any' NXX-XXXX after the three digit ANAC prefix), but *now* they have
to continue with a three to five didigt PIN type of code- maybe telco
is *PARANOID* that we know more about them than they do <g>!

SO, for the time being, we'll probably just have to call someone
(locally) with Caller-ID to determine the line number (or trunk number
if from a PBX)- from PBX's whose trunks show up as 'private' (or
'anonymous call' depending on the ID box) or Cellular systems which do
similar 'private' or 'out-of-area', one *can* place a card call over
AT&T/Bell/LEC, and the trunk's 'POTS' loop number will show as the
originating number when we get our bill later.

There are some other ANI readback numbers -- some are 800 -- others
are geographic POTS numbers. I don't know them off hand, but there are
some webpages out there which have listed them -- but they could be
outdated.


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

From: Gebhardt, Matt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Distributed Line Hunt
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 95 15:20:00 ADT


My answers as well relate to the DMS 100.

[e-mail] wrote:

> One piece of info which you've left out here is whether all members of
> the DLH will have DN's.  They might not.  A DLH may have members which
> don't have DN's.  If this is the case, the facility to dial into a
> specific member of the group may be lost by using a DLH.  If you're
> thinking of switching to a DLH, make sure and ask about this.  Charges
> may differ based on how many DN's you consume.

If you use a DLH, granted the number will be the same. However, you
could use the option Bridged Night Number (BNN) so that you could
still dial each line independently (typically for test purposes). One
application might be a listed number that goes to a 5 member DLH of
(eg) NXX-1000. Each member then would have a separate BNN number. Eg,
member 1 might be NXX-1001, member 2 would be NXX-1002, etc. This
gives the capability of dialing specific members of a DLH (or MLH for
that matter).


FWIW, Matt Gebhardt, [e-mail], 907-564-1955

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

From: [e-mail] (Prvt Ctzn)
Subject: Re: Recorded Solicitations
Date: 17 Oct 1995 22:46:29 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Prvt Ctzn)


Sales solicitation calls made to residential telephone numbers, which
are comprised solely of a recorded message, are a violation of the
`Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991'.  Look at `47 USC sec.227,
(b)(1)(A)'.  Under this law, you can sue the caller for $500. and/or
report them to the FCC.

Finding out who is calling may be a problem cuz they generally don't
leave their name or number in the recording and rather ask you to
leave your name/number.

In such situations, leave your number; but leave a `code name' with it.
(e.g. if your name is `Beck', leave the name `Beckanov'.  When someone
calls you back asking for Beckanov ... you've got the hook in em.

After that, there's more to do to reel the violator in.  But at least it's
a start.


Bob Bulmash
Private Citizen, Inc.
1/800-CUT-JUNK

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

From: [e-mail] (Glen L. Roberts)
Subject: Re: Satellite FAQ / Information Needed
Organization: Full Disclosure
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 13:43:53 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Matt Birkner <birknerm@email.
exide.com> says:

> Is there a FAQ available for satellite information?  Specifically, I am
> looking at purchasing a dish for corporate use that can:

> 1.  Receive broadcasts from CNN, HBO, Weather Channel, etc ...
> 2.  Receive private broadcasts from Sun, Microsoft TV, etc.

Check out rec.video.satellite.tvro


Glen L. Roberts, Host Full Disclosure Live
Tech Talk Network: Telstar 302, Ch 21, 5.80 Audio
WWCR Shortwave: 5,065 khz.  8pm / Sundays.
Articles, Catalog, Downloadable Programs, AUDIO, Links & More:
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~glr/glr.html

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

From: [e-mail] (Vincent Moore)
Subject: Wanted: Rockwell GVS 3000 Digital Switch
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 01:00:32 GMT
Organization: C & L International Computers


I have a business associate who needs to purchase several:

Used Rockwell GVS 3000, Digital switches and Accessory components

He asked me to post this for him to see if anyone could help him
locate one or more of these units.  He is willing to pay a finders
fee!!

If you know where this item might be available, please e-mail me
([e-mail]) or you may contact him directly.  His contact
information is as follows:

Bob Smith
CellThrift, Inc.
[phone] - Voice
[phone] - Fax

I believe the need is for one of these initially with more needed for
other markets.

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone may be able to provide!


Vince Moore ([e-mail])
C & L International Computers
Visit our Home Page at http://www.cl-intl.com
Want A Price List?  E-Mail [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (RadMan)
Subject: Help: Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Set
Date: 18 Oct 1995 01:57:20 GMT
Organization: Internet Access Inc.  <613> 225-5595


I need some simple help for a Harris Dracon TS21 Butt Test Set, in
specific, I need to know where the SENDER and RECEIVER wires attach to
the board. I have a 1982 model and bought it at a swap meet, someone
tried to modify it and "rewired" it and then ripped out these four
wires.

Reply by email.


Thanks,

John Radisch    RadCom Technologies
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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

From: [e-mail] (Anadigicom)
Subject: SS7 Information Available on WWW Site
Date: 17 Oct 1995 18:20:51 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Anadigicom)


Signaling System 7 description and product description have been added
to the WWW site for Anadigicom!

Address is http://www.anadigi.com

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

From: [e-mail] (Leo Berz)
Subject: Information Needed - Internal Corporate Telephone Charge-backs
Date: 18 Oct 1995 05:41:40 GMT
Organization: Netcom


I am working with a large Oil Company who is intrested in hearing how
other companies handle internal telephone billing.  If you are
involved in providing telephone services, (either from the IS or
Buliding Service side) to an internal client base we would like to ask
you a few questions.  Please contact us either by phone or by E-mail
so we can discuss this matter. All information provided will be kept
confidential.  Also if anyone knows of a Usenet group that deals with
Facility and Service issues it would be most helpful.


Thank You,

Leo Berz  Berz Enterprises
PO Box 620492   Littleton, CO 80162-0492
[phone]  E-Mail: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Phil Ho)
Subject: Help Needed With SMDS
Date: 18 Oct 1995 05:59:21 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Does anyone out here have any experience with SMDS?  I would like to
locate a router and a CSU/DSU that I can use in setting up a WAN
utilizing a SMDS connection.

Any suggestions are welcome.


Thanks,

[hop]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 12:24:16 +0100
Subject: Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you mean to tell me that the
> installation of a phone line in Japan costs seven hundred
> dollars? That's awful!   PAT]

Now that really is awful. Here in the UK the installation of a
residential BT phone line costs only 175 dollars (116 pounds).

For some reason the common US practice of having an extra line or two
installed at home for the kids or the modem just doesn't seem to have
caught on here. Or in Japan either I guess!


Joe

ICL Ltd. Bracknell Berkshire RG12 8SN  UK ([phone])
X.400: S=Harrison/I=J/OU1=bra0112/O=icl/P=icl/A=gold 400/C=GB

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 12:13:00 MET
From: [e-mail] (Marc SCHAEFER)
Subject: More About the Octothorpe
Organization: ALPHANET NF - Research and information - Not for profit


I have seen this word "octothorpe" in 'awk and sed' from the Oreilly
collection.  I thought you might be interested :-)

In French we call this un di\`eze.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #441
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #442

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Oct 95 15:27:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 442

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Austrian Area Codes (was Re: Interface With European Phones) (Wolf Paul)
    Who Wants To Be a Spy? (Chris Mathews)
    Which PBXs Have BRIs Compatible With NI-1? (Lars Poulsen)
    Senate Committee Action on Telecom Rewrite (SB 722) (Richard H. Stoddard)
    Reverse Engineering Voice Mail (Gene Cartier)
    Large Cell Phone Cloning Operation in NYC Busted (Robert Casey)
    202 (411) - A Telephone Odyssey (Paul L. Moses)
    New Web Site: Emerging Markets Telecom Developments from ITC (Wm. Thurmond)
    "Merging Your Organization Onto the Internet" Conference (Peter Zuckerman)
    Using *69 to Get Callers ID (Glenn Foote)
    PSDN Rates/Billing/Accounting: How Does This All Work (Robert Duckworth)
    Payphone Networking Directory (Tom Moylan)
    ADSI Screen Phone Discussion (Marc H. Morin)
    Conference: Number Portability II and Number Administration (Kevin Shea)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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: Wolf Paul <[e-mail]>
Subject: Austrian Area Codes (was Re: Interface With European Phones)
Date: 19 Oct 1995 15:50:07 GMT
Organization: Alcatel Austria AG/KSR


Marko Ruokonen <[e-mail]> wrote:

> However, Austria has some strange area codes that are different when
> dialed from within Austria then when dialing from abroad. Vienna has
> an area code of 222 when dialed within Austria, but 1 otherwise.

> That is, you dial:

> 0222 yyy when calling Vienna from within Austria, but
> 011 43 1 yyy when calling Vienna from the US.
> I wonder why this is done, but anyway.

> I'm not sure if there are other area codes that are irregular also.

Actually, area code "1" will work for Vienna from within Austria as
well, now.  The reason it didn't work for a while was to accommodate
long dialing sequences to Vienna numbers (i.e. six and seven digit
subscriber numbers with up to four digit extensions) from abroad,
staying within the 15-digit limit which often applies in these
situations, rather sooner than it was possible to switch the
programming in all of Austria's elderly analog switches. So the new
area code was turned on immediately for international calling, and
somewhat later for domestic calling.

Also, Austria has for a number of years had so called "short dialing"
codes whereby Vienna could be reached from several metro areas by
dialling "9" rather than "0222", and these same metro areas could be
reached from Vienna by dialling three-digit codes starting with 9
rather than their 0+3 or 0+4 digit area codes.


W. N. Paul/KSRU * Alcatel Austria AG * Scheydgasse 41 * A-1210 Vienna, Austria
[e-mail] * [phone] x2523 (voice)/x118 (fax) * [phone] (h)

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

Date: 18 Oct 1995 20:06:00 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Chris Mathews)
Subject: Who Wants To Be a Spy?
Organization: RSE Moss-Jusefowytsch OEG


[submittor's note: I copied this from sci.crypt.]

 To:        /sci/crypt
 From:      [e-mail]  (Mike G. Rosing)
 Subject:   Who wants to be a spy?
 Date:      We 18.10.95, 16:11  (received: 18.10.95)

 From misc.job.contract:

New Jersey corp has been asked to define U.S. government electronic
surveillance system to access public telecomm network providers
services/systems.

Expertise of value:  paging/cellular network capabilities/services,
Public data services (e.g. broadband).

Some travel to Wash DC area.

3 openings (Central New Jersey)

Get PGPphone working better soon!!!


patience, persistence, truth,
Dr. mike

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 95 01:00:41 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Which PBXs Have BRIs Compatible With NI-1?


My employer is embarking on a search for a new phone system.  Our
corporate parent company has sent us a consultant who specializes in
assisting the local divisions in such efforts, so this is not a
solicitation for proposals. Rather, I want to ask some questions about
ISDN implementations. But first a bit more context.

We need to serve about 40 trunks (10 LEC incoming DID, 10 outgoing
LEC, 10 IXC, 10 to corporate network) by 200 lines for the voice side.

We also would like to integrate about 150 trunks by 200 lines of
ISDN for data use, although we may decide to keep this on a second,
separate switch, because these trunks (6-10 PRIs) and lines will
need to be perpetually reconfigured to serve the lab testing needs
of an engineering group developing ISDN CPE.

But, here is the killer problem: It appears that the ISDN BRI
lines implemented by major PBXs is NOT the same protocol as the
public ISDN service.

Case in point: We bought a couple of AT&T 8503 voice terminals to play
with on the public network, but it turns out that these can not be
made to work with the public service provided out of an AT&T 5ESS
switch.  (According to the support staff at AT&T's PBX group: This
voice terminal is specifically for use with System 85 and Definity
PBXs.)  This surprising information explains why the manual doesn't
describe how to program a SPID into the units.

But, this would mean that CPE developed for the public network could
not be used on the PBX, either.

Can anyone shed light on this compatibility issue ?


Lars Poulsen            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
Rockwell Network Systems    Phone:        [phone]
7402 Hollister Avenue         Telefax:      [phone]
Santa Barbara, CA 93117        Internets: designed and built while you wait

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard H. Stoddard)
Subject: Senate Committee Action on Telecom Rewrite (SB 722)
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 10:27:00 GMT
Organization: Sojourn Systems Ltd.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


The Senate Technology and Energy Committee started going through the
substitute for SB 722 today.  It will reconvene at 8:30am tomorrow
(Thursday, October 19) and will report it out as amended by the end of
the meeting.

The latest word tonight is that full Senate consideration may be moved
up a week and start Tuesday, October 24.

We have made some progress, due in part to the insistence of Rep. Alma
Stallworth (D- Detroit).  The committee adopted some amendments to
Sec. 304B that "make it less bad" but do not solve all of our
concerns. The key changes are as follows:

    1. The call cap was moved up to 400 calls/month.
    2. It restores an unlimited flat rate option.

Our remaining concerns on this section are as follows:

    1. There is no provision that the unlimited option be affordable, and
maybe more importantly, there is no provision that the new 400-call
plan be priced at the level of the current 400-call plan.  Without
that Ameritech could offer us 50 or 100 calls for that rate and
increase the 400-call plan to the point where it isn't a viable
option.
    2. It leaves in provisions for billing based on duration and distance.
As long as Ameritech's goal is to move us in that direction, the
dangers remain.  We are still on the proverbial slippery slope towards
metered service unless those provisions are stricken entirely.

    With these amendments, Sec. 304B reads as follows:

    SEC. 304B.  A PROVIDER OF BASIC LOCAL EXCHANGE SERVICE SHALL DEVELOP
VARIOUS RATE PLANS THAT REFLECT CUSTOMER CALLING PATTERNS THAT SHALL
INCLUDE, BUT NEED NOT BE LIMITED TO,  1 OF THE FOLLOWING AT THE OPTION
OF THE CUSTOMER UNLESS IT IS NOT TECHNOLOGICALLY FEASIBLE:

    (A)  A FLAT RATE ALLOWING UNLIMITED PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC OUTGOING
CALLS.
    (B) A FLAT RATE ALLOWING PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC OUTGOING
CALLS UP TO 400 CALLS PER MONTH PER LINE.  CALLS IN EXCESS OF 400
PER MONTH MAY BE CHARGED AT AN INCREMENTAL RATE AS SET BY THE
PROVIDER UNDER SECTION 304.  IF A CUSTOMER HAS MORE THAN 1 LINE,
THE ALLOWABLE CALLS UNDER THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE THE AGGREGATE
OF ALL THE LINES REGARDLESS FROM WHICH LINE THE CALLS ORIGINATE.

    (C) A RATE DETERMINED BY THE TIME DURATION OF SERVICE USAGE
OR THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE POINTS OF SERVICE ORIGINATION AND
TERMINATION.

    (D) A RATE DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF TIMES THE SERVICE IS
USED.

    (E) A RATE THAT INCLUDES 1 OR MORE OF THE RATES ALLOWED BY
THIS SECTION.

    The committee did not address the issue of "rate restructuring"
in Sec. 304A.  They are quite willing to see rates for residents
outside of the major urban areas increase significantly, perhaps as
much as 200 or 300 percent.

    We honestly believe that if we have REAL competition,
consumers will get better services at lower prices.  But this bill
says that in the name of competition, we are going to double or triple
consumers' rates, but at least they will have a choice of who gouges
them.  That is bad economics and terrible public policy.

    We will continue to push amendments to address these issues and
others.  We will push to have some of them offered during the Senate
debate next week, and we will then start over in the House of
Representatives when it gets there.

    It is important to call your state senator if you have not already
done so.  And if you have, thank you, but please do it again.  We have
to work to improve this bill at every step of the way. We cannot
assume that our concerns will magically be taken care of at some point
down the road.

    The attention given to these issues online and the calls that
have been generated have clearly had an impact.  But rest assured that
Ameritech will continue to exert its influence at every step and in
between.  Remember, we are dealing with a company that has more
lobbyists than the Big 3 auto companies combined, so we need to keep
it up.  And we need to remind our legislators that it is we, their
constituents, to whom they have to return for re-election.


Richard H. Stoddard                          E-mail: [e-mail]
Michigan Consumer Federation                         [e-mail]
Lansing, Michigan

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

From: Gene Cartier <[e-mail]>
Subject: Reverse Engineering Voice Mail
Date: 19 Oct 1995 12:21:51 GMT
Organization: Systems Research and Applications Corp.


I'm building a Windows NT system to capture and foward voice mail
to other voice mail systems.  Some vendors have been willing to share
their interface specs; others have been less forthcoming.  While some
vendors do support the loose Audio Messaging Interchange Specification
(AMIS) others don't.  Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to
trap the analog and/or digital data exchange between voice mail
products?  Any good tools or recommendations?

You can respond to the group or to me directly and I will make a
summary of the answers.


Gene Cartier
Systems Research & Applications
Arlington, VA    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Casey)
Subject: Large Cell Phone Cloning Operation in NYC Busted
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 16:10:06 GMT


Heard on the radio (news program) about a very big cell phone cloning
operation being busted a few days ago.  Something about that their
customers were mostly drug dealers.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Anyone have anything they care to add on
this?  Any other details known?    PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 16:04:28 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Paul L. Moses)
Subject: 202 (411) - A Telephone Odyssey


Well, maybe I've been reading TELECOM Digest too much lately but I had an
experience the other day I thought might provide a data point or two for
someone out there.

I live in northern VA and wanted to call an acquaintance in DC, so I tried to
call directory assistance.

First try:

1 202 411  ->  interrupt tone.  "We're sorry, your call cannot be completed
as dialed..."

then

202 411 -> same interrupt tone and message

then

1 202 555 1212 -> same interrupt tone and message.  Only difference is that
the call went through after dialing 1 202 555 for some reason

then

202 555 1212 -> same result

OK.  I now dial "0" and ask the operator.  She connects me to the AT&T
operator, who tells me to use 202 555 1212!

I try again and still nothing.

Finally I called the operator again and this time a different operator
tells me to simply use 411, without an area code.  That worked.

I wonder if the same thing happens from MD (301) to DC, or from DC to
VA or MD?


Paul

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

From: William Thurmond <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Web Site: Emerging Markets Telecom Developments From ITC
Date: 19 Oct 1995 19:19:45 GMT
Organization: International Technology Consultants (ITC)


I would like to make my first contribution to this newsgroup.  I have
been working on putting together a web site dedicated to emerging
markets telecommunications developments, located at:

http://www.intl-tech.com

This is International Technology Consultants (Washington, DC) web
site, and includes monthly reports on China, Latin America and East
Europe/NIS as well as links to other sites of interest.

At present, we are establishing links. If you would like to
establish a link with our organization, please e-mail me at :


[e-mail]

As the site is new, any comments or suggestions regarding the site
would be appreciated. Thanks.


William Thurmond     ITC

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

From: [e-mail] (Peter Zuckerman)
Subject: "Merging Your Organization Onto the Internet" Conference
Date: 19 Oct 1995 18:22:52 GMT
Organization: U.S. Professional Development Institute


                         National Conference on
              MERGING YOUR ORGANIZATION ONTO THE INTERNET
                  Theme: Successful Implementation
                         November 13-16, 1995
     Sheraton National Hotel * Arlington, Va. (Washington, D.C.)

  This Conference Teaches Workable Internet Implementation Solutions

                           ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

SCOPE AND PURPOSE

The conference is organized to benefit both current and prospective
users of the Internet, including executives, managers,
technical/communications specialists and contracting professionals.
Focused workshops explore special interest areas, while the conference
sessions give attendees an opportunity to expand their knowledge of
practical marketing and operating applications, management methods and
technical information.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

This intensive program of workshops and conference sessions is designed
to facilitate usage of the Internet by any organization. It will assist
your organization in implementing all aspects of a successful Internet
strategy including:

* Defining the business uses for Internet and developing an integrated
  Internet strategy

* Implementation including: the connection,  servers, user workstations,
  training

* Security considerations and solutions

* Business applications including: marketing, ordering, customer support

* World Wide Web servers and page development.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

* Managers and technical staff needing an understanding of the Internet
  potential and usage

* Business and government managers responsible for improving the
  operations of their organizations

* Private sector executives responsible for marketing products and
  services

* Operations personnel involved in MIS, IRM, systems operations, network
  management and other aspects of implementing Internet usage.

CONFERENCE VOLUME

Collections of presentation and reference materials will be provided
to each participant of the conference, briefings and technical
workshops.  Participants will also receive "Internet: A Knowledge
Odyssey (Business Edition)," a multimedia reference guide and tutorial
on CD-ROM, designed for business and professional users.

HIGHLIGHTS

27 Plenary and Concurrent Sessions:
* User Track
* Implementation Track
* Applications Track

MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS:
* Increasing Internet Productivity with the Latest Tools
* Conducting Business Over the Internet
* Developing a Corporate Internet Strategy

TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS:
* Security Systems on the Internet
* Setting Up and Operating Internet Gateways and Web Servers
* Constructing a Successful Web Site

In cooperation with:
D.C. Chapter -- Internet Society
Association of Online Professionals
Capital PC User Group

Conference Management by:
U.S. Professional Development Institute

             FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mail:   USPDI, 1738 Elton Road, Suite 304; Silver Spring, MD 20903
Phone:  [phone]
Fax:    [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] (Subject: Internet Conference)
Web:    http://www.clark.net/pub/uspdi/int95.html

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

From: [e-mail] (Glenn Foote)
Subject: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Date: 19 Oct 1995 13:23:28 -0400
Organization: The Greater Columbus FreeNet


      Can someone explain the exact workings of the Ameritech offering
of "Call Back" as it is used from a single residential line.  In my
part of the country, this is the *69 function and calls (dials) the
last person to call you.

      According to the friendly people at the business office <humor
here> it works totally in the central office with the person who
initiates the call back hearing _nothing_ until the ringing signal is
passed.  This eliminates the possibility of capturing the actual
number by recording <decoding> the tones.  This is supposedly mandated
by the Ohio Public Utility Commission at the request of those
businesses (battered women and the like) that need this protection.

      Is this right, or did something get left out in the explanation.

      Comments anyone ??


Glenn "Elephant" Foote ...... [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (ROBERT DUCKWORTH)
Subject: PSDN Rates/Billing/Accounting: How Does This All Work?
Date: 19 Oct 1995 09:39:03 -0400
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology


I'm trying to find out more about PSDN but the local telco hasn't
called back :-) I'll keep trying but they seem awfully busy with the
big customers.

As I understand it, the telco has a network and I can use it.

I also understand there are many ways to connect to this network,
SW56, ISDN, T1, PRI, etc, etc.

Now is this an X.25 net or what?  Do I run X.25 with their assigned
addressing?  How do they charge for network usage?

What about all those important things I don't know I should be
asking about?


Bob Duckworth WB4MNF 960 Ralph McGill Blvd. Atlanta GA 30306-4447  404-888-0389
Internet: [e-mail] -or- [e-mail] fax [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Moylan)
Subject: Payphone Networking Directory
Date: 18 Oct 1995 09:11:38 -0700
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access  [phone]  [Login: guest]


Can anyone point me to a directory listing the addresses/email
addresses/ phone numbers of people who have set up and maintain
networks of coin-operated telephones in the U.S.?  I also would like
to find any associations or trade magazines devoted to payphone
management.


Reply to:

Tom Moylan     [e-mail]
http://www.harborside.com/tcenter/callcard/

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

From: Marc H. Morin <[e-mail]>
Subject: ADSI Screen Phone Discussion
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 09:25:58 -0400
Organization: H-P Panacom Div, Waterloo, ON Canada


I am interested in getting a discussion going on Analog Display
Services Interface (ADSI).  Here are a few questions to get the
discussion going.

- How is the screen menu updated?  Is it via a 1200 baud modem?
- Are the menu buttons sent back as DTMF keystrokes?
- Does the spec only cover text displays?  How much variation is allowed
  in the screen phone,  ie.  number of rows and columns?
- What is the mechanism that is used to 'determine' the presence of an
  ADSI complient device?
- I am aware that Philips and NorTel have ADSI complient devices.  Anyone
  else?
- Any input on how the trials are going would be interesting.  Is this
technology expected to be widely adopted or is it yet another fringe
technology?


Marc Morin
[e-mail]
519-883-3057

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Conference: Number Portability II and Number Administration
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 18:00:35 GMT
Organization: Netcom


This is an updated change for our Conference "Number Portability II &
Number Administration".

The following information is the correct information.  Only the dates
of the conference have changed due to an unexpected, significant
conflict.

NUMBER PORTABILITY II & NUMBER ADMINISTRATION

Where:  Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel - East Rutherford, New Jersey
When:   November 28 & 29, 1995

Purpose:  To provide an opportunity for attendees to hear from the
experts, focus on the current issues and discuss the critical
changes facing the industry relating to local competition, number
portability and number administration.

Presenter List and Topics:

John Shea - Principal, JFS Telecom Consulting
 --Introduction and Overview (+)

Christine Walker - US Intelco Networks
 --Overview of the LANP network architecture and activities in the
Rochester NY portion of the New York
 --State Number Portability Trial.  Are we closer to a national
standard?

Ronald Conners - NANP Administrator, Bellcore
 --Roles and Responsibilities of the current North American Numbering
Plan Administrator and the status of
 --the FCC Report and Order.  What is the NANC, and what is its role?

Penn Pfautz - DMTS, AT&T
 --Overview of the LRN network architecture and the outlook for
implementation.  What are the --implications of the selection in
Illinois?

Terry Appenzeller - Vice President-Open Market Strategy, Ameritech
 --Status of the activities at the Illinois Commerce Commission and the
work of the LNP Workshop.  Are we
 --closer to a national standard?

Alex Harris - Vice President-Regulatory Affairs, MFS Communications
Co.
 --An overview of MFS Communications Co. and plans for 1996.  Where are
the hot spots for competition
 --and how important is number portability?

Mark Foster - Principal, MFS Associates
 --An infrastructure for number portability administration.  National?
Regional?  Local?

Matthew Harthun - FCC
 --Number Portability from the national regulatory perspective.

John C. Nowell - Andersen Consulting, LLP (invited)
 --Specifics to be announce

One or two more presenters are expected.

For more information, contact Kevin Shea at [phone] or email to
[e-mail]


Kevin Shea
Telecom Research Services
[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #442
******************************


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Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 16:20:22 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #443

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Oct 95 16:20:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 443

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    RBOCs to Court on Interconnection (Peter Marshall)
    Employment: Internet Network Designer for Hong Kong (Lin Zhong)
    Wireless Modems and Network - Liquidation (Terilee Henderson)
    Universal Service / Open Access (Kevin Florey)
    Re: How to Make Dial-Up Stay Up as Long as Possible ([e-mail])
    Re: How to Make Dial-Up Stay Up as Long as Possible (Bill Dripps)
    Re: Power And The Internet Domian (Sean Murphy)
    Re: Power And The Internet Domain (Matt Katz)
    Re: Power And The Internet Domain (Michael Shields)
    Re: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines (Fred R. Goldstein)
    Re: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines (Russell Blau)
    Re: Recorded Solicitations (Ron Elkayam)
    Re: Recorded Solicitations (Clifton T. Sharp)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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: Peter Marshall <[e-mail]>
Subject: RBOCs to Court on Interconnection
Organization: Eskimo North (206) For-Ever
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 18:18:36 GMT



Forwarded to Digest FYI:

WASHINGTON TELECOM NEWSWIRE ...
October 17, 1995                                  2:55 p.m. ET

THREE BELLS PUSH TO OVERTURN VIRTUAL COLOCATION

Three Bell companies argued today that a federal court should strike
down the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) virtual colocation
order, a move that competitors said is aimed at slowing the pace of
local phone competition.

Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell and U S WEST are challenging the
order, which they argue requires local phone companies to locate
equipment on their premises that is dedicated to a competitor's use.
That amounts to an unconstitutional "taking" of the Bell's private
property, the companies argued.

But the FCC said virtual colocation is needed to speed the opening of
portions of the local phone market to competition in what is now
roughly a $1-billion-a-year market that provides customers with
specialized, cheaper links to their long distance carriers.

An earlier version of the FCC colocation rules was been tossed out
by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which
heard today's arguments.

Arguments before the court centered around property rights -- with
the Bells claiming that having any equipment dedicated to handling
competitors' calls on Bell premises amounted to an unconstitutional
"taking" of the phone company's private property.

The FCC rules effectively restrict the phone companies from "owning"
the property because they would limit what the Bells could charge for
the connection equipment and would prevent the companies from
controlling third party maintenance of the dedicated competitors'
equipment, said Mark Evans, the attorney for lead petitioner Pacific
Bell.

Judge A. Raymond Randolph questioned the company's argument that it
does not own the equipment.  He said the company lists the equipment
among its assets.  He also appeared skeptical of the company's
"taking" argument, noting that government inspectors enter the
property of regulated businesses frequently.

Judge David Sentelle told FCC attorney Laurence Bourne that the agency
seemed to be telling the company how to maintain its equipment.
Sentelle also wondered why the FCC couldn't simply require local
carriers to provide interconnection without mandating how that's done.

The third judge, Judith Rogers, did not indicate by her questions
which way she was leaning.

The Court of Appeals in June 1994 tossed out the much stricter FCC
order on physical colocation that would have required local
carriers to let competitors put their own equipment on the phone
company's premises and would have allowed competitors to own and
maintain it.  One month later, the FCC passed the virtual
collocation ruling at issue today.

                              # # #  452-95

For more information contact Washington Telecom Newswire at (202)
872-9200.Chris Valmassei
Washington Telecom Newswire     |   Internet:   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Lin Zhong)
Subject: Employment: Internet Network Designer for Hong Kong
Date: 19 Oct 1995 03:18:39 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Hong Kong

Major US high tech company seeks an internet expert to help ISP to set
up internet network backbone.  Position is based in Hong Kong.
Compensation is very competitive.

Juno Systems is a global technical search firm specializing in the
placement of information systems professionals worldwide.  To apply for
the above or other positions, please contact:


Lin Zhong      Juno Systems, Inc.
125 Park Avenue  Suite 1027
New York, NY  10017
tel. [phone]  fax. [phone]
email: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Terilee Henderson )
Subject: Wireless Modems and Network - Liquidation
Date: 19 Oct 1995 20:00:29 GMT
Organization: Netcom


We are aware of a large systems integrator in Latin America who
epresssed interest dispose of a large collection of thier high speed
wireless modems (point-to-point and point-to-multipoint) and most of
thier other data network components. All in working condition with
documentations.

They want a contact in the U.S. or abroad who may be interested to
market the equipment for them.

Thank you for any suggestions.


For more information contcact:

Terilee Henderson
[e-mail]

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

From: Kevin Florey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Universal Service / Open Access
Date: 18 Oct 1995 18:17:04 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology


Can anyone direct me to any good (balanced) sources of information on
the Universal Service / Open Access as they relate to the NII.  I am
writing a paper and struggling to find much insight beyond Browning
and Glaser's Wired articles. Also, if you have an opinion on these
subject these would be greatly appreciated as well.  Thanks!!

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: How to Make Dial-Up Stay Up as Long as Possible
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 18:58:17 PDT
Organization: CCnet Communications (510-988-7140 guest)


Well, speaking from the Pacific Bell area, I pay for flat rate
residential service.  And the tariff says "unlimited number of calls
of any duration".  Long live dial access.

Yes, I've had to point that out to PB also when I had problems burning
out release magnets.

Lot's of Internet providers don't have the capacity for dedicated
services.  Frame Relay is another, frequently better option that the
dedicate service.

Trunking between toll offices doesn't seem to matter much if it be
dedicated or dialup, that capacity, in SONET and DS-3 channels is
there.

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

From: Bill Dripps <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: How to Make Dial-Up Stay Up as Long as Possible
Date: 19 Oct 1995 13:35:53 GMT
Organization: DiscipleMakers


In article <[e-mail]>, Thomas Lapp <thomas@menno.
com> wrote:

> The whole point of dial up circuits is for TEMPORARY use.  If you want
> a PERMANENT connection, then you buy what is called a leased line
> circuit.

But why does Bell Atlantic recommend the opposite? When I ask them
about leased lines to a residence, the service reps recommend a
regular line and a never ending phone call with v.34 modems. Perhaps
times have changed when we weren't looking?


Bill Dripps  814-234-7975 ext.31  [e-mail]
POB 74, State College, PA 16804-0074

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 15:50:53 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Sean Murphy - RTC Enterprises)
Subject: Re: Power and the Internet Domian


Pat,

Just to let the Digest's subscribers know -- I (Sean Murphy) received
the article from an aquaintance who received it from an aquaintance.
The article seemed a bit paranoid and flakey but I thought you and the
Digest might find it interesting.

For the record I have no problem paying $50 for domain name registration.
In fact I will have to fork out the cash in a few months to my server.


Sean Murphy
President - RTC Enterprises

For those who wish to email the creator and author of the article:

 Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 23:04:44 -0400
 From: The Anarchives <[e-mail]> (by way of [e-mail]
 (David Fingrut))
 Subject: Power And The Internet Domain

        "Relationships of ownership they whisper in the wings"
The Anarchives                          Volume 2 Issue 11
        The Anarchives                  Published By
                The Anarchives          The Anarchy Organization
                        The Anarchives  [e-mail]

                Send your e-mail address to get on the list
                Spread The Word Pass This On...

               --/\--                   Power
             /  /  \  \                 And The Internet Domain
         ---|--/----\--|---
             \/      \/
             /\______/\                 by Jesse Hirsh


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

From: [e-mail] (Matt Katz)
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Re: Power And The Internet Domain
Date: 18 Oct 1995 20:44:45 GMT
Organization: Symmetrix, Lexington, MA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Sean Murphy -
RTC Enterprises) writes:

> "Power and the Internet Domain"  by Jesse Hirsh
> Turns out (no surprise really) that the Internet domain registration
> monopoly (internic.net) is indeed owned by the military-industrial-
> biological complex. For once it's as if the double-speak vanishes and
> the truth is as open as a web page.
> Now Internet domain registration will begin to be priced according to
> user-fees starting at $50 annually. One source, one collecter of fees.
> One databank with all Internet registration ...

> Scientific Applications International Corp.

 -- much ranting deleted --

[e-mail] (Lars Poulsen, Rockwell Netwk Systems) responds:

> As you will have noted from the Web site, they are owned
> by the employees, and they have defined a code of ethics for their
> business. Hardly the deeply sinister company that you are trying to
> paint.

To echo the rebuttals, where do the "anarchists" get their information?
This is a good, employee-owned company made up of hundreds of what
were once independent, smaller companies (like NSI).

> From:  Wes Thomas <[e-mail]>

 -- deletions --

> SAIC's board members include Admiral Bobby Inman, former NSA head
> and deputy director of the CIA; Melvin Laird, Nixon's defense
> secretary; and retired General Max Thurman, commander of the Panama
> Invasion. Recently departed board members include Robert Gates,
> former CIA director; William Perry, current Secretary of Defense;
> and John Deutch, the current CIA director. Current SAIC government
> contracts include re-engineering information systems at the
> Pentagon, automation of the FBI's computerized fingerprint
> identification system, and building a national criminal history
> information system.

This is not surprising.  If you look at board members of other
consulting firms and systems integrators you will find leaders in the
industries which they serve.  How many of the CEO's of the Fortune 500
come from a consulting firm?  This networking environment and "musical
chairs" at the top of the house is very common place in the business
and consulting world.  But this forum is *not* about big corporate
politics.

I recognize that I am not entirely impartial -- I work for Symmetrix,
a management consulting firm which has recently signed a strategic
alliance with SAIC -- and I have had several occasions to meet the
*normal* people of this huge company.  We have had the lion's share of
our consulting engagements with commercial enterprises (banks,
insurance companies, telephone companies in the US/Canada/Europe); and
our alliance with SAIC is focused on contributing to the fastest
growing part of their business -- the commercial sector! (nearly
doubling revenue in the past year)

But I digress ...

Their alliance has *not* meant SAIC hordes and "control" freaks
descending on our operation; and we have *not* been bar-coded and
tagged.  If the relationship between ourselves and SAIC is comparable
to the NSI relationship, than I doubt there is any noticeable change
we can find in "their" administration of domain names.  The fee
structure is a result of NSF withdrawing related funding, not a
monopolistic infringement on the 'net!

To echo earlier sentiments, if you don't like the current system
propose an alternative.  In the meantime, *someone* will figure out
where the funding for this relatively *small* aspect of the internet's
operation will come from.


A. Matthew Katz   Symmetrix, Inc.
One Cranberry Hill  Lexington MA  02173
Phone:  [phone]
E-mail:  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael Shields)
Subject: Re: Power And The Internet Domain
Date: 18 Oct 1995 15:55:50 -0000
Organization: Tembel's Hedonic Commune


In article <[e-mail]>, Henry Baker <[e-mail]>
wrote:

> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Sean Murphy
> - RTC Enterprises) wrote:

>> For those who don't know internic.net is the "central" (catch that one),
>> registration point for the Internet. Operated in conjunction with AT&T,
>> internic.net is the biggest reference source on the net. Every time you
>> send an email with an address like "lglobal.com", that name is referenced
>> to internic.net and converted to an I.P. address such as 210.50.120.2
>> which denotes network topography.

> This makes for almost trivial 'traffic analysis', and due to the income
> from the $50/domain/year, they get _paid_ to do it!!

This is just wrong.  Internic/NSI handles registrations in six TLDs.
They also run one of *eight* root nameservers.  These are independent
activities.  They are paid for registration, not for running
ns.internic.net.

If you are concerned about the ethics of the managers of one of the root
nameservers, convince your network admin to remove that server from the
named.root file and you will be immune.


Shields

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

From: [e-mail] (Fred R. Goldstein)
Subject: Re: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 16:36:21 ELT
Organization: Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jerry Pruett -
KD4CIM) writes:

> South Haven, MS is in the Memphis, TN LATA and is also in the
> free-calling area of metro Memphis.  Do calls from South Haven to
> Memphis fall under state PSC jurisdiction or under FCC jurisdiction?
> It *appears* that South Haven falls under the jurisdiction of the TN
> PSC for POTS service (I am sure that MS has figured out how to at
> least collect taxes from the situation), but a private line from South
> Haven to Memphis falls under FCC jurisdiction.  I have always known
> that LATAs can span state boundaries, but I have just encountered the
> jurisdicational issue as to where to go for tariffs for different
> services.

There is a rule!  Essentially, under the US constitution, when a
matter falls within the Federal jurisdiction, the feds take precedence
over states and can overrule.  Thus state jurisdiction applies only to
purely-intrastate matters.  Or so you'd think.  But the actual rule is
a bit tricker.

LOCAL EXCHANGE SERVICE is defined as INTRAstate.  The FCC allows this,
which means that even if a constitutional claim could be made for
federal jurisdiction, the feds have granted this back to the states.
Local exchange service includes both the monthly rate (EXCEPT for the
$3.50-$6.00 CALC, which is the FCC's share) and local calls, even
those which cross state lines.

Toll calls within a state are subject to state jurisdiction; toll
calls (NOT local calls, see above, even "measured" local usage)
between states are under FCC jurisdiction.  What look like intrastate
calls that really originated out of state ("leaky PBX", interexchange
carriers, etc.) are under federal jurisdiction.

Leased lines which cross a state boundary are by definition
INTERstate, even if the equivalent phone call is local.  Leased lines
within a state are either interstate or interstate, depending on how
they're used!  FX lines are almost always intrastate; tie lines are
interstate if they carry interstate traffic (i.e., are part of in
interstate voice net); data lines can usually be specified as either
(leading to "tariff shopping").  But not always.

LATA boundaries don't affect regulatory jurisdiction; intrastate
inter-LATA calls are still under state jurisdiction.  Local calls are
allowed to cross LATA boundaries, but (except for "corridors")
otherwise, LATA boundaries prevent RBOCs from carrying inter-LATA
(toll) calls.

Like many other matters, this is the result of the compromise that
resulted in the American federal system of govt.  Not the simplest,
but possibly better than all of the alternatives.

Simple, no? :-)


Fred R. Goldstein   k1io    [e-mail]
Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc., Cambridge MA  USA   [phone]

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 11:02 EST
From: Russell Blau <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines


> South Haven, MS is in the Memphis, TN LATA and is also in the
> free-calling area of metro Memphis.  Do calls from South Haven to
> Memphis fall under state PSC jurisdiction or under FCC jurisdiction?

The LATA boundaries are irrelevant in determining jurisdiction.  If a
call from South Haven to Memphis is local, then it falls under
Mississippi PSC jurisdiction (calls in the other direction fall under
Tennessee PSC jurisdiction).  If you are billed toll charges for the
call, then FCC tariffs govern.  You have to look in the state tariffs
first to determine the scope of the local calling area.

The reason for this odd result is that the Communications Act of 1934
gave the FCC exclusive jurisdiction over all communications services
that cross state lines, but then carved out an exception that allowed
the states to continue regulating all service within an "exchange
area" even if part of that service is interstate in nature.  The
states also get to determine the boundaries of the "exchange area," so
they can control whether the South Haven to Memphis route will be
considered local or interstate toll.


Russell M. Blau            Tel: [phone]
Swidler & Berlin, Chtd.    Fax: [phone]
3000 K Street, NW          E-mail: [e-mail]
Washington, DC  20007

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

From: [e-mail] (Ronell (Ron) Elkayam)
Subject: Re: Recorded Solicitations
Date: 18 Oct 1995 18:09:22 GMT
Organization: Florida International University


TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Stan Brown ([e-mail].
net):

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another source of annoyance are those
> phone  calls which  begin  with  answering  the phone  and hearing a
> recorded announcement saying 'we have an important call for you; but
> right now  all representatives are  busy, please hold  the line.'  I
> hang up on those instantly. I don't care if the holding time is only
> ten seconds, they have lost me the minute they dial my number and in
> effect tell me their time is more valuable than mine.  PAT]

If they  were smart enough, they'd  probably start  telling you random
jokes (politically correct, of course) or start playing  you a top hit
(song)  from  the late 70's  which everyone  remembers  and likes, but
hasn't heard in awhile...  Or..  or..  start giving you random lottery
numbers or play you a portion of a sex-phone conversation.

Hmm, they should probably  give you a  menu with these options!  Heck,
you'd probably want to stay on the line and NEVER talk to the rep.


W/love,   | Owner & Programmer:  The People's Voice BBS @ 305-937-6468
          | No pregnant women or heart-conditioned senior citizens are
Ron       | allowed.    Under 42 must get parents' permission to call.
Miami, FL | "THIS  IS  WHAT  YOUR  MOTHER  ALWAYS  WARNED  YOU  ABOUT"

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

From: [e-mail] (Clifton T. Sharp)
Subject: Re: Recorded Solicitations
Organization: as little as possible
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 15:06:28 GMT


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

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another source of annoyance are those
> phone calls which begin with answering the phone and hearing a recorded
> announcement saying 'we have an important call for you; but right now
> all representatives are busy, please hold the line.'  I hang up on those
> instantly. I don't care if the holding time is only ten seconds, they
> have lost me the minute they dial my number and in effect tell me their
> time is more valuable than mine.    PAT]

Some years ago I was coming home regularly to answering machine "messages"
that consisted of some kind of elevator music. I thought someone was
playing games with me until one day when I was home to hear what
actually happened.

The first call, music came through the speaker as I screened the call.
For the second call I picked up the receiver and listened as the
machine answered; a canned voice gave me that "important call for you"
garbage, then switched to the music before my message finished.

The third call, a human called the number, listened to the outgoing
message, then in his best cynical/nasty voice left the one-word message
"Cute."


Cliff Sharp                  There are days when no matter which
 WA9PDM                      way you spit, it's upwind.
[e-mail]       --The First Law of Reality

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #443
******************************


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Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 16:43:05 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #444

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Oct 95 16:43:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 444

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    CFP: 4th Int'l Conf on Spoken Language Processing (Jim Polikoff)
    E & M to Serial (Steve Sonnenberg)
    Re: Audio Signal Directly Into Phone Line? (Don Johnson)
    Re: Audio Signal Directly Into Phone Line? (Dave LeVasseur)
    Re: Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones (Michael Roberts)
    Re: Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones (Brian Edwards)
    Re: Calling Card Billing ([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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (Jim Polikoff)
Subject: CFP: 4th Int'l Conf on Spoken Language Processing
Date: 18 Oct 1995 15:08:06 -0400
Organization: AI duPont Institute


         Fourth International Conference on Spoken Language Processing
                            October 3-6, 1996
                         Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel
                           Philadelphia, PA, USA

   ________________________ ICSLP 96 Organizers____________________________

      H. Timothy Bunnell, Chair
      Richard A. Foulds, Vice-Chair
      Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories
      Wilmington, DE, USA

   ______________________________ICSLP______________________________________

      ICSLP unites researchers, developers, and clinicians for an exchange
      on a wide variety of topics related to spoken language processing by
      humans and machines. Conference presentations range from basic
      acoustic phonetic research to clinically oriented speech training
      devices to speech-based natural language interfaces for man-machine
      interaction. ICSLP 96 will feature technical sessions in both oral
      and poster format, plenary talks, commercial exhibits, and daily
      special sessions. In addition, satellite workshops will be held in
      conjunction with the conference in the areas of interactive voice
      technology, spoken dialogue, speech databases and speech I/O, and
      the integration of gestures and speech.  A new emphasis for ICSLP 96
      will be on the clinical applications of speech technology, including
      the use of speech technology based applications for persons with
      disabilities.


   _________________________Conference Update________________________10/4/95

      Dates to Note:

        January 15, 1996    - Paper abstracts due for review
        March 15, 1996        - Acceptance notification
        May 1, 1996        - Deadline for papers (camera-ready, 4 pages)


      Prospective authors are invited to submit papers relevant to spoken
      language processing in any of the conference Technical Areas.
      Abstracts of proposed papers must be received by the ICSLP 96
      Organizing Committee no later than January 15, 1996. Only original,
      unpublished papers may be submitted. Papers will be selected by the
      ICSLP 96 Technical Program Committee and assigned for presentation
      in poster or oral format. English is the working language for the
      conference. Submission of an abstract implies a commit ment to
      submit a four page, camera-ready version of the paper and to present
      the paper in either an oral or poster for mat if the abstract is
      accepted. Participants will be expected to pay their own
      registration fees, travel, and accommodations for ICSLP 96.


    _____________________Submission of Abstracts____________________________

      Abstracts must be received by the ICSLP 96 Organizing Committee no
      later than January 15, 1996. Abstracts may be submitted either by post
      or by e-mail following these guidelines:

          + One page, 400 word maximum
          + Technical Area(s) indicated in order of preference
         using the codes (A - X) below.
          + Title of the proposed paper clearly indicated
           + Preference for paper or poster clearly indicated
          + If sent by post, submit four (4) copies of the abstract
          + If sent by e-mail, use plain text (ASCII) format only

      Each abstract must also include the following contact information:

          + Author name(s)*
          + Postal mailing address
          + Phone number
          + Fax number
          + E-mail address

      E-mailed abstracts will be acknowledged by e-mail within 48
      hours of submission. If you do not receive e-mail
      confirmation, we have not received your abstract! Please
      check the e-mail address and resubmit. Please do not e-mail
      multiple copies for any other reason.

     *Please be sure that the primary contact person is noted if it is
      someone other than the First Author.

     Mail or send abstracts to:

           ICSLP 96
          Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories
           A.I. duPont Institute
           P.O. Box 269
           Wilmington, DE 19899
           E-mail: [e-mail]

 ________________________Technical Areas___________________________________

      A. Production of spoken language
      B. Perception of spoken language
      C. Robust speech modeling and speech enhancement
      D. Speech coding and transmission
      E. Automatic speech recognition
      F. Spoken language processing for special populations
      G. Phonetics and phonology
      H. Spoken discourse analysis/synthesis
      I. Synthesis of spoken language
      J. Applications for people with speech/language/hearing disorders
      K. Databases and standards for speech technology
      L. Prosody of spoken language
      M. Speech analysis and parameterization
      N. Spoken language acquisition/learning
      O. Integration of spoken language and natural language processing
      P. Hardware for speech processing
      Q. Neural networks and stochastic modeling of spoken language
      R. Dialects and speaking styles
      S. Instructional technology for spoken language
      T. Speaker/language identification and verification
      U. Human factors and assessment in spoken language applications
      V. Spoken language dialogue and conversation
      W. Gesture and Multimodal Spoken Language Processing
      X. Other

 _____________________Registration Information______________________________

      Full registration includes:
      Admission to technical sessions, Reception, Banquet,
      Proceedings (printed & CD-ROM)

      Limited registration includes:
      Admission to technical sessions, Reception, Proceedings on CD-ROM

      Early Registration fees:
                  Member*  Non-Member  Student
          Full        $425      $525         $250
          Limited        $300      $400         $150

      Late registration:
          After June 21, add $60
          After August 9, add $100

      Additional Tickets:
          Banquet         $60
          Reception         $50

      Additional Proceedings:
          Printed        $125
          CD-ROM         $15

      * See Sponsoring and Cooperating Organizations.

 ________________________Satellite Workshops________________________________

      The following Satellite Workshops will be held immediately before or
      after the ICSLP 96 conference.

      1. IVITA

      The 3rd IEEE workshop on Interactive Voice Technology for
      Telecommunications Applications (IVTTA) will be held at the AT&T
      Learning Center, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, from September 30 -
      October 1, 1996. The IVTTA workshop brings together applications
      researchers planning to conduct or who have recently conducted field
      trials of new applications of speech technologies.  Due to workshop
      facility constraints, attendance will be limited primarily to
      contributors. For further information about the workshop, contact:

          Dr. Murray Spiegel
          Bellcore
          445 South Street
          Morristown, NJ, USA
          e-mail: [e-mail]
          Phone:  [phone]; Fax: [phone]

      Submit abstracts (400 words, maximum 1 page) before March 15, 1996 to:

          Dr. David Roe
          IEEE IVTTA `96
          AT&T Bell Laboratories, Room 2D-533
          Murray Hill, NJ 07974
          e-mail: [e-mail]
          Phone:  [phone]; Fax: [phone]

      2. ISSD-96

      The 1996 International Symposium on Spoken Dialogue (ISSD-96) will be
      held on October 2 and 3 at the venue of ICSLP 96. It is intended to be
      a forum of interdisciplinary exchange between researchers working on
      spoken dialogues from various points of view. The first day is devoted
      to invited lectures followed by sessions of both invited and
      contributed papers, which will be continued on the second day as
      special sessions of ICSLP 96. Papers submitted to ICSLP 96 (Technical
      Areas H,L,O,U,&V) may be selected for presentation at the
      symposium. For further information about the symposium, contact:

          Prof. Hiroya Fujisaki, Chairman, ISSD-96
          Dept. of Applied Electronics
          Science University of Tokyo
          2641 Yamazaki, Noda, 278 Japan
          e-mail: [e-mail]
          Phone:  [phone]; Fax: [phone]

      3. COCOSDA Workshop 96

      COCOSDA Workshop 96 will be held on Monday, October 7 at the Wyndham
      Franklin Plaza Hotel. The International Coordinating Committee on
      Speech Databases and Speech I/O Systems Assessment (COCOSDA) has been
      established to promote international cooperation in the fundamental
      areas of Spoken Language Engineering. Previous meetings have taken
      place in Banff 1992, Berlin 1993, Yokohama 1994 and Madrid 1995.
      Program and registration information for COCOSDA 96 will be forthcoming
      in later announcements.  For more information about COCOSDA, consult
      the Web Page at http://www.itl.atr.co.jp/cocosda.

      4. WIGLS

      Workshop on the Integration of Gesture in Language and Speech (WIGLS)
      will be held October 7 and 8. This Workshop will consider the
      integration of gesture and spoken language in intelligent
      human/computer interfaces, advanced assistive technology for
      individuals with disabilities, telemanipulation and robotics systems,
      and human conversation. Gestures including hand postures, dynamic arm
      movements, facial expression, and eye gaze will be considered along
      with more traditional lip shapes and handwriting movements. For further
      information, contact:

          Dr. Lynn Messing
          A. I. duPont Institute
          P.O. Box 269
          Wilmington, DE 19899
          e-mail:  [e-mail]
          Phone:   [phone]; Fax: [phone]


______________Sponsoring and Cooperating Organizations________________________

          The Acoustical Society of America
          The Acoustical Society of Japan
          American Speech and Hearing Association (Pending)
          Australian Speech Science and Technology Association
          European Speech Communication Association
          IEEE Signal Processing Society
          Incorporated Canadian Acoustical Association
          International Phonetic Association
          For additional sponsoring organizations, contact ICSLP 96.

______________For more information about ICSLP 96, contact_____________________


          ICSLP 96
          Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories
          A.I. duPont Institute
          P.O. Box 269
          Wilmington, DE 19899
          Phone: [phone]
          TDD: [phone]
          Fax: [phone]
          Email: [e-mail]
          WWW: http://www.asel.udel.edu/speech/icslp.html
          FTP: zeppo.asel.udel.edu:pub/ICSLP

      A two-page PostScript format copy of the most recent Conference
      Announcement and Call for Papers can also be obtained by anonyomus
      ftp. Connect to host zeppo.asel.udel.edu, cd to directory pub/ICSLP96,
      and get call.ps.Z in binary mode. The file must be uncompressed with a
      unix compatable uncompress program before being printed. This plain
      text version of the announcement is located in the same directory as
      file call.txt


_______________________International Advisory Board__________________________

             Hiroya Fujisaki - Founding Chair
             Science University of Tokyo
             Tokyo, Japan

      Jens Blauert                            Louis C. W. Pols
      Ruhr-Universitat Bochum                 University of Amsterdam,
      Bochum, Germany                         Amsterdam, The Netherlands

      Anne Cutler                             Lawrence Rabiner
      Max Planck Institute for                AT&T Bell Labs
      Psycholinguistics                       Murray Hill, NJ, USA
      Nijmegen, The Netherlands

      Gunnar Fant                             Katsuhiko Shirai
      Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)     Waseda University
      Stockholm, Sweden                       Tokyo, Japan

      John Laver                              Kenneth Stevens
      Humanities Research Board of            Massachusetts Institute
      the British Academy                     of Technology
      Edinburgh, Scotland                     Cambridge, MA, USA

      Joseph Mariani                          Yoh'ichi Tohkura
      LIMSI-CNRS                              ATR Human Information
      Orsay, France                           Processing Research Lab
                          Kyoto, Japan

      J. Bruce Millar                         Victor Zue
      Australian National University          Massachusetts Institute
      Canberra, Australia                     of Technology
                          Cambridge, MA, USA

      John Ohala
      University of California
      Berkeley, CA, USA

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

From: Steve Sonnenberg <[e-mail]>
Subject: E & M to Serial
Date: 18 Oct 1995 23:38:32 GMT
Organization: Sytrix Technologies


I would like to use the Internet to bridge two hybrid PBX systems. The
PBX's have two wire E&M capability, but a real tie line would cost a
fortune.  I was thinking that if I could convert the E & M circuit to
Async RS-232 I could write an application to do a full-duplex ftp
operation (on demand if possible).

Does anyone know of such a converter or perhaps a more suitable solution?


[e-mail]
Steve Sonnenberg

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

From: [e-mail] (Don Johnson)
Subject: Re: Audio Signal Directly Into Phone Line?
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 02:04:40 GMT
Organization: CallAmerica, San Luis Obispo CA USA


[e-mail] (TGI) wrote:

> How can I play audio directly into the phone line?  I'd like to
> connect an RCA-style input to a phone jack so I can play audio
> directly from the stereo/computer output into the phoneline.  What
> interfacing electronics is required?

> NOTE:  This is not for hacking/phreaking I just want to play computer samples
> or music directly into the line during a phone conversation.

You need to isolate the 48 volt battery on the phone line from what
ever you are using as an audio source.  You also need to balance the
line from ground as your tape deck/ stereo might have a ground on the
jack -- if it is plugged in.

I'd recommend that you get a small transformer from someplace like
Radio Shack.  They used to cost a couple bucks.  Look at the winding
impedances.  You should see something between 200 and 2000 ohms for
one side and something between 3.2 ohms and 1000 ohms on the other
side.  You'll also need a 2 to 5 microfarad  (uF) capacitor that is
NON-ELECTROLYTIC.

The lower impedance side of the transformer goes into your radio,
cassette, etc.  The higher impedance side goes to the phone line with
the capacitor in series with one of the leads.

This arrangement will NOT hold the phone line, so you will have to
stay off hook while you are playing your tape.  If you want it to hold
the line you'll need a 200 to 800 ohm resistor across the phone line.
Use the biggest value that will hold the line.

You could get fancier, but that'll do it without damaging either the
phone line or your audio sources.


Don Johnson

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 09:20:27 CDT
From: Dave LeVasseur <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Audio Signal Directly Into Phone Line


In TELECOM Digest #437, [e-mail] wrote:

> How can I play audio directly into the phone line?  I'd like to
> connect an RCA-style input to a phone jack so I can play audio
> directly from the stereo/computer output into the phoneline.  What
> interfacing electronics is required?

You might try tracking down a "music-oh-hold" device, if such a beast
exists.  Please be aware that FCC and Industry Canada rules prohibit
the sale of devices that don't limit the energy sent out over the
telephone line.  As such, the line-level audio from your RCA output
can't be legally connected to the phone line without something to
limit its output power.  This said, it is certainly possible to
"illegally" connect your RCA jack to a telephone connection.

I believe some of the devices used to *record* telephone conversations
(sold in the "back" sections of many electronics magazines) could be
pressed into service to provide this function.  You might consider
using this setup with a telephone having mute capability to prevent
your telephone from adding unwanted signals and distortion to your
RCA-jack audio signal.  An isolation transformer capable of carrying
the telephone line's DC current is also recommended.  I can provide
information on such transformers if you like.

Coincidentally, I am in the process of helping develop a product that
allows (among other things) the playback of sound card audio out to
the telephone line.  This device *has* been approved in accordance
with FCC rules (soon Industry Canada) and we hope to have it available
early in 1996.  Send me a private e-mail for more information.


Dave LeVasseur                     | Internet: [e-mail]
Advanced Product Development Mgr.  | Telephone: [phone] (direct)
Midcom, Inc.                       | Front Desk:[phone]
121 Airport Drive / P.O. Box 1330  | Toll-free: [phone] US & Canada
Watertown, SD 57201 USA            | Fax: [phone]
Amateur Radio: N0DL                | BBS: [phone]  14.4-8-n-1

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael J. Roberts)
Subject: Re: Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 17:04:21 -0500
Organization: Task Information Systems,  Inc.


>> I suspect that the tones transmitted from USA (after you reach the
>> computer) may not be of the same frequency the Austrian system
>> expects ... but any solutions or alternate theories?

Are you sure the phone is sending DTMF and is not in psuedo DTMF or
pulse mode?  (Just covering all the bases.) -Mike


Michael J. Roberts
Task Information Systems, Inc.
[e-mail]

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

From: bedw@btma56::in%" (Brian Edwards)"
Subject: Re: Mystery - How Do You Interface With European Phones
Date: 18 Oct 1995 16:23:31 GMT
Organization: Alcatel Bell
Reply-To: bedw@btma56::in%" (Brian Edwards)"


In article <[e-mail]>, Marko Ruokonen <100031.31@
compuserve.com> writes:

> In TELECOM Digest Volume 15 : Issue 433, Sub Ramakrishnan
> <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> I am trying to reach a number in Austria, from US. The number is,
>> 011(43)(xxx)yyy; 43 is Austria, xxx and yy are the area codes, and
>> the local number. A computer answers this number and asks me to press
>> 1 for service_1, 2 for service2 etc..

Just a thought ...

Some phones give a short burst of tone, others send it for as long as
the button is pressed. I've had this problem interogating my answering
machine. If your phone is the former, perhaps the tone burst is too
short (or too quiet).


Brian Edwards    [e-mail]
[e-mail]
------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Calling Card Billing
Date: 18 Oct 1995 13:46:15 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, USA


In article <[e-mail]>, Ole J. Jacobsen <ole@Csli.
Stanford.EDU> wrote:

> Something happened today which had my blood boiling. I received a bill
> from Pac*Bell demanding immediate payment of my long distance balance
> since this had exceeded their idea of "normal". All the calls were
> made on my AT&T calling card while travelling in France and England,
> it is pure coincidence that I am now home and received the bill. It is
> due on October 11, 5 days from now, two of those days are weekend
> days.

Hey, at least you got a letter -- a few years ago my SPRINT calling
card stopped working.  Fortunately I had a business calling card, so I
was able to make my calls on that trip.  When I got home I called
SPRINT; they said that my card had shown calls "outside my normal
pattern" and that they had thus cancelled the card.  In fact, the call
in question was from NYC to my parents, in Canada.  When I pointed out
that I call that number regularly, and that the odds of someone
stealing my card so they could call my parents were, shall we say,
low, they said "We don't have access to that kind of information" (so
how do they determine what a "normal" pattern is?).

The bottom line seemed to be that I had used the calling card from --
gasp! -- somewhere I don't live (what a concept), so they cancelled
it.  I asked why they hadn't notified me; they said "We always try to
call".  I pointed out that I got no message on my answering machine,
and they said they don't leave messages on answering machines!  Must
be too high-tech for them.

I suggested they send me 50 calling cards, so I could use each one
once, and then they would presumably cancel it; they didn't like that
much, but did send me a new card.  And actually haven't cancelled it.
Perhaps there's a red flag on the account ...

 ..phsiii

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #444
******************************


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Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 18:10:46 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #445

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Oct 95 18:10:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 445

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Internet Over the Atlantic (Sergio Gelato)
    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Richard Harris)
    Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Paul Cook)
    Re: NYNEX Goes National With Online Yellow Pages (Peter M. Weiss)
    Re: Help Wanted with PHS Std (Michi Kaifu)
    Re: Legal Slamming ([e-mail])
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Bob Goudreau)
    Information on Industry Strategy Business Games or Scenarios (R. Hodges)
    Re: AIN in Cellular (Lynne Gregg)
    Re: ??? 800-MY-ANI-IS ??? (Alan Pugh)
    Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T? (Grover McCoury)
    Re: Bell Name Change (Wes Leatherock)
    Voice Contract Negotiations (Jeanne Cooney)
    Use Analog Modem on Digital Line? (Jacinthe Lavoie)
    Need Small PABX - Any Suggestions? (Simon Leo Barber)
    800-N11 Prefixes (Carl Moore)
    What to Call AT&T's GIS? (Mark J. Cuccia)
    At The Tone, The Time Will Be ... (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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
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     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (Sergio Gelato)
Subject: Re: Internet Over the Atlantic
Date: 18 Oct 1995 15:58:54 GMT
Organization: SISSA, Trieste


In article <[e-mail]>, Stuart D. Brorson <sdb@gamma.
dou.dk> wrote:

> This is just a short question.  I recall hearing somewhere that the
> internet has only two T1 lines and an E1 line going over the Atlantic
> (between Europe and North America).  Is this true, or just a silly
> rumor?  Does anybody have suggestions about where to find such
> information reliably?

This has got to be a joke.  To begin with, "the internet" is not a
single entity but a collection of interconnected networks. A number of
these networks have their own private links over the Atlantic. Which
of these links will be traversed depends on which network you are on,
and which network you are communicating with.

To get the total number of these links and their aggregate capacity,
you need to query all the organisations that operate the links.
I suggest the following starting points for your research:

http://www.ripe.net/
http://www.ebone.net/

RIPE stands for Reseaux IP Europeans, Ebone for European backbone or
something like that. According to one of the maps I just found, there
is a 4MBit/s link from Stockholm to Washington (which may be the
relevant one for Danish users), and 3.5MBit/s from Paris. The link our
network here (GARR) uses (between Pisa and Maryland) is not on that
map since GARR is apparently not a partner of Ebone; I assume that
this is not an isolated case, and that there exist more private links.
(The French "Internet Way" claims to have another, for example.)

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

Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
From: [e-mail] (Richard Harris)
Organization: JYACC, Inc.
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 12:35:21 EST


Norm Tiedemann wrote:

> There are almost 180 4ESS in the world today. Seven are in foreign
> contries; six are owned by independents and thirty owned by the RBOCs,
> and the remaining almost 140 are owned by AT&T. The 1A processor is
> basically a very stupid controller. Its memory buses cycle time is
> 700nsec and has 22 bit addressing.  (Yes to be exact they are 24, but
> two bits were never implemented.) After all 20 years ago, why would
> anyone need that much processing power or addressing space. It has
> hard limits on the number of terminations and number of busy hour call
> attempts it can do based on its base cycle time of checking every
> termination. Calls today are 100 times more complex than 20 years ago:
> database dips, special features, signalling, etc.  the 1A just could
> not keep up.  And BHCA capacity was dropping because of the increased
> complexity. Studies were done which indicated it would be cheaper to
> upgrade the processor than install more switches and waste
> terminations on intraAT&T trunks.

True, but how many extra 4E switches had to be purchased/installed/trunked
in AT&T's net as a result of the years of delays in the introduction
of the 1B?  By my estimate, the answer seems to be around 15-20. I
used AT&T public statistics saying how many 4Es there were, and saw
that the number spiked in the three years after the 1B was "officially"
delayed in '91 -- after many years of almost flat numbers.  This was
after having already spent at least five years on the project.  And the
cost of adding each one runs in the tens of millions each if you
include power plants, re-trunking expenses, construction costs,
interest on the capital, etc.

I can't help but think that if AT&T's network equipment supplier was
_not_ part of AT&T, they would not still be using the 4E and probably
wouldn't have bought into the 1B upgrade strategy.  You would think
that in the 8 years it took to upgrade to the 1B they could have
replaced them with a whole new switch.  Perhaps the breakup will give
the new AT&T the leverage it needs to have other vendors create a
next-generation switch for its needs.


Richard Harris     JAM/Pi Product Manager  JYACC Inc.
[e-mail]  [phone] x3037   116 John St, NY NY 10038

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 10:39 EST
From: Proctor & Associates <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner


[e-mail] wrote that he wanted a way to hook a fax machine to
a fax modem, so he could scan documents and store them on his
computer.  The moderator suggested using a second phone line, and
[e-mail] wrote that this is expensive.

We've seen our customers use our telephone demonstrators for this
application, since they simulate phone lines, complete with standard
dialtone, ringing, ringback tone and busy.  The least expensive one is
the 49250 Phone Demo II, which sells in single quantity for $259.95.

Recently a fellow from a law firm called who wanted to use his
existing fax machine and PC to store documents.  He found that the fax
files were very compressable, so using either PKZIP or one of the hard
drive compression programs he was able to store a lot of documents.


Paul Cook                  [e-mail]
Proctor & Associates       206-881-7000
15050 NE 36 St.            206-885-3282 (fax)
Redmond WA  98052-5378

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

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 16:28 EDT
From: Peter M. Weiss <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: NYNEX Goes National With Online Yellow Pages


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I always assumed that people who ate pizza
> on a regular basis had a speed dial button on their phone devoted to
> that purpose so they did not have to look up the number each time.  PAT]

Geez, and I thought they had a voice mail future-delivery option set
to auto-deliver a non-subscriber outgoing message.  Silly me. ;-)


--  co-owner INFOSYS, TQM-L, CPARK-L, ERAPPA-L, JANITORS, LDBASE-L, et -L
URL:mailto:[e-mail]   "I've fallen and can't reach my keyboard"
31 Shields Bldg. --   Penn State    -- University Park, PA 16802-1202 USA

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

Date: 18 Oct 1995 21:07:08 -0500
From: Michi KAIFU <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Help Wanted With PHS Standard


Dear Denis,

Information about PHS is found on one of NTT's publication, "NTT
Review", May 19 95 issue.  You can see an excerpt on "NTT R&D Home
Page" (http//www.info.hqs.ca e.ntt.jp) and see "NTT Publication - NTT
Review", but for detail you need a prin ted version.  Overseas
subscription is handled by the following companies:

Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd., Book Export No. 2 Dept.
P.O.Box 5030, Tokyo International
Tokyo 100-31, Japan
Tel:  [phone]    Fax:  [phone]

Maruzen Co., Ltd.
International Division Export Dept.
P.O.Box 5050, Tokyo International
Tokyo 100-31, Japan
Tel:  [phone]    Fax:  [phone]

If you face a "Japanese bureaucracy" ;-) to obtain this specific back
number, please send me an e-mail with your address.  I can send you
my extra copy.


Michi Kaifu    NTT America, Inc.   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Legal Slamming
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 03:53:01 GMT


I just looked into the anti-slamming program available from my local
telco ... seems like I get to sign a bunch of forms and get acquainted
with some bureaucreatic process that must happen if ever I want to
switch LD carriers.  If I want to switch from LD Company A to LD
company B, I must go to a telco office and sign the proper forms in
person.  I have not been slammed yet, but it seems worth the
preventive medicine ...

But something interesting just occured to me.  What if I get another
one of those fat checks in the mail from whatever bigshot LD carrier
lately wants me as a customer?  Can I cash it, grinning to myself that
they won't be able to change my service anyway -- now that I have signed
onto this anti-slamming program?

What would happen in this case?   Seems pretty unique.

Also ... one check I remember getting in the past said "required
signature for authorization to switch service" or something like that.
I threw it out at the time.  But what if I were to stamp a big, fat,
black, obliterating "For Deposit Only to account of person named on
front of check (etc.etc.etc.)" mark on the back of the check instead?
Right over any directions printed there on how to sign it?  I know
that it would go through, but as far as their "authorized signature"
to switch to that carrier goes...  ;-)

Granted, I would NEVER actually DO such dastardly things to an
innocent ol' multinational LD phone company ... nope, never at all.
I'm just curious about what the mechanisms the LD companies have in
place for anyone mischevious enuf to try any of these things.


Elana


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you cashed a check under those cir-
cumstances authorizing your carrier to be switched when it fact it could
only be done with your written authorization to your local telco, then
you might expect to receive in a few days a call or letter from your
local telco asking you to sign off on the change you requested direct
via the carrier. You'd have to sign telco's form (or follow their ins-
tructions, whatever those were) to complete the process. It was, after
all, you who asked for the additional verification process from your
local telco and they would do so. Now if you *refused* at that point to
sign off for telco or verify in writing for telco your intent to change
carriers, then telco would refuse the order and send it back to the
carrier who would have the right to come to you and ask for the return
of the money they gave you. Legally, you would be in violation of your
contract with the LD carrier by having agreed to use their services and
then after receiving consideration (that is, your payment) refusing to
honor the agreement you made. They could sue you for the return of their
money or possibly bill it back to you through the local telco, but in
all probability they would just write you off as a deadbeat and put you
on a list of subscribers not to be contacted further with any special
offers or promotions.

To respond to your statement about the uniqueness of the situation,
there is nothing unique about it at all. Deadbeats abound in this
world of ours; telco gets more than their share. It happens frequently
that people play games such as you suggest.

Regards obliterating the endorsement and/or audit information on a negotiable
instrument, you should be aware that it is a federal crime to do it delib-
eratly. It can, and surely does happen as a result of the mechanical parts
of the banking system. Anytime you tamper with a negotiable instrument
for the purpose of changing or confusing the intentions of the maker of
the instrument, you have been a Bad Person. And would it make a difference
in what happened to your phone line? Most likely not. Probably you would
have your carrier switched anyway simply because those checks are mass-
processed to a certain account where thousands of the same are handled
daily. The carrier would act in good faith by switching your service since
it could be easily demonstrated that 'historically' the purpose of checks
cashed and applied in that account were from telephone subscribers asking
for it to be done. The carrier is going to assume that the defacement of
his instructions was done accidentally ... are YOU then going to speak
up and say no, you did it on purpose in an effort to defraud and deceive?

The Prophet said 'there is nothing new under the sun', and the LD carriers
would probably agree. They deal with situations like yours all the time.
Some people are fond of telling the carriers to switch a voicemail number
or a payphone number they know of -- some phone they have no control over
whatsoever where choice of carrier is concerned. Now and then when it gets
to be a real nuisance, the carrier may decide to get tough and sue for
its money back, but most just write it off and add you to their list of
names of people not to be trusted with promotional offers, etc.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 10:18:46 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives


[e-mail] (Jan Mandel) wrote:

> To add to the confusion, US phone books to not list instructions how
> to dial long distance or international, saying "contact your long
> distance carrier", but do not say how to do THAT.

As is usually the case with blanket statements, the claim that all
US phone books lack such instructions is patently false.  Perhaps
the phonebooks for *your area* are flawed in this manner; if so, I
advise that you complain to the telco.  (And, BTW, which books/telcos
are we talking about here -- US West Denver white pages?)  But I have
never lived in an area where the front section of the phonebook did
not contain several pages describing how to dial long distance calls,
both national and international.  Indeed, every phonebook I've seen
always had a full map of the area codes in the NANP, and most (except
GTE books, which seem to have pretty minimal lists) also have a fairly
extensive list of country codes and the city codes of several major
cities.

> What a mess.

Thanks, but I prefer the "mess" of several competing long distance
carriers to the neat but painful certainties of being forced to bend
over and pay the outrageous rates typically charged by monopoly
state-owned carriers in most other countries.  In any case, unless
you want to select a long-distance carrier other than your default one,
there's not all that much to say about international calls -- just
dial 011 followed by the country code and national number.  For
intra-NPA long distance calls, try 1 followed by the area code and
local number; in the few cases where that fails, try again with the
seven-digit local number.


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

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

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 17:51:37 -0400
Subject: Information on Industry Strategy Business Games or Scenarios


Mr. Editor:

I am a recent addition to the mailing list for the telecom digest.  I
am also a partner in a small telcom consulting firm in Sausalito, CA
and a net neophyte. We have a had an inquiry from a contact currently
working in Europe who's client is interested in computer-based
industry simulation or strategic scenario games.  His client is a
large business that intends to enter the European market soon and they
would like to spend a week exploring strategic scenarios.  Our contact
says he used such a system in B-school at Harvard and has asked us to
help him locate and customize software to be used in such and
exercise.  Have you ever heard of anyone that has or is developing
something of like that?  Ideally it would be specific to the telcom
industry but, I hardly expect to find that unless it was from the
strategy group at a major carrier or hardware vendor. I would
appreciate any help, advice or leads that you or other readers might
have to offer.  My e-mail address is [e-mail] or 415-331-5800.


Richard Hodges

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

From: Lynne Gregg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: AIN in Cellular
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 09:42:00 PDT


[e-mail] (Ken Hester) and [e-mail] were
discussing AIN platforms in cellular nets.  Ken referenced EBS's
system.  In fact, there are MANY adjunct systems designed to support
AIN services.  Quite a number of computer manufacturers offer systems
that deliver AIN services.  These include: Hewlett Packard, Tandem,
Stratus, and more.  Some switch manufacturers also build AIN platforms.
AT&T Network Systems is one of those.


Regards,

Lynne

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 95 11:39 EST
From: Alan Pugh <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: ??? 800-MY-ANI-IS ???


> Yesterday, Tues 17 Oct.95, I could *NOT* get a number readback on
> 800-692-6447 (MY-ANI-IS). I only got a 'other-common-carrier' type of
> dialtone (~440 Hz). I tried to enter various touchtone strings (I
> entered 700-555-4141 just for the heck of it), and received an
> 'invalid-entry' type of recording. The recording did NOT identify who
> they were- but the recorded voice and letter code at the end of the
> recording was that of MCI's.

It is an internal MCI number. From what I understand, it was never
supposed to be given out to people outside of MCI. Personally, I
think it would be a smarter move for MCI to just put a little
recorded message on before the ANI is read back saying something like
"this service provided by mci" or something. I can't imagine this
number being too much of a drain on the company, and it would be a
good opportunity to do some nice customer relations.

Unfortunately, I don't speak for my company.


amp   <[e-mail]>
<[e-mail]>
PGP Key = 4A2683C1

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

From: Grover McCoury <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: What to Call the Three Parts of AT&T?
Date: 19 Oct 1995 10:45:29 GMT
Organization: Scientific Atlanta


[e-mail] (Edwin Green) wrote:

> Actually AT&T never changed its name to American Bell.  American Bell
> was formed in 1983 as a fully-separated subsidiary of AT&T.  Its
> purpose was to allow AT&T to sell phones, PBXs, etc. on the open
> market.  To do that, AT&T had to have a separate set of books so it
> could prove that there was no cross-subsidizing from network revenues.
> The icon for American Bell was the Death Star which was adopted by
> AT&T in 1984 after it divested itself of the local operating
> companies.  American Bell lived on for a year or so.  I don't remember
> when the name was dropped completely.

My career at AT&T was as follows:

Bell Telephone Laboratories -> American Bell (founded 1983) -> AT&T
Information Systems Laboratories -> AT&T Communications -> AT&T Bell
Laboratories.

In other words, full circle, same project (System 75/Definity).

American Bell and AT&T Information Systems were short-lived
ventures (couple years maximum).


Grover C. McCoury III   @ Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.
physical: P.O Box 6850,  ATL-52D   Norcross, GA  30091  USA
audio: 770-806-7702   electronic: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Wes Leatherock)
Subject: Re: Bell Name Change
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 13:27:00 GMT


Stan Schwartz <[e-mail]> wrote:

> I just thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that earlier this
> week, the name change became official.  Southern Bell and SouthWestern
> Bell became BellSOUTH.

       Southwestern Bell is not and has never been a part of Bell
South.  It would require the approval of the Justice Department and
Judge Greene, neither of which is likely to approve the merger of two
regional Bell holding companies.

       Furthermore, why would Southwestern Bell be even slightly
interested in consolidating with BellSouth, when Southwestern Bell is
doing the best of the regional holding companies?

       So the corporate name was recently changed from Southwestern
Bell Corporation to SBC Corporation, but Southwestern Bell Telephone
Company remains its only telephone company, just as it always has
been.

       There is no corporate connection between BellSouth and SBC
Corporation (Southwestern Bell).


Wes Leatherock
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeanne Cooney)
Subject: Voice Contract Negotiations
Date: 18 Oct 1995 18:49:22 GMT
Organization: Ziff-Davis Publishing


I am trying to come up with a "Most Favored" status clause; does anyone
have a clause that speaks to getting a carrier to agree that if they
write a better tariff that you could be included in (this is probably
difficult to evaluate) that you would be guaranteed to be moved into the
better tariff?

I ceratinly am open to any other GOOD clauses that you may have done
battle with and got included into your deal.

Please e-mail me at [e-mail] if you have anything that can be
shared without breaking a non-disclosure.  Thanks.


Jeanne Cooney

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

From: [e-mail] (Jacinthe Lavoie)
Subject: Use Analog Modem on Digital Line?
Date: 18 Oct 1995 11:02:29 GMT
Organization: Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi


Is it possible to do so?


Thanks.

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

From: simon leo barber <[e-mail]>
Subject: Need Small PABX - Any Suggestions ?
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 95 15:21:36 GMT
Organization: Myorganisation
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Our company is looking at the available PABX systems for a
telephony project. This is the rough specification we need:

Input: ISDN or E1 line
Output: 90 ports (or more)
4 digit DDI numbers

  Voicemail handling translation of UK format Caller ID data into US
format (The UK CLI data comes BEFORE the first ring, the standard
seems to go between the first and second ring. This is posing us
problems in using commercial software.)  Handset support for
allocating a text string describing each incoming DDI number.

  From the data we have so far, the Panasonic DBS and the SDX Index
look promising. Does anyone here have experience of using them, or use
other systems with similar performance? We have a relatively small
budget, and would certainly consider secondhand equipment.

  Many thanks for any help on this.


simon leo barber

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 95 10:32:00 EDT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: 800-N11 Prefixes


There have been some N11 prefixes showing up in 800 numbers recently.
One of them is Bell Atlantic's 800-811-LINE.  I take it switches do
not have the problem with 800-N11 as they would with 800-0XX and
800-1XX?

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

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: What to Call AT&T's GIS?
Date: 19 Oct 1995 19:48:54 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


Yes, I know that this was NCR (National Cash Register), but I have the
*perfect* name for AT&T's GIS:

How 'bout-

TELETYPE CORPORATION

or maybe "The Mokrum Company"

<g>


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-2497
WORK: [e-mail]          |4710 Wright Road| ([phone])
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954([phone])|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917([phone])|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 95 17:48:00 EST
From: Russell Blau <[e-mail]>
Subject: At The Tone, The Time Will Be ...


Passed along for your enjoyment:

A discrepancy between the time-messaging lines at the Naval
Observatory in Washington and Nynex in New York may be as much as 53
seconds; International Teleprograms, which has operated the Nynex
service since 1984 and charges customers 40 cents per call, admits the
time is off slightly due to a mechanical error, but denies that the
error is longer than half a second.  (Wall Street Journal, "The time
at the tone will be 1:30, give or take around 50 seconds," 10/17/95,
p. B1)

On a related note, since I work in Washington, D.C., I am able to call
the Naval Observatory as a local call and indulge my idle curiosity
about such matters.  I called the USNO for a time check and then
called the Bell Atlantic time service at [phone].  As far as I
could tell without using any precise measuring equipment, the two
services were pretty much in sync.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #445
******************************


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Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 09:19:15 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #446

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 20 Oct 95 09:19:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 446

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID (Mike Miller)
    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID (Dave Keeny)
    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID ([e-mail])
    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID (Andrew B. Hawthorn)
    Re: Cellular Phone Clone Ring Busted (Lynne Gregg)
    Re: Your Name is Copyrighted! (James H. Haynes)
    Re: Your Name is Copyrighted! (Bob Niland)
    Re: Which PBXs Have BRIs Compatible With NI-1? (Steve Cogorno)
    Old Los Angeles Prefixes (David Gershwin)
    Hunt Group Billing (Ted Koppel)
    The Girl from the MCI Commercial (Brian Vita)
    Re: Do Not Call This Phone or Visit This Address (Daniel Dern)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Date: 20 Oct 1995 07:14:25 GMT
Organization: DES MOINES INTERNET, DES MOINES, IA
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Here in Des Moines, this service is provided on a non-subscription basis
as a pay-per-use (75 cents). I have used it to determine an answering
machine call presumably from some telemarketer who's automated system
hangs up on connection to an answering machine. The equipment reads back
the number to you and asks if you would like to make the call. In this
particular case, I did not care to return the call (obvious). I cannot
recall if they charged me for the information only -- I suspect they did
but I find no fault with that.

For occasional use, it's a lot cheaper than Caller-ID, IMO. Des Moines
is serviced by US West.


Michael P. Miller   Des Moines
[e-mail]

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

From: Dave Keeny <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 09:11:22 -0700
Organization: T.T.C.


Glenn Foote wrote:

>       Can someone explain the exact workings of the Ameritech offering
> of "Call Back" as it is used from a single residential line.  In my
> part of the country, this is the *69 function and calls (dials) the
> last person to call you.

>       According to the friendly people at the business office <humor
> here> it works totally in the central office with the person who
> initiates the call back hearing _nothing_ until the ringing signal is
> passed.  This eliminates the possibility of capturing the actual
> number by recording <decoding> the tones.  This is supposedly mandated
> by the Ohio Public Utility Commission at the request of those
> businesses (battered women and the like) that need this protection.

>       Is this right, or did something get left out in the explanation.

I don't have the answer to the Ameritech question, but as an
interesting (to me) sideline, Bell Atlantic's Frederick, MD service
used to do the same; i.e., DTMF tones were not heard by the *69'er.
Now, *69 does not initiate a callback, but instead gives you the phone
number of the last caller so you can choose to call back or not. This
seems much more useful than a strictly callback feature. As far as
OPUC is concerned, I don't see why they would bother mandating
"anonymous" callback when Caller-ID is so widely available (I am
assuming it is available within OPUC's turf).

A question: if you block your phone number from being transmitted via
Caller-ID, does it also block the *69 feature?


Dave   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 23:10:08 PDT


Glenn Foote said:

>       According to the friendly people at the business office <humor
> here> it works totally in the central office with the person who
> initiates the call back hearing _nothing_ until the ringing signal is
> passed.  This eliminates the possibility of capturing the actual
> number by recording <decoding> the tones.  This is supposedly mandated

Well since there are no tones, it would be hard to record them!  The
only time DTMF is used is between your set and your central office.
Between switches, channel signaling is used.  Advanced features like
you describe are called CLASS features and they require the use of
SS7.  SS7 is a signaling protocol used for common signalling among
switches and large PBXs.


Steve   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (JBreaux)
Subject: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Date: 19 Oct 1995 22:52:45 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (JBreaux)


US West began offering *69 (last call return) as a "pay-per-use"
feature on my Seattle line earlier this year. For a charge of .75 per
activation, the service will announce the number of the last calling
party and then give you a chance to hang up before placing the call.
Calls that are anonymous are announced as such and cannot be returned
using *69.

US West still charges for each use of *69 even if you hang up before
the call goes through, provided a number has been announced to you.
You are not charged if the caller's ID was blocked.

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 00:06:03 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Andrew B. Hawthorn)
Subject: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID


Here in Atlanta (BellSouth Communications) our *69 feature reads back
the last number and gives you the option of calling it back.  A
cheaper "Caller ID" type option.

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

From: Lynne Gregg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Clone Ring Busted
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 95 16:54:00 PDT


You asked for more details.  Here's the UPI article.

UPne 10/18 1413  Cellular phone clone ring busted

   By SASCHA BRODSKY
   NEW YORK, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Authorities announced Wednesday they
have broken up the country's largest known cellular phone cloning
ring.

   Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said three men were
arrested Monday as part of a multi-million dollar ring that sold
numbers used to make free phone calls. Dozens of cell phones and
thousands of stolen numbers were seized as part of the ongoing battle
against the growing fraud industry.

   "The message is you have our number and now we have yours,"
Morgenthau said standing in front of a tangled mass of cellular phones
and computer equipment that was seized in the raid.

   The search took place Monday evening at an Upper Manhttan
apartment.  Three men in the apartment fled through a fire escape.
Winston Urena, 28, Edward Tineo, 19 and Emilio Herrera Diaz, 19 were
arrested and charged with forgery.

   The investigation began in May when police received a tip that cell
phones were being cloned at the apartment. Undercover detectives went
to the apartment and had cellular phones illegally activated for a
cost of about $50 for each phone, Morgenthau said. The cloned phones
are usually sold on the street for $100 each.

   "We have learned that cloned phones are greatly valued by
criminals, especially narcotics traffickers," Morgenthau said. "They
are mobile and because they are being used with legitimate access
numbers, it can be difficult to determine who is actually using the
telephone when a call is made. Once the cloned number is discovered
and disabled, the cloner can simply reprogram the phone to a new
working number."

   Cellular phones broadcast identification codes every 20 seconds so
they can be located for incoming calls. Cloning thieves lie in wait
along major highways with special scanners to snatch the
identification codes out of the air. The codes are then programmed
into unauthorized phones by using a computer equipped with special
hardware.

   "The price of the software used for the cloning is dropping
rapidly, " said Nicholas Arcuri, vice-president of fraud control for
Bell Atlantic.

    Morgenthau said the investigation is continuing.

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

From: [e-mail] (James H. Haynes)
Subject: Re: Your Name is Copyrighted!
Date: 19 Oct 1995 18:47:52 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz


Way back when, Clarence Saunders invented the supermarket and gave it
the name Piggly-Wiggly.  Somewhere along the line he lost the rights
to that name, so his next venture was a supermarket named "Clarence
Saunders, Sole Owner of My Name".

(A later venture of his was Keedoozle, a robotic supermarket.  This
lasted a year and was then converted to a conventional supermarket
named Zizz-Buzz.  "The customer will zizz right in and buzz right
out.")

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

From: [e-mail] (Bob Niland)
Subject: Re: Your Name is Copyrighted!
Date: 19 Oct 1995 22:37:44 GMT
Organization: Colorado SuperNet
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Phil Pucci ([e-mail]) wrote:

> The CD-ROM people have another twist on this subject.  I have heard
> that some of these companies typically scan (OCR) existing directories
> for their data (rather than pay the publishers such as Ameritech for
> the information).  When one of the publishers (Nynex, Bell South, SBC,
> US West, Ameritech, Pac Bell, etc.) sued them for copyright violation,
> the CD-ROM people came out on top.  I do not remember the exact ruling
> (does anyone out there know?).

The Supremes ruled that simple lists are not creative works of authorship,
regardless of the effort involved, and are therefore not copyrightable.

This, like the non-copyrightable status of font bitmaps/vectors, may or may
not be a loophole in the copyright law, depending on your point of view.

> Does this mean that someone could legally put the data of one of those
> phone book CD-ROMs on the 'net without fear of recrimination.  Heck,
> they probably did not pay anyone for the data (only the formatting,

Font CD plagiarizing seems to be a major industry.  I see nothing
preventing PhoneCDs from suffering the same fate.


Regards,         1001-A East Harmony Road
Bob Niland       Suite 503  Ft. Collins, CO 80525 USA
Internet:  [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Which PBXs Have BRIs Compatible With NI-1?
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 23:15:35 PDT


Lars Poulsen said:

> Case in point: We bought a couple of AT&T 8503 voice terminals to play
> with on the public network, but it turns out that these can not be
> made to work with the public service provided out of an AT&T 5ESS
> switch.  (According to the support staff at AT&T's PBX group: This
> voice terminal is specifically for use with System 85 and Definity
> PBXs.)  This surprising information explains why the manual doesn't
> describe how to program a SPID into the units.

I literally spent an hour and a half on the phone with AT&T (being
conferenced with four people at times) trying to get this same question
answered.  Sourcebook says 8503 is ONLY for Definity and System 75/85.
The engineering group that designed the unit said it is for public use
as well because the System 75 is emulating the same protocol as 5ESS.

I took the engineer's word over the customer service droids at
Sourcebook, but hey, it did take the first person I talked to 15
minutes to even FIND the phone in her computer so who knows what's
going on over there.


Steve    [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 17:45:21 PDT
From: David Gershwin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Old Los Angeles Prefixes


Does anyone know of a source of information where one can find the
verbal representations of prefixes in the Metro L.A. area?  For
example, in the fifties and early sixties, many Miracle Mile-area
prefixes were designated as WEbster-x-xxxx; many of those "93"
prefixes are still in use today.  I would like to know what the verbal
designations of those prefixes were.


Thanks,

David Gershwin    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One out there that I always liked was
'HOllywood'.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ted Koppel)
Subject: Hunt Group Billing
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 21:34:31 MDT
Organization:  CARL Corporation (Atlanta) / The UnCover Company
Reply-To: [e-mail]


When I dial into a hunt group, what shows up on my long distance bill, the
number I dialed (the first number of the hunt group), or the actual number
I connected to?


Ted Koppel * The UnCover Company * The CARL Corporation * [e-mail]
                  Work: 770 242 8733 Fax: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are billed for the number you *dialed*
in all cases. It is the same thing when someone has their phone on call-
forwarding. You are only billed for your intentions, not their changes or
expansions if any.   PAT]

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

Date: 20 Oct 1995 07:30:54 U
From: Brian Vita <[e-mail]>
Subject: The Girl From the MCI Commercial


A few months ago there was some discussion about the girl who plays
the MCI operator in the "What are you afraid of AT&T commercials".  I
think the original question was if she really was an MCI operator and
it was disclosed that she is, in fact, an actress.

I just came back from a theatre owner's convention and while there
screened an upcoming movie called "Mr. Holland's Opus" that's due out
in December.  She has a substantial part in the film and demonstrates
one hell of a singing voice (then again, Richard Dreyfus sings in the
same movie ...).  It took me ten minutes of watching her to figure out
why she looked familiar.


Brian Vita   CSS, Inc.

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 00:59:34 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Daniel P Dern)
Subject: Re: Do Not Call This Phone or Visit this Address
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA


Pat,

I'd like to thank you for showing forbearance and restraint in
responding to the recent spam blasts by Mr. Slaton.

I believe that you have set a good role model by helping articulate
many of the acts that you believe would be inappropriate if taken by
Usenet members, and by not promulgating his voicemail password.

I myself am personally surprised that, say, Our Favorite Lawyers in
Arizona, or others, have not had their cars or houses disassembled
while they were out, nor had their credit records and bank accounts
muddled, etc.  It's good to see that we, at least, can show restraint.

If you can think of any more acts that people should be sure to not
do, I am sure that such itemization would be equally instructive.


Daniel Dern


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If nothing else, Mr. Slaton has very
good eyesight: within a short time of my message being posted late
Thursday evening to several groups where there might be interest, it
had been cancelled, including comp.dcom.telecom. Naturally when I
woke up this morning and found that 'article XXXX is unavailable' at
every location I tried, I simply had to post it all over again. Perhaps
it will make some headway and get around the net a bit before he
wakes up this Friday morning and issues another cancellation on it.
If you are a Usenet reader and did NOT get to see the 'do not visit
this address or call this number' message, let me know and I will
re-issue it yet a third time if necessary later Friday.   PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #446
******************************


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Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 15:09:22 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #447

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 20 Oct 95 15:09:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 447

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: 800-N11 (Ronald D. Havens)
    Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Joseph Singer)
    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID (Robert Holloman)
    Re: The Girl From the MCI Commercial (Ross E. Mitchell)
    Telephone Directories on the Web (Robert Hoare)
    Anti Hacking and Telabuse Abatement (Edward Shuck)
    Re: Information Wanted For AIN on Cellular Phone (Philip McKinney)
    Numbering/Dialing Changes in Europe (Pekka K. Kurki)
    Re: Shutdown of Email -> Usenet Gateway (William Hawkins)
    Re: Do Not Visit This Address or Call This Phone Number! ([e-mail])
    Re: Do Not Visit This Address or Call This Phone Number! (B. Pennypacker)
    Re: Do Not Visit This Address or Call This Phone Number! (Jean P. Lindsay)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 13:19:21 -0400
Subject: Re:  800-N11, From TELECOM Digest V15 &445


Regarding the inquiry from Carl Moore:

> There have been some N11 prefixes showing up in 800 numbers recently.
> One of them is Bell Atlantic's 800-811-LINE.  I take it switches do
> not have the problem with 800-N11 as they would with 800-0XX and
> 800-1XX?

We looked at opening the "D" digit to allow use of Zero or One as
valid digits to create additional numbers that would delay the exhaust
of 800 toll free numbers at the Industry Numbering Committee (INC),
and concluded that the additional resource gained wasn't worth the
effort required.  The effort required would be especially problematic
for older electro-mechanical (i.e., wired logic) switching systems,
and there are such things still providing service.  Instead of opening
the "D" digit we elected to open the 888 code to create additional
numbers for toll free.


Ron Havens   Sprint
Voice 913.624.6881

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 07:01:09 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Joseph Singer)
Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives
Reply-To: [e-mail]


[e-mail] (Bob Goudreau) recently wrote:

> [e-mail] (Jan Mandel) wrote:

>> To add to the confusion, US phone books to not list instructions how
>> to dial long distance or international, saying "contact your long
>> distance carrier", but do not say how to do THAT.

> As is usually the case with blanket statements, the claim that all
> US phone books lack such instructions is patently false.

Well, here in Seattle in the dialing introductory pages of the white
pages directory it says: "Calling Long Distance Outside of Your
Calling Area" In all but a few cases US WEST Communications does not
provide long distance service between states or between sections of
the state that have different calling areas.  (See map on this page.)
CONSULT YOUR LONG DISTANCE COMPANY FOR RATES AND DIALING INFORMATION."
[my caps]

It has essentially the same information regarding international calls.
IMHO the reason they don't detail how to make long distance calls or
international calls is solely because they don't handle these calls.
While it's almost a certainty that to make these calls all you have to
do is dial 1+ area code + number for a domestic long distance call and
it's almost certain that dialing 011 + city code + number will route
you through to an international destination.  They don't handle these
calls (haven't for eleven years) so they don't include this information.
This policy of including or not including information on dialing is
evidently dependent on the company that services you.


JOSEPH SINGER   SEATTLE, WASHINGTON USA   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Robert Holloman)
Subject: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Date: 20 Oct 1995 17:29:31 GMT
Organization: Concentric Internet Services


Dave Keeny ([e-mail]) wrote:

> A question: if you block your phone number from being transmitted via
> Caller-ID, does it also block the *69 feature?

Here in North Carolina in Sprint/Carolina Telephone areas (I believe
also in BellSouth areas) Caller ID blocking will prevent your number
from being read back when someone dials *69, but they'll still be able
to ring you back.  When I dial *69 I get one of the following:

We're sorry, the last number that called your line is not known.
Please hang up now.

The last number that called your line cannot be given out.  If you
want to call this number, enter one, otherwise hang up now.

The last number that called your line was xxx-xxx-xxxx.  To call
this number, enter one, otherwise hang up now.

(Some exchanges will read the date and time of the call after each
recording.)

In the first case, there either isn't a complete SS7 path between me
and the caller, or there is a complete path, but for some reason their
number wasn't sent to my switch.  Most LD companies refuse to pass
numbers.  Hopefully that'll change by the end of the year.  I have
gotten numbers from the Alabama 334 area code read back.  In the
second case, the caller dialed from a number that has per-line
blocking, or the person dialed *67.

When I press one to return calls from some areas (such as some GTE
exchanges) I'll get a fast busy signal, even though the number was
read back to me.  If the caller's line is forwarded, pressing one gets
"We're sorry, the number cannot be reached now by this method.  Please
hang up and try again later."  If their line is busy, I get "The line
is busy.  You'll be notified by special ringing when the line is free.
Please hang up now."

When someone calls a number that is forwarded to my line, *69 will
read back their number and ring back to them.

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

From: [e-mail] (Ross E Mitchell)
Subject: Re: The Girl From the MCI Commercial
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 16:11:45 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Brian Vita <brian_vita@cssinc.
com> wrote:

> A few months ago there was some discussion about the girl who plays
> the MCI operator in the "What are you afraid of AT&T commercials".  I
> think the original question was if she really was an MCI operator and
> it was disclosed that she is, in fact, an actress.

Her name is Jean Louisa Kelly.  She is from Massachusetts where my family
and I  recently saw her as Gigi in a production of the musical at the
North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass.

In the Playbill it indicated that she has the leading role in the movie
version of "The Fantasticks", which is due out this year.  (I haven't
heard much about the film lately, except a rumor that there was a problem
in getting it distributed.)

She sings, dances, acts, and is as adorable on stage as in the commercial.


Ross Mitchell

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

From: Robert Hoare <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telephone Directories on the Web
Date: 20 Oct 1995 20:21:02 GMT


I've created a web page with links to all the national and regional
telephone directories on the web (USA, Australia, France etc) I can
find.

It is at http://www.buttle.com/tel/

Pointers to pages I've missed are welcome!


Thanks.

Rob


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And thank you for this valuable service.
I hope everyone finds it useful.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Edward Shuck)
Subject: Anti Hacking and Telabuse Abatement
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 09:05:50 GMT


I have a page at http://www.visual-traffic.com that will eventually
cover much of these subjects. Check it out and see if my information
can be of help to your efforts and make some suggestions to me. I
know that I have a lot of work to do.

Thanks,

Ed


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Unfortunatly, where telabuse is
concerned, the job is never finished; there is always more work
to do. Again, I hope this new Web page will be useful to readers.  PAT]

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

From: Philip McKinney <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Information Wanted For AIN on Cellular Phone
Date: 20 Oct 1995 10:11:08 GMT
Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation


[e-mail] wrote:

> I'm looking for AIN platforms for cellular phone.  Before starting
> project, I need some information about SSP.  I need to get some
> information about basic call model which can be adapted to cellular
> phone. Can anybody give me this information?

I would suggest you contact Yankee Group at 1-617-367-1000
([e-mail]).  They have published a few reports on AIN for
wireless.


Hope this helps -

Philip McKinney
Computer Sciences Corporation
[e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 95 07:12:20 -0100
From: Pekka K. Kurki <[e-mail]>
Organization: Intellectics GesmbH
Subject: Numbering/Dialing Changes in Europe


Wolf Paul <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Marko Ruokonen <[e-mail]> wrote:

>> However, Austria has some strange area codes that are different when
>> dialed from within Austria then when dialing from abroad. Vienna has
>> an area code of 222 when dialed within Austria, but 1 otherwise.

>> That is, you dial:

>> 0222 yyy when calling Vienna from within Austria, but
>> 011 43 1 yyy when calling Vienna from the US.
>> I wonder why this is done, but anyway.

>> I'm not sure if there are other area codes that are irregular also.

Yes, there is ar least an irregular code for Linz.

>Actually, area code "1" will work for Vienna from within Austria as
>well, now.

Unfortunatelly this isn't quite true yet. There are some areas where
where "1" is supposed to work (it also works in the mobile phone
networks) but e.g. in the area where we are located we still have to
use the old 222 number. Dialing "01" brings a recording. And our local
exchange has been digitalized just three months ago ...


Best regards,

Pekka Kurki
Intellectics GesmbH
A-2551 Enzesfeld, Austria

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 95 12:01:48 CDT
From: [e-mail] (William Hawkins)
Subject: Re: Shutdown of Email -> Usenet Gateway
Organization: Rosemount, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> Afraid, as per the attached message, that the influx of the Great Masses
> of the Unwashed <tm> has led to the shutdown of a very useful service, the
> email->usenet gateway at texas.edu.

> *sigh*

>  From: [e-mail]
>  Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 20:31:25 -0500
>  Subject: mail-to-news error

> There is no longer a mail-to-news gateway on cs.utexas.edu.  It became
> a magnet for abuse, which we are no longer willing to endure.  No, I
> am not aware of any other similar gateways.  Sorry.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just one more sign of the times; another
> example of the handwriting on the wall for Usenet isn't it ...  PAT]

According to Mary Scheafer, moderator of sci.aeronautics, it was AOL
that caused them to shut down.  She was not pleased, and wrote a
strong article about what was wrong with AOL.  You might want to
follow up.


Bill Hawkins  [e-mail]  612 895-2085  Minneapolis, MN  USA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Its an old, old story. With certainly
no offense intended to Mary, anyone could have written the article. All
of us who moderate newsgroups here in the cesspool known as Abusenet
see the same thing day in and day out. I imagine a lot of the pedophile
smut that AOL was permitting -- indeed encouraging -- the Customs people
and the FBI people to send out to the net each day was going through
that gateway to their respective 'news' groups. After the people at
cs.utexas.edu came to work everyday for awhile, checked out what had
passed through the night before and gagged each time, they finally
decided to kill it. Can you blame them?  Count your days, Usenet.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Chris)
Subject: Re: Do Not Visit This Address or Call This Phone Number!
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 17:12:35 GMT
Organization: Duke University, Durham, NC, USA


> Naturally when dialing, if one wishes to preserve one's privacy one
> will prepend *67 to the dialing string, or do as the phreaks did years
> ago before the new-fangled phone system was invented and just run
> through a few loop-arounds or a couple of MCI dialups or whatever.

What's this about dialing *67 before the number you're calling?  What
does that do?  Are there other little phone tricks like this you can
do?  I heard one time that if you pressed just * before the number
you're dialing you'll get through faster somehow, although I never
noticed much of a difference.


Chris.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: *67 tells the network to not pass your
caller-ID information, if indeed it was going to. And you never can
tell these days who will get it. Just yesterday I had a call from
California with the caller-ID plainly displayed.   PAT]

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

Subject: Do Not Visit This Address or Call This Phone Number!
From: [e-mail] (Bruce Pennypacker)
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 12:59:00 -0640
Organization: Channel 1(R) 617-864-0100 Info


> A nemesis of many on the Internet in recent weeks is a fellow known as
> Spam King. He has trashed hundreds of newsgroups with his messages, and
> this includes comp.dcom.telecom recently. I spent some time Thursday
> locating him.

Great detective work!  I saved a copy of your message to refer back to if I
ever need to.  Unfortunately I feel that we'll be seeing more and more
idiots like this guy in the future, but if we can make examples of them
early on then maybe they'll learn a little lesson ...


[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, don't thank me, thank several
people in the net.abuse newsgroup for picking up pieces of the evidence
and publishing them. When I talked to Jeff Thursday night and told him
I intended to publish what I had, he said, "go ahead, it is already all
over the net anyway." Indeed, some messages on net.abuse had begun to
give out a little bit of stuff about him. All I want to do is see to it
the rest of the net is equally aware.    PAT]

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 10:03:23 EST
From: Jean P. Lindsay <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Do Not Visit This Address or Call This Phone Number!


Thanks for letting us know who the Spam King really is.  (Your note
was forwarded to the MEDIEV-L list.)  I've come across Slaton before;
he sent one spam per month to MEDART for awhile, then he started
hitting on LT-ANTIQ.  What a jackass!  Needless to say, I would
*never* even dream of messing with his voicemail or driving out to NM
to see him ...<g>!


Jean Lindsay  <[e-mail]>
Independent Scholar


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much for your kind comments.
Indeed, I cannot recommend that we show anything but complete restraint
in dealing with this humanoid. Unfortunatly, 'someone' has chosen to
repeatedly cancel the messages on this which I posted direct to comp.
dcom.telecom, comp.dcom.telecom.tech, alt.dcom.telecom and certain
other newsgroups. I keep reposting -- three times today already -- and
'someone' keeps cancelling them. That's why if you have a copy of the
message giving his name, home address and phone numbers I would appreciate
it if you would see to it that it gets circulated *with a new Message-ID
number* to newsgroups that may have not seen it, and probably would not
see it at the rate it is being cancelled.  I will continue posting it
over the weekend.

The thing with Jeff Slaton is, he sees no problem with spamming, or
posting of irrelevant and unwanted comments in thousands of news groups.
He does not care who owns what computer or who pays for the net; he
claims he also pays for an account and will use it, etc. My feeling is
that since by his own admission spamming is okay, perhaps *he* should
be spammed. No matter who pays for his voicemail or his phone, since
you also pay for one you are entitled to talk on it, no?  I am not
recommending illegal harassment by any means; I am not recommending
violence. That would never, never do in a civilized America or a
civilized net. Since we are still pretending to be civilized here,
as we sit and smile at one another, even with our teeth bared as we
do it, let's not harass the humanoid. But if you have something you
want to speak with Jeff Slaton about, you can either call his voicemail
at 505-821-1945, his home at 505-822-8919, or write to him direct at
6808 Truchas Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, the United States of
America.

When you write or call, be sure to let Jeff know where you read his
spams; in which newsgroup and at which site you saw them. He'll
appreciate knowing that you are concerned.    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #447
******************************


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Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 23:42:13 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #448

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 20 Oct 95 23:42:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 448

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Richard Barnaby)
    Re: Fax Machine as Page Scanner (Gary Novosielski)
    Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner (Tak Ariga)
    Re: Regulatory Question - LATA's vrs. State Lines (Wes Leatherock)
    Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup (Jeffrey Rhodes)
    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID (Mark Brader)
    Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID (Steve Uhrig)
    Correction About *67 (Jeffrey Rhodes)
    Re: ADSI Screen Phone Discussion (Matt Gebhardt)
    Re: Your Name is Copyrighted! (A.E. Siegman)
    Re: Your Name is Copyrighted! (Wes Letherock)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** 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 partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

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] (Richard Barnaby)
Subject: Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 02:56:46 GMT


[e-mail] (Collin Park) wrote:

> [e-mail] wrote:

>> Does anyone have this schematic or the magazine? I think the circuit
>> consisted of two  nine-volt batteries.

You can get information about how to build your own from [e-mail].
He requests $10 US for the shareware version of the schematic..  I
have available commercial versions.  If interested, contact me at
[e-mail].  The price is $65 US and uses (instead of
battery) a power supply, and utilizes a convenient switch to switch
between "Normal mode", and "Fax Scan" mode.  This allows not only
utilization of the fax machine as a scanner, but also as a printer.
It is available with Asian, European or USA Power supplies.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An even easier way of doing this involves
> merely a fax machine and a second phone line. Hook your fax machine to
> one phone line, and your computer with fax/modem card to the other phone
> line. Have the fax machine call the computer and feed it whatever you
> want scanned.

True enough.  What we have found, however, is in the SOHO market, that
"The fax line" is connected to the same telephone line for *both*
devices.

> One caveat -- I have found that the ~200dpi resolution of the fax
> machine is not enough to allow 'optical character recognition' (OCR)
> programs to convert the stuff to ascii.  These programs seem to like
> 300-400 dpi or better to work well.

Well, most fax machines today operate in the 400dpi range in *fine*
or *photo*  mode.  We've had *excellent* results using the fax machine
as a scanner for low volume occasional scanning.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, I have three lines here. My
problem was/is the computer is on the line so much that people were
complaining they could never get through with faxes. So the fax has
its own line, the computer has its own line, and I have a voice line
also. That makes it easy for me to use the fax to call the computer
or vice-versa.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail]
Organization: Small Business Administration
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 95 22:05:32 -0400
Subject: Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Paul Cook <[e-mail]> writes:

> We've seen our customers use our telephone demonstrators for this
> application, since they simulate phone lines, complete with standard
> dialtone, ringing, ringback tone and busy. The least expensive one is
> the 49250 Phone Demo II, which sells in single quantity for $259.95.

Suggestions for this application seem to be spiraling upward in cost.
I'm sure Paul mades a fine simulator, but it seems like overkill for
this purpose.

There are simpler gizmos on the market, probably from HelloDirect et
al, for about a US$100 which claim to do enough to fool the two
devices into handshaking, but I'll bet there's not much inside the
plastic box.

Fortunately for my wallet, and out of complete ignorance that my
solution was impossible, I took a markedly lower-tech route to
success. I simply plugged the line cord from my fax machine directly
into the line jack of my fax modem.

Cost:     -Zero-        (the cord came with the fax machine)
Result:   Nearly ideal

I'm using a ViVa pocket fax modem with Eclipse Fax software. To
receive a scanned fax, I simply plug the machines together with the
plain RJ-11 cord, and click Manual Receive in my fax software. This
causes the fax modem go off-hook start singing the fax mating call
(the answer-side lyrics). I then tell the fax machine to dial any
random (one-digit) "phone number" and the document is transmitted.
Afterward, I can use the fax software to "erase" the fax banner, crop
and rotate the image, and so on.

I tried this at a friend's office, but his fax machine (I don't recall
the brand) seemed to want a dial tone before dialing anything. There
may be a way to to turn that off, but he couldn't find the instruction
manual. Still, we worked around it by just lifting the handset (I
could then hear the fax-modem's answer tones) and pressing the START
button.

I've also been able to send in the other direction, using the fax
machine as a thermal printer (in a pinch). I just have to go to the
Send Setup area in my fax modem software and un-check the Detect Dial
Tone option, since there's no dial-tone on my very-short-haul
dedicated line (VSHDL) <grin>.

Getting my fax machine (a Sharp UX-175) to answer is not a problem,
since it is one of those models designed to share a voice line. That
is, it continuously listens while on-hook for the "CNG" tones (the
"originate lyrics" of the fax mating call) and goes off-hook whenever
it hears them. I can select Manual Send, or have the fax modem "dial"
any random number. This machine also can be set to go off-hook
whenever a certain DTMF sequence is pressed on an extension phone
(voice-to-fax transfer feature). I can tell my modem to "dial" the
transfer sequence as though it were a phone number. The fax machine
then picks up.

As a last ditch effort, some fax machines can be forced off-hook in
answer mode simply by pressing the START button while the document
feeder is empty.  You might need to lift the handset first.

So, have I just been extremely lucky? Are most fax devices so fussy
that they *must* see ringing and battery voltage on the line? I'd be
surprised if that were true.


Gary Novosielski        GPN Consulting          [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 95 15:37:47 EDT
From: [e-mail] (Tak Ariga)
Subject: Re: FAX Machine as Page Scanner
Organization: Dictionary of Old English Project - U of Toronto


To use a FAX machine to scan documents into a computer, I have used
the FAX machine connected directly to a FAXmodem, with no powered
phone lines, and it has worked like a charm.  Just hit "send" on the
FAX machine and "answer" on the FAX modem.  No need for second phone
lines or phone demonstrators.

Can't get much cheaper than that.


Tak Ariga    University of Toronto
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Wes Leatherock)
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 01:57:00 GMT
Subject: Regulatory Question - LATAs vs. State Lines


[e-mail] (Jerry Pruett - KD4CIM) wrote:

> I have run across a regulatory issue that I can't quite figure out.
> There are a number of examples, but to zero in on one:

> South Haven, MS is in the Memphis, TN LATA and is also in the
> free-calling area of metro Memphis.  Do calls from South Haven to
> Memphis fall under state PSC jurisdiction or under FCC jurisdiction?
> It *appears* that South Haven falls under the jurisdiction of the TN
> PSC for POTS service (I am sure that MS has figured out how to at
> least collect taxes from the situation), but a private line from South
> Haven to Memphis falls under FCC jurisdiction.  I have always known
> that LATAs can span state boundaries, but I have just encountered the
> jurisdicational issue as to where to go for tariffs for different
> services.

> Other examples:
> St. Louis, MO - East St. Louis, IL
> Reno, CA - Reno, NV
> West Memphis, AR - Memphis, TN.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Also consider the case of Antioch,
> Illinois and North Antioch, Wisconsin; Beloit, Wisconsin and South
> Beloit, Illinois; Hammond, Indiana and Calumet City, Illiniois;
> Whiting, Indiana and selected exchanges in Chicago, Illinois, etc.  PAT]

      The Kansas City metropolitan exchange is another big example.  A
smaller one is Texarkana AR-TX.  Even the post office there uses the
double state name (it is actually located in a place where State Line
Avenue widens out and goes around the post office, which sits
literally astride the state line).

      The Communications Act provides that local exchange service is
not under the jurisdiction of the FCC.  Presumably that was a major
factor in why some LATAs do cross state lines.

      In the situations I am familiar with along the Oklahoma state
line, the rate for monthly service, for example, is that of the
place where the central office is located; miscellaneous rates and
charges are covered by the state where the customer is located.

      A specific example is Coffeyville, KS-South Coffeyville OK.
The monthly rates, for example, are the Kansas rates for service
from the serving central office.  But miscellaneous services are
covered by the Oklahoma tariffs.

      Back when there were charges for extension telephones, color,
etc., the miscellaneous services were significant.

      If there are actually two or more central offices, with EAS or
other similar arrangement, it can get even stranger, since local rates
are often set by the number of Exchange Access Arrangements that can
be dialed by a customer.  So the rates in one state will be the local
rates for the rate group including that number of EAAs, even though
some of them are in the other state, and for the other state their
tariffs for calling scopes of that number of EAAs apply, and the two
may be substantially different.

      There are an assortment of rates applicable in the area around
Fort Smith AR, which also extends into Oklahoma, and some of the
Oklahoma exchanges have different calling scopes from each other.


Wes Leatherock  [e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey Rhodes)
Subject: Re: The Irony of the AT&T Breakup
Date: 20 Oct 1995 23:34:11 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Actually, these words make a decent argument for why the 4ESS development
community should remain with the real AT&T and not be considered part of
the Network Systems AT&T.

Personally, I've always been very impressed with 4ESS, even though I am
biased towards the 5ESS. Since the real AT&T is the biggest user and since
new 4ESS sales are not expected, the real AT&T should keep the 4ESS
development community for maintenance.


Jeffrey Rhodes at [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Brader)
Subject: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 01:10:40 GMT


Robert Holloman ([e-mail]) writes:

> Here in North Carolina in Sprint/Carolina Telephone areas (I believe
> also in BellSouth areas) Caller ID blocking will prevent your number
> from being read back when someone dials *69, but they'll still be able
> to ring you back.  When I dial *69 I get one of the following:

> We're sorry, the last number that called your line is not known.
> Please hang up now.

> The last number that called your line cannot be given out.  If you
> want to call this number, enter one, otherwise hang up now.

> The last number that called your line was xxx-xxx-xxxx.  To call
> this number, enter one, otherwise hang up now.

This is exactly the way it USED to work here in Toronto (under Bell
Canada), and in my opinion, exactly the way it should work in all areas
where Caller ID exists.  But a couple of months ago, the rules here were
changed -- now, if the number "cannot be given out", you no longer have
the option of calling it.  I don't remember whether Bell or the CRTC
came up with the change; the reason given was privacy.

Incidentally, I find it quite irritating that the number is always given
as 10 digits without any wording to indicate that an area code is coming.
There is also no distinction as to whether the call is local or long
distance; all of Canada is "1 means toll" territory and I find it
annoying that *69 might make a long-distance call without warning me.


Mark Brader, [e-mail], SoftQuad Inc., Toronto

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Uhrig)
Subject: Re: Using *69 To Get Caller's ID
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 02:38:46 GMT
Organization: BrightNet


[e-mail] (Glenn Foote) wrote:

> According to the friendly people at the business office <humor
> here> it works totally in the central office with the person who
> initiates the call back hearing _nothing_ until the ringing signal is
> passed.  This eliminates the possibility of capturing the actual
> number by recording <decoding> the tones.  This is supposedly mandated
> by the Ohio Public Utility Commission at the request of those
> businesses (battered women and the like) that need this protection.

This would be correct for non-C.L.A.S.S. Call Back. If you pay for
C.L.A.S.S. Call Back the switch will first tell you the number that
called you and then ask if you wish to call it back. At least this is
the way it works at GTE.


Steve Uhrig    [e-mail]   Chillicothe, Ohio  USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey Rhodes)
Subject: Corrrection About *67
Date: 21 Oct 1995 00:32:58 GMT
Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


To the TELECOM Digest Editor:

*67 prepended to a dialed number means to the network "send my calling
number but mark it restricted", it does not mean "do not send my
calling number". Only IXCs have decided to not pass calling numbers,
which can be restricted or unrestricted, and this practise will need
to stop on Dec 1 (I hope).

The CPN will then always be passed (provided ISUP signaling is
end-to-end) and the end office will pass "Private" or "Restricted" in
the event the CPN is restricted. When the CPN is indeed not available,
"Out of Area" or "No ID" is passed to the called line, provided the
called line is provisioned for Caller ID. Of course, an unrestricted
CPN is passed as the caller's number.

*82 prepended means "send my calling number unrestricted". I would do
this if I were uncertain that the line is restricted or unrestricted
and I wanted to make sure my number was able to be displayed at the
line I was calling to.


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: *67 tells the network to not pass your
> caller-ID information, if indeed it was going to. And you never can
> tell these days who will get it. Just yesterday I had a call from
> California with the caller-ID plainly displayed.   PAT]

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

From: Gebhardt, Matt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: ADSI Screen Phone Discussion
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 95 13:20:00 ADT


Marc H. Morin <[e-mail]> writes (Re: ADSI)...

> How is the screen menu updated?  Is it via a 1200 baud modem?
> Are the menu buttons sent back as DTMF keystrokes?
> Does the spec only cover text displays?  How much variation is allowed
> in the screen phone,  ie.  number of rows and columns?
> What is the mechanism that is used to 'determine' the presence of an
> ADSI complient device?
> I am aware that Philips and NorTel have ADSI complient devices.  Anyone
> else?

Believe that you'll find the ADSI protocol described in BellCore
document TR-1273.  In a DMS, there's a CPE Alert Signal (CAS) tone
that's sent down from the switch via a 202 modem signal to (e.g.) NT's
"PowerTouch 350" telephone set.  According to the TR, the "short"
softkey label length will be 7 characters, and the "long" will be 18
characters.

ADSI (for example) could be used then for Spontaneous Call Waiting ID
(TR-575) or Spontaneous Call Waiting ID with Disposition (TR-NWT-416),
where when the call's presented to the already-on-a-call ADSI set,
several options "pop up" on the ADSI set. You could choose to answer
the call, or route it to your vmail, or put it on hold, or put it to
busy and drop. Could also be used for Advanced Call Management
Services (ACMS), Visual Screen List Editing (VSLE), etc.

Hope this answers some questions and sparks some interest as am curious
about ADSI too.


Matt Gebhardt, [e-mail], 907-564-1955

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

From: [e-mail] (A. E. Siegman)
Subject: Re: Your Name is Copyrighted!
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 16:59:47 -0800
Organization: Stanford University


> The CD-ROM people have another twist on this subject.  I have heard
> that some of these companies typically scan (OCR) existing directories
> for their data (rather than pay the publishers such as Ameritech for
> the information).

   NPR had an interesting interview recently with an airline pilot who
flies for one of the airfreight companies, and who has explored some
of the odd cargo carried internationally by air: live cattle, live
wolf cubs, dead (presumably) bear testicles.  He's written an article
about this which will be in the current {Harpers Magazine}.

   This pilot commented on the mixed emotions he felt, flying from the
U.S. to India carrying a cargo of phone books to be totally re-keyed
into electronic form by low-cost Indian typists using obsolete PCs,
and en route passing over Afghanistan at night, looking down from
35,00 or 40,00 feet and being able to see rocket fire and tracer
bullets of vicious battles on the ground, then looking up to an
incredibly beautiful view of the full moon and stars.

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

From: [e-mail] (Wes Leatherock)
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 01:58:00 GMT
Subject: Re: Your Name is Copyrighted!


[e-mail] (Phil Pucci) wrote:

> The CD-ROM people have another twist on this subject.  I have heard
> that some of these companies typically scan (OCR) existing directories
> for their data (rather than pay the publishers such as Ameritech for
> the information).  When one of the publishers (Nynex, Bell South, SBC,
> US West, Ameritech, Pac Bell, etc.) sued them for copyright violation,
> the CD-ROM people came out on top.  I do not remember the exact ruling
> (does anyone out there know?).

       It was actually a small REA telephone co-op in central Kansas
that brought suit against an independent publisher of paper
directories for infringing on their copyright of the telephone
directory.

       The court ruled the data was not subject to copyright, only the
literary presentation and style, so copying the names, addresses,
telephone numbers out of a directory was not infringing on the
telephone company's copyright.

       I forget the name of the company, but I know one of the
exchanges it serves is Gove, Kansas (I've been through there and seen
the central office building; when I first went through there the
ruling was fresh on my mind so it immediately clicked that that was
the company).

       Of course, this only addresses whether the directory publisher
has an interest that can be protected by copyright; it doesn't address
the interest of the person in his/her own name and the use of it.


Wes Leatherock    [e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #448
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #449

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 24 Oct 95 17:03:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 449

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    UC Berkeley Short Courses on Communications (Harvey Stern)
    Call For Papers: EIS Issue on Databases and Telecom (D. Georgakopoulos)
    October Issue of inTELigence is Now Available (Judith Oppenheimer)
    If Quebec Leaves Canada (Dave Leibold)
    King of Spam (San Jose Mercury News via Tad Cook)

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 America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

     In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft
     to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in
     the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily
     represent the views of Microsoft.
     ------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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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: UC Berkeley Short Courses on Communications
Date: 24 Oct 1995 18:27:58 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley


U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces 4 Short
Courses on Broadband Communications, Wireless Networks

SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems, Architectures and Designs
(November 29-December1, 1995)

It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on
the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM
(Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique.  This course is an in-depth
examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues
for development of future high-speed networks.  Topics include:
Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network
interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network
congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks.  This
course is intended for engineers who are currently active or
anticipate future involvement in this field.

Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn
Polytechnic University.  Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and
has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM
switches, high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow
control in ATM networks.

MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Wide Area Networks, Personal Communication
Systems, Network Management and Control, and Multimedia Applications
(November 2-3, 1995)

This course is designed as a gentle but comprehensive overview of
telecommunications including current status and future directions.
This course traces the evolution of telecommunications, starting from
its voice roots and progressing through local, metropolitan, and wide
area networks, narrowband ISDN, asynchronous transfer mode, broadband
ISDN, satellite systems, optical communications, cellular radio,
personal communication systems, all-optical networks, and multimedia
services.

Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical
Engineering, Columbia University.  He is Director, Center for
Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year
career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former
member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors.

NETWORKS FOR DIGITAL WIRELESS ACCESS: Cellular, Voice, Data, Packet,
and Personal Communication Systems (November 8-10, 1995)

This comprehensive course is focused on the principles, technologies,
system architectures, standards, and market forces driving wireless
access.  At the core of this course are the cellular/microcellular/f
requency reuse concepts needed to enable adequate wireless access
capacity for Personal Communication Services (PCS).  Presented are
both the physical-level issues associated with wireless access and the
network-level issues arising from the inherent mobility of the
subscriber. Standards are fully treated including GSM (TDMA), IS-54
(North American TDMA), IS-95 (CDMA), CT2, DCT 900/CT3, IEEE 802.11,
DCS 1800, and Iridium.  Emerging concepts for wireless ATM are also
developed.  This course is intended for engineers who are currently
active or anticipate future involvement in this field.

Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical
Engineering, Columbia University.  He is Director, Center for
Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year
career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former
member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors.

ATM DATA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS:
Internetworking, Signaling and Network Management
(November 27-28, 1995)

This short course examines the key issues involved in designing and
implementing high-performance local and wide area networks.  Topics
include: technology drivers, data protocols, signaling, network
management, internetworking and applications.

Lecturer: William E. Stephens, Ph.D., is the Head of the Wireless and
ATM Networking Group at the David Sarnoff Research Center.  Prior to
this he was Director, High-Speed Switching and Storage Technology
Group, Applied Research, Bellcore.  Dr. Stephens has over 40
publications and one patent in the field of optical communications.
He has served on several technical program committees, including IEEE
GLOBECOM and the IEEE Electronic Components Technology Conference, and
has served as Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communications.

For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines,
instructor bios, etc.) Go to our web site at:

http://www.unex.berkeley.edu:4243

or send your postal address or fax to:

Harvey Stern
or Monique Morabito
U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay
800 El Camino Real Ste. 220
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dimitrios Georgakopoulos)
Subject: Call For Papers: EIS Issue on Databases and Telecom
Date: 24 Oct 1995 17:56:56 GMT
Organization: GTE Laboratories Incorporated


          http://info.gte.com/ftp/doc/ICDE96/flyer.html

                           CALL FOR PAPERS
                       International Journal of
                     Engineering Intelligent Systems
           Special Issue on Databases and Telecommunications
                              July 1996

                            Guest Editors
           Dimitrios Georgakopoulos   Jari Veijalainen


Telecommunications systems currently use database concepts, theory,
and technology to support business and network operations functions.
In particular, many business systems being used or being developed by
telecommunications organizations rely on large databases to store,
process, and maintain information and support corresponding business
functions, including the following:

- customer and services usage information for billing

- network and facility information for provisioning equipment needed
  to provide requested services

- financial information for designing and marketing telecommunications
  services

- facility inventory for planning network expansion and improvements

In addition to extensive use of databases in business systems,
databases are currently gaining ground in systems supporting network
operations. Such systems perform network monitoring and management,
support intelligent network services, and provide critical information
for sophisticated network configuration management.  Since the
development of recent telecommunications concepts (such as intelligent
network and personal communication services) cannot be realized without
sophisticated database services, efficient and reliable database
management is becoming increasingly important in telecommunications
operations.

Because of the growing importance of this area, the International
Journal of Engineering Intelligent Systems is planning a special issue
on Databases and Telecommunications for Summer 1996.  We solicit both
theoretical and applied papers describing the state-of-art in this
area.  Theoretical papers should provide clear motivation discussing
how the stated results are applicable in real telecommunications
problems.  Applied papers should describe working systems and their
actual use.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Database management for intelligent networks

- Database issues in TINA architecture

- Real-time and main memory databases

- Transaction management in telecommunications

- Infrastructure for advanced telecommunications services

- Techniques for dealing with large databases

- Workflow specification and management in telecommunications

- Techniques for database replication and non-stop operation

- Telecommunications-specific query processing including cost models

- Security aspects in telecommunication databases

- Application migration from legacy systems to relational and object DBMSs

                            Important Dates

       Jan.  10, 1996: Paper submission deadline
       April 20, 1996: Acceptance notification
       May   15, 1996: Final Manuscript Deadline
       July      1996: The special issue is published

                       Instructions for authors

Manuscripts should be in English and should not not exceed 5000 words.
Text must be double-spaced using a 10 pt or larger font.  Paper
submissions will not be considered for publication if they have been
submitted for consideration elsewhere, or they have been published in
the same form, in any language, without prior consent of the EIS
publisher. Papers should include a title, the names and affiliations
of author(s), a 50-100 word abstract, the paper sections,
acknowledgements (if any), and references.  A separate cover page
should be used to provide the name, title, postal address, email
address, telephone number, and fax number of a designated primary
contact author. Send five (5) copies of each paper submission and a
single cover page to one of the guest editors:

 Dimitrios Georgakopoulos             Jari Veijalainen
 GTE Laboratories Incorporated        VTT Information Technology
 40 Sylvan Road, MS-62                Multimedia Systems P.B.1203
 Waltham, MA 02254                    FIN-02044 VTT
 USA                                  Finland
 email: [e-mail]              email: [e-mail]
 tel.: [phone]                  tel.: [phone]
 fax: [phone]                   fax: [phone]

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

From: Judith Oppenheimer <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 12:28:58 -0400
Subject: October Issue of inTELigence is Now Available


inTELigence TRACKS LATEST CONTROVERSIES OVER 800 TELEPHONE SERVICE


NEW YORK -- The latest issue of inTELigence brings you up-to-date on
the rapidly changing issues affecting corporate and commercial 800
users.

inTELigence, published by Interactive CallBrand, tracks actions being
considered by the rule-making bodies involved as well as proposals
from the telephone service providers.

In this issue, inTELigence subscribers are getting first hand reports
about:

SUBSCRIBER OWNERSHIP RIGHTS:

Imagine having the telephone company take away the 800 number that
you've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising. Or worse,
what if your competition had the same number?  The FCC has agreed to
decide what, if any, protection subscribers have with respect to who
owns these valuable numbers. inTELigence also reports on what rights
800 number users may have under the new 888 system designed to ease
the rapidly declining supply of available numbers.

UNIVERSAL AREA CODES:

In a few years, you might not be able to count on a telephone number
in Chicago having a 312 area code or finding a New York business in
the 212 area code. The Industry Numbering Committee is considering a
plan to eliminate geographic boundaries for area codes.  inTELigence
readers learn about support for the plan and where the telephone
companies stand on the issue.

555 NUMBERS:

Companies planning to make money in new 555 services are finding it
difficult to get the services up and going. The service providers say
the RBOCs, who are competitors as well as providers, are dragging
their feet. inTELigence readers get details of a Justice Department
investigation.

Interactive CallBrand, publisher of inTELigence, tracks the regulators
and the service providers and compares their claims with what's
actually going on in the marketplace.  The ICB staff is composed of
professionals with years of experience in engineering, marketing and
legal telephony issues. Their experience helps them identify critical
issues that have both marketing and technical implications for all
telephone-dependant businesses.

inTELigence is a must-read for any company that depends on telephone
service to communicate with its customers.

Subscription information is available by calling Judith Oppenheimer,
212-684-7210.


For More Information Contact:
Judith Oppenheimer   212-684-7210

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

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 23 Oct 95 22:18:04 -0400
Subject: If Quebec Leaves Canada ...


Canada is at the crossroads; Quebec residents vote in a 30th October
referendum that will determine whether the province will split from
Canada and become a nation in its own right. The ballot question boils
down to whether Quebec should be sovereign (with some secondary
wording regarding negotiations with Canada thrown in). The "Yes" side
represents the separatists who dream of their own country; the "No"
folks are the federalists, who argue that Quebec can win with Team
Canada.

What would happen to the telecommunications scene if the Yes side wins
and Quebec subsequently takes off?

Quebec would have assert its own authority over telecommunications and
broadcast matters -- there will be no more Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for them to worry about.  The
CRTC itself would continue to deal with the remaining Canada (assuming
other regions don't break away), although its headquarters in Hull (in
Quebec) would no doubt move to the Canadian side (likely across the
river to Ottawa).

Bell Canada is the local telco in most of Quebec, and has corporate
headquarters in Montreal (as do a number of other Canadian companies
like Canadian National Railways). Given Canada's restrictions on
foreign ownership of telecommunications companies, Bell may have to
move its headquarters into Ontario unless specifically exempted by law
as is a few cases such as BC Tel (under GTE ownership). Quebec may or
may not restrict foreign ownership in telecommunications interests.
Bell may still be able to operate a Quebec division (although it
obviously couldn't be called Bell Canada). Exchange, area code and
administrative boundaries would make such a corporate shuffle
relatively trivial.

A recent news report indicated that Hydro-Quebec, the power utility,
may be interested in a stake in Unitel, Canada's #2 long distance
carrier. With Quebec independence and the aforementioned Canadian
ownership restrictions, that may be thwarted. In theory, Hydro-Quebec
could pick up the Quebec side of Bell Canada, though.

Fonorola is the only other Quebec-based long distance carrier I'm
aware of (they list a Montreal address, at least on my phone bills).
They offer service throughout Canada today; having a new country
happen around their headquarters will also have some interesting and
unpredictable consequences.

Quebec Telephones and Sogetel are independent telcos in Quebec that
serve particular areas of Quebec. Under separation, they would be
affected by changes to companies they connect with (long distance
carriers, Bell, Teleglobe) and they would answer to a Quebec regulator
instead of the CRTC.

The Canadian local telcos and their associated long distance services
comprise the membership in Stentor (formerly Telecom Canada, formerly
Trans-Canada Telephone System). Whether telcos in an independent
Quebec would remain in Stentor depends on how 1) the remaining
Canadian telcos in Stentor feel; 2) how the telcos in the Quebec would
feel (they could establish their own association); 3) what the CRTC
and/or other government bodies would allow Stentor to do with Quebec.

Teleglobe is the monopoly international carrier -- it is based in
Montreal.  The monopoly status of Teleglobe is under review by the
Canadian government, for one thing. The foreign ownership rules are
another thing. Teleglobe may move its headquarters out of Montreal,
and provision of international service with Quebec will need to be
settled.

Competition -- keeping a competitive long distance system would
virtually require Quebec to open up foreign ownership given that the
major competitors (Unitel, Sprint Canada) have headquarters in
Toronto. But if ownership is open to Canadians, American interests
would not stand for any preferential treatment of Canadian interests
and would want in themselves. Of course, they'd have to do business in
French.

Meanwhile, the competing long distance carriers in the remaining
Canada would have to face life without Montreal, presently Canada's
second-largest metropolitan area. Geographically, the Atlantic
provinces would be isolated from Ontario and the western provinces --
would carriers like Unitel be allowed to keep their Atlantic
connections through Quebec? And what would American interests think
about Quebec allowing another country's circuits (ie. Canada's) while
not allowing U.S. facilities?

A sovereign Quebec national government gets a crash course on telecom
regulation. A new country's attempts to duplicate the complex responsi-
bilities of the CRTC may not be a pretty sight.

An independent Quebec could have its own country code assigned by the
ITU.  But given the declared intentions of separatist leaders to keep
business links with Canada and the U.S., and noting that changing
dialing patterns is expensive and disruptive, the likely result is
that Quebec will stay within the North American Numbering Plan
(country code 1). The NANP already includes many separate nations, so
adding another nation is an incremental task.

There are also the separate lists of telex and data network codes;
Quebec could opt for separate codes in these cases, even if there
isn't a separate telephone country code. The separated Czech and
Slovak republics, for instance, still share telephone country code 42,
but have separated the telex country codes.

That's a very speculative overview of some of the telecom-related
issues that separatists would face should they be successful next
Monday. The most recent polls show the Yes and No sides either tied or
the separatist side with a slight lead... obviously a colossal
nail-biter with no clear-cut margin of victory expected for either
side. Either way, these parts of North America won't be the same.


Fidonet: Dave Leibold 1:259/[e-mail]
Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: Tad Cook <[e-mail]>
Subject: King of Spam
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 11:00:31 PDT


It looks like the Spam King has made it to the newspapers.

[e-mail] | Tad Cook | Seattle, WA | Ham Radio: KT7H

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

Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 06:06:33 -0400

The King of Spam Scattershot on the Internet lambasted as cyber junk
mail

By Simson L. Garfinkel

Special to the San Jose Mercury News

Meet Jeff Slaton, better known to millions throughout cyberspace as
"THE SPAM KING."

Slaton has taken a practice that many regard as a reprehensible use of
the network of computer networks known as the Internet, raised it to
an art form, and turned it into a lucrative business.

For $425, Slaton will send thousands -- or millions -- of the same
message to Internet users either through "Usenet" groups or electronic
mail, typically hawking a client's product or agenda. The practice is
known as "spamming," taken from a famous Monty Python Flying Circus
skit.

The practice is reviled by most Internet users, who say it clutters up
the system with unwanted solicitations. Yet among his clients, he is
revered because he gets the word out for only a token amount of cash.

"He is the Spam King, no doubt," says Mike Dudley, who has used
Slaton's tactics to promote his international "callback" service,
Compass International Telecom of Boston. "There is him and there is
nobody else ... nobody does it with the cunning and the joy that he
does."

Slaton's spamming is like a direct marketing operation run amok. He
doesn't "target" likely buyers, like most mass mailers. Instead, he
charges clients a flat $425 fee. He says he now averages about 15
spams a week, which if his claims are true, works out to more than
$330,000 in a year.

"It's just as cost-effective for me to send to six million e-mail
addresses as one million, so why bother?" Slaton says. "In fact,
prequalifying a prospect is a dangerous thing, simply because you
might just very well miss a whole group of people who are out on the
fringe."

Slaton's style reflects a growing issue on the largely unregulated
Internet, which is increasingly being used as an advertising vehicle.

Unregulated realm

Federal law prohibits sending unsolicited faxes, but there are
currently no such regulations against sending e-mail, says Robert E.
Smith, editor of The Privacy Journal, a newsletter that focuses on
electronic privacy issues. Smith thinks it would be premature for such
laws to be passed involving the Internet.

"One of the good things about the Net is that it is free of bureaucracy
and regulation," he says. "I think that it is self-governing unlike
any other institution that I know of, and I think that will happen
here. Users of the Net will figure out a methodology" to deal with the
spamming.

Recently, for example, Slaton posted advertisements throughout the
Internet for Scott Glasrud, who is running for political office in New
Mexico. Advertisements for Glasrud's campaign appeared in news groups
such as electro-chemical reactions, fine arts, and even "rec.pyrotechnics"
 -- a special interest group devoted to fireworks.  The advertisements
asked readers to send $5 to Glasrud's office in Albuquerque, to help
get him elected in order to fight "proposed state and federal
regulations for the Internet."

The spams for Glasrud were not well received by Internet readers.
"Many of us were born at night, but not last night! Sorry, no $5 to
you," wrote one America Online user, who saw the spam in an Internet
group reserved for the discussion of human factor issues.

Slaton recently took a leave of absence from his day job at U.S. West
Direct, where he was involved in selling advertisements in the Yellow
Pages, says Gail Harrington, a manager in his former office. Slaton
says that he has a background in advertising, marketing, and telecomm-
unications.

Why spam? To help "the under-capitalized entrepreneur," says Slaton
from his home in Albuquerque.

Some of the messages are clearly identified as coming from the "SPAM
KING," but most only bear the name of Slaton's client. The spams are,
for the most part, untraceable.

"I like to sign [the messages] because I like to stir the controversy,
and keep my label, The Spam King, on people's mind," says Slaton.
Sometimes, he says, he even includes his phone number.

Slaton is certainly on people's minds. Since early August, Slaton's
moniker has appeared in more than 159,000 messages posted on the
Usenet, according to DejaNews, a Usenet indexing service.

Demise is exaggerated

People have claimed that the "Spam King Is Dead" -- meaning that his
account has been shut down -- only to have him reappear under another
name with another Internet provider. Many times, in fact, Slaton
doesn't even spam from his own account.

"I have people set up their own Internet service accounts," says
Slaton.  "They give me their login and password, and then I launch my
program."

The "program" is actually a collection of tools and a database that he
says can put an electronic message before "six to eight million people
 ... I have the technology and the capability, and I try to keep it
under wraps."

Professional direct marketers are not impressed with Slaton's approach.

"I don't think it is intelligent, no more than I would think that it
is intelligent to mail direct mail to every business for a high-tech
product when they aren't prospects for it," says Norm Swent, president
of Marketry, a Seattle-based direct mail firm. "A method of target
marketing makes sense for any media."

Slaton says target marketing has little use from his viewpoint and the
costs are only slightly more, regardless of how many missives he
sends. Of course, somebody does pay for the spamming: the companies
over whose networks the messages travel and the people who receive
them.

"He's using other people's money to conduct his business. If he were
sending out direct mail or faxes, it would cost him money for each
copy that he did," says Daniel Dern, author of The Internet Guide for
New Users. "[With] the method that he is using, the cost is all
transferred to the recipients -- most of whom don't have the chance to
say `No, don't spend my money to place this on my system"'

Companies and individuals have tried to combat Slaton's tactics, using
such methods as mail filtering. Walter Bays, a senior staff engineer
with Sun Microsystems Inc., who has been tracking Slaton for several
weeks, says the New Mexico attorney general has been alerted because
some of Slaton's spams have been for pyramid schemes.

"The Net citizens seem very mad, as though he is a test case: If he
succeeds then the Net will collapse under an avalanche of junk mail
from thousands of imitators, but if he gives up then the Net will live
free and prosper," Bays says. "Both hopes and fears are probably
exaggerated."

"What he is doing is wrong," says Dern. " And I believe that he is not
really delivering on his promises. The number of people and resources
that he claims he is reaching -- the numbers are inflated."

Yet Slaton remains popular with companies trying to use the newest
medium for getting their message out to potential buyers.

"There is a market out there on the Internet to be exploited --
positively so," says Slaton. "You know, exploitation isn't a negative
word."


Published 10/24/95 in the San Jose Mercury News.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #449
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #450

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 24 Oct 95 22:30:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 450

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    New Technology - "TAUGHT CHANNEL" (George M. Buynovsky)
    SB 722: "Rate Restructuring" and Rate Increase Provisions (Rich Stoddard)
    The Ameritech Shuffle (Bob Bulmash)
    UCLA Short Course: "Advanced Communication Systems Using DSP" (W. Goodin)

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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On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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

From: George M. Buynovsky <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Technology - "TAUGHT CHANNEL"
Date: 23 Oct 1995 15:21:22 +0300
Organization: George Buynovsky
Reply-To: [e-mail]


            ACB, DMC, PPM, LZ - CLASSIFICATION, IDEA, COMPARISON

George Buyanovsky

                   1.  Introduction

This article provides a brief overview of the existing technologies
for compression of information and describes the place taken by ACB
compression.  The overview discusses only the technologies for
building compression models: LZ, PPM, DMC, ACB; coding is not
discussed.

LZ has two basic modifications, LZ77 and LZ78 along with a large
number of variations. At present LZ models are widely used
(zip,rar,arj,lzh,uc2...).  The theoretical approach for LZ models was
suggested in 1977 by Lempel A. Ziv J. (LZ), with software realization
in the early eighties.

PPM, or context modelling, is based on theoretical work conducted from
1986-95 (T.C.Bell, J.G.Cleary, I.H.Witten, W.J.Teahan, A.Moffat ....).
Software realization came about in the early nineties (HA, X1, ....).

DMC - Several DMC, or Dynamic Markov Coding, are known, in particular,
Ross Williams'DHPC algorithm, as well as the DMC algorithm of Cormack
& Horspool, which uses many heuristics methods (as well as PPM).  I am
not aware of industrial archivators using the DMC-technology.

                   2.  LZ, PPM, ACB<-->DMC

When two persons speak with one another, they have to formulate their
ideas in detail at the beginning of their conversation, but the longer
their conversation lasts, less detail is required. Why does this
happen?  Many ideas have been expressed and are understood by
conversants without detail.

                   2.1  LZ-compression

LZ-compression substitutes the initial text with references to a
dictionary; it seems that this scheme resembles the methodology used
by two interlocutors.

However, with the growth of the dictionary, the number of bits
necessary for formulating the reference grows proportionally by a
binary logarithm to the size of the dictionary. The length of the
phrases in the dictionary (in the simplest case, a binary tree) at the
beginning considerably surpasses the growth of the length of the
references, but after some saturation, the speed of their growth
asymptotically tends to logarithmic dependence.  The optimal size of
the dictionary varies for different types of data; the more variable
are the data, the smaller the optimal size of the dictionary.

                   2.2 PPM - algorithms (context modelling)

The idea of context modeling is based on the fact that distribution of
possibilities in the alphabet depends on the nearest context, in other
words, letters are more likely to appear in a particular pattern, that
is, next to or near other particular letters. For this technology,
there also exist principal restrictions for the increase of a sliding
frame, or a moving processor of data or letters, for which a context
model is built. A small sliding frame with a corresponding meagre
context model is optimal on variable data, for which the problem of
zero frequency is especially acute. In the course of increasing the
size of a sliding frame, more and more various information is
processed (e.g., a text in French, then a text in German and then a
text in Russian enters this frame), with the result that the
distribution of possibilities widens and the effectiveness of context
modelling (with short context) decreases quickly.  With the increase
of the context length, costs also increase exponentially.  The
transition to context-mixed models has improved the situation to some
extent; however, the absence of theoretically substantiated schemes of
intermingling probabilities is compensated by a large number of
heuristics, which takes us back to the times of alchemy.

                   2.3  ACB-compression

However, the brain of interlocutors in a mysterious fashion can
overcome this barrier and can use all accumulated information through
a mechanism called associative memory.

The general principle of ACB-compression is very simple: the
ACB-algorithm puts on glasses with an associative filter and looking
at the past, it sees not the whole frame but rather only fragments,
which are close by context to the nearest context. Fragments or
phrases of the received picture differ much by quality; phrases close
by context are distinct in their relation to other phrases, less close
phrases are less distinct or are not distinct at all. In this case,
the ACB-algorithm has ideal conditions for work, in that it works more
quickly by considering larger units, moreover, it can distinguish the
value of phrases, through consideration of the probability of the
appearance or use. In the case of an unlimited increase of a frame,
ACB-compression always ensures an optimal size of a context
dictionary.

                   2.4  DMC - Dynamic Markov Coding

Probabilistic models with a finite number of states can be described
by a finite automate. A set of states S (i) and a set of probabilities
of transition P(i,j) from the state i into the state J are called
Markov's models. Markov's Dynamic Coding (DMC) is of practical
interest, in that it works adaptively, starting from a simple initial
model and adding, if necessary, new states. PPM technology is a
particular case of the DMC approach. DMC allows the construction of
context models not only for single symbols (as with PPM and
consideration of letters of the alphabet), but also for phrases or
lines. In this sense, ACB-compression can be classified as a variety
of the DMC approach. I am not aware of software realizations of DMC
algorithms; I would appreciate receiving any information on this issue
(especially software realizations for the IBM_PC).

                   3. Comparison: ACB, PPM, LZ

ACB.EXE v1.14a works only in a "solid" mode, in which all files being
packed are lined in a solid stream; this allows the most effective use
the advantages of a large frame. The least favourable data for this
solid-mode test data.  As a rule, various information is taken into
the catalogue to conduct tests.  However, the high adaptivity of
ACB-compression reduces to a minimum the possible loss, and on real
data, the solid mode gives gain in compression in 99% cases. Below
please find a comparative table (as test files, I have selected those
transmitted by modem):

Compared: ACB v1.14a, X1 v0.93e, RAR v1.54b, ZIP v2.04g
DATA -  Borland_C++_v_3.1 and GS_system_(convertor for *.ps)
(exe,asm,c,cpp,h,hpp,obj,rtf,hlp,txt,doc,rc,res,bmp,lib,dll,wav,prj,ps,....)

       Regim (Options):
 ACB - default ( "TAUGHT CHANNEL"-mode is not used)
 X1  - select mode with max compression (m1/m3/m4/m1-Solid/m3-Solid/m4-Solid)
 RAR - all Solid, max compression
 ZIP - max compression

      ACB        PPM        LZ          LZ
      *.ACB      *.X        *.RAR       *.ZIP
TLIB  78,232     124,950    197,383     219,503
LIB   551,153    798,122    1,020,380   1,157,399
BGI   80,441     91,310     88,763      111,801
DOC   145,801    157,010    193,922     209,196
OWL   813,594    1,306,961  1,306,723   1,569,437
EXMPL 413,790    568,216    565,897     837,843
GS    605,931    653,809    671,410     725,455
      2,688,942  3,700,378  4,044,478   4,830,634

Time on OWL     Pentium-100  (486SX-33)
ACB -           232 sec.     1057 sec.
X1  -(m4-Solid) 190 sec.     710  sec.
RAR -           101 sec.     341  sec.
ZIP -           77  sec.     170  sec.

The non-linear nature of the gain in speed in switching to a Pentium processor
is explained by three reasons:
1) Time costs for disk operations in switching over to Pentium are not
   substantially decreased; their share for ACB is very small.
2) Optimization of the code for Pentium.
3) More effective caching of RAM, which is very critical for ACB.

The advantage of ACB-compression can be increased if ACB is tuned to
some type of data, using the "TAUGHT CHANNEL" mode, having created in
advance the context from relative information. Such a possibility is
only a side effect of this mode. Something similar occurs in choosing
options in order to obtain the maximum compression coefficient
(external information about the data type).  This approach is good if
one wants to set the world records, but is of little practical
application.

                   4. "TAUGHT CHANNEL"

The idea: in compressing information transmitted by a channel of
communications, all of ALL!!! the information earlier transmitted by
this channel is tranmitted, so that any repetitions of the data
transmitted in the past through the channel will be used in
establishing the algorithm for compression.

Realization: The ACB-compression algorithm was implemented in the
archivator ACB.EXE for Dos-WIN95 (ACB_1.14a- the latest version); it
was fully written on Assembler (32_Protection-mode) and optimized for
the Pentium processor. It supports the TAUGHT CHANNEL mode.

Innovations: The ACB-compression algorithm is the only algorithm of
compression, the compression coefficient of which asymptotically
increases with the growth of the sliding frame. Other algorithms can
track not more than 8-65 Kb of the channel's background, depending on
the types of the data, as compared with 820 Kb in ACB_1.14a.

             4.1 Testing with "taught channel" - mode

Stream of data consists of two types of data:
- ARCHIVE COMPARISON TEST (A.C.T.) Author: JEFF GILCHRIST
  for June, July, August, September, October;
- and *.exe files these are different version ACB.EXE:

       Regim (Options):
 ACB - "TAUGHT CHANNEL"-mode
 X1  - aem#
 RAR - all Solid, max compression
 ZIP - max compression

Stream: TXT --> EXE --> TXT --> EXE .... TXT --> EXE

             ACB        PPM      LZ       LZ
Stream       *.ACB      *.X     *.RAR    *.ZIP
of data       size      size     size     size
A.C.T_6.95   10323     10314    12201    12199
ACB_1.10     35605     36713    37150    37605
A.C.T_7.95    3976     11039    13118    13121
ACB_1.11      7903     36751    37172    37620
A.C.T_8.95    2120     10847    12855    12849
ACB_1.12      6963     36977    37381    37853
A.C.T_9.95    1905     11004    12962    12949
ACB_1.13      6123     37036    37402    37886
A.C.T_10.95   1847     11381    13465    13480
ACB_1.14      6873     36201    36410    36978
             83638    238263   250116   252540
Time (sec.)    20        28       7        5

Testing was conducted on Pentium-75.

                   5.  Conclusion

Pentium-100 encourages the creation of new algorithms, one of which is
ACB-compression.

If you are working on the problem of data compression for
communications channels, ACB-compression is the most effective
algorithm for compressing the stream of various information.

P.S. I would welcome comments or questions from those who have different
     points of view.


George Buyanovsky
Internet E-mail:  [e-mail]
fax:7_3272_623-856  tel:7_3272_271-317

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

From: [e-mail] (Richard H. Stoddard)
Subject: SB 722: "Rate Restructuring" and Rate Increase Provisions
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 95 14:31:17 GMT
Organization: Sojourn Systems Ltd.


    Most of the online discussion on the new telecommunications
legislation (SB 722) has focused on the lower calls caps and the
prospects of metered service for local calls.  These provisions
particularly affect anyone with teen-age children and online service
users.

     There are other provisions, however, that will affect everyone
in the state.  These provisions are those providing for "rate
restructuring" and automatic rate increases.

     Section 304(2)(B) of the bill provides for annual automatic
rate increases up to the Consumer Price Index minus one percent.
The bill's sponsors argue that this is the same as in the current
law, a contention that is deliberately misleading.

     The current law does provide for rate increases up to the CPI
minus one percent, but in the current law the MPSC has the authority
to initiate a full hearing pursuant to section 203.  SB 722 would only
allow the Commission to verify that the arithmetic was correct; it
would have no authority to block it.

     The current law also requires the Commission to hold full
hearings on rate increases greater than CPI minus one percent.  The
bill only allows the Commission to hold hearings on the increase.

     There is absolutely no justification for allowing automatic
rate increases based on the CPI because the costs of providing
telecommunications services are in fact declining.  Instead, the
MPSC ought to hold hearings on monopoly local telephone services
and require that they pass through to consumers the productivity
gains.  A fair "automatic rate increase" formula would then be
closer to the CPI minus FIVE percent or so.

     The bill allows for the annual automatic rate increases only
after the telephone companies have completed what is called rate
restructuring.  These provisions are contained in section 304A,
which is reproduced at the end of this post for those who have not
down-loaded a copy of the full bill.  (The text is from SB 722, S-3,
the latest substitute that will be debated on the Senate floor this
week.)

     Section 304A requires that providers of basic local exchange
services "restructure" their rates to ensure that they are not
provided at less than the "total service long run incremental cost"
of providing the service.  This restructuring must be completed by
the year 2000.

     Ameritech has long argued that it loses money on local telephone
service, that it is subsidized by other services.  No one outside of
Ameritech really believes that anymore, given that their return on
equity is in the high forties these days.  Moreover, they have sent
one too many bill inserts asking us to get a second line for the home;
if they really lost $5.00/line/month, they wouldn't be asking us to
get a second line so that they could lose $10.00/month.

     However, there are some areas of Ameritech's service area that
do subsidize other less-densely populated areas of the state.  That
is simply the concept of universal service, making phone service
affordable for all residents no matter where they may live.  There
are also some smaller independent companies that clearly subsidize
residential service with long-distance access fees and/or large
corporate customers.

     This provision may have the most far-reaching impact on
residential customers of any provisions in this bill.  It will lead
to significant rate increases, as much as 200 to 300 percent for
many residents.  But the bill does not require that rates be reduced
for higher-density parts of the state.  (To add insult to injury, this
is all being done to prevent services, such as toll access services,
from subsidizing local service.  But the bill does not require that
access fees paid by long-distance companies, which are passed through
to consumers as part of their toll bills, be reduced as part of the
restructuring.)

     In a truly competitive market, we would have a wide range of
choices for all of our services.  Customers could put together a
package that best suited them.  If they make a lot of long-distance
calls, they might be willing to pay more for local service in return
for lower toll rates. Others might choose a provider with lower local
rates but higher toll rates if most of their calls are local.

     This bill sets an artificial floor for all providers of local
service, however.  The bill's sponsors argue that it is necessary to
raise rates in order to get more competition.  That is bad economics
and terrible public policy.  In the name of competition, consumers
will pay more, but then may get a choice of who gouges them!

     The incumbent local service provider, which in almost all parts
of the state is still a monopoly, can also use this provision to in
fact stifle competition, thereby preventing the development of real
competition.  And it can do this without having to engage in any
expensive price wars or at least expensive to the incumbent).

     The restructuring will be based on cost studies done by the
incumbent phone companies. The MPSC will have only 45 days to review
these massive studies, and they go into effect automatically at the
end of the period if the Commission hasn't completed its review.  The
Commission will never be able to complete their review within this
period, so these studies will stand.

     The phone companies' studies will "clearly" demonstrate that
they need to raise rates significantly in many parts of the state.
Moreover, they will also "clearly" demonstrate that they are "over-
pricing" service in more densely populated areas.  The fact that
these "over-priced" areas are likely to be those where they may face
competition first will surely be just a "coincidence."

     The incumbent phone company would thus be able to engage in a
price war with any potential competitor in areas where they face
competition, while raising rates elsewhere to pay for it.  How long
can any potential competitor sustain such a price war?  The result
will likely be less competition, not more.  And we will be back to a
monopoly provider, but one with less regulatory oversight and the
ability to raise rates automatically every year.

     SB 722 is an Ameritech-protection bill.  It is anti-consumer
and anti-competitive.  It will be considered by the full Senate
starting Wednesday (October 25) or Thursday (October 26). Please
call your state senator and express your concerns about these
provisions and those that will allow metered local service.


Richard H. Stoddard                E-mail: [e-mail]
Michigan Consumer Federation               [e-mail]
Lansing, Michigan


SECTION 304A.

     (1) Upon filing with and the approval of the commission,
a basic local exchange provider shall restructure its rates
for basic local exchange, toll, and access services to ensure
that the rates are not less than the total service long run
incremental cost of providing each service.

     (2) The provider may determine when each rate is
restructured and may phase in the rate restructuring until
january 1, 2000.  after january 1, 2000, the provider's rates
for basic local exchange, toll, and access services shall not
be less than the total service long run incremental cost for
each service.

     (3) The rate restructuring may include, but is not
limited to, one or more of the following:

     (a) Touchtone capability and associated charges into
basic local exchange services at rate levels no greater than
the sum of the current basic local exchange service rates and
the touchtone service rates.  residential customers with
rotary dial service may retain such service at their current
rate.

     (b) Within basic local exchange rates, all or part of the
existing rate elements and charges for other services that are
designed to recover the costs associated with the local exchange
network.

     (c) Restructure existing basic local exchange rates to
reflect the existing variations in costs to provide basic local
exchange services based upon differences in geographic areas,
classes of customers, calling patterns and volumes, technology,
and other factors.

     (4) The commission shall have 45 days from the date of a
filing under this section to review the proposed rate restructuring
to ensure that the rates are not less than the total service long
run incremental costs of the service, or that the rate restructuring
brings rates that are below such costs closer to the costs.

     (5) If the commission does not complete its review within the
45-day period required under subsection (4), the rate restructuring
is considered approved under this section. The basic local exchange
provider may implement the restructured rates 10 days following
commission approval or the end of the period provided for
commission review, whichever is earlier.

     (6) For the purposes of this section and the act, providers
with less than 250,000 access lines may determine total service long
run incremental cost through preparation of a cost study or may
determine that their total service long run incremental cost is the
same as that of a provider with more than 250,000 access lines.

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

From: [e-mail] (Prvt Ctzn)
Subject: The Ameritech Shuffle
Date: 23 Oct 1995 13:11:48 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Prvt Ctzn)


The Ameritech shuffle:   Testimony on Caller ID at a Congressional
subcommittee hearing.

Note: When the circumstances decribed below occured, Illinois Bell
Telephone (IBT) was an Ameritech division.  IBT has now been absorbed
by Ameritech. The House Telecommunications and Finance subcommittee
held a hearing in 1991 concerning the regulation of telephone
solicitation, at which IBT's president testified. His theme was that,
IBT/Ameritech did not want any `per line' or `per call' blocking
restrictions on Caller ID.

Expanding on this, he claimed to think that:

1) Information displayed by Caller ID is similar to license plate numbers
displayed on a cars.
    COMMENT - In light of the fact that telcos charge us for having an
unlisted number,  it is reasonable to conclude that, if state were to offer
special `unlisted' license plates, states could then turn around and sell a
service which would be known as `Driver ID' to reveal the numbers.

2) People with unlisted numbers likely don't want to know if a number they
called has Caller ID.

    COMMENT -  Oh sure!  Perhaps IBT/Ameritech thinks people do not want
to know if their phone is tapped either.

3) The advantages of Caller ID without blocking outweigh its disadvantages
for small businesses.

    COMMENT - No kidding!  Oh, sorry. He didn't mean IBT/Ameritech when he
said `small businesses', he meant small in size.

4) People have a "right to know who's trying to reach them" in the privacy
of their home.

    COMMENT - That statement, coming from their president, points to the
bankruptcy of IBT/Ameritech's testimony.  Though he states we have a right
to know who's trying to reach us, when its IBT/ Ameritech who's trying to
tele-solicit us, that right to know is blocked ... by them.  See below:
[`IBT/Ameritech' is hereafter refered to as `Ameritech']

Ameritech hires telemarketing service bureaus to telemarket their
products and services.  Ameritech's position is as follows: If a
person or firm (tele-victim) notifies Ameritech that they are
unwilling to receive their tele-solicitations, Amertiech will try to
comply. However, if their compliance is unsuccessful, Ameritech will
accept no burden for their negligence. Regardless of their failure to
comply with a do-not-solicit request, and the diligence of the
complainant in making proper, repeated, and acknowledged requests,
Ameritech will not take reasonable steps to assist that tele-victim in
avoiding unwanted Ameritech tele-intrusions.

For example: in one case a tele-victim asked Ameritech, after their
repeated calls in defiance of repeated requests that they not call,
the consumer asked Ameritech to disclose which firms Ameritech hires
to do their telemarketing, thus allowing the tele-victim to contact
those firms in advance of their inevitable tele-intrusions, and demand
that they not call.

Ameritech refused to disclose the information, saying that the
identity of those firms was proprietary.  In other words, the only
time you can find out the name of a firm which Ameritech pays to
telemarket you, is after they invade your privacy ... because the name
of that public firm is private, so long as you want to know it.
Furthermore, Ameritech considers the privacy of that information to be
superior to your privacy at home.  Only after your privacy has been
invaded by an Ameritech `hired tele-gun' which gives you its name,
will Ameritech confirm that name.

Remember, while promoting `unblockable Caller ID', Ameritech told
Congress that people have a "right to know who's trying to reach them"
in the privacy of their homes.  Sadly for us, Ameritech does not think
they must play by the same rules they try to push down our throats.


Bob Bulmash
Private Citizen, Inc.
1/800-CUT-JUNK

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

From: [e-mail] (William R. Goodin)
Subject: UCLA Short Course: "Advanced Communication Systems Using DSP"
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 16:37:40
Organization: UCLA Extension


  *****   New Session Added to Accommodate Overflow Attendance   ****

On January 15-19, 1996, UCLA Extension will present the short course,
"Advanced Communication Systems Using Digital Signal Processing",
on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.

The instructors are Bernard Sklar, PhD, Communications Engineering
Services, and frederick harris, MS, Professor, Electrical and Computer
Engineering, San Diego State University.

As part of the course materials, each participant receives a copy of the
text, "Digital Communications-Fundamentals and Applications", by
Bernard Sklar.

This course provides comprehensive coverage of advanced digital
communications.  It differs from other communications courses in its
emphasis on applying modern digital signal processing techniques to
the implementation of communication systems.  This makes the course
essential for practitioners in the rapidly changing field. Error-
correction coding, spread spectrum techniques, and bandwidth-efficient
signaling are all discussed in detail.  Basic digital signaling
methods and the newest modulation-with-memory techniques are
presented, along with trellis-coded modulation.

Topics that are covered include: signal processing overview and
baseband transmission; bandpass modulation and demodulation; digital
signal processing tools and technology; non-recursive filters; channel
coding: error detection and correction; defining, designing, and
evaluating systems; signal conditioning; adaptive algorithms for
communication systems; modulation and coding trade-offs and
bandwidth-efficient signaling; and spread spectrum and multiple access
techniques.

The course fee is $1495, which includes the text and extensive course
notes.

For additional information and a complete course description, please
contact Marcus Hennessy at:

[phone]
[phone]  fax
[e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #450
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