Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27577; 23 Jul 93 6:01 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30804 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 03:08:37 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10793 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 03:08:01 -0500 Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 03:08:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307230808.AA10793@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #501 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Jul 93 03:08:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 501 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? (Alan M. Gallatin) Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? (Christopher Zguris) Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? (Bob Frankston) Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? (Jack Decker) Re: MCI to Compuserve and Back (Lynne Gregg) Re: Commercial Services - Internet Mail (Lynne Gregg) Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! (Andrew Finkenstadt) Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! (Bill Campbell) Re: Kerberos on Cellular Telephones (Bill Campbell) Re: Kerberos on cellular telephones (Richard Thomsen) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Andy Sherman) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 07:22:42 -0400 From: amg@acpub.duke.edu (Alan M. Gallatin) Subject: Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? The real question is: does CI$ block all messages that have addresses starting with >INTERNET: and *containing* the string mcimail.com or does it hit such messages with addresses *ending* with mcimail.com? Example ... the discussion on this group would suggest that a CI$ message addressed to >INTERNET:user@mcimail.com will be subject to some "cruel" treatment :-) What happens if you force the mail to hit an extra internet site, for example: >INTERNET:user%mcimail.com@cunyvm.cuny.edu (For those unfamilar, this address would get interpreted as, "send the mail to the user at mcimail.com by passing the message to cunyvm.cuny.edu and letting that system figure out what's next.) This is a perfectly legit (albeit inefficient) way to address e-mail - It is still VERY useful for reaching non-internet sites with internet domain names, or UUCP sites (kind of an evolution from the old "!" bang addressing). Will CI$ see through this or will THIS sort of message pass through? BY THE WAY: I'm still not clear what CI$ DOES do with messages it detects are really MCIMail - does it: a) bounce the message back to the sender with explanation; b) silently send the message into a net.black.hole never to be heard from again; c) automagically re-route the message to MCIMail and, in the process, hit the sender for that fee? Thanks! Alan M. Gallatin Duke University School of Law; Durham, NC ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 15:13 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? In TELECOM Digest V13 #498 Bruce (4544760@mcimail.com OR 72747.2737@compuserve.com) writes: > In neither case do I pay for incoming mail, either with MCI or CIS. > MCI charges for outbound mail only; CIS charges for connect time only, > regardless of what you're doing (I understand that some, newer, CIS > accounts DO work as you describe: Mine (about ten years old) doesn't). I also have a CompuServe account and as you said above, you pay for connect time. But if you're paying for connect time to read/download/ whatever email (especially larger amounts of e-mail) than you are _indirectly_ paying. At least you're paying more than you would using MCI which only charges for sending. A friend of mine has an account with a local dial-in access provider and they charge him $35 a month for a mailbox plus he has to pay for the phone call which ads up if you're on for any length of time (incidentally, I think $35 per month is excessive). As a note, MCI Mail is accessed using an 800 number so they pick up the call! One other note here, if MCI has a working direct gateway to Compuserve, why would you want to go through the Internet? Wouldn't this be a waste of Internet bandwidth? Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com [Moderator's Note: It might well be -- probably is -- a waste of bandwidth. But if the user knows no better, I still contend the mail sould be bounced, not just lost in the vapor somewhere. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Subject: Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 13:33 -0400 Note that now that MCI<->CIS is via their X.400 gateway they've dropped the surcharge. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 15:27:03 EDT From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: Is CIS Blocking Internet? In message , mking@fsd.com (Mike King) wrote: > The gateway between MCI Mail and CI$ is separate from the Internet > gateway, and CI$ has historically surcharged for sending mail to MCI > Mail subscribers. > At some point later, it became possible for both services to send and > receive via the Internet. But since CI$ has a direct gateway to MCI > Mail, for which they can charge, why (in their mind) should they > permit a user to bypass it and send mail to MCI Mail subscribers via > the Internet? > If LECs weren't required by their state regulators to allow dialing > 10xxx on an intra-LATA toll call, would they? Let me suggest something that MIGHT work for CI$ or MCI Mail subscrib- ers who want to receive e-mail from the other service routed via the Internet. Get an account on one of the many Freenet systems (such as Cleveland Freenet, Youngstown Freenet, National Capitol Freenet in Canada, etc.). All Freenets that I know of have a dialup number so you can access them via the phone network, even if you don't have a local Internet connection. Once you have an account established, tell people to send mail to your Freenet address rather than your MCI or CI$ address. Now ... log onto the Freenet system and tell it to forward all your mail to your preferred address on the commercial system of your choice. After that, you may only need to log into the Freenet once a month or so to keep your account active (and maybe you don't even need to do that; I'm not sure if Freenets delete inactive accounts). This will definitely avoid the problem of outgoing mail being blocked before it ever leaves the sender's system, since to the sender you'll have a valid Internet address. It may not help the problem of the service you use refusing incoming mail from certain services if it comes in via the Internet, but if I had a service that did that, I would find another service post haste, or at least argue the point with someone in management (forget the first-level folks in Customer Service; they're there to defend company policy, not change it). One argument you could use (especially if true) is that you travel a lot and when you are away from home, it's more convenient to have your Internet mail forwarded to your commercial service mailbox, but you don't want to lose any of it just because it happens to have another commercial service's address in the "From" header. Personally, I think this may be just another reason why the commercial services will decline as public access to the Internet becomes more available. The latter is slow in coming to many areas, although I understand that it's available in many areas through services like Delphi and BIX, and often at a lower cost than through the commercial services (by the way, anyone know of anything less expensive than those two? I have a friend in Indianapolis who's looking for less expensive access, but preferably one that would permit a SLIP, SLFP, or PPP connection). Really, the only reason Compuserve is so popular is because it promotes itself so heavily (what other online service runs TV ads on network television?) but in many cases, once folks get their first bill they start looking for lower-cost alternatives! :-) Jack Decker | ao944@yfn.ysu.edu or ac388@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: MCI to Compuserve and Back Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 14:39:00 PDT Joshua E. Muskovitz wrote: > All MCI addresses on the list (including the original sender) bounce > when they get rerouted to MCI, because the gateway recognises the > mcimail in the sender's address. The funny part of it is that in > order to bounce it, it has to go back across the net! Mail to CIS > gets through, I believe, but I'm not sure. Not having a CIS account, > I don't know what happens to that mail." I've tried this before. You're right, the "bounce" comes back across the net, back to the Compuserve subscriber. I have a CIS account, but can't speak for what's seen on the MCI end. The CIS user gets a message that basically states that to send to MCI users, you must use the MCImail> prefix (directing your email out the dedicated MCI gateway). This costs you a min. of $1.00. The charge for message delivery IS size dependent. I've sent some "reports" across to MCI users at a cost of $3.00. Hey, it's still less expensive than overnight air! Lynne ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: Commercial Services - Internet Mail Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 14:44:00 PDT Gary Breuckman wrote: > Compuserve charges for mail that you SEND, and also charges for > Internet mail that you RECEIVE, at the same rate as if you had sent > it. You have the option of discarding Internet mail (based on the > subject/from line) without reading it, and not paying for it. Note: CIS has a few rate plans. You're speaking of the "basic-basic" plan. Depending on your email volume and what other "services" you want to access on Compuserve, you might find the hourly, pay-as-you-go rate to be more advantageous. I do. In the case where you pay the ~ $12.95 per hour, you can access a wide range of services. You DO NOT pay a per message charge for email (either intra-system or inter-system). If you use the CIM software, you get a view of message headers and can accept or delete messages (no point in paying the per message charge or the per minute to file transfer something you don't want). Lynne ------------------------------ From: andy@vistachrome.com (Andrew Finkenstadt) Subject: Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! Reply-To: andy@vistachrome.com Organization: Vista-Chrome, Inc. Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 00:03:34 GMT In TELECOM Digest V13 #490 PAT wrote: > [Moderator's Note: Since each issue of this Digest runs 21-24 K of > text, that's 'merely' $1.05 - $1.20 per issue for Prodigy people. > I think I'll make Prodigy cut me in for some percentage of it! :) > Do they honestly think anyone on their service will be able to afford > to be part of any mailing list originating on the Internet? PAT] David Appell writes: > I believe this is going to be an increasingly large problems for > users of commercial e-mail services who receive significant amounts of > mail from the Internet. > Last week's issue of {Communications Week} had a cover story on > this topic. CIS has already instituted charges similiar to Prodigy, > and other big commercial providers (they quoted EasyLink) are > considering it. [parts deleted...] > Unfortunately, given the current rate structures of commercial > e-mail providers (of order 15-50 cents for a 1K message), few users > will be able to afford to receive much mail from the Internet. The GEnie service, for whom I am contractor of several areas, including serving as Internet Postmaster and Sysop of the Internet RoundTable, offers Internet mail inbound or outbound at the same exact price as it offers internal mail -- and it is all connect time based. A very brief history of the last month or so (as preceeding historical events were explained here, too): In late May 1993 GEnie announced their rate restructuring; one benefit of this action was to remove the per-item/size costs from Internet mail and throw it under the standard connect time rates, effective July 1. Previously an issue of the Digest that would run 25K would cost about $1.50. Now it would cost however long it takes to download it, or roughly 20 cents. That is via electronic mail. There are other options available to GEnie subscribers for downloading the TELECOM Digest (or just about any other newsgroup) in a compressed form. Our typical compression ratio is 3:1, and some repetitive newsgroups get better than that. (For more information about this, write to INTERNET on GEnie, or Internet@GEnie.geis.com.) Andrew Finkenstadt | andy@{homes.com,vistachrome.com,genie.geis.com} Systems Analyst | Vista-Chrome, Homes & Land Publishing Corporation | 1600 Capital Circle SW, Tallahassee Florida 32310 +1 904-575-0189 | GEnie Postmaster, Unix & Internet RoundTables Sysop ------------------------------ From: bill@Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) Subject: Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! Organization: Celestial Software, Mercer Island, WA Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 16:04:44 GMT In mking@fsd.com (Mike King) writes: > CI$ does give you the option of either ignoring or deleting incoming > Internet mail (it's flagged in the summary); if you don't read it > within 30 days, it'll go away by itself. Unread mail carries no > charge. I would like to see CIS add the capability of automatically forwarding e-mail to a CIS account to my internet address. The last thing I want to do is deal with the CIS mail programs and "editor", but I do receive some e-mail there since I'm a sysop on the CIS scoforum. My solution now is to read CIS mail once a week capturing it to disk, then I have a perl script that injects the CIS mail into my Unix mailer where I can read and reply to it. Bill INTERNET: bill@Celestial.COM Bill Campbell; Celestial Software UUCP: ...!thebes!camco!bill 8545 SE 68th Street uunet!camco!bill Mercer Island, WA 98040; (206) 947-5591 ------------------------------ From: billc@glacier.sierra.com (Bill Campbell) Subject: Re: Kerberos on Cellular Telephones Organization: Sierra Geophysics, Inc. Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 01:05:27 GMT Richard, I don't think I understand you here. (My understanding of crypto is not extensive.) Perhaps you would be so kind as to enlighten? Specific questions interspersed below. On 14 Jul 93 04:52:22 GMT, rgt@spitfire.lanl.gov (Richard Thomsen) said: Richard> Andrew R. Ghali wrote: > The abbreviated query/challenge system should go something like this: > Phone: "Hi, I'm NNN-NXX-XXXX, I'd like to make a call" > Cell: "Oh yeah, prove to me that you are NNN-NXX-XXXX. Here > is a session key encoded using your ESN, decode it, > encode the number you want to call with it and send > it back" > Phone: "OK, here is the number I want to call encoded with the > session key" > Cell: "Looks good, here's your call, encoded with the current > session key. Enjoy." Richard> It seems to me that this is not a very good challange system. The Richard> cell sends an encrypted message, and the phone could go offline Richard> and take as long as necessary to try different ESNs to break the Richard> code. Would it not be better if it were as follows? How would it know that it had broken the code? How would it recognize a valid session key? Wouldn't the session key expire after some reasonable timeout interval? Richard> Phone: "Hi, I'd like to make a call, and here is my telephone number Richard> encrypted with my ESN." How does the cell know at this point who is calling, since both the telephone number and ESN have now been hashed together? Are you not describing a situation in which the cell suddenly receives a stream of digits? Doesn't the caller have to make some sort of "claim" of identification which can then be verified? Richard> Cell: "Your telephone number decoded correctly, so the ESN you sent Richard> me was acceptable. Here is the session key encoded with your Richard> ESN. Decode it, encode the number you want to call with it, Richard> and send it back." Richard> Rest as above. Richard> It would seem that a two-way challange would be better than just Richard> sending an encrypted message to the caller. If the first message Richard> did not decode using the proper ESN, then the cell would not send Richard> anything. Richard> This weakness is also true of the Kerberos password system. Richard> Richard Thomsen Los Alamos National Laboratory rgt@lanl.gov Richard> In case you did not realize, I speak only for myself. Maybe I just don't understand the problem. I thought that cell fraud was perpetrated by phreaks recording telno/ESN pairs that are (currently) transmitted in the clear. If the ESN is always transmitted in cipher- text, and the value of the session key is generated on the fly and therefore not somehow known to the phreak, how can s/he get the ESN? Bill Campbell Software Engineer Halliburton Energy Services billc@sierra.com #include ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 09:57:37 -0600 From: rgt@spitfire.lanl.gov (Richard Thomsen) Subject: Re: Kerberos on Cellular Telephones I have received some email about my suggestion for Kerberos on cellular telephones, some asking some questions of why what I suggested would be any better. I am probably the one missing something here. I was told by some people who have been studying Kerberos that the server sends you an encrypted message first, after you request one in the clear. Then the workstation can go off trying to break the code, and use it. Somehow it knows when it has broken the message, probably by the message format and some fixed part of the message, the date, or whatever. Once it has broken the message, the session key is probably expired, but it now knows the password, so it can use that password with impunity. I would think that the cellular telephone system would have the same problem. Once you have broken the message, then you have the ESN to use. What I was trying to suggest was some way to prove yourself to the server before it gave out any critical material. The idea was that the client (the telephone) does the encrypting, and the server does the decrypting, so that the server does not send critical information to the client that it can use, until it is reasonably sure who it is. Others are right in that if you are listening to the conversation, then it probably does not make any difference. I was thinking more in the line of impersonation rather than tapping. Richard Thomsen Los Alamos National Laboratory rgt@lanl.gov ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 11:45:30 EDT From: andys@internet.sbi.com (Andy Sherman) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions In comp.dcom.telecom, article , Pat wrote: > [Moderator's Note: A call from POTS phone A in Chicago to 800 > number B in New York will *always* have the same logic, won't it? > Telco goes to the database the first time it sees an 800 number; is > given the details on what to do, and does it. Do you have to be told > over and over how to do the same thing? The round cache which sits on > top of your shoulders stores information. You only go to the library > (or read this Digest! ) when you want to learn something new. > So for a day or two or three -- whatever -- at a time, the telco > switch's cache remembers what it did the last time it saw the number. > Since large volume 800 customers are called over and over all day long > in a city like Chicago (someone in some CO somewhere here is always > calling United Airlines, I'm sure), the switch is always in a position > to say "Oh! I know what to do now, I know where that place is." PAT] In a later issue, Pat then writes (after some discussion): >[Moderator's Note: Well the point you raise is the one issue I was >never able to satisfy myself on with my thesis of how it was done. So ^^^^^^ > your point is well taken, and according to the message which appeared > here yesterday, telcos do in fact do a lookup each time; it is done so > rapidly however that to the user it is quite transparent. PAT] It would be *really* nice if people posting hypotheses in the Digest (including the Moderator) would label them as such, rather than stating them as facts. This would go a long way towards decreasing the level of net.confusion. Do not confidently go forth and state that you *know* that COs have an 800 number routing cache unless you have *information* at hand the confirms that this is the case. Guessing is fine - just share the fact that you're winging it. As to the 800 number cache, that would be a singularly bad idea for any LEC to implement in an end office. First off, it would break a lot of enhanced 800 services. Somebody from AT&T can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure (note the disclaimer, please) that it's possible to have the routing change at night, so that a nationwide 800 number routed to multiple centers can have fewer centers open at night. Cacheing the route would surely break this. Caches would also likely break all of the "we guarantee to have your super-duper 800 service back up within X minutes" type services that the IXC's offer. Andy Sherman Salomon Inc - Unix Systems Support - Rutherford, NJ (201) 896-7018 - andys@sbi.com or asherman@sbi.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #501 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa29844; 23 Jul 93 6:33 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA21772 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 03:50:42 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05978 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 03:50:02 -0500 Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 03:50:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307230850.AA05978@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #502 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Jul 93 03:50:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 502 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell (Mike King) Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell (Marshall Levin) Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell (Ralph Hyre) Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted (Curtis Bohl) Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Escort Digital Cordless Phone (David Hough) Re: How I Call 800 Numbers (Laurence Chiu) Re: Translation Help Needed With Telephony Terms in Spanish (F. Lagrana) Re: Maximum Number of Phone Lines to a Residence? (Marc Unangst) Re: Assistance Needed With PLANITU Software (Robert Shaw) Re: How Were N.A. Area Codes Allocated? (Carl Moore) Re: Dark Fiber? (Carl Silva) Re: Answering Machines and Fax Marriages - Can They Work (H. Shrikumar) Re: The Next Step: Affinity Long Distance (Fred Ennis) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 12:50:15 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell In TELECOM Digest, V13 #497, doug@lm.net (Douglas Luce) wrote: > Apparantly, they havqe a special switch which selects the cheapest > long distance carrier (based on time of day and destination of call) > at the time the call is made. > They broker time from the five major long-distance carriers (MCI, > Sprint, etc) and some regional carriers. They wholesale this time > through their special switching equipment, somehow making sure that > their customers get the best deal. They also offer calling cards and > other normal carrier incentives. > This person went on to say that Cincinnati Bell is one of the few > (perhaps the only) Bell Operating Companies that was allowed to do > long distance businesss after the Bell breakup. > Does anyone know about this product? Is this sort of deal > particularly remarkable? Is he hiding something about Cincinnati Bell > being a BOC and allowed to do long distance? Several companies are making money by brokering long distance in the manner described. Since they buy in bulk, their cost per minute is very low. I don't know if the deal is especially remarkable. It's true that one carrier is a penny or two cheaper for one call at a specific time for a particular distance, and another carrier will be a penny or two cheaper for the same distance at another time, but unless you're a very high volume caller, you probably won't see a big savings on your LD bills. This may be skewed by the regional carriers -- they're likely to be a little more competitive than the nationals. While I'd like to believe you can place faith in CB, some of the companies in such a business are not zealous in keeping their costing tables up to date, and depending on how ethical the management of such a company is, you may not always really get the best rate. If you want to confirm you're really getting the best rate, you'd have to do the same amount of homework as you'd do to select the carrier yourself (although you can do it after the fact). Drawbacks? Well, the call has to be handed to another switch to make the decision over which carrier to send the call (while CB *can* do that through their CO switches, I doubt that's the case). From there, it has to be sent to the LD carrier's POP. A regular LD call goes directly from the CO to the LD POP. If you have any problems with calls, you have to deal with the reseller, who in turn deals with the carrier, instead of being able to go directly to the source. It may be difficult to determine which carrier is involved. Yes, CB *IS* allowed to sell long distance, and telephones, and other services. Prior to divestiture, AT&T had minority ownership in CB; I believe it was around 24%. As such, it kept an 'independent' status during and after divestiture -- it's not owned by any "Baby Bell" RBOC. Since 1984, CB has bought most, if not all, of AT&T's shares. Mike King | +1 301-428-5384 | I don't speak for my Software Sourcerer | mking@fsd.com or | employer. My employer Fairchild Space | 73710.1430@compuserve.com | doesn't speak for me. ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: RE: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 15:30:14 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In Article doug@lm.net writes: > Apparantly, they havqe a special switch which selects the cheapest > long distance carrier (based on time of day and destination of call) > at the time the call is made. > This person went on to say that Cincinnati Bell is one of the few > (perhaps the only) Bell Operating Companies that was allowed to do > long distance businesss after the Bell breakup. > Does anyone know about this product? Is this sort of deal > particularly remarkable? Is he hiding something about Cincinnati Bell > being a BOC and allowed to do long distance? This sort of thing is common for large customers. I have never heard of it being offered like this, though. As to why Cincinnati Bell being different, they are not an RBOC and, to my knowlege, were not a BOC. Even though the name is Cincinnati Bell, they were not owned by AT&T and were not effected by the MFJ. Hence, like GTE, they are free to do whatever they like. Sounds like thay are doing something useful with that ability. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 ------------------------------ From: mlevin@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshall Levin) Subject: Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci. Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 03:17:53 GMT Well, I don't know about the phone company itself providing such a service, but I know of a number of different universities that offer it. Their computer checks the number you dial, checks its database of rates and routes your call to the cheapest carrier. It sounds like you'd run into some legal situations if the actual phone company did this. I imagine the university's phone/computer system merely prefixes your call with the appropriate 10xxx code. ------------------------------ From: rhyre@bears.att.com Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 15:26:42 EDT Subject: Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell Reply-To: ralphw@csc.com > Yesterday I got a call from someone at Cincinnati Bell. This person > was plugging their innovative new long-distance service. I didn't think it was new, unless a new service has just come out. Cincinnati Bell Long Distance offers 1+, 950, and 800 access. > Apparantly, they havqe a special switch which selects the cheapest > long distance carrier (based on time of day and destination of call) > at the time the call is made. I have never heard this, and would take it with a grain of salt. I assumed they bought all their time from AT&T or a large carrier. Otherwise you miss out on volume discounts when all your traffic is with one carrier. > They broker time from the five major long-distance carriers (MCI, > Sprint, etc) and some regional carriers. They wholesale this time > through their special switching equipment, somehow making sure that > their customers get the best deal. They also offer calling cards and > other normal carrier incentives. The one 'normal carrier incentive' they don't have is the ability to put the calls on your Cincinnati Bell local telephone bill. (Cincinnati Bell can't accept bills for EasyReach 700 service, either, but that's another story.) This means you get at LEAST two phone bills, one for local calls, the other for long distance calls. You can't even pay the local and long distance bills in person at the same location. You have to walk from 4th street to 7th street through Downtown Cincinnati. They also charge a separate 'FCC assessment' (.54/month) on your bill (if you're a 1+ customer). This is because they are considered a 'non-facilities' based carrier and are subject to some FCC edict. > This person went on to say that Cincinnati Bell is one of the few > (perhaps the only) Bell Operating Companies that was allowed to do > long distance businesss after the Bell breakup. This is true, Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone were generally unaffected by divestiture, because AT&T didn't own a majority stake in them. For example, Tristate Online is an Internet-accessible information service offerred by Cincinnati Bell. It's free, for basic (e-mail) services. Real internet access for ftp, etc. will cost money. > Does anyone know about this product? Is this sort of deal > particularly remarkable? Is he hiding something about Cincinnati Bell > being a BOC and allowed to do long distance? I subscribe to their travel service, which is offerred throughout the Midwest (Chicago <-> Pittsburgh) and other areas (like Dallas). Dial 950-1614 + PIN + number. Ralph Hyre (ralphw@csc.com) ------------------------------ From: EXTMO4H@mizzou1.missouri.edu (Missouri 4-H Youth Development Programs) Subject: Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted Organization: University of Missouri Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 17:34:32 CDT In article mjuric@aisun5.ai.uga.edu (Mark Juric [MSAI]) writes: > I'm looking for a number or "trick" to ringback my number. You > know, something like dialing a 9 as the first digit of your number and > then hanging up ... I used to have one when I lived up North, but I'm > not familiar with Southern Bell. Anyone know about this? Have you tried dialing your phone number by itself? That works with some of the GTE switches here. Curtis Bohl Computer Programmer/Analyst extmo4h@mizzou1.missouri.edu 4-H Youth Development Alternate: bohlc@ext.missouri.edu Programs ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted Date: 22 Jul 1993 21:42:39 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In mjuric@aisun5.ai.uga.edu (Mark Juric [MSAI]) writes: > I'm looking for a number or "trick" to ringback my number. You > know, something like dialing a 9 as the first digit of your number and > then hanging up ... I used to have one when I lived up North, but I'm > not familiar with Southern Bell. Anyone know about this? This comes up every so often, and I keep thinking I should write an FAQ on it. The FCC regs, Part 68, call for anyone (telco or not) who installs inside telephone wiring to do a ringback test. The idea is that the ring voltage might reveal instances of sloppy wiring, such as partial shorts and the like. The regs also say, more or less, that if the telco makes a ring back service available to its own installers it has to make them available to competing installers. What this means in plain language is that if you call them up and ask they should tell you. Wanna make book on how often local telcos reveal such secrets just because somebody asked? Not very often in my opinion. Now I know it would help everyone if I could cite the particular section of Part 68, but just now I can't find my copy. It's in the part that talks about installation of inside wiring, about twenty or thirty pages into the CFR volume. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ From: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk (David Hough) Subject: Re: Escort Digital Cordless Telephone Reply-To: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 06:12:08 GMT In article jgreene@nyx.cs.du.edu (Justin Greene) writes: > Is DSS special to Escort or is it also used on the tropez and other > like phones. They seem to be implying that the call could not be > monitored because the frequency changes during conversation. If we > successfully monitor a conversation can they be sued? They also say > "wide (26MHZ) ..." but then later say "100 Channels", well, which is > it? Any thoughts? The '100 channels' could well refer to the number of different scrambling codes used. All the phones probably use the same 26MHz band (look up CDMA -- Code Division Multiple Access) for more info on how it works. Don't believe the bit about monitoring -- if I get another phone handset and mod it slightly so I can change scramble code, all I would need to do is ring you up from down the street and fiddle with the code setting until I found the right one. With only 100 channels it shouldn't take too long :-) Dave G4WRW @ GB7WRW.#41.GBR.EU AX25 dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Internet g4wrw@g4wrw.ampr.org Amprnet ------------------------------ Subject: Re: How I Call 800 Numbers From: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) Date: 22 Jul 93 00:15:00 GMT Organization: The Transfer Station BBS, Danville, CA - 510-837-4610/837-5591 Reply-To: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) John L. Shelton had the following to say: > I have been calling some 800 numbers from Europe over the last few > months via this scheme: > I call USA Direct (AT&T). In some countries, you get a bong tone and > can direct dial a number if you have a touch-tone phone. Otherwise > tell the operator. 800 numbers seem to be acceptable. > I haven't seen the bill yet; I assume I'll get charged for the full > international rate. > One attempt was blocked; I got an operator, who explained that the 800 > number I was calling wasn't owned by AT&T, so they wouldn't place the > call. I haven't tried using Sprint*DIrect. My experiences exactly. Except when I called an 800 number using USA Direct that was not owned by AT&T I got a "all circuits busy" message which was a little confusing. I only got the information about non AT&T numbers not being reachable when I spoke to an operator. BTW the charge will not be low. It will be at standard USA Direct rates plus a card surcharge. From New Zealand anyway, it was NEVER cheaper to use a USA Direct or Call USA service than the local Telco. Perhaps that is the result of competition like that. I can't speak about Pat's new service where you call and get US dialtone on your phone. That sounds like a way to call 800 numbers for free. Laurence Chiu The Transfer Station BBS (510) 837-4610 & 837-5591 (V.32bis both lines) Danville, California, USA. 1.5 GIG Files & FREE public Internet Access ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 93 09:40:00 +0100 From: lagrana@itu.ch (Fernando Lagrana) Subject: Translation Help Needed with Telephony Terms in Spanish Organization: International Telecommunication Union Reply-To: myerston@qm.sri.com > I am badly in need of official (CCITT ?) Spanish language translations > for the following terms: > Echo Return Level > Singing Return Loss > and the ever present: TIP & RING. I know this varies from country > to country. I have run into PUNTA, ANILLO, NUCA and "A & B". Any > ideas? I can propose the following translations: Echo Return Level: nivel de retorno de eco Singing Return Loss: perdida de retorno para el cebado Concerning Tip & Ring, the official Spanish terms are tron y ron. Fernando Lagrana International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (former CCITT Secretariat) lagrana@itu.ch ------------------------------ From: mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) Subject: Re: Maximum Number of Phone Lines to a Residence? Date: 22 Jul 1993 20:29:50 -0400 Organization: The Programmers' Pit Stop, Ann Arbor MI Monty Solomon writes: > Channel 1, the Cambridge-based electronic bulletin board service with > 15,000 subscribers, ... 110 personal computers each with a modem, > and at least that many phone lines to handle 3,200 calls a day. Gack. Hasn't this person heard of multiuser computer systems? Or rackmount modems? You could fit all those users onto a decent-sized 486 box or two with a good multiport serial card; the modems would probably all fit into a single 7' rack. How much do you want to bet that all 110 lines are POTS lines from the CO, instead of being brought in on multiple T1's? > Now, the local zoning board has ordered Miller and his wife to move > the business. It's about time. He must have made some real friends in the telco when they had to bring a 100-pair out to his house just for him. Marc Unangst, N8VRH mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 14:01:08 +0200 From: Shaw Subject: Re: Assistance Needed With PLANITU Software Zakaria.Lahjomri@irisa.fr (Zakaria Lahjomri) wrote: > I'm looking for documentation about the PLANITU software. nThe person who wrote this software is here at the ITU. You should contact: Thomas Fried ITU Development Sector International Telecommunication Union Place des Nations 1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland Voice: +41 22 730 5061 FAX: +41 22 730 5484 RFC822: fried@itu.ch X.400: S=Fried; P=itu; A=arcom; C=ch I've copied him on this response so he'll be expecting your call/mail/fax. Bob Shaw ITU Information Services shaw@itu.ch ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 10:44:24 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: How Were N.A. Area Codes Allocated? OK, I'll pick up where the Moderator's note leaves off. There is the archive file history.of.area.splits (I can mail it directly if you let me know); it suggests there might have been (VERY long ago) the rule of using N0X in state/province having one area code and N1X in state/province having more than one area code. Area codes got the form N0X/N1X to distinguish them from exchange codes (a/k/a known as prefixes), which have been of NNX form (many areas have had to generalize their prefixes to NXX, and area codes are to generalize to NXX as well). As for number of clicks: the Moderator's note mentions 212,312,213. And notice that Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean area got 907, 808, and 809 respectively. Someone suggested in the digest that the Bell system had something to do with putting 413 in western Massachusetts (Boston got 617). Enclosed is a list of adjacent area codes which differ by one digit; besides the current cases, there are two future ones (in Ontario and North Carolina) and some obsolete ones. 601 Mississippi, 501 Arkansas, 901 Tennessee 405 Oklahoma, 505 New Mexico 307 Wyoming, 308 Nebraska (notice that Nebraska has two area codes, both N0X) 309 Illinois, 319 Iowa (the "N1X in states having more than one area code", which would be long obsolete, suggests that 309 is relatively new.) 217 Illinois, 317 Indiana 217 Illinois, 219 Indiana (DON'T KNOW if these touch) 716 New York, 717 Pennsylvania (touching only at a corner?) 703 Virginia, 704 North Carolina (this would be long ago, because, before 804 was formed, Virginia touched 919 but did not touch 704.) 301 Maryland, 302 Delaware (this went away when 410 was fully cut over) 301 Maryland, 304 West Virginia (not affected by 301/410 split) 305 Florida, 205 Alabama (this went away in 1965 when 904 was formed) 504 Louisiana, 501 Arkansas (the "N1X in states having more than one area code", which would be long obsolete, suggests that 318 is relatively new) 705 and 905 in Ontario (to come into existence at 416/905 split) 219 Indiana, 419 Ohio 919 and 910 in North Carolina (to come into existence at 919/910 split) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 08:02:50 PDT From: Carl Silva Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Hi, I missed the eariler part of this conversation. I have seen the term Dark Fiber used in several ways and I am confused as to the meaning. Can someone come up with a generally accepted definition for this? Carl ------------------------------ From: shri%legato@cs.umass.edu (H. Shrikumar) Subject: Re: Answering Machine and Fax Marriages - Can They Work? Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 08:50:42 GMT Organization: UMass, Amherst MA + Temporal Sys & Computer Networks Bombay India In article ... > It is for these reasons that all of the solutions which are based on a > "magic" box that you buy that automatically discriminates FAX from > voice (and even from modem) calls only work some of the time. It's > just not possible to tell, without making any noise, what kind of > thing (person, FAX, modem) is calling you. Is it true that all FAX-voice discriminators listen for something beofre they decide ... ? I know of one box that prompts you for fax or voice, and expects you to BEEP, say yes, or just stay on the line for the fax. Even this one wants to listen and then decide irrevocably. Should it not be possible to assume one, default to it, and upon failure go to the other choice ... as long as this does not hurt voice or fax usage and comfort? shrikumar (shri@legato.cs.umass.edu) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The Next Step: Affinity Long Distance From: fred@page6.pinetree.org (Fred Ennis) Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 09:42:28 -0400 Organization: Page 6, Ottawa, Ontario +1 613-723-5711 Carl Moore writes: > I am in Mensa, and recently got some calling-card plan from them. > Mensa is for people in the upper 2% of the population with reference > to intelligence. That must be one of those "smart cards" I hear so much about. Fred Ennis, fred@page6.pinetree.org [Moderator's Note: What is with all this Mensa-bashing here the past couple days? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #502 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa00617; 23 Jul 93 7:02 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19443 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 04:27:12 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09355 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 04:26:31 -0500 Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 04:26:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307230926.AA09355@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #503 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Jul 93 04:26:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 503 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson EFF Membership in Telecommunications Policy Roundtable (Mark Boolootian) CONNECT BBS Edition (Patricia Snyder-Rayl) Inverse of "Custom Ringing"? (Theodore M.P. Lee) Modem Speeds on a 14400 Modem (goltar@mavenry.altcit.eskimo.com) Help With UK Connections (Barron Williams) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: booloo@framsparc.ocf.llnl.gov (Mark Boolootian) Subject: EFF Membership in Telecommunications Policy Roundtable Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 08:27:24 -0700 (PDT) Message being passed along FYI. Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1993 20:05:43 -0500 From: djw@eff.org (Daniel J. Weitzner) The Electronic Frontier Foundation is pleased to announce its participation in the newly formed Telecommunications Policy Roundtable. With market actions fast outpacing the public policy process, it is critical that citizens groups articulate basic public interest goals which can help frame the debate over information infrastructure policy. Organizations such as the Association of Research Libraries, the Center for Media Education, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and the Institute for Civic Networking all played leading roles in initiating the Roundtable. We thank these organizations, for creating the very important forum in which a wide range of public interest organizations work together to frame common communications policy goals. In addition to general participation in the group, EFF has agreed to focus its efforts on the public policy and legislative strategy taskforce of the Roundtable. The initial announcement of the Roundtable (posted to com-priv) contained some suggestion that EFF's work on infrastructure policy issues over the last year was narrow and lacking in vision. Though we have never pretended to know, or be able to pursue, the solutions to all communications policy problems, we do feel that we have made a significant contribution to the infrastucture debate and to the effort to protect free speech and privacy in new electronic media. Some criticize our emphasis on ISDN and other affordable digital media as too narrow. We believe that our Open Platform policy efforts in support of ISDN have caused a major change in the way that communcations infrastructure policy is discussed. With the example of ISDN, we showed that citizens do not have to wait around 20 years while RBOCs lay fiber-to-the-home. Rather, with affordable, available technology, those who don't own telephone networks or cable television networks can start to create the applications and services which will shape our experience of the information age. Our Open Platorm efforts are aimed to increasing the diversity of information sources, expanding the notion of universal service, increasing access to information, and protecting privacy. ISDN is not our final goal, but a first step that shows we should begin to expect the benefits of digital networking technology soon, at affordable rates, and with nondiscriminatory terms. In order to show that we are not stuck on ISDN, either as a technology or a policy goal, we convened a meeting of over twenty major public organizations on June 1, 1993 (several weeks before the Roundtable was announced), to discuss EFF's long-term policy concerns and hear the views of other groups. A section of the paper that we prepared for that meeting is appended to this message. We hope that this will clarify that EFF does have a view of communications policy goals beyond ISDN. We certainly invite comments on this document, but hope that in the future people who write about our positions will take the time to read our work first. (Please see also an article in the July/August '93 issue of Wired Magazine by Mitchell Kapor, EFF's Chairman of the Board, "Where Is the Digital Highway Really Heading? A Case for a Jeffersonian Information Policy" for a broad statement of EFF's infrastructure vision.) EFF has joined the Roundtable to be part of the process of framing a comprehensive public interest communications policy. We are looking forward to the success of this effort. TOWARD A NEW PUBLIC INTEREST COMMUNICATIONS POLICY AGENDA FOR THE INFORMATION AGE A Framework for Discussion by the Electronic Frontier Foundation June 1, 1993 I. Introduction For over a decade techno-prophets have been predicting the convergence of telephone, computer and television technologies. In this world, endless information would be available at the touch of a button and many of life's chores would be simplified by artificially-intelligent personal assistants. The prophesied results were said to be everything from a newfound global village enabled by democratized communications tools, to an Orwellian multimedia, mind-numbing, thought-controlling, consumer culture/police-state gone wild. In the past, discussions of this convergence has been relegated to the musings of futurists and the arcana of telecommunications regulatory policy. This year, however, the grand convergence is evident both on the front pages of national magazines and newspapers, as well as in the White House. Telecommunications infrastructure policy -- the management of this grand convergence -- has arrived as a mainstream policy issue. Most telling of all, large investments are now being made in order to take advantage of business opportunities arising out of the convergence of television, computers, and telecommunications. Despite existing regulatory barriers, a number of major corporations have undertaken major initiatives which blur the traditional media distinctions. Regional Bell Operating Companies, including Bell Atlantic and US West, have announced multi-billion dollar infrastructure investment plans which position them to expand from the telecommunications market to the video entertainment market. By the same token, cable television companies are crossing over from their traditional domain toward being able to offer telecommunications services. Early in 1993, Time-Warner announced plans to offer interactive services and connections directly to long distance telephone networks for residential customers in Orlando, FL. Six cable television companies also recently joined forces to purchase a company called Teleport, which competes directly with local telephone companies. And finally, US West announced in May 1993 that it will purchase a multi-billion dollar stake in Time-Warner Entertainment Partners. All of these developments are being watching with great interest by Congress and the Administration. No longer is telecommunications policy a matter of sorting out the special interests of newspaper companies, telephone companies, and cable companies. Rather it has been re-christened as "information infrastructure" policy. As such, it is recognized to have major implications for domestic economic development, global competitiveness, and science and technology policy. The ultimate symbol of this increased interest in telecommunications policy is the Vice President's frequent declaration that the Clinton Administration is committed to promoting the creation of electronic superhighways in the 1990s, just as the Vice President's father oversaw the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. Talk of superhighways and potential for new economic growth, though, may lead some to forget that in shaping information infrastructure policy, we must also be guided by core communications policy values. The "highways" that are being built here are for speech as well as for commerce. In order to preserve the democratic character of our society as we move into the Information Age, these key public interest communications policy goals must be kept at the forefront: o Diversity of Information Sources: Creating an infrastructure that promotes the First Amendment goal of availability of a maximum possible diversity of view points; o Universal Service: Ensuring a minimum level of affordable, interactive service to all Americans; o Free Speech and Common Carriage: Guaranteeing infrastructure access regardless of the content of the message that the user is sending; o Privacy: Protecting the security and privacy of all communications carried over the infrastructure, and safeguarding the Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights of all who uses the information infrastructure; o Development of Public Interest Applications and Services: Ensuring that public interest applications and services which are not produced by the commercial market are available and affordable. Advances in telecommunications have tremendous potential to support all of these important communications policy values. In many cases, inexpensive equipment exists which could give individuals and small organizations a degree of control over information that has never before been possible. However, if not implemented with core communications values in mind, the technology will do more harm than good. The convergence of historically separate communications media poses a major challenge to the public interest community. The Electronic Frontier Foundation hopes to play a role with other public interest organizations in realizing the democratic potential of these new technologies. II. Framing Public Interest Communications Policy Goals For The Information Age: What is at Stake in the Development of the Information Infrastructure? A. Diversity of Information Sources Aside from the universal service guaranty, the driving communications policy value for the last fifty years has been promotion of the maximum diversity of information sources, with the greatest variety of view points. Most agree that from a diversity standpoint, the ideal environment is the print medium. Compared to both the broadcast and cable television arenas, print is the vehicle for the greatest diversity of viewpoints and has the lowest publication and distribution costs. Despite the regulatory steps taken to promote diversity in the mass media, the desired variety of opinion and information has never been fully achieved. The switched nature of advanced digital network technology offers to end the spectrum and channel scarcity problem altogether. If new network services are deployed with adequate down- and up-stream capacity, and allow point-to-point communication, then each user of the network can be both an information consumer and publisher. Network architecture which is truly peer-to-peer can help produce in digital media the kind of information diversity that only exists today only in the print media. If network access is guaranteed, as is the case in the public switched telephone network, the need for content providers to negotiate for air time and channel allocation will be eliminated. Even in a truly interactive network environment the government will still need to provide financial support to ensure that public interest programming is produced and available, but channel set-asides per se will not be necessary. B. Universal Service: From Plain Old Telephone Service to Plain Old Digital Service The principle of equitable access to basic services is an integral part of nation's public switched telephone network. From the early history of the telephone network, both government and commercial actors have taken steps to ensure that access to basic voice telephone services is affordable and accessible to all segments of society. Since the divestiture of AT&T, many of the internal cross-subsidies that supported the "social contract" of universal service have fallen away. Re-creation of old patterns of subsidy may no longer be possible nor necessarily desirable, but serious thought must be given to sources of funds that will guaranty that the economically disadvantaged will still have access to basic communications services. The universal service guaranty in the Communications Act of 1934 has, until now, been interpreted to mean access to "plain old telephone service" (POTS). In the Information Age, we must extend this guaranty to include "plain old digital service." Extending this guaranty means ensuring that new basic digital services are affordable and ubiquitously available. Equity and the democratic imperative also demand that these services meet the needs of people with disabilities, the elderly, and other groups with special needs. Failure to do so is sure to create a society of "information haves and have nots." C. Free Speech: Common Carriage In a society which relies more and more on electronic communications media as its primary conduit for expression, full support for First Amendment values requires extension of the common carrier principle to all of these new media. Common carriers are companies which provide conduit services for the general public. The common carrier's duties have evolved over hundreds of years in the common law and later in statutory provisions. Common carriers have a duty to: oprovide services in a non-discriminatory manner at a fair price, ointerconnect with other carriers, and oprovide adequate services. The public must have access to digital data transport services, such as ISDN and ADSL, which are regulated by the principles of common carriage. Re-shaping common carriage duties for new media environments is of critical importance as mass media and telecommunications services converge and recombine in new forms. Telephone companies, the traditional providers of common carriage communications services, are moving closer and closer to providing video and other content-based services. By the same token, cable television companies, which have functioned as program providers, are showing great interest in offering telecommunications services. In what is sure to be an increasingly complex environment, we must ensure that common carriage transport is available to those who want it. Unlike arrangements found in many countries, our communications infrastructure is owned by private corporations instead of by the government. Therefore, a legislatively imposed expanded duty of common carriage on public switched telephone carriers is necessary to protect free expression effectively. A telecommun- ications provider under a common carrier obligation would have to carry any legal message regardless of its content whether it is voice, data, images, or sound. For example, if full common-carrier protections were in place for all of the conduit services offered by the phone company, the terminations of "controversial" 900 services such as political fundraising would not be allowed, just as the phone company is now prohibited by the Communications Act from discriminating in the provision of basic voice telephone services. As a matter of law and policy, the common carriage protections should be extended from basic voice service to cover basic data service as well. D. Privacy With dramatic increases in reliance on digital media for communications, the need for comprehensive protection of privacy in these media grows. The scope of the emerging digital communications revolution poses major new challenges for those concerned about protecting communications privacy. Communication which is carried on paper through the mail system, or over the wire-based public telephone network is relatively secure from random intrusion by others. But the same communication carried, for example, over a cellular or other wireless communication system, is vulnerable to being intercepted by anyone who has very inexpensive, easy-to-obtain scanning technology. As such, access to robust, affordable encryption technology will be critical to enable people to protect their own privacy. Government controls on encryption systems, whether for law enforcement or national security reasons, raise grave constitutional issues and could undermine individuals' ability to protect the privacy of personal information and communications. For more information contact: Electronic Frontier Foundation 1001 G St, NW Suite 950 East Washington, DC 20001 eff@eff.org A complete copy of this document is available on by anonymous ftp at ftp.eff.org in the file named "pub/EFF/papers/open-platform-discussion-1993". ------------------------------ From: pegasus@cyberspace.org (Patricia Snyder-Rayl) Subject: CONNECT BBS Edition Organization: GREX Public Access Unix +1 313 761 3000 Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 03:31:10 GMT CONTACT: Clint Bradford Voice 909/681-6210 Pacific BBS LEGAL GROUP BBS 909/681-6221 8/N/1 v.32bis 5085 Trail Canyon Drive AOL CONNECT CIS 71160,2176 Mira Loma CA 91752-1685 GEnie C.BRADFORD1 Delphi UNICORNPUB Internet pegasus@cyberspace.org CONNECT Magazine Goes Digital with a New BBS Edition BBS Legal Group, in conjunction with Pegasus Press, proudly introduces the CONNECT Magazine Computer BBS Edition. CONNECT is a national, bi-monthly magazine covering the major commercial online services (CompuServe, America Online, GEnie, DELPHI, BIX), the Internet, and BBS/Networks. The CONNECT Staff is dedicated to bringing the telecomputing community up-to-date and timely news, reviews, and information about the products and services available for computer and modem users on all platforms. CONNECT Magazine has recently announced the addition of telecommunications author Michael A. Banks as an Editorial Staff Columnist. His column, "The Inside Line," takes readers behind the scenes of their favorite online services. With literally hundreds of book and magazine article credits to his name, Michael is recognized as one of the premiere authors in the computer industry. Often controversial and always thought-provoking, he promises to "tell it like it is" in this new column - giving CONNECT readers a view of the online world they may never see on their computer screens. You may have noticed that CONNECT Magazine is published bi-monthly - and here is where the BBS LEGAL GROUP comes into play. Not only do we provide registering Sysops with a custom Text Viewer Door to display CONNECT, but will also provide additional MONTHLY editorial content, ranging from late- breaking industry news to marketing, business, and legal tips - designed especially for Sysops. In addition, we will arrange a Monthly Special for registered Sysops - either a free Utility, or substantial discounts on well-known programs. Sysops will also be able to accept Subscriptions for the Print Version of CONNECT Magazine, and receive a 40% Commission on each. BBS Legal Group provides you with a Text Reader Door program at NO EXTRA CHARGE. Our Door supports PCBoard, Wildcat!, Gap, QBBS, RBBS, Spitfire, UltraBBS, Telegard, TriBBS, Remote Access, WWIV - ANY BBS software that can generate a User Data Drop File! Additionally, the Door features: * Desqview/Network Awareness. * COM0-15 support & non-standard IRQ's. * WildCat IM Support * PCB/M Support * Colorful ANSI screens. * Chat function. * NO BRUN module needed. * BETA tested on many different boards. * Use of HOT KEYS while in door. * Support BBSs available. * Fossil Driver support. * Online HELP available. * Page Forward or Back. * KEYWORD Searching. * Will return to BBS on dropped carrier. * Will TIMEOUT a player after 5 mins. of no activity (Sysop-configurable). With our CONNECT Magazine Computer Edition, you will get everything you need to add this valuable reference to your system. Your Users will recognize CONNECT Magazine from seeing it on their news- stands. They could pay the $4.25 per issue price for the print edition. But by adding CONNECT Magazine BBS Edition to your BBS, you bring your Users a value of $25.50 every year! This addition to your BBS will help retain Subscribers year after year. CONNECT Magazine BBS Edition is available on ATTENTION to Details BBS for your review. The package is better than any other currently being offered: * NO OTHER product contains special articles geared to the Sysop. * NO OTHER product provides the Sysop with discounts on Doors/Utilities. * NO OTHER product includes a dedicated Text Reader Door. The BBS Legal Group is dedicated to providing pertinent, quality information and services to Bulletin Board Operators. Patricia Snyder-Rayl | AOL: CONNECT |voice: (313) 973-8825 Man. Ed., CONNECT magazine | CIS: 70007,4640 | fax: (313) 973-0411 "The Modem User's Resource" | Delphi: UNICORNPUB | BBS: (313) 973-9137 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 14:31:17 -0600 From: tmplee@TIS.COM (Theodore M.P. Lee) Subject: Inverse of "Custom Ringing"? Is there a service/feature that, lacking a better term, I'd call the inverse of custom ringing? I have two lines: one residential and one business. I have one custom ringing number on the residential line to which busies on the business line are forwarded. When the business line is in use, I'd like to be able to do the inverse: use the residential line but have the call (interesting only for long distance, since we don't have message units) billed to the business line at the same rate as if it had been dialed on that line. (Yah, I know the quick answer is to install a third line for the computer, but that sure seems the expensive solution.) We're in USWest territory. Ted Lee 612-934-5424 Trusted Information Systems, Inc. tmplee@tis.com PO Box 1718 Minnetonka, MN 55345 ------------------------------ From: goltar@mavenry.altcit.eskimo.com Subject: Modem Speeds on a 14400 Baud Modem Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 18:48:45 GMT I seem to be having trouble connecting at high speeds whether it is a v32bis or v42bis 14400 modem. The modem will not answer the phone line correctly. Sometimes it will think that the other modem is at 2400. It will say connect 2400/arq/lapm/v42bis, but at other times it will connect at 14400/arq/v32/lapm/v42bis. I can't figure this out. I have tried to explain this to USRobotics but get no answers. They are a rude company. Whats the deal with tech support? I have had this v32bis Courier HST dual standard v32/v42bis since February but am getting nowhere. Could somone please help me out :) Thanks, Goltar [Moderator's Note: Do you think this might be occurring normally as part of the process where modems will automatically drop down in speed until they reach a point they can communicate on a line that has a lot of noise on it? Have you tried setting registers in the modem telling it to NOT change baud rates automatically based on the highest possible speed it can deal with but rather, to lock on 14.4 and disconnect if it is unwilling to work there? The higher you go with modem speeds (such as at 9600 for example or above) the more likely it is the modem will need to drop its speed after attempting to handshake with the other end and being unable to do so because of line conditions. My 9600 baud Telebit T-1600 modem usually works fine at that speed but sometimes it drops to 2400 also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 20:40:37 EDT From: cecomlad@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil Subject: Help With UK Connections I'll be travelling to Northern Ireland this next week. I'm taking my trusty laptop with internal Hayes Smartmodem. I'd like to try accessing the Internet and perhaps my Compuserve accounts. I've got the phone numbers OK. Can somebody in the UK who is familiar with American RJ type connectors (or an American who is familiar with British Telecom connectors) map out the physical connection for me? I'm pretty rsure my modem will handle the protocols OK, it worked in Germany last trip, it is the actual connection from the computer to the wall socket/box that I am unsure of. For sake of time, replies to me direct are appreciated, but I'll take net postings as well -- beggars can't be choosy. Barron WIlliams E-mail = cecomlad@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #503 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa21992; 23 Jul 93 19:36 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00660 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 17:04:04 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25187 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 23 Jul 1993 17:03:27 -0500 Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 17:03:27 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307232203.AA25187@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #504 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Jul 93 17:03:20 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 504 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson President Clinton Hosts New Communications Technologies Demo (Nigel Allen) Bell Canada Offers "Bell Rewards" to Residential Customers (Nigel Allen) What is This Mobilink Thing? (Kimball Smith) Need TCP/IP and Telnet For PC to Reach Internet via DIGEX (Robert Shain) Telix Script Language the Best? (Keith R. Bennett) Establishing a 900 Number (Michael R. Johnston) Telecom Observations in Movie "Dave" (Dave Ptasnik) Massachusetts Companies Involved in Wireless Comm (Michael Francl) High Speed Modem Connections (Richard Merte) How About WITH a PC? (was Re: Call-ID: Possible Without a PC?) (Jim Hogan) ISDN? (Carl Oppedahl) Alpha Pagers (Robert J. Canis) 1-800-COLLECT (Dave Niebuhr) Interoperability Paper (Jane Fraser) International Videoconferencing Directory Available (Lynne Gregg) Area 205 to Split (David Cornutt) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 05:02:03 EDT From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: President Clinton Hosts New Communications Technologies Demo Organization: Echo Beach Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca Here is a press release from the White House. I downloaded the press release from the PR On-Line BBS in Maryland at 410-363-0834. President Clinton Hosts New Communications Technologies Demonstration Contact: Jeff Sarmiento or Josh Silverman, 202-456-7150, both of the White House Office of Media Affairs News Advisory: On Thursday, July 22, at the White House, President Clinton, Vice-President Gore, and Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown will view demonstrations of a variety of new wireless technologies, products, services, and applications. Following the demonstrations, the President will address a group of Congressional, federal agency, and telecommunications industry representatives about the need to develop and apply new communications technologies to encourage renewed economic growth, create jobs, and to maintain the U.S.'s international competitiveness. The president will discuss the Emerging Telecommunications Technology Act, part of the budget reconciliation bill, which will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs by transferring from federal agencies to the private sector additional radio frequencies ("spectrum"). The newly available spectrum would be used by new wireless communications products and services. The President will also discuss the provisions of the act that will help to reduce the deficit by auctioning new spectrum licenses. Among those currently expected to be attending the event are: Rep. Edward Markey, Chairman, Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; Ray Smith, CEO of Bell Atlantic Corp; Gene Kimmelman, Legislative Director, Consumer Federation of America; Robert Kyle, President of kycom, a small, high-technology company in California's Silicon Valley. Among the wireless technologies demonstrated at the event will be: -- Laptops with cellular modems, used for educational purposes; -- New wireless applications to improve small business manufacturing; -- Emergency equipment, now in use in flooded Midwest states; -- New transportation-related technologies for use in "smart" cars and highways. DATE/TIME: Thursday, July 22, 1993 at 10:30 a.m. LOCATION: South Lawn, The White House Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 07:40:38 EDT From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Bell Canada Offers "Bell Rewards" to Residential Customers Organization: Echo Beach Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca Bell Canada has introduced a new program, Bell Rewards, for its residential customers, that allows them to earn points for every cent they spend on long distance. The program was clearly inspired by airline companies' frequent flyer programs, and is Bell Canada's way of fighting its competition in the long-distance market without competing directly on price. You start receiving awards in once you have spent over $600 (Canadian) on Bell long distance in a year (an average of $50 a month), although Bell may eventually decide to reduce the threshold for awards. Bell Canada has sent a glossy mailing promoting the program to some people in Ottawa, but I haven't received such a mailing at my Toronto address. Either Bell Canada is introducing the proram city by city throughout its operating territory in Ontario and Quebec, or the company isn't doing a very good job at promoting it. Perhaps some other Canadian telephone companies will be offering a similar program, but Bell Canada is the only one that has announced a points program yet that I am aware of. To sign up, call 1-800-463-7131 (voice). There is no charge to sign up. Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ From: kymsmith@triton.unm.edu (Kimball Smith) Subject: What is This Mobilink Thing? Date: 23 Jul 1993 06:42:31 GMT Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque As the subject says -- What IS Mobilink? Any clues as to cost, availability, (will service get worse?)?? As a "roaming" side note -- after four days of uneventful (ie: everything worked) roaming -- I get the "Leave us your credit card and first born son; we will then think about setting up roaming ..." intercept. After 1/2 hour with 611 (only six service 'roids) I was told "your ESN seems to have been scrambled on our system -- give us five minutes and we will straighten it out." How is that for a "secure" system!! kasmith@cscns.com ------------------------------ From: M16302@mwvm.mitre.org Subject: Need TCP/IP and Telnet For PC to Reach Internet via DIGEX Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean VA 22102 Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 20:11:49 GMT DIGEX has a low cost unlimited time access to the Internet from home. Does anyone know an inexpensive TCP/IP stack and Telnet that I can use to get to DIGEX?? Robert B. Shain EMAIL: RSHAIN @MITRE.ORG The MITRE Corporation Voice: (703)883-5592 Center for Intellignence & Special Programs FAX: (703)883-6991 Mailstop W955 7525 Colshire Drive McLean, VA. 22102 ------------------------------ From: kbennett@access.digex.net (Keith R. Bennett) Subject: Telix Script Language the Best? Date: 23 Jul 1993 10:53:29 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications USA I recently registered my copy of Telix and received the manual. I'm _really_ impressed by the C-like script language. I'm considering proposing using it for an application that is currently using Mirror script language. The Mirror program uses a script to log on. I am interested in using Telix to actually provide a front end to the mainframe program that the users run. My question is this: My only experience with telecom script languages is some very simple Crosstalk stuff several years ago. Are there other products whose script languages are as good or better than Telix? Also, how soon will I hit the ceiling of functionality? Can I do things like list boxes? Is it extensible at all? Also, it would be nice if the program developed could be used also on the upcoming Windows version of Telix without modification. Anybody (esp. Telix people) able to tell me if that will be possible? Thanks, Keith Bennett Bennett Business Solutions, Inc. C++/C Software Development 1605 Ingram Terrace kbennett@access.digex.net Silver Spring, MD USA 20906-5932 ------------------------------ From: mjohnsto@jpmorgan.com (Michael R. Johnston) Subject: Establishing a 900 Number Organization: JP Morgan Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 16:25:31 GMT I'm looking for information on establishing a 900 number type service. If anyone has any experience getting and running a 900 number I'd appreciate hearing from you what is required to get started etc. Thanks, Michael R. Johnston N2TQP mjohnsto@bluesky.win.net ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 08:49:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Dave Ptasnik Subject: Telecom Observations in Movie "Dave" *****Note to Pat****** Sorry about the earlier truncation. Don't know what happened. It seemed to give you the impression that I have been in the oval office, I have not. Just looking at it in the movies. Rewrite of my post below... Just saw the movie "Dave", saw a couple of things that struck me as odd from a phone perspective. In the oval office scene there was a big old 1A2 phone on the desk, maybe 30 buttons, maybe more. This makes sense based on the description of the existing system about to be upgraded by Billary. What caught me by surprise was the presence of Electronic sets in the bedrooms and hallways. They looked like SRX's to me, but am interested in other impressions of what they were. This did strike me as an unlikely mix, but I SRX does have a behind the switch/Centrex package that would probably make it possible. What is really in the White House (Oval Office and living quarters)? What did they have in "Dave"? Anyone out there with the true info. Enquiring minds want to know. Dave ------------------------------ From: Michael Francl Subject: Massachusetts Companies Involved in Wireless Comm Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 12:44:29 -0400 I'm trying to make a list of all the Massachusetts companies that compete in the world market, building either wireless voice or wireless data communications equipment or components. This info will be used in a study looking for ways to boost US competitiveness in these fields. Please send any company names to francl@ll.mit.edu. Thanks very much for your help. Mike ------------------------------ From: Richard Merte Subject: High Speed Modem Connections Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 09:58:00 PDT There have been a couple of people complaining of problems with connections of high speed modems in the past week, so here's what helped for me ... The problem: I was trying to connect between my Multi-Tech 9600 baud modem and a US Robotics 9600 HST. I would often get either ... a) no connection at all (but lots of wonderful noises as the modems tried shaking hands, kissing feet, or whatever else it is they do :-)) b) a connect at 2400, followed by lots of garbage, and no useful communication. The solution: I called Multi-Tech and they told me about an undocumented S-register 20, which instead of using the default value of 10, I changed to 12 and all was well. I seem to remember him saying this was changing the sensitivity, volume level, or something like that (I think he mentioned decibels, but it's been awhile ...) Perhaps the other manufacturers also have some of these *wonderful* undocumented features that will solve some people's problems. ------------------------------ From: jimh@stein.u.washington.edu (Jim Hogan) Subject: How About WITH a PC? (was Re: Call-ID: Possible Without a PC?) Date: 23 Jul 1993 05:04:33 GMT Organization: University of Washington kucharsk@solbourne.com (William Kucharski) writes: > It seems to be that the majority of people out there would jump on > the Caller ID bandwagon if there were only a relatively inexpensive way > to do the following (an answering machine seems to be the appliance I > envision): [three examples deleted...] Just found this newsgroup and will admit it's very interesting. I looked for the newsgroup because I was inspired (debates about the overall goodness of caller ID aside) to consider how we could employ caller ID on a dial-up pool on our network as a replacement for dial-back security. I'm guessing that some of the caller ID capability must be in software, although an earlier post talked about particular v.32bis modems being "caller ID-ready". Any leads on software that could let us employ caller ID checks on something like a Cisco terminal server? We have a Citrix Multiuser (extended OS/2) box as an access server right now. Will have to check with them on this. I looked at the last 1000 or so messages on this group, but is this nonetheless a FAQ? Jim Hogan, Systems Analyst / Didliologist* Seattle-King County Department of Public Health ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN Date: 23 Jul 1993 16:20:56 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Has anyone in the New York Tel service area successfully signed up for BRI ISDN? I find that it is like pulling teeth to get anyone at NYTel to answer questions about it. Has anybody in the New York Tel service area successfully used the D channel of ISDN for packet communications with anybody else? How about one of the B channels for (non-voice) packet with anybody else? I am told that the Second Avenue central office, which serves me, has ISDN capability on only four exchanges (212-353, 529, 979, and 995) and lacks it on any of the dozen or so other exchanges in that central office. Pretty lame, seems to me. I am told that the West 73rd Street c.o. (the one serving panix) has no ISDN capability whatsoever. Lame again. Same is supposedly the case for the Yorktown Heights c.o. which serves my new law firm. Guess I should have thought of that before selecting a firm location. When I did manage to reach someone whose job was to know about ISDN, they told me that NYTel charges $10 per month for BRI. Running low-speed data over the D channel is an extra $2 per month. Running your flexible choice of high-speed data or voice over a B channel is an extra $2 per month. He was quite unable to say what packets cost on the high or low speed paths. And all this is an added cost per month above and beyond the cost of the voice telephone numbers carried on the BRI. He also said, though I find it difficult to believe, that the ISDN BRI connection is via a single twisted pair. I always thought this was done on two pairs. Any comments? Do people know if this person is all wet? Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ From: SESPC381@ysub.ysu.edu (Robert J. Canis) Subject: Alpha Pagers Question Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 09:06:44 EDT Organization: Youngstown State University I was wondering if anybody knew anything about alpha pagers. My understanding is that you need a little typewriter like box that you must use to communicate with the pager. What I am wondering is there a program that I can use with my modem to do the same thing? I'm really interested in getting a pager, but I don't want to have to buy the "box" to communicate with it. Thanks a lot. Robert J. Canis INTERNET ADDRESS WOODSTOCK@UNIX1.CC.YSU.EDU BITNET ADDRESS SESPC381@YSUB.BITNET Youngstown State University Student Programming Consultant [Moderator's Note: You might take a look in the Telecom Archives at the files which begin 'ixo'. They should be of some help. The archives is accessible using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 19:33:07 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: 1-800-COLLECT I just finished a comparison of collect call charges involving AT&T, MCI, MCI's 1-800-COLLECT, Sprint and New York Telephone. The situation that led to this was that one of my daughters was at a payphone one night and called home collect with the charges accepted of course. I found out the cost when the phone bill came in with a charge of $4.95 from Operator Assistance Network, 1-800-944-0171. The framework was that the call was made within my area code (516) so that I could get a set of figures for comparison. This is what I found: AT&T $1.50 US MCI 1.50 US 1-800-COLLECT .65 US Sprint 1.94 US depending on the destination area code, in this case a 516-516 call. New York Telephone 1.30 US I don't know how the Orange Card would stand up against these figures since my kids do not normally make a collect call home with the call lasting about one minute or less. Lesson number (one more than the last one about telephones) was promptly given and I told them to use to use 1-800-COLLECT if at all possible. BTW: I will be receiving some literature on this product and will pass it on to the Digest when it is received. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 15:11:11 EDT From: fraser@ccl2.eng.ohio-state.edu Subject: Interoperability Paper An article in {Network World}, April 12 (page 37) refers to a white paper "What Works with What" from the "most recent Information Technology Summit" in Salt Lake City of the OURS W4 task force. OURS stands for Open User Recommended Solutions. Does anyone know how I can find this paper or this group? Thanks. Jane Fraser, Center for Advanced Study in Telecommunications, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 614-292-4129, fraser.1@osu.ed ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: International Videoconferencing Directory Available Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 11:10:00 PDT I received a copy of AT&T/ITCA Global Conferencing Source Book, 1993 - 1994. This directory lists many public and private videoconferencing "rooms" throughout the world. If you'd like to obtain your own copy, you may call 1-800-562-2255. Public sector and University locations also listed. International listings are also included. Regards, Lynne ------------------------------ From: cornutt@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (David Cornutt) Subject: Area 205 to Split Organization: NASA/MSFC Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1993 17:30:38 GMT Well, it finally happened ... South Central Bell announced yesterday that area 205, which currently covers all of Alabama, will split in 1995. Last year, when we went to 11-digit dialing for all LD, and SCB started implementing N0X/N1X prefixes, they thought that we would be able to avoid this for a while. Apparently not. (I understand that 205 is currently the most "populated" single AC.) Alabama was one of the few remaining states east of the Missippi with a whole-state area code. The split will be done at a line drawn from west to east across the state, approximately halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery. I had thought that they might do it this way, but much to my surprise, it is the northern half of the state that will retain 205. (It surprises me because I had thought that state politics would force SCB to keep Montgomery in 205, that city being the state capitol.) Here's the really interesting thing: the new area code for the south half of the state will be (take a deep breath) 334. This is the first instance that I know of where a NXX area code is to be implemented in the U.S. (Have I missed something?) >From looking at the (rather crude) map published in the Huntsville _Times_ last night: Cities remaining in 205 will include Birmingham, Huntsville, Florence, Gadsden, Anniston, and possibly Tuscaloosa. Cities going to 334 include Montgomery, Mobile, Auburn, Selma, and Dothan. David Cornutt, New Technology Inc., Huntsville, AL (205) 461-4517 (cornutt@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov; some insane route applies) "The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of my employer, not necessarily mine, and probably not necessary." ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #504 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14267; 24 Jul 93 19:32 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16543 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 24 Jul 1993 17:16:40 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA03549 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 24 Jul 1993 17:16:04 -0500 Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 17:16:04 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307242216.AA03549@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #505 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Jul 93 17:16:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 505 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson NPA = 500 (Leroy Donnelly) List of Calling Number Announcement Numbers (David Leibold) Wanted: Email Address of Teleco System Inc. (Peter Chan) Re: WIL-TEL Noted on a COCOT (Russ McGuire) Australia: Regulatory Agency Blames Both Carriers (Nigel Allen) EE Times: Rockwell Readies V.FAST Chipset (Robert L. McMillin) Flood Control in Holland (Leo Nederlof) Re: Big Rivers (Will Martin) Northern Telecom Loses; AT&T Gains (David Leibold) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 17:34:50 CST From: Leroy.Donnelly@axolotl.omahug.org (Leroy Donnelly) Subject: NPA = 500 Reply-To: leroy.donnelly%drbbs@axolotl.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha From the July 26 1993 issue of Radio Communications Report: BELLCORE GIVING PCS ITS OWN NATIONAL SERVICE ACCESS CODE WASHINGTON - In a key development with uncertain long-term implications, Bell communications Research Inc. has informed the Federal Communications Commission that beginning next month it intends to assign a "500" service access code for personal communications services under draft guidelines not yet formalized. "Fundamental to our decision is the recognition that the assignment will promote the availability of new services to the public," said Ronald Conners, director of Bellcore's North American Numbering Plan Administration, in a June 23 letter to Kathleen Levitz, acting chief of the Common Carrier Bureau at the FCC. The FCC is scheduled to set PCS regulations in September or October, with this month's decisions on plans to relocate 2 GHz fixed microwave users and to rechannel higher frequency bands for those users paving the way to the major decision this fall. "Unless we are directed otherwise," said Conners, NANPA on Aug. 1 will start assigning the 500 service access code for PCS and shortly after will will assign NXX, or central office codes (the first three digits of seven-digit telephone numbers), "to companies that have demonstrated an urgent need for these codes." Fred Gaechter of NANPA's technical staff said assignment guidelines could be completed by November. He added the 500 prefix code is not necessarily restricted to PCS. It could be made available to paging, cellular and other wireless carriers that offer the kind of one-number, extended-roaming features envisioned for PCS, whereby subscribers are reachable anywhere, anytime, he said. Conners cited requests for distinct PCS service access codes in 1991 from American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and not long after from Bell Atlantic Mobile's cellular operation. He stated such entreaties also have been made by other cellular carriers as well as local exchange and interexchange carriers. However, it remains to be seen whether Bellcore, overseer of NANPA and research arm of the seven regional Bell telephone companies, will retain its telephone numbering assignment responsibilities in the future. The paging and cellular industries, in particular, have criticized Livingston, N.J. based Bellcore's handling of number assignments for wireless services, a problem some assert is traceable to the organization's domination by the seven regional Bell operating companies that fund it. The FCC is currently reviewing whether Bellcore's organization and administrative process need changing. An agency official said it has not been determined when a decision on the matter will be made. House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., raised concerns earlier this year about NANPA's structure and numbering plan methodology. Telocator and Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association are on record as saying such a reorganization is in order. "We need more of a wireless voice in these numbering forums," commented Amy Stephan, director of PCS at Telocator. Telocator strongly wants the PCS industry to move forward, she said, but the association believes PCS numbering issues still need more attention. DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha (In remembrance of JGL) (1:285/666.0) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 22:00 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: List of Calling Number Announcement Numbers [After checking all the incoming mail for this list, it's time to post the current collection of ANAC codes.] Calling Number Announcement Numbers 23 July 1993 This is a list of known ANAC codes in use, primarily in North America and Australia, though international contributions are welcome. An ANAC (Automatic Number Announcement Code) is used to identify the calling number. This is handy when there are many lines, and it's uncertain which line is which. In many cases there is a short (1/10th second) dual tone, then a female synthesised voice which reads off the calling phone number. In some other cases, there is no initial dual tone, but just the voice readout. If your area is not listed, one of the codes listed for another area may work, especially if from a related company's territory (eg. another state served by the same regional telephone company). If a code like 200.xxx.xxxx or 958 or an N11 code (*not* 411 or 911) doesn't work, check for central office codes that are not used for regular service elsewhere in the area code and see if that has the ANAC number. 800 ANI (Automatic Number Identification) In North America, 1 800 235.1414 was an 800 number that made use of ANI service. ANI will deliver calling numbers to the destination number where possible. Other 800 numbers might be possible, but are subject to regional limitations. For additions, corrections, inquiries, please e-mail to djcl@io.org, dleibold1@attmail.com or Fidonet Sysop at 1:250/730 (addresses effective as of document date). Credits: Many entries came from a post to the Digest entitled "The Definitive ANAC Guide", compiled by Emmanuel Goldstein, posted by Leryo Malbito . This posting occurred a few years ago and is subject to new codes and information. Other contributors include: andyb@janus.coat.com (Andy Behrens) miguel@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Miguel Cruz) wolfgang@halcyon.halcyon.com (Stephen Davis) jgreene@nyx.cs.du.edu (Justin Greene) jkimbro@hercii.lasc.lockheed.com (Jon Kimbrough) wrglex%jmccormack@Think.COM (Jim McCormack) rudholm@aimla.com (Mark Rudholm) mmt@RedBrick.COM (Maxime Taksar KC6ZPS) Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU (Garrett Wollman) S345002@emu.insted.unimelb.EDU.AU How to use: Check for your region or area code. Then dial a listed number (more than one ANAC code could be used in an area code, or different codes may be used among different telephone companies such as independents). The code may require prefacing with a 1 in some areas due to equipment setup (taking care not to start dialing another active area code or exchange). Be careful in many areas with 211 codes as these are often used to reach Credit Operator from COCOTs or other situations. yyyy = Represents a specific series of digits that can change (such as 1111, 1234, 1699, 2350, 8123, etc). NPA ANAC number Comments 204 644 204 644.xxxx 205 908.222.2222 212 958 213 114 213 1223 (some 1AESS switches) 213 211.2345 (English response) 213 211.2346 (DTMF response) 213 61056 214 970.222.2222 (mentioned for Dallas once) 214 970.xxxx 215 410.xxxx 217 200.xxx.xxxx 217 290 305 200.222.2222 306 115 (?) 309 200.xxx.xxxx 309 290 310 114 (on many GTE switches) 310 1223 (some 1AESS switches) 310 211.2345 (English response) 310 211.2346 (DTMF response) 312 1.200.5863 312 1.200.yyyy 312 200.xxx.xxxx 312 290 313 200.200.2002 313 200.222.2222 313 200.xxx.xxxx (sometimes in Michigan Bell territory) 317 310.222.2222 317 743.1218 401 222.2222 403 311 (at least from Edmonton) 403 908.222.2222 403 999 (was found in parts of Edmonton) 404 311 (Atlanta) 404 940.xxx.xxxx 407 200.222.2222 408 300.xxx.xxxx 408 760 409 970.xxxx 414 330.2234 415 200.555.1212 415 211.2111 415 2222 415 640 415 760 415 7600 415 7600.2222 415 760.2878 416 410.yyyy 416 997.yyyy 502 997.555.1212 508 200.222.1234 508 200.222.2222 509 560 512 200.222.2222 512 970.xxxx 514 320.yyyy 516 968 517 200.222.2222 517 200.xxx.xxxx (sometimes in Michigan Bell territory) 518 997 518 998 519 320.yyyy 602 593.0809 602 593.6017 602 593.7451 603 200.222.2222 604 1116 604 1211 604 211 606 997.555.1212 612 511 613 320.yyyy 615 830 616 200.222.2222 616 200.xxx.xxxx (sometimes in Michigan Bell territory) 617 200.222.1234 617 200.222.2222 617 200.444.4444 (Woburn, MA) 617 200.xxx.xxxx 617 220.2622 618 200.xxx.xxxx 705 320.yyyy 708 1.200.yyyy 713 970.xxxx 714 211.2121 716 511 718 958 802 200.222.2222 (throughout NYNEX?) 802 2.222.222.2222 (NETel or Continental Tel code? Now obsolete?) 806 970.xxxx 812 410.555.1212 815 200.xxx.xxxx 815 290 817 211 818 1223 (some 1AESS switches) 818 211.2345 (English response) 818 211.2346 (DTMF response) 906 200.222.2222 906 200.xxx.xxxx (sometimes in Michigan Bell territory) 914 1.990.1111 914 99 914 990 914 990.1111 915 970.xxxx 919 711 Australia: +61 03-552-4111 (Victoria 03 area) +61 19123 (all major capital cities) ------------------------------ From: pthc@ee.mu.OZ.AU (Peter Chan) Subject: Wanted: Email Address of Teleco System Inc. Organization: Dept of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Univ of Melbourne Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 01:11:05 GMT Hello netters, Does anyone know the contract e-mail address (customer service or technical dept or a helpful staff) for a company called Teleco System Inc. located in Norwood, MA 02062 (I don't have the full address) ? What I really after is a technical/educational report published by the company on ATM network. Please email me at pthc@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au Your help is much appreciated. Regards, Peter Chan Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. Tel: 344 4672 Fax: 344 6678 ------------------------------ From: russ_mcguire@wiltel.com (Russ McGuire) Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 12:55:16 -0500 Subject: Re: WIL-TEL Noted on a COCOT Carl Moore notes: > WIL-TEL, 655 Grand Avenue, Elmhurst, IL 60126, tel. 800-726-2360 > This firm is listed for 0+ calls "outside this zone", on a pay > phone near Clinton, NJ on 908-735. I think this is the same phone > where I made a call on the Orange Card and got CLI in the From part > of the resulting bill. > [Moderator's Note: But is it the same WilTel, or a different firm? > Maybe Mr. McQuire can tell us. PAT] One of WilTel's acquisitions has been Telesphere, Inc. which was based in Elmhurst. We still have offices there. However, we did not acquire the operator services or 900 services which went to a company named (I believe) International Telecharge Inc. (ITI) which may have changed names to Oncor. (This obviously was not a simple acquisition, as I remember it, we actually only acquired the Telesphere customer base.) The similarities tend to make me believe that this references the same WilTel that is my employer, although I certainly don't know enough to say with any level of confidence. Since acquiring Telesphere, we have primarily sold our 1+ and 800 services to other carriers and rebillers. It is likely that this pay phone has 0+ services provided by one of these other companies. Since they are using our switches and our fiber network to provide their service, there may be some technicality that either allows or requires them to list WIL-TEL as the service provider. Standard disclaimer applies... Russ McGuire WilTel, Inc. russ_mcguire@wiltel.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 06:42:21 EDT From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Australia: Regulatory Agency Blames Both Carriers Organization: Echo Beach Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca I found the following article in aus.comms, the Australian communications newsgroup. From: colinl@cssc-syd.tansu.com.au (Colin Lynch) Subject: Austel Blames Both Carriers Organization: AOTC - CSSC By: Helen Meredith - The Australian, Thu July 22, 1993 Copyright (c) 1993 Nationwide News Limited Regulator Austel has thrown the blame for problems in connecting Canberra international phone callers on both Telecom and Optus and warned them to use their established access arrangements to prevent further disputes. The ruling follows a complaint to Austel by Optus that a significant number of its customers at certain times of the day were unable to make inter- national calls. Optus blamed Telecom, saying it had independent data that proved the problem existed in Telecom's network. Telecom denied any responsibility, called the Optus network second-rate, threatened to sue Optus chief executive Mr Bob Mansfield, and demanded a public apology. Optus filed the data to support its allegations with Austel last week just days before the national phone ballot got under way in Canberra. Yesterday Austel said the blame should be shared by both carriers. The regulator was disappointed the access agreements had not been followed by the carriers, leading to the dispute. Austel chairman Mr Robin Davey said: "The matter could have been handled more productively. We are disappointed at the way the issue was brought to light and at the apparent lack of communication and co-ordination on both sides." Austel's comments yesterday were in the form of preliminary findings based on "hard factual information" that it had not received until the end of last week. "We had several meetings with Optus and Telecom during the past week and demanded additional information from both," Mr Davey said. Austel's preliminary findings had shown that: CALL CONGESTION contibuting to lost Optus calls had occurred particularly at certain off-peak tariff periods when unexpectedly high call levels were generated by Telecom and Optus discounting. A COMBINATION of factors had caused the problem, including Telecom's failure to balance adequately the distribution of Optus traffic between Telecom's gateways; Optus not having adequate capacity between its long-distance switch and the Telecom local network to take heavy traffic (although Austel acknowledged Optus had recently addressed this); and failure by Optus to establish alternative access or overflow facilities for traffic overloads. Austel said Telecom had not experienced similar congestion to Optus because it had alternative routes. Optus had not asked for such facilities from Telecom. Austel pointed out that Optus was required to forecast its line needs according to anticipated phone traffic and to make that need known to Telecom, which was responsible for passing on calls to the Optus network. Colin Lynch | e-mail: colinl@cssc-syd.tansu.com.au Telstra Corporation Limited | postal: PO Box A792 Sydney South Customised Software Solutions | NSW 2000 Australia Centre - Sydney | phone: +61-2-9113142 fax: 9113199 ----------- Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: EE Times: Rockwell Readies V.FAST Chipset Sender: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Organization: Surf City Software/TBFW Project Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 15:02:49 GMT In the July 19, 1993 issue of {Electronic Engineering Times}, Rockwell's Digital Data Communications Division "pledged to ship, within 90 days, volume quantities of new V.FC family members, which could hit V.FAST's top speed of 28.8 bits per second." Rockwell specifically refused to support the v.32terbo interim "standard", which the CCITT rejected earlier but several modem manufacturers adoped anyway. "'We are not going to participate in the v.32terbo market in any way,' said Armando Geday, [Rockwell's] director of worldwide marketing for modems." Rockwell officials sought to ease potential customer fears of a premature release of the chipset, especially since the CCITT v.FAST standard remains incomplete. Geday called the existing work-in-progress a sufficient "snapshot" of what the committee has agreed upon. "The work is much further along than it was a year ago, so there are fewer gray areas we need to worry about. ... It is also much safer when you are at the chip level. We participate in a market where customers care about compatibility and standards, but they also care about getting to market quickly. ... In the case of Motorola or AT&T, you're talking about a $1,000 system in which compability issues are more critical [than in an under-$1,000 chipset]." The new Rockwell product will offer a speedier, pin-compatible DSP with more ROM and better encoding. "All existing CCITT standards -- includeing v.42 and MNP 2-4 error correction, and v.42bis and MNP 5 data compression -- are supported by Rockwell's new v.FAST devices," the article concluded. Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 13:46:39 +0200 From: lned@alcbel.be (Leo Nederlof) Subject: Flood control in Holland I have been following the TV news and the postings in this newsgroup lately about the floodings in the United States and I, having spent most of my life below sea level, can't restrain from expressing my views on this. I know it sounds cliche to mention in this context the Dutch as being the World leaders in hydraulic engineering ("God created Earth, but the Dutch created Holland"), but I would like to draw a small comparison here. In the Netherlands the water comes from two sides: several big rivers from one side, draining the main part of Western Europe, cutting the country in two, and the North Sea from the other side. Sometimes, due to north-western storms, the sea water gets whiped up high in the funnel created by the Dutch and British coasts, closing into each other in the street of Dover, which is about 30 km wide. This last phenomenon, coinciding with a spring-tide, caused the last major flooding in 1953. After 1953 the so-called Delta plan was devised, which would within several decades provide protection for this south-western part of the Netherlands against conditions with an occurance probability of 10e-4 per year, i.e., occuring on average once in ten thousand years. Part of this plan, and completing the works about five years ago, is the Oosterscheldedam, a dam spanning several kilometers across a sea arm, consisting of elements with doors. Under normal conditions the doors are open, thus not causing ecological disturbances in the hinterland, but when the water rises above the level against which the inland dikes can protect, the doors are closed. A similar system is at the moment being constructed in the Nieuwe Waterweg, the entrance to the ports of Rotterdam. There, two huge 'doors' are being made, since under normal conditions the passage should be open to ships. As for the rivers, there are two sets of levees -- or dikes as we use to refer to them -- along most of them. The inner dikes mark the normal flow of the river. To carry the rivers in springtime - with loads of melting water from the Alps -- there are stretches of land that are called 'uiterwaarden' in Dutch (according to my dictionary this translates into 'outer marshes' or 'foreland', but I don't know whether you can correctly translate it, since, just like polders, you won't find any of them outside the Netherlands). These are bounded by a set of (higher) outer dikes, at most places several 100 meters away from the inner dikes. The grass lands in between are used as pasture when dry. Building dikes, however, is not enough. The managing of the waters is a complex system, which involves continuous monitoring of levels and controlling them using sluices and floodgates. Besides, a lot of support and pre-calculations come from computer models and scale models (and, of course, an excellent bunch of hydraulic engineers behind them ;-)). Now, to return to the case in the US, I've heard it said (by people here in Holland who definitely know what they are talking about) that most of the havoc in the Mid-West could have been prevented by adequate dikes and a water control system like we have in Holland. Sure, it will cost a considerable amount of money to construct and maintain such a system, but compare that to the direct and indirect costs and damages due to floodings like the current one. Of course, being just a telecom engineer, my knowledge of these matters is just superficial, but I'm sure that in Holland there is enough expertise in hydraulic engineering to recover Atlantis. For one, at the Delft University of Technology, where I graduated in EE, where also there is an institute where many engineers from Asiatic countries are trained in HE, there should be enough people capable of commenting on this. (disclaimer: I may live and work in Belgium, but...) Leo Nederlof phone: +32 3 2407613 fax: . . . . 9932 lned@ra.alcbel.be private: . . .2375215 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 11:39:54 CDT From: Will Martin Subject: Re: Big Rivers > [Moderator's Note: Old Man River is a mile wide at its widest point I > believe, and that is somewhere south of St. Louis I thought. I remember > as a child I rode across it in a car with my parents and how impressive > it looked at that point. PAT] For what it's worth, the latest word I heard here in St. Louis last week was that the water in the river system at the confluence area just North of the city is now NINE miles wide ... Last night, they showed some Earth-Resources satellite images on the TV news, comparing a year ago or so, during a drought, with an image taken Sunday. Rather an impressive change. From being a thin line on the former image, the rivers are now broad smears covering vast areas. What I never hear anybody mentioning, even as they begin to discuss the cleanup and infrastructure-rebuilding tasks, is what is going to happen if this same thing happens NEXT year, and maybe yearly after that. If this is due to a permanent (or long-term, in human terms) climate change, that would be likely. What used to be hundred-year (or five-hundred-year) floods may become the normal occurrence ... :-( (Personally, I live about a dozen blocks from the South St. Louis flooding, but luckily up quite a bit in elevation, on the bluffs and not in the floodplain.) Will [Moderator's Note: How has telecom been affected throughout the area? I know quite obviously that phones underwater in some homes or offices are going to be out of service, but is there otherwise a problem with slow dial tone, cables that are wet, etc? How has flood recovery affected the normal course of telecom repairs/installations, etc? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 20:06 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Northern Telecom Loses; AT&T Gains The {Toronto Star} reported that Northern Telecom lost $1.03 billion in the recent quarter; meanwhile, AT&T made $1.04 billion in the recent quarter. I won't speculate too much about that situation ... David Leibold ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #505 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16877; 24 Jul 93 23:15 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18467 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 24 Jul 1993 20:59:44 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24307 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 24 Jul 1993 20:59:11 -0500 Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 20:59:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307250159.AA24307@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #506 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Jul 93 20:59:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 506 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Dark Fiber? (Paul Robinson) Re: Dark Fiber? (Steven L. Spak) Re: Dark Fiber? (Gary Breuckman) Re: Dark Fiber? (Miguel Cruz) Re: 800 Translation Questions (David G.Lewis) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Tarl Neustaedter) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Paul Robinson) Re: 800 Translation Questions (John Adams) Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) (Joe Bergstein) Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) (H. Hallikainen) Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) (Kevin Herrboldt) Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House (Tim Hogard) Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House (Karl Braun) Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN (Mike King) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 18:06 GMT Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA > I have seen the term Dark Fiber used in several ways and > I am confused as to the meaning. "Dark Fiber" is fiber optic cable which is run from one point to another for a customer of a telephone carrier, and the carrier doesn't do anything with the service. The customer has to do all the data translations and everything else. The reason for the issue to be so serious is that the telephone companies want to price bandwidth according to the equivalent of telephone connections, e.g. pricing a T1 (1.4 Megabits) connection at the equivalent of 28 telephone lines. And a T-3 (45 Megabits) connection would be priced like 32 T1s or 896 telephone lines. (I think the number I just got here is wrong; a T3 is usually considered 600 or so connections, I think, but it doesn't change much.) In any case, if a telephone line costs $20 a month, a T3, priced at telephone rates (or even 1/2 telephone line rates) could run something like $12,000 a month plus usage charges, which if they want the meter running, could be $100 an hour or more. Under the rules for dark fiber, the phone company has to provide a strand of fiber optic line (equivalent to about a T-3) for a figure of $150 per mile, per month, without regard to the amount of usage. Figure out that if you are running a T3 at least 1/2 full for eight hours a day, in one month the charges could reach $16,000 a month, or $28,000 a month if you include the connection. (And don't forget, you need one connection at each end.) Based on these numbers, you can lease up to 100 miles of fiber for less than the cost of usage alone. If you are hooking up a set of offices in a city, leased dark fiber at $150 a mile makes a lot more sense than paying traffic and connection charges for connection to a telephone company network (Metropolitan Area Network or MAN). ------------------------------ From: sspak@seas.gwu.edu (Steven L. Spak) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: George Washington University Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 14:27:53 GMT Dark fiber is a term used to describe fiberoptic cable dedicated to a non-telco user. Carriers often lease dark fiber (at gunpoint :-) ) at a premium to bypass types and large companies. | Steven Spak sspak@seas.gwu.edu Transmission Engineer | Tel: (202) 392-1611 Fax: (202) 392-1261 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 09:18:57 -0700 From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? I've understood dark to mean that the telco or utility provides you with both ends of a piece of fiber, and you do whatever you want with it. As opposed to, for example, providing you with some sort of circuit over fiber where they define the protocols and whatever dsu/csu equipment you need to connect to it. Gary ------------------------------ From: miguel@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Miguel Cruz) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: /etc/organization Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 15:27:58 GMT In article Carl Silva writes: > I missed the eariler part of this conversation. I have seen > the term Dark Fiber used in several ways and I am confused as to the > meaning. Can someone come up with a generally accepted definition for > this? "Dark fibre" is usually used to refer to fibre optic cable with capacity well in excess of short-term plans; since not much of it is being used, one can assume that not much light is passing through it, I guess, and therefore it's "dark". It wouldn't actually look any different. If you were laying fibre from Los Angeles to Guam, you would most likely put a whole lot more cabling than you need immediately (or even in the next 10 or 20 years) since just laying the cable is such an immensely expensive proposition. You then would have some Dark Fibre. There's probably a joke about Bran Flakes in there somewhere, but I'm not going to be the one to make it. Miguel Cruz National Computer Hotline Sydney ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Organization: AT&T Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 13:51:30 GMT In article andys@internet.sbi.com (Andy Sherman) writes: > As to the 800 number cache, that would be a singularly bad idea for > any LEC to implement in an end office. First off, it would break a > lot of enhanced 800 services. Somebody from AT&T can correct me if > I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure (note the disclaimer, please) that it's > possible to have the routing change at night, so that a nationwide 800 > number routed to multiple centers can have fewer centers open at > night. Cacheing the route would surely break this. Caches would also > likely break all of the "we guarantee to have your super-duper 800 > service back up within X minutes" type services that the IXC's offer. I don't think Andy's wrong per se, but I'm not sure that these "vertical services" (Bellcore's term) have yet been implemented. The 800 DBS SCP supports various kinds of vertical services, such as time-of-day and day-of-week routing, proportional routing to multiple carriers, and so on, but the first step has been to successfully implement 10-digit translations, and vertical services have had to wait. A second thing to keep in mind is that the "translation" provided by the 800 DBS SCP is a "translation" in the telephony sense of the term, not in the common sense of the term. A "translation" is an interpretation of dialed digits to provide routing information. It is not necessarily a conversion of an 800 number to a routing number. So the ten-digit translation performed by the 800 DBS SCP may provide nothing more than a Carrier Identification Code (CIC) which indicates to the SSP to route the call to a given IXC, and the IXC does further translation that provides actual routing for the call. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!goofy!deej Switching & ISDN Implementation ------------------------------ From: tarl@lectroid.sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Date: 24 Jul 1993 15:53:22 GMT Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc. In article , andys@internet.sbi.com (Andy Sherman) writes: > Somebody from AT&T can correct me if > I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure (note the disclaimer, please) that it's > possible to have the routing change at night, so that a nationwide 800 > number routed to multiple centers can have fewer centers open at > night. I'm not from AT&T, but I've worked with a few phone companies. It is not only possible to have 800 services routed differently by time of day, but at least one phone company (I can't mention names) intends to provide a service allowing 800 calls to be routed based on time of day, available agents, and originating phone number. On the other hand, regarding a cache; my understanding is that when an 800 number changes carriers, it takes several days for all the LECs to update their databases about which carrier to route the call to. That is a first-level routing decision entirely above the level of routing within a long-distance network. I don't know, but I got the impression this update is done via mag-tape sent through snail-mail. Tarl Neustaedter Stratus Computer tarl@sw.stratus.com Marlboro, Mass. Disclaimer: My employer is not responsible for my opinions. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 12:58:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Robinson <0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM> Reply-To: Paul Robinson <0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM> Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Andy Sherman , writes: > As to the 800 number cache, that would be a singularly bad > idea for any LEC to implement in an end office. First off, > it would break a lot of enhanced 800 services... it's > possible to have the routing change at night... Cacheing > the route would surely break this... would also likely break > all of the "we guarantee to have your super-duper 800 service > back up within X minutes" type services that the IXC's offer. Pat, you should have caught him on this and corrected it. Before I get flamed over this, let me state that I don't work for a telephone company and don't know the internals of the 800 number database, except what I have read here, but the point is that the whole issue of 800-number portability was to allow a customer to choose any Long Distance Company (Interexchange Carrier or "IXC") to handle their incoming WATS lines. Remember that the caller's telephone company (telco, or Local Exchange Company "LEC") by law and court order cannot connect calls outside of the telco's Local Access Transport Area (LATA), called an "inter-LATA" call, with some minor exceptions. Remember what was said about how using 10xxx before 1-800 is ignored because the number determines the IXC? It is clearly obvious to me, and stands to reason that *that*, the IXC identification is what is being found by the lookup system. That is the *only* thing that can be cached. Before the *entire* 1-800 number was portable, essentially the same thing was done with the first three digits of the 1-800 number. But since that was a small, fixed table (of no more than 999 entries) the whole thing could be kept in the memory of the LEC switch. But not with seven million entries that can be changed on a short term. The LEC, in caching information about a call is *not* caching the route (ten-digit local terminator number) to which a call is to be transported. All that the LEC is getting, and all that it could cache, is the identity of the IXC that handles the call. Even *I* understand what is going on. The national 800 database simply tells the particular LEC which IXC is handling that particular 1-800 number, (and in some cases, for that particular part of the country if the customer uses multiple carriers, which I understand is possible). The telco then hands off the call to the nearest point of presence to the IXC in that LATA (if that IXC has one in that LATA), and the IXC handles the routing of the call. The LEC has nothing to do with it. It would not affect AT&T's service guarantee for 1-800 numbers (unless that service guarantee involves routing some 1-800 calls via MCI or Sprint) and would not affect the automated re-routing of calls to different places depending on time of day or caller's location. It would have no effect on these at all. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ From: jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com (adams,john) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 12:25:40 GMT In article andys@internet.sbi.com (Andy Sherman) writes: >In comp.dcom.telecom, article , Pat >wrote: >> your point is well taken, and according to the message which appeared >> here yesterday, telcos do in fact do a lookup each time; it is done so ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ True, however, in many cases (I don't know the exact percentages), a double lookup is done; once by the LEC via their SCP, and often (as high as perhaps 80% of the time) again by the IXC. In these cases, the 800 number service is provided by the IXC, and the LEC needs only to determine which IXC to route it to at this particular instance. > As to the 800 number cache, that would be a singularly bad idea for > any LEC to implement in an end office. First off, it would break a > lot of enhanced 800 services. It is for precisely the above reason stated by Andy, that IXCs do the second translation of 800 to POTS. A potential secondary reason is that the IXCs would probably rather not *PAY* the LEC to do full enhanced feature translations in the LECs SCP! There is a lot more details on this in the FCC document on 800 portability 86-10, including the subsequent rulings regarding who pays for what. John (Jack) Adams Bellcore NVC 2Z-220 (908) 758-5372 {Voice} (908) 758-4389 {Facsimile} jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com kahuna@attmail.com ------------------------------ From: Joe.Bergstein@p501.f544.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Joe Bergstein) Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 03:36:39 -0500 Subject: Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) I believe the reason that some police departments refer all calls to 911 is that their 911 system is set up to (a) record the entire call, and (b) use ANI to determine the call's origin. In many instances it would be very helpful for the police to have this information. Hopefully, the intelligent 911 system designer can set up a local NXX-XXXX number as a lower priority entry into the 911 ACD system, so all calls can be recorded and identified, but true emergency 911 calls will always take top priority. ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 05:04:17 GMT In article pas@cc.gatech.edu (Paulo Santos) writes: > Talk about stupidity. My car was broken into in downtown Atlanta, > less than 100 yards from the downtown police precinct in the CNN > Center. To report the break-in, I just walked to the police station > (hey, it was closer than the nearest payphone). Well, they made me > call 911 *from the police station*, so that 911 could dispatch one of > the police cars that was parked out front. Back when the California Department of Motor Vehicles was REQUIRING people to have appointments for just about everything, I heard about someone who walked in without an appointment. They would not talk with him. He went to the phone across the room, talked with the appointment center in Sacramento, then walked back across the room with an appointment. They'd talk with him then. I don't know the accuracy of the story ... but, it seems sometimes systems get a little inflexible. Harold ------------------------------ From: kksys!mpls911!kevin@uum1.UUCP (Kevin Herrboldt) Subject: Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) Organization: Emergency Communications, City of Minneapolis Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 21:36:16 GMT Gerry George (ggeorge@bu.edu) wrote: > I once had the need to report a "threatening" phone call (I knew who > the caller was, and wanted to file an official complaint). I looked > up the local police station in the directory (since I do not know how > hose procedures work) and mentioned that I wanted to make a report on > a harassing phone call (Boston, MA). I was instructed to call 911!!! > I politely told the woman on the other end that it was not an > emergency, I simply wanted to file a complaint. She said that there > was no way for them to take a report unledd I went through 911. I left > it at that, and hung up in frustration, thinking that this was a sure > fire way to mess up a perfectly good emergency response system. : Why would the powers that be see it fit to route *all* calls through : to 911??? Here in the Metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul area (and possibly the entire state), 911 is used to handle ALL calls for police/fire/EMS. (Minneapolis does, however, have a seven-digit line for filing police reports that do not require an immediate squad response.) Whether or not 911 should be used for emergencies only seems to be primarily a question of capacity. The Minneapolis PSAP answers almost 75% of 911 calls in less than 10 seconds, and less than 0.1% are answered after more than 50 seconds. Minneapolis handles about 550,000 in-coming calls each year, with over 290,000 being 911. There are advantages and disadvantages to routing all calls through the 911 system, but clearly it is doable. Kevin Herrboldt kevin@mpls911.uucp Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center ...!mishima!mpls911!kevin City Hall Room B-911, Mpls, MN 55415 USA +1 612 348 7216 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 09:08:23 -0400 From: thogard@wrdis01.robins.af.mil (Tim Hogard) Subject: Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House If you asked ot have it done a correct way (and you did) then he should have done it that way. > Is there any technical reason to install in daisy-chain fashion, or is > it just cheaper? A very old book I was reading said to wire in a ring, that is connect the beginning of hte daisy-chain to the end at the point of termination so that when a wire breaks, you will still have a live line. I wonder what a fast modem would think of this? I expect that a typical new house would be wired with a combination tee and daisy-chain to save labor costs. Tim Hogard Robins AFB Warner Robins GA ------------------------------ From: braun@Novell.COM (Karl Braun) Subject: Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House Organization: Novell Inc., San Jose, Califonia Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 15:02:48 GMT EIA/TIA 570 ("Residential and Light Commercial Telecommunications Wiring Standard") says: "A minimum of one wire run *shall* be installed to each of the following rooms in residences (where applicable): Kitchen All Bedrooms Family/Great Room Den/Study" - section 5.3.5.2 , first paragraph "In residential applications, station wire runs from the distribution device *shall* be star wired to the first or primary telecommunications outlet appearance in each room. Additional outlets within the same room may be star wired from the distribution device or extended fromthe primary outlet [...] in a series configuration..." - section 5.3.5.2, paragraph 4 [emphasis mine - ktb] So the "standard" is, in fact, to make at least one run per room. Standard practice, on the other hand ... Keep in mind this standard was approved in May of 1991. A lot of houses I saw built within the last decade had six pair wiring (not sheathed in a single cable, just a bundle of six pairs) strung in daisy chain from jack to jack. kral 408/647-6112 Network Scapegoat in Training ------------------------------ From: goldstein@isdnip.lkg.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN Reply-To: goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 04:59:38 GMT In article oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > When I did manage to reach someone whose job was to know about ISDN, > they told me that NYTel charges $10 per month for BRI. Running > low-speed data over the D channel is an extra $2 per month. Running > your flexible choice of high-speed data or voice over a B channel is > an extra $2 per month. He was quite unable to say what packets cost > on the high or low speed paths. And all this is an added cost per > month above and beyond the cost of the voice telephone numbers carried > on the BRI. Yes, NYTel, like its sister NYNEX company Gnu England Tel, charges those rates in addition to the regular business or residential line rate. (Not "number" rate, since additional numbers on an ISDN line cost about a buck a month, at least in NET.) Still it's not a bad deal IF you can get it. Expect much better deployment by next year, but for now NYNEX lags most of the developed world. > He also said, though I find it difficult to believe, that the ISDN BRI > connection is via a single twisted pair. I always thought this was > done on two pairs. One pair. That's why it's so cost-effective. The "digital section" (ISDN-ese for local loop) goes up to 18,000 feet using one ordinary unloaded pair. THis is "Reference Point U". Within a building, it's typically converted to the four-wire Reference Point T for the final hookup; an NT1 box converts U to T. Fred R. Goldstein Resident ISDN Weenie goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 03:08:21 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN The editor of {Teleconnect} Magazine, Harry Newton, has been working with NYTel; they have two BRI lines. He's been publishing updates in the magazine. You might try to give him a call; the magazine's editorial offices are at 212-691-8215. Harry has been discouraged by the poor marketing of ISDN by the BOCs. He's the one who said, "If BOCs were selling sushi, they'd advertise, 'Cold dead fish.'" Someone else took that and made buttons. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #506 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08750; 25 Jul 93 18:21 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24341 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 25 Jul 1993 15:56:49 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19517 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 25 Jul 1993 15:56:07 -0500 Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 15:56:07 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307252056.AA19517@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #507 TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Jul 93 15:56:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 507 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection (Jack Decker) Re: Competition for Talk Tickets (Doug Granzow) Re: Employer Representation on This Digest (Bruce Howells) Re: Employer Representation on This Digest (Pat Turner) Re: 1-800-COLLECT (Tom Lowe) Re: 1-800-COLLECT (Christopher Zguris) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (Art Walker) Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number (John Rice) Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell (Mike King) Re: FEMA Releases Summary of Flood-Related Information (Dave Niebuhr) Re: N.Y. Pager Fee (Christopher Zguris) Re: AT&T To Raise Rates August 1 (Paul Robinson) Re: Cell Phone Fraud Losses Triple in a Year (Stephen Davis) Re: Looking For Devices to Dial *67 (Eric Davis) Re: Were You a Victim of 900 Abuse? (Ray Normandeau) Re: Were You a Victim of 900 Abuse? (Eric Hall) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 14:55:08 EDT From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection In message , djcl@io.org (woody) wrote: > A Canadian Press report last week said that the main U.S. carriers > (AT&T, MCI, Sprint) will be cutting off 800 number access to Canadian > services that offer access to Cuban telephones. A Toronto company like > Telecaribe would set up an 800 number reachable from the U.S., then > offer U.S. callers a connection to Cuba (for a price!). The U.S. > government ordered the blocking of the 800 service via the Treasury > Department. There is a U.S. embargo on trade with Cuba but > Canadian-Cuban trade is relatively unrestricted. While I'm certainly no fan of the Castro regime, this seems to me like a case of trying to plug a dike when there are already holes all over, and new ones opening up every second. Just to think of three things that a U.S. resident could do to obtain calls to Cuba: 1) Use a smaller carrier (not one of the "Big Three") to access the 800 number. Now, granted, the caller has no choice of carriers on an 800 call, but if 800 calls to other countries are handed to U.S. carriers on a semi-random basis (as I have been led to understand that they are), then it would seem that if one redials a sufficient number of times, sooner or later the call will hit a third-tier carrier and perhaps go through. Perhaps the article meant to say that the 800 numbers would be removed from the Bellcore 800 number database and therefore inaccessible via any U.S. carrier, but that's not what it said. 2) Open an account with a Canadian long distance company, then use a "Canada Direct" type number (do any such exist?) to get access to the Canadian carrier's switch. Since only a very insignificant number of calls through such a switch would be destined for Cuba, it would be impractical to block off access to the carrier's 800 number. 3) Canadian firms (even the telcos themselves) could offer to set up individual call forwarding numbers. Consider this: What would stop a U.S. customer from approaching Bell Canada or any of the provincial telephone companies (whichever offers the best rate would probably be the most logical choice, unless you live very close to the Canadian border at some point) and requesting a number with "Remote Call Forwarding", and then forwarding the calls to an number in Cuba? I would suspect that at least one of the Canadian telcos, if not all, would permit Remote Call Forwarding to an international number, and RCF is a service designed for customers who do not have a physical presence in a city, so they should have no problem billing the service to an out-of-province address. So, if someone's mother lived in Havana, they could set up a Remote Call Forwarding number in, say, Toronto (if Bell Canada allows RCF to an international number) for probably about the cost of a standard residential or business phone line (depending on whether RCF is tariffed as a business or residential service only). They would pay for the cost of forwarded calls from Toronto to Havana, and also for calls to the Toronto number from wherever they were calling from. If mama in Havana had many relatives in the U.S., the cost of the Canadian RCF number could be split among them. They'd just have to be sure not to advertise this scheme to anyone not in the family, and to tell mama to hang up very quickly when she gets calls from the inevitible teleslime offering things like home repair (with special prices for repairing ice and snow damage)! :-) Also, the firms offering this service in Canada probably aren't going to take this lying down; they'll probably change 800 numbers frequently to stay one step ahead of the blockers, and be a bit more careful how they advertise their services in the U.S. Since they presumably already have an existing U.S. customer base, all they have to do is call each customer individually and give them a new 800 (or even a non-800) access number that's not yet known to AT&T, MCI, or Sprint. Those folks who really have the potential to do damage to U.S. efforts to unseat Castro probably already have fifty different ways to communicate with Cuba, so I suspect that this embargo is really only hurting those who make casual calls back to relatives in Cuba. In my opinion, this only makes the U.S. look bad, and gives Castro more propaganda fuel ("look at how the big, bad U.S. is picking on us now!"). I think it was a mistake to ever let a communist dictatorship take root 90 miles off our shores in the first place, but given the current world situation, my personal opinion is that we'd now be better off not to do things that serve no useful purpose other than alienating the Cuban people (and their relatives who live here). Anyone who seriously believes that this new government regulation will actually prevent Cuban government agents (e.g. spies, communist sympathizers, etc.) simply has no idea how easy it is to forward a call through a third country. Any decent size office phone system (as well as most two line phones sold for the home market) offer three way calling capability, so you'd practically have to block all calls to ANY country that allows customers to have more than one phone line(!) in order to totally prevent any U.S. caller from being able to have a call extended into Cuba. I'm sure the bad guys already know this, so only the "little people" are being hurt by this inane regulation. I think this is a case of government bureaucrats trying to accomplish something without having any real understanding of the technology (or else THEY understand it, but figure everyone ELSE is too stupid). Makes you wonder if "government intelligence" really IS an oxymoron. :-) Jack Decker | ao944@yfn.ysu.edu or ac388@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu ------------------------------ From: dig@pro-cynosure.clark.net (Doug Granzow) Subject: Re: Competition for Talk Tickets Organization: Cynosure BBS - Email and newsgroups at 410-549-2584 Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 11:06:02 EDT TELECOM Moderator noted in response to David P. Notley Jr. : >[ Western Union also has a prepaid calling card out now you can > purchase at currency exchanges and some banks. PAT] Western Union appears to be getting ready to promote their new "Phone Cards" pretty heavily. In the agency literature we received recently, WU claims they are the first company to offer this type of product nationwide. (All Western Union agents should now have these cards available for sale.) The cards are available in denominations of $5, $10, $20, or $50, and calls cost $.60/minute within the U.S. (International calls range from $1.80/min to $3/min.) The cards are not activated until they are actually sold, and they expire six months from the date of purchase. The caller dials an 800 number, enters the number printed on the inside of the card, and dials the number they want to call. There is no mention of being able to string multiple phone cards together, so I can only wonder what WU does with the leftover money. (An eight minute call costs $4.80, leaving $.20 on a $5 card, which isn't enough to stay on for another minute.) |Doug Granzow (dig@pro-cynosure.clark.net) - Cynosure BBS 410-549-2584 (free!) [Moderator's Note: The Talk Ticket, with prices ranging from 39 cents to 50 cents per minute (depending on discount at time of purchase) and with an even number of units so nothing is left over and wasted is a much better deal, if I do say so myself, especially since you can buy them from the convenience of your office or home using your modem and CHECK-FREE to pay for them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bruce@gatekeeper.bgs.com (Bruce Howells) Subject: Re: Employer Representation on This Digest Date: 24 Jul 1993 16:20:20 GMT Organization: BGS Systems Some corporate Email/network policies require such disclaimers. Perhaps a solution similar to that used by Peter Neumann in moderating the Risks Digest could be useful: A header at the top of each digest announces that the postings included represent the personal opinion of the poster, and that corporation names are for identification purposes only. For example, I have to put the .signature that follows, but with such a header on each Telecom_Digest, it would be redundant. (Of course, when I post as beh@cs.umb.edu, no trailer is necessary, or present.) Bruce Howells, bruce@bgs.com This posting is the author's personal opinion, and does not necessarily represent BGS Systems, Inc. ------------------------------ From: turner@Dixie.Com Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 14:28 EDT From: rsiatl!turner@rsiatl.UUCP Subject: Re: Employer Representation on This Digest > [Moderator's Note: I guess there are still people out there who feel > if they include an organization in their header or .signaturanything > they say will somehow be tracked back to their organization. I've Pat, 5CFR2635.807(b)(2) sez: An employee may use, or permit the use of, his title or position in connection with an article published in a scientific or professional journal, provided that the title or position is accompanied by a reasonably prominent disclaimer satisfactory to the agency stating that the views expressed in the article do not represent the views of the agency or the United States; and ... Since joining the FAA I have made a point to add a disclaimer to any post that expressed an opinion or mentioned the FAA. While I was at Auburn I added a disclaimer that I had no connection to the campus telecom people when I mentioned them. Not the opinions of the FAA. Patton Turner KB4GRZ FAA Telecommunications turner@dixie.com ------------------------------ From: tomlowe@speedway.net (Tom Lowe) Subject: Re: 1-800-COLLECT Date: 25 Jul 1993 00:13:42 -0400 Organization: Speedway Free Access -- Dial 10288-1-503-520-2222 In article dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) writes: > I just finished a comparison of collect call charges involving AT&T, > MCI, MCI's 1-800-COLLECT, Sprint and New York Telephone. > 1-800-COLLECT .65 US Gee...I just got off the phone with them a few minutes ago and the customer service rep told me the surcharge is $1.50. I called AT&T also and they told me the surcharge is $2.00. And the phone companies wonder why everyone is so confused about rates! Tom Lowe tomlowe@speedway.net or tomlowe@delphi.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 05:00 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: 1-800-COLLECT So based on the comparison of charges Dave Niebuhr(dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl. gov) posted in TELECOM Digest v13 #504 it looks like 800-COLLECT is worthwhile. I noticed the AT&T ads against "other" companies (obviously 800-COLLECT) only focus on the fact that a minimum of only $.01 savings is guaranteed -- maximums and/or average savings are not mentioned, I don't think the ads are very effective or strong. Can we expect new 800-COLLECT ads to counter AT&T and then AT&T giving in and lowering their rates? Does anyone know how well 800-COLLECT is doing, is AT&T running ads against it as a precaution or are they losing business? Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ From: walker@beeble.omahug.org (Art Walker) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? Organization: Beeble Planning Commission Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 23:19:38 GMT naddy@mips.ruessel.sub.org (Christian Weisgerber) writes: > Well, there's 9.5.N.A.S.T.Y by WASP. Although I personally like that > song quite a lot, I'm afraid it doesn't match the musical preferences > of most readers here, especially not that of our dear Moderator :-> > Also it's not really about phones but the person behind the number. Or, along the same lines, "Spanked" by Van Halen. Art Walker, Somewhere In Iowa walker@beeble.omahug.org ------------------------------ From: rice@ttd.teradyne.com Subject: Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number Organization: Teradyne Inc., Telecommunications Division Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 14:55:51 GMT In article , ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) writes: > I think the AT&T TrueVoice demo asks you to enter your home number > because some people calling the demo line are calling from their > office line, a payphone or someone else's home. > [Moderator's Note: But what possible difference could it make? PAT] More likely, it's so they can check to see if you're an ATT customer, and if not, pass your 'home' number to their telemarketers to hit you up to change. John Rice K9IJ rice@ttd.teradyne.com [Moderator's Note: Except AT&T doesn't really need to ask the caller if they are a customer or not ... they have all those records easily at hand and a comparison of the ANI provided on the call to their existing customer lists would accomplish the same thing. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 02:54:05 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Multi-Carrier Service From Cincinnati Bell In TELECOM Digest, V13 #502, oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov (R. Kevin Oberman) wrote: > Bell, they were not owned by AT&T and were not effected by the MFJ. > Hence, like GTE, they are free to do whatever they like. Sounds like > thay are doing something useful with that ability. Actually, GTE signed its own consent decree soon after AT&T did. It just wasn't as publicized. They're not "free to do whatever they like." But they do have less restrictions than Mother. Cincinnati Bell, however, did NOT sign any decrees, and is subject only to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), and the equivalents in Indiana and Kentucky (yes, they serve the Cincinnati suburbs in those states). nhyre@bears.att.com (Ralph Hyre) wrote: > The one 'normal carrier incentive' they don't have is the ability to > put the calls on your Cincinnati Bell local telephone bill. Only if they there's no contract with the LD carrier to do so. They have a choice in the matter. (No pun intended; Cinti Bell used the trademark "Choice" during the 1983-85 timeframe for their long distance offering.) > (Cincinnati Bell can't accept bills for EasyReach 700 service, either, > but that's another story.) This means you get at LEAST two phone > bills, one for local calls, the other for long distance calls. Lots of people already receive two bills. Again, if the carrier and Cinti Bell come to terms of agreement, Cinti Bell will bill for the carrier. One of my friends in Cinti receives his AT&T billing (surprise!) as another page on his Cinti Bell bill. As to why Cinti Bell doesn't provide for EasyReach 700 billing, I was involved in a thread in the Telecom Forum on CI$ regarding why Rochester Telephone (...read on!) couldn't handle ER-700 calls. We finally got a definitive answer why: --- Forwarded Message --- I can start a whole parade of issues as to why Rochester Tel does not offer EasyReach. Technical and legal considerations top my list, but if I had to guess what the real reason is, I would say it's probably economic. That is, Rochester Tel would probably have to fork over $$$'s to AT&T for the proper operation of EasyReach in the Roch Tel serving area. Remember that Roch Tel and Cinn Bell are two Article 5 companies. Meaning that they provide AT&T with operator services within their service area. (ie. dial 10288-0 in Rochester and hear the operator say "AT&T!", but ask him/her what company they work for and they say "Rochester Tel"!) EasyReach, to work correctly, needs a minimum configuration of the same equipment and software that are used to provide operator services. Rochester Tel may provide AT&T with operator services, but they are under no obligation to stay up to date with the current generic AT&T operator services equipment and software. So, it's really a question of economics for Roch Tel. Why upgrade to generic X+10 for Z dollars, when generic X satifies their current needs just fine? Gotta run, J Butz ER700 Sys Eng AT&T - BL ----- So, apparently, Cinti Bell won't accept billing for ER700 service because they don't want to upgrade their operator equipment. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 07:22:21 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: FEMA Releases Summary of Flood-Related Information In TELECOM Digest V13 #496 ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) writes: >General: > -- Nebraska and South Dakota became the sixth and seventh >Midwestern states to be declared major disaster areas as a result of >flooding this summer ... FEMA estimates that 36,600 homes have been >damaged or destroyed in the seven states where President Clinton has >declared major disasters. THis is in contradiction to what {Newsday} wrote yesterday via one of the wire services. The article indicated that Kansas and Nebraska were the sixth and seventh states to be added to the disaster list. I can understand South Dakota being there since it is cut in half by the Missouri and Nebraska and South Dakota share a common border until Iowa takes over for S.D. west of Sioux City, Ia. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 15:13 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: N.Y. Pager Fee I live in NYC and have been nailed by this stupid beeper tax since it started last year, has it mentioned whether we'll get our money back since it was declared illegal? I've heard from several places that the law was deemed illegal, but does that mean we get the money back or simply don't have to pay any nore? Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 13:09:07 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: AT&T To Raise Rates August 1 From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Summary of an article on Page C2 of the 7/20 issue of the {Washington Post}: An article "AT&T Plans to Raise Rates on Aug 1" by Barbara Grady of Reuter, says that AT&T thinks the price wars are over, and is breaking out of constant lowering of rates to keep MCI and Sprint at bay. According to AT&T, the increases "reflect the increased costs of doing business." According to the article, "AT&T also introduced volume discount and targeted calling plans for business customers." The changes for business include interstate, international, 800 and data-communications services. AT&T is apparently moving its marketing focus off price. MCI said "We do believe that competition has moved away from price. We think there is price stability in the industry now." Is this PR speak for saying that MCI will now also raise rates? :) Analysts figure it's a win-win for MCI and Sprint. They can either raise rates some, but less than AT&T, or stay at the same rates and keep a competitive advantage. All three company's stock prices rose on this announcement. Breakdown of Cost changes: Claimed Effective Service Increase Most Business Services 3.9 % Direct dialed Consumer Less than 1.0 % International Calls from US 3.8 % (to 58 countries) International calls to US 15.0 % (from 27 countries, using USA Direct) Calling Card and Operator Assisted 3.0 % "The proposed rate increases were filed with the Federal Communications Commission on Friday [July 16] amd will be effective on August 1, pending review by the FCC." Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ From: wolfgang@halcyon.halcyon.com (Stephen Davis) Subject: Re: Cell Phone Fraud Losses Triple in a Year Date: 25 Jul 1993 10:33:47 -0700 Speaking of cellular phone fraud, a local friend of mine (already on probation for hacking into Boeing and the Justice Dept.) was caught in a scam that apparently involved a cellular phone that had been modified somehow so calls were billed to someone else's account. I've seen very little regarding this rather interesting ploy ... any thoughts or information on the subject? [Moderator's Note: Yeah, I have one thought. You might tell your phriend if he gets out this latest caper without some time in the penitentiary he'd best start blowing his nose with a silk handkerchief. Stories here in the Digest two or three weeks ago explained how this was being done. The phreaks use ESN 'readers' to capture the serial number of the phone as it is transmitted over the airwaves. They then make up new chips for the phones which have the forged serial number in them. The carrier thinks they are a roamer from out of town, and let's them make calls once the home carrier has confirmed that the legitimate customer is in good standing, etc. It sounds to me like your phriend is a very self-destructive person. Anyone on federal probation (that is a little tougher; some of the state probation systems are a joke) who can't even wait until probation is terminated to go back into his old ways needs to get professional help. If he can't behave while Big Brother is watching him, then what would he do when not being watched? Most likely for his trial this time he will be back in front of the same judge who sentenced him before; that judge will have all the earlier paperwork, etc. If your phriend has anything going for him at all (family in town, a supportive employer who is aware of the earlier and present convictions and is willing to keep him in his job) and is not deemed to be a danger to the community, the judge may let him off easy by imposing work release this time around. Formally known as 'periodic imprisonment', it means six months or a year of staying overnight in the federal prison in your area and being released during the day to go to his employment and attend to the needs of his wife and family. To add a little frosting to the cake, he'll get to pay room and board to the prison from the salary he makes wherever he is employed. If he does not show up at the front door of the prison *exactly* at the time he is told each night or doesn't pass random drug tests or gets arrested by the police for any reason while he is out each day, then all bets are off. As his friend, you need to help him however you can to understand this has become very serious. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ericd@synoptics.com (Eric Davis) Subject: Re: Looking For Devices to Dial *67 Reply-To: ericd@synoptics.com Organization: SynOptics Communications, Santa Clara CA Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 17:51:43 GMT In article 11@eecs.nwu.edu, steve@mcnnet.mi.org (Steve Corso) writes: > I am trying to locate a device that I can connect between the > telephone line that comes in my house and all (not just one) of my > telephones that automatically enters a code (such as *67 privacy mode) > when I pick any phone in the house up to draw dial-tone. Does such a > device exist? I have been working on such a device for a few months now. If interested, mail me ... Eric Davis ericd@synoptics.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Were You a Victim of 900 Abuse? From: ray.normandeau@factory.com (Ray Normandeau) Date: 25 Jul 93 19:51:00 GMT Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-8298v.32bis Reply-To: ray.normandeau@factory.com (Ray Normandeau) > I'm sorry, but could someone explain to me what a caller could say to > be abusive on a phone sex line at $?? per minute? Talking about piety, chastity and abstenence :-> ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Were You a Victim of 900 Abuse? From: ehall@nwc.com (Eric Hall) Date: 25 Jul 93 20:19:53 -0500 Reply-To: ehall@nwc.com (Eric Hall) Organization: Network Computing Magazine > In the article, the reporter indicated occasionally a caller would > start pestering her (very aggressively) for a date, or would start > describing what he'd like to do to her. > Regardless of the stigma of that particular job, she said she still > found it difficult to handle such calls, and that's why she only > lasted a few days. Suppose the caller could sue? I mean, couldn't he work on the grounds that this was an acceptable and/or common practice? By her hanging up, could it be conceived that she violated some sort of agreement? Eric Hall ehall@nwc.com Director, East Coast Labs vox: 516-562-5288 Network Computing Magazine fax: 516-562-7293 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #507 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa11011; 25 Jul 93 20:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19990 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 25 Jul 1993 18:20:51 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA26438 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 25 Jul 1993 18:20:02 -0500 Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 18:20:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307252320.AA26438@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #508 TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Jul 93 18:20:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 508 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Caller-ID ASPect File For Procomm (A. Padgett Peterson) SS7 Message Format (Tarl Neustaedter) Private Voice Networks (Paul J. Bell) Mercury in the UK - The Right Choice? (David Leibold) Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? (Dan Reiner) Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Nigel Allen) Privately-Run "Phone Parlors" Compete With Pay Phones (Nigel Allen) New AT&T Phone? (Paul R. Coen) Information Wanted on AT&T Tech Journal (Lee Sweet) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 09:01:09 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Caller-ID ASPect File For Procomm [Moderator's Note: This file will become a permanent part of the Telecom Archives under the name 'callid.asp.procomm'. PAT] ;************************************************************** ; CALLID.ASP (C) 1992 by Padgett Peterson ; ; CALLID.ASP is a PROCOMM Aspect script file that may be ; used on those telephone lines returning such information. ; This version is being made available as FREEWARE and may ; be included/distributed freely so long as 1) This copyright ; notice remains intact, 2) No changes are made to this ; script, and 3) No charge beyond a minimal distribution ; fee is levied. ; ; As such no warranty is made for fitness of any kind and ; use is strictly at the recipient's own risk. ; ; The program requires a modem that will return Caller-ID ; values when instructed. Use will permit screening of ; calls prior to the line being placed off-hook: if the ; calling number is blocked or does not appear in the file ; CALLID.DAT, the line will not be answered. ; ; One effective use would be on a line having both modem ; and FAX service. If the call is not from a known host, ; the modem will not pick up and the FAX or voice mail ; may connect instead. If this use is selected it will be ; necessary to set the FAX not to answer until sufficient ; time has elapsed after the first ring for the list of known ; numbers to be scanned and a decision made. ; ; CALLID makes use of two files CALLID.DAT, the repository ; of numbers to be answered in the format ;. ; The must contain all digits returned by the ; Caller-ID stream but the format is unimportant since all ; non-numeric characters will be stripped. Syntactically, ; (407)555-1212 is the same as 407.555.1212, 4075551212, or ; 407 555 1212. The second file CALLID.LOG is created or ; appended when the script executes and contains the information ; on calls attempted. ; ; For proper use as a PROCOMM "HOST" the HOST SETUP must be set ; to EXIT on completion. The only known problem at this time ; is the condition if an "approved" number calls the system ; and hangs up before a connection is made. In this case PROCOMM ; may "hang" in the HOST "waiting" mode and will answer the ; next call. This is a problem with the HOST mode that will require ; complete HOST emulation in the ASPECT file to correct (in work). ; ; Version History ; ; 0.71 (beta) 1 November 1992 Southern Bell/Supra FAX/Modem ; version, 1st issue. ; ; For more information contact the author at (407)352-6007 6-9 pm ; EST (no collect calls) or write to POB 1203, Windermere, FLA, ; 34786. Please enclose a #10 SASE. ; ; PROCOMM, PROCOMM+, and ASPECT are registered products of ; Datastorm Inc. (800)326-4799 ; ; Supra FAX/Modem is a product of the Supra Corp. (800)727-8647 ; ;******************************************************************* ; define atcmd "AT^M" ; basic AT command define cichk "AT#CID=?^M" ; these commands are valid for a Supra define cicmd "AT#CID=1^M" ; FAX/Modem with Caller-ID enabled define noans "ATS0=0^M" ; Reset modem to non-answer define ringmsg "RING" define okstr "OK" define erstr "ERROR" define blank " " define logfil "callid.log" ; Log file for received calls define datfil "callid.dat" ; Data files for "approved" numbers ; ; Global Variables ; string idline,strnum,instr,crlf,tmps1,tmps2 integer idlen,tmpn1,flag,dflag,pos,char,nhi ; proc main ; ; strset crlf 10 1 ; ; Setup ; set keys on set display off vidsave 0 box 8 21 15 77 00 box 7 20 14 75 79 atsay 8 28 79 " Caller-ID Handler (C) 1992 by Padgett " ; ; Make sure modem is turned on ; set rxdata on atsay 10 22 79 "Waiting for Modem" transmit noans call getstr with &instr call getstr with &instr strcmp instr okstr 2 if success atsay 10 22 79 "Modem Responding " else atsay 10 22 79 "Modem not responding " set rxdata off waitquiet 2 2 goto enditall endif ; ; Check for Caller-Id supporting modem ; atsay 10 40 79 "- Caller-ID Initializing" set rxdata on transmit cicmd call getstr with instr ; flush command echo call getstr with &instr ; get response strcmp instr erstr 5 ; IF not "ERROR" assume OK ; if success atsay 10 65 79 "- Failed" waitquiet 2 2 goto enditall else atsay 10 65 79 "- Success" call getstr with instr ; flush OK endif ; ; Open the data file ; findfirst datfil if found atsay 11 22 79 "Data File Present" fopen 0 datfil "rt" if success atsay 11 40 79 "- Opened" dflag=1 else atsay 12 22 79 "Data file could not be opened - terminating" waitquiet 2 2 goto enditall endif else atsay 11 22 79 "No Data File - Logging only" dflag=0 endif ; ; Open the LOG file ; openlog: findfirst logfil if found fopen 1 logfil "at" fseek 1 0 2 else log open logfil log close goto openlog endif if success atsay 12 22 79 "Log File -" else atsay 12 22 79 "Log file could not be opened - terminating" waitquiet 2 2 goto close0 endif ; ; Record Date & Time to Log - monkey motion but allows both ; screen and file write if dflag==0 fwrite 1 "Logging only, " 14 endif strset tmps1 32 27 strupdt tmps1 "Opened:" 0 7 date tmps2 strupdt tmps1 tmps2 8 8 time tmps2 1 strupdt tmps1 tmps2 17 8 fatsay 12 42 79 "%.25s" tmps1 strupdt tmps1 crlf 25 1 tmpn1=26 fwrite 1 tmps1 tmpn1 ; ; Create LOG Box ; box 17 21 23 77 00 box 16 20 22 75 79 atsay 17 40 79 "- Received Calls -" ; ; Wait For Ring Signal ; when 0 "RING" call numhan ringlp: atsay 13 22 79 "Waiting for Ring - Press any key to abort" set display off set rxdata off ; if hitkey == 0 goto ringlp endif set keys off goto close1 ; ; End the program ; close1: fclose 1 close0: if dflag == 1 fclose 0 endif enditall: cwhen 0 set rxdata off vidrest 0 set display on exit endproc ; ; -------------------------------------------------------------------- ; ; Procedure to concatenate numbers from a string up to the first blank ; and strip out all other characters proc stripnum strparm in1,out1 intparm j1 integer i1,p1,c1 ; ; Find the limit of what is to be checked ; find in1 ";" p1 if not found strlen in1 p1 endif ; ; Now concatenate just the numbers ; j1 = -1 strset out1 0 40 ; for i1 = 0 upto p1 strpeek in1 i1 c1 if (c1 > 47) && (c1 < 58) j1= j1 + 1 strpoke out1 j1 c1 endif endfor ; endproc -------------------------------------------------------- ; ; Procedure to create an input string of characters to ; from the COM port. May also be used to flush the port. ; proc getstr ; strparm gss integer gsj,gsc ; set rxdata on strset gss 0 40 gsj=0 lp2: comgetcd gsc if gsc < 32 if (gsj != 0) || (gsc == -1) goto endit else goto lp2 endif endif strpoke gss gsj gsc gsj = gsj + 1 goto lp2 ; endit: ; endproc ; ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ; ; Call Handling Procedure - Procedure is called by WHEN "RING" command ; proc numhan ; cwhen 0 atsay 13 22 79 " Checking Number " chklp: strset instr 0 40 strset tmps2 0 41 call getstr with &instr ; get date strcmp instr "TIME" 4 if not success strcmp instr "RING" ; second string will be RING if no Caller-ID if not success goto chklp else goto endnh endif endif ; scroll 1 18 22 21 74 79 ; new entry so scroll the screen ; fatsay 21 22 79 "%.15s" instr fwrite 1 instr 15 ; log the time call getstr with &tmps1 ; get number call stripnum with tmps1 &tmps2 &idlen ; strip it ; if dflag == 0 atsay 13 22 79 " Logging Calling Number " goto nonum endif ; ; Check the number ; rewind 0 ; while not eof 0 strset idline 0 41 fgets 0 idline call stripnum with idline &strnum &idlen if idlen < 1 goto noline endif strcmp strnum tmps2 idlen if success goto foundnum endif noline: endwhile ; ; Number not found ; atsay 13 22 79 " No Match - " nonum: flag=0 fwrite 1 " No Match " 10 fwrite 1 tmps2 40 fwrite 1 crlf 1 goto wrtnum ; ; Number Found ; foundnum: flag=1 fwrite 1 " Match " 10 ; ; Strip any control characters out of idline ; strlen idline pos for nhi=1 upto pos strpeek idline nhi char if char < 32 strpoke idline nhi 32 endif endfor ; ; Now output the entry to the LOG file ; fwrite 1 idline 40 fwrite 1 crlf 1 strcpy tmps2 idline 40 ; ; Put the Information on the screen also (last 4 numbers) ; wrtnum: fatsay 21 35 79 "%.40s" tmps2 ; ; DOIT ; if flag == 1 vidsave 1 atsay 13 22 79 " Number Matched - Entering HOST mode " HOST transmit noans ; Just to be sure vidrest 1 endif ; endnh: set display off set rxdata off atsay 13 22 79 "System resetting - Waiting for silence " waitquiet 5 forever when 0 "RING" call numhan endproc ------------------------------ From: tarl@lectroid.sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter) Subject: SS7 Message Format Date: 25 Jul 1993 04:49:41 GMT Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc. At some point in the past, I've seen requests for what the format of an SS7 message looks like. In particular, how the phone numbers are coded in the message. Well, I've been spending the last two months decrypting SS7 messages, so it's worth spelling out what I've been beating my head against. There are four protocol layers involved; MTP (layer 2), UP (layer 3), SCCP, and TCAP. The message I describe below is an 800 translation request that I've been sending with an analyzer. 81 80 3E 93 02 01 80 02 9C 81 00 09 80 03 05 07 02 C1 FE 02 C1 EA 2A 62 28 48 04 00 00 00 01 6C 20 A1 1E 02 01 01 02 01 01 30 16 84 09 01 00 21 0A 08 50 55 21 43 84 09 02 00 21 0A 21 43 65 87 09 This is obviously an 800-translation request for someone dialing 800-555-1234, calling from 123-456-7890. Not obvious to you? For shame. I guess we can't all keep the CCITT blue books in our heads, along with the ANSI supplements which modify the messages formats. I'll elaborate: MTP: 81 80 3E The first two bytes are sequence numbers (our sequence number and the sequence number of remote message we are acking), the third byte is the "Length Indicator". This field, by being greater than 2, indicates an MSU (message), and also tells us the length of this message. UP: 93 02 01 80 02 9C 81 00 93 - Service information; contains: 80 - Network indicator (national network 10) 10 - Message priority (1, would usually be 0) 03 - Service indicator (indicating an SCCP message) 02 01 80 - Destination point code. The address of the node (SCP, SSP, STP) that this message is directed to. This would normally be written 128-1-2. 02 9C 81 - Originating point code. 129-156-2. The address of the switch that sent this message and is expecting a reply. 00 - end of parameters SCCP: 09 80 03 05 07 02 C1 FE 02 C1 EA 2A 09 - Message type - unitdata. 80 - protocol class - return on error 03 - offset to called party string. These offsets are relative to the current byte, so the following offsets are offset :-) 05 - offset to calling party string 07 - offset to data (tcap portion) 02 - Length of called party string C1 - Format of called party string; 80 - National routing 40 - Use point code in UP label for routing 01 - String contains an SSN (IP weenies: This means socket) This format could also include point codes and global titles, which would make it even more complicated. FE - SSN addressed of called party 02 - length of calling party C1 - format of calling party - same as called party EA - SSN of calling party 2A - Length of data (tcap message) TCAP: 62 28 48 .... 62 - message type identifier - Begin 28 - Length of TCAP message 48 - originating transaction ID tag (49 would be destination ID tag) 04 - Length of transaction ID 00 00 00 01 - Actual transaction ID (you can tell this is a test) 6C - Component portion tag 20 - Length of component portion A1 - Component type tag - Invoke ID 1E - component length 02 - Invoke ID tag 01 - length of invoke ID 01 - Invoke ID (that is, this Invoke has ID #1.) 02 - Operation code ID - local operation 01 - operation code length 01 - operation code - please provide instructions 30 - service indicator 16 - Number of bytes 84 - digit id 09 - digit length (in bytes) 01 - digit type - dialled 00 - nature (not sure what this means) 21 - number plan encoding, telephony numbering, BCD 0A - number of actual dialled digits (10, in nibbles) 08 50 55 21 43 - the number dialed. 800-555-1243. The phone companies use little-endian encoding, so the digits are always in the wrong order. 84 09 02 00 21 - digit id, digit length, nature, number plan, encoding 0A - number of digits (10) 21 43 65 87 09 - number calling from; 123-456-7890 Complicated enough for you? Don't worry, this is just the format used by one particular phone company. Bellcore uses a pure ANSI version which is different than the above, and the rest of the world uses CCITT, which is again different (in particular, the addresses [point codes] are only 12 bits long rather than the 24 bits provided for in ANSI). Tarl Neustaedter Stratus Computer tarl@sw.stratus.com Marlboro, Mass. Disclaimer: My employer is not responsible for my opinions. ------------------------------ From: pjb@23kgroup.com (Paul J. Bell) Subject: Private Voice Networks Reply-To: pjb@23kgroup.com Organization: The 23K Group, Inc. Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 15:32:25 GMT I am working on a project, for a client, that involves corporations with large private netwoks. It has been some years since I have looked into this area, and I no longer have a feel for what is being done in this area, or even if, with the current tariffs if private tandem networks are still a paying proposition. Will someone please bring me up-to-date and if possible, point me to a list of ten to twenty such users. Neither my client nor I are selling anything, but we would like to talk to someone, preferably technical, about their network(s). Thanks in advance, Paul J. Bell ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 14:58 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Mercury in the UK - The Right Choice? The recent episode of Media Television, produced by City TV in Toronto, features the wild world of media (ads, publications, technologies, etc) and in particular, a spot for Mercury long distance in the UK was shown. It appeared to be voice-dubbed excerpts from old films, so that the characters talked about the wonders of British Telecom's competitor. A note at the end of the segment mentioned that 99 of the top 100 UK companies use Mercury for long distance. The one that didn't was ... British Telecom. David Leibold ------------------------------ From: dbr@world.std.com (Dan Reiner) Subject: Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 19:20:57 GMT In a fit of nostalgia (or weak-mindedness, take your choice), I picked up a genuine Western Electric 500-type rotary phone at a flea market. In canary yellow. For a dollar. It will clean up nicely, but I think the handset cord is going to be more trouble than it's worth. Is there an organization out there that might stock a non-modular handset cord? In canary yellow? Thanks in advance. Dan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 12:13:00 EDT From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Subject: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Someone at Sprint prepared the following article summary, which someone else was kind enough to post to the PHONES conference on RIME. (beginning of summary) * Con artists known as "toner-phoners" are targeting small businesses that use copiers and laser printers. Several companies are claiming to sell replacement toner cartridges for the copying devices at a discount; however, they actually double or triple the price. The methods the toner-phoners use are simple. First, they place a call to a business and learn the serial numbers [more likely the model numbers -- NDA] of the copy equipment by misrepresenting themselves as employees of major companies updating their files. A few weeks later the same company will be contacted again, offered proof of serial numbers of their machines and the toner-phoners will sell them cartridges at the inflated price. Law enforcement officials say that toner fraud is hard to prove and almost impossible to eliminate. {(Wall Street Journal}, "Copier-toner phone scams are targeting small firms; swindlers are increasing their efforts in $3 billion replacement market," 7/16/93, p. B2) (end of summary) The same thing happens with fax machines, when you will get a call one day asking what make and model of fax machine you have, allegedly from a survey company or a government statistical office, and the next day a call from a salesperson who knows that you have a Nefax 30 or whatever. Nigel Allen, Toronto ndallen@io.org [Moderator's Note: I can vouch that this is correct. I've received four or five calls from people who start the conversation by saying "Hi, this is X from the office supply warehouse; I need to get the number on your copy machine / fax machine so the right kind of paper and toner stock can be kept in inventory." Real brassy they call, just like that, hoping that whoever answers the phone will *just assume* it is a call from some other department in the company, etc. When I get those calls I just ... hang up, without even saying a second word. The last time that happened, the woman called back right away and said "Oh, I think we got cut off." I told her no, we did not get cut off, I hung up on you, and I shall do it again. . The only thing is the {Wall Street Journal} is a bit late in making this report. Those same bozos were selling mimeograph paper, carbon paper and type- writer ribbons thirty years ago using the same sneaky tactics. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 12:15:00 EDT From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Subject: Privately-Run "Phone Parlors" Compete With Pay Phones The following article summary was prepared by someone at Sprint and posted in the RIME phones conference. Has anyone seen or used one of these privately-operated "phone parlors" in Canada or the U.S.? I have heard (at third-hand) about one such parlor in the Toronto area that was selling calls to Latin America at such a low rate that the parlor must have been stealing the telephone service it was selling. * Phone parlors have become common sights in Manhattan. The storefront establishments offer phones linked to computers for easy timing of long-distance calls and discounted long-distance rates. Immigrants use the parlors to make short calls to their homelands. One parlor charges $1.50 for a three-minute call to Santo Domingo; a pay-phone call would have cost $2.10. Drug dealers also find the parlors useful for arranging shipments and payments. Wiretapping calls from the parlors is virtually impossible. ({New York Times}, "No phones? New stores fill gap," 7/21/93, p. B11) Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@io.org [Moderator's Note: I doubt the parlors are stealing the service. They are probably using a discounted international call operation similar to Telepassport (or one of the others like it). To use your example, a call from the USA to the Dominican Republic on TP costs 82 cents for the first minute and 52 cents per minute after that. Three full minutes would be $1.86, but TP bills in six second increments at 5.2 cents per six seconds after the first thirty seconds. In countries where private residential phone service is not all that common, the firms like TP are setting up phone centers in the middle of the town. If they do it in China, why not in the middle of a housing project in New York or Chicago. Most of our public housing residents here in Chicago don't have private phones and have to go to the corner liquor store/lottery agent to call. So, TP sets up shop for them. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 12:35:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul R. Coen Subject: New AT&T Phone? Organization: Drew University Academic Computing I could have been out to lunch and missed it, but I saw an AT&T phone today that I hadn't seen before. I was at one of the "AT&T Phone Centers" (Livingston, New Jersey) buying a new phone. The salesperson was pretty good, and when she found out that I wanted to pick up a reconditioned Bell System touch-tone desk unit, she asked me why. When I mentioned that "mechanical ringer" was among my priorities, she pointed out something that looked a bit like the old Trimline phones, only it looked like it didn't protrude as far out from the wall. Also, the base of the unit was a bit longer than the handset, and I remember the handset and base being roughly the same length on the old ones. There was a hold button on the base. The keypad on the handset was quite a bit different -- large oval buttons (sideways oval, so they fit your finger pretty well) rather than those tiny round ones that the old units had. It wasn't plugged in, but it looked like they keypad would light up. One other nice feature -- there was a handset speaker volume control. The kicker was that it had a mechanical ringer, though. If I had been looking for a wall phone, I might've picked that one up. As it is, I stuck with my original purchase plan. (I also didn't want the keypad to be on the handset.) Has anyone used one of those wall phones, though? It looks like it would be a pretty good phone for someone elderly -- mechanical ringers are easier for some people to hear, the buttons are a good size, and it has the volume control. Nice to see a new phone with a real ring, too.. ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Information Wanted on AT&T Tech Journal Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 11:33:35 -0400 (EDT) This was mentioned about three weeks ago in reference to Operator Service standards or some such. Is this a publically available journal? This Telecom Manager would like to know! Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #508 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14823; 26 Jul 93 1:43 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25949 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 25 Jul 1993 23:29:36 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19006 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 25 Jul 1993 23:29:04 -0500 Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 23:29:04 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307260429.AA19006@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #509 TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Jul 93 23:29:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 509 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson EJC/REC Call For Papers (Monty Solomon) Movie About Alex Bell to be Shown July 26 (Samuel J. Hupp) What Kind of Voltages For Various Jacks? (Hiroki Morizono) Re: Help With UK Connections (David Hough) Re: Help With UK Connections (Mike King) Re: A Proposal: Standardizing Area Code Databases (Andrew Marc Greene) Re: A Proposal: Standardizing Area Code Databases (Carl Moore) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Stephen Davis) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Richard Nash) Re: 800 From Outside USA (Lee Sweet) 800 Portability or Lack Thereof (Brian T. Vita) Re: "Terminal Compromise" Now Available as Shareware (Garrett Wollman) Re: Calling Card Without a Phone Number, or Using VISA (Matt Healy) Re: Incoming Calls to Airphone? (David Ash) Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! (Andy Rabagliati) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 02:40:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EJC/REC Call For Papers Call for Papers: The Electronic Journal Of Communication La Revue Electronique de Communication Submitted by: David Abrahamson "The American Magazine: Perspectives and Prospects" A forthcoming special issue of the EJC/REC (Vol. 4 (n)) will focus on aspects of magazine journalism and/or publishing, and papers are invited from researchers and practitioners concerned with the scholarly study of magazines. The issue's table of contents will include the following headings: -- Perspectives on Magazine Research The Current Structure Directions and Prospects Sources and Resources -- Editorial Theory and Practices -- Magazines and Contemporary Culture -- Teaching Magazines: Pedagogical Issues -- Gender and Minority Aspects of Magazine Publishing -- Magazine Economics and Management -- Research Briefs Because the EJC/REC has a wide international readership, papers addressing virtually any aspect of the field are welcome. One explicit goal of this special issue, however, is to provide a useful overview of magazine research; n effect, a means by which much of the past and present scholarship can be understood. It is hoped that the issue will, from a number of viewpoints and through a variety of approaches, both help define the existing corpus of magazine scholarship and suggest cogent directions for further research. As a result, scholarly review articles, as well as more finely focused research papers, are particularly welcome. The guest editor for this issue is David Abrahamson of New York University. David is the research chair of the Magazine Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Papers will be accepted on IBM disks in ASCII format, or via electronic mail, as detailed in the Instructions for Authors (see below). Chicago Manual of Style endnotes are the preferred citation format. Manuscripts should be 3000-5000 words and accompanied by a 150-word abstract. All submissions will be peer reviewed, and the author should not be identified in the body of the text. The closing date for papers is December 1, 1993. Submissions should be forwarded to: Professor David Abrahamson, EJC/REC 165 East 32nd Street, New York, NY 10016 U.S.A. E-Mail: abrahamson@acfcluster.nyu.edu (Internet), abrahamson@nyuacf (Bitnet) Phone: (212) 689-5446 For a copy of the Instructions for Authors, send the following one-line message (no subject) to Comserve@Rpitsvm (Bitnet) or Comserve@Vm.Its.Rpi.Edu (Internet): SEND AUTHOR GUIDE ------------------------------ From: Samuel J. Hupp Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 13:26:16 -0600 Reply-To: jhupp@star.hou.tx.us Subject: Movie About Alex Bell to be Shown July 26 Organization: S.T.A.R. Systems (Houston Office) It seems that the TNT network will be airing "The Sound and The Silence" tomorrow, July 26, '93. This is a move about Alexander G. Bell. Time given is 1210 CDT (0710 GMT). Jeff Hupp |For Information on: Send mail to: Star Systems | Star System Services service@star.hou.tx.us 9797 Medowglen, #1807 | PGP keys at star pgp-keys@star.hou.tx.us Houston, Tx 77042 | Houston's BBS mag. achat@star.hou.tx.us ------Novell Network Installation & support--- ------------------------------ From: hiroki@limerick.cbs.umn.edu (Hiroki Morizono) Subject: What Kind of Voltages For Various Jacks? Reply-To: hiroki@limerick.cbs.umn.edu Organization: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 06:50:28 GMT I just got a faxmodem in my portable, and want to use it when travelling around. Was wondering if there were any "standard" voltages for various phone systems worldwide, and types of jacks which might be commonly encountered. I've heard that jacking into a digital line or PBX line thinking it was an analog line can cause er, "bad things" to happen. Where might I begin looking to learn more about this sort of stuff? Thanks in advance, a clueless biologist, Hiroki ------------------------------ From: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk (David Hough) Subject: Re: Help With UK Connections Reply-To: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 18:53:26 +0000 In article cecomlad@tecnet1.jcte.jcs. mil writes: > I'll be travelling to Northern Ireland this next week. I'm taking my > trusty laptop with internal Hayes Smartmodem. I'd like to try > accessing the Internet and perhaps my Compuserve accounts. I've got > the phone numbers OK. > Can somebody in the UK who is familiar with American RJ type > connectors (or an American who is familiar with British Telecom > connectors) map out the physical connection for me? I'm pretty rsure > my modem will handle the protocols OK, it worked in Germany last trip, > it is the actual connection from the computer to the wall socket/box > that I am unsure of. You aren't supposed to connect anything to the BT network which isn't BABT approved ... having said that, the Hayes modem might well be approved in this country because they do seem to take the trouble, unlike some dodgy imports. The two wires in a BT jack are on pins 2 and 5, and I think in a master socket there is a ring capacitor between 2 and 3, although modems probably don't need one. No idea what the American connections are though. Dave G4WRW @ GB7WRW.#41.GBR.EU AX25 dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Internet g4wrw@g4wrw.ampr.org Amprnet ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 03:00:23 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Help With UK Connections In TELECOM Digest, V13 #503, cecomlad@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil (Barron WIlliams) wrote: > I'll be travelling to Northern Ireland this next week. I'm taking my [...] > Can somebody in the UK who is familiar with American RJ type > connectors (or an American who is familiar with British Telecom [...] Email Gordon Brown (100111.2713@compuserve.com). His company, TeleAdapt USA/UK, is in the business of answering such questions, and providing adapters if necessary. Gordon is active on the CI$ Telecom Forum. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ From: Andrew_Marc_Greene@frankston.com Subject: Re: A Proposal: Standardizing Area Code Databases Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 12:14 -0400 Graham Toal writes (in a message about a database format for phone numbers): > Here's the list of tags I've found useful so far: > directory emergency free funny government international invalid > invalid-after-1995 invalid-before-1994 invalid-before-1995 local > mobile national normal obsolete premium reserved satellite unused You might find it more useful to permit tags to take arguments, and to make your time-dependant rules more flexible, e.g.: valid-until(31.12.1994) valid-after(1.1.1995) This could also be useful in conjunction with rewrite rules (oh, God, it's starting to sound like sendmail.cf! :-) for when area codes (or countries) get split. Andrew Greene ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 18:41:04 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: A Proposal: Standardizing Area Code Databases In some countries, the telephone number length can vary. In country code 1, it is of fixed length. ------------------------------ From: wolfgang@halcyon.halcyon.com (Stephen Davis) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Date: 25 Jul 1993 01:37:06 -0700 In article tarl@lectroid.sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter) writes: > I'm not from AT&T, but I've worked with a few phone companies. It is > not only possible to have 800 services routed differently by time of > day, but at least one phone company (I can't mention names) intends to > provide a service allowing 800 calls to be routed based on time of > day, available agents, and originating phone number. Hence, all the Pizza delivery chains will have a single 800 number to call. The computer/whatever will then decide what store to ring based on the number being called from. This saves even more time than the average "Enter your area code and number at the tone for the number of the Pizza/Flowers/Widgets store nearest you" bit. wolfgang@halcyon.com Director, Lispotheraputic Support Group, Int'l (c) 1993 Screaming Turtle Publishing Co. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 02:47:17 -0600 From: rickie@trickie.ualberta.ca Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Reply-To: rickie@trickie.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca A question that I would like answered was triggered by the following comment: In comp.dcom.telecom, article Andy Sherman wrote: much stuff deleted; > Do not confidently go forth and state > that you *know* that COs have an 800 number routing cache unless you ^^^^^ > have *information* at hand the confirms that this is the case. > As to the 800 number cache, that would be a singularly bad idea for > any LEC to implement in an end office. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Does 800 number portability mean that each end office must become an SSP? Or better yet, how are all the SCP databses from the various carriers tied together as it is my understanding that the assignment of 800 numbers is on a first-come first-serve basis? Does each SCP have the entire range of 800 numbers, or only those belonging to that IXC? IS there an official inter-working document that describes the rules each carrier must follow? Richard Nash Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6K 0E8 UUCP: rickie@trickie.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca Amateur Radio: ve6bon.ampr.ab.ca [192.75.200.15] ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Re: 800 From Outside USA Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 11:42:48 -0400 (EDT) We use 800 service from Cable & Wireless [very good: 10/15$ month flat overhead + $.18/minute flat from anywhere domestic (plus added quantity discount for high traffic + $10/month for programmability: ability to move the POTS/DID target on *your* demand)]. When we sign up for a new 800 line, we have to *ask* for Canada, Puerto Rico, etc. as options. I think the options cost a little $ ($5/month?), but as we have customers in both, it's worth it. [This is for customer support and marketing lines ...] I agree with PAT: Why open ourselves up to fraud (maybe just unintentioned misdials) from Europe, elsewhere, where we have no customers? [Additional disclaimer: just a satisfied customer of C&W, no other connection (as it were...).] Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) ------------------------------ Date: 25 Jul 93 23:10:35 EDT From: Brian T. Vita <70702.2233@CompuServe.COM> Subject: 800 Portability or Lack Thereof I need to draw upon the wisdom of my fellow Digest readers for advice as to how to kick some corporate butt and get the following job done. I presently have an AT&T Readyline for my 800 service. My only complaint with the line is that I get hosed big-time on intra-lata calls. The rate, not time sensitive, within Massachusetts is $10.00/hour. Nynex, my LEC, will charge me $6.00/hour for their Valueflex line (their version of a Readyline) that will cover my intra-lata service. What I want to do is this: Calls originating from 508/617 route to Nynex @ $6/hour; Calls originating from outside 508/617 route to AT&T at prevailing rate; I've called Nynex on this and they say that it would be no problem with Sprint or a handful of other carriers but that AT&T will has not signed an agreement with them for split billing. Various reps at AT&T tell me that this can be done and that an agreement IS in place. They keep warning me that I'm going to have to pay someone massive charges to be my RESPORG and that I'm going to have to pay them anywhere from $35 -$1000 (amount varies according to which drone I speak to) in non-recurring charges to set up the system. They also insist that the LEC is going to hit me with incredible "surprise" charges for "vertical access features", whatever the hell they are. The bottom line is this, the people at NYNEX want to help but don't have a clue as to how to write the order while insuring no interruption in service. The AT&T droids are giving me conflicting stories, sometimes telling me that it CANT be done, sometimes telling me that its all AT&T or none, telling me about all these massive charges (which nobody can seem to find the tariffs on) and otherwise seem to be doing what they can to torpedo my wishes. Short of calling the FCC I don't know what office at either organization to yell at. Any constructive feedback from the Digest would be appreciated. Brian T. Vita CSS, Inc. BVITA@Bix.com ------------------------------ From: wollman@trantor.emba.uvm.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: "Terminal Compromise" Now Available as Shareware Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 23:04:10 GMT In article padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) writes: > Passing this along since I feel that it is important: first as an > excellent techno-thriller (read the whole 560 pages in one sitting) and > since it is available on the net (ARCHIE found it at knot.queensu.ca as > /wuarchive.doc.misc/termcomp.zip (612K)). ENJOY. I feel compelled to reply for two reasons. First, contrary to the claims of the original author(s), this is not the first novel made available for distribution on the 'net. Elf Sternberg's /Travellogue/ is the first that I am aware of, and he listed one other as predating that effort. Secondly, thanks to the efforts of Brad Templeton of Clarinet Communications, all of the current Hugo and Nebula award nominees are available over the Internet (but you still have to pay for them), in addition to an annotated e-copy of Vernor Vinge's /A Fire Upon the Deep/. info-sf@clarinet.com can probably tell you more. Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ From: matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu (Matt Healy) Subject: Re: Calling Card Without a Phone Number, or Using VISA Organization: Yale U. - Genetics Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 23:05:07 GMT Another option: the other day I was in a local convenience store (Store 24 on Dixwell Road in Hamden, CT). They now sell calling cards for plain old cash (I think they were Sprint but I don't remember), which you could buy in five dollar increments. Presumably it works just like any Sprint card until the money is used up. Because you've paid cash in advance, there's no need for the usual verification hassles. (I have not tried this, since I have two different calling cards in my wallet right now.) By the way, the original poster should make a stink with the University. In most places, a school can make an arrangement for something called a "special billing number" with local telco. Usually local telco is very happy to do this, since they get a kickback from whatever LD company they contract for it. Essentially, each student on campus gets something like a credit card except it _only_ works on campus. They had this system at my undergraduate institution (Purdue) in late 1970s and early 1980s. (Of course this did not solve the other problem with phoning from campus -- try and get through during the first hour of night rates :) Matt Healy [matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu] **MY EMAIL IS DOWN RIGHT NOW*** my FAX # is 203-785-7023 ------------------------------ From: ash@sumex-aim.stanford.edu (David Ash) Subject: Re: Incoming Calls to Airphone? Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University. Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 00:43:46 GMT I had an interesting telecom experience while using Airfone on a recent flight. I was trying various things out with the Airfone (an expensive hobby, I know) and one thing I tried was to place a calling card call using Airfone. I called the AT&T access number 1-800-321-0288. An operator came on the line and asked what number I was calling from. Of course I didn't know because it was an airplane phone; I explained this but the operator said he definitely needed to know. We couldn't break this impasse. I called back again and got the same situation with the new operator. Now on reflection several things seemed weird about this. First, I asked the operator whether he was an AT&T operator and he said yes, but I'm suspicious as to whether this was the truth. In my experience AT&T operators always answer the phone with "AT&T operator..." and I encountered two alleged AT&T operators in a row who didn't identify their company. Strange. Second, it seems AT&T would have received ANI from the ground station of Airfone that handled the call. I suspect Airfone of intercepting the call and pretending that it is AT&T. The domestic 800 Airfone rate + AT&T calling card rate for an international call is less than the international Airfone rate, so Airfone would have an financial incentive to do so. Anyone know if my suspicions are justified? David W. Ash ash@sumex-aim.stanford.edu HOME: (415) 853-6860 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! Organization: W.Z.I. Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 19:04:57 -0600 From: Andy Rabagliati In article appell@csn.org writes: > In TELECOM Digest V13 #490 PAT wrote: >> [Moderator's Note: Since each issue of this Digest runs 21-24 K of >> text, that's 'merely' $1.05 - $1.20 per issue for Prodigy people. > I believe this is going to be an increasingly large problems for > users of commercial e-mail services who receive significant amounts of > mail from the Internet. I use the same commercial e-mail service as David Appell - csn.org. OK, so it is not as user-friendly as Compu$erve, but at $3.00 / hour daytime rates I can pull down about a megabyte for a dollar, cheaper at night. When Microsoft, and other providers, get their act together and provide easy gateways from Microsoft Mail etc. to dialup services, the user-friendliness of the gateway will not be an issue, as it will not be an interactive login. So, I think the consumer will benefit, with standardised services and lower per-hour charges. At the moment one needs to be computer-savvy to have access to these services - however, that will change. Cheers, Andy ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #509 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15553; 26 Jul 93 2:32 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09165 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 00:17:57 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18447 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 00:17:18 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 00:17:18 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307260517.AA18447@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #510 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Jul 93 00:17:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 510 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted (Bob Hofkin) Re: Inverse of "Custom Ringing"? (Dave Ptasnik) Re: MCI to Compuserve bypass via internet (John Gardiner Myers) Re: White House Orders No Bid Phone System (Andrew Klossner) Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! (Mike King) Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice (Jonathan Lieberman) Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice (Lee Sweet) Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN (William Sohl) Re: Wanted: Email Address of Teleco System Inc (Kelly Breit) Re: Area 205 to Split (David Leibold) Re: Communications Daily Contact Information Wanted (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: AT&T and Collect (Lee Sweet) Re: Do Operators Interrupt Modem Calls? (Rich Holland) Re: Special Tariffs For Distance Education? (Jon Carmichael) Re: Listing of Calling Number Annoucment Numbers (Matt Bartlett) Re: ADSL Hitched to ISDN: The Happy Couple? (Vance Shipley) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Hofkin Subject: Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted Reply-To: hofkin@software.org Organization: Software Productivity Consortium Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 15:31:27 GMT Last time I asked at the C&P business office, their answer was to have a friend call me. This after some discussion, apparently. It would be real nice to cite a specific regulation. Bob ------------------------------ From: davep@carson.u.washington.edu (Dave Ptasnik) Subject: Re: Inverse of "Custom Ringing"? Date: 25 Jul 1993 15:41:12 GMT Organization: University of Washington tmplee@TIS.COM (Theodore M.P. Lee) writes: > business. I have one custom ringing number on the residential line to > which busies on the business line are forwarded. When the business > line is in use, I'd like to be able to do the inverse: use the > residential line but have the call (interesting only for long > distance, since we don't have message units) billed to the business > line at the same rate as if it had been dialed on that line. (Yah, I Sure, choose a long distance carrier (Cable & Wireless does this, at least) that will allow you to prepend a 10xxx number in front of the LD call. Just make sure that they have your residence line in their database for that service. In fact, if you had your business line on C&W and your residence line on Sprint, you could use either line to place either kind of call, just being careful to dial 10333 in front of res calls and 10223 in front of business calls. With C&W you are charged the same rate whether you dial direct or use 10223, not sure about Sprint. All of the above is nothing more than the personal opinion of - Dave Ptasnik davep@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ From: John Gardiner Myers Subject: Re: MCI to Compuserve bypass via internet Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 13:58:30 -0400 Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Bypassing these sorts of administrative restrictions would seem to be a useful application of the various pseudononymous remailers. If provider A refuses mail over the internet from provider B, a customer of proivider B could send mail to a remailer, instructing it to forward the mail to a customer of provider A. The remailer would perform its function of replacing the sender's identity with a pseudonym, sending the message to provider A with no indication that provider A wants to bounce the message. It's sort of ironic. The IXC's have been selling LEC bypass for years. Now they're the ones who are going to get bypassed. ------------------------------ From: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com (Andrew Klossner) Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 17:50:10 PDT Subject: Re: White House Orders No Bid Phone System Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com Organization: Tektronix Color Printers, Wilsonville, Oregon > As far as the security of the system, wouldn't the National > Security Agency check and/or supervise in installation of the > system regardless of who provides it?" No. For fairly obvious reasons, the secure telephone system in the White House is completely independent of the conventional phone system. Most communication in and out of the White House is no more sensitive than that of any other big business, even omitting opinionated calls from constituents. Andrew Klossner (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 02:46:51 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Prodigy Internet Gateway is Up! In TELECOM Digest V13 #501, bill@Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) writes: > I would like to see CIS add the capability of automatically forwarding > e-mail to a CIS account to my internet address. The last thing I want Suggest it to them; they might be willing to implement it. For another surcharge, of course. :-( > to do is deal with the CIS mail programs and "editor", but I do > receive some e-mail there since I'm a sysop on the CIS scoforum. My > solution now is to read CIS mail once a week capturing it to disk, > then I have a perl script that injects the CIS mail into my Unix > mailer where I can read and reply to it. As discussed before, some CI$ subscribers pay for receiving Internet mail. They may not be too thrilled to have to pay "postage due" (CI$'s term for mail received over the Internet for which a surcharge will be due) mail, especially if your Internet account mailing address doesn't provide a clear indication of who you are. There are various programs that provide automated access to CI$ mail and allow you to read mail and compose replies offline. Email me if you'd like further information. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ From: lie6@midway.uchicago.edu (Jonathan Lieberman) Subject: Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice Reply-To: lie6@midway.uchicago.edu Organization: The University of Chicago Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 02:13:46 GMT In article jgreene@nyx.cs.du.edu (Justin Greene) writes: > I entered a pager number and it didn't care ... I entered 212-555-1212 and it didn't care ... Jonathan Lieberman lie6@midway.uchicago.edu The University of Chicago ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 11:49:33 -0400 (EDT) They ask for your *full* phone number. My first impression was (1) telemarketing and (2) boosting/modifying based *on location*!. But, if the latter, why not just ask for AC or AC-exchange? (I get enough telemarketing LD slime at home and at the office, so I entered AC-exchange-fictitious xxxx! Hope some poor soul doesn't get telemarketed: 'But you called a demo last Sunday ...!' Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) [Moderator's Note: I have said before I don't think AT&T is calling anyone based on the number entered for the TrueVoice demonstration. The company does not need to ask if you are a customer or not. PAT] ------------------------------ From: whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 02:30:28 GMT In article oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > When I did manage to reach someone whose job was to know about ISDN, > they told me that NYTel charges $10 per month for BRI. Running > low-speed data over the D channel is an extra $2 per month. Running > your flexible choice of high-speed data or voice over a B channel is > an extra $2 per month. He was quite unable to say what packets cost > on the high or low speed paths. And all this is an added cost per > month above and beyond the cost of the voice telephone numbers carried > on the BRI. > He also said, though I find it difficult to believe, that the ISDN BRI > connection is via a single twisted pair. I always thought this was > done on two pairs. The ISDN BRI technology does indeed use the same two wire loop that your "regular" telephone does. Ot is a full duplex 160Kb (2B+D) access technology. I don't have specifics as to the tariff rates and the actual deployment plans for NYNEX for your office, but I can probably help you get that info (it may be you've already talked to the individual I'd refer you to. In any case, please contact me at our Bellcore ISDN Information Hotline (1-800-992-ISDN) Standard Disclaimer- Any opinions, etc. are mine and NOT my employer's. Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.) Morristown, NJ email via UUCP bcr!cc!whs70 201-829-2879 Weekdays email via Internet whs70@cc.bellcore.com ------------------------------ Date: 25 Jul 93 01:00:00 EDT From: Kelly <73162.3265@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Wanted: Email Address of Teleco System Inc > Does anyone know the contract e-mail address (customer service or > technical dept or a helpful staff) for a company called Teleco System > Inc. located in Norwood, MA 02062 (I don't have the full address) ? I do not have an e-mail address for them, however the complete address is: Telco Systems 63 Nahantan St. Norwood, MA 02062 (617) 551-0300 The only names I have are: Paul Lazay, President & CEO Dave McClure, General Manager Network Division Hope this helps. Kelly Breit Network Analyst H.B. Fuller Comapny ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 01:04 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Re: Area 205 to Split David Cornutt (cornutt@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov) wrote: > Here's the really interesting thing: the new area code for the south > half of the state will be (take a deep breath) 334. This is the first > instance that I know of where a NXX area code is to be implemented in > the U.S. (Have I missed something?) 205/334 is the first interchangeable-era (NNX area code) split I've heard of in the North American Numbering Plan. Seems that the assignments won't follow the original expansion plan of assigning NN0 codes (such as 330) so that some areas could retain a means of distinguishing between area codes and central office codes for a while. However, 334 does seem to fit with the recent Bellcore proposal of assigning the N2X and N3X codes first for "geographic" purposes (mentioned earlier this year in the NANPA's Proposal for numbering). David Leibold ------------------------------ From: avogadro@well.sf.ca.us (Michael D. Sullivan) Subject: Re: Communications Daily Contact Information Wanted Organization: The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 06:12:13 GMT {Communications Daily} is a daily newsletter for those interested in fast-breaking developments, primarily of a policy/regulatory nature, and secondarily of a news-release-worthy nature, in the broadcasting, cable, telephone, satellite, and related fields. It is targeted to executives, consultants, attorneys, and regulators; it is not engineering-oriented. ComDaily can be reached at (202) 879-9200; its offices are at 2115 Ward Court, N.W., Washington, D.C. Two ComDaily reporters are on the Internet. Brock Meeks is brock@well.sf.ca.us (logs on frequently) and Art Brodsky is arb@well.sf.ca.us (logs on less frequently). Brodsky used to have the FCC beat; he now covers Capitol Hill. Meeks covers more computer-oriented subjects (hackers and phreakers arrested or detained, MERIT's lack of contract for internet backbone, etc.). Michael D. Sullivan <74160.1134@compuserve.com> ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Re: AT&T and Collect Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 11:32:25 -0400 (EDT) No one has mentioned the advantage (I think it is!) of the callee hearing the actual caller's voice. If someone calls and says "It's John", so? Lot of "Johns" out there ... if I hear the voice say that "It's John", well, that helps the identification. (Yes, maybe he *should* say it's "your son, John", [don't really have one!], but AT&T makes it easier to 'the average person'.) Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) ------------------------------ From: holland@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Rich Holland) Subject: Re: Do Operators Interrupt Modem Calls? Date: 25 Jul 1993 13:34:16 -0500 Organization: Kansas State University mike_berger@qms1.life.uiuc.edu (Mike Berger) writes: [asking an op for an "emergency" interrupt] > I guess you had a smart operator. Somebody asked the operator to > interrupt my (modem) call -- she indicated that there was "just static" > on the line so she cut off the call toward the end of a very large > file transfer. On a side note, with all the flooding recently, there have been a lot of phones out locally. Our kitten had another seizure (she's got some sort of seizure disorder, and sometimes goes blind for a few days). When she has bad ones, we call the vet (day or night) for an injection to calm her down for awhile, and prevent further seizuring. Anyway, last night about 1:00 am, I tried to call our vet, and got a buzy signal (strange, as I was calling her home number). I tried to get the operator to tell me if the line was out of service due to flooding or evacuation, and she told me to hold the line while she "broke in" -- I didn't get to hear anything though. She came back and said there was just a high-pitch tone on the line. She didn't know what a modem or fax was, from the sound of things, so I was sh*t-outa-luck with that one. We finally ended up giving the cat more oral meds and staying up with her to monitor her the rest of the night. Can someone tell me what I need to do to be able to listen while the operator breaks the line? Who do I talk to at 1:00 am to find out if the line is down, or shut off, or forwarded, etc? I'm not very telecom-savvy, and it sure was frustrating to only talk to the know-nothing I got last night. *Sigh* Rich Holland | INTERNET: holland@matt.ksu.ksu.edu 723 Allison Ave, #8 | BITNET : holland@ksuvm Manhattan, KS 66502-3273 | UUCP : ...!rutgers!matt.ksu.ksu.edu!holland [Moderator's Note: The rule is you cannot 'listen while the operator breaks the line'; the operator is required to split the connection. This is to protect the privacy of the persons the operator is inter- upting. Would you want to be having a personal conversation with some person when an operator interupted and have a third party possibly hear yourself or the person you were speaking to? The operator is presumed to be a neutral party in the matter; you may not be. By hearing even a few words of the conversation it might be possible to identify who is speaking with whom ... not your business! I am sorry to hear about your cat; my two precious little ones are in reasonably good health although one is 15 years old in a couple months; he has lived with me since he was four weeks old. His former housemate was 18 years old when he went to the veterinarian for the last time. :( PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Special Tariffs For Distance Education? From: cntinuum!cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uunet.UU.NET (Jon Carmichael) Date: 25 Jul 93 08:05:00 GMT Organization: uuPCB - Demonstration Version Reply-To: cntinuum!cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uunet.UU.NET (Jon Carmichael) > Have any LECs filed tariffs for lower rates for educational > organizations doing distance education? Are any regulatory agencies > exploring allowing such tariffs? Jane, I sense a misunderstanding of the mentality and capabilities of LECs and other service providers. First the mentality, which isn't a hard one to understand. New technology is a double edged blade, where they (the service providers) are very aware that one side of the blade can make them rich by finding new markets and the other side of the blade can cut them to pieces with heavy financial losses on their turn of pitch and toss. Fortunately LECs are providing lower prices on digital pipes that can carry video, but that's mostly the case in the major metropolitan areas, where they are starting to see some serious competition. As you start looking at alternatives, there are some technologies where you can implement them cheaper than the phone company would have sold them to you. LECs are NOT on the cutting edge of technology for the most part. Soon, large amounts of video will be recieved on satellite dishes the size of a large pizza, and their primary market will be entertainment. The opportunity this affords you should make you think of abandoning the idea that LEC can provide anything but POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). Also understand that some LECs are further into the future than others. Some have more fiber in the ground than others and some are buying large chunks of entertainment/cable companies in technology partnerships. JONC The Continuum PCBoard -*- @9600+ call 818-441-2625 @2400- call 818-799-9633 ------------------------------ From: matt@kilowatt.linet.org (Matt Bartlett) Subject: Re: Listing of Calling Number Annoucment Numbers Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 12:57:47 GMT Organization: Kilowatt Computers, Deer Park, LI I found an error in your listing. For Area Code 516 you have posted 968, but 968 is indeed an exchange (im in it). 958 is the correct ANAC number. Matt matt@kilowatt.linet.org matt@die.linet.org Kilowatt BBS Valhalla Systems BBS (516)-586-4743 (516)-321-6819 ------------------------------ From: Vance Shipley Subject: Re: ADSL Hitched to ISDN: The Happy Couple? Organization: XeniTec Consulting Services, Kitchener, Ontario Canada Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 14:45:22 GMT In article nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) writes: > ADSL is asymmetrical; the high bandwidth is one-way. The other > direction is supposedly 64Kb, although maybe you get two ISDN > channels ... And a high speed asymmetrical service we need! > ... It's intended to compete with cable TV. The idea is to > have something comparable to a remote-controlled cable box at the CO, > giving you one of a limited number of compressed TV channels, as well > as phone service, over the same wire. Assuming you think 1Mb > compressed TV is worth watching. As I sit here typing this stuff into my terminal, and reading news in general, I create about six characters a second (I'm not much of a typist :). When I page through articles I consume the bandwidth (19200Kbps in my case) in my direction. On my X terminal at work I generate much more traffic to the host, mouse events and all. The ratio of received to transmitted traffic is probably even larger though. The point is this; unless you are a service provider of some sort (others are pulling data from you) your requirements for receive will usually out number those for transmit. ADSL is a perfect fit. > Does it really need unshielded twisted pair? Local loops > aren't normally twisted. Twisting decreases RF coupling between > adjacent pairs substantially, but it's not standard for existing phone > wiring, inside or outside. I'm no expert but I'd say you're wrong, basically. All telephone cables have their pairs twisted, it's a matter of how much. What we generally call 'quad', the four wire green/red/black/yellow type stuff found in most homes, is twisted, just not very much. It is usually thought of as not being twisted. The vast majority of inside wire in businesses is twisted, this is the commonly referred to 'twisted pair'. I'm sure what you are thinking of is the sort of twisting used in 'UTP' or 'unshielded twisted pair'. This type of wire, used for voice and data transmission, has a much tighter twist; more twists per foot. I'm not as familiar with outside plant as I am with inside plant but I'm sure it is twisted to some extent. Have you ever noticed telegraph lines? They tend top be twisted at every other pole or so. Sorry if I'm picking nits. Vance Shipley, vances@xenitec.on.ca ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #510 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17059; 26 Jul 93 4:59 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23569 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 02:41:08 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22568 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 02:40:33 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 02:40:33 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307260740.AA22568@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #511 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Jul 93 02:40:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 511 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection (Mike King) Re: Dark Fiber? (Marvin Sirbu) Re: Dark Fiber? (John Nagle) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Laird P. Broadfield) Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House (Richard Pitt) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Jeff Wasilko) Re: ANI and 'All Zeros' (Lee Sweet) Re: Telecom Observations in Movie "Dave" (Jonathan F. Carpenter) Re: Inverse of "Custom Ringing"? (Mike King) Re: CONNECT BBS Edition (Jon Carmichael) Locating Files in the Telecom Archives (Lee Sweet) Connecting Site A to Site B (Javier Henderson) Re: The Next Step: Affinity Long Distance (Mike King) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 25 Jul 93 21:00:52 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection In the business section of Saturday's {Washington Post}, an article entitled "U.S. Allows Expanded Cuban Phone Service" caught my eye. Subtitled, "Escrow Account Could Be Stumbling Block," the article stated the State Department issued procedures for offering competitive service between the U.S. and Cuba. It's unclear whether Cuba will agree with the plan. [I'm paraphrasing the article in this Digest submission.] According to the article, AT&T now routes calls to Cuba through Italy. It mentioned that callers have been routing calls through Canada, but the Treasury department recently told those providers to stop on the basis they were violating the trade embargo against Cuba. The $80 million escrow account for settlements currently held by the U.S. government is the sticking point for the plan, and "the Cuban position is that such an account should be released to reach any agreement" according to Jose Ponce, press attache' with the Cuban Intersection in Washington. Robert Gelbard, principal deputy assistant secretary for inter-American affairs, said the Clinton administration issued the guidelines in an attempt to comply with the Cuban Democracy act of 1992, which calls for "efficient and adequate telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba." But the administration also wants to minimize the transfer of funds to Cuba." MCI and Sprint have indicated intentions to file for authority to offer service, and AT&T is ready to activate a copper undersea cable to carry calls. Direct-dial service isn't necessarily imminent, even if Cuba agrees to do business with U.S. Telecom firms. The Cuban phone system is antiquated and only some locations in and around Havana can accept calls directly. Even without surrender of escrow funds, the guidelines allow Cuba to keep half of the $1.20 per minute that will be charged for future calls, and they allow the potential for more than one provider to offer calls. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) [Moderator's Note: It has never been clear to me how any government agency in the USA could tell a Canadian company what to do or not do with telephone calls they were processing. If anything, maybe the US government could penalize the US citizen/company making calls in that way. And what if the same telephone number in Canada was used to recieve calls for re-origination to places other than Cuba? How can the number be blocked on this end merely on the premise that calls to it *might* be going to Cuba? Telepassport processes calls to Cuba through their switch in New York, but *not* for USA subscribers to the service. TP does it for Canadians or people in other countries. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Marvin Sirbu Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 22:15:55 -0400 Organization: Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Excerpts from netnews.comp.dcom.telecom: 24-Jul-93 Re: Dark Fiber? by Paul Robinson@MCIMAIL.CO: > Based on these numbers, you can lease up to 100 miles of fiber for > less than the cost of usage alone. If you are hooking up a set of > offices in a city, leased dark fiber at $150 a mile makes a lot more > sense than paying traffic and connection charges for connection to a > telephone company network (Metropolitan Area Network or MAN). Dark fiber has no light soruce provided by the telco, and NO REPEATERS. If you leased 100 miles of dark fiber, you wouldn't be able to use it for anything without installing your own repeaters every few miles. Since repeaters at DS3 rates with detectors and lasers for regenera- ting the signal cost several thousands of dollars, plus the costs of powering, space, environemntal conditioning, etc, plus maintenance costs, dark fiber quickly becomes somewhat less of a bargain. Moreover, when you buy a DS3 circuit, the LEC (or competitive access provider) generally provides high reliability by switching the channel onto an alternate path in the event of a fiber break. When you lease dark fiber, you need to lease your own additional fiber(s) for redundancy to achieve similar levels of reliability. I'm not arguing that dark fiber is never a good investment. It's just dark fiber requires significant additional expenditures before it provides the same functionality as a carrier provided DS3. Marvin Sirbu ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 06:01:18 GMT TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM (Paul Robinson) writes: > "Dark Fiber" is fiber optic cable which is run from one point to > another for a customer of a telephone carrier, and the carrier doesn't > do anything with the service. The customer has to do all the data > translations and everything else. This is scary for telcos, because it means the huge economies of scale in bandwidth that have been so profitable for them become available to large customers. But the telcos can survive that. But ignoring the economics, dark fibre presents a serious problem for telcos: how do you make connections? The trend has been away from a main distributing frame and manual wiring on it. It's common today to run even nailed-up circuits through the switch, just to get rid of the wiring maze and all its headaches. Widespread use of dark fibre means something like a big optical patch bay at the CO, with all the hassles that implies. How is that to be handled? John Nagle ------------------------------ From: lairdb@crash.cts.com (Laird P. Broadfield) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Organization: "Well, a head on top, an arm on each side, two legs...." Date: 26 Jul 93 02:17:57 GMT In ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) writes: [passed on article...] > * Con artists known as "toner-phoners" are targeting small businesses > that use copiers and laser printers. Several companies are claiming > to sell replacement toner cartridges for the copying devices at a > discount; however, they actually double or triple the price. > Law enforcement officials say that toner fraud is hard to prove and > almost impossible to eliminate. [ ... also a Moderator's Note discussing similar experiences ...] Okay, what am I missing here? Let me get this straight: 1.Outside person calls and finds out what kind of equipment you have. 2.Different outside person calls, knows what kind of equipment you have (learned this from person #1) and offers you supplies at inflated prices. 3.Having (apparently) less than two brain cells to bang together, you agree to purchase supplies at the inflated prices. Where exactly is there fraud involved here? Has "caveat emptor" gone entirely by the wayside; are Americans no longer willing to accept even the slightest responsibility for their own actions? Laird P. Broadfield lairdb@crash.cts.com ...{ucsd, nosc}!crash!lairdb [Moderator's Note: There really isn't any fraud; that's why the government 'finds it so hard to prove'. :) You can't prove what does not exist. A sleazy business practice, yes; fraudulent activity, no. Little things like that have never bothered the US Department of 'Justice'. When they want to get someone, they'll invent a new crime if they have to. Of course they ignore their own corruption. I wonder when was the last time Justice actually purchased *legal* copies of software? Usually they rip off software developers and make pirate copies of everything for their own employees. I wonder if Bill Clinton will be as quick to fire the US Attorney in Chicago for supp- lying sex and cocaine to inmates of the federal correctional center here -- in a private office in the federal building yet -- as he was to fire all the investigators and attornies working on trying to get Congressman Rostenkowski put away for fraud? Only here in the USA will you see one bunch of crooks using the law to chase another bunch of crooks. Get with the times Laird; its life in these United States and all that. Never do for yourself what you can get the government to make your neighbor do for you. PAT] ------------------------------ From: richard@vanbc.wimsey.com (Richard Pitt) Subject: Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House Date: 25 Jul 1993 19:50:58 -0700 Organization: Wimsey I spend almost a year working in 'the prewire crew' in the Vancouver BC area around 1970. At that time, we generally were wiring for two lines (unless the house was a major one -- which some were, as the district I was in was in the wealthier end of town) and the lines were generally looped if they were on a fairly straight line back to the service entrance (before 'demarc' became the term). This meant that the upstairs was generally on a different run from the downstairs, and there might be a third leg if the house was of really strange design or was really large. Now if I were running my own wiring company and doing this for a living, I would make most of the runs 'home runs' and put in at least six pair class five rated (Ethernet capable) so that when home computers really come into their own the house would already be wired. What we were doing in businesses in the 80's we should be doing in houses in the 90's -- except that I don't EVER expect to have to pull home runs of 25 pairs again -- six to ten pairs should be more than enough. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 23:04:14 -0800 From: jeffw@triple-i.com (Jeff Wasilko) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Andy Sherman wrote: > As to the 800 number cache, that would be a singularly bad idea for > any LEC to implement in an end office. First off, it would break a > lot of enhanced 800 services. Somebody from AT&T can correct me if > I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure (note the disclaimer, please) that it's > possible to have the routing change at night, so that a nationwide 800 > number routed to multiple centers can have fewer centers open at > night. Cacheing the route would surely break this. Caches would also > likely break all of the "we guarantee to have your super-duper 800 > service back up within X minutes" type services that the IXC's offer. That's right. At my last job, we set up our AT&T 800 number to route to different POTS numbers based on time-of-day and day-of-week. Essentially, we took orders from 9-5:30 Monday-Friday, and the calls went to our answering service during all other times. In addition, we could call and make an emergency change, and have it take affect instantly. We used this a few times during bad weather and power outages. As a side note, people were concerned that 800-portability would greatly increase call-setup time. Well, it looks like everyone did a great job. I'm seeing a one or two second connect time to our modems that are accessable via Sprint and AT&T 800 numbers. Great job, folks! Jeff Wasilko, Information International +1 617 275 7070 Application Support Specialist ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Re: ANI and 'All Zeros' Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 12:18:26 -0400 (EDT) Dunno about other carriers, but our Cable & Wireless 800 bills from old exchanges (West Virginia, Missouri?) *do* show exchange and _four_ zeroes. Guess they know what office/switch, but not who?! Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) ------------------------------ From: jfc@world.std.com (Jonathan F Carpenter) Subject: Re: Telecom Observations in Movie "Dave" Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 20:47:13 GMT In article Dave Ptasnik writes: > What did they have in "Dave"? Anyone out there with the true info. > Enquiring minds want to know. The June 1993 issue of {Premiere} magazine has an article about the construction of the White House sets used in the movie "Dave". Apparently a lot of work was done to make the set look as real as possible. (The production designer even surreptitiously filmed the real White House while on a tour using an 8mm camera.) To quote the designer in the article: "The carpets came from the company that supplies the White House. We used part Kennedy and part Reagan carpets. The telephones are real. We found them in a warehouse; they had been purchased from the White House for Seven Days in May [1964]. I don't know how they did that." The sets can also be seen in the movies Hot Shots! Part Deux and In the Line of Fire. Jon Carpenter ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 02:56:40 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Inverse of "Custom Ringing"? In TELECOM Digest, V13 #503, tmplee@TIS.COM (Theodore M.P. Lee) writes: > Is there a service/feature that, lacking a better term, I'd call the > inverse of custom ringing? I have two lines: one residential and one > business. I have one custom ringing number on the residential line to > which busies on the business line are forwarded. When the business > line is in use, I'd like to be able to do the inverse: use the > residential line but have the call (interesting only for long > distance, since we don't have message units) billed to the business > line at the same rate as if it had been dialed on that line. Use two long distance carriers. Default your residential line to the LD carrier giving you the best plan for residential calling. Get another account with the carrier that gives you the best plan for business purposes; have them list both lines, but only default the business line to that carrier. Use 10xxx to override when making LD calls for business purposes from the residential line. The major carriers, and some minor carriers, can provide an account which bills for more one line. Not knowing who your LEC is, and what their policies are, I'd be careful about asking them for help. Some LECs get very irritated when they discover you're using a line classed "residential" for business purposes. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: CONNECT BBS Edition From: cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) Date: 25 Jul 93 16:34:00 GMT Organization: uuPCB - Demonstration Version Reply-To: cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) > The BBS Legal Group is dedicated to providing pertinent, quality > information and services to Bulletin Board Operators. Yes, but you did not say how much it could cost a sysop for a subscription. Iis there a reason why it's a secret? JONC The Continuum PCBoard -*- @9600+ call 818-441-2625 @2400- call 818-799-9633 ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Locating Files in the Telecom Archives Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 12:54:10 -0400 (EDT) Pat, I have no direct ftp access. (I have to tell uunet the exact file names.) Can you tell me the file names of the acronym files in the archives, or is there a listing file that has all the contents (like uunet does)? Thanks! Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) [Moderator's Note: We have several acronym files listed as 'glossary' in the archives. I recommend all readers pick up a copy of these files. Understandably, using a mail server for ftp is not easy if you don' know where to start looking. The files listed as 'index' all refer to sub-directories under the main archives directory with the exception of the last two; they are indexes to the subject titles of messages here over the past four years. For starters, pull these files to find out what other files are available: -rw-r--r-- 1 map telecom 118496 Jul 31 1992 glossary.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43101 Jan 27 1991 glossary.isdn.terms-kluge -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 115757 Jul 31 1992 glossary.naval.telecom -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 42188 Jan 14 1990 glossary.phrack.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67113 Jan 14 1990 glossary.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1616 Nov 20 1990 index-canada.npa.files -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1700 Apr 16 19:36 index-country.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 411 Nov 20 1990 index-minitel.files -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18124 Apr 10 05:53 index-telecom.archives -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1936 Feb 1 10:23 index-telecom.security -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 343 Jan 20 1991 index-tymnet.info -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 568541 Jan 1 1992 index-vol.9-10-11.subj.Z -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 220055 Jan 2 15:06 index-volume.12.subj.Z Starting from the above, you can get the exact names of other files you want to pull. Most are straight ASCII, but the last two above are compressed and you need to set the type to 'I' when you order them. The Telecom Archives is accesible using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. When connected, do 'cd telecom-archives'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Javier Henderson Subject: Connecting Site A to Site B Date: 25 Jul 93 19:38:09 PDT Organization: Mayo Laboratory; Ventura, CA Hello, The company I work for has a main office in Ventura, CA, and a few remote sites scattered around the state. We have an AT&T System 75 switch at the main office, and various types of switches at the remote locations. We also have 56Kb digital circuits between the main office and each of the remote locations, for data communications. We're in need to replace the switch at one of the remote sites because it's obsolete and it's getting too expensive to repair. My question is: Is there a way of making the extensions at this location that will get new telephone hardware appear as if they were extensions of our 75 switch in Ventura? The idea is to eliminate long distance charges when we need to talk voice with that site. What hardware would we need at each site? I assume another digital circuit will have to be set up between the two sites. At what speed will this circuit have to be rated? Dare I ask about cost? Pardon the naive question, but I know less than nothing about this topic. Thanks, Javier Henderson | henderson@mln.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 02:55:33 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: The Next Step: Affinity Long Distance In TELECOM Digest, V13 #502, Pat asked: > [Moderator's Note: What is with all this Mensa-bashing here the past > couple days? PAT] Well, who would you prefer we bash? Moderators? Chicagoans? Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) [Moderator's Note: I know what! Let's bash attornies. That is a new and original idea; I don't think anyone ever does that, do they? To close this issue, a 'lawyer joke' .... These three guys are traveling through the countryside and a bad storm forces them to stop and stay all night at the farmer's house. One is a Jew, one is a Hindu, and the third is a lawyer. The farmer says, "well, I only have two spare bedrooms, so one of you will have to sleep in the barn." The Jew volunteers to sleep in the barn. He picks up his stuff and goes out the door and to the barn; meanwhile the lawyer and the Hindu retire to their bedrooms for the night. In a few minutes there is a knock at the door. Everyone gets up to go see who it is. The Jew has returned. "I can't sleep in the barn," he says, "there is a pig in the barn. It is against my religion to have *anything* to do with pork." Well, the Hindu decides to practice brotherly love and tolerance and all that, so he volunteers to sleep in the barn. He packs up his stuff, heads out the door and over to the barn. Meanwhile the lawyer and the Jew retire to their bedrooms and try to go back to sleep. In a few minutes, another knock at the door. This time the Hindu has ret- urned. "I can't sleep in the barn," he complains, "there is a cow in the barn. Why, a cow is a very sacred animal. I could never sleep with one, that would be a terrible sin according to my religion." That leaves the lawyer ... and just so things will quiet down for the night and he can get back to sleep, he agrees to sleep in the barn. He packs up his stuff, heads out the door and goes to the barn. Meanwhile the Hindu and the Jew retire to their bedrooms and try to get back to sleep for a third time. In a few minutes, there is another knock at the door. Everyone gets up and goes downstairs to see who it is. This time it is the cow and the pig standing there. Goodnight. (Someone better call the Netville Fire Department.) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #511 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24346; 27 Jul 93 1:03 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30984 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 22:38:48 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17980 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 22:38:02 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 22:38:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307270338.AA17980@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #512 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Jul 93 22:38:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 512 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson May `93 Business Consumer Guide: Long Distance Service (Russ McGuire) Pacific Bell Information BBS (Nigel Allen) Phone Number -> Name/Address (Gordon Hlavenka) Re: 800 Translation Questions (John Adams) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Vance Shipley) Re: Private Voice Networks (Jon Carmichael) Re: High Speed Modem Connections (Daniel Fandrich) Re: Mercury in the UK - The Right Choice? (Drew Radtke) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Rev. Michael P. Deignan) Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number (John Adams) Re: Cellular Propagation Simulator (Raj Sanmugam) Re: Area 205 to Split (Carl Moore) Re: Dark Fiber? (Brett Frankenberger) Re: Dark Fiber? (H. Peter Anvin) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: russ_mcguire@wiltel.com (Russ McGuire) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 07:46:10 -0500 Subject: May `93 Business Consumer Guide: Long Distance Service I just saw a copy of the May issue of Beacon Research Group's Business Consumer Guide. I assume many readers of the Digest would be inter- ested in their study on (U.S.) Long Distance Service, but don't remem- ber seeing anything about it during the May timeframe, so here is a quick summary (for more details, contact the Beacon Research Group at 125 Walnut Street, Watertown, MA 02172). Beacon Research Group looked at the Long Distance Services provided by 8 carriers: Allnet, AT&T, Cable&Wireless, LCI International, LDDS Communications, MCI Communications, US Sprint, and WilTel. In the article they provide an overview of each company as well as how to contact them. The portion of the article that is most likely of interest to readers of this digest is the analysis of the least cost provider for a variety of call volumes. I am sure that there are flaws in the methodology used for this study, but I am also sure that the results provide a healthy starting point for price-sensitive comparison "shoppers". The results are summarized below: Call Volume Least expensive % savings over minutes/month reviewed program AT&T ProWats ------------ ----------------- -------------- 250 LCI Traditional 22% 1000 LCI Heritage 22% 2500 LDDS Answer 22% 5000 WilTel WilPlus II 26% 10000 WilTel WilPlus II 15% 25000 WilTel WilPlus II 15% 50000 WilTel WilPlus III 20% 100000 WilTel WilPlus III 20% Disclaimer: I am an employee of WilTel. I have no association with the Beacon Research Group. Although the above results reflect positively on my employer, they are merely a brief summary of information contained in a report by the Beacon Research Group. If you are interested in more detailed information about their study, I recommend that you contact them at the above address for a copy of the report. I certainly cannot vouch for the accuracy of their data nor the validity of their approach. The phone numbers listed in the report for the above identified service providers are: AT&T: 800-222-0400 LCI: 800-860-1020 LDDS: 800-SERVICE WilTel: 800-864-4060 Russ McGuire WilTel, Inc. russ_mcguire@wiltel.com [Moderator's Note: I would like to point out that LCI is the carrier which handles calls for the Orange Calling Card program. LCI bought out LDS a couple months ago. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 05:16:52 EDT From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Pacific Bell Information BBS Organization: Echo Beach Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca The following message was posted to "Communet: Community and Civic Network Discussion List" by Grant R. Bowman , forwarding a message originally written by sjelsto@PacBell.COM (Steve Elston) to the Smart Valley Reflector svp@eitech.com. [Grant Bowman's comments: I think people other than just the local San Francisco Bay Area might be interested in this. Good solid information like this is in short supply.] Date: Tue, 13 Jul 93 07:59:03 PDT To: svp@eitech.com From: sjelsto@PacBell.COM (Steve Elston) Subject: Pacific Bell Information BBS Smart Valley Reflector Users, We have recently completed the initial stages of an Information BBS that contains specific product and application information on a wide array of Pacific Bell services. Remember, it's just in the infancy stages and your feedback and comments will help it become a more useful tool. What's in it specifically? o ISDN, Switched 56, SMDS, Frame Relay Product Offerings Overview o Specific Applications for ISDN: - TCP/IP connectivity - Modem Replacement - LAN Bridging - Telecommuting o Numerous other Applications o Tech Tips Forum What's Coming ? - ISDN access, technology deployment information, general tariff information and your feedback !! How do I connect ? - The BBS number is (510) 277-1037. You will have to go through an initial logon procedure which will give you an ID and password and that's it. A few tips on comm software settings (if your communications software allows): 1. Terminal Type = ANSI BBS 2. ZMODEM file transfer protocl 3 Standard flow control and parity 4. Dial-in pool is 14.4 V.32BIS Comments or feedback can be directed via the BBS to Scott Adams (the creator) or to me via the reflector or sjelsto@pacbell.com - Thanks. Steve Elston Telecommuting Project Director Pacific Bell ------------ Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ From: cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) Subject: Phone Number -> Name/Address Organization: Vpnet Public Access Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 03:27:12 GMT Okay, I've got a phone number. It's in the 815 area code. I'd like the address that goes with it. So I called (708) 796-9600, punched in the number, and got the message "Information for area code 815 is not available." What's plan B? Is 815 not served by Ameritech? (I thought they were, but ...) Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us [Moderator's Note: 815 has various telephone companies in it. Ameritech and IBT is the largest, but it serves only the outermost suburbs of the metro Chicago area. GTE has a few communities in 815 as do a couple of small independent community telcos. The IBT Name and Address Service for whatever reason only includes 312/708. I guess you noticed that the service was entirely computerized as of a couple months ago. The com- puter not only reads the name and address to you, but offers to spell the name and the street name, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com (adams,john) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 13:49:46 GMT In article tarl@lectroid.sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter) writes: > In article , andys@internet.sbi.com > (Andy Sherman) writes: >> Somebody from AT&T can correct me if I'm wrong, ... I used be with AT&T ;-) > On the other hand, regarding a cache; my understanding is that when an > 800 number changes carriers, it takes several days for all the LECs to > update their databases about which carrier to route the call to. That > is a first-level routing decision entirely above the level of routing > within a long-distance network. I don't know, but I got the impression > this update is done via mag-tape sent through snail-mail. Not quite by snail-mail. There is a central 800 Service Management and Administration software system called SMS/800 (Service Management System) which is run out of Kansas City, MO (A backup exists for this in St. Louis ... hopefully well above the flood waters...) which accepts new and changed 800 service requests from all carriers who offer such services. The changes so entered are downloaded (BX.25 @ 9600) to each SCP on some sort of a schedule (I forgot how often). In article rickie@trickie.ersys.edmonton. ab.ca writes: > A question that I would like answered was triggered by the following > comment: > In comp.dcom.telecom, article Andy > Sherman wrote: >> As to the 800 number cache, that would be a singularly bad idea for >> any LEC to implement in an end office. > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Does 800 number portability mean that each end office must become an > SSP? No, but each end office must (Engineering economies prevail here) subtend an SSP (Service Switching Point). > Or better yet, how are all the SCP databses from the various > carriers tied together as it is my understanding that the assignment > of 800 numbers is on a first-come first-serve basis? See my comments above about 800 databases. The assignment of the numbers (I think?) is first come, first served. The better ones, 1-800-CAR-RENT, etc. were taken eons ago! > Does each SCP have the entire range of 800 numbers, or only > those belonging to that IXC? Each LEC SCP *MUST* have all 800 numbers ... if you buy nationwide coverage, who knows where the calls will come from? > IS there an official inter-working document that describes the > rules each carrier must follow? I suspect that such documents exist. I would start with the Number Administration and Service Center, or whatever they are now known as. Bellcore set up a seperate subsidiary under Mike Wade to take over the NASC function. John (Jack) Adams Bellcore NVC 2Z-220 (908) 758-5372 {Voice} (908) 758-4389 {Facsimile} jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com kahuna@attmail.com ------------------------------ From: Vance Shipley Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Organization: XeniTec Consulting Services, Kitchener, Ontario Canada Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 11:50:59 GMT In article rickie@trickie.ersys.edmonton. ab.ca writes: > Being the cynic that I am, I am still skeptical if this is the way > that it works (in general). From my own experience, I have observed > the changing of a reservation 800 number (for a large U.S. hotel > chain) in the SCP from disallowing a certian area code, to instantly > (seconds) allowing it. From receiving an out-of-band announcement, to > instead, being connected to the centralized reservation desk. Would this not have been a change in the treatment which the carrier serving the hotel gave the call? A LEC trying to terminate an 800 call originating from a subscriber is looking for the carrier to give the call to. It does this by querying an SCP. Once the carrier gets the call it will likely query it's own SCP to see what the current treatment is for the number. Vance Shipley, vances@xenitec.on.ca ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Private Voice Networks From: cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) Date: 26 Jul 93 20:24:00 GMT Organization: uuPCB - Demonstration Version Reply-To: cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) > this area, or even if, with the current tariffs if private tandem > networks are still a paying proposition. Will someone please bring me > up-to-date and if possible, point me to a list of ten to twenty such It seems that the carriers are getting a little more creative about people who might have a tendency to string their own. As they implement new technology, (switched digital or frame relay) they tend to tell us what they think we want to hear. MCI and WillTel are further along in Frame Relay than is ATT or Sprint, but the price you pay is that you have to do a complex analysis to see if it's going to save you any money. The carriers can sell you a "virtual private network" now. What that means is that they want you to feel like you've got your own network. They may give you a management console where one day you would program in your own part time pipes that are usage based -- not like leased lines -- but yet giving you the flexibility to set them up for only the hours of a day when you need them. Hopefully this will save you money, but one thing it does for use is make the whole puzzle more compelex. JONC The Continuum PCBoard -*- @9600+ call 818-441-2625 @2400- call 818-799-9633 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 10:21:31 PDT From: Daniel Fandrich Organization: Fandrich Cone Harvesters Ltd. Subject: Re: High Speed Modem Connections > There have been a couple of people complaining of problems with > connections of high speed modems in the past week, so here's what > helped for me ... [solution involving undocumented registers deleted] My problem was a failure to connect at greater than 9600 bps with my Hayes Ultra 144. When calling a site 65 km away with both BC Tel and Unitel, my modem refused to connect at 14.4 kbps, while connections at 12 kbps gave horrible throughput. After a couple months of forcing 9600 bps connections, I found out my Caller*ID box was distorting the signal enough to cause the failure; unplugging it allowed perfect high-speed connections. I didn't originally suspect a problem with my equipment because calls to a nearby system (~11 km on another CO) succeeded at 14.4 kbps. Those calls were generally interactive only, though, so I didn't have a quantitative measure of throughput. The box is a BC Tel-supplied model TC-1031-2 by Tel Control Inc. I'll have to try purchasing another model and seeing if the problem goes away; presumably, not all Caller*ID display boxes have this problem or I would have heard about it here long ago! Dan ------------------------------ From: A.L.Radtke@bradford.ac.uk (Drew Radtke) Subject: Re: Mercury in the UK - The Right Choice? Organization: University of Bradford, UK Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 09:49:53 GMT djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > The recent episode of Media Television, produced by City TV in > Toronto, features the wild world of media (ads, publications, > technologies, etc) and in particular, a spot for Mercury long distance > in the UK was shown. It appeared to be voice-dubbed excerpts from old > films, so that the characters talked about the wonders of British > Telecom's competitor. Actually, the Mercury TV ads are new productions, just expertly done in a 1930s/40s film style, starring UK actor Harry Enfield. A recent one features Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Atlantic etc. The Mercury phonecards, featuring Harry Enfield in charater as Mr. Grayson, are very collectable items. Bit of trivia there. Drew Radtke ------------------------------ From: Rev. Michael P. Deignan Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Organization: Small Business Systems, Incorporated, Smithfield, RI 02917 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 11:22:48 GMT PAT notes: > Those same bozos were selling mimeograph paper, carbon paper and type- > writer ribbons thirty years ago using the same sneaky tactics. PAT] With all due respect to our Moderator and the original poster of this thread, I can't honestly see what is wrong with individuals doing this. First off, there is no crime committed when I call up a company, speak to a secretary, and ask for their copier model/serial-number. (As long as I am not representing myself to be from the company that sold them the copier ...) If the secretary decides to give me the information, that's her mistake. I see no difference than if I called up and asked for the name of the purchasing manager so I could write a letter. Second, I don't see anything wrong with a company attempting to sell a copier toner for three or even four times its "price". If the purchasing company is stupid enough to buy it ... well ... Caveat Emptor. Again, I'm assuming that the selling company is not misrepresenting itself by claiming it is part of the copier OEM's company, etc. So, unless there is something else to this story, or something that I missed (I am rather dense at 7:25am!) I don't see any problem or legal issues at all. It sounds more like some company ended up buying this stuff, and then when it found out, got all pissed off. Again, caveat emptor. MD [Moderator's Note: See my comments early Monday regards this. What they are doing is not illegal or fraudulent -- just obnoxious. Of equal concern to me are government agencies which like to make crimes where none exist just to appease that segment of society which cannot or will not observe Caveat Emptor. Remember the guy who was calling pagers in New York City and asking them to call a 540 number? What crime was he committing? Is asking people to return a call to a toll number a crime? Suppose I left a message with your secretary asking you to call me here in Chicago and you did not realize the call would cost extra? It is too bad some businesses have such sleazy tactics, but rarely will any be operating illegally. They know the law very well and manage to stay inches inside it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com (adams,john) Subject: Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 14:01:00 GMT In article rice@ttd.teradyne.com writes: > In article , ae446@freenet.carleton.ca > (Nigel Allen) writes: >> I think the AT&T TrueVoice demo ... > [Moderator's Note: Except AT&T doesn't really need to ask the caller > if they are a customer or not ... they have all those records easily > at hand and a comparison of the ANI provided on the call to their > existing customer lists would accomplish the same thing. PAT] True, however, a lot of market research is done by non-AT&T firms on behalf of AT&T. The case might be that the received ANI and call detail reports are *not passed* on to the analysts who might be looking for effectiveness (demographic reach) of the marketing campaign. Not sure about this obviously, but there also might be some privacy (shudder, squirm, squirm) issues involved with disclosing that info willy nilly. At least the recorded voice gives you the option of entering your telephone number ... you can always hang up! John (Jack) Adams Bellcore NVC 2Z-220 (908) 758-5372 {Voice} (908) 758-4389 {Facsimile} jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com kahuna@attmail.com [Moderator's Note: Ah I see. Yes, it would probably be illegal or at least a serious violation of privacy for AT&T to pass along certain information about their customers to the telemarketing firms they do business with, so they have to let the telemarketing firms ask people to voluntarily supply the information. Good thinking! PAT] ------------------------------ From: lmcrajy@noah.ericsson.se (Raj Sanmugam) Subject: Re: Cellular Propagation Simulator Reply-To: lmcrajy@noah.ericsson.se Organization: Ericsson Communication Inc. Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 14:05:47 GMT In article Rodney Alan Walker writes: > Is anyone on the network aware of a software package that simulates > the cellular radio environment? Basically it provides signal strengths > at different geographic locations in relation to the cell transmission > site, depending on different terrain models and atmospheric > conditions. Recently, I received some brochures on a product called BONeS from COMDISCO system, 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd, Foster city CA 94404. Tel 414 574-5800, fax 415 358-3601. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 10:28:52 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Area 205 to Split The history.of.area.splits file in the archives discusses the upcoming generalization of area codes from N0X/N1X to NXX. It faces revision given what you (cornutt@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov) have written about the 205/334 split. I don't have this in front of me: is there a 205-334 exchange anywhere? Are there any local calls across the future 205/334 boundary? You meant to say that 334 is the first announced NNX (not NXX) area code. Area codes have been N0X/N1X in form, and that is indeed a subset of NXX. The newly-available area codes will be NNX in form. ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 15:53:22 GMT TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM (Paul Robinson) writes: > The reason for the issue to be so serious is that the telephone > companies want to price bandwidth according to the equivalent of > telephone connections, e.g. pricing a T1 (1.4 Megabits) connection at > the equivalent of 28 telephone lines. And a T-3 (45 Megabits) > connection would be priced like 32 T1s or 896 telephone lines. (I > think the number I just got here is wrong; a T3 is usually considered > 600 or so connections, I think, but it doesn't change much.) T1 = 24 DS0's (64KB connections), T3 = 28 T1's, or 28*24=672 DS0's. Brett (brettf@netcom.com) (formerly rfranken@cs.umr.edu) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 11:16:11 -0500 From: hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Reply-To: hpa@nwu.edu In article of comp.dcom.telecom, was written: > TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM (Paul Robinson) writes: > This is scary for telcos, because it means the huge economies of > scale in bandwidth that have been so profitable for them become > available to large customers. But the telcos can survive that. Now is it only me, or is the *real* reason they are so scared that the day the FCC says "Local Competition" that dark Telco fiber will be the #1 means for upstart companies to swing themselves into the business? Do the city busses labelled "MCI" have anything to do with Microwave Communications, Inc.? INTERNET: hpa@nwu.edu FINGER/TALK: hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu IBM MAIL: 36073 at IBMX400 NeXTMAIL: hpa@speedy.acns.nwu.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #512 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25303; 27 Jul 93 1:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09624 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 23:22:45 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10275 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Jul 1993 23:22:03 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 23:22:03 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307270422.AA10275@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #513 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Jul 93 23:22:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 513 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Radio Shack CT-301 -> Nokia ???? (Scott Drown) When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (Chris Brady) SS7 Message Format (Tim Gorman) AT&T Operator Terminal (PCA103@psuvm.psu.edu) Want Info on Dist Ed Faculty Development (Gary Levine) Call for Authors, EJVC: Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture (D. Kovacs) Re: Special Tariffs For Distance Education? (Jeff Hayward) Re: Big Rivers (Joel Upchurch) Re: Dark Fiber? (David G. Lewis) Re: 800 Translation Questions (David G. Lewis) Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number (Steven King) Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice (Scot Wilcoxon) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Scott Drown Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 13:02:03 EDT Subject: Radio Shack CT-301 -> Nokia ???? I have recently become the owner of an older Radio Shack cellular phone. I am looking for any technical information about it. All I have is the Radio Shack user's manual, which is, like most of their documentation, pitiful. I know that Radio Shack cell phones are made by Nokia. It is my hope that Nokia, or The Net, my have some more detailed information. Is there anyone out there that knows the Nokia model number for the Radio Shack Model CT-301 Cellular Portable? This is an older model. The manufacture date is given as "8820", which I assume is the 20th week of 1988. The phone itself is about the size of a red building brick, with the microphone, speaker, keypad, and LCD display on one of the long, thin sides. I am looking for, or order of increasing desirability: A Nokia model number, programming instructions, or a Technical Manual. Thanks in advance for any help, Scott Drown Phone:+1-617-272-8140 Annex Technical Support Phone:+1-800-225-3317 Xylogics Inc, 53 Third Avenue, Burlington, MA 01803 Fax:+1-617-272-3159 [Moderator's Note: The Tandy Corporation has complete technical documentation available for this phone at their corporate office in Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. Look at the Cellular Phone Technical Support line down there (it is listed). They sell it for a few dollars. I had one of the manuals (no longer); it is 100+ pages of details. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Chris_Brady@motsat.sat.mot.com (Chris Brady) Subject: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: Motorola Inc., Satellite Communications Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 18:40:05 GMT It seems as though the latest central office switches are still offered on proprietary software -- and frequently, hardware -- platforms. This appears to me to be due to the stringent real time expectations we have placed on telephony, combined with strict requirements for massive throughput, data integrity, system availability and environmental conditions. Nonetheless, there have been efforts in Bellcore and elsewhere to essentially reduce the CO switch to a peripheral of a general purpose computer, and thus enjoy the supposed benefits of riding more popular technology curves. I'd be interested in discussion on why this vision is not being realized in the CO market: do the technical constraints really demand proprietary computer implementations, or are there market forces that are disincenting major telecom providers from making this leap? In a related question, does anyone have a good estimate for lines of tested code per person per day for a central office switch? Does this figure change dramatically when you are reusing existing code and just testing it (or, alternatively, how much loading is the simple code test and the full regression test)? The argument is frequently made that CO software requires more regression testing than most and thus gets written more slowly than other commercial software applications. Look forward to hearing from you. Chris Brady Motorola Satellite Communications Questions expressed above are entirely my own and do not necessarily represent questions that Motorola Inc. or anyone else for that matter may have. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jul 93 13:48:13 EDT From: tim gorman <71336.1270@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: SS7 Message Format tarl@lectroid.sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter) writes in TELECOM Digest V13 #508 about SS7 message formats. Following is a more generic description of the SS7 signal units sent over the signaling links between a signaling point (e.g. end office) and an STP. Tarl's description and mine vary a little bit because to me the Service Information Octet is part of the MTP (Message Transfer Part) level while he includes it as part of the UP (User Part) level. He also includes the OPC (Originating Point Code) and DPC (Destination Point Code) as part of the UP level. According to my training this would be considered part of the SCCP (Signaling Connection Control Part) level. My training is admittedly a little old so perhaps there has been a reassignment of data elements to the different levels or maybe my training was pure ANSI? I also show that in addition to the OPC and DPC there should also be a signaling link selector (three bits long). The OPC, DPC, SLS, and three more bits make up a seven byte long Route Label for the SCCP portion of the message. a. | FLAG | 1 octets b. | SEQUENCE NUMBERS | 2 octets b. | SEQUENCE NUMBERS | c. | CONTROLS | 2 octets c. | CONTROLS | d. | MESSAGE | variable e. | FRAME CHECK | 2 octets e. | FRAME CHECK | f. | FLAG | 1 octet a. | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | (flag) b. *BIB* * Backward Sequence Indicator * b. *FIB* * Forward Sequence Indicator * c. * Spare * * Length Indicator * c. * Service Information Octet * d. * Data Message * (0-272 bytes) e. * Check Bits * f. 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 a. FLAG: 01111110 1st bit transmitted -> b. BIB Backward Indicator Byte (basic error control) b. FIB Forward Indicator Byte (basic error control) b. Backward Sequence Indicator (provides acks and lost msg detection) b. Forward Indicator Byte ( " ) c. Length indicator >2 message signal unit 1 or 2 link status signal unit 0 fill-in signal unit c. Service Information Only provided with message signal units. MTP user, network, and priority d. Data e. Flag Last byte of first msg, first byte of next msg Tim Gorman - SWBT *opinions are mine, any resemblance to official policy is coincidence* ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 18:46:26 -0400 (EDT) From: PCA103@psuvm.psu.edu Subject: AT&T Operator Terminal Organization: Penn State University I just got myself an AT&T Operator's Terminal , circa 1984, and if any one has any information on the ports or whatever, I'd really appreciate it. It is a model 5430, complete with built-in 1/2 height monitor and handset on the left-hand side. When you turn it on, you receive something like, "AT&T Teletype Corporation, 1984", and then it dumps you into some sort of i/o mode. But I don't have the Pinouts for the two ports on the bottom of the Unix, so I cannot yet send or receive data. If anyone has pinouts, or even an expaination of the ports on the bottom (and the phone jack), I'd really appreciate it. Thanks a lot! BTW- It has a Local Directory built in, which works fine with or without the plug-in i/o. Pretty cool. Peter ------------------------------ From: glevine@dhvx20.csudh.edu@nic.CSU.net Subject: Want Info on Dist Ed Faculty Development Date: 26 Jul 93 20:22:29 PST Organization: CSU, DOMINGUEZ HILLS California State University, Dominguez Hills (Carson, California) and Coastline Community College (Fountain Valley, California) are organizing a joint institute to provide faculty developement and training programs for instructors in K-12, commmunity colleges, and universities in the use of distance technologies. Our most extensive experience is in two-way interactive video technology, but we intend to include other delivery systems, such as computer-mediated conferencing, etc. Our initial research suggests that there is an important need for training programs which is going largely unfilled at the present time. We are interested in knowing if other colleges and universities have undertaken similar programs and what their experiences have been so far. We would also be interested in the views of distance educators about the needs that such an institute might meet, what technologies should be addressed, what issues are important to keep in mind in developing programs, etc. Please share your comments and ideas by writing to: Gary Levine glevine@dhvx20.csudh.edu Snail mail welcome at: Division of Extended Education CSU, Dominguez Hills 1000 E. Victoria Street Carson, California 90747 Thank you. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 20:07:47 EST From: Diane Kovacs Subject: Call for Authors, EJVC: Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture The _Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture_ a refereed scholarly journal is now accepting submissions for Fall 1993 and Spring 1994 issues. The _Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture_ (EJVC) is a refereed scholarly journal that fosters, encourages, advances and communicates scholarly thought on virtual culture. Virtual culture is computer-mediated experience, behavior, action, interaction and thought, including electronic conferences, electronic journals, networked information systems, the construction and visualization of models of reality, and global connectivity. EDITORIAL GUIDLINES FOR AUTHORS FORM AND STYLE 1. Use a recognized standard form and style, preferably the APA Publication Manual published by the American Psychological Association, as modified by the following requirements. 2. Do not have any line that exceeds 60 characters in length. 3. Do not use any figure or diagram. 4. Do not have more than 1000 lines in any article. 5. Do not submit any draft in any format other than ASCII. SUBMISSION An article may be submitted at any time to the EJVC for peer-review with the understanding that the peer-review requires time. Acknowledgements of the arrival of any article shall be made within 24 hours of arrival. Notification of acceptance or rejection shall be sent to authors within 30 days of the arrival of the submission. Submissions are acceptable only by electronic mail or send/file. Submissions may be made to either the Editor-in-Chief or the Co-Editor. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CO-EDITOR Ermel Stepp Diane Kovacs Marshall University Kent State University BITNET: BITNET: M034050@Marshall DKOVACS@Kentvm Internet: Internet: M034050@Marshall.WVNET.edu DKOVACS@Kentvm.Kent.edu SUBSCRIPTION To subscribe to the EJVC send electronic mail to LISTSERV@KENTVM or LISTSERV@KENTVM.KENT.EDU, including a blank subject line and the sole line of text: subscribe EJVC-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname VAX/VMS may require that the sole line be within quotes to register names in other than uppercase. EJVC ANONYMOUS FTP Information about the EJVC and issues of the EJVC may be retreived by anonymous FTP to byrd.mu.wvnet.edu in subdirectory /pub/ejvc. ------------------------------ From: jah@margo.ots.utexas.edu (Jeff Hayward) Subject: Re: Special Tariffs For Distance Education? Date: 26 Jul 1993 16:31:34 GMT Organization: The University of Texas In article fraser@ccl2.eng.ohio- state.edu writes: > Have any LECs filed tariffs for lower rates for educational > organizations doing distance education? Are any regulatory agencies > exploring allowing such tariffs? HB 653 in the 73rd Texas Legislature authorized the PUC to establish tariffs for distance education. The PUC is in the process of rule-making in response. I believe the interim rule is that "distance education" uses receive a 25% discount on the otherwise applicable tariff. There's a lot of defining to be done, for instance just what distance education is. I believe there's been something in Tennessee for education tariffs for some time now, but I don't know the specifics. Jeff Hayward The University of Texas System +1 512 471 2444 Office of Telecommunication Services j.hayward@utexas.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Big Rivers From: upchrch!joel@peora.sdc.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 15:08:15 EDT Organization: Upchurch Computer Consulting, Orlando FL Will Martin writes: > What I never hear anybody mentioning, even as they begin to discuss > the cleanup and infrastructure-rebuilding tasks, is what is going to > happen if this same thing happens NEXT year, and maybe yearly after > that. If this is due to a permanent (or long-term, in human terms) > climate change, that would be likely. What used to be hundred-year (or > five-hundred-year) floods may become the normal occurrence ... :-( Maybe the EPA should declare the whole area protected wetlands and tell people they can't build there anymore. :-) Someone pointed out that in a country as big as the U.S. there is going to be someplace in the 100 year flood plain under water every year. A friend of mine point out that development can change the runoff characteristics of an area and greatly increase the chances of flooding in surrounding areas. That means that places that used to be in the 100 year flood plain, may be a lot less now. (If your mail bounces use the address below.) Joel Upchurch/Upchurch Computer Consulting/718 Galsworthy/Orlando, FL 32809 joel@peora.ccur.com {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd,ucf-cs}!peora!joel (407) 859-0982 ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: AT&T Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 17:22:23 GMT In article TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM (Paul Robinson) writes: >> I have seen the term Dark Fiber used in several ways and >> I am confused as to the meaning. > "Dark Fiber" is fiber optic cable which is run from one point to > another for a customer of a telephone carrier, and the carrier doesn't > do anything with the service... > The reason for the issue to be so serious is that the telephone > companies want to price bandwidth according to the equivalent of > telephone connections, e.g. pricing a T1 (1.4 Megabits) connection at > the equivalent of 28 telephone lines. And a T-3 (45 Megabits) > connection would be priced like 32 T1s or 896 telephone lines. (I > think the number I just got here is wrong; a T3 is usually considered > 600 or so connections, I think, but it doesn't change much.) > In any case, if a telephone line costs $20 a month, a T3, priced at > telephone rates (or even 1/2 telephone line rates) could run something > like $12,000 a month plus usage charges, which if they want the meter > running, could be $100 an hour or more. > Under the rules for dark fiber, the phone company has to provide a > strand of fiber optic line (equivalent to about a T-3) for a figure of > $150 per mile, per month, without regard to the amount of usage. > Figure out that if you are running a T3 at least 1/2 full for eight > hours a day, in one month the charges could reach $16,000 a month, or > $28,000 a month if you include the connection. (And don't forget, you > need one connection at each end.) You've got the concept right, but your numbers are waaayyyy off ... First of all, a DS1 is 24 DS0s, and a DS3 is 28 DS1s, so a DS3 is the equivalent of 672 "lines". However, a DS3 is not priced at the same rate as 672 DS0s; nor is a DS1 priced at the same rate as 24 DS0s. Generally, a DS1 will cost as much as 5-7 DS0s, and a DS3 will cost as much as 6-9 DS1s. (Very rough numbers based on my personal experience.) So pricing for a DS3 will be anywhere from 30 to 60 times the price for a single DS0, for 672 times the bandwidth. Note, however, that when you're talking about dark fiber, DS0s, DS1s, and DS3s, you're not talking about phone lines and usage charges - you're talking about point to point dedicated circuits with fixed termination and mileage charges. Working out the price of a DS3 based on the cost of a "phone line" is like working out the cost of a modem based on Compuserve's hourly charges ... Your basic concept is valid, though, at least as far as local or metropolitan services go. Telcos want to sell services by bandwidth - $x for a DS0, $y for a DS1, $z for a DS3, and so on up the scale. Dark fiber isn't bandwidth-limited, though, and a customer could put anywhere from 1.544 Mb/s (or even less) to 4.8 Gb/s (OC-96) on the same dark fiber pair without the telco being able to differentially price - or even know the difference. The argument is couched in efficiency terms, which have some validity. Selling dark fiber requires a telco to run a lot of fiber pairs between offices, and those fiber pairs could be each carrying a small payload which would be more economical if I could multiplex them onto a single system. The basic premise, though, is that telcos (present company included) want to sell service, not conduit space. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!goofy!deej Switching & ISDN Implementation ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Organization: AT&T Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 17:30:12 GMT In article rickie@trickie.ersys. edmonton.ab.ca writes: > Does 800 number portability mean that each end office must become an > SSP? No. The SSP can be an access tandem, and the end office route the call to the access tandem for the SCP query. > Or better yet, how are all the SCP databses from the various > carriers tied together as it is my understanding that the assignment > of 800 numbers is on a first-come first-serve basis? Each LEC has one or more SCP pairs to handle calls originating in its territory. Each IXC may or may not have a central database of some sort to perform translations once the call reaches the IXC. The IXC databases, be they centralized, distributed, or other, are not tied to each other, nor are they tied to the LEC 800 Database Service (DBS) SCPs. The LEC 800 DBS SCPs are not tied together, although they are all connected (functionally; I don't know if there are physical communications links or not) with a single 800 Service Management System (SMS). > Does each SCP have the entire range of 800 numbers, Yes. > or only those belonging to that IXC? As indicated above, 800 DBS SCPs are operated by LECs, not IXCs. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!goofy!deej Switching & ISDN Implementation ------------------------------ From: king@rtsg.mot.com (Steven King, Software Archaeologist) Subject: Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number Reply-To: king@rtsg.mot.com Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 18:32:15 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Except AT&T doesn't really need to ask the caller > if they are a customer or not ... they have all those records easily > at hand and a comparison of the ANI provided on the call to their >e xisting customer lists would accomplish the same thing. PAT] I tried the demo this weekend. I responded with ten 1s when asked for my phone number, and it was rejected. "Your entry could not be recognized" or some such. It didn't have a problem with 708-555-1212 though ... I still don't know why AT&T wants you to enter your number. Perhaps they compare it to the ANI to get a survey of the percentage of telecom-savvy paranoids there are out here? :-) Frankly, though the difference is minimal I think I prefer the good old fashioned FalseVoice. TrueVoice sounded a little hollow to me, though that may have been an artifact of the aging cordless phone I was using. Steven King -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 20:57:03 CDT From: Scot Wilcoxon Subject: Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice Organization: Esix Test Unit 1 Well, I guess I can add some probably irrelevant technical information to this collection of guesses. {Communication Week}, in an article about long-distance digital, explained the 64Kbps digital local services are difficult to extend because long distance circuits are using 56Kbps. The article mentions that AT&T has been working on that problem and 64Kbps links are now available in 12 cities. <"True Voice" was not mentioned in the article. Scot E. Wilcoxon sewilco@fieldday.mn.org voice: +1 612-825-2607 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #513 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05706; 27 Jul 93 9:01 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04056 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 06:29:26 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07846 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 06:28:44 -0500 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 06:28:44 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307271128.AA07846@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #514 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Jul 93 06:28:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 514 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? (Carl Shapiro) Re: Wanted: Email Address of Teleco System Inc (David Cornejo) Re: 1-800-COLLECT (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Big Rivers (Will Martin) Re: Looking For Devices to Dial *67 (Dave Ptasnik) Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? (David Breneman) Re: AT&T To Raise Rates August 1 (Andy Sherman) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (Mark Walsh) Re: Escort Digital Cordless Telephone (Tom Scheer) Re: Information Wanted on AT&T Tech Journal (Al Varney) Re: ADSL Hitched to ISDN: The Happy Couple? (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Alpha Pagers Question (Jeff Wasilko) Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN (Lee S. Parks) Re: Connecting Site A to Site B (Jeff Wasilko) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: molly!carl@uunet.UU.NET (Carl Shapiro) Subject: Re: Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? Organization: Las Vegas Sun Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 18:16:34 GMT You can probably find any old phone parts you need at: Phoneco, Inc. 207 East Mill Road P.O. Box 70 Galesville, WI 54630 608 582-4124 I've never dealt with them, but I like their catalog of old phones. Plenty of old Bakelite and steel phones going back to the '20s, and candlesticks, Eiffels, etc. that are even older. ------------------------------ From: dave@telco-nac.com (David Cornejo) Subject: Re: Wanted: Email Address of Teleco System Inc Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 12:24:19 -0700 (PDT) Organization: Telco Systems Network Access Corporation Kelly writes in <73162.3265@CompuServe.COM>:: >> Does anyone know the contract e-mail address (customer service or >> technical dept or a helpful staff) for a company called Teleco System >> Inc. located in Norwood, MA 02062 (I don't have the full address) ? > I do not have an e-mail address for them, however the complete address > is: [address deleted] > The only names I have are: > Paul Lazay, President & CEO > Dave McClure, General Manager Network Division Dave McClure is the GM of Telco Systems Network Access Division in Fremont, California. We are owned by Telco Systems in Norwood, but do support their products. Telco Systems in Norwood may be reached at telco.com, you might try writing the postmaster there for the tech support address. If you are looking for help with an NAD product, you can email me and I will try and direct you to the right person. (Our email system is still under construction and I don't know if our support people are on it yet). Dave Cornejo, Engineer, dave@telco-nac.com Telco Systems NAC Fremont, California, USA +1 510 490 3111 x5158 also: dave@dogwood.com, dnc@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 15:29:10 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: 1-800-COLLECT In TELECOM Digest V13 #507 tomlowe@speedway.net (Tom Lowe) writes: > In article dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave > Niebuhr) writes: >> I just finished a comparison of collect call charges involving AT&T, >> MCI, MCI's 1-800-COLLECT, Sprint and New York Telephone. >> 1-800-COLLECT .65 US > Gee ... I just got off the phone with them a few minutes ago and the > customer service rep told me the surcharge is $1.50. I called AT&T > also and they told me the surcharge is $2.00. So did I and Tom is correct. It is $1.50; of note: AT&T should be revised to be $1.94. 1-800-OPERATOR is $1.80. I went through at least five different offices to get the correct figures and I still suspect 1-800-COLLECT. More information from NYTel: Yes, the operator surcharge is $1.30 and if I get stuck at a slimeball phone, I can call 10-NYT-0 at one of the last resorts. However, in my particular case, since the collect calls from the kids are within a 10 mile radius in 99.999% of the cases, I ordered a "Call Home" card which carries a $.45 surcharge. Some people have suggested a lot of different numbers (800 style) but I was looking for simplicity pure and simple. Now, as to the owner of the phone, the billing service Operator Assistance Network, 7755 Haskell Avenue, Van Nuys, Ca. 91406, 1-800-944-0171, told me that the only record that they have is for an American Payphone Technology, no address or telephone number which I feel is a lie since they have to know who to forward the money to. Calls to 800-555-1212 was a strikeout as was the first person I talked to in NYTel (I wanted to know who the particular number was assigned to and if they didn't know who it was, then what are they in the business for anyway? The only thing that I can figure is that the company is somewhere else and has an unlisted number. More to come as I learn more about this. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 14:31:16 CDT From: Will Martin Subject: Re: Big Rivers > [Moderator's Note: How has telecom been affected throughout the area? > I know quite obviously that phones underwater in some homes or offices > are going to be out of service, but is there otherwise a problem with > slow dial tone, cables that are wet, etc? How has flood recovery > affected the normal course of telecom repairs/installations, etc? PAT] I have a newspaper-photo clipping in the pile of stuff I intend to US-mail to you, Pat, sometime, that shows an SW Bell repairperson hitching a ride on the scoop of a tractor-type dozer that is driving thru floodwaters off the Meramec in Fenton, MO. The caption says he is "disconnecting telephones that might be damaged by the flooding", but no details are given. (Pay phones or private phones? Why bother with private phones if they are not SW Bell property any more, and they're so cheap these days that it isn't worth risking life and limb to save ordinary phones? Maybe there's a PBX or something he was trying to save ...) But that's the only thing I ever saw related to phones in this flood (besides the Des Moines TV shot of those phones being bulldozed that someone else mentioned last week). No effect on my home phone service at all. Nothing in the news about "utility cutoffs" for flooded areas that even mentioned phones -- gas and electricity were all that were discussed. Sorry to have no dramatic info. Perhaps someone else can provide specifics. I am sure some cables had to have been snapped when bridges went out various places. Will ------------------------------ From: davep@carson.u.washington.edu (Dave Ptasnik) Subject: Re: Looking For Devices to Dial *67 Date: 26 Jul 1993 19:33:01 GMT Organization: University of Washington ericd@synoptics.com (Eric Davis) writes: > In article 11@eecs.nwu.edu, steve@mcnnet.mi.org (Steve Corso) writes: >> I am trying to locate a device that I can connect between the >> telephone line that comes in my house and all (not just one) of my >> telephones that automatically enters a code (such as *67 privacy mode) >> when I pick any phone in the house up to draw dial-tone. Does such a >> device exist? > I have been working on such a device for a few months now. > If interested, mail me ... Sorry Eric - Such a device already exists. It is called the HotShot dialer from Zoom telephonics, available for less than $50 at most electronics supply stores. Goes right on the line, you program it by sticking pins in a little circuit board. For more sophistication try the Demon Dialer by Zoom, lotsa cool features to enhance line capabilities. Multi-line applications with sophisticated needs? Mitel's SMarT-1 family really do the job. Lotsa dialers already out there, go to a Graybar near you. All of the above is nothing more than the personal opinion of - Dave Ptasnik davep@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ From: daveb%jaws@dsinet.dgtl.com (David Breneman) Subject: Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? Date: 26 Jul 93 19:33:24 GMT Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA Michael Covington (mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu) wrote: > And many of us are sad about the ban on receivers that get the > cellular frequencies, for two reasons: (1) The proper technical solution > is to encrypt the signal at the _transmitter_; (2) Heretofore, > Americans had been allowed to buy radios that would tune any frequency > whatsoever; this is the very first peacetime ban on radio receivers > that I know of. (Although the receivers still aren't illegal to own, > merely illegal to market.) A few states have banned automotive radar detectors. As far as I know, this has never been seriously challenged in court. David Breneman Email: daveb@jaws.engineering.dgtl.com System Administrator, Software Engineering Services Digital Systems International, Inc. Voice: 206 881-7544 Fax: 206 556-8033 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 16:22:45 EDT From: andys@internet.sbi.com (Andy Sherman) Subject: Re: AT&T To Raise Rates August 1 In article 12@eecs.nwu.edu, TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM (Paul Robinson) writes: > AT&T is apparently moving its marketing focus off price. MCI said "We > do believe that competition has moved away from price. We think there > is price stability in the industry now." > Is this PR speak for saying that MCI will now also raise rates? :) In a word, ``Yes''. :^) In the same statement MCI said that they will do what it takes to remain competitive, but pointed out that their costs have been rising too. I think that telegraphs their intentions, and is in keeping with past behavior in similar circumstances. What AT&T did is sometimes referred to as "showing price leadership" in a market where margins are cut to the bone. Business LD margins are thin enough that you can expect the rest of the Big Three to match or nearly match AT&T's price increase, albeit quietly, and breath a sigh of relief. Andy Sherman Salomon Inc - Unix Systems Support - Rutherford, NJ (201) 896-7018 - andys@sbi.com or asherman@sbi.com ------------------------------ From: walsh@optilink.com (Mark Walsh) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? Date: 26 Jul 93 19:52:27 GMT Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA In article , walker@beeble.omahug.org (Art Walker) wrote: > naddy@mips.ruessel.sub.org (Christian Weisgerber) writes: >> Well, there's 9.5.N.A.S.T.Y by WASP. > Or, along the same lines, "Spanked" by Van Halen. Or "Obscene Phone Caller" by Rockwell (Michael Jackson's cousin). Then there's "60-60-842" by the B-52s. Kraftwerk has many songs about telephones and related technology. Mark Walsh (walsh@optilink.com) -- UUCP: uunet!optilink!walsh Amateur Radio: KM6XU@WX3K -- AOL: BigCookie@aol.com -- USCF: L10861 ------------------------------ From: scheert@nic.cerf.net (Tom Scheer) Subject: Re: Escort Digital Cordless Telephone Date: 26 Jul 1993 20:42:27 GMT Organization: CERFnet Dial n' CERF Customer The Escort phone uses 100 different frequencies between 902 MHz and 928 MHz. It switches among them pseudo-randomly more than 20 times per second. This frequency agility and the fact that the audio is digitized are the things that make it very hard to scan. Tom Scheer scheert@cerf.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 15:46:53 CDT From: varney@ihlpe.att.com Subject: Re: Information Wanted on AT&T Tech Journal Organization: AT&T Network Systems In article decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) writes: > This was mentioned about three weeks ago in reference to Operator > Service standards or some such. Is this a publically available > journal? This Telecom Manager would like to know! Disclaimer: Not an advertisement.... {AT&T Technical Journal}, ISSN 8756-2324, published six times/year, Subscriptions: USA - 1 year, $50; 2 years, $90; 3 years, $120 Foreign - 1 year, $64; etc. Subscriptions and related correspondence to: Circulation Group, Room 3C-417, AT&T Bell Labs, 600 Mountain Ave., PO Box 636, Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636 Current or recent issues are available from the above or by calling +1 908 582-4019 Back issues, and many {The Bell System Technical Journal} back issues are available from: AT&T Customer Information Center, PO Box 19901, Indianapolis, IN 46219 1 800 432-6600 or +1 317 352-8557 Photocopy/microfilm reprints are available from: University Microfilms International 1 800 521-0600 or +1 313 761-4700 "The {AT&T Technical Journal}'s purpose is to inform the company's scientists and engineers about AT&T technical advances related directly or indirectly to their work, and to share that information with readers outside the company." Sample issue: January/February 1993 (Vol. 72, Number 1, volume numbers continue from the older {The Bell System Technical Journal}). Theme: Video Communications "The Video Communications Decade" "VCTV: A Video-On-Demand Market Test" "A Multimedia Distance Learning Trial Using ISDN BRI" "The VideoPhone 2500 - Video Telephony on the Public Switched Network" "ISDN Personal Video" "A Standards-Based Multimedia Conferencing Bridge" "A Video-Codec Chip Set for Multimedia Applications" "Image and Video Coding Standards" "Innovation Briefs" A yearly index is also published around July. Al Varney - no opinions, just the facts ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: ADSL Hitched to ISDN: The Happy Couple? Date: 26 Jul 1993 17:02:53 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In Vance Shipley writes: >> Does it really need unshielded twisted pair? Local loops >> aren't normally twisted. Twisting decreases RF coupling between >> adjacent pairs substantially, but it's not standard for existing phone >> wiring, inside or outside. > I'm no expert but I'd say you're wrong, basically. All telephone > cables have their pairs twisted, it's a matter of how much. What we > generally call 'quad', the four wire green/red/black/yellow type stuff > found in most homes, is twisted, just not very much. It is usually > thought of as not being twisted. The vast majority of inside wire in > businesses is twisted, this is the commonly referred to 'twisted > pair'. I'm sure what you are thinking of is the sort of twisting used > in 'UTP' or 'unshielded twisted pair'. This type of wire, used for > voice and data transmission, has a much tighter twist; more twists per > foot. Er, most quad wire, with red, green, yellow, and black, is not twisted at all. Each wire runs the length of the cable, and its neighbors are the same along the length of the cable. So if you cut a cross section of the cable and find, say, red at the top and then clockwise from red it is green, yellow, and black ... then it will be the same at all other points on the cable. This means each pair in the cable is both capacitively and inductively coupled with the other pair in the cable, which is a sorry state of affairs. It is not uncommon to have annoying crosstalk between the pairs if both are in use. In contrast, most wire using striped colors (e.g. blue/white and white/blue) is twisted pairs. If you were to cut a cross section at several points along the way, you would find non-identical adjacencies. There is far less cross-talk between pairs, indeed often zero cross talk. > I'm not as familiar with outside plant as I am with inside plant but > I'm sure it is twisted to some extent. Have you ever noticed > telegraph lines? They tend top be twisted at every other pole or so. Most telco outside plant wire is twisted pair also. For all these reasons. The previous commenter is right, though, that cables differ on how frequent the twists of the twisted pair are. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 18:39:24 -0800 From: jeffw@triple-i.com (Jeff Wasilko) Subject: Re: Alpha Pagers Question Robert J. Canis wrote: > I was wondering if anybody knew anything about alpha pagers. My > understanding is that you need a little typewriter like box that you > must use to communicate with the pager. What I am wondering is there > a program that I can use with my modem to do the same thing? > I'm really interested in getting a pager, but I don't want to have to > buy the "box" to communicate with it. There is a program for Unix systems called tpage2. Use archie to find it. There is also a Windows program that's available, but I don't know it's name. There's a mailing list maintained by the author of tpage2 (Ixo-Owner@Warren.MENTORG.COM) where you could ask about the Windows software. Jeff Wasilko, Information International +1 617 275 7070 Application Support Specialist ------------------------------ From: lsp@panix.com (Lee S. Parks) Subject: Re: Experiences Wanted With BRI ISDN Date: 26 Jul 1993 18:59:37 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > Has anyone in the New York Tel service area successfully signed up for > BRI ISDN? I find that it is like pulling teeth to get anyone at NYTel > to answer questions about it. Sure is hard. It took me three days just to get through to anyone. NYT told me that ISDN service wasn't quite ready in my area (West 73, 212-721, DMS-100), but would be in operation this fall. I bet. They also promised to immediately send me information, which I haven't gotten yet (over a month later). > Has anybody in the New York Tel service area successfully used the D > channel of ISDN for packet communications with anybody else? How > about one of the B channels for (non-voice) packet with anybody else? > I am told that the Second Avenue central office, which serves me, has > ISDN capability on only four exchanges (212-353, 529, 979, and 995) > and lacks it on any of the dozen or so other exchanges in that central > office. Pretty lame, seems to me. You can't imagine how lame they are. It took them three weeks of trying to cancel my Intelli-Dial and set-up Caller-ID on my lines at home. Nothing happened till I talked to a repair supervisor. But I'll post all this separately. > I am told that the West 73rd Street c.o. (the one serving panix) has > no ISDN capability whatsoever. Lame again. Maybe true now but, as noted above, this is scheduled to change this fall at least for one DMS-100 in that office. I don't know whether there is an x-bar or 1 or 1A ESS in there, but several exchanges served by that office do not support CLASS features, sending caller-id information or the -9901 service. > Same is supposedly the case for the Yorktown Heights c.o. which serves > my new law firm. Guess I should have thought of that before selecting > a firm location. Hmm, what co serves your office and what exchange. I know that at least (914) 941, 762, 238 and 945 seem to be either DMS-100's or 5ESS. > When I did manage to reach someone whose job was to know about ISDN, > they told me that NYTel charges $10 per month for BRI. Running > low-speed data over the D channel is an extra $2 per month. Running > your flexible choice of high-speed data or voice over a B channel is > an extra $2 per month. He was quite unable to say what packets cost > on the high or low speed paths. And all this is an added cost per > month above and beyond the cost of the voice telephone numbers carried > on the BRI. Let me know if you have any luck. We can exchange notes. NYNEX = the NY nothing exchange. lee (lsp@athena.mit.edu) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 21:31:19 -0800 From: jeffw@triple-i.com (Jeff Wasilko) Subject: Re: Connecting Site A to Site B > The company I work for has a main office in Ventura, CA, and a few > remote sites scattered around the state. We have an AT&T System 75 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ My apologies (-; > Is there a way of making the extensions at this location that will get > new telephone hardware appear as if they were extensions of our 75 > switch in Ventura? The idea is to eliminate long distance charges when > we need to talk voice with that site. What hardware would we need at > each site? I assume another digital circuit will have to be set up > between the two sites. At what speed will this circuit have to be > rated? Dare I ask about cost? There are two things that you can do (depending on your needs at the remote site). 1) Put in a new PBX (if you need a small system, I can highly reccomend the Northern Telecom Norstar. Let me know if you'd like more info) and install a few TIE lines back to the main PBX. At the remote site, you might dial 9 to get an outside (local) line, and 8 would get you one of the TIE lines. You could then dial an extention on the Sys 75, or get outside dialtone from the Sys 75, etc. Likewise, Sys 75 users could get dialtone on the remote system. On PBXs with auto-route selection, you can automate this process. 2) If you only need a few extentions at the remote site, have the telco run a bunch of OPX (off-premise extentions) to the remote site and provide dialtone from the Sys 75. As far as doing it yourself, again I have two suggestions. 1) on the low end, Micom (805-583-8600) makes a neat box called a NetRunner. This takes your 56/64k leased line and allows you multiplex data (either async serial or ethernet via a bridge) and voice (voice calls are compressed at 2:1-6:1 and they sound a bit rough at 6:1). 2) at the high end, you can get a channel bank and share a T1 or fractional-T1 for your voice and data needs. The channel bank provides card slots for different kinds of services (async data, 64k voice slots, high-speed data, etc). They even make special cards that allow you to use digital sets as off-premise extentions (as far as I know there is only support for Northern Telecom sets right now, though). Another source for interesting OPX over T1 stuff is: Steve Burgess Digital Techniques Richardson, TX (214) 390-6224 (214) 727-1200 Jeff Wasilko, Information International +1 617 275 7070 Application Support Specialist ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #514 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23893; 27 Jul 93 19:35 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22691 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 16:51:42 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08392 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 16:51:01 -0500 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 16:51:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307272151.AA08392@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #515 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Jul 93 16:51:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 515 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology (Mark Boolootian) The Electronic Newsstand (Mark Boolootian) Miami Herald Misinformation/Caller ID (ronnie@media.mit.edu) SIMTEL 20 Closing Down (Paul Robinson) Networks in Sarejevo? (Bruce Taylor) Information Wanted on SmartCards (Lars Kalsen) MCI Makes Buses? (Nigel Allen) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: booloo@framsparc.ocf.llnl.gov (Mark Boolootian) Subject: Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 07:55:32 -0700 (PDT) SUMMARY: The first nanotechnology conference specifically for the computer community will be held in Palo Alto on October 14-16. It is designed for those interested in what nanotechnology will do for the computer field and in how to steer their careers toward nanotechnology today. The meeting is also of interest to those in other fields who want to learn more about molecular nanotechnology, that is, about thorough three-dimensional structural control of materials and devices at the molecular level. For further information, contact foresight@cup.portal.com. ANNOUNCEMENT: Third Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology: Computer-Aided Design of Molecular Systems October 14-16, 1993 Palo Alto, California Sponsor: Foresight Institute Cosponsors: Stanford University Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Molecular Graphics Society (USA), Institute for Molecular Manufacturing Support for nanotechnology has always been strong -- perhaps strongest -- within the computer community. The first nanotechnology course was taught in a computer science department, the first conference was sponsored by the same (along with Foresight Institute), the first Ph.D. was granted by a computer-oriented department (MIT's Media Lab), and the first text won the publishing industry's "best computer science book" award. A high proportion of those interested in nanotechnology are computer professionals of one flavor or another, and for years they have asked with increasing vigor "What can I do to further nanotechnology?" In response to these demands, Foresight's third research conference is especially designed to enable members of the computer community -- programmers, software engineers, hardware designers, and computer scientists in general -- to move their knowledge base and, ideally, their careers toward nanotechnology. All those with a computer background are urged to attend. The Third Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology: Computer-Aided Design of Molecular Systems will be held in Palo Alto on October 14-16, 1993. The meeting includes speakers who have made or are making the transition from computer science to nanotechnology. According to conference co-chair Ralph Merkle, "The main emphasis of this conference will be on computational approaches to the development of molecular manufacturing, in particular the use of molecular modeling and the development of molecular computer-aided design (CAD) tools. The conference will be valuable both for people who work professionally in computational chemistry and also for people who have a background in computer science and are interested in finding out what they can do to contribute to the development of molecular manufacturing. "There will also be a tutorial the day before the conference, so that people who have a background in computer science and wish to come up to speed in computational chemistry can get an introduction to the methodologies and techniques that are commonly used." The conference will feature fifteen or more speakers giving presenta- tions on topics relevant to the pursuit of molecular control. We can only sketch a few of these here: Joel Orr, Autodesk Fellow, past president of the National Computer Graphics Association, and president of the Virtual Worlds Society, will address CAD industry professionals, potential nanotech designers, and others interested in hearing about the special needs of nanotechnology with respect to CAD. In the macro and micro worlds, computer-aided design is optional: design can be done by hand. But in the nano world, CAD is essential. He will discuss: * Is standard CAD good enough for nanotech? * What are the characteristics of the ideal system? * Who is working on such systems? * When will results be available? * Nano a mano: What can be done by hand, without CAD? Virtual Reality for Nanotechnology Russell Taylor, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be speaking on a subject of particular interest to two groups of people: (1) surface scientists who are interested in better interfaces to their instruments, and (2) builders of virtual worlds, since the system is an example of a virtual world applied to a scientific problem. The system under discussion, the Nanomanipulator, is an immersive virtual-environment interface to a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM). A head-mounted display presents a scaled image of the surface being scanned by the STM in front of the user while a force-feedback Argone-III Remote Manipulator (ARM) allows the user to feel contours on the surface. Computer-controlled instrumentation allows the user to make bias pulses at specified locations, thus modifying the surface. Ted Kaehler, a computer scientist at Apple Computer, points out that we do not know how the first assembler will be built or what exact research is needed to get there. A person who is not a professional chemist or materials scientist, and yet wants to be involved in this effort, has to think about how his/her skills match the problem. In this talk, entitled "What Can a Programmer Do to Help Create Nanotechnology?", he discusses three efforts he has been involved in. The first is a program to discover voids inside large molecules. Programs that search for the proper design of a large molecule need to know where the empty spaces are. The second is a project to build the "relaxation server" on the Internet. This server accepts proposed molecules (via email messages) and computes the coordinates of the atoms. The results are sent back by email. The third project is a "program" of a different sort -- a meeting group. The "Assembler Multitude," a subgroup of the local Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility chapter -- meets every other Monday night in Palo Alto and covers a wide variety of nanotechnology-related topics. Charles Musgrave, a doctoral candidate at the California Institute of Technology, will talk about ab initio calculations for mechanosynthe- tic construction of diamondoid structures. Accurate transition state barriers for a positionally controlled reaction are necessary to both the design of the tool and the design of the synthetic process. If either of these designs is not practical, then an alternate structure is required. High level ab initio calculations are required to obtain accurate transition state structures and thus reliable mechanochemical modeling. J. Storrs Hall, Rutgers University, will be speaking on nanocomputing; particularly the expected developments in computer architecture that make use of reversibility to reduce heat dissipation. The techniques will be critical for nanocomputers, but are on the verge of becoming useful in VLSI, so the talk will be of interest to anyone in computer architecture as well as those studying molecular computers per se. Markus Krummenacker, an Institute for Molecular Manufacturing researcher, will be presenting a "cavity stuffer" program which should enable the design of macromolecules the size of proteins. These macromolecules should then be easily synthesizable and should also have specifiable interface surfaces so that they can self assemble. Additional talks include: * Introduction to the Design of Molecular Systems, by Eric Drexler, IMM * Computational Nanotechnology, by Ralph Merkle, Xerox PARC * Design of Macromolecular Objects, by Manfred Mutter, Institut de Chimie Organique * Molecular Modeling, by William Goddard, Caltech * Crystal-Based Molecular CAD, by Geoff Leach, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology * Visualization with Molecular Graphics, by Michael Pique, Scripps Research Institute * Modeling Diamond CVD with Density Functional Theory, by Warren Pickett, NRL * Ab Initio Methods and Software, by Charles Bauschlicher, NASA Ames * Atom Manipulation by Proximal Probes: Experiment and Theory, by Makoto Sawamura, Aono Atomcraft Project The first Nanotechnology Award (and accompanying cash prize) will be presented at the meeting. Nomination information will be available from Foresight Institute. DEMONSTRATIONS Leading vendors will demonstrate products useful in the pursuit of molecular control, including molecular modeling software and hardware, and proximal probe systems (e.g. STM). CALL FOR PAPERS Contributions on relevant topics are solicited for presentation in lecture or poster format. Potential contributors are asked to submit an abstract (200-400 words), including names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers of the author(s), and an indication of whether oral or poster presentation is preferred. Papers of both kinds will be reviewed for publication. In choosing papers, priority will be given to (1) cogent descriptions of the state of the art in techniques relevant to the construction of complex molecular systems, (2) well-grounded proposals for interdisciplinary efforts which, if funded and pursued, could substantially advance the state of the art, and (3) reports of recent relevant research. JOURNAL & BOOK PUBLICATION OF PROCEEDINGS Proceedings of the conference will be refereed and published in a special issue of the international journal Nanotechnology, and later in book form. Abstracts due August 15, 1993 Notification of acceptance September 1, 1993 Manuscripts due October 14, 1993 Abstracts should be directed to the Foresight Institute, Box 61058, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA. PRE-CONFERENCE TUTORIAL A full-day tutorial on molecular modeling and computational chemistry will be held on October 13. This tutorial is designed for computer scientists and programmers interested in using their computer skills to become active in the field of nanotechnology. The workshop will be taught by Bill Goddard, Ralph Merkle, Eric Drexler and others. More detailed information, including registration materials, will be sent to all conference registrants. SITE AND ACCOMMODATIONS Conference sessions will be held at the Hyatt Rickeys Hotel in Palo Alto. Accommodation arrangements should be made directly with the hotel. Reservations should be made by September 29; when making reservations, mention that you are attending the "Foresight Nanotechnology Conference" to obtain the lower conference room rate. Deposits in the amount of the first night's stay plus tax are required to guarantee reservations; these are refundable up to 6 PM on the date of arrival. Room rate: $89, single or double occupancy, plus 10% local tax. Hyatt Rickeys 4219 El Camino Real Palo Alto, CA 94306 (415) 493-8000 tel (415) 424-0836 fax TRANSPORTATION The conference site is easily reached from San Francisco International Airport and San Jose International Airport. Information on ground transportation services will be mailed to registrants. REGISTRATION FORM (please print and mail or fax) Name: Title: Dr. Prof. Ms. Mr. Address: Tel.: Fax: Email: Position (programmer, professor, director, etc.): Organizational affiliation (for your badge): The registration fee includes the scientific program, Wednesday evening reception, Thursday and Friday luncheons, and a copy of the proceedings journal issue. (Student and one-day rates do not include proceedings.) postmarked: by Sept. 1 after Sept. 1 Regular $350 $400 Academic, nonprofit, governmental $275 $325 Student $100 $125 One day (specify day) $135 $160 Add $200 for Pre-conference Tutorial registration. Total amount: $ Payment may be made by VISA, MasterCard, check, or international money order valid in the U.S. Make checks payable to "Foresight Conferences"; checks and bank drafts must be in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. Refunds of registration fees can only be made on receipt of a written request which must be postmarked no later than September 15, and are subject to a $50 administrative fee. Credit card registrations may be faxed; please do not send credit card information over the Internet. Card #: Exp. date: Signature (required for credit card registrations): Mail or fax registration to: Foresight Institute Box 61058, Palo Alto CA 94306 USA Tel. 415-324-2490 Fax 415-324-2497 Internet: foresight@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ From: booloo@framsparc.ocf.llnl.gov (Mark Boolootian) Subject: The Electronic Newsstand Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 08:08:48 -0700 (PDT) Contact : Paul Vizza (202) 331-7494 Info@enews.com ELECTRONIC NEWSSTAND Launched on the Global Internet (New York, July 25, 1993)-- The New Republic, Inc. of Washington, D.C. and The Internet Company of Hudson, MA today launched Electronic Newsstand Inc., a new company created to market subscription and single copy sales for magazine publishers via the Global Internet -- the worldwide computer communications network spanning more than 45 countries and five continents. The new company will also be involved in providing advertisers access to Internet. "We think this could become the newest and most efficient subscription source for a wide range of publishers," says Jeffrey Dearth, President of The New Republic magazine, founder and CEO of Electronic Newsstand Inc. "The estimated 10 to 15 million Internet users can browse the table of contents and selected articles from the publications of our newsstand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and send orders to us electronically. It's like being in the mail every day as far as circulation acquisition is concerned. The publishing industry has been looking for a new subscription source, and this is it, particularly as the Internet continues to grow among consumers." Publications that have signed up during the launch phase include: {The New Yorker, The Economist, The New Republic, Foreign Affairs, National Review, Technology Review, Eating Well, Outside Magazine, The Journal of NIH Research, The Source, and New Age Journal}. These magazines will receive subscription and single copy orders daily via electronic mail generated by Electronic Newsstand. Other publications will be invited to participate in the Electronic Newsstand in the coming months. "The culture of the Global Internet is such that the information it provides is shared freely and openly among its users," said Robert Raisch, President of The Internet Company, and COO of Electronic Newsstand. "That's why each of our first wave of publishers will be providing a table of contents and one or more editorial features free through Electronic Newsstand to users on the Internet." "The idea is that the more people are exposed to a magazine's editorial content, the more likely they are to be interested in subscribing to a hard copy, or in purchasing a single issue. We've tested this concept on one on-line computer network, and it works. Since the Internet is really a collection of thousands of computer networks, all of which share the same information, it's the next logical step," adds Dearth. "The Internet Company was formed specifically to develop opportunities like Electronic Newsstand," says Raisch. "Electronic Newsstand represents one of the first attempts to develop general content specifically for the Global Internet. As Internet users visit our 'store', so to speak, we will provide them with valuable information about a wide range of products and services and this will allow them to make truly informed purchasing decisions." "Our service is designed to showcase an advertiser's products and services -- providing a 'point of presence' from which they can represent their products and take orders. Once a customer accesses our service, we are able to collect information from customers actively, by asking questions, or passively, by simply watching where they visit and what documents they retrieve," Raisch continues. "Most users access the Global Internet by using personal computers over traditional communications channels -- channels which excel at transfering simple text. As these channels become faster and more powerful, we'll provide a full multimedia service, including pictures, sound and video, all over the same channel. In the meantime, the Internet can serve vast amounts of information to benefit advertisers and their customers. It's a win-win scenario." Connecting to Electronic Newsstand -- Connections to the Electronic Newsstand are made via the 'gopher' protocol to host 'gopher.netsys.com' on port 2100. If you are unable to use gopher to access this host, you can telnet to gopher.netsys.com, login: enews If you have any difficulties, please send mail to 'staff@enews.com' ------------------------------ From: ronnie@media.mit.edu Subject: Miami Herald Misinformation/Caller ID Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 9:57:01 EDT The Florida Public Utilities Commision is having a public hearing on August 17th about the addition of name delivery to caller ID in the state of Florida. {The Miami Herald} printed an article on its front page today, "describing" the feature, and opposition to it. I was astounded by the editorial nature of this article and the complete one-sidedness. There are also several examples of complete falsehoods: "But as with the current service, trying to block your name and phone number by dialing an asterisk and then '67' won't help here. You'll simply get a recording saying the person you're calling won't accept I.D. calls." A DEA agent is quoted as complaining that they won't be able to do their job because "everyone will have their name and number when they call." The only almost-positive thing they say about it is well-hidden: "While Deluxe I.D. may make life more difficult for heavy breathers and other telephone abusers, there are ways around this name game. The service doesn't pick up name information from pay phones or cellular phones. Also, secrecy is as easy as calling from a phone other than your own. Plus the service only reveals the Southern Bell customer's name -- for instance, if your daughter or son makes a phone call to someone with the service, you or your spouse's name would be flashed on the screen." Ron ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 01:43:52 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: SIMTEL 20 Closing Down From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA The massive archive site WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA, which is home to more than two gigabytes of files for many computer systems, including MSDOS, Unix, VMS and some mainframes, will be shut down by its operators as of September 20, 1993. Unless a new home is found for the archives, this major archive site will vanish. This is a major archive and if it is possible to save it, then it should not be allowed to just disappear. If anyone knows of a site that can house the master archives, please send a message to Keith Petersen Mr. Petersen is trying to find a new home for the master archives. Note that many of the older files are on CD-ROM, so it is not absolutely necessary that a site dedicate two GB of disk space, as perhaps 3/4 of this is on CDs, so the option would be to loan perhaps 4 CD slots in an optical jukebox, along with perhaps 500 meg of disk space. Please pass this message to any list that might find it of interest. Thank you. Paul Robinson -- TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM [Moderator's Note: This is going to be a major loss to the net. How I wish there were a way I could help! I sit here many days with fantasies about 'what I would do if I won the lottery'. Now personally, I've learned to make do in my personal life with very little these days, but there are so many worthy causes which I'd spend the time and money on if I had it, one being the establishment of a not-for-profit site to store numerous archives, distribute e-journals and the like. We (in an editorial sense) need so badly to bring email and network conn- ectivity to the common person at an affordable price in an easy to use format. I have all the plans and ideas; none of the money. To do a slight paraphrase on John Bunyan's poem, "I feel oppressed by things undone; I wish my dreams and deeds were one." Good luck to the keeper of the SIMTEL archives; I hope a new home is found soon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bruce Taylor Subject: Networks in Sarejevo? Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 11:01:21 -0400 Organization: Telecommunications, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA (Apologies for the spelling of the place-name ... chalk it up to not watching TV or reading the papers ...) I was just asked to give ideas on how to establish email or network connectivity into Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The idea is to create a portable set of equipment that could support a few users with e-mail, or perhaps several users with full internet connectivity. Does anyone know what is currently available (read as "remaining") in the way of communications infrastructure there? All thoughts and comments are welcome, and appreciated! Bruce Taylor (blt@cmu.edu) (412) 268-6249 New Projects Coordinator, Telecommunications, Carnegie Mellon University [Moderator's Note: You know it is too bad our European correspondent Richard Budd is off line for a month or so. Maybe he will see this and respond anyway. He has been in Poland and other nearby areas for a couple years now at least working with schools, etc in setting up connections to the net among other things. I *know* he could fill you in with a lot of details and prove quite helpful. Richard, are you out there? PAT] ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dkuug.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: Information Wanted on SmartCards Organization: DKnet Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 15:28:18 GMT Does someone have an idea of how many smartcards there are produced in the world totally. I would be interested in both memory cards and microprocessor cards -- split up on the two. I would also like to know if someone has specific figures for the telecom sector. If you have any idea -- or if you know where I can find the information -- please E-mail me. Greetings, Lars Kalsen dalk@login.dkuug.dk ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 01:32:18 EDT From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: MCI Makes Buses? Organization: Echo Beach Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) asks: > Do the city busses labelled "MCI" have anything to do > with Microwave Communications, Inc.? The MCI that makes buses is Motor Coach Industries, which I believe is a subsidiary of Dial Corporation, a conglomerate which is best known for its soaps and detergents. The bus maker, which traditionally specialized in highway buses, purchased General Motors city bus manufacturing operations a few years go. MCI and Greyhound Bus Lines used to be a good example of vertical integration, Bell System-style, in which MCI would build buses and Greyhound would operate them. Both were subsidiaries of Greyhound Corporation (which eventually merged with Dial Corporation) until Greyhound Bus Lines' management responded to increasing competition from discount air travel by trying to reduce the wages of drivers and mechanics and, when the inevitable strike happened, using replacement workers. Eventually, Greyhound Bus Lines filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. The old Greyhound Corporation also ran some businesses which didn't have much to do with moving people and parcels from one city to another: a computer leasing company, for example. Eventually, that was sold. Greyhound Bus Lines is still in business, and I assume that virtually all its buses are still built by MCI. Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #515 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27386; 27 Jul 93 21:38 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23860 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 18:29:08 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30263 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 18:28:25 -0500 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 18:28:25 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307272328.AA30263@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #516 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Jul 93 18:28:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 516 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Who or What is the Premiere Group? (Greg Abbott) Recorded Collect Operator (Page Carter) Data Transport (was Re: TrueVoice) (David G.Lewis) Revisit the Orange Card - Busy Signal? (Carl Moore) Lowest Cost 1-800 Number? (Patrick Nta) Interactioe Voice Response (Seth B. Rothenberg) Re: List of Calling Number Announcement Numbers (Rich Greenberg) Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted (Mark Malson) What is TrueVoice? (David W Hatunen) Re: AT&T True Voice (Randy Gellens) Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number (Andy Sherman) Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number (guy@intgp1.att.com) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (A N Ananth) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (John Nagle) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Sean Slattery) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Tom Olin) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Bill Nott) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 12:13:16 -0600 (CST) From: Greg Abbott Reply-To: gabbott@uiuc.edu Subject: Who or What is the Premiere Group? Has anyone ever heard of a business or group called something like "Premiere Group"? They conduct phone solicitation to update reverse directories published by themselves or someone else. Recently, we have received several calls from irate citizens asking why they have to tell us how many children are in the house and where they work before we'll send fire trucks out to their house. After questioning several of these callers, our Telecommunicators determined that the solicitors stated that they were updating the "9-1-1 Information" for this area and without the information they were asking for, fire trucks couldn't be sent to their home in the case of an emergency. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have all of the information we need from the phone company records. I have court orders which allow me to have access to this information. Further, we don't care where they work at (how many kids they have can be helpful if there's a fire, but it's not something we're going to build a database on ahead of time). I've seen directories which publish this information for local business use. It is a valuable tool to have. I just wish they wouldn't reference 9-1-1 when they're trying to update their information. I have tried without success to locate their offices. They do not appear to be operating out of Illinois. If anyone has any information on who they are, or where I might contact them, please let me know. I would like to have a little chat with them. Thanks! [Moderator's Note: What a disgraceful operation! Please, if you find out who they are and that they are in fact making such inquiries and claiming to represent emergency authorities, *make every effort to put them out of business*. Like your town, emergency officials here in Chicago have standing court orders to serve on Illinois Bell at any time day or night, and contacts are available at IBT 24 hours daily to provide any and all information needed including non-pub numbers or to assist with emergency installs, etc. No private firm should ever be allowed to pull off this kind of misrepresentation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rcarter@nic.ddn.mil (Page Carter) Subject: Recorded Collect Operator Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 8:18:24 EDT I had a weird experience over this past weekend. I was sitting quietly reading in my cabin, isolated in the mountains of West Virginia, and listening to the calls of barred owls and whip-poor-wills. Suddenly my phone rang. This was rather surprising, since no no one knew I was there. I answered with my usual "hello?". I was greeted with a recorded woman's voice, "I have a collect call for anyone from `LENNY' (tough sounding mail voice) in a correctional institution." At this point I quickly hung up, not wishing to talk to Lenny, whoever he was. The frustrating thing was that there was no human operator to tell that Lenny obviously (I hope) had the wrong number. A few minutes later the phone rang again four times, then stopped. I ignored it this time. I later tried to place a call, but the phone was now dead! Somehow, in retrospect, this all seems more sinister than it did at the time. I could write a good mystery story around this, but actually nothing more happened. I called repair service the next morning, and they promised repair in 24 hours. When I left 28 hours later, the phone still was not working! Thank you GTE South. :-( The use of recorded collect messages obviously reduces operator time, but there should be some way to get a human back when there is a problem with the call. I was afraid to say anything since the equipment might decide I had said "yes" and charge me, and besides I didn't want to talk to Lenny. [Moderator's Note: Is the phone working now? Try dialing the number and see what you get. Regards outbound calls from prisons and jails a scandal is developing which involves inmates not only being captive in the institutions but being captive to how their calls are handled. I am told Cook County Jail here in Chicago has set their inmate phones up with some greedy AOS; inmates get no choice except to place calls through the AOS and their families/friends on the receiving end of the call get no choice but to accept (and pay the AOS rates) or decline the call. Naturally, it is done with recorded/computerized handling which gives rise to much fraud through message passing via the recorded 'name'. People like yourself get pestered to death and legitimate receivers of calls get stuck with rates of eight dollars for a three minute call as was described to me by a contact here in town. Maybe a suit needs to be started to at least give inmates the right to choose the desired carrier for the collect call, or at least a choice between Genuine Bell and the AOS. But something tells me Geuine Bell did not really object to losing the account at Cook County Jail. PAT] ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Data Transport (was Re: TrueVoice) Organization: AT&T Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 13:54:22 GMT In article Scot Wilcoxon writes: > {Communication Week}, in an article about long-distance digital, > explained the 64Kbps digital local services are difficult to extend > because long distance circuits are using 56Kbps. The article mentions > that AT&T has been working on that problem and 64Kbps links are now > available in 12 cities. I didn't see the CommWeek article, so I don't know if they're misstating the case or if you misinterpreted it, but the above statement isn't exactly right. 64kb/s digital local services are difficult to extend because many of the access trunks between LECs and IXCs capable of handling switched digital services are 56kb/s trunks. Within the IXCs' networks, much if not all of the switched digital network is 64kb/s clear channel capable -- if you have two PRIs from AT&T, you can run 64kb/s clear (or, for that matter, 384kb/s clear or 1536kb/s clear) between them. It's the link between the IXCs and LECs that is largely 56kb/s, and work is underway to convert 56kb/s Circuit Switched Data Capability (CSDC -- in-band signaled 56kb/s data trunks) access trunks to SS7-NI signaled 64kb/s clear channel access trunks. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!goofy!deej Switching & ISDN Implementation ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 13:37:08 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Revisit the Orange Card - Busy Signal? A while back, I wrote of getting a busy signal of high pitch and different frequency mix (this is not the fast busy signal) than the one I am accustomed to for the electronic exchanges. On Saturday July 24, I had occasion to call a number in such an exchange, and got that busy signal. The next day, I was at the location of that number, and I went to that phone and dialed its own number, and got the EXPECTED busy signal for that exchange. Pat Townson suggested earlier that the strange busy signal did indeed suggest that the receiving line was busy; does this offer any more hints about it? [Moderator's Note: Might it have been a 'no-circuits' busy, or even a busy signal from LCI (the Orange carrier)? PAT] ------------------------------ From: pnta@warren.med (Patrick Nta) Subject: Lowest Cost 1-800 Number? Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 13:10:26 +0100 Organization: Harvard Medical School Which company offers the lowest 1-800 number for small business? [Moderator's Note: It depends on who you ask and what is your definition of 'small business'. Your application counts a lot here also in choosing. Metromedia offers a low monthly cost service but with high 'per minute' rates. If you can support a few hundred dollars per month in 800 calls, various resellers of AT&T (such as FIBERCOM, a company I represent) can place you on the AT&T Software Defined Network and get you rates of 9-12 cents per minute on 800 calls. For smaller users, I resell 800 number service at rates of 17-22 cents per minute with no monthly service fee or installation fee. MCI also has 800 numbers where many people share the same common number then insert a PIN to route the call accordingly. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rothen+@pitt.edu (Seth B Rothenberg) Subject: Interactioe Voice Response Date: 27 Jul 93 21:10:09 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh I am writing a paper for my telephone systems class on Interactive Voice Response. I would like to know if anyone on the net has experience managing or selling these systems? One thing I have not seen info on yet is IVR services. My Mortgage company said that they use a service, where they send out a tape (I don't believe that :-) daily, and the phone number I dial is to the service bureau's mainframe. (A pair of 486's each with four 4-channel cards provide the front end according to the Service Rep at the bank). Thanks for your help. Seth PS: Please reply directly as I am about 400 messages behind. I will summarize. ------------------------------ From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: List of Calling Number Announcement Numbers Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 04:51:15 GMT In article djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > [After checking all the incoming mail for this list, it's time to post > the current collection of ANAC codes.] > 310 211.2345 (English response) > 310 211.2346 (DTMF response) One more data point: In the 310-649 exchange, 211.2345 gave a series of tones, all sounding the same. 2346 gave a voice (lousy quality) readback, and 2347 gave DTMF. (I didn't decode the dtmf.) (Pac Bell territory.) Rich Greenberg Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside CA 619-631-5280 N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238 I speak for myself only. ------------------------------ From: kgw2!markm@uunet.UU.NET (Mark Malson) Subject: Re: Local Ringback Number Wanted Organization: Xetron Corporation Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 20:06:48 GMT In article , Bob Hofkin wrote: > Last time I asked at the C&P business office, their answer was to have > a friend call me. This after some discussion, apparently. It would > be real nice to cite a specific regulation. Gee, I just always dial "0" and ask whoever answers for a ringback. I've never had anyone refuse ... Mark Malson markm@xetron.com ------------------------------ From: hatunen@netcom.com (David W Hatunen) Subject: What is TrueVoice? Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 05:03:57 GMT The subject line says it all. What is it? DAVE HATUNEN (hatunen@netcom.com) [Moderator's Note: In brief, it is an enhancement to the sound quality on AT&T connections which make your voice sound 'more true'. :) You may want to read over back issues of this Digest during the past two weeks for quite a few messages cussing and discussing this feature and its technical angles. Is it an improvement? Who knows! Read on. PAT] ------------------------------ From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 27 JUL 93 01:18 Subject: Re: AT&T True Voice > [Moderator's Note: I don't think they ask for your number so they can > sic a telemarketer on you. After all, if they relied on ANI they > would still have to compare their own records with the ANI to see who > was a customer already and who was not. Has it occurred to anyone > they might be listening to *your* touchtones and then doing a little > last minute adjustment on their end (regards the sound quality based > on what the circuit is like between you and them) before they begin > the demo? PAT] I called once, and entered my number and tried the demo. Then I called back and didn't enter my number. An operator came on and asked for my number. When I asked why it was needed, she asked if I had a touch-tone phone. When I said I did, she asked me to press the "6" key. When I did, she thanked me and said she'd connect me back into the demo, but I got a message saying the demo was temporarily unavailable. So it does seem that they want to hear your tones, but that doesn't explain why they ask for your number. Perhaps they want you to hear the difference from your home (they specifically ask for your *home* number), which may be different then the number you are calling from, and use the number you enter to get the distance from their logical demo center to your home. For paranoids who don't want to give their number (as if ANI didn't reveal all), they use characteristics of the received digit. Randy Gellens randy@mv-oc.unisys.com A Series System Software [if mail bounces, please Unisys Corporation forward bounce msg to Mission Viejo, CA rgellens@mcimail.com] Opinions are personal; facts are suspect; I speak only for myself| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 10:04:30 EDT From: andys@internet.sbi.com (Andy Sherman) Subject: Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number [ Jack and Pat and a cast of thousands speculate as to why the TrueVoice demo asks for your home phone number. ] I think the answer is much more straightforward than people speculate. TrueVoice seems to be aimed at the consumer market, since it is being pitched as part of the i-Plan, which is a residential program. I suspect that a *LOT* of people call from their places of employment, especially during the daytime. The ANI does not identify the *residential* subscriber. Since they are interested in selling residential long distance, they ask. Note that the script is quite specific. They do not ask from what number you are calling. They ask for your *home* phone number. By the way, I can't imagine that it would be illegal for an IXC to pass customer information to a firm that is under contract to conduct its business for it. That contractor is the IXC's agent and acting on its behalf, and all restrictions on the IXC should pass through to it. Now it probably *is* illegal would be for the contractor to retain the information for its own use, or to use it for other than the contracted purposes. Andy Sherman Salomon Inc - Unix Systems Support - Rutherford, NJ (201) 896-7018 - andys@sbi.com or asherman@sbi.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 17:21:53 EDT From: guy@intgp1.att.com Subject: Re: Why the AT&T TrueVoice Demo Asks For Your Number Organization: AT&T > because some people calling the demo line are calling from their > office line, a payphone or someone else's home. > [Moderator's Note: But what possible difference could it make? PAT] Oh come on Pat, there are lots of very reasonable things they could do with that data, you must have thought of some. 1.) I'm sure the people who running the campaign want to know if it's a success. What better way than keep track of how many people call the demo then switch? 2.) They may want to use the data as a marketing angle, ie. followup calls or letters with somthing like: Thank you for trying TrueVoice* Now that you've heard our new sound, wouldn't you like all your long distance calls to sound that good. Disclaimer: I do not have any direct connection to the LD folks at AT&T nor knowledge of TrueVoice other than what I've seen here and in the ads. *TrueVoice must be a registered [trade|service]mark of AT&T. ------------------------------ From: ananth@access.digex.net (A N Ananth) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Date: 27 Jul 1993 11:48:19 -0400 Organization: Biligiri International, Ellicott City, MD USA In article Chris_Brady@motsat.sat. mot.com (Chris Brady) writes: > It seems as though the latest central office switches are still > offered on proprietary software -- and frequently, hardware -- > platforms > Nonetheless, there have been efforts in Bellcore and elsewhere to > essentially reduce the CO switch to a peripheral of a general purpose > computer, and thus enjoy the supposed benefits of riding more popular > technology curves. What is interesting is that most data communication switch vendors also started out in this way with proprietary busses and custom hardware. A short list includes folks like Ericsson, NT, Telenet and even the lower end of the spectrum like Plantronics -- *but* there is definite move afoot away from this trend. The lower end switch manufacturers are moving toward PC chassis and some of the higher end switches are moving toward VME cages. Recently, I heard that Ericsson may be moving the ERIPAX line toward VME cages -- away from custom hardware. In fact most VSAT systems (including those that handle voice) are based on commercially available hardware and busses. These developments have given rise to a plethora of card manufacturers. IMO, since COs predate these developments, it is likely that they were originally designed with custom hw (like early data switches) and inertia dictates that it's going to take a while for the thinking to turn toward the gains to be had by switching to off-the-shelf hw. ananth Work: (410) 765-9281 ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 22:08:48 GMT Chris_Brady@motsat.sat.mot.com (Chris Brady) writes: > It seems as though the latest central office switches are still > offered on proprietary software -- and frequently, hardware -- > platforms. This appears to me to be due to the stringent real time > expectations we have placed on telephony, combined with strict > requirements for massive throughput, data integrity, system > availability and environmental conditions. Nonetheless, there have > been efforts in Bellcore and elsewhere to essentially reduce the CO > switch to a peripheral of a general purpose computer, and thus enjoy > the supposed benefits of riding more popular technology curves. I'd > be interested in discussion on why this vision is not being realized > in the CO market: do the technical constraints really demand > proprietary computer implementations, or are there market forces that > are disincenting major telecom providers from making this leap? The interesting thing is that COs still mostly follow the model of a big dumb crosspoint run as a computer peripheral. One would think by now that switches would be much more distributed, with little CPUs all through the switch fabric. But given the amount of trouble people still have designing distributed systems, it's not clear that using lots of little CPUs would improve reliability, and might well make it worse. Still, it would be interesting to see something as distributed as a step-by-step office implemented in modern hardware. Even something designed like a #5 crossbar, where all common resources were part of sizable resource pools and any resource could be taken out of service without much trouble, would seem to be an improvement over current designs. It ought to be possible to design something that can equal the switch downtime record of the electromechanical era, but at modern error rates. The existing technologies reflect the design of the 1ESS, which was a mainframe computer controlling a dumb switch fabric. John Nagle ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 13:38 GMT From: Sean Slattery Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! > PAT notes: >> Those same bozos were selling mimeograph paper, carbon paper >> and typewriter ribbons thirty years ago using the same >> sneaky tactics. PAT] > With all due respect to our Moderator and the original poster > of this thread, I can't honestly see what is wrong with > individuals doing this. We have been stung by this scam a couple of times. What's wrong with individuals doing this is that they represent themselves as "your regular supplier". This is why it is fraud. Of course it is very hard to prove. When we got the bill we refused to pay and shipped them back their toner (well, some toner :-)) cartridges. We got one call from their account payable, we said the key words "attorney general's office" and never heard from them again. This happened about four years ago. Our policy is that all calls that result in orders being placed MUST originate from our office, the ole' don't call us we'll call you. On LD carriers who call and call and call: Tell them "corporate" now dictates your LD policy and they have instructed you not to give out their number or any other information. Sometimes the caller hangs up without saying anything at all, just "Click!". This tactic has reduced my time on the phone by about ten percent each week. Sean Slattery | Airflow Research | vonslatt@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 11:01:56 EDT From: adiron!tro@uunet.UU.NET (Tom Olin) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Mr. Broadfield asks a very good question about alleged "toner fraud" - namely, what is fraudulent about getting idiots to pay inflated prices for toner - and PAT immediately veers off the road and dives into a tirade about the sins of the Department of Justice and Bill Clinton. In the meantime, Mr. Broadfield's question remains unanswered. Here's my answer to that question. First, I quote: > Law enforcement officials say that toner fraud is hard to prove and > almost impossible to eliminate. Mr. Broadfield, the law enforcement officials are just trying to be polite. To find out what they really mean, change the quoted statement as follows: 1. Change "toner fraud" to "stupidity". 2. Change "prove" to "explain". 3. Drop the word "almost". As for PAT, I suggest that he drink more coffee or less -- I'm not sure which it is. :) Tom Olin tro@partech.com (315)738-0600, Ext 638 (FAX)738-8304 PAR Technology Corporation * 220 Seneca Turnpike * New Hartford NY 13413 ------------------------------ From: Bill=Nott%Graphics=Dev%PCPD=Hou@bangate.compaq.com Subject: Re: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Date: 27 Jul 1993 14:06:40 -0500 Organization: Compaq Computer Corporation My wife worked at a place that was scammed like this *once*. It seems that the "scamee" does not agree to any purchase on the phone -- that once the outside "company" learns the necessary details, they just deliver the goods, and then invoice by mail. The hope is that the person who pays the invoices assumes the stuff was ordered legitimately, etc. Sometimes it works; in this case it didn't, due to a cross check system that was in place. They must assume small businesses don't feel the need for such protection. Believe it or not, the same guy (judging by the sound of his voice) tried it again several times! Bill ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #516 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa28764; 27 Jul 93 22:29 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07816 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 19:43:26 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30025 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 19:42:47 -0500 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 19:42:47 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307280042.AA30025@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #517 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Jul 93 19:42:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 517 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Fred Ennis) Re: Connecting Site A to Site B (Paul Cook) Re: Mercury in the UK - The Right Choice? (Richard Tomlinson) Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? (Arthur Rubin) Re: Dark Fibre (Richard Cox) Re: Information Wanted on AT&T Tech Journal (guy@intgp1.att.com) Re: International Videoconferencing Directory Available (Bob Frankston) Re: Call Trace is Bogus (Jeffrey Jonas) Re: Incoming Calls to Airphone? (Gordon Hlavenka) Re: What is This Number? (Jeffrey Jonas) Source For Old Telephones (David L Kindred) Re: Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? (Ed Greenberg) Correction of Phone Number (Re: Cellular Propagation Simulator (C Moore) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (Martin McCormick) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! From: fred@page6.pinetree.org (Fred Ennis) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 01:27:02 -0400 Organization: Page 6, Ottawa, Ontario +1 613-723-5711 > 3.Having (apparently) less than two brain cells to bang together, you > agree to purchase supplies at the inflated prices. > Where exactly is there fraud involved here? Has "caveat emptor" gone > entirely by the wayside; are Americans no longer willing to accept > even the slightest responsibility for their own actions? From the information given so far Laird, I can understand how you would ask these questions, so let me give you a little more info. 1. The phony "survey" or "checking our records" caller also gets the name of the person who orders supplies, but doesn't usually talk to that person. 2. They then call the receptionist and say the shipment that "insert name" ordered is ready, should they go ahead and ship it? They then get the receptionist's name. Now they have two names from the company. 3. The stuff arrives. It gets thrown into the supply room. Eventually the bill comes, the supplies have been used, and they get nasty about trying to collect the money. Now, no one has approved the shipment, but in a small business which doesn't often use purchase orders, they can't prove they didn't order it. Here's what every person who ever answers the phone in a small company should know: 1. Do not give any info about office equipment, especially model or serial numbers out to ANY caller for any reason. 2. Do not give permission to ship to anyone who calls, unless you, personally, have placed the order. 3. Check all incoming shipments against what you ordered, and from which supplier. Those three rules make it much more difficult for these scam artists to operate. Unfortunately, most small businesses are not that well organized, and these scams prey on that. While I am speaking of telecom scams, there's also the outfit in Europe that sends out bills for fax or telex directory listings, and if you pay the bill the fine print says you're agreeing to be listed in the NEXT directory and pay that bill as well! Fred Ennis, fred@page6.pinetree.org ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 18:24 GMT From: 0003991080@mcimail.com Subject: Re: Connecting Site A to Site B Javier Henderson writes: > The company I work for has a main office in Ventura, CA, and a few > remote sites scattered around the state. We have an AT&T System 75 > switch at the main office, and various types of switches at the remote > locations. > Is there a way of making the extensions at this location that will get > new telephone hardware appear as if they were extensions of our 75 > switch in Ventura? The idea is to eliminate long distance charges when > we need to talk voice with that site. What hardware would we need at > each site? I assume another digital circuit will have to be set up > between the two sites. At what speed will this circuit have to be > rated? Dare I ask about cost? This is not hard. There are a couple of simple ways to do this. If you want OPX's (Off Premise Extensions) off of the System 75 to appear on CO line ports on the remote systems, you can add a Proctor 46222 Long Loop Adaptor for each extension, and connect it to an OL13C circuit ordered from the phone company. This will run to the other site, where it will appear as a standard 48 vdc tip and ring with standard 20 Hz ringing. This is then connected to its own CO line port on the other system, or it can just be hooked to a standard telephone. Anything that normally hooks to a regular telephone line can be hooked to the far end of this connection. When you order the OL13C circuit from the telco, it doesn't matter if they run it down the block or across the state. They will engineer the circuit so that it looks to each end like it is a short pair of wires running no more than a few miles. The 46222 Long Loop Adaptor provides the registered interface to this circuit, in addition to boosting DC voltage and ringing. If you just want a ringdown to run point to point as a tie line between PBX's, you can order up an O2AC2 circuit from the telco, which will connect dedicated CO ports over a similar dry cable pair. To drive this, use one Proctor 46220 Ringdown Circuit at either end ... it does not matter which end. Don't worry about speed or digital circuits. This is strictly a low-tech analog voice application. The 46222 will work wherever you need to boost DC line voltage and ringing from a standard two-wire telephone connection. The test for compatibility is, if you can plug in a standard single line phone, you can plug in a 46222 and extend that line anywhere through a loop that is under 1900 ohms. In addition, it also has a special connection on the input to hook to the TIE SLU cards used with some TIE key systems. Contact my employer for information on the 46222 or 46224. For multiple line applications, there are four-circuit versions of each product. Paul Cook 206-881-7000 Proctor & Associates MCI Mail 399-1080 15050 NE 36th St. fax: 206-885-3282 Redmond, WA 98052-5378 3991080@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: Richard Tomlinson Subject: Re: Mercury in the UK - The Right Choice? Organization: EDS-Scicon, Milton Keynes, UK Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 16:58:30 GMT In article djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > The recent episode of Media Television, produced by City TV in > Toronto, features the wild world of media (ads, publications, > technologies, etc) and in particular, a spot for Mercury long distance > in the UK was shown. It appeared to be voice-dubbed excerpts from old > films, so that the characters talked about the wonders of British > Telecom's competitor. These are not excerpts from old films but new sequences made to look like an old film. They are based on sketches from "The Harry Enfield Television Programme" shown on BBC Television in the UK. The two actors are Harry Enfield and Jon Glover. I bet you're really glad I told you that! Richard Tomlinson EDS Scicon Ltd, Wavendon Tower, Milton Keynes, UK MK17 8LX rpt@edscom.demon.co.uk Tel: +44 908 284539 Amateur radio: G4TGJ All opinions expressed are mine, and are not necessarily those of my employer. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? From: a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) Date: 27 Jul 93 19:55:37 GMT Reply-To: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) In daveb%jaws@dsinet.dgtl.com (David Breneman) writes: > Michael Covington (mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu) wrote: >> And many of us are sad about the ban on receivers that get the >> cellular frequencies, for two reasons: (1) The proper technical solution >> is to encrypt the signal at the _transmitter_; (2) Heretofore, >> Americans had been allowed to buy radios that would tune any frequency >> whatsoever; this is the very first peacetime ban on radio receivers >> that I know of. (Although the receivers still aren't illegal to own, >> merely illegal to market.) > A few states have banned automotive radar detectors. As far as I > know, this has never been seriously challenged in court. I recall an early radar-detector ban which was ruled (by a Federal Court) invalid ... but I think the ban was so written that it also banned the radar guns themselves; hence using a dectector was legal because it was only detecting illegal devices. Arthur L. Rubin: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea 216-5888@mcimail.com 70707.453@compuserve.com arthur@pnet01.cts.com (personal) My opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 22:14 GMT From: Richard Cox Subject: Re: Dark Fibre Reply-To: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk I have been interested to see the comments about Dark Fibre. Especially this one, from sspak@seas.gwu.edu (Steven L. Spak): > Carriers often lease dark fiber (at gunpoint :-) ) at a premium to > bypass types and large companies. Of course, we can't get Dark Fibre from any carrier over here. However AT&T have recently launched their Definity PABX over here -- and to use its remote shelf facility, does need Dark Fibre from the carrier (usually BT in the UK). So I wondered whether AT&T were so keen to offer customers Dark Fibre in the USA ? (PS sorry - we Brits spell it "fibre" - I know you prefer "fiber" ! Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, Cardiff Business Park, Llanishen, CARDIFF, Wales CF4 5WF Voice: +44 222 747111 Fax: +44 222 711111 VoiceMail: +44 399 870101 E-mail: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk - PGP2.2 public key available on request ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 18:19:47 EDT From: guy@intgp1.att.com Subject: Re: Information Wanted on AT&T Tech Journal Organization: AT&T In article , decrsc!leesweet@uunet. UU.NET (Lee Sweet) writes: > This was mentioned about three weeks ago in reference to Operator > Service standards or some such. Is this a publically available > journal? This Telecom Manager would like to know! (This info is taken from the insied cover of a year old copy.) The AT&T technical Journal is published six times a year Individual subscriptions: 1yr $50, 2 $90 3 $120. Circulation group phone number (for current issues: 201-564-2582). Back issues: 1-800 432-6600, or find a library that has it. The Operator Services issue was Volume 68 Number 6. (Nov/Dec 1989) ------------------------------ From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Subject: Re: International Videoconferencing Directory Available Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 11:42 -0400 I just ordered the directory. The correct number is 800-426-8686 and the cost, including shipping is $7.24. As an aside, I've yet to figure out why order fulfillment takes "four to six weeks". Theories: 1) It'll arrive tomorrow but the "four to six weeks" phrase was coined by old Al Bell himself and they are loathe to change it. 2) They print each catalog to order and are still waiting to upgrade their 103 modems. 3) They transcribe each copy in a video conference to hordes of caligraphers in Korea to reduce the costs. 4) They attempt to float each one across the Mississippi and take into account the probability of success. 5) It's a big warehouse and they don't want to ship any copies till they fill it. 6) ATT is owned by Ronco. 7) They hand carry the order past 20 desks for approval but everyone is on vacation in August. 8) The directory doesn't exist but they'll create it if they get enough orders. 9) They are waiting to setup their video operator offices. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 10:35:11 EDT Subject: Re: Call Trace is Bogus From: jeffj%jiji@krf.jvnc.net (Jeffrey Jonas) Re: Frank Hausman's posting about call return to a Spanish speaking person with an improperly programmed auto dial phone -- Thank you for sharing your adventure in call tracing. A posting that Pat didn't accept for publication asked the question: who pays when an annoying caller is caught? You paid several dollars for the return call and language operator for something that was ENTIRELY the other person's fault. Yes, you gained your sanity and re-gained peace at home, but am I correct that you have no way to get reimbursed for the expense incurred in stopping the harrassment? The telephone company don't help -- they just bill you, and the tariffs probably don't cover damages to the victim of the harassment. Hmmm -- perhaps Pat could set up some billing arrangement so you can back-bill the dope for the charges that SHE caused. That would be poetic justice. Jeffrey Jonas jeffj@panix.com [Moderator's Note: I'm sorry to say a quick check of my log records of autoreplies issued doesn't indicate your article ever got here. Do you have a copy? If so, it sounds interesting. When you are talking only a few dollars, as annoying as it might be, there is no real way to recoup your losses without incurring more in the meantime. When the problem really gets bad (for example, the family in Germany which got calls for two or three weeks running, several per night in the middle of the night from an errant fax machine at the First National Bank of Chicago attempting to transmit documents to a branch of the bank) then depending on whose deep pockets are involved and the extent of the expense, legal action may be indicated. In the case of the German family, they were terrorized by a dozen calls nightly resulting in a silent connection as the fax machine tried over and over to deliver to a number which was incorrect. Wouldn't you -- lacking telecom saavy -- be frightened by repeated calls from silence during the night? They got Bundepost to look into the matter who in turn asked AT&T for some assistance once Bundepost saw the calls were coming from the USA. AT&T ran the whole thing by Illinois Bell who tracked it back to the bank's phone system. Once they identified First National, IBT gave them such an earful; they gave FNB so much hell over the matter it warmed my heart. I guess IBT contacted the bank and ran the same gauntlet of droid-ism that anyone else gets when they call the bank. The calls finally stopped when the fax machine got reprogrammed, but would you believe that when FNB got around to reconciling their (otherwise massive) phone bill a couple months later, they saw over a hundred calls to this number in Germany and had the nerve to call telco to complain that 'AT&T must have screwed up on our bill, we want credit for all these calls!' ... About eight years ago, a FIDO sysop here had a wrong number listed in his system for a place he polled each night. His machine was calling some poor woman night after night for a couple weeks and when IBT traced it to him, they not only gave him hell, they told him to take down the BBS *or* get the phone disconnected; his choice. Moral of the story: all droids are created equal, but droids who operate big banks are created more equal than pitiful sysops of home computers. PAT] ------------------------------ From: cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) Subject: Re: Incoming Calls to Airphone? Organization: Vpnet Public Access Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 02:52:42 GMT > I called the AT&T access number 1-800-321-0288. An operator came on > the line and asked what number I was calling from. > I suspect Airfone of intercepting the call and pretending that it is > AT&T. Hmmm ... GTE Airfone calls are placed directly onto the PSTN at the ground station the airplane is currently linked to. This would mean that to "intercept" a call the ground station software would have to place the call to some number other than what you dialed and this number would be a GTE operator who would have to know to pretend to be AT&T. This is technically feasible but so likely to be discovered that I don't think they'd do it. Even GTE. My guess would be that something is strange about the _type_ of lines GTE orders for their ground stations, and that this trips some security/fraud trigger at AT&T. > The domestic 800 Airfone rate + AT&T calling card rate for an > international call is less than the international Airfone rate, so > Airfone would have an financial incentive to do so. Anyone know if my > suspicions are justified? I don't think so. Call 1-800-AIR-FONE and ask them. I'd be interested in hearing their explanation. If you fly often, dial '0' from the plane instead -- it costs them more that way. Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 10:28:49 EDT Subject: Re: What Is This Number? From: jeffj%jiji@krf.jvnc.net (Jeffrey Jonas) In article <22s7fu$7d5@cyberspace.com>, seth@cyberspace.com (Seth Warshavsky) writes: >> Whats this telephone #? 011-351-99-35510? It is some wierd >> international sex line, and I'm trying to figure out how they make >> money off of it, because there are no premium charges. Just long >> distance. Tarl Neustaedter (tarl@sw.stratus.com) replied: > They get a cut from the portugese phone company. Basically, international > long distance charges are frequently exhorbitant, and there is a lot of > profit to be shared with anyone who can boost line usage. Sex lines are > one way to use up idle capacity. Does this mean that somebody asking "Do you speak Portugese" is trying to pick me up or talk dirty to me? :-) Jeffrey Jonas jeffj@panix.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 10:30 EDT From: kindred@telesciences.com (David L Kindred ) Subject: Source for Old Telephones In response the the recent requests for sources for old telephone equipment, I though I'd pass this along: I recently received a catalog that includes nothing but old telephone equipment: Catalog Name: Old Telephones Company: Phoneco, Inc. Address: 207 East Mill Road P.O. Box 70 Galesville, WI 54630 Phone: 608-582-4124 FAX: 608-582-4593 The catalog shows used and reproduction equipment from the 1890's to the present, from most manufacturers. Both North American and European manufacturers are represented. There are several pages of coin phones, some still usable for coin service. Also listed are many parts. As I have never ordered anything from this company, I can make no statement about their quality or reliability. Dave ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 18:09:32 GMT In article molly!carl@uunet.UU.NET (Carl Shapiro) writes: > You can probably find any old phone parts you need at: > Phoneco, Inc. > Galesville, WI 54630 Does anybody know the name of the proprietor of Phoneco? Ed Greenberg edg@netcom.com Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 10:29:23 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Correction of Phone Number (Re: Cellular Propagation Simulator) I take it the voice telephone number you provided is in area 415. 414 is in Wisconsin. > Recently, I received some brochures on a product called BONeS from > COMDISCO system, 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd, Foster city CA 94404. Tel 414 > 574-5800, fax 415 358-3601. ------------------------------ From: martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu (Martin McCormick) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 16:55:16 GMT Nobody has mentioned "Telephone Man" by Rickie Lee Jones. This song was popular in the late seventies on Top 40 stations and I even heard it once on Radio Australia. The song, for those who might not have heard it, is one gigantic double-entendre about a young lady who needs a telephone installed in her apartment and gets, shall we say, the full-service treatment from the installer. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #517 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08917; 28 Jul 93 5:22 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17382 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 28 Jul 1993 02:47:36 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05701 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 28 Jul 1993 02:47:01 -0500 Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 02:47:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307280747.AA05701@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #518 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Jul 93 02:47:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 518 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: 1-800-COLLECT (Laurence Chiu) Re: 1-800-COLLECT (John R. Levine) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Alan M. Gallatin) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Ron Bean) Re: Dark Fibre (Eric Germann) Re: Big Rivers (Jack Winslade) Re: Why the AT&T True Voice Demo Asks For Your Number (David Leibold) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Brett Elliott) AT&T Billing on 5 July (Craig R. Watkins) T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? (David Leibold) Picking on Lawyers? (Harold Hallikainen) High Speed Modem Connect Signals (Brett Elliott) Re: CONNECT BBS Edition (Patricia Snyder-Rayl) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (David Leibold) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: 1-800-COLLECT From: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) Date: 27 Jul 93 22:21:00 GMT Organization: The Transfer Station BBS, Danville, CA - 510-837-4610/837-5591 Reply-To: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) In a article, Christopher Zguris had the following to say about 1-800-COLLECT: > So based on the comparison of charges Dave Niebuhr(dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl. > gov) posted in TELECOM Digest v13 #504 it looks like 800-COLLECT is > worthwhile. I noticed the AT&T ads against "other" companies > (obviously 800-COLLECT) only focus on the fact that a minimum of only > $.01 savings is guaranteed -- maximums and/or average savings are not > mentioned, I don't think the ads are very effective or strong. Can we > expect new 800-COLLECT ads to counter AT&T and then AT&T giving in and > lowering their rates? Does anyone know how well 800-COLLECT is doing, > is AT&T running ads against it as a precaution or are they losing > business? I thought I saw ads from AT&T advertising their competing service, 1-800-OPERATOR. Never having had the need to make collect calls, I don't know what the rates are but they seemed to indicate that it was competitive. Laurence Chiu The Transfer Station BBS (510) 837-4610 & 837-5591 (V.32bis both lines) Danville, California, USA. 1.5 GIG Files & FREE public Internet Access ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 23:27 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: 1-800-COLLECT Organization: I.E.C.C. >> 1-800-COLLECT .65 US > Gee ... I just got off the phone with them a few minutes ago and the > customer service rep told me the surcharge is $1.50. One of the most consistent problems I have had dealing with MCI is that they are totally unable to quote correct prices over the phone. The best I've found is to call five times and see if three of the answers disagree. I can't help but notice that somehow, when they quote wrong prices, the price the quote is invariably less than the actual price. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: amg@north7.acpub.duke.edu (Alan M. Gallatin) Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Date: 28 Jul 93 02:38:48 GMT Nigel Allen (ae446@freenet.carleton.ca) wrote: >> Do the city busses labelled "MCI" have anything to do >> with Microwave Communications, Inc.? > The MCI that makes buses is Motor Coach Industries, which I believe is > a subsidiary of Dial Corporation, a conglomerate which is best known > for its soaps and detergents. When I first read this, I couldn't help but laugh at the irony ... MCI long distance has *nothing* whatsoever to do with MCI bus manufacturer, but the latter is a subsidiary of *DIAL* corporation. Are you sure there isn't SOME link between the two? :-) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 20:17:02 -0500 (CDT) From: Ron Bean hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) writes: > Do the city busses labelled "MCI" have anything to do with Microwave > Communications, Inc.? I assume you mean *intercity* buses, although they are used for commuter runs in some areas. More about that in a minute. A few years ago I knew of FOUR different companies named "MCI" that had nothing to do with each other. One was some kind of paint factory. One was a subsidiary of Sony that made high-end tape decks for radio stations. One was the above-mentioned phone company. And one was Motor Coach Industries, a subsidiary of the Greyhound-Dial corporation (now called the Dial Corp. since they sold Greyhound, but as far as I know they still own MCI). MCI buses are built in Winnepeg as empty shells, and trucked across the border to Pembina, North Dakota for finishing. Buses for Greyhound have the running dog in place of the "MCI" logo. MCI's biggest competitor is Prevost, which is also in Canada. The group that bought Greyhound also bought Trailways, and nearly went bankrupt a few years ago. zaphod@madnix.UUCP (Ron Bean) uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!zaphod ------------------------------ From: Germann Associates Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: Ohio Academic Resources Network Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 20:45:30 GMT In article brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) writes: > T1 = 24 DS0's (64KB connections), T3 = 28 T1's, or 28*24=672 DS0's. Trivia question from someone confused: I've recently received some literature from a company regarding multiplexing voice over broadband (re: CATV). They claim they support DS1 and DS2 interfaces for voice. Now I know what DS0, DS1 and DS3 are, but what is a DS2 interface, in terms of DS0 channels? Also, anyone know of any products which can insert a T1 or multiple T1's onto broadband? Please reply via e-mail as I will be out of town for the next two weeks. Thanks for the feedback. Regards, Eric Germann The Germann Associates eric@tga.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 93 07:16:26 CST From: Jack.Winslade@axolotl.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Re: Big Rivers Reply-To: jack.winslade%drbbs@axolotl.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha In a message dated 21-JUL-93, Dave Niebuhr writes: > The Missouri did that in the 1800's with Iowa and Nebraska at Omaha. > Originally, the Missouri made an indentation into the Nebraska side, > but then (maybe due to flooding) moved to the east toward Iowa and > looped back in such a way the people having to go to the Omaha airport > from the south and west (correct me if I'm mistaken) had to go through > Carter Lake, Iowa and then back into Omaha. This is mostly correct. Abbott Drive which runs from downtown Omaha to Eppley crosses a small portion of Iowa which is just east of the town of Carter Lake. (BTW, Carter Lake's sewage system is a MESS. Sewage has been backing up into cellars and drains due to the high water.) The expressway, however, swings around to the north of Carter Lake and connects downtown to Eppley without passing through Iowa. There is some telecom folklore here, which has been discussed before but I'll summarize in brief. Carter Lake is served out of the Douglas-19th. CO in downtown Omaha and has the prefix 712-347. This office also handles 402-341,2,4,5,6,8 and many others. For a while, some claim that Carter Lake could be dialed from out of the area as either 402-347 or 712-347. This may have been the case years ago, but now the AC identities follow the political boundaries. Lines on the 347 office are only installed in the Iowa section just as the others are in Nebraska only. One interesting item is that the Omaha lines out of that office can call much further east into Iowa toll-free than can the 347 lines in Carter Lake, which can only call as far east as Council Bluffs and perhaps a few inner outlying communities. Good day. JSW DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha (1:285/666.0) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 00:27 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Re: Why the AT&T True Voice Demo Asks For Your Number The TrueVoice Demo line works from Canada, though it's hard to tell the difference between regular and True (especially when trying this from a noisy subway platform :-)). Don't know what AT&T is going to do with Canadian numbers entered (though they do have part ownership in Unitel, Bell Canada's main competitor; one wonders if Unitel will pick up the voice enhancement). Still, they seem to accept 900 786.7737 as a number. David Leibold ------------------------------ From: belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 06:47:12 GMT I received a call at work (I work for PacBell) from a lady trying to reach a number in southern California. She represented a small business and was trying to reach a number left by someone "who represented Xerox". I pulled up the number and it was under a totally differnt company with a complex phone system. She said she heard of a scam (I hadn't heard anything before this call about the scam) regarding copy machines. I blew it off until I read this thread. It does happen _quite_ frequently. belliot@eis.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: Craig R. Watkins Subject: AT&T Billing on 5 July Date: 27 Jul 93 21:40:47 EST Organization: HRB Systems, Inc. My calls on the 5th of July were billed at regular day rate. I thought that maybe they should have been billed as on a holiday. I called AT&T and they said they should have been and credited me. The bill was prepared by Bell of Pennsylvania; I don't know whose mistake it was. Did this happen to anyone else? Craig R. Watkins crw@icf.hrb.com HRB Systems, Inc. +1 814 238-4311 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 00:39 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? The Toronto FreeNet (TFN) mailings recently included a suggestion to look at getting T1 lines for the forthcoming FreeNet facility rather than individual POTS lines. There are apparently adapters that can connect a T1 line with a number of computer ports, in effect doing the function modems would be doing on each POTS line otherwise. The TFN folks would appreciate some insight as to whether T1 lines would be more cost-effective than separate trunks/POTS lines, especially considering that there would have to be the equivalent of 100 POTS lines access at the outset of the FreeNet (scheduled to begin operation by April 1994). Are there any difficulties with establishing a local number access if T1 lines are used? David Leibold ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Picking on Lawyers? Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 03:01:27 GMT > [Moderator's Note: I know what! Let's bash attornies. That is a new > and original idea; I don't think anyone ever does that, do they? To > close this issue, a 'lawyer joke' .... A recent Le Show (NPR program from KCRW) quoted some lawyer as saying that lawyer jokes were part of the cause for the lawyer shoot out in San Francisco. The lawyer suggested lawyer jokes be outlawed (or at least discouraged). So, Harry Shearer (the host, though I probably mis-spelled his name) ran about 15 minutes of lawyer jokes listeners called in. Probably the best stuff I've heard on that show was when he got a group of actors together and they read the police data radio transcripts the night of the Rodney King beating. Amazing to hear what the LA police were saying about the people they were serving. Harold [Moderator's Note: None of what the police said that night comes as any surprise to people who listen to police scanners. Between 460.050 and 460.600 are about twenty frequencies used by the Chicago Police and paramedics. Each 'radio zone' typically includes two police dis- tricts except for the busiest districts which have their own radio zone. There are several city-wide frequencies, and depending on what they have to say, these sometimes 'simulcast' with the local zones. They *never* stop talking, and when something on city-wide is to be simulcast those dispatchers walk through the locals cutting them off in mid-sentence, etc. Seriously, they never stop. The radio won't scan if the 'delay' feature is turned on because on any given police channel there is never the requisite period of a few seconds silence to cause the radio to move to the next frequency. They've been much better lately, but they used to be rather blunt in discussing 'the citizens'. I think that was before they realized how many 'citizens' listen to them. Still, I can't be very harsh with them. Some areas of Chicago are the most violent, criminal places you could imagine. But the police here could still improve their language/communication skills a little. PAT] ------------------------------ From: belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) Subject: High Speed Modem Connect Signals Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 07:09:41 GMT Could some knowledgable source explain the signals involved in the modem connect sequence, more specificly v32bis or USR hst signaling? What I am not curious about is the handshaking but the interaction with the telephone network. (Does it send a signal to allow better signaling? Explain please, if you can answer this.) Thanks in advance, belliot@eis.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: pegasus@cyberspace.org (Patricia Snyder-Rayl) Subject: Re: CONNECT BBS Edition Organization: GREX Public Access Unix +1 313 761 3000 Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 01:16:58 GMT JONC at the Continuum PCBoard asked why I didn't include the prices for subscribing to the CONNECT BBS Edition. I did that out of courtesy for the non-commericial nature of the Internet. What I posted was a press release, and to have included the prices would have made it an ad. There is no secret to the rates. Anyone who wishes to have more information about the CONNECT BBS Edition can either email me at PEGASUS@CYBERSPACE.ORG or contact Clint Bradford (Attention to Details BBS) at (909) 681-6210 voice and his BBS at (909) 681-6221 up to 14.4Kbps. Thank you for your time and trouble. Patricia Snyder-Rayl AOL: CONNECT voice: (313) 973-8825 Man. Ed., CONNECT magazine CIS: 70007,4640 fax: (313) 973-0411 "The Modem User's Resource" Delphi: UNICORNPUB BBS: (313) 973-9137 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 00:32 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? The British Columbia-based band Chilliwack once had a song entitled "Tell it to the Telephone". A choice verse: "Now the telephone leaves a lot to be desired / For communication, I much rather be right by your side / When you owe a lot of money / And they're coming to collect / It's a long long distance / To get their hands around your neck". This was on an album released in 1981. David Leibold ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #518 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02514; 28 Jul 93 19:34 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06184 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 28 Jul 1993 17:03:11 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA03113 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 28 Jul 1993 17:02:32 -0500 Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 17:02:32 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307282202.AA03113@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #519 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Jul 93 17:02:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 519 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Review From 2600: Inside the 5ESS (Mike King) Calls From Prison (Jean Airey) Have You Heard of TeleFriend Inc. or GFN??? (Ken Brucker) "County-Plus" Calling in Delaware (Carl Moore) HR1757 Now Available in Archives (Dave Banisar, CPSR via Monty Solomon) Flat-Rate Deals (Stephen Davis) Two Lines to One TAD (Steven A. Rubin) New Use For 211 (Tim Hogard) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (David Hough) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Paul Cook) Re: Connecting Site A to Site B (Jon Carmichael) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (F. Goldstein) Re: Dark Fiber? (Brett Frankenberger) Re: Lowest Cost 1-800 Number? (Russ McGuire) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 08:04:54 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Review From 2600: Inside the 5ESS The Summer '93 edition of {2600} magazine (V10, #2) has some interesting articles in it. The lead article is "A Guide to the 5ESS." The author discusses switch topology, hardware, software, and how to program it. As an example, the author shows how the RCF feature would be added to a line. The article is eleven pages long. Other items of interest in this issue include: * What happens when Britons attempt to get a copy of their credit report (they get a copy of reports for everyone who lived at the same address for the last six years). Brit creditors assume that if you live in a house formerly occupied by a deadbeat, then you're highly likely to be a deadbeat yourself. * (In the letters section) some COCOTs in Texaco stations in Washington (State) have no security -- dial 1-800 and wait; no keypad lockout and talk-path is not cut [I assume this implies dial tone is returned]. The editor suggested phreaking COCOTs is more dangerous than phreaking Ma because the owner could well be lurking nearby. * (Also in the letters) suggested ANAC numbers for 310/818 include: 114, 1223, 61056, 760, or 760+4D. This month's ANAC number for Albuquerque, NM [the NM in the US ;-)] is 990-4312. * (Letters...) one correspondent is in the process of fixing his credit report after declaring bankruptcy by disputing each derogatory item. After the credit bureau receives the challenge, they must contact the creditor and reverify the information. If the creditor doesn't respond within 15 days, then the item has to be deleted from the report. The writer suggests that as more and more people challenge negative reports, the creditors won't be able to keep up with the number of requests (so keep challenging). * A list of government BBSs. This is the third issue of {2600} I've purchased, and I think it's quite a bargain for $4 at the newstand -- assuming uou can find a newstand that sells it! Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 09:09:03 EDT From: jean@hrcce.att.com Subject: Calls From Prison Organization: AT&T Pat: WRT the recent discussion and your comments on the calls from prison being routed through AOS. That's not true just in Illinois, apparently it's true in other locations as well. A foster child of ours wound up in prison in Arizona (you can't win them all) and calls to talk to my husband (long story). I don't mind paying for the call (I handle the phone bills), but I strongly objected when the calls started coming through an AOS. I've found out that the prisons (at least many of them) want an automated-only system -- with no human intervention at all, ever. With (get this!) no access to "800" or "700" calls -- let alone a "call me" card! I called an AT&T contact to discuss this and was told that that is the case and that AT&T now does have equipment to handle the calls the way the prisons want them handled -- but is not having an easy time persuading the systems to use them. Now I don't know, but is it possible that the local systems get some kind of a kick-back or percentage of usage from the AOS? I agree, it just doesn't seem right that the families are paying for it. Now I fully recognize that there are prisoners who are calling people and discussing things that are not to the benefit of society, :-), but surely there are others for whom the chance to talk to someone "straight" on the outside might be important for any chance of rehabilitation they need. In my opinion, of course. Jean Airey [Moderator's Note: One thing you have to understand about the corrections industry in the United States is that many of the people employed in the industry are on the wrong side of the bars only by accident. I know a fellow who worked for Cook County Jail for a few years. He was frank in saying that as he interviewed the people who came past him day after day (his job title was 'intake technician'; he did initial inter- views with new prisoners as they arrived) that it was the easiest thing in the world to screw up and find yourself on the wrong side of the intake window. Very easy ... just slight changes in circumstances would do it. Corrections is a big, tasty pie with lots of people wanting to get a big slice for themselves. After all, where else can you get such a captive customer base? One AOS owner was quoted in the {Christian Science Monitor} saying, "I'm glad we have a war on drugs going on. The prisons and jails are more crowded than ever; this means more business for companies which contract with prisons for health care, food service, and telephone service ...". I think the reason AT&T is losing out where prison phone service is concerned is because they refuse to pay bribes to corrections management people who come looking for a personal slice of the pie. AT&T would like the business, although prisons are not the best type of accounts, profit-wise. On the other hand, the AOS's are glad to spread the loot around with personal gifts to prison officials; there is more than enough to go around, considering what they charge. If you don't subscribe to the {Monitor} you really should; it is a great newspaper. I've read it for 35 years, since I got my first subscription in high school. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kjb@cvsd.cv.com (Ken Brucker - VMS|Ultrix|Network System Manager) Subject: Have You Heard of TeleFriend Inc. or GFN??? Date: 28 Jul 93 09:29:49 -0800 Organization: Computervision, San Diego CA Has anyone ever heard of Global Wats, Global Family Network or TeleFriend, Inc.? Someone I know handed me a couple of brochures on this "new" network marketing company TeleFriend, Inc. that was started by Global Wats (supposedly a national long distance marketing company that I've never heard of) offering long distance telephone service via the Global Family Network (GFN). They offer a variety of benifits like five free hours of long distance a year, billing based on six second intervals instead of one minute and then they also have the network marketing bent that provides income based on your downline using the phone. Any comments on this service? Has anyone tried it or heard of it? I like the service I get from AT&T now but if these guys are cheaper and have good service then I'd consider giving them a try. Thanks, Ken Brucker -- VMS/Ultrix/Network Management -- Computervision -- San Diego kjb@cvsd.cv.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 13:33:51 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: "County-Plus" Calling in Delaware I had occasion to call Diamond State Telephone on an unrelated matter (it turns out I had to say I was NOT ordering the Doylestown, Pa. directory despite sending a letter about some of the call-guide contents), when I heard (from that office) about yet-to-be-approved "county plus" calling. This is apparently an expansion from the "county" calling plan discussed in the digest earlier). This would include Dover to New Castle becoming a local call? (Dover calling area now goes as far north as Smyrna inclusive.) What I was actually asking about when the "county plus" was mentioned was what will happen to long-distance dialing within Delaware (the NNX area codes are coming). Once the misunderstanding was straightened out, the service rep. said she didn't know. I'll break here and send another message about long distance within Delaware (area 302). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 04:51:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: HR1757 Now Available in Archives Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA [Moderator's Note: This was passed on to us by Monty. PAT] Archive-name: auto/bit.listserv.govdoc-l/hr1757 The revised version of HR1757, the national information infrastructure bill introduced by Rep. Boucher is now available on the CPSR Internet Library. FTP/WAIS/GOPHER to cpsr.org /cpsr/nii/hr1757_july_1993.txt. if you do not have ftp/wais/gopher, email listserv@cpsr.org with the word "help" as the body of the text. Dave Banisar CPSR Washington Office ------------------------------ From: wolfgang@halcyon.halcyon.com (Stephen Davis) Subject: Flat-Rate Deals Date: 28 Jul 1993 02:33:18 -0700 Organization: "A World of Information at your Fingertips" I have just signed up for a flat-rate calling service. I'm paying $50 a month for 8 1/2 hours of time. I can call anywhere in the U.S., the time of day does not affect anything. I signed for this only after calling around to other 'telecommunication' companies in the area. My question is, are there perhaps some 800 services that have better prices than $.10 per hour? This seems pretty good to me, as I can make the calls anytime, anywhere. wolfgang@halcyon.com Director; Lispotheraputic Support Group, Int'l All implied insults, puns, and flames are (c) 1993 Screaming Radish Publishing Co. ------------------------------ From: sar1952@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Steven A Rubin) Subject: Two Lines to One TAD Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 12:21:37 -0400 Organization: Homewood Academic Computing, Johns Hopkins Univ Baltimore, Md Perhaps someone could shed some light on the following problem: I am trying to hook up two phone lines to one answering machine via a device purchased from Radio Shack. When the device is connected, each line produces a noticable hum when making, and during phone calls. The polarity of everything has been checked and is correct. I have tried three different boxes and all do the same thing. Both phone lines come out of the same CO, out of the same switch so it is unlikely there is some weird ground problem. Any ideas of what is causing this problem? I have an identical box going to two different lines from different COs and it works flawlessly. ------------------------------ From: thogard@wrdis01.robins.af.mil (Cont Tim Hogard) Subject: New Use For 211 Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 12:31:19 -0400 (EDT) I heard on the radio today that the people that run 911 want people to call into 211 to test their addresses and other information. They gave out a schedule for certain prefixes to call during a range of times over the next few days. This is in Southern Bell country in Houtson county (if you're from Texas you will not pronounce it like the locals). SB uses some ESS5 switches and the numbers are in the ranges of 912-74X-, 47X-, 78X-. Tim Hogard Robins AFB Warner Robins GA ------------------------------ From: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk (David Hough) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Reply-To: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 06:04:27 +0000 In article fred@page6.pinetree.org (Fred Ennis) writes: > While I am speaking of telecom scams, there's also the outfit in > Europe that sends out bills for fax or telex directory listings, and > if you pay the bill the fine print says you're agreeing to be listed > in the NEXT directory and pay that bill as well! What about the ones who don't even bother to publish a directory? There have been a few of those going around in the not too distant past. At least if they publish the thing it isn't quite so bad. Dave G4WRW @ GB7WRW.#41.GBR.EU AX25 dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Internet g4wrw@g4wrw.ampr.org Amprnet ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 17:38 GMT From: 0003991080@mcimail.com Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! In the past few years these guys have switched to selling fax paper. For awhile I was getting lots of these calls, but they seem to have died off. We were getting so many that I asked our PBX attendant to switch them to me. The instructions were that I should get any call from anyone who started asking questions about either our fax or copy machines. After awhile I got familiar with their routine, so it was time to have a little fun. At our company, we cannot buy anything unless Purchasing issues a valid purchase order. So when the scam artist would call and breezily ask for information about our machines, or say that they were a regular supplier of ours, I would start asking questions. What I discovered was that when I asked even the most basic questions that a business would normally ask to identify a current or potential supplier, they would just hang up! Things like the NAME and ADDRESS of their company! This was such a common pattern that I started asking them to first promise me not to hang up before I started asking the questions. This was usually met with a puzzled response, but I would tell them that we were getting a lot of calls from fax paper suppliers who would suddenly and mysteriously hang up. When I asked where they were calling from, they would always give me a name that sounded "big", but was not anyone we had heard of. I would mention that I couldn't find them in our list of suppliers, and to please give me their address. Next would come a vague reference to their location being in "California." When asked again, they would say "L.A.". One poor guy was obviously new as a toner foner, and started covering up the handset to ask someone how to handle these incredibly "intrusive" questions ... experienced toner foners would have hung up long before. Finally I got him to promise me again not to hang up, and I asked again for their address ... in desperation finally saying, "No, Brad, I need the actual street address of the physical location that you are calling from." He hung up. On the occasions when I did get a phone number, it was always phoney. When I got them to tell me the city they were calling from, their company name was never listed with directory assistance. Maybe we got on some kind of list that they pass around of difficult people that they don't want to deal with. They haven't called in over a year, but we used to get called constantly. Paul Cook 206-881-7000 Proctor & Associates MCI Mail 399-1080 15050 NE 36th St. fax: 206-885-3282 Redmond, WA 98052-5378 3991080@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Connecting Site A to Site B From: jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) Date: 27 Jul 93 21:34:00 GMT Organization: uuPCB - Demonstration Version Reply-To: cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) > We also have 56Kb digital circuits between the main office and each > of the remote locations, for data communications. Depending on the type of data you're carrying, there are multiplexors that will allow you to carry 40 terminal connections (async) while carrying two voice trunks (compressed) simultaneously. What that means is that you get two voice grade lines you can talk on without buying another 56K link. JONC The Continuum PCBoard -*- @9600+ call 818-441-2625 @2400- call 818-799-9633 ------------------------------ From: goldstein@isdnip.lkg.dec.com Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: Digital Equipment Corp. Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 04:56:47 GMT In article nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) writes: > The interesting thing is that COs still mostly follow the > model of a big dumb crosspoint run as a computer peripheral. One > would think by now that switches would be much more distributed, with > little CPUs all through the switch fabric. But given the amount of > trouble people still have designing distributed systems, it's not > clear that using lots of little CPUs would improve reliability, and > might well make it worse. Computer folks and telephone folks are a long way apart, that's fer sure. I do however have a passing familiarity with both disciplines. Distributing the logic in a telephone switch is a tricky proposition. In practice, you need ONE central system-wide state machine or the whole system won't work. This CPU has to keep track of all of the system's objects (to use a modern name). These are lines, trunks, numbers (.ne. lines), bandwidth, etc. Distributing all of the logic causes major grief. It is not a problem for POTS services: A stepper is fully distributed, and an electronic stepper-like switch is possible (and available ...) But if you want to be competitive and have real Centrex/PBX features, you need multi- line key telephone sets implemented in software. These have an arbitrary number of line buttons, each of which has a visual indication of status, accurate within a second or less. This is not terribly hard to implement when the keyset control process can poll the status of each monitored line or number. But when a switch is fully distributed, where do you look? You get into a messy information exchange problem that requires lots of bandwidth and tends to take oodles more programming, yet software is already most of the cost. That fully-distributed switching is a losing proposition (in the US market, where keysets count, but not necessarily Europe where the culture doesn't expect them) can be seen from industry experience. Northern's SL-1 and DMS switches always had single state CPUs. The DMS-100 has a bunch of little microprocessors chugging away at local real-time tasks, but one "big" CPU (often a 68020 but lately it might be a bigger Moto chip) runs the real generic. I think the source language is Protel, a specialized structured language. (The SL-1 was originally written in the SL-1 language.) These switches are very successful. The AT&T 5ESS was first announced with an almost-fully distributed processing model, but was withdrawn for three years or so and finally shipped with a lot more power than expected (read: state machine) in the central module. It does have a lot of distributed power, but at least there's one core. I think they've given up on trying to get rid of it, as per some early 5ESS literature which practically apologized for not being fully distributed. The Mitel SX-2000 has distributed real-time Motos surrounding a centralized state machine. It's fairly successful. But look... The ITT 1240 was fully distributed. It never worked in the US market and was pulled; ITT sold out to Alcatel. The 1240 is a big hit in Europe where there's no need for keysets. The Rolm VLCBX was fully distriubted and years late. The Wescom 580DSS divvied its CPU load into six processors and look how far they got. In any case, fully-distributed operation does not add reliability. A distributed stepper had no single failure point. But with processors, you can distribute all you want and still have a single bug in the code bring down all instances of it. Witness the famous event, chronicled here in the Digest, when AT&T's SS7 network crashed due to one misplaced "break" statement. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 13:04:13 GMT Germann Associates writes: > I've recently received some literature from a company regarding > multiplexing voice over broadband (re: CATV). They claim they support > DS1 and DS2 interfaces for voice. Now I know what DS0, DS1 and DS3 > are, but what is a DS2 interface, in terms of DS0 channels? DS2 = 4 DS1's. (Or 4*24=96 Voice Channels). (A DS3 then would be 7 DS2's, or 7*4=28 DS1's, etc.) Most multiplexing is done at the 24 DS0->DS1 and then 28 DS1->DS3 ... (i.e. they multiplex 24 DS0's to a DS1 with one box (or they have a much more fancy box that generates a T1, -or- it started out as a T1 (A T1 trunk port on a switch, for example), and then they put it into another box that takes 24 T1's and gives a T3 (or DS3)). The DS2 intermediate step is not commonly used. Brett (brettf@netcom.com) (formerly rfranken@cs.umr.edu) Brett Frankenberger ------------------------------ From: russ_mcguire@wiltel.com (Russ McGuire) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 08:00:01 -0500 Subject: Re: Lowest Cost 1-800 Number? pnta@warren.med (Patrick Nta) asked: > Which company offers the lowest 1-800 number for small business? According to the April issue of The Beacon Research Group's Business Consumer Guide, it depends on your specific situation. They did, however look at products from Allnet, AT&T, Cable&Wireless, LCI, LDDS, MCI, US Sprint, and WilTel. They produced a summary chart of "Real world 800 costs" based on call volume in minutes per month, identifying the least expensive reviewed product and the savings compared to AT&T's competitive products (Startline and Readyline). Briefly summarized, this was: Call Volume Least Expensive % savings minutes/month reviewed program over AT&T 100 LDDS Acclaim III 18% 250 LDDS Acclaim III 21% 500 LDDS Acclaim III 19% 1,000 Allnet Instantline 800 26% 2,500 WilTel Wilplus II 23% 5,000 Allnet Instantline 800 21% 10,000 Allnet Instantline 800 21% 25,000 Allnet Instantline 800 20% (for more details, contact the Beacon Research Group at 125 Walnut Street, Watertown, MA 02172). Phone numbers listed for the above companies are: Allnet: 800-783-2020 AT&T: 800-222-0400 LDDS: 800-456-4363 WilTel: 800-864-4060 Disclaimer: I am an employee of WilTel. I have no association with the Beacon Research Group. Although the above results reflect positively on my employer, they are merely a brief summary of information contained in a report by the Beacon Research Group. If you are interested in more detailed information about their study, I recommend that you contact them at the above address for a copy of the report. I certainly cannot vouch for the accuracy of their data nor the validity of their approach. Russ McGuire WilTel, Inc. russ_mcguire@wiltel.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #519 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14455; 29 Jul 93 3:21 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19941 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 01:09:04 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14871 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 01:08:31 -0500 Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 01:08:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307290608.AA14871@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #520 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Jul 93 01:08:15 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 520 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Online Congressional Hearing Postponed (Carl Malamud via Tom Lahey) Wanted: Novatel Cellular Phone Handset and Handset Cradle (Seng-Poh Lee) On-line Access to AT&T CIC Catalogue (David Leibold) Models For Opnet (mil3) (Mark Gregory) Use of DataPhone 2000 (Ed Gehringer) Caller ID Blocking in N.J. (John R. Levine) Lead in the Industry (Dave Carpentier) Frame Setup (Brett Elliott) Zoom VFX Modem (Todd L. Brooks) Is This Legal? (Gang Zhou) ADSI Specs Wanted? (Ray Berry) CNA Information For College Telcom Office (Matthew Harttree) Costs to Cable (Lynne Gregg) Tested For Busy Signal (Carl Moore) Press *4 (Carl Moore) What Changes For Delaware? (Carl Moore) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Ed Greenberg) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Fred) Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address (blake@hou2h.att.com) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (Garrett Wollman) Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? (Mark A. Terribile) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tlahey@mac.avid.com (Tom Lahey) Organization: Avid Technology, Inc. Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 16:59:56 EST Subject: Online Congressional Hearing Postponed From another forum......... Online Congressional Hearing Postponed The Internet Town Hall depends on donations from many organizations, many of which are commercial entities. Given the cost of computers, software, and network links, this isn't surprising, and in fact, it's an example of how even competing companies can cooperate for the community good, much as people cooperate on the Internet. Along with everything else, the Online Congressional Hearing was going to transmit audio and video over the Internet, and to avoid destroying the standard links, ARPA volunteered the use of their high-speed experimental DARTNET, whose underlying facilities are operated by Sprint. The Internet Town Hall folks asked if Sprint would like to join, and in the process provide a high-speed link to the hearing room. Sprint expressed some concerns about the ethical considerations of donating the link to the government, even for this use alone, so the subcommittee postponed the hearing for several months. The problem is that donations to the underlying infrastructure of the congressional committee could be construed as expenses which the government would have to reimburse. The idea is to avoid it seeming as though the committee was beholden to a specific interest group. I have a feeling that things are not so squeaky clean in Washington as this may imply, but I approve of the Internet Town Hall folks making sure that the Internet is kept above any such impropriety. We hope this hearing will happen in a few months and not end up sucked into a giant black hole of government investigations. You can still email comments to to be forwarded to the Subcommittee staff. You can also ask to be added to a list that will be notified when the hearing is rescheduled. Information from: Carl Malamud -- carl@trystero.malamud.com =========================== Tom Lahey E-Mail: tlahey@avid.com Avid Technology, Inc. Phone: 508.640.3036 One Park West Fax: 508.640.1366 Tewksbury, MA 01876 ------------------------------ From: Seng-Poh Lee Subject: Wanted: Novatel Cellular Phone Handset and Handset Cradle Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 23:24:43 -0400 (EDT) I'm looking for a spare handset and speaker cradle for a Novatel Cellular phone. I don't need the base unit. The actual model is an HC 585P AP4, but I believe there were several similiar models around that time (two or three years ago) that used the same handset. If you happen to have one lying around, please contact me. Thanks, Seng-Poh Lee ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 23:40 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: On-line Access to AT&T CIC Catalogue Don Kimberlin posted another item of interest to the Fidonet. Since he doesn't seem to be hanging around the Digest much these days, I'm sending along an excerpt of what was said ... You can telephone (800) 432-6600 or (317) 322-6484 to get telephone assistance from the AT&T CIC staff, and place orders with them for publications to help you, and there's now an on-line searchable link to their catalog, so you can browse as you will at any hour of the day or night through all their many years of material. Here's some text from their announcement of the AT&T CIC on-line offering: "INTRODUCING THE MOST COMPLETE CATALOG OF AT&T DOCUMENTS AT&T's Customer Information Center (CIC) now offers a free on-line catalog where you can locate and order from over 380,000 documents using your PC terminal. Find documents using key word, title, subject or document number. Then use the on-line order form for simple and quick service! Access the CIC database using the directions below, then simply follow the prompts: AT&T Datakit Users Dial-Up Users At the "destination" prompt, enter: Telephone Sue Rea at 426/813/nik1.telnet..sunids 317-322-6491 for instructions and a logon ID and password. THROUGH THE CIC CATALOG YOU CAN LOCATE: o AT&T Plant and Engineering Practices o Product Manuals o User Guides o Installation and Service Manuals o Books o Brochures o Catalogs o Product Bulletins o Handbooks o Newsletters o Training Materials o Engineering Drawings o Technical Bulletins o Product Specifications o Administrative Forms o Employee Benefit Literature o International Telephone Directories Questions regarding the CIC catalog should be directed to Brenda Oeff at 317-322-6626." Origin: Borderline! BBS Kannapolis,N.C. (704) 938-6207 (1:379/37.0) ------------------------------ From: rcomg@cse.rmit.edu.au (Mark Gregory) Subject: Models For Opnet (mil3) Date: 29 Jul 1993 04:16:52 GMT Organization: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. Hi, I have just received opnet from Mil3 and would like to run a few laboratories based on small models of ISDN and B-ISDN (ATM). Would anyone who can help please reply. If you have any other interesting models that you would not mind passing on then I would appreciate you assistance. Thank you, Mark Gregory Lecturer m.gregory@rmit.edu.au PH(03)6603243 FAX(03)6621060 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering, P.O. Box 2476V, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001. AUSTRALIA. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 19:20:46 -0400 From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Use of DataPhone 2000 I recently tried to use a DataPhone 2000 to call my computer from my PC. First I tried to type the phone number, followed by a few pause characters, followed by the authorization code, into my terminal emulator. I failed to connect. I then called the operator, who gave me credit for the first call and tried it herself. Again I failed to connect. Then I found another DataPhone 2000 where the "help" function was working. It instructed me to dial the number manually, then hang up when the computer answers. I did so, waiting for the "whoosh" before hanging up. But I was disconnected. I tried once more, but this time hung up before hearing the whoosh. I still failed to connect. What are the proper incantations for using this kind of phone? Thanks, Ed ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Caller ID Blocking in N.J. Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 19:44:32 EDT The Privacy Journal notes that New Jersey Bell just started offering per-line and per-call CLID blocking. N.J. was the only state where blocking was unavailable. Another article notes that CLID has not been much of a marketing success. In places where it's been offered, rarely do as many as 5% of eligible customers subscribe and a lot of people who do subscribe drop the service. I was surprised to hear that Bell Canada says they're getting 15% signup in Ontario and Quebec. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: dave.carpentier@oln.com Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 11:40:35 -0400 Subject: Lead in the Industry With all the concern over health hazards these days, I'd like to know how many teleco's still use lead sheathed cables and lead sleeves (closures). I routinely have to work with the stuff as a cable splicer. We no longer install lead sheathed cables, but have to maintain the existing ones. Lead sleeves are still the standard here for under- ground (ducted) splices, mostly due to design flexibilty/cost/reli- ability. Any info would be appreciated. Dave (ps: do we get OP people in here?) ------------------------------ From: belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) Subject: Frame Setup Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 03:11:43 GMT I should be touring a CO soon so I would like to brush up on the terminology soon. After the MDF, the cable pair goes to the multiple side of the IDF where the calling info is recorded and goes through the local side to the equipment. Now, this information was found out from 100 year old books (OK -- maybe 20 years old). How much of this setup is correct and how are cable numbers and pair numbers located at the exchange side (vertical) of the MDF? Thanks in advance, belliot@eis.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: tlb@carson.u.washington.edu (Todd L. Brooks) Subject: Zoom VFX Faxmodem Date: 28 Jul 1993 18:43:57 GMT Organization: University of Washington I would like to get some feedback on the quality and performance of the Zoom VFX v.32bis Faxmodem. Have you had any problems with it or the company? Please email. Thank you. ------------------------------ From: gzhou@pollux.usc.edu (Gang Zhou) Subject: Is This Legal? Date: 28 Jul 1993 19:13:42 -0700 Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA I'm living in an apartment owned by the USC housing service. I'm connected to Pacific Bell so far. But soon, USC will switch our phone lines to USC telephone service, so they have the absolute monopoly of my phone service. As you can guess, their long distance (especially international) rates are outrageously high. I'm wondering if it's legal that they disconnect me from the Pacific Bell without my agreement? They did give me a form for the disconnec- tion, but I refused to fill it. If it's legal, because they own the building, can they apply long distance rate as high as they want until the housing contract expires? Gang [Moderator's Note: Whenever the landlord makes substantial changes in the accomodations offered, or arranges things in such a way that the tenant winds up paying much more than before, the landlord is in viol- ation of the lease. You could probably vacate before the lease expired if you wished. Did the original housing contract call for phone service from Bell? If so, then switching the service also caused the lease to be broken. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rjberry@eskimo.com (Ray Berry) Subject: ADSI Specs Wanted Organization: Eskimo North (206) For-Ever Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 19:40:33 GMT I've read that CID operates in compliance with specs contained in a document called ADSI -- Analog Display Services Interface. This document goes beyond CID, e.g., spelling out ways for the end user to transmit info in the other direction. Is this document available to developers? Is it ftp'able? I haven't a clue where to look for it, but I think it would make for interesting reading. Ray Berry kb7ht ray@ole.cdac.com rjberry@eskimo.com 73407.3152@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: HARTTREE@vax1.elon.edu (Matthew Harttree) Subject: CNA Information For College Telcom Office Date: 28 Jul 1993 21:08:06 GMT Organization: ELON COLLEGE ACADEMIC COMPUTING VAX1 Do any comapnies offer customer name and address information via the internet? I believe that this would be a helpful feature for colleges and universities that are in the service provider role and need to resolve billing issues and discover cases of fraud. I believe that I saw (long time ago) that one company was offering this information to service providers like college telcom offices directly via the internet. If you know of a service like this or are using one I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks in advance for your time. Please reply via e-mail to: HARTTREE@vax1.elon.edu Thanks again, Matt Harttree Harttree@vax1.elon.edu system@vax1.elon.edu ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Costs to Cable Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 14:48:00 PDT Recently another reader posted a query on costs to run fiber. I'm seeking current costs on running various cable types: copper (varieties of coax), twisted pair, fiber. If you post directly to me, I'll sum for the Digest. For those of you who are interested in cable options, there is a good overview of the options and advantages of copper vs. fiber in 7/26 {ComputerWorld} (47). Regards, Lynne ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 10:24:32 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Tested For Busy Signal OK, I went to a pay phone on 410-273 prefix, and tested for busy signal with and without the Orange Card, but got the same result this time. (I did this yesterday, July 27.) I used calling cards to try to reach the phone's own number. 0 + 7D defaulted to C&P, and I used my AT&T card number. Then I tried the Orange Card. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 10:51:07 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Press *4 Seen November 1991 on northbound I-81 at pay phone 703-740-9804: CCI (Call Communications Inc.) 2221 Port Republic Road Harrisonburg, VA 22801 U.S. Link -- Press *4 -- attempts every 15 minutes for next eight hours -- $1.95 to MC,V,AE. Your message, your voice. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 13:42:01 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: What Changes For Delaware? At the end of my "county-plus" message, I mentioned long distance within Delaware, which is still 1 + 7D (and 7D is still useable for local calls to PA and MD, although local calls FROM PA TO DE are 1 +302 + 7D now). I still don't know what Delaware will get for long distance within it when it is time to prepare for the NNX area codes. I do notice, however, that there is local service across the entire DE - PA border and also across parts of the 215/717 border. Also, those parts of 215 bordering 717 and bordering Delaware will go to 610. Perhaps Delaware and Pennsylvania are to have 7D for long distance within area code (and 1 + NPA + 7D for local calls to another area code), with Delaware and 717 waiting until area code 610 is useable? (Just my own guess.) If this is correct, then there have to be two stages: 1. change local calls to another area code from 7D to 1 + NPA + 7D. 2. remove the leading 1 for long distance within area code. ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 18:43:28 GMT In article amg@north7.acpub.duke.edu (Alan M. Gallatin) writes: > When I first read this, I couldn't help but laugh at the irony ... MCI > long distance has *nothing* whatsoever to do with MCI bus manufacturer, > but the latter is a subsidiary of *DIAL* corporation. Well, of course, telephone enthusiasts have used DIAL soap for years, but now, as we get more modern most are using TONE soap. 'Course, TONE soap is two bucks a month extra ... :-) Ed Greenberg edg@netcom.com Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ From: goldstein@isdnip.lkg.dec.com (Fred) Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Organization: Digital Equipment Corp. Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 04:36:05 GMT > hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) writes: > Do the city busses labelled "MCI" have anything to do with Microwave > Communications, Inc.? Speaking of the overlaid initials "MCI", here in the Bay State, the term means "Massachusetts Correctional Institution at", as in MCI Concord, MCI Norfolk, MCI Gardner ... I wonder what long distance company their pay phones are presubscribed to. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 09:44:13 EDT From: blake@hou2h.att.com Subject: Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address Organization: AT&T In article cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) writes: > Okay, I've got a phone number. It's in the 815 area code. I'd like > the address that goes with it. > So I called (708) 796-9600, punched in the number, and got the message > "Information for area code 815 is not available." What's plan B? Is > 815 not served by Ameritech? (I thought they were, but ...) NUMBER TO NAME AND ADDRESS (Plan B) Call the UnDirectory service, 900-933-3330, from any U.S. touch-tone phone and enter any 10-digit U.S. phone number after the prompt. The cost is $1 a minute, and you can get up to three lookups a minute. The UnDirectory service gives name and address information for listed numbers only and cannot rebate for unsuccessful or inaccurate lookups. (I wrote a month ago that Clarity Inc, Red Bank, NJ, which then provided UnDirectory lookups for East Coast number would soon cover the whole country. That transition is now complete. The UnDirectory database includes Alaska and Hawaii.) Blake Patterson ------------------------------ From: wollman@UVM.EDU (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 19:24:11 GMT In article , woody wrote: > The British Columbia-based band Chilliwack once had a song entitled > "Tell it to the Telephone". A choice verse: "Now the telephone leaves > a lot to be desired / For communication, I much rather be right by > your side / When you owe a lot of money / And they're coming to > collect / It's a long long distance / To get their hands around your > neck". > This was on an album released in 1981. Have BC Tel's rates improved any in the past decade? That reminds me, though, of something I've been meaning to ask. Most of the readers on this Digest are probably fairly familiar with the historical development of the US telephone network, both before and after Judge Greene. Could some of our Canadian readers enlighten us with their knowledge of the parallel development of the Canadian telephone network, especially the relationships among the various local providers, the development of long-distance services, and connections with the various US telcos. I remember that Unitel was originally CNCP Telecommunications. Were they one of those providers who started out selling spare capacity on the railroad companies' plant? (I saw on Prime Time News last week, when Northern announced their big loss, how many US telcos have come to depend on being able to play off AT&T and NT to get the best pricing structure on new switches; several RBOCs now have large numbers of DMSes installed because of this, not to mention Sprint and MCI.) Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ From: mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us Subject: Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 20:41:24 GMT In article , daveb%jaws@dsinet.dgtl.com (David Breneman) writes: > Michael Covington (mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu) wrote: >> ... the ban on receivers that get the cellular frequencies ... : >> (1) The proper technical solution is to encrypt the signal ...; (2) >> Heretofore, Americans had been allowed to buy radios that would tune >> any frequency whatsoever; this is the very first peacetime ban on >> radio receivers .. > A few states have banned automotive radar detectors. As far as I > know, this has never been seriously challenged in court. I believe that the ban is not on owning or using a radar receiver, but on operating a motor vehicle while using one. And I believe that many states have similar restrictions on operating a motor vehicle while listening to a scanner that receives the police bands. (This man's opinions are his own.) From mole-end Mark Terribile mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us, Somewhere in Matawan, NJ ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #520 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15041; 29 Jul 93 3:53 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25366 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 01:36:05 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29810 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 01:35:31 -0500 Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 01:35:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307290635.AA29810@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #521 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Jul 93 01:35:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 521 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (Al Varney) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (Floyd Davidson) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (John Nagle) Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) (M. Vandepas) Re: AT&T Billing on 5 July (Ed Greenberg) Re: SIMTEL 20 Closing Down (Graham Toal) Re: What is This Number? (Graham Toal) Re: AT&T Operator Terminal (David Breneman) Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice (guy@intgp1.att.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 13:26:03 CDT From: varney@ihlpe.att.com Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: AT&T Network Systems In article nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) writes: > Chris_Brady@motsat.sat.mot.com (Chris Brady) writes: >> It seems as though the latest central office switches are still >> offered on proprietary software -- and frequently, hardware -- >> platforms. This appears to me to be due to the stringent real time >> expectations we have placed on telephony, combined with strict >> requirements for massive throughput, data integrity, system >> availability and environmental conditions. Nonetheless, there have >> been efforts in Bellcore and elsewhere to essentially reduce the CO >> switch to a peripheral of a general purpose computer, and thus enjoy >> the supposed benefits of riding more popular technology curves. I'd >> be interested in discussion on why this vision is not being realized >> in the CO market: do the technical constraints really demand >> proprietary computer implementations, or are there market forces that >> are disincenting major telecom providers from making this leap? Chris, we need all morning and a pot of coffee to get into all the issues raised by your concise paragraph. Let me just suggest that the implications of the paragraph, that CO switches are made up of "proprietary" software and hardware, differ somewhat from reality. Certainly the majority of the cost/volume of a CO switch today is tied up in "proprietary" hardware that would have to exist regardless of the architecture -- the "peripheral" you mentioned above. It seems then that your model of the CO switch is CPU + "switching fabric", and your question is "why isn't the CPU part a general purpose computer". In some newer digital COs, the "central" CPU is indeed a general purpose computer. For example, AT&T's 5ESS(rg.tm) switch uses a 3B20D(tm) computer that is (or at least was) available in commercial configurations. The 3B20D processor runs a version of UNIX(tm) on top of a message-passing kernal, and is used in many other products as a control or adjunct processor. However, the CPU + fabric model is not adequate to support large, multi-feature CO switches. Virtually all large switches today are either based on a distributed architecture, or use intelligent peripherals/adjuncts to off-load some of the CPU load. With ISDN, high-speed packet switching, multiple trunk signaling methods, SS7 signaling, etc., there's just too much going on in a feature-rich switch to use a single CPU. And small, specialized switches have a lot of trunking and economy-of-scale negatives, as well as feature limitations. I think it is just wishful thinking on the part of some to think that the productivity or cost of software for CO switches with be dramatically reduced by using a "general purpose" CPU. The truth is that new features are difficult to program on any CPU, in large part because of the interactions (mostly undocumented in the requirements) of with existing features. In some cases, TELCos use features in ways unintended by the original development, and then require that changes must continue to support the unintended use. Even if the call processing portion is well specified, the maintenance/provisioning/failure-modes/ measurements aspects are often incomplete. There are major research projects underway just looking at the feature interaction issue and ways of specifying new features in a more complete manner. I believe Bellcore is now examining general purpose "service creation environments" and adjuncts to support this concept, rather than placing the entire switch on general purpose computers. This allows the switch vendor to build and test a product that uses adjuncts at critical decision points in a call, but doen't require the TELCo to do a lot of programming that might reduce switch capacity or reliability. As a point of reference, the May/June 1992 issue of {AT&T Technical Journal} stated that the 5ESS switch that spring consisted of more than four million lines of source code, and that major features typically added more than 300K new lines of source to that base. In many cases, several interacting new features are designed, developed and tested in an overlapped manner and must all work as expected (that's requirements plus a lot more) when the software release is deployed. As to the popular technology curves, the Technical Journal referred to above also discusses the introduction of a RISC platform into the G3 DEFINITY(rg.tm) Communication System. CO switches have been constantly upgraded with newer/faster/larger technology when costs and needs dictated. So if by "popular technology" you mean today's microprocessors, they are in use all over the place. If you mean today's disk drives, optical and other high-speed interfaces, they are in use as well. If you mean modern programming techniques such as C++, object-oriented design/code, software engineering, automated testing, etc., it is also in use. On the other hand, if by "popular" technology, you mean MS-DOS, Windows or other Microsoft products, I think you can understand why they aren't used for real-time switching. If you mean water-cooled IBM/Amdahl mainframes or large DEC mainframes running in a "computer" environment, the CO environment just doesn't mesh well with these systems, and they are too much CPU for the I/O bandwidth in many cases. Most CO switches don't need hugh amounts of MIPS, just CPUs doing the right job in the right place. Don't get me wrong, we use all those products in development and support of the switches, just not in the switch itself. > The interesting thing is that COs still mostly follow the > model of a big dumb crosspoint run as a computer peripheral. One > would think by now that switches would be much more distributed, with > little CPUs all through the switch fabric. But given the amount of > trouble people still have designing distributed systems, it's not > clear that using lots of little CPUs would improve reliability, and > might well make it worse. John, that's exactly the distributed architecture many modern switch vendors use. In the case of the 5ESS switch, it is actually a hierarchy of CPUs and sizes, ranging from DSPs (they have to be programmed too) and small 8086-vintage chips to 680x0 CPUs to the 3B20D processor. Reliabililty is not greatly affected by such an architecture, but it does complicate "downtime" calculations if the switch can fail in degrees, such as 15% of the trunks out or all calls of only one type. > Still, it would be interesting to see something as distributed > as a step-by-step office implemented in modern hardware. Even > something designed like a #5 crossbar, where all common resources were > part of sizable resource pools and any resource could be taken out of > service without much trouble, would seem to be an improvement over > current designs. It ought to be possible to design something that can > equal the switch downtime record of the electromechanical era, but at > modern error rates. The downtime record of some vendor's switches is VERY low ... the longest-term switch failure I've observed AS A CUSTOMER was two days without ringing current on a step-by-step CDO (and all trunks were down as well, since the ice storm took out all the overhead toll lines). > The existing technologies reflect the design of the 1ESS, > which was a mainframe computer controlling a dumb switch fabric. Existing modern technologies reflect distributed designs, or they won't support newer capabilities. Al Varney - just my opinion ------------------------------ From: floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: University of Alaska Computer Network Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 05:35:25 GMT In article goldstein@isdnip.lkg.dec. com writes: > That fully-distributed switching is a losing proposition (in the US > market, where keysets count, but not necessarily Europe where the > culture doesn't expect them) can be seen from industry experience. > Northern's SL-1 and DMS switches always had single state CPUs. The > DMS-100 has a bunch of little microprocessors chugging away at local > real-time tasks, but one "big" CPU (often a 68020 but lately it might > be a bigger Moto chip) runs the real generic. I think the source > language is Protel, a specialized structured language. (The SL-1 was > originally written in the SL-1 language.) These switches are very > successful. Perhaps some added detail on the DMS design would put a little perspective on just how much distributed processing there is in a digital switching system. The DMS is a fault tolerant, real time, message passing computer system based on multi-processing peripheral processing modules. It just happens to be programmed to route data bits that are telephone calls. But one could very well be programmed to control every nuclear power plant in the country quite well! And while it did that it could also provide PBX services for the power company too. The original DMS "front end" design used a board level CPU (the NT-40) with a Harvard architecture (8 bit instruction bus and 16 bit data bus) and a segmented memory model similar to an 8088. The peripheral modules used 8085 cpu's for everything: tone generators, receivers, senders, test equipment, trunk controllers ... everything. Then came XPM's (eXperimental Peripheral Modules) which are 68000 based units. Generally each XPM (such as a DTC, or Digital Trunk Controller) has two units which operate in sync with one being active and the other standby and each unit has two 68000 cpu's. Such a DTC handles 480 trunks. Various other kinds of XPM are designed to do everything from lines to SS7 processing. A small switch might have 20 of the older PM's and ten of the XPM's, a huge switch might have near a hundred of each. Originally the 8085 PM's had 64K of RAM, and the first XPM's had something like 384Kb. Currently the XPM's have something like 2Mb of RAM. That sounds reasonable ... but there is more to it than meets the eye! Ten or twelve years ago it took a couple minutes to reload the memory in a PM (from tape, but only 64Kb). And the new XPM's took 10-15 minutes from disk. That was barely within an operating company's ability to live with it! The first time I heard about the development of a large memory version of the XPM it was in terms of how much trouble they were having re-designing everything to bring the load time down to a reasonable figure. And the worst horror story I've ever heard about a telco "cut" to something new relates to how NTI thought a switch with about 70 large memory model XPM's could be "crash loaded" all at once in an hour ... and *many* hours later the last XPM finally came back on line. (The disk buffers were too small ...) The NT-40 front end is being phased out by NTI, and the SuperNode front ends using the 68020/30 cpu's are the standard. There are actually two front end units running in sync with each other and comparing notes ... and each has two cpu's. And there are two characteristics that most computer people will find unusual. One is that *all* programs are in memory. Programs are not executed from disk (Some testing tools are not permanently loaded, but any software the operating company is expected to use is permanently loaded in memory.) The other unusual thing is that when you login on a terminal you are a background process. We usually associate whatever you can see output from on a terminal as being in the foreground, but on a switch call processing is the foreground. The operating system is a real-time message passing system based on distributed processing in multiple peripheral modules. The front end cpu does virtually none of the "switching"; it is the database controller for the configuration tables, the state machine data for calls, and the state machine data for devices; and it is a communications center for the peripheral modules. The hardware is dual redundant and fault tolerant. To date I've only seen one instance where a hardware failure caused the entire switch to fail. That was a slow failure of the power supply for the communications channels between the two front end units. The slow failure caused modules powered by the unit to transmit garble in both directions and each front end unit thought the other had lost sanity. The machine re-booted from scratch on both sides and came back up in three minutes. (No calls were lost, but no new ones could be setup in those three minutes.) It was suggested (in the article that Fred was responding to) that modern switches are NOT distributed, which isn't really the case. The "control" is centralized in one compute module, but the work of moving data bits from one line or trunk to another is totally distributed. In fact the front end computer can be re-booted without loosing the existing calls (or the AMA data records relating to them). It was also suggested that a lack of distributed processing was a cause for lower reliability than was true with mechanical switching systems ... I doubt it. My bet is at least one order of magnitude in the other direction! (I know of one example where a toll switch room once had more than 20 technicians working the evening shift, and one day I called there and found only a janitor ... with a number to call for AT&T's control center in Denver, many hundreds of miles away. That can't be an unreliable switch ... :-) Floyd floyd@ims.alaska.edu A guest on the Institute of Marine Science computer Salcha, Alaska system at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 23:10:29 GMT goldstein@isdnip.lkg.dec.com writes: > Distributing all of the logic causes major grief. It is not a problem > for POTS services: A stepper is fully distributed, and an electronic > stepper-like switch is possible (and available ...) But if you want > to be competitive and have real Centrex/PBX features, you need multi- > line key telephone sets implemented in software. These have an > arbitrary number of line buttons, each of which has a visual > indication of status, accurate within a second or less. > The Mitel SX-2000 has distributed real-time Motos surrounding a > centralized state machine. It's fairly successful. But look ... the > ITT 1240 was fully distributed. It never worked in the US market and > was pulled; ITT sold out to Alcatel. The 1240 is a big hit in Europe > where there's no need for keysets. So THAT's the big problem: updating all the keyset lamps. Strange. > In any case, fully-distributed operation does not add reliability. A > distributed stepper had no single failure point. But with processors, > you can distribute all you want and still have a single bug in the > code bring down all instances of it. Witness the famous event, > chronicled here in the Digest, when AT&T's SS7 network crashed due to > one misplaced "break" statement. Interesting. It was possible to build a reliable distributed stepper because the thing was simple enough all the failure modes could be analyzed by hand. (There is an obscure book, perhaps still in the John Crerar Library in Chicago, where the full thinking behind Strowgear switching systems is detailed. No, I don't have the title.) But the feature collections are now so complex this is no longer possible. Will it be better with ATM, which in a sense is a return to a dumber model? John Nagle ------------------------------ From: mav@cscns.com (Michelle A. Vandepas) Subject: Re: 911 For Non-Emergencies? (was Re: Natwick 911 Drama) Organization: Community_News_Service Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 18:23:03 GMT > I don't know the accuracy of the story ... but, it seems > sometimes systems get a little inflexible. In Colorado Springs, they recently changed the 911 phone systems, so that ONLY emergency calls are taken through 911. I called 911 to report a broken into car, and they made me call back and dial a local phone number. It must be city specific! Michelle ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: AT&T Billing on 5 July Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 18:45:29 GMT In article Craig R. Watkins writes: > My calls on the 5th of July were billed at regular day rate. I > thought that maybe they should have been billed as on a holiday. I > called AT&T and they said they should have been and credited me. The > bill was prepared by Bell of Pennsylvania; I don't know whose mistake > it was. I'll have to check tonight, and will, but I recall asking the operator about it, and was told that calls all day on the 5th should be billed at EVENING rates. Not night, not day. Ed Greenberg edg@netcom.com Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ From: gtoal@an-teallach.com (Graham Toal) Subject: Re: SIMTEL 20 Closing Down Organization: An Teallach Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 19:26:59 +0000 In article 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM writes: > Mr. Petersen is trying to find a new home for the master archives. > Note that many of the older files are on CD-ROM, so it is not > absolutely necessary that a site dedicate two GB of disk space, as > perhaps 3/4 of this is on CDs, so the option would be to loan perhaps > 4 CD slots in an optical jukebox, along with perhaps 500 meg of disk > space. Disk space is *not* a problem -- look at all the sites that already mirror simtel -- any one of them (I'd suggest src.doc.ic.ac.uk because it's nearest to me ;-) ) would be capable of storing the data. The problem is the manpower to keep it up to date. Find volunteers for that job and the disk space will surely follow. Personal mail to gtoal@gtoal.com (I read it in the evenings) Business mail to gtoal@an-teallach.com (Be careful with the spelling!) Faxes to An Teallach Limited: 031 662 4678 Voice: 031 668 1550 x212 ------------------------------ From: gtoal@an-teallach.com (Graham Toal) Subject: Re: What Is This Number? Organization: An Teallach Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 19:31:18 +0000 > What's this telephone #? 011-351-xx-xxxxx? It is some wierd > international sex line, and I'm trying to figure out how they make > money off of it, because there are no premium charges. Just long > distance. Oh no, not again! This person has been posting this identical question to newsgroups left right and centre, and it has been answered at length. On his second posting to uk.telecom, someone voiced a suspicion that the 'question' was a subtle form of advertising by the poster, a suspicion that seems more and more plausible every time I see the damn thing. Personal mail to gtoal@gtoal.com (I read it in the evenings) Business mail to gtoal@an-teallach.com (Be careful with the spelling!) Faxes to An Teallach Limited: 031 662 4678 Voice: 031 668 1550 x212 [Moderator's Note: Good thinking, Graham! This time around I decided to eliminate the number from the message; after all, he got his question answered, that's what counts. PAT] ------------------------------ From: daveb%jaws@dsinet.dgtl.com (David Breneman) Subject: Re: AT&T Operator Terminal Date: 28 Jul 93 19:07:13 GMT Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA PCA103@psuvm.psu.edu wrote: > I just got myself an AT&T Operator's Terminal , circa 1984, ... > send or receive data. If anyone has pinouts, or even an expaination of > the ports on the bottom (and the phone jack), I'd really appreciate > it. Thanks a lot! What do the ports look like? Ie, if they're RS-232, the pinouts should be standard. David Breneman Email: daveb@jaws.engineering.dgtl.com System Administrator, Software Engineering Services Digital Systems International, Inc. Voice: 206 881-7544 Fax: 206 556-8033 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 16:39:24 EDT From: guy@intgp1.att.com Subject: Re: New AT&T Feature: TrueVoice Organization: AT&T In article , lie6@midway.uchicago.edu (Jonathan Lieberman) writes: > In article jgreene@nyx.cs.du.edu > (Justin Greene) writes: >> I entered a pager number and it didn't care ... > I entered 212-555-1212 and it didn't care ... This could lead to some fun if they are using it to build a telemarketing database: (Auto dialer connects) "Direcotry assistance what city please?" (Telemarketing computer detects voice response and connects telemarketer ...) "Hi, I've called to talk to you about TrueVoi ..." ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #521 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17367; 29 Jul 93 5:54 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06832 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 03:26:48 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15352 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 03:26:16 -0500 Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 03:26:16 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307290826.AA15352@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #522 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Jul 93 03:26:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 522 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (TELECOM Moderator) Re: High Speed Modem Connect Signals (Brett Elliott) Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: Beware of the 'Toner-Phoners'! (Tony Pelliccio) Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection (Wm Randolph Franklin) Re: Chicago Area Man Charged in Computer Porn Transmission (Ed Gehringer) Re: Area 205 to Split (Len E. Elam) Re: Two Lines to One TAD (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Escort Digital Cordless (Mark Steiger) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Ron Bean) Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling (Steve Edwards) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 02:18:42 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced From the {Chicago Tribune} news wire, Wednesday, July 28, 1993: A victory for consumers of telephone 900 information services occurred Tuesday when the final regulations of the Federal Trade Commission were announced. Starting November 1, people who dial 900 services must be warned of the cost of the call and get a chance to hang up before being charged. In the twelve years since 900 numbers appeared, they have burgeoned into a $1 billion per year industry. But many services have attracted heavy criticism -- and in several instances legal action against their proprietors -- on account of their exorbitant cost, sexual orientation or fraudulent marketing practices among other complaints. The 900 industry has responded that a few shady operators gave companies dealing in sports scores, horoscopes or other innocuous information a bad name. Last October, Congress passed the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act and divided authority to enforce it between the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. In addition, the regulations issued by the FTC this week will be enforce- able by state attorneys general. The new regulations require a warning at the very start of the call that details the fee and tells callers they 'have three seconds after the signal tone is heard to hang up if you do not wish to pay.' In addition, telephone companies must block access to 900 numbers from individual phone lines if so requested by the customer. In addition, 900 service providers *must* provide toll-free, pay per call information lines; customers must be sent pay-per-call disclosure statements annually; and the use of *any* prefix other than 900 for pay-per-call services is prohibited. In addition, the new rules provide that print and broadcast ads must carry details of the fees that callers will be charged for any call that would cost at least $2. In hearings earlier this year, representatives of the 900-number industry claimed that such regulation of their ads would effectively put them out of business. They claimed that as much as nine or ten seconds of a thirty second ad would be consumed by the warnings. About the same about of time -- nine or ten seconds -- would be consumed at the start of each call, although information providers would still be required to pay the carrier of their lines from the moment of connec- tion as occurs now. (Regulations note the manner of speech and speed in which the disclaimer must be presented both in advertising and at the start of the telephone connection upon which the charges-per-call will be imposed.) Major providers of 900 services have already responded by attacking the new rules. "They wasted a lot of people's time and a lot of people's money," said Bruce Fogel, chairman of Phone Programs, Inc., a big provider of sports services in New York. ------------------------------ From: belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) Subject: Re: High Speed Modem Connect Signals Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 03:04:46 GMT belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) writes: > Could some knowledgable source explain the signals involved in the > modem connect sequence, more specificly v32bis or USR hst signaling? > What I am not curious about is the handshaking but the interaction > with the telephone network. (Does it send a signal to allow better > signaling? Explain please, if you can answer this.) After conducting research I think I may have answered my own question. Echo supression cancels out energy in the 2010-2240Hz range. The CCIT standard is to blurt out a 2100Hz for at least 250ms, which will stop the EC equipment. I believe that this is correct, might be wrong. EC will re-activate after a 400ms squelch. belliot@eis.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 05:19:22 GMT In article djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > The Toronto FreeNet (TFN) mailings recently included a suggestion to > look at getting T1 lines for the forthcoming FreeNet facility rather > than individual POTS lines. There are apparently adapters that can > connect a T1 line with a number of computer ports, in effect doing the > function modems would be doing on each POTS line otherwise. > The TFN folks would appreciate some insight as to whether T1 lines > would be more cost-effective than separate trunks/POTS lines, > especially considering that there would have to be the equivalent of > 100 POTS lines access at the outset of the FreeNet (scheduled to begin > operation by April 1994). Are there any difficulties with establishing > a local number access if T1 lines are used? What are the local Bell Canada tariffs? That's the first question to ask! In general, they should be happy to deliver on T1 for no more than analog, since as Telecom Digest readers know, ALL Toronto COs are digital (DMS) now. Heck, it saves Bell money. If you take digital delivery, you can get T1-size modems from Primary Access, which will cost more per channel than el cheapo 9600s but be a whole lot neater and more manageable. Each T1 is broken out into 24 separate ports on the user side, but never into analog lines. You can also take the calls at 56k! That's right: With a digital CO and T1 delivery, users with ISDN BRI (or Switched 56 if Bell allows it) can dial in to an ordinary "voice" number and have 56 kbps connectivity. Primary Access can enable this on selected channels, if Bell will let you designate a given phone number hunting across those channels while analog calls hunt across other channels. This is "poor man's PRI". Heck, you might get real PRI too, but that will probably cost more. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission ------------------------------ From: system@garlic.sbs.com Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 15:32:48 EDT Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! PAT notes: > [Moderator's Note: See my comments early Monday regards this. What > they are doing is not illegal or fraudulent -- just obnoxious. Of > equal concern to me are government agencies which like to make crimes > where none exist just to appease that segment of society which cannot > or will not observe Caveat Emptor. Remember the guy who was calling > pagers in New York City and asking them to call a 540 number? What > crime was he committing? Is asking people to return a call to a toll > number a crime? Suppose I left a message with your secretary asking > you to call me here in Chicago and you did not realize the call would > cost extra? It is too bad some businesses have such sleazy tactics, > but rarely will any be operating illegally. They know the law very > well and manage to stay inches inside it. PAT] To each his own. I know that I try to be fully aware of whats going to cost me money when I dial, and what isn't. And if you're not sure, simply call the operator first and check. That's one of the reasons we even have operators now. Remember, 0 or 00 and check first. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR, Control Op 441.750+, ARRL VE system @ garlic.sbs.com Soon W5YI VE [Moderator's Note: Well since I wrote the above, a couple messages in the Digest have pointed out that some (most?, all?) of these bozos are claiming to be 'the regular supplier' for the firms they call. That does hinge on fraud I suppose, but barely. PAT] ------------------------------ From: franklin@ecse.rpi.edu (Wm Randolph Franklin) Subject: Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection Date: 29 Jul 1993 14:26:28 +0800 Organization: ECSE Dept, RPI. Ask any Canadian. The US plays bully with Canada whenever it feels like it, and no American ever hears. E.g., you heard about American agents kidnapping the Mexican torture-doctor. However you may not have heard about the American bail bondsmen kidnapping -- from Canada -- the Canadian who'd jumped bond, and taking him back to Florida. Imagine if a Canadian kidnapped an executive of an American midwestern coal power plant for polluting Canadian air. Technically in the phone case, the US is telling an American company what to do. In the same way, the US tells American companies to tell their Canadian subsidiaries not to sell to Cuba. I liked the Argentinian response 20 years ago when the US told Ford to tell Ford of Argentina not to trade with Cuba. (This was during the Vietnam war, when North Vietnam was using American trucks built in Russia with American approval. However that was OK apparently.) The Argentinian government simply told Ford of Argentina to do the deal or it would be nationalized. It did the deal. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 18:17:16 -0400 From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Chicago Area Man Charged in Computer Porn Transmission Why should we be interested in helping the defense? I'd be much more interested in helping the prosecution (unless it's a case of mistaken identity, of course). There's far too much evidence of the harm of pornography. [Moderator's Note: Aside from the fact that there are studies which conclude that harm is caused by pornography, and aside from the fact that the gentleman apparently was caught with illegal contraband, and aside from the fact that he apparently was transmitting copyrighted material for which he had never been licensed, there still remains the question of exactly *how* the transmission took place: if he was decieved by the twelve year old user as to his age; if he transmitted it automatically to all users; if he made it available for transmission without verifying his users; etc. Granted, owing to the other circum- stances, he is hardly in a position to challenge his prosecution using a defense of 'sysop rights' without raising the ire of the court where the other quite proveable (and more serious, felony) matters are concerned. But there are many sysops who have gone to sleep one night and woke up the next day to find files on their system they did not put there which had already been downloaded by young innocents; phreaks, etc. only to wind up being accused of running a 'pedophile BBS' or a 'board for hackers', etc. I grant you sysops should have rights to go along with the responsibil- ities I've hammered on from time to time here and to this extent there should probably be a limited defense provided to him *if and only if* it is his contention that his young user either was deceptive or violated system security to obtain the file. The 12-year old *claims* -- note I emphasize that -- to have been very surprised by the contents of the file transmitted to him, thus his complaint to his mother. IMHO, that remains to be seen. I suggested that others might want to contact the sysop, if only to learn the exact sequence of events surrounding the transmission. No more or less. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 12:30:39 CDT From: lelam%kunson@Sun.COM (Len E. Elam) Subject: Re: Area 205 to Split In article cornutt@lambda.msfc. nasa.gov (David Cornutt) writes: > The split will be done at a line drawn from west to east across the > state, approximately halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery. I had > thought that they might do it this way, but much to my surprise, it is > the northern half of the state that will retain 205. (It surprises me > because I had thought that state politics would force SCB to keep > Montgomery in 205, that city being the state capitol.) Since Birmingham is probably still the biggest city in Alabama (it was when I was growing in Alabama) and since it seems to be the biggest business center in Alabama, it wouldn't surprise me if this were taken into account in determining which area would "keep" Area Code 205. Anyone have any idea what the number of South Central Bell customers, espcially big business customers, will be in the "new" Area Code 205 versus the "new" Area Code 334? I'll bet South Central Bell knows!!! :-) Who Am I?: Len E. Elam Disclaimer: Email: lelam%gdfwc3@central.sun.com I speak only or lelam@gdwest.gd.com for myself. ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Two Lines to One TAD Date: 28 Jul 1993 18:38:50 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In sar1952@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Steven A Rubin) writes: > When the device is connected, each line produces a noticable hum when > making, and during phone calls. How do you stop it from humming? Teach it the words! Yuk, yuk. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 [Moderator's Note: Some additional lawyer jokes may be indicated here, Carl. If all of *yours* are that bad ... well I have a few that might produce some laughter. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark.Steiger@tdkt.kksys.com (Mark Steiger) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 17:53:54 -0600 Subject: Escort Digital Cordless Organization: The Dark Knight's Table BBS: Minnetonka, MN (Free!) > The Escort phone uses 100 different frequencies between 902 MHz and > 928 MHz. It switches among them pseudo-randomly more than 20 times > per second. This frequency agility and the fact that the audio is > digitized are the things that make it very hard to scan. Where I work, we sell a 100 channel Cobra phone. They don't digitize the signal, but "spread" it out over multiple frequencies to make it impossible to listen to. It sounds great and it's an "Intenna" phone. I don't have an item number for it, but we have it at Damark International (1-800-729-9000). Mark Steiger, Sysop, The Igloo BBS (612) 574-2079 Internet: mark@tdkt.kksys.com Fido: 1:282/4018 Simnet: 16:612/24 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 19:00:59 CDT From: Ron Bean ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) writes: > MCI and Greyhound Bus Lines used to be a good example of vertical > integration, Bell System-style, in which MCI would build buses and > Greyhound would operate them. Both were subsidiaries of Greyhound > Corporation (which eventually merged with Dial Corporation) until > Greyhound Bus Lines' management responded to increasing competition > from discount air travel by trying to reduce the wages of drivers and > mechanics and, when the inevitable strike happened, using replacement > workers. Eventually, Greyhound Bus Lines filed for Chapter 11 > reorganization. They sold Greyhound *before* the strike; it was the new management that filed chapter 11. This was also complicated by trying to integrate the lower-paid Trailways drivers into the system. They are apparently doing OK now, although the combined fleet is less than 3000 buses (Greyhound alone used to operate over 5000 buses). > Greyhound Bus Lines is still in business, and I assume that virtually > all its buses are still built by MCI. They are right now, but when they bought Trailways (or they merged, I forget which) the deal included the Eagle factory in Texas (which built buses for Trailways), so they were using Eagles for a while. When they reorganized, they sold the factory and went back to buying (or leasing) MCI's. Another investor is trying to revive Eagle. MCI is now building a special model for Greyhound that is basically the previous model with some newer components, which makes it slightly cheaper than their current model. zaphod@madnix.UUCP (Ron Bean) uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!zaphod ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 13:59:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Steve Edwards Reply-To: Steve Edwards Subject: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling I live in California where bundling cell phones and activation is illegal. Thus, the price for a used cell phone is usually in the $200 to $400 range. In states that allow bundling and the price of a new phone may only be $50 or even free, what do used cell phones sell for? Steve Edwards Internet: steve@newline.uucp Voice: +1-619-723-2727 Newline CompuServe: 73677,3561 Fax: +1-619-731-3000 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #522 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14777; 29 Jul 93 19:04 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05387 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 16:36:20 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10486 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 16:35:31 -0500 Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 16:35:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307292135.AA10486@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #523 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Jul 93 16:35:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 523 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Tom Horsley) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (John R. Levine) Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling (John R. Levine) Re: Networks in Sarejevo? (Jon Carmichael) Re: Caller ID Blocking in N.J. (Terry Kennedy) Re: ADSI Specs Wanted (Jonathan Rosenberg) Re: What is This Number? (Elana Beach) Re: What Changes For Delaware? (Al Varney) Re: Area 205 to Split (Carl Moore) Re: Is This Legal? (Gowri Narla) Radar Detectors (was Re: AM Band Violates ...) (A. Padgett Peterson) Mystery Caller (Leonard Erickson) K00L International Numbers (J. Philip Miller) Cordless Phones on a Four-Party Line? (George Despinic) Sparcstation/Telephone Integration (Andrew Howlett) US West is OK With Emergency Forwarding (David Dodell) Computer Access to Voice Mail (Ken Mandelberg) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tom@travis.csd.harris.com (Tom Horsley) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Date: 29 Jul 1993 11:33:48 GMT Organization: Harris Computer Systems Division > The new regulations require a warning at the very start of the call > that details the fee and tells callers they 'have three seconds after > the signal tone is heard to hang up if you do not wish to pay.' In > addition, telephone companies must block access to 900 numbers from > individual phone lines if so requested by the customer. So now I'm curious. How will uunet (or any other modem 900 line, but uunet is the one I am most familiar with) achieve this on their 900 lines that provide dial-in access to the archives? If they manage to do it, how many people's modems will hang up before the end of the warning when they attempt to dial-in? domain: tahorsley@csd.harris.com USMail: Tom Horsley uucp: ...!uunet!hcx1!tahorsley 511 Kingbird Circle Delray Beach, FL 33444 [Moderator's Note: They've got to send a message to your modem immed- iatly on connection which describes the cost for the call, advise the caller to disconnect if not willing to pay and ring the Bell a few times, then pause and wait about five seconds before they continue the transmission. If you wish, you reach over to keyboard and type whatever is needed to disconnect. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 11:53 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Organization: I.E.C.C. > In addition, 900 service providers *must* provide toll-free, pay per > call information lines; This same badly worded sentence appeared in our local papers. I presume this means that there has to be an 800 number you can call to ask or complain about each 900 number. > the use of *any* prefix other than 900 for pay-per-call services is > prohibited. Now that's interesting. Does this affect prefixes like 976 and 540 which are presumably mostly used for in-state calls? Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl [Moderator's Note: I assume there has to be a handy, convenient and toll-free way for consumers to reach the proprietor of a 900 service. I also wondered about 976 and 540 numbers; I think they are to be included, although $2 seems to be a magic number in the new regs. They talk about $2 as the point where anything above that amount falls under the rules, and a lot of 976 stuff (time, weather, etc) seems to be less than that amount. PAT] ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling Date: 29 Jul 1993 08:32:29 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In Steve Edwards writes: > I live in California where bundling cell phones and activation is > illegal. Thus, the price for a used cell phone is usually in the $200 > to $400 range. > In states that allow bundling and the price of a new phone may only be > $50 or even free, what do used cell phones sell for? The store that sells a $400 cell phone for, say, $50 to someone who signs a one-year dial tone contract is, of course, getting a $350+ commission from the dial tone provider. So, you would think that if you walk in the door with a used one and ask to have the phone activated for a year, you would be able to talk them into giving you part of their $350 commission. I've never actually seen this, but you could ask. The closest I have come is to find a store that has commission relationships with both of the dial tone providers, and have the phone programmed with phone numbers (in the dual NAM) for each provider. The store gets commissions from both companies, and subtracts both from the retail price of the phone. Obviously, the *true* price of the phone is not what you pay to receive it, but the total cost from now till the end of the minimum service obligation that you have signed. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 11:50 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling Organization: I.E.C.C. > In states that allow bundling and the price of a new phone may only be > $50 or even free, what do used cell phones sell for? There's no market for them at all. Why would there be, if you can get a new one with a warranty for little or nothing? As far as I can tell, the phone rates you get as part of the bundle are no different than the ones you get if you walk in off the street with your own phone. Maybe the used ones get shipped to California to participate in the ongoing phraud phest. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Networks in Sarejevo? From: jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) Date: 28 Jul 93 17:08:00 GMT Organization: uuPCB - Demonstration Version Reply-To: jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) > I was just asked to give ideas on how to establish email or network > connectivity into Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The idea is to create a > portable set of equipment that could support a few users with e-mail, > or perhaps several users with full internet connectivity. I run a PCBoard in the Los Angeles area. I don't know how they are doing it, but about six months ago, I got three callers from Yugoslavia. One of them was online this morning. I thought it was B.S., so I chatted, and one of the callers asked if he could call me voice, which he did. Given his inability to speak English and his very heavy accent I'd have to say he's authentic. The cities they are calling from are Sreska and Indjija. You could write them a message on my board. If you leave me a comment, I will give you their names on my BBS. JONC The Continuum PCBoard -*- @9600+ call 818-441-2625 @2400- call 818-799-9633 ------------------------------ From: terry@spcvxb.spc.edu (Terry Kennedy) Subject: Re: Caller ID Blocking in N.J. Date: 29 Jul 93 06:01:57 EDT Organization: St. Peter's College, US In article , johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) writes: > The Privacy Journal notes that New Jersey Bell just started offering > per-line and per-call CLID blocking. N.J. was the only state where > blocking was unavailable. Hmmm. I tried *67 here (from a residential class of service phone) and got a very strange recording: "We are sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check your instruction manual or call the business office for assistance." That is *not* the normal "you can't get there/do that from here" recording. Even more strangely, that's the same recording used for Centrex class of service. If you try "return call" or something similar from a Centrex line, you either get " ... completed as dialed. Please ask your attendent for assistance." or "The feature is not available." Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing terry@spcvxa.bitnet St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ USA terry@spcvxa.spc.edu +1 201 915 9381 ------------------------------ From: Jonathan Rosenberg Subject: Re: ADSI Specs Wanted Organization: Bellcore Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 13:07:08 GMT > I've read that CID operates in compliance with specs contained in a > document called ADSI -- Analog Display Services Interface. This > document goes beyond CID, e.g., spelling out ways for the end user to > transmit info in the other direction. Is this document available to > developers? Is it ftp'able? I haven't a clue where to look for it, > but I think it would make for interesting reading. ADSI was developed by Bellcore. I don't know what CID is, but ADSI is a specification intended for communicating with screen phones over the existing phone network (it allows mixed voice and commands). In the upstream direction, it simply uses DTMF tones. I don't have any relationship to the ADSI work, but I believe that the spec is available from Bellcore (unlikely to be ftp'able). If you'd like info on obtaining it let me know and I'll find out what to do. JR jxr@thumper.bellcore.com ------------------------------ From: elana@netcom.com (Elana Beach) Subject: Re: What is This Number? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 13:57:54 GMT Will our dear Moderator PLEASE comment on this post from *alt.fan.mike-jittlov* of all places...! --------begin forwarded article-------- In article <234djk$2ut@nwfocus.wa.com> seth@halcyon.com (Seth Warshavsky) writes: >> What are these telephone numbers and ? I saw them >> in some magazine, I think it some sort of strange international sex line, >> and I was wondering if anyone knew how they make money off of it, it >> say's there is no premium charges, just long distance. It makes no >> sense to me how they make money off of it. If anyone know's what it is >> or knows how they make money off of it, please email me. > Seth has been pushing these numbers for several weeks now. I think > it's safe at this point to assume that they are a scam of some kind, > and that he's making money off of it. It might take a while for the > charges to get back to you, but they will. [Telecom Moderator's Note: Elana, we had a comment very similar (to whoever appended to Seth's remarks) in an issue of the Digest early Thursday. It appears this Seth-person has gone around all over the net asking people 'what is it?'. The people who actually call the number (I refuse to print the number itself any longer) should be assured all they will get charged for is an international call. No scams or other bills showing up, etc. But still, Seth has had enough free advertising for now. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 09:33:51 CDT From: varney@ihlpe.att.com Subject: Re: What Changes For Delaware? Organization: AT&T Network Systems In article Carl Moore writes: > At the end of my "county-plus" message, I mentioned long distance > within Delaware, which is still 1 + 7D (and 7D is still useable for > local calls to PA and MD, although local calls FROM PA TO DE are 1 > +302 + 7D now). I still don't know what Delaware will get for long > distance within it when it is time to prepare for the NNX area codes. PA had a confusing arrangement in a town off Route 322 midway between Penn State and Harrisburg (right on the crease of my Rand McNally map). Used 555-1212 to reach DA for my sister's number in Harrisburg. No charge, no offer to complete the call (or maybe I hung up too fast?). However, confusing announcements resulted from attempts at variations on (10288) +0 + NPA + nxx-xxxx. Finally, I tried 0+ nxx-xxxx, and it worked! Are there still many places that require 0 + seven digits for intra-NPA toll calls? This was probably a 60-mile call, and was handled by Bell of PA. What reason would they have for blocking 0 + NPA + seven digits? Do non-coin phones in the same area also use 0 + seven digits? Al Varney ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 10:34:27 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Area 205 to Split There was a blurb about 512/210 split being set up so that San Antonio went to 210 and Austin (the Texas state capital) stayed in 512. But in Maryland (1991) and Virginia (1973), the state capitals went to new area codes (410 and 804 respectively) and the DC suburbs stayed in the old area codes (301 and 703 respectively). 201 covered all of New Jersey, according to what I hear, until the late 1950s, and Trenton ended up in area 609. Tallahassee, Florida moved from 305 to 904 in 1965. And if there was ever the "N0X in state having only 1 area code" rule, that means Nashville moved from 901 to 615. ------------------------------ From: narla@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Gowri Narla) Subject: Re: Is This Legal? Organization: Purdue University Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 15:41:13 GMT In article , gzhou@pollux.usc.edu (Gang Zhou) writes: > I'm living in an apartment owned by the USC housing service. I'm > connected to Pacific Bell so far. But soon, USC will switch our phone > lines to USC telephone service, so they have the absolute monopoly of > my phone service. As you can guess, their long distance (especially > international) rates are outrageously high. I lived in Michigan State University (E.Lansing, MI) housing for two years. The long distance carrier is AT&T by default. And the rates -- incomparably high! The reason people don't complain, I guess, is that there are no charges for installation or monthly flat rates or LEC fees. Some of the problems I faced? 1. Well, if I moved -- even if it were only to the next door apartment -- callers to the old number would not get any information about the change (the number changed, of course). 2. I could never get them to provide any asssitance in international directory services -- they would just say they have billing problems or the service doen't include this feature ... (When I'd offer my AT&T Calling Card for billing, she/he would say they cannot use it for some countries including India, Israel, and Pakistan). 3. Could not receive any collect calls. 4. Call waiting feature not offered -- even for a fee. 5. Cannot access 900 services. 6. CLASS features? Forget it, what do you expect?! Ram Narla Dept. of Telecommunications Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48823 narla@egr.msu.edu [Moderator's Note: The various peculiarities in telephone service for students at universities (lack of reasonably priced long distance calls; no international service, etc) is one of the reasons I am actively seeking representatives for the Telepassport and Orange Card programs. These programs permit long distance calls to bypass the local facilities and are reasonably priced. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 09:05:55 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us wrote: > Michael Covington (mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu) wrote: >> A few states have banned automotive radar detectors. As far as I >> know, this has never been seriously challenged in court. > I believe that the ban is not on owning or using a radar receiver, but > on operating a motor vehicle while using one. And I believe that many > states have similar restrictions on operating a motor vehicle while > listening to a scanner that receives the police bands. Living in Florida, I do not have to worry (at least about radar detectors, cash now ...) but as I recall the states in question are Virginia and Conneticut (D.C. doesn't count 8*). In Virginia at least, mere possession of a radar detector seems to be grounds for confiscation (heard of one case in which a new unit, still in the box and wrapper was seized). Now whether or not this was legal is open for debate and certainly many other kinds of seizures are now being questioned. However, I recall that it came under something like possession of lock-picks, burglary tools, etc. and if a charge is made, it is "interfering with a police officer" but then as an attorney once told me after I received a ticket for "crossing a physical barrier" after pushing a dead motorcycle across a deserted street (the "physical barrier" was lines painted on the road and the policeman was on foot, writing parking tickets -- of course that was in Texas 8*) "There is no justice in traffic court." Of course, we have other strange laws such as it is illegal here to drive while wearing a headset but there is no law against using a cell-phone while driving so no-hand driving (knee-action ?) is a common sight as people on the interstate juggle pads and phones at 65+. At least the one-time law against using a turn signal for signalling a lane-change has been, if not repealed, totally ignored. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 01:55:31 PDT From: Leonard.Erickson@f51.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Leonard Erickson) Subject: Mystery Caller I run a non-CM fidonet node. That means that I'm only *supposed* to get calls from other nodes during "Zone mail hour" each night, although other times can be arranged. I've been getting strange calls for about a week now. My modem connects at 9600/LAPM if I put it online. But the mailers don't handshake. I put a terminal program up and couldn't get a response. But I have determined that the system on the other end is *attempting* to handshake with a BREAK,pause, sequence. About 1/2 sec break, 1/2 sec pause. It repeats until it gives up after 20 seconds or so. Anybody recognize this handshake sequence? I'd like to track down the caller, if only to get things fixed. BTW, I've *tried* Call Trace. No luck, they are "out of area". uucp: uunet!m2xenix!puddle!51!Leonard.Erickson Internet: Leonard.Erickson@f51.n105.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: phil@wubios.wustl.edu (J. Philip Miller) Subject: K00L International Numbers Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 07:01:26 -0500 (CDT) [Moderator's Note: This message could be retitled "Here Comes Seth Again With His Phone Numbers" .... Mr. Miller said Seth sent this to sci.med.aids, passing it off as a 'safe sex' phone service. . Miller rejected it in his group, and I would also if it were not good for a laugh seeing to what extent people will go to promote things on the net. PAT] > From: seth@hebron.connected.com > Newsgroups: sci.med.aids > Subject: K00L Internation Numbers > Date: 29 Jul 93 06:06:52 GMT > I found these COOL internation phone sex lines, and they are FREE. So > if you want to unload your STUFF all over the PHONE give them a call. > > > & > > J. Philip Miller, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Box 8067 Washington University Medical School, St. Louis MO 63110 phil@wubios.WUstl.edu - (314) 362-3617 [362-2693(FAX)] [Moderator's Note: Gosh, on the one hand Seth goes to bunches of news groups and asks 'what is this'; then he goes to sci.med.aids with the above. And if his message is that frank in sci.med.aids, I have to wonder what he had to say when he got around to alt.sex and others in that genre. Now I wonder what other moderators will reject his message and forward it to me asking if it is appropriate here instead? . Enough already, Seth! I don't even promote my Beloved Talk Tickets with such vigor :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 08:21:11 -0400 From: George (G.D.) Despinic Subject: Cordless Phones on a Four-Party Line? I was wondering if anyone knows of a brand of cordless phone that would work on a four-party line? I would like to use a cordless phone at my cottage which is serviced by a four-party line. A sevice rep that I talked to in Bell Canada told me that they didn't sell or rent any such phone for four-party lines. I am tempted to re-wire a cordless phone myself but I'd rather buy one with the proper circuitry. Much appreciated, George Despinic Northern Telecom Canada Ltd. Network Proposals Dept.S311 BUS (416) 452-2509 FAX (416) 452-4334 ESN 333-2509 ESN 333-4334 [Moderator's Note: The general rule is customer owned equipment cannot be installed on a party line, period. Why do you want to risk knocking your neighbor's phone service out when *your* equipment malfunctions? First thing you need to get is your own private service. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ae549@freenet.carleton.ca (Andrew Howlett) Subject: Sparcstation/Telephone Integration Reply-To: ae549@freenet.carleton.ca (Andrew Howlett) Organization: The National Capital Freenet Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 13:11:05 GMT I'm looking at a project to integrate a telephone and a SparcStation. The SparcStation is supposed to do the following: a. digitally record all the telephone conversations b. automatically record calling and called number for every conversation c. permit optional dialling of telephone from computer. I was thinking that BRI would be a nifty solution. An ISDN telephone and the Sparc would be connected to the T bus. The telephone can be used normally, the Sparc will decode and record the D channel info, and save the B channel data to a 2 gig hard drive or DAT drive. Does a solution like this already exist? Does anyone know of ISDN add-ons for Sparcs? Thanks for your time. Andrew Howlett ae549@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ Subject: US West is OK With Emergency Forwarding From: david@stat.com (David Dodell) Reply-To: david@stat.com (David Dodell) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 23:09:30 MST Organization: Stat Gateway Service, WB7TPY US West Arizona is OK for helping out with emergency forwarding. My fax machine at my office just died today ... it appears that the power supply went dead. After pricing out the repair, it just didn't seem justified, so we're now shopping for a new low-volume machine (any comments on this would be appreciated via email) ... anyway ... I called US West Business repair and explained the situation. I asked if they could setup temporary call forwarding from my business fax to my home fax till we got a new machine. No problem! No charge! Just have to give them a call when I want things returned to normal. Good job US West! David Dodell Internet: david@stat.com FAX: +1 (602) 451-6135 Bitnet: ATW1H@ASUACAD FidoNet=> 1:114/15 Amateur Packet ax25: wb7tpy@wb7tpy.az.usa.na ------------------------------ From: km@mathcs.emory.edu (Ken Mandelberg) Subject: Computer Access to Voice Mail Date: 29 Jul 1993 14:10:33 GMT Organization: Emory University, Dept of Math and CS Reply-To: km@mathcs.emory.edu I have to deal with two voice mail systems. One is Southern Bell's Memory Call, the other is a system than runs on our campus NT SL100 switch (is there more than one such offering?). Is there any way to get remote computer access to either of these systems? What I would at least like is to be able to check if my mailbox is empty or not by modem. Of course I would really like is to extract my messages in some digital format. Ken Mandelberg | km@mathcs.emory.edu PREFERRED Emory University | {rutgers,gatech}!emory!km UUCP Dept of Math and CS | km@emory.bitnet NON-DOMAIN BITNET Atlanta, GA 30322 | Phone: Voice (404) 727-7963, FAX 727-5611 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #523 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15327; 29 Jul 93 19:19 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10487 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 17:02:46 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07113 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 29 Jul 1993 17:02:01 -0500 Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 17:02:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307292202.AA07113@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #524 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Jul 93 17:02:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 524 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Bell Atlantic Electronic Yellow Pages (Aninda Dasgupta) Catalogue of ITU-T Recommendations (Fernando Lagrana) ANI From Across the Pond (Haakon Styri) What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) (Albert Pang) Need Sources/Info For Cheap Voicemail (Dub Dublin) Touch-Tone Activated Line Switch? (Willie Smith) WAN Advice Needed (Mike Garvey) Wyse 60 Terminal Emulator? (Harold Hallikainen) Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? (William Sohl) Re: Zoom VFX Modem (Bob Natale) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 15:29:49 EDT From: add@philabs.Philips.Com (Aninda Dasgupta) Subject: Bell Atlantic Electronic Yellow Pages A few weeks ago there was a question asked in the Digest about Bell Atlantic's Electronic-Yellow-Pages-via-standard-TV-sets trials. (I think Monty Solomon asked the question but I could be wrong; our archives deleted the old articles while I was on vacation.) To paraphrase the question: "How does Bell Atlantic display the yellow pages on a standard T.V., what hardware, software etc. is used, what data formats are used and are there any network connections available to the devices. " The Bell Atlantic trials that I am aware of use a Philips Compact Disk Interactive (CD-I) box that connects to the TV set. CD-I formatted yellow pages are mailed to users periodically in the form of an optical disk. The user interaction is with a remote control unit and the pages are displayed on the TV. The CD-I machines do not currently have any form of network connections (e.g. telco or ethernet outputs) but I have heard that such connections are in the works. I have attached below an excerpt from a FAQ list on CD-I. For more information contact the keeper of the FAQ at: Lex van Sonderen Manager Knowledge Transfer Philips Interactive Media of America 10050 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 Phone: +1 310 444 6689 Fax: +1 310 477 4953 Internet: lex@aimla.com CompuServe: 71552,2204 CD-I systems were developed by Philips (and I think are marketed by Philips and Sony). CD-I systems play conventional audio CD's, Kodak's Photo-CD disks, CD-I disks (video games, instructional and educational programs, etc.) and, soon to come, full motion feature movies from Paramount. The GTE- Discovery Channel-Cerritos trials in interactive TV also use CD-I players. By the way, CD-I is a published standard that is easily available for implementation in hardware (players, recorders) and software development (video game and other program authoring). =================Begin excerpt from FAQ============================ Where can I read more about CD-I? Periodicals - CD-I World Bi-monthly CD-I magazine on paper & disc. Parker Taylor & Company Inc. 49 Bayview, Suite 200 Camden, ME 04843 Phone: +1 207 236 8524 Fax:: +1 207 236 6452 - New Media Monthly magazine about multi-media in general Hypermedia Communications Inc. 901 Mariner's Island Blvd., Suite 365 San Mateo, CA 94404 Phone: +1 415 573 5170 Fax: +1 415 573 5131 - The Interactive Engineer Publication about CD-I software engineering Philips Interactive Media of America 11050 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025 Phone: +1 310 444 6519 Fax:: +1 310 477 4953 Books - CD-I Designer's Guide Hoffos, Signe; Sharpless, Graham; Smith, Philip;Lewis, Nicholas McGraw-Hill (UK), 1992 ISBN 0-07-707580-3 - The CD-I Design Handbook Philips IMS, Philips Electronics UK Ltd. Addison Wesley, 1992 ISBN 0-201-62749-3 - The CD-I Production Handbook Philips IMS, Philips Electronics UK Ltd. Addison Wesley, 1992 ISBN 0-201-62750-7 - CD-ROM Handbook Sherman, Chris McGraw-Hill, 1989 ISBN 0-07-056578-3 - Compact Disc-Interactive, A Designers' Overview Preston, J.M., Philips International Inc. McGraw-Hill, 1988 ISBN 0-07-049816-4 - Discovering CD-I Miller, Eric; Miller, Walden Microware Systems Corporation, 1991 ISBN 0-918035-02-3 - Introducing CD-I Philips IMS, Philips Electronics UK Ltd. Addison Wesley, 1992 ISBN 0-201-62748-5 ======================================================================== How can I keep in touch with the CD-I development community? CD-I Association A professional association for developers of CD-I or for those interested in developing CD-I. Members receive a quarterly newsletter, "Inside CD-I", and other publications. CD-I Association of North America Attn.: Laura Foti Cohen 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90025 Phone: +1 310 444 6619 Fax: +1 310 479 5937 European CD-I Association Attn.: J. Lynn Evans 188 Tottenham Court Road London W1P 9LE United Kingdom CompuServe The CompuServe information system is an electronic bulletin board that has a very active community of CD-I users, designers and engineers worldwide. Experts in all fields of CD-I check in daily to answer questions and exchange knowledge. See the multimedia forum, section CDI (GO MULTIMEDIA, Section 17). CompuServe 5000 Arlington Centre Boulevard PO Box 20212 Columbus, Ohio 43220 Phone: +1 614 457 8650 --------End Excerpt from FAQ--------- Aninda DasGupta (add@philabs.philips.com) Ph:(914)945-6071 Fax:(914)945-6552 Philips Labs\n 345 Scarborough Rd\n Briarcliff Manor\n NY 10510 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 11:57:56 +0200 From: Petrin Subject: Catalogue of ITU-T Recommendations Organization: International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union electronic document exchange project (ITUDOC) provides for remote electronic access to ITU documents. The last update of the Document Store contains the new list of ITU-T (previouly CCITT) Recommendations in force after the WTSC-93. This list is available as a complete document, or splitted per Series. In order to retrieve these documents, send a message to the robot mailbox: itudoc@itu.ch with one or more commands of the form: GET where UPI is listed below. The robot mailbox will send the document back to you. For example, To: itudoc@itu.ch From: Me Subject: get itu-2767 get itu-4181 LIST OF KEY ITU-T DOCUMENTS List of ITU-T A-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-2767 List of ITU-T B-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-2768 List of ITU-T C-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-2769 List of ITU-T D-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4181 List of ITU-T E-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4307 List of ITU-T F-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4306 List of ITU-T G-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4303 List of ITU-T H-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4304 List of ITU-T I-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4305 List of ITU-T J-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4259 List of ITU-T K-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4716 List of ITU-T L-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4265 List of ITU-T M-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4266 List of ITU-T N-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4267 List of ITU-T O-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4276 List of ITU-T P-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4275 List of ITU-T Q-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4274 List of ITU-T R-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4273 List of ITU-T S-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4272 List of ITU-T T-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4271 List of ITU-T U-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4703 List of ITU-T V-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4270 List of ITU-T X-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4234 List of ITU-T Z-Series Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4235 List of ITU-T Recommendations in force. UPI: ITU-4111 List of ITU-T Recommendations currently under ballot (Resolution 1) UPI: ITU-4110 List of ITU-T Recommendations proposed for adoption according to Resolution 1 Section 8 UPI: ITU-4109 List of obsolete ITU-T Recommendations cancelled by the WTSC-93 UPI: ITU-4715 Fernando Lagrana Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (former CCITT Secretariat) Editor, Catalogue of ITU-T Recommendations lagrana@itu.ch ------------------------------ From: styri@nta.no (Haakon Styri) Subject: ANI From Across the Pond Reply-To: styri@nta.no Organization: Norwegian Telecom Research Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 16:49:37 GMT Recently some posters (among them the Moderator) asked about what happens with ANI if a call originating in Europe terminates in North America. I belive I've posted one reply, but I didn't state anything about "why not." After asking a few people that might know I returned with a simple answer: the CCITT have decided it should be like that. And, even if it's technically possible you'd probably find that a few countries would still object due to privacy and data protection regulations. I agree it would be nice to have. BTW, I'd like to know one thing about the use of ANI in the US. Have the network operators (or whatever you call them) agreed to not use the ANI they get from their competition to do traffic analysis in order to identify potential costomers? Haakon Styri *** std. disclaimer applies *** ------------------------------ From: albert@INSL.McGill.CA (Albert Pang) Subject: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) Organization: INSL, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 17:13:43 GMT There is some renovation going on in our building and all the network connection and telephone cables are rewired. I have been hearing the term Category 5 all the time. (All of panels containing the RJ45 plugs even have a sign CAT 5 on it). I was wondering what exactly does Category 5 certified means in this context. Albert Pang Information Networks & Systems Lab McGill University Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ------------------------------ From: hwdub@chevron.com (Dub Dublin,HOU281 2303,CTN-596-3199,) Subject: Need Sources/Info For Cheap Voicemail Reply-To: hwdub@chevron.com Organization: Chevron Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 17:08:48 GMT I need to find information about, and sources of *inexpensive* voice mail systems. I need a fair amount of programmability (new voice information service), so I'm assuming a PC-based system is my best bet. If it's real cheap, I'll go single-line for now, until I pick up some more customers, but I think I'm really going to need a multi-line system soon. It's VERY important that the system be able to execute arbitrary commands in the OS as a result of a user menu choice. Faxback would be a very desirable plus, but needn't be part of the voicemail system, since if it meets the previous criterion, I can do it external to the voicemail system. I need info/sources/prices ASAP if I'm going to get this project going. Thanks, Dub Dublin -- Chevron Information Technology Company, Houston hwdub@chevron.com -- +1.713.596.3199 ------------------------------ From: wpns@roadrunner.pictel.com (Willie Smith) Subject: Touch-Tone Activated Line Switch? Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 15:57:35 EDT We've got two lines at home. Line one goes to most of the phones and is our 'incoming' (no special calling plans) line. The other is our 'outgoing' line, which has the modem, a couple of phones, and a fax for incoming pictures, and has all the calling plans (metro bay state, reach-out-planet, etc). We just got a cordless phone for the incoming line, but now we're running into the problem that there's really only one place in the house you 'should' make outgoing calls, which is inconvenient. It's possible to rewire the house for dual jacks everywhere, but then you get into dual phones, two-line phones, or switches on the jacks. I'm contemplating building a box which will connect to our 'incoming' phones, which when it detects some touch-tones (say 1-900, as we've got blocking) will switch the entire line over to the 'outgoing' line, then revert when the phone hangs up. This way I could pick up any of the existing phones, dial 1900 to get the outgoing line, and dial my call normally. Does this kind of thing already exist, so I can buy it off the shelf? Am I shooting myself in the foot because I can't call a local number ending in 1900? Is there a better number choice? Are * or # 'reserved' by the telco for anything in particular? Willie Smith wpns@pictel.com N1JBJ@amsat.org Usenet is a way of being annoyed by people you otherwise never would have met ------------------------------ From: tbc@netcom.com (Mike Garvey) Subject: WAN Advice Needed Organization: Netcom Communications Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 20:27:33 GMT We're installing a 60-70 node Mac/PC LAN in two sites and I have some questions about remote-routing hardware. We plan to use 12 channels of a T1 line for data with AppleTalk, IPX, and TCP/IP protocols travelling over the link. Communication to and from the remote link segment will be handled by a pair of low-end Cisco routers (1 Ethernet, 1 Remote connectors). I need some recommendations on hardware that serves the same purpose of a CSU/DSU for 56K leased lines, i.e.: Ethernet zone 1 ----- Cisco router ----- [ Help me fill in this blank ] | 12 channels of a T1 link | Ethernet zone 2 ----- Cisco router ----- [ Also tell me what goes here ] Any help would be appreciated including where to look for more information (newsgroups, archives, gopher, faqs, bibliographies, etc.). Thanks. (Wanders off mumbling something about tip: cycle power on your laser printers when you hook them to Ethernet otherwise they'll jabber incessantly and flood the net trying to 'reset' themselves) Be seeing you ... The Black Cursor (c) & TM Sysop: Valhalla -- an Ogg-Net BBS Internet: tbc@netcom.com (415) 221-4370 300-14,400bps 8N1 GEnie: TBC ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Wyse 60 Terminal Emulator? Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 21:22:58 GMT A friend is looking for software to emulate a Wyse 60 terminal. Someone suggested pcTerm. Anyone have info on this program or any other program that may emulate a Wyse 60? Thanks! Harold [Moderator's Note: And on the same topic, *I* need the escape seq- uences and other details for a TVI-925 terminal, including information on how to set the internal clock, the function keys, etc. If anyone would care to send this info to me personally, I'll appreciate it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Re: New AM Band Violates No-Intercept Rule? Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 93 16:27:21 GMT In article mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us writes: > In article , daveb%jaws@dsinet.dgtl.com > (David Breneman) writes: >> Michael Covington (mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu) wrote: >>> ... the ban on receivers that get the cellular frequencies ... : >>> (1) The proper technical solution is to encrypt the signal ...; (2) >>> Heretofore, Americans had been allowed to buy radios that would tune >>> any frequency whatsoever; this is the very first peacetime ban on >>> radio receivers .. That is partially correct. The ban is not on possession or ownership, it is on the manufacturing or importation of cellular capable scanners after April 26, 1994. Even after the 4/26/94 date, ownership of existing scanners AND sales of existing stocks of cellular capable scanners can continue. Technically, there is no ban on building your own receiver that might be capable of receiving cellular. >> A few states have banned automotive radar detectors. As far as I >> know, this has never been seriously challenged in court. As of this time, only two locations ban the USE of radar detectors. They are the state of Virginia and the District of Columbia. I belive that the Virginia law considers "possession" in a vehicle as a presumption of use. > I believe that the ban is not on owning or using a radar receiver, but > on operating a motor vehicle while using one. And I believe that many > states have similar restrictions on operating a motor vehicle while > listening to a scanner that receives the police bands. True as to radar detectors per my above comments. As to scanners capable of receiving police, only a handful have such outright bans in vehicles (Kentucky, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota and New York). All six of these states have "exemptions for various types of individuals (e.g. volunteer firepersons, the press, amateur radio operators, etc.) Source for my comments: 1991 Listener's Lawbook and the National Motorists Association. Standard Disclaimer- Any opinions, etc. are mine and NOT my employer's. Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.) Morristown, NJ email via UUCP bcr!cc!whs70 201-829-2879 Weekdays email via Internet whs70@cc.bellcore.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 14:33:11 -0400 From: natale@acec.com (Bob Natale) Subject: Re: Zoom VFX Modem tlb@carson.u.washington.edu (Todd L. Brooks) wrote: > I would like to get some feedback on the quality and performance of > the Zoom VFX v.32bis Faxmodem. Have you had any problems with it or > the company? Please email. Thank you. We bought a pile of these modems recently for our customers and had a very bad experience with numerous units blowing fuses in the field after a couple of days of (continuous) operation. Zoom Telephonics was unhelpful. I posted a query to this list asking if others had encountered this problem and I received a few helpful responses. Some folks said they had ruled out Zooms in their internal tests against other low-end brands. Other folks offered good suggestions for tracking down the problem or otherwise dealing with it. We elected to shift to USR Sportster modems. On the other hand, I have been used the same Zoom modem at home -- on a frequent (daily), but non-continunous basis -- for some time with no problems and excellent connectivity at 9600 and up. That's why I recommended that my company go with Zoom in the first place :-(. Go figure! Good luck. Bob Natale American Computer 301-258-9850 [tel] Director 209 Perry Pkwy 301-921-0434 [fax] Network Mgmt Products Gaithersburg MD 20877 natale@acec.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #524 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27558; 31 Jul 93 20:33 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29883 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 17:41:23 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17393 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 17:40:39 -0500 Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 17:40:39 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199307312240.AA17393@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #525 TELECOM Digest Sat, 31 Jul 93 17:40:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 525 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Broadcasters Conquer GTE (Don Kimberlin, FIDO via David Leibold) NCIC News (trader@cellar.org) GTE Railfone in Canada Actually Worked (David Leibold) Long Distance to Cuba (John D. Gretzinger) Comments on Highest Quality and Lowest Rates on Int'l Calling (M. Donnelly) Help With NEAX NEC 2400 T-1 (Bret Wilkening) History.of.Area.Splits, July 28, 1993 Version (Carl Moore) PC Sound Messages on Telephone Lines? (Angelo Haritsis) Princess Phone Keychains From 60's (Doreen Hansen) Please Deposit Two Dollars When You See the Stop Light (Paul Robinson) AT&T Atlantic? (Alan Boritz) No Caller ID in Manhattan (Carl Oppedahl) Caller-ID Across LATAs? (Charles McGuinness) ATT Dedicated Lines (Charlie Rosenberg) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 11:45 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Broadcasters Conquer GTE (The following was found in the Fidonet Broadcasting mailings; authorship is Don Kimberlin's, in conversation with Bill Blomgren) From: Don Kimberlin To: Bill Blomgren Subject: Telco loops BB>The way I was able to get GTE to respond was simple. BB>"What is your NAME?" " Thank you. I will need it for the letter to the BB>FCC why we are off the air. GTE failed to provide a tariffed service BB>in a timely manner. And your supervisor is? " " Very good. I'll be BB>sending the telegram immediately." BB>At which point I usually got a sleepy sounding supervisor, who would BB>insist that they WOULD have our lines back in just a few minutes. Oh, darn, Blomgren. You went and triggered the old War Story Gene again! SET WAR_STORY.SYS /on /gte_mode In its first life, WRXB in St. Petersburg was called WILZ, and was licensed to St. Petersburg Beach, with its studio out on the beach (like a nice little legal station, maintaining its business presence in that now-nebulous entity called the City of License), while its transmitter was on the mainland, just west of 34th Street around 38th Avenue South. The program audio was a rented 5 kHz jobbie from Good Old GTE of Florida, and it often suffered water intrusion into its pulp pairs in lead-sheathed cable that constituted most of the route up from the beach, across St. Pete, and then back down 31st Street to the transmitter neck of the (then) woods. We'd get all the GTE put-offs, ranging from the classic home repair "committment" of "within 24 hours, because that's all we promise the Florida PUC," to "It must be something wrong with your crummy non-Telco equipment." (I really _love_ that one ... the clown who dribbles in with a lineman's test set and says, "I can't hear any hum in my test set. Must be your crummy radio broadcasting equipment." Anyhow, we devised a couple of "get-backs." "Get-back" Number One: Finding out that Phoneco program amplifiers had _superb_ overload characteristics, we moved our peak limiter amplifier that could put out a nice highly compressed +30 dBm to the studio and of the line, and marked its nicely calibrated output dial with a crayon mark for normal operation. When the hum and junk came up on the GTE program line, we'd just call the studio and tell the announcer to crank that output pot up to full clockwise, and we'd often sail over the junk, if moderate. Of course, ten thousand people all over the south side of St. Petersburg got familiar with WILZ's program in the process, and GTE would hear from _lots_ of people. They usually got the message at that point. Of course, they'd get out in the hole and get to work, and cutting off our offending signal was their first action. At least, it got them to work, at which point we'd engage the second stage. "Get-back" Number Two: We only had a turntable at the transmitter, but we were still in the last days of cutting our own acetate transcrip- tions. So, we made an announcement that we played from the transmitter between every cut of fill music during the program line outage. It ran: WILZ is sorry that we can't bring your our regular program of the music and information you expect and demand, but we are suffering from a _failure_of_the_ tariffed_facilities_of_General_Telephone_. Just as soon as _General_Telephone_ can correct its failure, WILZ, your favorite station for music, entertainment and news, will resume those programs you expect and demand. Once again, this interruption is being caused by _General_Telephone_. Please do not call our telephones at WILZ, because we can only wait for _General_Telephone_ to repair its failure." THAT would result in about ten or fifteen cars and trucks from GTE showing up at the little transmitter shack, all sent by minions from different parts of GTE ... it would look like a GTE of Florida convention out there. Of course, they _all_ wanted us to stop playing the announcement, and had a myriad of things from pleading to threats. I _loved_ it when one of them would say he was going to stop the repair work until we stopped the announcement. It was _real_ fun to say, "Let me see your company ID card, like the front of the phone book says you produce on demand. I want to make certain I get your name spelled exactly right ... and you chaps, let's see yours, so I can make sure we have the witnesses' names correctly spelled." Needless to say, repairing WILZ's program line became top priority for GTE at moments like that! BB>In the case of WDAE, they had to pull that on all sorts of people. GTE BB>used to periodically leave _no one_ in the test room, so the only person BB>you could talk to was a regular "repair" operator. Pulling something BB>like the above on one of them was cruel and unusual punishment, but it BB>worked... Hmmm ... DAE, eh? What year and circumstances was that? Although it was out in those goonies we've talked about, I don't recall theirs being particularly flaky in the late Fifties/early Sixties. Apparently it was off the beaten track of the cable diggers and cutters back then. Regardless, your advice is the Magic Weapon so many people fail to use. I call it Saying The Three Little Words: "What's Your Name?" * Origin: Borderline! BBS Kannapolis,N.C. (704) 938-6207 (1:379/37.0) ------------------------------ Subject: NCIC News From: trader@cellar.org Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 21:04:53 EDT Organization: The Cellar electronic community and public access system I sent this to CuD, but thought that Telecom readers may also be interested. {Philadelphia Inquirer} - 07/29/93 CRIMINAL RECORDS ARE VULNERABLE TO ABUSE, CONGRESS IS WARNED Sometimes the information is for sale, the GAO said. It called for greater security. By Lawrence L. Knutson ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- In Arizona, a former police officer gained access to print-outs from the FBI's National Crime Information Center, tracked down his estranged girlfriend and murdered her. In Pennsylvania, a computer operator used the system to conduct background searches for her drug-dealer boyfriend, who wanted to learn if new clients were undercover agents. In Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland and other states, private investigators bought data from insiders with authorized access to the criminal-record system. These examples were presented to the House Judiciary and Government Operations Committeess yesterday by the General Accounting Office, which concluded that the criminal-records system is vulnerable to widespread misuse. The GAO recommended that Congress enact legislation with "strong criminal sanctions" barring the misuse of the criminal record files and that the FBI encourage state users to enhance security. Laurie E. Ekstrand, the GAO's associate director for administration of justice issues, said that while the FBI and the states do not keep adequate records, "we did obtain sufficient examples of misuse to indicate that such misuse occurred throughout the system." "Furthermore, all the reported misuse incidents involve insiders, while none involved outside [computer] hackers," she said. "It appears that there are employers, insurers, lawyers or investigators who are willing to pay for illegal access to personal information, and there are insiders who are willing to supply the data," said Rep. Gary Condit (D., Calif.) summing up the GAO's findings. The National Crime Information Center, with 24 million records, is the nation's largest computerized criminal justice information system. Its 14 separate files contain an extensive range of data, including information about fugitives, stolen vehicles and missing persons. The largest single file, known as "the III file" gives users access to 17 million criminal-history information records maintained in separate state systems. The GAO said more than 19,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Canada, using 97,000 terminals, have direct access to the system. The GAO called the Arizona case the most extreme example of misuse it uncovered. The agency said investigators learned that the former police officer was able to locate his estranged girlfriend using data provided from the national records system by three people working in different law enforcement agencies. "After an investigation, the printouts provided by the three individuals were discovered and they were identified, prosecuted and convicted," the GAO said. Other examples provided by the GAO: - In Maine, a police officer used the system to conduct a background check on one of his wife's employees who was then fired for not disclosing his criminal record - In Iowa, a dozen cases of misuse were reported over the last two years. All involved computer operators conducting background searches on friends or relatives. - In New York state, an employee of a law enforcement agency provided criminal history information to be used by a local politician against political opponents. - In Pennsylvania, a police officer "accessed and widely disseminated" a fellow officer's criminal history record. - In South Carolina, a law enforcement agency conducted background searches on members of the City Council. ------------- [Moderator's Note: Be aware however that much information people don't like having released is considered public record, and that includes criminal histories. There are perhaps right ways and wrong ways to go about getting the information, but criminal background information on any person can be obtained quite legally, and you don't have to be a law enforcement officer to get it. Here is why: In the United States, our constitution calls for *open, public trials*. To wit, anyone can walk into a courtroom, sit down and observe a trial in progress. Records are kept of trials (we call them transcripts) and the same rules which provide that trials are open to the public say that by extension, transcripts can be read by anyone who wants to get it and read it later. The court may charge a fee for its expense in making the copy, but pay the fee and you get the record. Now no one is going to traipse around the country, state by state and county by county looking to see if you are a criminal, a deadbeat or whatever. What happens is that nearly every community has at least one practioner of records research. Send them a note plus their fee and *they* will walk over to the courthouse, pull the file and fax it to you. Many researchers have cooperative arrangements with other researchers. You pull files in your community that I need and I'll pull files here for you. This then lead to computerized databases of perfectly open, legally obtained information on criminal records (among other things) in much the same credit bureaus work with each other. So you don't have to get into confidential records illegally to get what you want to find out, you just have to know where to go for *legal, public* files which say the same thing or the essence thereof. If your record in the Podunk Circuit Court says Judge Greene sent you away for ten years for refusing to select a default one plus carrier, I don't have to have an illicit contact in the NCIC or law enforcement to tell me the same thing at some risk to my own freedom if I get caught snooping! Remember, you can have all the information you want on anyone quite legally. Public records abound. Learn to use them. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 01:42 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: GTE Railfone in Canada Actually Worked I had the privilege of being aboard a test ride of the ABB X2000 train during a Toronto test run this past week. Amtrak in the U.S. was testing this train for possible use in the Washington DC - New York City - Boston rail corridor, and possibly other routes; the Canadian demonstrations are a side trip sponsored by CP Rail and ABB. One feature on board was a Railfone, actually a cellular unit activated by credit card. There was an attached Railfax unit, a rather compact device, that could be used in conjunction with the Railfone to send faxes from the train. The unit bore GTE insignia. The phone stated that '0' should work for free assistance. So I tried it to see whether it would route through to a Canadian service like Cantel or Bell Mobility instead. Surprisingly, I got a GTE operator. The trip was a bit too far from Buffalo to reach a New York cell site, so one possibility was that dialing 0 from the Railfone sent along instructions to the cell site to dial an 800 number thus reaching GTE. I didn't figure out whether the phone was linked to Cantel or Bell Cellular, though. David Leibold ------------------------------ From: JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.sprint.com Date: 30 Jul 93 14:01:56-0400 Subject: Long Distance to Cuba The following news clip is forwarded for your information. * Sprint has asked the FCC for permission to provide service to Cuba. The carrier's filing, dated July 26, asked the FCC to grant Special Temporary Authority to provide switched voice service to Cuba via Teleglobe, Canada's long distance company. Sprint said it would use its own facilities to reach the Canadian border and Teleglobe has agreed to lease facilities to meet Sprint's connection at the border and then transfer phone calls via satellite. Sprint has also filed for permanent links since the arrangement with Teleglobe is a stopgap. The plan calls for leasing 30 circuits from Comsat to provide direct service with Cuba. Sprint expects channel growth to increase 26 percent in the first year, 20 percent in the second year, and 24 percent in the third. Sprint projects it will hold 47 percent of the market during the first full year of service and generate over one million minutes of traffic. However, Sprint expects the market share to erode rapidly. By 1997, Sprint said it expects to hold only 28 percent of the market, handling about 2.4 million minutes. The plans would require approval by the Cuban government. (Communications Daily, "Sprint asks FCC for license to provide Cuba service," 7/30/93) #073001 ------------ John D. Gretzinger Network Engineer Sprint +1.310.797.1187 I don't speak for Sprint, and they don't speak for me. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 11:12:34 EDT From: mark@internet.sbi.com (Mark Donnelly) Subject: Comments on Highest Quality and Lowest Rates on Int'l Calling Which vendors have the best rate and line quality for moving data around on international calls with run-of-the-mill modems? If anyone has experience with this while moving significant amounts of data I would really appreicate your comments. Thanks, Mark ------------------------------ From: magician@microware.com (Bret Wilkening) Subject: Help With NEAX NEC 2400 T-1 Organization: Microware Systems Corp., Des Moines, Iowa Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 14:24:19 GMT I have recently been put in charge of our corporations PBX system, and have some questions concerning the NEC T-1 cards which we just installed. The switch is the NEAX NEC 2400 SIM, and we just installed our FIRST T-1 card, (a NEC 24DTG), and the appropriate clocking card ( CK-01), also NEC's card. We seem to be having problems getting the clock card to sync properly to the signal supplied by MCI, our long distance carrier. We are confident that ALL the dip-switch setting on the clock card and 24DTG card are set correctly, and have verified this with various vendors involved (three companies involved). The T-1 connection IS WORKING, and we are using it for a small portion of our outgoing traffic currently with no problems. Also, we have 800 service coming in on it also, with no problems. However, we do not beleive it is working correctly. Below are some strange things which lead us to beleive that things are still not quite right: When hooking up a TBERD 211 T scanner analyzer it shows that our T-1 card is transmitting ALL ONES. We have tried several different combinations of switch settings, ( a vendors request ) but are unable to clear this problem. We we go OFF HOOK, the ALL ONES led clears, and everything seems to be OK. However, both MCI and our local fiber company who put in this T-1 say that transmitting ALL ONES should not be normal! Our clock card also has the amber alarm light which lights. It is very strange, sometimes off for several hours, other times totally on. Most of the time, the light just pulsates on/off. We believe that it is just not able to sync properly? This problem we believe is directly related to the clocking problem. Our NEC switch constantly generates both MAJOR and MINOR alarms. We think that this is due to the switch having to drop back to its' internal clock, when the T-1 clock drops out of sync. Again, all of this is just our speculation of the problems, and I am hoping to find some help in solving these problems. I am scheduled into a factory school on this PBX, but not until September. Please advise is you can be of help. ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!! Thanks in advance for your help! Bret D. Wilkening Administrator of Internal Systems Microware Systems Corporation ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 13:26:46 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: History.of.Area.Splits, July 28, 1993 Version As promised, I have mailed off a new version of subject file. I had a comment about the first batch of NNX area codes being of NN0 form, and (due to the announcement of 205/334 split in Alabama) have shifted this to the past tense ("It was thought that..."). (205/334 split has been noted as needed elsewhere in the file.) Also, remember the quirk in the 215 area where two prefixes did not make the dialing changes? (I.e., they continued using 1+7D for direct-dial long distance within 215, and continued using 0+7D for operator-assisted calls within 215.) I added a note saying those two prefixes will move to area 610. [Moderator's Note: Carl's area code history file can be located in the Telecom Archives using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ah@doc.ic.ac.uk (Angelo Haritsis) Subject: PC sound mesgs on telephone lines ? Date: 30 Jul 93 01:47:32 GMT Organization: Dept. of Computing, Imperial College, London Hello everyone, We need a PC board that would be able to play-back different sound messages (pre-recorded on a disk) on one or more telephone lines, while the operator is busy on some other line. The operator should be able (through some kind of s/w running on the PC) to control what message is played on each line. Is there anything like that ? I presume telephone operator services (eg directory info) must use this pronciple. But is there anything widely available? Please reply by personal e-mail. Thanks in advance, #include Angelo Haritsis, Applied Systems Section s-mail: Dpt of Computing,Imperial College, 180 Queen's Gate, London SW7 2BZ, UK e-mail: ah@doc.ic.ac.uk - tel:+44 71 589 5111 (x7511) - fax:+44 71 581 8024 ------------------------------ From: Doreen Hansen Subject: Princess Phone Keychains from 60's Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 11:01:32 CDT Hi! Does anyone here have a collection of those little plastic princess phones that say "The Princess phone ... It's little, it's lovely, it lights!" on the bottom? They have a ball-type chain on the right side. I have just started a collection of them after finding a few at the local Goodwill. I know they came in aqua, white, and pink. Are there any other colors? How were these distributed? with phone books? In the mail? Did each household get one/two? Were they given out only one year? Or did people buy them? I have no idea cuz I was born in 1966. I know these are silly questions to many of you! :) I found two unmodified lifesize Princess phones (touch-tone) at a hamfest (Ham-radio flea market). One was all beat up, but with some cleaning, it didn't look half bad! (Yes, I did post a similar thing to rec.collecting). Only one person replied with one keychain! Must not be a hot collectors item!! Doreen Hansen Internet: dhansen@ua.d.umn.edu 28 Dewberry Lane Duluth, MN 55810 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 22:03:23 (EDT) Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Please Deposit Two Dollars When You See the Stop Light From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA {Washington Post Digest}, Page D8, July 29: "NYNEX's cellular phone unit and New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission started a 90-day pilot program to provide cellular pay phones for passenger use in 200 cabs. Calls will cost about $1.75 per minute in the New York City area and more for long distance calls. Separately, NYNEX joined Polish companies and investors in a venture to publish telephone directories for Poland's national phone company. ... British Telecommunications said first-quarter pre-tax earnings rose 27 percent." Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jul 93 07:50:44 EDT From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM> Subject: AT&T Atlantic? We received a most unusual call in the office yesterday. Someone who identified himself as a representative of "AT&T" asked for "the owner" and quizzed our receptionist about whether or not someone had been trying to reach a particular 800 number. The strange caller left another 800 phone number to call. I returned the call and the (Audix?) voice mail system at the other end identified itself as "AT&T Atlantic." The message on the mailbox greeting was a different person than the one that called the receptionist, though used the same name. A THIRD person using the same first and last name (different from the first caller and the voice mail greeting) returned my call. The "third Tony" ;) explained that "AT&T Atlantic" is a division of AT&T, located in Florida, that sells telephone systems and that they had sales reps in our area ... You probably already know the rest of the pitch. ;) Would anyone know if there really is an "AT&T Atlantic" that competes with AT&T's regular business clients, or was this what it appears to be? Alan Boritz 72446.461@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: No Caller ID in Manhattan Date: 31 Jul 1993 12:38:08 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC New York Telephone spends plenty of its ratepayers' money saying how modern and flexible its network is ... as it should be in the city that never sleeps -- the city that is the communications hub for banking and finance -- the city that gets area code divisions every few years due to the explosion in demand for telephone service ... So what do I encounter recently? Here I live in the middle of Manhattan, with central office 212-777, and I am told that it is impossible for me to get ISDN. That was last week. This week I am told it is impossible to get Caller ID, even though it is being advertised all over New York City, complete with inserts in the phone bills trumpeting its availability. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ From: marks!charles@jyacc.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) Subject: Caller-ID Across LATAs? Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 9:24:25 EDT I live in area code (201), which is in the Northern New Jersey LATA. The other day, my Caller ID box showed a number from area code (215), which is Philadelphia and obviously not in my LATA. I received a second call from the same number, and so the chances of the number being in error are rather slim. What I want to know is ... how'd this happen? I never get numbers from anybody outside of my LATA, except this once. Is it just the luck of everybody having SS7 connectivity from end to end? Thanks! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 05:41:52 PDT From: Charlie Rosenberg Subject: ATT Dedicated Lines A friend asked me who to talk to at AT&T about leasing a dedicated 56kb line to Latin America. Does anyone have any contact info for the department at AT&T that provides this service? ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #525 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02299; 1 Aug 93 0:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30351 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 21:39:43 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06710 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 21:38:58 -0500 Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 21:38:58 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308010238.AA06710@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #526 TELECOM Digest Sat, 31 Jul 93 21:38:40 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 526 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Spending $5 Million on Video Games (Paul Robinson) Canadian Caller ID Document Co$t$ (David Leibold) Exact Frequencies of 900MHz Cordless Phones USA/Germany (P. Jesinger) Paging Service Providers in Pittsburgh? (Marc Unangst) CCITT, ITU-T or TSS? (Basil Halhed) Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing (Jim J. Murphy) MCI Fax Dispatch Offers PostScript (Christopher Zguris) Area-code Splits and State Capitals (Garrett Wollman) Continuing Saga - Help Needed For Modem Line (Bruce D. Nelson) Seeking the Von Neumann Network (Rich Bauer) Need Addresses/Contacts For SOH/SONET (Jean Raymond) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Ehud Gavron) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Zane Shults) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Harold Hallikainen) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 12:04:59 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: AT&T Spending $5(m) on Video Games From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Summary from {Washington Post}, Page D8, July 29: In "Game for a Multimedia Opportunity" Cindy Skryzcki describes AT&T's purchase on July 28 for US $5 million of a 20% stake in the Sierra Network, a computer system that allows users to play games against each other; the description was that the network resembles "an electronic amusement park." The photograph above the article shows a fuzzy image of several buildings in a park setting, apparently taken off of a computer screen. As part of the deal, the network has been renamed ImagiNation Network Inc, and AT&T, which has the right to obtain a controlling interest, said it would spend at least another $3 million to develop more programming for the system. The article says this is part of AT&T's strategy "to be a major player in an emerging industry called multimedia, where computers, communications technology, consumer electronics and entertainment converge." AT&T is involved with other game related companies including 3DO, Sega and PF Magic. Sierra's interest is what AT&T can provide: the phone network which can allow much better interactive entertainment; the other two things needed are the programming and the delivery into the home. "AT&T is now working on all three." The other reason for its owner to be interested is the $12 million it has spent on the system and was still losing money. AT&T has gotten involved in a number of ventures, including video phones, personal communicators (which merge a fax machine, cellular phone and E-Mail), video-on-demand and interactive shopping. AT&T has done a "major management reorganization" and was surveying its employees "to find out if there was a market for interactive programming using regular phone lines." AT&T is also working on a special modem to send voice and data simultaneously. (Isn't that what ISDN is supposed to do?) But apparently AT&T doesn't want too much read into this move; an AT&T vice president said it is not "AT&T's definitive move in interactive networks" but AT&T is talking to Hollywood about some things that could be done. The owner of the system is a small California Company called Sierra On-Line Inc., which made US $43 million in revenue last year. Another 20% of the system was also sold for US $5 million to General Atlantic Partners, a New York investment firm. Sierra has also signed an agreement with Prodigy to allow its two million subscribers access to Sierra's games. SIDEBAR: Here are some of AT&T's 1993 investments in interactive multimedia: Jan 7: Joins with other companies to form 3DO to create interactive Compact Discs; Jun 1: Creates Video Server as a means to provide video on demand; Jun 2: Joins with Viacom to announce plans for two-way cable to allow services such as video on demand; Jun 3: Joins with Sega to make video games accessible via phone lines; Jul 28: Buys 20% of the Sierra Network. Analysis of the situation: A few years ago some other company did the same thing, e.g. allow people to connect to a system and access video games and the equivalent. The company went bankrupt because people couldn't see paying a monthly fee for access to video games when you can purchase them once. Access to other people might be more valuable, I'm not sure. I don't know if this sort of thing is capable of being done on a paying basis. I do know that if it is, it has to be low enough in cost to encourage people to use it, yet not so low that the operators can't make a profit on it. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 11:40 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Canadian Caller ID Document Co$t$ A few people in the area tried to get the Canadian Call # ID document known as Interface Disclosure ID-0001 in recent days only to find out that it costs $50. This document was originally administered by Bell Canada and was free for the asking; it wasn't a massive epic by any means (about 18 pages, Nov 1989 version). Now, the document is carried by Stentor (formerly Telecom Canada), and perhaps the charge was introduced with this change. In the U.S., the comparable Bellcore document carried a cost as well, though I don't have their catalogue handy to find out what that price is. At least Bellcore is set up as a publications and information service; as for Stentor, one wonders if the charge will be changed to different amounts the following week. David Leibold ------------------------------ From: zrsjp01@tapio.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de (P. Jesinger) Subject: Exact Frequencies of 900MHz Cordless Phones USA/Germany Date: 30 Jul 1993 13:37:59 GMT Organization: Universitaet Tuebingen Hi, Can anyone tell me the exact frequencies that are used be the new 900MHz cordless phones in the US? How many channels do they use? Are these exactly the same frequencies as the cordless phones in Germany use? Peter ------------------------------ From: mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) Subject: Paging Service Providers in Pittsburgh? Date: 31 Jul 1993 18:29:34 -0400 Organization: The Programmers' Pit Stop, Ann Arbor MI I'm going to be moving to Pittsburgh, PA (from Ann Arbor, MI) in about two weeks. I currently have numeric pager service from PageNet of Michigan, and own (not rent) a Motorola Bravo Plus pager. I am on the 900MHz PageNet system, and I don't know whether the Bravo Plus I have can be retrofitted for 70cm or 2m paging services. I'm interested in continuing to have paging service in Pittsburgh, so I'm looking for recommendations on which company to go with. For comparison purposes, right now I pay $9.95/month for numeric paging service with a 500 page/month allowance. I'm thinking of selling my Bravo Plus and renting an alpha pager, so I'm primarily interested in rate information from people who rent an alpha pager in Pittsburgh. Also, service information, testimonials, etc. are welcome, as is advice to stay away from a particular company. It's probably best to e-mail responses to me; I'll summarize to the Digest when I decide which company to go with. Marc Unangst, N8VRH mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us ------------------------------ From: aa591@freenet.carleton.ca (Basil Halhed) Subject: CCITT, ITU-T or TSS? Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Canada Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 17:34:02 GMT I am currently writing an article for Business Communications Review and I have a fundamental question about referencing CCITT Recommendations since the merging of CCITT and CCIR. According to itudoc@itu.ch, "Following ITU's reorganization, references to CCITT are being replaced by ITU-T ..." Is there any retroactivity? For example, are both old and new CCITT Recs. to be referred to as ITU-T/H.261 for example? Or, is it more like IEEE where standards produced when the organization was called IRE were subsequently referred to as IRE xxx (rather than IEEE xxx)? (Which would mean that H.261 would be CCITT/H.261). And then, to muddy the waters, I have also seen what used to be called CCITT Recs. referred to as "TSS Recs." Thanks for your assistance! Also, please Cc: me directly as the news on my node seems to be running about 18 hours behind today. Basil ------------------------------ From: JIM.J.MURPHY@gte.sprint.com Date: 31 Jul 93 12:15:45-0400 Subject: Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing I had to make a long distance call from a customer's site today, and I normally bill these calls on my supervisor's calling card. But the card number was in my truck, so I opted to just bill the call to our office phone number. The customer's line used ATT for the carrier and I just 0+ dialed the call, thinking I would wait for an operator to take my third party billing information. After the Boing and the ATT announcement, I just waited, and instead of an operator, another announcement said, "This is ATT. Please say: Collect, Calling Card, Third Number, Person to Person, or Operator, now." I said "Third Number" in my clearest and most distinct voice and the announcement then said, "Using Touch Tones, please enter the area code and number you wish to bill this call to, now". And my call completed as normal. I experimented with this later back at the office. If I slurred my words or spoke too softly, the announcement said my request was not understood, please try again. If the second time was still not understood, it said to standby for an operator. I also had no trouble entering a number to bill the call to; one of our office numbers, or to any valid local number I might punch in. Jim Murphy AA0JG Cresco, IA JIM.J.MURPHY@gte.sprint.com BigDaddy8@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 04:13 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: MCI Fax Dispatch Offers PostScript First off, I'm not affiliated with MCI in any way, I just have an account there. I got a message from them advertising an upgrade (I guess) to there Fax Dispatch service that allows users to fax-broadcast PostScript-defined pages instead of just text. The way I understand it, you create your "page" using whatever program, save it as PostScript, upload the PostScript to MCI, and then you can broadcast it to whoever you want. They used to only offer text fax-broadcast, so this is a major improvement. I've seen messages here about fax-broadcast, so I thought this might be of interest to the readers. Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ From: wollman@trantor.emba.uvm.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Area-Code Splits and State Capitals Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 00:35:31 GMT In article , Carl Moore wrote: > But in Maryland (1991) and Virginia (1973), the state capitals went to > new area codes (410 and 804 respectively) and the DC suburbs stayed in > the old area codes (301 and 703 respectively). My initial reaction to this was "well, what about the population?" Then I remembered that Baltimore also ended up in 410, and `Bawlamer' and Washington are roughly equal in population, so this argument doesn't seem to hold. However, it is worth noting that many state capitals are in relatively small cities. Consider, for example, Montpelier, VT (pop. 6500), or Carson City, NV (pop. unknown, but much smaller than Reno or Las Vegas). Oddly enough, these two cities lie in Hamming-adjacent NPAs (802 and 702, respectively). Of course, there is virtually zero probability that NPA 802 will ever need to be split; there are less than 200 exchanges currently allocated (according to my phone book) for a population of 550,000. (It is considered very unlikely that Vermont's population should ever reach one million.) Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. [Moderator's Note: Another area code which is greatly underused and unlikely to ever need to split is 401 in Rhode Island. I think there are fewer people in RI than on the north side of Chicago. Isn't the entire state mostly a local call for anyone there? :) PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: usenet@eastman.rdcs.kodak.com From: nelson@titan.ppd.kodak.com (Bruce D. Nelson (67890)) Subject: Continuing Saga - Help Needed For Modem Line Date: 30 Jul 93 03:41:51 GMT Organization: Eastman Kodak Company As you may recall from my posting three weeks ago, I have a modem line and a voice line. My modem line stopped having the ability to carry a v.42 connection sometime around July 1st. The voice line works OK. My first call to Rochester Tel resulted in "test from the office shows the line is OK" and "lines only required to support speech and 2400 bps connections". After I received some advice from some of you, I called Rochester Tel again. Since that time, they have replaced all the wiring from my interface block all the way to the pole. They have also exchanged CO loops between my voice line (which worked) and the modem line (which doesn't). I've also talked to the techs in the switchroom. Although the techs say they don't have to work on this problem, they have been very helpful, except, the modem line still doesn't work (but the voice line still can carry v.42). At this point, the modem line is all new wire to the pole, and is connected to the CO pair which formerly carried my voice line. I'm baffled. They're baffled. Any of you have any advice I can give them? Additional info: The link diagnostic reports on the "bad" line show connection speeds of 2400/14400 (rcv/xmit) to 4800/14400 on most of my v.42 calls where that line used to always get 14400/14400 as does the voice line. However, there's one line I need to call where my good line gets 14400/14400 and the bad line negotiates to 7200 and then drops the connection. Thanks for any insights you can provide. Bruce Nelson | Phone: (716) 726-7890 Rochester Distributed Computer Services | Internet: nelson@kodak.com Eastman Kodak Company | Rochester, NY 14652-3302 [Moderator's Note: Unless you have a special requirement for the number you are using as your phone line, why not just swap them out and use the good line for your modem and the lesser quality line for voice? PAT] ------------------------------ From: root@cpp.PHA.PA.US (Rich Bauer) Subject: Seeking the Von Neumann Network Organization: Critical Path Project Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 01:30:26 GMT Does anyone have the phone number or e-mail address of the John Von Neumann Computer Network? This is a company that offers very low Internet connections in my area. Unfortunately, directory assistance for 1-800 doesn't have their number. ------------------------------ From: rayj@ctss11.hydro.qc.ca (Jean Raymond) Subject: Need Addresses/Contacts For SOH/SONET Reply-To: rayj@ctss11.hydro.qc.ca Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 15:38:05 GMT I would like to find addresses/contacts for different companies involved in SDH/SONET network. Is it possible to someone give it to me ? Thank you for your help. List of companies I'n looking for : - Spanish PTT, Telefonica - PTT Telecom Netherlands - Belgian PTT - Germany's Deutsche Telekom - Israel's ECI Telecom Ltd - Philips Communications Systems in Paris - Philips Kommunikations Industries AG, Nuremberg Germany - and any other ones involved in SDH/SONET network (equipment, management...) Jean Raymond Hydro-Quebec, Telecommunications Control Center Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: jraymond@cct.hydro.qc.ca ------------------------------ From: gavron@spades.aces.com (Ehud Gavron) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Date: 30 Jul 1993 23:50 MST Organization: ACES Research Inc. Reply-To: gavron@ACES.COM ENOUGH ALREADY on toner phoners. It has little if anything to do with TELCOM, and it's hardly unlawful ... Mumbles: > [Moderator's Note: Well since I wrote the above, a couple messages in > the Digest have pointed out that some (most?, all?) of these bozos are > claiming to be 'the regular supplier' for the firms they call. That > does hinge on fraud I suppose, but barely. PAT] Fraud is not a door, and it doesn't hinge on anything. It is either fraud or it isn't. Fraud requires that there be provable malicious deception. Good luck proving malice when the guy says he's your regular fax-paper guy. Give me a break and go back to arguing if The Breakup was Good or Evil, whether Steve will surplant John, or if the Pacific Northwest gets enough rain (both Steve and John will have insight, I'm sure). NOTE: WHERE IS PROOF POSITIVE??? WHERE IS MCI'S PROMISED PROOF? Answer: their stupid tariff wasn't accepted. They've had since 1984 and still can't show customer savings. Too bad. OB Comp.DCOM.Telecom info: I once had dinner with Monty Solomon. Ehud Gavron gavron@aces.com ------------------------------ From: zs470513@LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Zane Shults) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 04:53:58 GMT Organization: Colorado State U. Engineering College Like they say: Cheat me once, shame on you ... Cheat me twice, shame on me. Cheers, Tim timhu@bou.shl.com ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 19:32:37 GMT In article 0003991080@mcimail.com writes: > At our company, we cannot buy anything unless Purchasing issues a > valid purchase order. So when the scam artist would call and breezily > ask for information about our machines, or say that they were a > regular supplier of ours, I would start asking questions. What I > discovered was that when I asked even the most basic questions that a > business would normally ask to identify a current or potential > supplier, they would just hang up! Things like the NAME and ADDRESS > of their company! I, along with everyone else, get lots of telemarketing calls both here at work and at home. I listen to their pitch then explain that it is really too bad they used telemarketing, since we don't buy ANYTHING where the first contact is via a telemarketing call. We consider it a poor business practice and are doing our part to make it not economically feasible. I am amazed, however, that any company bigger than one person doesn't use purchase orders. We put them in place immediately on starting our company 20 years ago. It documents who is responsible for placing the order, what was ordered (so we can compare what is received with what was ordered), shows that the items were received so that invoices are approved for payment, documents what accounts to charge for the purchase, and, if it is for our stock, what our part number is, so we can update the inventory. We generally place orders by phone, so the supplier never sees the purchase order, but they get the PO number so we can quickly find it when shipments and invoices show up. Pretty simple ... again, unless there is one person handling everything at the company, it appears a simple purchase order system would be mandatory. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #526 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa03410; 1 Aug 93 1:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05244 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 22:59:22 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16872 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 22:58:33 -0500 Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 22:58:33 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308010358.AA16872@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #527 TELECOM Digest Sat, 31 Jul 93 22:58:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 527 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) (Keith G. McRae) Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) (Gary Breuckman) Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: K00L International Numbers (Lee Sweet) Re: K00L International Numbers (Cris Simpson) Re: K00L International Numbers (Doug Sewell) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Kenneth R. Crudup) Re: 800 Translation Questions (Ron DeBlock) Re: Area 205 to Split (Ethan Miller) Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? (Andrew Finkenstadt) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (David Leibold) Re: ADSI Specs Wanted (Brian Hess) Re: ADSI Specs Wanted (Jack Pines) Re: Caller ID (Miscellaneous Topics) (Carl Page) Re: Portable PC's in a Fleet of Cars (Steve Forrette) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mcraek@unb.ca (Keith G. McRae) Subject: Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) Organization: The New Brunswick Telephone Company Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 00:11:27 GMT In article albert@INSL.McGill.CA (Albert Pang) writes: > There is some renovation going on in our building and all the network > connection and telephone cables are rewired. I have been hearing the > term Category 5 all the time. (All of panels containing the RJ45 plugs > even have a sign CAT 5 on it). I was wondering what exactly does > Category 5 certified means in this context. Category 5 refers to the attenuation and (mostly) near-end-cross-talk (NEXT) characteristics of a structured wiring plan, which are the primary considerations determinig how fast data will go on said wires. Cat-5 will support 100Mbps transmission now, and 150Mbps (ATM) later. Reg'lar old telephone wire is rated Cat-2 or 3(4Mbps max), two year old STP is Cat-4 (16Mbps max), no Cat-6 yet! Structured wiring with a mix of types (Cat-3 & Cat-5 f'rinstance) gives the lower of the two ratings. NEXT is the boogy-man, and very controlled twists per inch, loose cable jackets, and so on do the high speed magic. Bell and or Northern Telecom would no doubt be delighted to put on a presentation if you ask. Keith G. McRae Internet: mcraek@unb.ca | |Customer Systems Engineering Advisor Phone: (506)859-3040 | |The New Brunswick Telephone Company Fax: (506)859-3537 | |644 Main St, 7th floor, P.O. Box 340 Envoy100(tm) KEITH.MCRAE | |Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, E1C 8L5 My opinions do not necessarily reflect NBTel's position. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 16:23:48 -0700 From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) In article albert@INSL.McGill.CA (Albert Pang) writes: > There is some renovation going on in our building and all the network > connection and telephone cables are rewired. I have been hearing the > term Category 5 all the time. (All of panels containing the RJ45 plugs > even have a sign CAT 5 on it). I was wondering what exactly does > Category 5 certified means in this context. The different categories refer to the frequency handling characteristics of the circuit. In the wire, it takes into consideration the wire itself and the number of twists per foot. In connectors, it translates to the type of termination, it 110-type as opposed to screw terminals. CAT 3 is rated 16 Mb, and is for voice and 10-base-T CAT 4 is rated 20 Mb, and is for token ring CAT 5 is rated 100 Mb, and is for CDDI and ATM. Of course, CAT 5 wiring is just fine for 10-base-t, etc ... ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 00:06:06 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In Article albert@INSL.McGill.CA (Albert Pang) writes: > There is some renovation going on in our building and all the network > connection and telephone cables are rewired. I have been hearing the > term Category 5 all the time. (All of panels containing the RJ45 plugs > even have a sign CAT 5 on it). I was wondering what exactly does > Category 5 certified means in this context. There is a complex set of specifications for catagory 5 cable, but, in a nutshell, it means that the pairs can handle data at 100 Mhz for lengths of 100 meters. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 Disclaimer: Being a know-it-all isn't easy. It's especially tough when you don't know that much. But I'll keep trying. (Both) ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Re: K00L Internation Numbers Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 19:03:18 -0400 (EDT) Here's a post from the AIX-L list (IBM Unix computers ...) More free advertising, or what? [PAT may want to/have already changed part of the numbers!] As you can see these aren't the same country codes as the earlier ones. So, *is* this just more free advertising, or what? BTW, this just popped up on the AIX list. No one asked for it! (Message deleted). Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) [Moderator's Note: Every news grroup in the world received this message from Seth. I received two copies myself: one to comp.dcom.telecom and one to the Digest. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Jul 93 16:45:18 PDT From: crs@pioneer.com (Cris Simpson) Subject: Re: K00L International Numbers Organization: Pioneer New Media Technologies, Inc. > if you want to unload your STUFF all over the PHONE give them a > call. Maybe we need a discussion on cleaning the phone afterwards. cris cris@pioneer.com [Moderator's Note: As the comedian Jack Benny would have phrased it, "really, Mary ...". PAT] ------------------------------ From: doug@cc.ysu.edu (Doug Sewell) Subject: Re: K00L International Numbers Date: 30 Jul 1993 01:39:38 GMT Organization: Youngstown State University In article TELECOM Moderator noted in response to J. Philip Miller (phil@wubios.wustl.edu): > [Moderator's Note: This message could be retitled "Here Comes Seth > Again With His Phone Numbers" .... Mr. Miller said Seth sent this to > sci.med.aids, passing it off as a 'safe sex' phone service. . > Miller rejected it in his group, and I would also if it were not good > for a laugh seeing to what extent people will go to promote things > on the net. PAT] He wasn't even that bright in other places. It appears he started at bit.admin and started up through the bit.* hierarchy (probably his site doesn't get alt.*, or he didn't feel it appropriate to advertise there). I saw it in bit.listserv.aix-l (an IBM unix-ish OS), cumrec-l (a higher-ed conference), and other places. As a result, two mailing lists were disconnected from usenet and a third was made moderated. Fortunately this time around, it didn't start a flood of "why the hell" posts going on-and-on in all the different discussions, eliminating any meaningful discourse for a week. Doug Sewell, Tech Support, Computer Center, Youngstown State University doug@cc.ysu.edu doug@ysub.bitnet !cc.ysu.edu!doug ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 15:28:08 EDT From: kenny@mvuts.att.com Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Organization: AT&T In article goldstein@isdnip.lkg.dec. com (Fred) writes: > Speaking of the overlaid initials "MCI", here in the Bay State, the > term means "Massachusetts Correctional Institution at", as in MCI > Concord, MCI Norfolk, MCI Gardner ... I found that out in an amusing way. I moved to Boston a few years ago, and one of the college radio stations, during their Saturday late nite mood-music program, would have a section for dedications that were called in (telecom relevancy hook :-) to be read. Well, every weekend I'd hear all these people dedicating this or that to "John at MCI Concord, Harry at MCI Norfolk, etc." I used to be amazed at the presence MCI had here in Massachusetts, and how they had so many people hired on the night shift until I told this to someone who told me the real deal after about five minutes of laughing. Kenneth R. Crudup, ATT BL, 1600 Osgood St, N. Andover, MA 01845-1043 MV20-3T5B, +1 508 960 3219. kenny@mvuts.att.com [Moderator's Note: Let us consider the initials MCC. On the one hand, it is the abbreviation for the federal Bureau of Prisons Metropolitan Correctional Centers, the prisons located in downtown Chicago, San Diego, and a few other places. On the other hand, it is also a very accepted abbreviation for the Metropolitan Community Church. :) So the next time someone you know misbehaves and winds up having to go to court, to their probation officer or whoever, tell them if they don't shape up they may wind up going to the MCC, and that you are not referring to Sunday services at the gay church! :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 16:54:26 EDT From: rdb1@homxb.att.com Subject: Re: 800 Translation Questions Organization: AT&T In article wolfgang@halcyon.halcyon.com (Stephen Davis) writes: > Hence, all the Pizza delivery chains will have a single 800 > number to call. The computer/whatever will then decide what store to > ring based on the number being called from. This saves even more time > than the average "Enter your area code and number at the tone for the > number of the Pizza/Flowers/Widgets store nearest you" bit. This has been done. We (AT&T InfoWorx) have built dealer locators that route to a dealer/store/office based on phone numbers. Usually, these applications are a bit more complex than just routing the call, so a SCP can't be used to do the work. An IVS is used instead, and we use ANI and/or caller entered digits (usually NPA-NXX or ZIP (postal) code). Usually, the requirement is to find the dealers within N miles of the caller's location. Actually, this ends up being N miles from the CO or post office, since we don't know the exact location of every phone in the country. For a company with many (thousands) dealers, the routing tables change very frequently. I'm not sure that the operations centers for the SCPs could handle weekly updates of these tables. Some companies have surprising methods for determining which dealer a call should go to. For example, the correct Pizza store may be chosen based on how long it takes to drive from the store to the caller's house. This can't be determined from NPA-NXX or ZIP code. Imagine a database mapping every phone number in the US to a Pizza store. Now imagine maintaining it. The pizza delivery chains actually have the data to build these databases. Every pizza store I've ordered from asks for your phone number. The big chains use this information to identify you and your pizza habits. Invasion of privacy on yet another front. "Thank you for calling Pizza Shack, Mr. Smith. If you want 'the usual', press 1 now. Otherwise, please hold for the next available droid." Ron DeBlock rdb1@homxb.att.com (that's a number 1 in rdb1, not letter l) AT&T Bell Labs Somerset, NJ USA ------------------------------ From: elm@cs.berkeley.edu (ethan miller) Subject: Re: Area 205 to Split Date: 31 Jul 93 14:23:02 Organization: Berkeley--Shaken, not Stirred Reply-To: elm@cs.berkeley.edu In article lelam%kunson@Sun.COM (Len E. Elam) writes: > In article cornutt@lambda.msfc. > nasa.gov (David Cornutt) writes: >> (It surprises me because I had thought that state politics would >> force SCB to keep Montgomery in 205, that city being the state capitol.) > Since Birmingham is probably still the biggest city in Alabama (it > was when I was growing in Alabama) and since it seems to be the > biggest business center in Alabama, it wouldn't surprise me if this > were taken into account in determining which area would "keep" Area > Code 205. Remember that, when 301 in Maryland split into 301/410, both the largest city (Baltimore) *and* the capital (Annapolis) went into the new area code. I suspect this had something to do with federal politics, since the DC suburbs kept 301. Splits apparently try to minimize national "effect," and reprinting all those government numbers with 301 area codes would have been a major hassle. ethan miller--cs grad student elm@cs.berkeley.edu #include ------------------------------ From: andy@vistachrome.com (Andrew Finkenstadt) Subject: Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? Reply-To: andy@vistachrome.com Organization: Vista-Chrome, Inc. Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 23:25:23 GMT djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > The Toronto FreeNet (TFN) mailings recently included a suggestion to > look at getting T1 lines for the forthcoming FreeNet facility rather > than individual POTS lines. There are apparently adapters that can > connect a T1 line with a number of computer ports, in effect doing the > function modems would be doing on each POTS line otherwise. The Motorola / UDS "DAS 925" V.32bis MDP modem is exactly what you want. You plug 24 of these little babies into a rack, attach T-1 interface card, and out the back comes up to 24 standard RS-232 serial ports suitable for attachment to the terminal server or multi-port serial box for Toronto Freenet. Some features listed in the glossy brochure: * Better than channel banks. Reduced rack space. Reduced shelf space. * Responds to loop start, ground start, and Trunk/E&M signalling. * Eliminates near-end echo. * Sits directly on the T-1 DS0 channel stream. * Uses the same technology as in the UDS V.3229 modem. * Therefore: V.32bis, V.42bis, MNP 5, and V.42/LAPM are supported. * Works at 14,400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, 1200, and 300 "baud". Contact 416-495-0008 FAX 416-495-0483 in Ontario. > Are there any difficulties with establishing a local number access > if T1 lines are used? Your mileage may vary. Here in Centel/Sprint, they install T-1 for local access lines only when it is to their advantage, such as a wiring shortage or long distance runs. Not associated in any way with Moto or UDS. Andrew Finkenstadt | andy@{homes.com,vistachrome.com,genie.geis.com} Systems Analyst | Vista-Chrome, Homes & Land Publishing Corporation | 1600 Capital Circle SW, Tallahassee Florida 32310 +1 904-575-0189 | GEnie Postmaster, Unix & Internet RoundTables Sysop ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 20:41 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced > In addition, 900 service providers *must* provide toll-free, pay per > call information lines; ... How do you set up an information line that is *both* toll-free and pay-per-call? Inquiring minds would like to know ... > and the use of *any* prefix other than 900 for pay-per-call services > is prohibited. Guess that is going to wipe out all those 976 and 540 numbers all over the U.S. Meanwhile, up in Canada, the decision on whether to expand national 900 service is pending. David Leibold [Moderator's Note: I think the way that is interpreted is that IP's using 900 numbers have to have an 800 number where they can be reached for questions about their services and/or an 800 number where their service can be used with a credit card as payment. Regards 976/540 style numbers, its hard to say what they meant, and if they regulate in-state services. Still, the news release did say that each state had the authority to prosecute offenders. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 23:02:10 -0500 From: bnh@active.com (Brian Hess) Subject: Re: ADSI Specs Wanted In ADSI, Customer-to-service signalling is DTMF. Service-to-customer is Bell 202 (FSK) half-duplex modem, so chosen for its ability to sync up within a couple tenths of a second. Before any data is transmitted, an alert tone consisting of 2130 Hz/2750 Hz is played for 75-85 msec. An ADSI telephone will turn off the speaker or handset and send a DTMF to acknowledge the alert. It is intended that data is sent first, then acknowledged, then the handset is turned on again and audio information corresponding to the data is sent. Then the customer (hopefully) pushes a button. Northern Telecom has a prototype phone set. Screen is 4 x 40, with 33 x 40 memory for scrolling in. There are soft keys on the phone, but so far as I could determine, they just sent single or sequence of ordinary DTMF. Their reason for being is so that you can put labels on the screen above them and don't need the "1 for sales, 2 for service, 0 for operator" messages in the voice time. For more information (Bellcore document numbers, all circa Dec. '92): SR-TSV-002476, CPE Compatibility Considerations for Voiceband Data Transmission TR-NWT-000030, Voiceband Data Transmission Interfacce Generic Requirements, Ussue 2 SR-INS-002461, CPE Compatibility Guidelines for the Analog Display Services Interface TR-NWT-001273, Generic Requirements for an SPCS to Customer Premises Equipment Data Interface for Analog Display Services SR-NWT-002495, Guidelines for Writing Applications which use the Analog Services Interface for Data Communications To order Bellcore Technical References (TR) and Special Reports (SR), contact Bellcore Customer Service, 60 New England Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854-4196. 800-521-2673 Brian Hess Active Ingredients, Inc. bnh@active.com, bnh@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: pjp@netcom.com (jack pines) Subject: Re: ADSI Specs Wanted Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 19:03:27 GMT In article rjberry@eskimo.com (Ray Berry) writes: > I've read that CID operates in compliance with specs contained in a > document called ADSI -- Analog Display Services Interface. This > document goes beyond CID, e.g., spelling out ways for the end user to > transmit info in the other direction. Is this document available to > developers? Is it ftp'able? I haven't a clue where to look for it, > but I think it would make for interesting reading. Bellcore publications TR-NWT-001273 and SR-INS-002461 both December 1992. ------------------------------ From: carlp@rainbow.mentorg.com (Carl Page) Subject: Re: Caller ID (Miscellaneous Topics) Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1993 03:19:18 GMT Organization: Mentor Graphics Corporation Herb writes: > 4. Since Anonymous Call Rejection is not available from the central > office, I connected a Colonial Data Technologies (80 Pickett > District Road, New Milford, CT 06776, (203) 355-3178) Caller ID > 370 Deluxe Caller ID Display with "Block the Blocker". (I > purchased this at Sears.) If Privacy Block is turned on, this > unit intercepts all Private calls after the first ring (after > the Caller ID data is received), plays the message "This party > will not accept blocked calls", and hangs up. I've had one of > my callers complain about "the rude guy" who answers my phone > now. > Note that this Caller ID Display unit has crummy display (low > contrast) and an inferior user interface. The ONLY reason I > use it is for the "Privacy Block" feature. I can't call you! Note that since line blocking is available in Oregon (and I have it) and cannot be turned off, there is no way for me to complete a call to you. All I'll get is your machines "rude" voice. The reason line blocking cannot be temporarliy turned off in Oregon is because the code to do so, *67, is also the code to block a non-line-blocked phone. That makes it impossible to make a blocked call reliably from an unfamiliar phone, or a phone with an unknown line-blocking status. US West refused to consider fixing this bug because they claimed their were too few codes left to assign one to unblock a line. (Other reasons were cited as well, but none that rang true to me.) Does anyone know if the operator could assist me to call you in an emergency? Or would the operator also be subjected to your rejection message. (arl [Moderator's Note: Your number being blocked would not prevent the operator from seeing it, and any operator calling to a Caller-ID equipped line causes the box to record it as an 'outside' call rather than 'private'. So depending on what the call recipient does about 'outsiders', you'd probably reach him that way. This type of opera- tor assistance however (using the operator to bypass Caller-ID on someone's line) is not a satisfactory reason for waiving the operator surcharge however, as it might be if there was trouble on line and the operator assisted in dialing. You say 'you can't call him' because the toggle is of no value when you don't know the status of the phone you are using. But the fact is, on your calls to him from your home, you know perfectly well what the status of that line is, so where is the confusion? And if you call from elsewhere, ask the owner of the phone how they have it set if you think it is a big deal. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Portable PCs in a Fleet of Cars Date: 31 Jul 1993 23:46:27 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In edc@ee.ubc.ca (Ed Casas) writes: > Tina Argente writes: >> I've been asked to check into the feasibility of installing portable >> PC's into a fleet of cars, and having the PC's communicate somehow >> with a remote host computer. I think some police departments do >> something like this already, if I'm not mistaken, but I don't know >> exactly how the communications take place. > These mobile data terminal systems are used for dispatch and database > enquiries by police, taxi, courier and utility companies. > They use custom-designed ruggedized terminals and modems. The modems > interface directly with either custom or modified radio transceivers. > Data rates are on the order of 4800 bps with packet-type protocols > using FEC and ARQ. There are also units made by someone that are ruggedized IBM PC compatibles. They have an integerated monitor/keyboard mounted on some sort of swivel, and appear very much like the proprietary systems that some companies make. The advantage of such a system is that off-the-shelf MS-DOS software can be run on them, and standard development tools can be used for custom software development. I would assume that there are custom radio datacomm units that are sold in combination with these to establish the datacomm path from the mobile back to the central host. There are several police departments that use our DOS teminal emulation software to access their mainframe databases using these units. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #527 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05967; 1 Aug 93 2:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10545 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 23:25:53 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04554 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 31 Jul 1993 23:25:09 -0500 Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 23:25:09 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308010425.AA04554@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #528 TELECOM Digest Sat, 31 Jul 93 23:25:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 528 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Final Program For 5th Incident Response Workshop (Gene Spafford) Reflections on Hacker Sentencing (Newsbytes via John F. McMullen) Computer System Liability (Christopher Zguris) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 12:10:11 -0500 Subject: Final Program For 5th Incident Response Workshop From: spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) Organization: FIRST Steering Committee This is the final program for the upcoming workshop. We have a first-rate agenda of speakers from around the world on incident response & security. To answer two common questions: 1) It is still possible to register for the workshop, although it is at the higher rate. The hotel still has rooms available. Registration at the door will be possible, but you may not be able to get copies of the handouts on-site unless you pre-register. 2) St. Louis is not underwater ... at least the workshop hotel and airport are not. A message from the St. Louis convention bureau is at the end of this announcement describing conditions. Please pass this on to anyone interested! gene spafford Workshop Program Co-chair FINAL AGENDA 5th Computer Security Incident Handling Workshop Sponsored by the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) August 10-13, 1993 St. Louis, MO TUESDAY, August 10, 1993 Full-day Tutorials 1. Creating a Security Policy, presented by Charles Cresson Wood: Independent Information Security Consultant Sausalito, California Based on his information security consulting work with over 80 organizations, Wood will discuss the practical aspects of information security policies. He will draw heavily from his third book, entitled "Information Security Policies Made Easy," which contains 525 already-written policies. His presentation will cover risk assessments, the role of policies, policy needs analysis, policy writing, management approval, policy issuance, user training, proper uses of automated and manual controls, and policy enforcement. The intention of the workshop will be to acquaint attendees with the need for policies, how they are best used, and how to handle policies in-house (avoiding the need to hire a consultant). Wood will also discuss how policies can help move an information security effort ahead with velocity while at the same time keeping security costs down. Special attention will be paid to the people aspects of information security policies. The workshop will end with critiques of the policy statements brought by attendees (so bring your policies). 2. Vulnerabilities of the IBM PC Architecture: Virus, Worms, Trojan Horses, and Things That Go Bump In The Night presented by A. Padgett Peterson: An intensive look into the architecture of the IBM-PC and MS/PC-DOS -- What it is and why it was designed that way. An understanding of assembly language and the interrupt structure of the Intel 80x86 processor is helpful. The day will begin with the BIOS and what makes the PC a fully functional computer before any higher operating system is introduced. Next will be a discussion of the various operating systems, what they add and what is masked. Finally, the role and effects of the PC and various LAN configurations (peer-peer and client server) will be examined with emphasis on the potential protection afforded by login scripting and RIGHTS. At each step, vulnerabilities will be examined and demonstrations made of how malicious software exploits them. Demonstrations may include STONED, MICHELANGELO, AZUSA, FORM, JERUSALEM, SUNDAY, 4096, and EXEBUG viruses depending on time and equipment available. On completion attendees will understand the vulnerabilities and how to detect attempted exploitation using simple tools included with DOS such as DEBUG and MEM. 3. Unix Security presented by Matt Bishop: This tutorial will examine four areas of security critical to the functioning of UNIX systems: * user authentication, which provides the first line of defense against attackers attempting to penetrate the system; * management of privileges, and managing access to the superuser account as well as programming for security; * defending against malicious logic, which will include a discussion of the workings of the Internet worm of November 1988, and several techniques for detecting malicious logic as well as blocking its effects; and * networking, covering the security mechanisms available in NIS, NFS, privacy-enhanced electronic mail, and Kerberos, as well as the Berkeley "trusted hosts" mechanism, Secure RPC, the network daemons and calls used by Berkeley's implementation of rlogin, rsh, and their kin, and (if time permits) both HoneyDanBer and 4.3 BSD UUCP. WEDNESDAY, August 11, 1993 8:30 - 8:45 Opening Remarks - Rich Pethia - CERT Coordination Center 8:45 - 9:30 Keynote Speaker - Dr. Vinton Cerf - Corporation for Research Initiatives 9:30 - 10:00 Break 10:00 - 12:00 International Issues - Computer networks and communication lines span national borders. This session will focus on how computer incidents may be handled in an international context, and on some ways investigators can coordinate their efforts. SPEAKERS: Harry Onderwater - Dutch Federal Police John Austen - New Scotland Yard John Neily - Royal Canadian Mounted Police 12:00 - 1:30 Lunch with Presentations by various Response Teams 1:30 - 3:00 Professional Certification & Qualification - how do you know if the people you hire for security work are qualified for the job? How can we even know what the appropriate qualifications are? The speakers in this session will discuss some approaches to the problem for some segments of industry and government. SPEAKERS: Sally Meglathery - ISC2 Lynn McNulty - NIST Genevieve Burns - ISSA 3:00 - 3:30 Break 3:30 - 6:00 Incident Aftermath and Press Relations - What happens after an incident has been discovered? What are some of the consequences of dealing with law enforcement and the press? This session will feature presentations on these issues, and include a panel to answer audience questions. SPEAKERS: Laurie Sefton - Apple Computer Jeffrey Sebring - MITRE Terry McGillen - Software Engineering Institute John Markoff - NY Times Mike Alexander - InfoSecurity News 7:00 - 9:00 Reception THURSDAY August 12 8:30 - 10:00 Preserving Rights During an Investigation - During an investigation, sometimes more damage is done by the investigators than from the original incident. This session reinforces the importance of respecting the rights of victims, bystanders, and suspects while also gathering evidence that may be used in legal or administrative actions. SPEAKERS: Mike Godwin - Electronic Frontiers Foundation Scott Charney - Department of Justice Frank Dudley Berry Jr. - Deputy District Attorney Santa Clara County 10:00 - 10:30 Break 10:30 - 12:00 Coordinating an Investigation - What are the steps in an investigation? When should law enforcement be called in? How should evidence be preserved? Veteran investigators discuss these questions. A panel will answer questions, time permitting. SPEAKERS: Jim Settle - FBI Jack Lewis - US Secret Service John Smith - Santa Clara DA's office 12:00 - 1:30 Special Interest Lunch 1:30 - 3:00 Liabilities and Insurance - You organize security measures but a loss occurs. Can you somehow recover the cost of damages? You investigate an incident, only to cause some incidental damage. Can you be sued? This session examines these and related questions. SPEAKERS: Mark Rasch - Arent Fox Bill Cook - Willian, Brinks, Olds, Hoffer, & Gibson Marr Haack - USF&G Insurance Companies 3:00 - 3:15 Break 3:15 - 5:30 Incident Role Playing -- An exercise by the attendees to develop new insights into the process of investigating a computer security incident. Organized by Dr. Tom Longstaff of the CERT Coordination Center. 7:30 - ? Birds of a Feather and Poster Sessions FRIDAY August 13 8:30 - 10:00 Virus Incidents - How do you organize a successful virus analysis and response group? The speakers in this session have considerable experience ans success in doing exactly this. In their talks, and subsequent panel, they will explain how to organize computer virus response. SPEAKERS: Werner Uhrig - University of Texas, Austin David Grisham - University of New Mexico Christoph Fischer - CARO Karen Pichnarczyk - LLNL/DoE CIAC 10:00 - 10:15 Break 10:15 - 11:15 Databases - How do you store incident, suspect, and vulnerability information safely, but still allow the information to be used effectively? The speakers in this session will share some of their insights and methods on this topic. SPEAKERS: John Carr - CCTA Michael Higgins - DISA/CISS 11:15 - 1:00 Threats - Part of incidence response is to anticipate risks and threats. This session will focus on some likely trends and possible new problems to be faced in computer security. SPEAKERS: Karl A. Seger - Associate Corporate Consultants, Inc. Craig Worstel - Boeing Genevieve Burns - Monsanto 1:00 - 1:10 Closing Remarks - Dennis Steinauer (NIST/FIRST) 1:10 - 2:00 Lunch 2:00 - 3:00 FIRST General Meeting and the Steering Committee Elections 3:00 - 4:00 FIRST Steering Committee Meeting ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Registration Information/Form Follows^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ INQUIRES: Direct questions concerning registration and payment to: Events at 412-268-6531 Direct general questions concerning the workshop to: Mary Alice "Sam" Toocheck at 214-268-6933 st@cert.org Return to: Helen E. Joyce Software Engineering Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 Facsimile: 412-268-7401 TERMS: Please make checks or purchase orders payable to SEI/CMU. Credit cards are not accepted. No refunds will be issued, substitutions are encouraged. The registrations fee includes materials, continental breakfast, lunches (not included on August 13), morning and afternoon breaks and an evening reception on August 11. GOVERNMENT TERMS: If your organization has not made prior arrangements for reimbursement of workshop expenses, please provide authorization (1556) from your agency at the time of registration. GENERAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Workshop................................. ..............$300.00 All registrations received after July 10, 1993..........$350.00 Tutorial................................................$190.00 NAME: TITLE: COMPANY: DIVISION: ADDRESS: ZIP: BUSINESS PHONE: EMERGENCY PHONE: FACSIMILE NUMBER: E-MAIL ADDRESS: DIETARY/ACCESS REQUIREMENTS: CITIZENSHIP: Are you a U.S. Citizen? YES/NO Identify country where citizenship is held if not the U.S.: (Note: there will be no classified information disclosed at this workshop. There is no attendance restriction based on citizenship or other criteria.) GENERAL HOTEL INFORMATION: RATES: A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency at Union Station, One St. Louis Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri 63103. The hotel will hold these rooms until July 10, 1993. Hotel arrangements should be made directly with the Hyatt, 314-231-1234. To receive the special rate of $65.00 per night, please mention the Fifth Computer Security Incident Handling Workshop when making your hotel arrangements. ACCOMMODATIONS: Six-story hotel featuring 540 guest rooms, including 20 suites. All rooms have individual climate control, direct-dial telephone with message alert, color TV with cable and optional pay movies. Suites available with wet bar. Hotel offers three floors of Regency accommodations, along with a Hyatt Good Passport floor, and a special floor for women travelers. LOCATION/TRANSPORTATION FACTS: Downtown hotel located in historic Union Station one mile from Cervantes Convention Center and St. Louis Convention Center and St. Louis Arch. Fifteen miles (30 minutes) from St. Louis Zoo. DINING/ENTERTAINMENT: Italian Cuisine is featured at Aldo's, the hotel's full-service restaurant. Enjoy afternoon cocktails in the Grand Hall, an open-air, six-story area featuring filigree work, fresco and stained glass windows. The station Grille offers a chop house and seafood menu. RECREATIONAL/AMUSEMENT FACILITIES: Seasonal outdoor swimming pool. Full health club; sauna in both men's and women's locker rooms. Jogging maps are available at the hotel front desk. SERVICES/FACILITIES/SHOPS: Over 100 specialty shops throughout the hotel, including men's and women's boutiques, children's toy shops and train stores. ================================================== July 19, 1993 TO: Meeting Planner FROM: St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission RE: Flooding The ongoing Midwest flooding along the Mississippi River obviously is a great and unfortunate drama -- and we in no way seek to minimize the tragedy of loss of lives, homes and businesses. However, in the midst of national media coverage of flooding above and below St. Louis, people are being left with the impression that St. Louis itself is under water. The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission's telephone lines are constantly busy as our information specialists answer calls from anxious travelers who have made plans to visit St. Louis this summer. They wonder if the Arch is "OK," if Union Station is "submerged" as they have heard, and where the Cardinals will be playing baseball if Busch Stadium is under water! We're doing our best to battle these and other misperceptions, but your help would be greatly appreciated in getting the word to your readers. Here's the truth: A visitor to St. Louis will be able to do everything he could have done before the floods (see baseball games, ride to the top of the Arch, enjoy dockside riverboat gaming, visit the brewery, zoo, art museum, etc ...) with the exception of taking Mississippi River sightseeing cruises. And all highway access to St. Louis is clear and open. The flood crested today, and the waters are beginning to recede. So, as you can see, it is a battle of perception versus reality in St. Louis' hospitality industry. If you're interested in talking about this aspect of the flood, please contact the Convention Services Department at 1-800-325-7962. Thanks very much for the consideration. ST LOUIS CONVENTION & VISITORS COMMISSION 10 SOUTH BROADWAY SUITE 1000 ST. LOUIS, MISS0URI 63102 (314) 421-1023 (800) 325-7962 FAX (314) 421-0039 ------------------------------ Subject: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing From: mcmullen@mindvox.phantom.com (John F. McMullen) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 16:41:16 EDT Organization: [Phantom Access] / the MindVox system The following appeared on {Newsbytes}, a commerical copyrighted international news service on July 29th. It is reposted here with the express consent of the author (This notice must accompany any subsequent re-postings which I am authorizing here). Reflections On Hacker Sentencing 07/29/93 NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A.(NB) 072993 -- I sat in federal court this week and watched two young men be sentenced to prison. It was not a pleasant experience. The young men, Ellias Ladopoulos, known in the hacker world as "Acid Phreak", and Paul Stira, a/k/a "Scorpion", were each sentenced to six months imprisonment, six months home detention, seven hundred fifty hours of community service, and $50 assessment charge for conspiracy to commit computer crimes. Both had pled guilty on March 17th on this charge so there was not a question of guilt or innocence. The six months imprisonment also does not seem draconian -- six months doesn't seem very long unless you happen to be the one serving it. Time is extremely relative as I found out when I spent five years at Fort Sill, Oklahoma between January 1963 and April 1963. It is safe to say that these young men will find the six months loss of freedom to be a very long period. The penalty, however, may be reasonable. It is certainly well within the sentencing guidelines for the infraction (The maximum sentence quoted for the crime pled to is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine). If I think that the sentencing may be just, or at least defensible, then what is the problem? Well, first, I have known the young men for over three years and like them both. I would have preferred that they not go to prison. I also personally feel that Stira never should have been a part of the indictment; a view shared by some law enforcement folks that I have spoken to (he is only mentioned in the papers twice and any illegal activities seeming stopped in January 1990; the activities enumerated involved possesion a "trap door" program and a list of user passwords to systems). I recognize that is a personal feeling and that all people want their friends not to bear hardship. Some place Ted Bundy probably had a friend who wanted him loose and running around. Another problem relates to the procedures that got the defendants to the sentence. Stira and Ladopoulos (along with Mark Abene a/k/a "Phiber Optik") were the subjects of a search and seizure by Secret Service agents in January 1990. Stira and Ladopoulos' fate then languished until July 1992 when they were indicted along with Abene and two new players, John Lee a/k/a "Corrupt" and Julio Fernandez a/k/a "Outlaw", on conspiracy to commit computer crimes. During the over three years that have gone by, Stira and Ladopoulos have undergone changes. They are both college students -- Stira would have graduated had his college not pulled his computer account when he pled guilty; an action which prevented him from completing his last course requirement. Both have performed community service through contacts provided by Robert Ambrose, a director of the New York Amateur Computer Club (NYACC). Ladopoulos is employed by a major New York broadcasting company and has impressed his employer to the extent that the employer wrote a letter to the judge, asking for leniency, and came to the sentencing. Ladopoulos' attorney, Scott Tulman, speaking at the hearing, said "He goes to school, works and donates time to working with the handicapped, teaching them to use computers. He acknowledges his culpability and has been attempting to atone for it. His probation officer noted his sincere efforts to rehabilitate himself. The stupid young person, 'Acid Phreak', who was involved with other person's computers no longer exists. It is Elias Ladopoulos who will be sentenced and that will cause a hardship to his family." There are those who may say "It doesn't matter how long ago they did something wrong. They did it and they have to pay the piper." They may well be right in some cases but these are not past serial killers; they are two young men who have been under tremendous pressure for a substantial part of their lives (3 years out of 21 is significant) since the indictment. Perhaps that should have been considered sufficient punishment. There is, further, an overriding problem. From day one of the case, the judge, Richard Owen, showed a complete lack of understanding of the technology related to the case. At the initial scheduling meeting, then- Assistant US Attorney Steve Fishbein pointed out that the discovery process might take a long time as the government had intercepted over "50 megabytes" of electronic evidence. The judge asked what a megabyte was and, when told it was a million characters, seemed to look rather panicked when he said "You're not going to show all that to a jury are you?" Fishbein assured him that he would not. It seemed obvious to those of us in attendance that Judge Owen had visions of 50 million pieces of paper being delivered to a jury. He was understandably concerned. That was only day one and a federal judge may not be computer literate at the start of such a case. That would certainly be a lot to expect. One might expect, however, that, a year later, at the conclusion of the case, knowledge would have been acquired. Sadly, that did not seem to be the case. One of the charges made against Stira and Ladopoulos (and Abene) was that they both pulled a prank and caused damage to a computer system belong to WNET, the PBS television channel in New York. While Stira and Ladopoulos admitted being on the system, both deny causing any damage (it is a common belief that another hacker, known for malicious actions, left unindicted by the federal government because of his age, knowingly committed the damage). A major part of the sentencing dialogue between Ladopoulos and Judge Owen had to do with this incident. Newsbytes reported it this way: "In response to questions from Judge Owen concerning his involvement with the damage to the WNET system, Ladopoulous said 'Another hacker whose name I have already provided to the government was the one who took the system down. When I saw the problem, I called the station and left my own phone number and offered to help. If I had caused the damage, I would not have done that. The person who caused the damage is a very deranged person.' "Owen said that he could not believe that it was merely a coincidence that the damage was done to the WNET system in the same time frame that Ladopoulous was on the system. Ladopoulous replied by saying that the system log showed that he was off the system when the damage occurred. A discussion followed on the entire incident." The discussion actually had knowledgeable persons in the court room shaking their heads. The judge didn't understand. He said that there was too much work for this mysterious hacker to have done to copy messages from Ladopoulous, add destructive material to it and shut down the system all on the same day -- just too much typing. Ladopoulous tried to explain about capture routines, editors, etc. and then, seeming to realize the futility of it, just gave up. Speaking later to {Newsbytes} about the experience, Ladopoulous said "It was terribly frustrating. The judge just didn't understand about WNET. I tried to explain that I did not damage the system but he didn't understand." Now it certainly is not clear that the judge based his sentencing on the WNET episode. He may not have -- at John Lee's sentencing, the same judge mentioned that evidence showed that Lee had insulted someone's mother on the net. One suspects and hopes that this social transgression played no part in Lee's year-and-a-day sentence; there were, after all, substantive charges against Lee. We will never know whether or how much this misunderstanding influenced the sentence -- and it is a light sentence under the guidelines. So, perhaps, no harm was done. No harm? Not quite! At a minimum, the dialogue shook the confidence of everyone in the room about the sentence. Perhaps the prosecution was satisfied because the defendants were being punished for their illegal acts -- perhaps the defense took it in stride because of the relative lightness of the sentence -- perhaps it was a good sentence. However, any one with an understanding of computers and telecommunications had to feel that the judge had no grasp of these issues. So what happens next? Organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Society for Electronic Access (SEA), and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) are trying to close the knowledge gap between public officials and technologists. Congress is holding hearings on technology issues. There is recognition at the national level on the importance of understanding the changes that the telecommunications revolution has brought. Progress may be made. I hope so. Can you imagine if it were your case -- or that of a member of your family being sentencing? Scary, isn't it? John F. McMullen mcmullen@mindvox.phantom.com Consultant, knxd@maristb.bitnet mcmullen@well.sf.ca.us Writer, 70210.172@compuserve.com mcmullen@panix.com Student, GEnie - nb.nyc mcmullen@eff.org Teacher ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 01:47 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Computer System Liability I've followed the messages about the sysop in legal trouble regarding the downloading of adult-oriented material to a minor. This has made me curious about the general liability of computer systems. What sort of liability do computer systems like MCI Mail, CompuServe et al face from users transferring information in violation of the law, for example copyrighted software? I seem to remember BBS sysops getting into trouble and having their hardware confiscated because of user abuses, do the big guys like MCI Mail face the same threat? For that matter, does a company providing employees with Internet access have liablility from the same sort of abuses? The issue of e-mail privacy on the COMPUTER PRIVACY DIGEST and the issue here on disclaimers got me thinking on this subject. Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #528 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07013; 1 Aug 93 3:15 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25048 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 1 Aug 1993 00:29:54 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA02844 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 1 Aug 1993 00:29:12 -0500 Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 00:29:12 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308010529.AA02844@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #529 TELECOM Digest Sun, 1 Jul 93 00:29:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 529 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) (Brian Troxell) Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) (David Cornejo) Re: Call Trace is Bogus (Harold Hallikainen) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (Richard Nash) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom SWitching? (Dub Dublin) Re: ANI From Across the Pond (Christian Weisgerber) Re: WAN Hardware Advice Wanted (Mike Garvey) Re: WAN Hardware Advice Wanted (John D. Gretzinger) Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address (Dennis Ritchie) Re: Dark Fiber? (Jon Carmichael) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Marc Unangst) Re: Review From 2600: Inside (Paul Houle) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (Mike King) Seth Recieves Punishment (was Re: What Is This Number?) (Bob Kupiec) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: brian@audiofax.com (Brian Troxell) Subject: Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) Date: 31 Jul 93 20:19:53 GMT Organization: AudioFAX, Inc., Atlanta, GA In article padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) writes: > Virginia at least, mere possession of a radar detector seems to be > grounds for confiscation (heard of one case in which a new unit, still > in the box and wrapper was seized). Now whether or not this was legal > is open for debate and certainly many other kinds of seizures are now > being questioned. This is untrue. While driving back home to Northern Virginia from Georgia Tech a few years ago, I got stopped by a VA State Trooper who proceeded to inform me that the proper place for my radar detector was in my glove compartment, and not hooked up to the lighter outlet. No confiscation; he just told me to disconnect it. Brian Troxell AudioFAX, Inc. 2000 Powers Fy Rd Suite 200 Marietta, GA 30067 - (404)933-7600 brian@audiofax.com - My views certainly ain't AudioFAX's. See the happy moron! He doesn't give a damn. I wish I were a moron. My God! Perhaps I am! [Moron's Note: That's what they say about me over in news.groups now and then; I'm the Moderator who doesn't give a sh--. Perhaps that's right. Maybe this whole thing is my idea of a sick joke! :) I'm sure when the trooper told you to disconnect your radar device you did so immediatly, and left it put away, at least until you got into the next county, or a least a few miles down the highway. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: dave@telco-nac.com (David Cornejo) Subject: Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) Date: 31 Jul 1993 16:07:13 -0700 Organization: Telco Systems Network Access Corp In article padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) writes: > Living in Florida, I do not have to worry (at least about radar > detectors, cash now ...) but as I recall the states in question are > Virginia and Conneticut (D.C. doesn't count 8*). In Virginia at least, > mere possession of a radar detector seems to be grounds for confiscation > (heard of one case in which a new unit, still in the box and wrapper > was seized). Now whether or not this was legal is open for debate and > certainly many other kinds of seizures are now being questioned. Before I left Virginia two years ago, this policy of immediate seizure had been abandoned (maybe it's been reinstated?) Having had the experience of a Herndon, Virginia police officer confiscate my radar detector the procedure went as follows: First the officer asked me to turn the unit on (to verify that it was capable of being powered), after he had removed it he called in another police officer to verify that it was functional. I was informed at the time that it was being confiscated and that at such time as I was acquitted or had paid the fine I could reclaim it. After paying the fine, I went to the police station to reclaim it and after some hassle (though the shift supervisor apparently ordered the officer to apologize to me as I left) they returned it. (P.S. If you're ever in Herndon, don't mess with the cops, one once gave me a 10mph over ticket while his partner stood off my front bumper and pointedly unsnapped his holster. I guess they were afraid I would try and shoot my way out of a $50 fine.) Dave Cornejo Telco Systems NAC Fremont, California, USA +1 510 490 3111 x5158 also: dave@dogwood.com, dnc@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Call Trace is Bogus Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 18:25:26 GMT > [Moderator's Note: [deleted example of wrong number calls from fax machine misprogramming] > About eight years ago, a FIDO sysop here had a wrong number listed in > his system for a place he polled each night. His machine was calling > some poor woman night after night for a couple weeks and when IBT > traced it to him, they not only gave him hell, they told him to take > down the BBS *or* get the phone disconnected; his choice. Moral of the > story: all droids are created equal, but droids who operate big banks > are created more equal than pitiful sysops of home computers. PAT] I remember reading SOMEWHERE about some countries requiring modems to remember bad numbers and disallow calls to them. If the modem tries a particular number so many times and does not get carrier, it locks the number out. Note also that 68.318(c) requires registered terminal equipment to cease automatic dialing of a particular number after 15 successive attempts. It seems that the bank's fax machine should have complied with this requirement. Further, both the fax machine and the FIDO sysop's systems should have generated reports as to calls that did not go through. I'd expect these reports to be reviewed within a day, preventing this sort of problem. Of course, I once shipped a system with a wrong phone number programmed in it. Instead of calling the radio network control point, it called some invalid number over and over all weekend long. AT&T called my customer on Monday asking what was going on. I think I'll put a call count limitation in my next software. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 23:42:49 -0600 From: rickie@trickie.ualberta.ca Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Reply-To: rickie@trickie.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca In comp.dcom.telecom, article , John Nagle wrote: > The interesting thing is that COs still mostly follow the > model of a big dumb crosspoint run as a computer peripheral. One > would think by now that switches would be much more distributed, with > little CPUs all through the switch fabric. But given the amount of > trouble people still have designing distributed systems, it's not > clear that using lots of little CPUs would improve reliability, and > might well make it worse. More than likely I won't be the first or the last person to respond to the above statements. CO's are built with lots and lots of distributed CPU's. These peripherals are all networked together to create the switch. General purpose computer makers still don't make the extensive fault diagnostic and detection processors. How many general prupose computers offer instruction synchronized processing platforms with dedicated fault detection? Richard Nash Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6K 0E8 UUCP: rickie@trickie.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca Amateur Radio: ve6bon.ampr.ab.ca [192.75.200.15] ------------------------------ From: hwdub@chevron.com (Dub Dublin) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Reply-To: hwdub@chevron.com Organization: Chevron Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 18:59:49 GMT I'm amused that so many people seem to think that large switches based on PC tecnology would be a good thing. I don't have anything against PC's for applications where cost-effectiveness is a primary criterion, but as someone who once designed control systems for critical processes, I can tell you it's risky. It's standard practice NOT to use PC-based systems for critical applications (I think a telephone switch qualifies here) due to their susceptibility to many of the same viruses and other vermin that afflict desktop systems. Tell me, how would you feel if your telco switch (or worse, your life support controller in a hospital) somehow became afflicted with Jerusalem, Stoned, or (less likely, but much more destructive) Whale? Proprietary and custom systems are by their very uncommonness less susceptible to such attacks. Sometimes it's good not to be "open." (Some people on the Net just fell over, incredulous that *I* actually said that ...) Dub Dublin -- Chevron Information Technology Company, Houston hwdub@chevron.com -- +1-713-596-3199 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 02:05:32 +0200 From: naddy@mips.ruessel.sub.org (Christian Weisgerber) Reply-To: naddy@mips.ruessel.sub.org Subject: Re: ANI From Across the Pond In , Haakon Styri writes: > Recently some posters (among them the Moderator) asked about what > happens with ANI if a call originating in Europe terminates in North > America. I belive I've posted one reply, but I didn't state anything > about "why not." > After asking a few people that might know I returned with a simple > answer: the CCITT have decided it should be like that. And, even if > it's technically possible you'd probably find that a few countries > would still object due to privacy and data protection regulations. From the above paragraphs I understand that ANI is not delivered from Europe to the U.S. Interesting. Are there any SS7 links Europe-> North America already in place? SS7 without ANI seems a bit strange. What about ANI between European countries and/or other places in the world? I think I've heard that ANI/CID is delivered on intra-European ISDN calls. Christian 'naddy' Weisgerber, Germany naddy@ruessel.sub.org ------------------------------ From: tbc@netcom.com (Mike Garvey) Subject: Re: WAN Hardware Advice Wanted Organization: Netcom Communications Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 15:05:36 GMT In a prior missive, earlf@netcom.com (Earl Ferguson) eloquently scribed this stuff: > I interpret this differently, since 12 T-1 lines represent more > bandwidth that is available in the local area (18Mbps vs 10Mbps) and > since a low end Cisco router is being used, which probably has a single > V.35 interface. > If what you are suggesting is, instead, 1/2 of a T-1 (12 of the 24 DS-0 > channels), then the question becomes what is to happen to the other 12 > channels? Are you getting a 672Kbps leased line from the telco that is > provided on a local loop T-1? Sorry if I wasn't clear. Our cabling contractor determined that the company needs 12 channels of the T-1 line for voice, citing conferencing requirements among other things. This leaves me with 12 channels for data (Ethernet frames, AppleTalk, IPX, TCP/IP protocols). We're only purchasing ONE T-1 line. > There should be several providers of this type of equipment, including > the T-1 mux companies. NET has some, but probably your local > telecommunications distributor can supply the appropriate equipment. Thanks. (Wanders off mumbling something about hope this clears things up a bit.) Then, amillar@netcom.com (Alan Millar) said: > What goes in there depends on what else is going over the T1. Is this > a fractional T1 that will only be used for this data, or is this half > of a full T1? We're using on half of a full T-1 (12 channels) for data. > If this is just a fractional T1, then all you need is a CSU. Presumably > it is half of a full T1, and the other 12 channels are being used > for voice. Yes to the latter. > In this case, you need a T1 multiplexor. A T1 mux takes several > inputs and feeds them into the 24 channels. So you would likely > have a V.35 interface for the router, and a DS1 interface (or > whatever the PBX wants) for the voice. Same on both ends. I've received a number of replies telling me I need a T-1 CSU/DSU but I was unaware of the need for a MUX. I suppose I should talk this over with our vendor of voice equipment who will be installing our cable and equipment that uses the other half of the T-1. > I would call up several comm vendors such as Glasgal Communications > etc. and ask them for recommendations on what such products are > available. Good magazines are {Communications Week}, {Network World}. Thanks, will do. > Also, definitely ask on comp.dcom.telecom. I've redirected all follow-ups to that newsgroup. (Wanders off mumbling something about how much bux would a good mux flux if a good mux could flux bux.) Be seeing you, The Black Cursor (c) & TM -=- Sysop: Valhalla -- an Ogg-Net BBS Internet: tbc@netcom.com -=- (415) 221-4370 300-14,400bps 8N1 GEnie: TBC ------------------------------ From: JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.sprint.com Date: 31 Jul 93 13:43:36-0400 Subject: Re: WAN Hardware Advice Wanted In Volume 13, Issue 524, tbc@netcom.com (Mike Garvey) writes (in part): > We're installing a 60-70 node Mac/PC LAN in two sites and I have some > questions about remote-routing hardware. We plan to use 12 channels > of a T1 line for data with AppleTalk, IPX, and TCP/IP protocols > travelling over the link. > Ethernet zone 1 ----- Cisco router ----- [ Help me fill in this blank ] > | > 12 channels of a T1 link > | > Ethernet zone 2 ----- Cisco router ----- [ Also tell me what goes here ] Unless I am missing something, the [fill in the blank] needed is whatever you are using to break out the 12 channels. Is this a new line (fractional T-1 service with only 12 channels turned up) or are you taking 12 channels from an existing t-span? If this is an existing line, you have to have a channel bank, data CSU or drop and insert box to get the channels broken out. If it is a new service, then you need a CSU/DSU, channel bank or drop and insert box to break out the lines. Does this make sense? Call me if you need additional information. John D. Gretzinger Network Engineer Sprint +1.310.797.1187 My opinions are mine, and only mine. Sprint can't have them!!! ------------------------------ From: dmr@research.att.com Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 01:15:56 EDT Subject: Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address Aha! A mystery is partially solved. I decided to try the UnDirectory service mentioned by Blake Patterson (900-933-3330). It successfully got (and pronounced) my brother's name and address in Newton Highlands, MA. Then I tried my own number. I've been living in this house for two years, and have always been normally listed with NJ Bell. Frequently during the first year, less often this year, I would get calls asking for Mr. Starr, who I assume was the previous owner of the number. The callers were always satisfied with a quick explanation of that fact and didn't persist (he must be at most a minor deadbeat). At any rate, UnDirectory told me that my number belongs to James Starr, nine five oh, Berkeley Heights New Jersey 07922. Somebody isn't updating databases. Dennis Ritchie dmr@research.att.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? From: jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) Date: 31 Jul 93 20:57:00 GMT Organization: uuPCB - Demonstration Version Reply-To: jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) > I've recently received some literature from a company regarding > multiplexing voice over broadband (re: CATV). They claim they > support DS1 and DS2 interfaces for voice. Now I know what DS0, DS1 > and DS3 are, but what is a DS2 interface, in terms of DS0 channels? Yes, a DS2 is seven DS1s, which is the same as seven T1s, however DS2s are never exchanged in the raw; they always go in foursomes where four DS2s is a DS3. 4 DS2s with 7 DS1s inside equals 28 DS1s inside of a single DS3, 4 X 7 = 28. Is it making any sense yet? JONC The Continuum PCBoard -*- @9600+ call 818-441-2625 @2400- call 818-799-9633 ------------------------------ From: mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Date: 31 Jul 1993 03:45:18 -0400 Organization: The Programmers' Pit Stop, Ann Arbor MI system@garlic.sbs.com writes: > the Digest have pointed out that some (most?, all?) of these bozos are > claiming to be 'the regular supplier' for the firms they call. That > does hinge on fraud I suppose, but barely. PAT] Not really, assuming that the toner-foner has any smarts at all. What's to prevent them from registering a DBA for "Your Regular Supplier Copier Supplies, Inc."? If they do, it's perfectly legal and aboveboard for them to call you and say, "Hi, this is John from Your Regular Supplier." Of course, you probably can't hear the capital letters over the phone, but that's hardly their fault, is it? Marc Unangst, N8VRH mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us ------------------------------ From: Paul.Houle@leotech.MV.COM (Paul Houle) Reply-To: houle@leotech.MV.COM Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 12:07:00 Subject: Re: Review From 2600: Inside an ESS > * (In the letters section) some COCOTs in Texaco stations in > Washington (State) have no security -- dial 1-800 and wait; no > keypad lockout and talk-path is not cut [I assume this implies > dial tone is returned]. The editor suggested phreaking COCOTs is > more dangerous than phreaking Ma because the owner could well be > lurking nearby. Well, I lived about two blocks in back of a supermarket last summer. I had no phone, but the supermarket had a bank of COCOTs in front. Well, one day I tried to make a call on one of the COCOTs, and found that it appeared to be inoperative. You'd get the funny dial tone, dial your number, and then nothing would happen. One time I stayed on the line for about a minute, and then phone reset itself and I got a real dial tone, and neither the tone pad nor the voice path was cut. I did discover, however, that the line had 900-number blocking from the telco. Unfortuantely there are people out there who can't tell a feature from a bug, and these people reported to the supermarket that the phone was broken, and it was repaired within a week. Origin: NETIS (603)432-2517/432-0922 (HST/V32) (1:132/189) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 15:11:36 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? I haven't seen this one mentioned: _Hey_Operator_, by Aldo Nova. "Hey Operator, make the telephone talk to me ..." Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ From: beyonet!olwejo!bob@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Kupiec) Subject: Seth Recieves Punishment (was Re: What Is This Number?) Reply-To: beyonet!bob@vu-vlsi.vill.edu Organization: Olwejo - Private UNIX System Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1993 03:43:19 GMT In , gtoal@an-teallach.com writes: >> What's this telephone #? 011-351-xx-xxxxx? > Oh no, not again! This person has been posting this identical > question to newsgroups left right and centre, and it has been answered > at length. Here is a message from the administrator of Seth's site: --- begin message --- From: ralphs@halcyon.com This is a semi-automated reply. We appreciate your concern in the matter of Seth vs. Usenet. This user compiled a program that traversed our active file, automating a post to hundreds of newsgroups. These were not done as follow-up's but as individual posts, making cancellations difficult, if not impossible. We have eliminated the problem. Please note that the first few complaints only indicated that the post was to inappropriate newsgroups. We were unaware for a few hours that that there was an insidious force at work. Please! Don't shoot the messenger on account of the message. Again, thanks for taking the time to notify us. If you have the opportunity to enter into a discussion in any of the newsgroups regarding this, please let folks know that we have taken action. --- end message --- Bob Kupiec, N3MML Internet: beyonet!bob@vu-vlsi.vill.edu [Moderator's Note: Poor Seth ... this reminds me of the line from the Three Stooges movie where Moe says does something ignorant with two older ladies watching him and after he waltzes away, the one lady looks at the other and says, "I wonder what's wrong with that young man?". If Seth owns the conference bridges he was advertising, I hope business picked up for him. If he is just a customer of the service(s) eagerly waiting to see if it is true that (a) God loves him and has a .plan for his life; (b) God loves him and has a man for his life; or (c) God loves him and has a man for his wife, then God bless him. I hope whatever Seth was trying to accomplish has been accomplished. Thank you for passing along the site's official notice to us. Poor Seth ... PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #529 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05507; 2 Aug 93 2:15 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04686 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 1 Aug 1993 23:10:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13923 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 1 Aug 1993 23:09:12 -0500 Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 23:09:12 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308020409.AA13923@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #530 TELECOM Digest Sun, 1 Aug 93 23:09:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 530 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telecottage'93 International Symposium, Australia (Tom Worthington) Congressional Hearings on Privatizing the Internet (Bill Pfeiffer) Telecommunications and Art Research Study (Derek Dowden) Relative Time (was Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing) (Gary Breuckman) Is There a Way to Skip "Thank You For Using AT&T?" (Michael Rosen) 800 ANI Number Changes Behaviour (David Leibold) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tomw@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au (Tom Worthington) Subject: Telecottage'93 International Symposium, Australia 29 Nov - 1 Dec Organization: Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 00:52:39 GMT Telecottage `93 will be the first Telecottage symposium to be held in Australia and will be a landmark event. World leaders in telecottages, teleworking and telelearning will present their latest findings on the potential benefits for rural communities in developed and developing nations. Telecottages are multipurpose work and learning centres established by rural and remote communities to provide: . Distance working opportunities . Access to distance education . Local training . Services to the local community . Aid to rural adjustment . Reduced social isolation 29 November - 1 December 1993 Pan Pacific Hotel, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Sponsors: . Telecom Australia . Telecentre Program, Department of Primary Industries Energy, Canberra . The Office of Rural Communities, Administrative Services Department, Queensland In Conjunction With: International Association of Community Tele-Service Centres (CTSC) Conference Administrator: Winkler Marketing Services Pty Ltd, PO Box 889, Kenmore, Queensland, 4069, Australia. Telephone 078783358 Fax 078782689 (International #61 7) A group of eminent international speakers in the field has been assembled and brought to Australia for the first time under the sponsorship of Telecom Australia, the Federal Department of Primary Industries and Energy and the Queensland Government. GIL GORDON is considered by many to be the most widely known and respected telecommuting authority in the world. Since 1984, he has published the industry newsletter, Telecommuting Review and has also co-authored the book "Telecommuting: How To Make It Work For You And Your Company". He has consulted widely, spoken to business and government audiences throughout the US and around the world and has been widely quoted in the business and professional press. WENDY SPINKS is one of the founding members of the International Telework Forum and the Satellite Office Association in Japan. She is an Australian who has been working in Tokyo for more than ten years. She is currently attached to the Institute for Economic and Financial Research, under the Japanese Ministry of Finance. Wendy has intimate knowledge of the development of telecommuting in Japan, especially satellite offices and resort offices. ANN MOFFATT is Principal Executive Officer of Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, a company which she established in 1993. Ann has wide experience of the information technology industry in both the United Kingdom and Australia. PROFESSOR JACK WOOD pioneered research into telecommuting applications in Australia and has spoken at many international forums. VIRGINIA OSTENDORF is President of a large teleconferencing and distance education publishing company in the U.S. and is a well known consultant and teletrainer. She has received several national awards for her books and has written on new technology for more than a dozen magazines. She has recently been listed in the Who's Who of American Women. ADRIAN RAWLINGS has been extensively involved in distance learning at the Open University in the United Kingdom and has recently completed a project for the European Community DELTA program on future strategies for distance learning in Europe. DR ROY LUNDIN is a Senior Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology and recently led a project investigating the future directions for open learning in Australia. LARS QVORTRUP lectures at Odense University in Denmark and has vast experience in telematics and telecottages in Scandinavia and Europe. Lars Engvall is President of the International Association of Community Tele-Service Centres (CTSC), and has wide experience in the establishment of telecottages in Europe, South America and Africa. ALAN DENBIGH is Executive Director of the British Telecottage Association and has been the telecottage and telework adviser to Britain's Rural Development Commission. BENEFITS OF ATTENDING: Telecottage `93 promises to be an outstanding forum for discussion of the latest developments in Teleworking, Telelearning and Telecottages. Delegates can hope to: . Find out how Telecottages can benefit their communities . Meet and network with world experts in the Teleworking and Telelearning community . Learn how to plan and establish a Telecottage . Hear the current government policies and plans for Telecottages . Discuss Telecottage case studies from around the world. AUSTRALIA'S GOLD COAST: The Gold Coast is one of Australia's premier tourist locations and is a favoured convention centre. It has a warm climate with almost 300 days of sunshine each year The range of natural attractions is unsurpassed. More than twenty patrolled surfing beaches are the backdrop to sailing, boating and fishing. The unspoiled hinterland with sub-tropical rain forests is just.an hour from the city centre. Koalas can be cuddled, kangaroos and colourful wild lorikeets hand-fed. Theme parks and golf courses rival the world's best. SUNDAY 28 NOVEMBER 1993 9.00 am Optional bus tour to Byron Bay and visit to Australia's third Telecottage (Prior booking required) 7.00 pm Evening cocktail reception to welcome delegates MONDAY 29 NOVEMBER 1993 8.30 am Registration 9.00 am Welcome by the Chairman Opening Address by the Hon. Simon Crean, MP Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, Canberra 9.30 am Keynote Address: Teleworking in Rural Areas and Global Trends Mr Gil Gordon 10.30 am Morning Tea 11.00 am Teleworking Case Studies: Teleworking in Japan: Resort Offices Ms Wendy Spinks, International Telework Forum; Telework in Europe: The F.l. Experiment Ms Ann Moffatt, former Director, F.l. International Teleworking; In Australia Prof Jack Wood, University of Sydney. 12.15pm Question Time- Panel 12.45 pm Lunch 2.00 pm Keynote Address: Telelearning in Rural Areas Ms Virginia Ostendorf 2.30 pm Telelearning in Europe Mr Adrian Rawlings, Open University, UK 3.00 pm Telelearning in Asia/Pacific Rim Speaker to be advised 3.30 pm Afternoon Tea 4.00 pm Telelearning in Australia Dr Roy Lundin, Queensland University of Technology 4.30 pm Question Time - Panel 5.00 pm Close 7.30 pm Symposium Dinner TUESDAY 30 NOVEMBER ,993 9.00 am Address by Hon. Tom Burns, MLA, Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for Rural Communities 9.30 am Telecottages and Rural Revival Mr Lars Qvortrup, Secretary, CTSC 10.00 am Community Teleservice Centres in Developing Countries Mr Lars Engvall, President, CTSC 10.30 am Morning Tea 11.00 am Telecottage Case Studies: Sweden: Ms Lillian Holloway, Swedish Telecottage Association; United Kingdom: Mr Alan Denbigh; Finland: Ms Mirja Lauronen, Finnish Telecottage Association 12.30 pm Lunch, Address by Mr David Oertle, Managing Director, Consumer Business Unit, Telecom Australia 2.00 pm North America: Mr Kris Kimel, President, Kentucky Science & Technology Council Inc.; Brazil: Ms Helena Fischer & Mr Joao Mello Da Silva, Telebras; Australia: Mr Tom Cass, Telecom Australia & Mr Ian Crellin, Dept of Primary Industries and Energy 3.30 pm Afternoon Tea 4.00 pm Question Time - Panel 4.30 pm Proposal: "Formation of an Australian Co-operative Telecottage Organisation" 5.00 pm Summary 5.30 pm Close Evening Informal dining options available WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER 1993 Optional Workshops 9.00am to 12.30pm 1. Planning, Implementation and Management of a successful Telecottage Chair: Ms Gay Short, Western Australia Open Learning Network & Telecentres 2. Inter/Intra-Governmental Policy Issues. Chair: Mr Kenneth Moore, Rural Division, Federal Department of Primary Industries and Energy 3. Technology For Teleworking, Telelearning and Telecottages in Rural Areas - Today and Tomorrow. Chair: Mr Anton Donker, Queensland Department of Administrative Services 12.30pm Light Lunch 2.00 - 4.00 pm International Association of Community Tele-Service Centres Open Forum. Theme: International Co-operation and Networking The organisers reserve the right to alter the program without notice to registrants. WHO SHOULD ATTEND . Representatives' of Federal, State and Local Government involved in policy development, job creation and training . People involved in community social development activities . Educators involved in distance education and open learning . Academics interested in social change . Telecommunications and information industry consultants . Equipment suppliers . Human resources practitioners . Business people interested in training and productivity improvement . Future analysts and strategic planners REGISTRATION FORM Please print clearly photocopy for more delegates Preferred Title _____________________________________________________ Surname _____________________________________________________ Preferred First Name ____________________________________________________ Position _____________________________________________________ Organisation _____________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Postcode/Zip ________ Country _____________________________________________________ Telephone ___________________________ Fax ____________________________ Please register the above delegate for: [ ] Telecottage `93 Symposium Sunday - Cocktail Reception Monday and Tuesday - attendance at the two day symposium, conference papers, morning and afternoon teas and luncheons; Early Bird Offer (Register by 31 August 1993) $395 Normal Fee (From 1 September 1993) $495 [ ] Conference Dinner Monday evening [ ] Single $50 [ ] Double $100 [ ] Day Tour to Byron Bay, Sunday - tour and visit to the Byron Bay Telecottage, refreshments and luncheon $80 [ ] `Workshop, Wednesday - participation at one of three workshops, morning tea and luncheon $100 Please indicate your most likely choice of workshop: [ ] Planning and Managing a Successful Telecottage [ ] Inter/Intra-Governmental Policy Issues [ ] Technology for Teleworking, Telelearning and Telecottages TOTAL PURCHASE $________ Conference Payment: [ ] Cheque [ ] Or charge my [ ] Bankcard [ ] Visacard [ ] Mastercard Card No __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Expiry Date ____ / ____ Cardholder's Signature _________________________________________________ Cardholder's Name _________________________________________________ REGISTRATION AND ENQUIRES Telephone 078783358 Fax 078782689 (International: +61 7) Mail Return the registration form with payment in Australian $ to: Winkler Marketing Services Pty Ltd PO Box 889 Kenmore Queensland 4069 Australia Payment: All payments are to be made in Australian $. Please include a cheque, or for overseas delegates a bank draft, payable to "Telecottage `93 Symposium" or complete the credit card payment details on the registration form. Conference Language: English Conference Address: Pan Pacific Hotel, 81 Surf Parade, Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Queensland 4218 Australia Telephone 075922250 Fax 075923747 (International: + 61 75) Cancellations: If you are unable to attend, a substitute delegate is always welcome. Alternatively, a full refund will be made for cancellations received in writing two weeks before the conference. Within two weeks no refunds are applicable. Accommodation and Travel: All travel and accommodation arrangements are the delegates personal responsibility. Special conference accommodation packages at the Pan Pacific Hotel are: Single or Twin/Double room $115.00 per night. To arrange the above accommodation package or alternatives, please complete the enclosed form and return to the accommodation organiser Ozaccom Pty Ltd. ------------------------------- Posted as a community service by Tom Worthington, Director of the Community Affairs Board, Australian Computer Society Inc. ABOUT THE ACS: The Australian Computer Society is the professional association in Australia for those in the computing and information technology fields. Established in 1966, the ACS has over 14,000 members and on a per capita basis is one of the largest computer societies in the world. ACS activities are announced in the Usenet News group "aus.acs", available on the Internet. ------------------------------ From: wdp@gagme.chi.il.us (Bill Pfeiffer) Subject: Congressional Hearings on Privatizing the Internet Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 21:24:51 -0500 (CDT) [Moderator's Note: Bill forwarded this FYI to the Digest. PAT] From uunet.uu.net!owner-council Wed Jul 21 12:21:23 1993 Date: Wed, 21 Jul 93 09:21:02 -0400 From: fpst@hubcap.clemson.edu (Steve Stevenson) Subject: Town.hall.org I'm enclosing a note I got from the NANet Digest Monday. Steve NA Digest Sunday, July 18, 1993 Volume 93 : Issue 26 From: Daniel B. Szyld Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 15:42:59 EDT Subject: Congress Hearings on the Future of the Internet As many of you may know there is a push to privatize the Internet and charge per connect time and/or per bit transmitted. Congress has scheduled hearings on the subject. If you have an opinion on the subject, the following message might be of interest: From: Ted Baker Subject: on-line congressional hearing on internet This is an abbreviation of a longer message I received. I think all internet users should probably drop our Congress a line. --Ted Baker On July 26 at 9:30AM EDT, the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the U.S. House of Representatives will hold the first Congressional Hearing ever held over a computer network.... One of the primary points that we are hoping to demonstrate is the diversity and size of the Internet. We have therefore established an electronic mail address by which people on the Internet can communicate with the Subcommittee before and during the hearing: congress@town.hall.org We encourage you to send your comments on what the role of government should be in the information age to this address. Your comments to this address will be made part of the public record of the hearing. Feel free to carry on a dialogue with others on a mailing list, cc'ing the e-mail address. Your cards and letters to congress@town.hall.org will help demonstrate that there are people who use the Internet as part of their personal and professional lives. We encourage you to send comments on the role of government in cyberspace, on what role cyberspace should play in government (e.g., whether government data be made available on the Internet), on how the Internet should be built and financed, on how you use the Internet, and on any other topic you feel is appropriate. This is your chance to show the U.S. Congress that there is a constituency that cares about this global infrastructure. If you would like to communicate with a human being about the hearing, you may send your comments and questions to: hearing-info@town.hall.org --------------------- William Pfeiffer - Moderator rec.radio.broadcasting - Internet Radio Journal Article Submission - rrb@airwaves.chi.il.us Subscription Desk - journal@airwaves.chi.il.us ------------------------------ From: Derek_Dowden@mindlink.bc.ca (Derek Dowden) Subject: Telecommunications and Art Research Study Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 17:31:41 GMT CI%SR - Research Study in Multimedia, Telecommunications and Art The Centre for Image and Sound Research (CISR) is seeking expressions of interest in a Research Study in Multimedia, Telecommunications and Art. We are inviting participation of three types: 1. Theoretical and critical papers, technical and research studies. Submit a short synopsis of proposed participation and approach by August 20, 1993. Fees are paid for work accepted. 2. Artistic concepts and summary proposal descriptions for potential art projects, experiments and events for Phase II of the project (Nov 1, 1993 - March 15, 1994). 3. General input, involvement and feedback in the project development process, as well as suggestions, information and reports of related activities, artists and institutions. Organisation: The Centre for Image and Sound Resrach (CISR) is an independent non-profit interdisciplinary organisation in which industry, government, academia and the arts community collaborate on research, technology transfer, and development. CISR is positioned at the interface between technology and culture, with a mission to conduct applied research in the technological and artistic aspects of image and sound. CISRUs primary research facility is the VISTA Laboratory, a joint venture with Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. CISR, now over six years old, is funded primarily by the Canadian federal government and local industry, and is part of RAPPORT, a pan-Canadian network of research centres. Study Objectives: % To survey the impact and possibilities of emerging art forms specific to new communications media % To investigate theoretical, technical and creative issues and challenges in art and communications. % To develop new critical criteria for the creation and evaluation of interactive communications art % To create a map defining the issues, language, theory and relationship of art and telecommunications. Research Study Goals: % Survey of current activities, participants and resources in the field. % Investigate the evolution and future of the area and itUs contextualisation within other fields. % Identify and evaluate appropriate systems, tools and technologies for artistic applications. % Demonstrate prototype experiments in artistic applications of communica- tions technologies. Topics and Issues: % Investigations of the process of communications as art. % Network interactivity including hypermedia, hypertext and wide area information systems. % Design of multidimensional information environments and virtual spaces. % Creation of online autonomous or intelligent art forms, agents and processes. % Conceptualisation of animated iconic, ideographic and post-symbolic process languages. % Development of new navigational and interface design metaphors for telecommunications. % Creation and design of online shared and collaborative creative environments. Project Schedule: Phase I : Research Study: August 1 - October 30, 1993 Phase II : Program of Activities: November 1, 1993 - March 15, 1994 VISTA Laboratory - Project Resources Available: PictureTel 4000 Video Teleconferencing unit, Broadband ISDN lines, InterNet Site with dedicated direct line, PC running OS2 with Maximus BBS Software,EtherNet local area network with Macintosh Quadras, Radius VideoVision, Video Camera, Video Projector, Silicon Graphics Iris Indigo and Extreme2 workstations, etc. Contact: Derek Dowden, Director, Multimedia, Telecommunications and Art Project Centre for Image and Sound Research 200-1140 Homer Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6B 2X6 Direct: 604-737-3626 CISR Office: 604-669-7943 Fax: 604-682-7909 BBS: 604-669-7914 Video2; Internet: derek_dowden@mindlink.bc.ca ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 10:31:46 -0700 From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Relative Time (was Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing) In article mcmullen@mindvox.phantom.com (John F. McMullen) writes: > The following appeared on {Newsbytes}, a commerical copyrighted > international news service on July 29th. It is reposted here with the > express consent of the author (This notice must accompany any > subsequent re-postings which I am authorizing here). > Reflections On Hacker Sentencing 07/29/93 > The six months imprisonment also does not seem draconian -- six months > doesn't seem very long unless you happen to be the one serving it. > Time is extremely relative as I found out when I spent five years at > Fort Sill, Oklahoma between January 1963 and April 1963. It is safe to ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Puma grins, "Time certainly is extremely relative, it must have only SEEMED like five years ... circumstances and all ..." Seriously, typos [assuming this is one ...] can be funny, especially when they fit in SO WELL in context. puma@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: mrosen@nyx.cs.du.edu (Michael Rosen) Subject: Is There a Way to Skip "Thank You For Using AT&T?" Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci. Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 00:07:18 GMT Is there anything I can dial in addition to either my calling card number of my Call Manager number to speed up the connection? I'm more concerned with the latter, the Call Manager. I dial a few long distance numbers on my modem and I use call manager to separate my calls. It's annoying to have to wait for the "Thank you for using AT&T" after every call, especially if a redial is necessary. Thanks, Michael Rosen mrosen@nyx.cs.du.edu George Washington University Alumni Tau Epsilon Phi, Tau Theta 381 [Moderator's Note: You might try putting '#' at the end of the calling card number to process things a little faster. I don' think it will then avoid the 'thank you' message, but it might get you to that point a couple seconds faster. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Jul 93 01:47 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: 800 ANI Number Changes Behaviour The 800 235 1414 number that gave out caller number readback along with an ad for 900-STOPPER and a privacy publication, had a different message tonight. Just Thursday, the old Joker was up to his ANI tricks. On Friday afternoon, the 800 number got an unusual fast busy condition for a while. Now, Friday night, the number just has a message identifying as "Private Line", advertising 900-STOPPER and recommending a new 800 number for "caller ID". The new number is 800 852.9932. This gives out a short burst of 950.xxxx carrier tone, then reads back the calling number. Nothing else seems to happen on that call. David Leibold ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #530 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa06265; 2 Aug 93 2:57 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00200 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 2 Aug 1993 00:26:46 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22622 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 2 Aug 1993 00:26:01 -0500 Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 00:26:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308020526.AA22622@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #531 TELECOM Digest Mon, 2 Aug 93 00:26:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 531 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Chris Ambler) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Bob Frankston) Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) (Povl H. Pedersen) Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) (Rob Levandowski) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Stephen Friedl) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Dan Hartung) Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address (Steven J. Tucker) Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address (Willard Dawson) Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling (Zane Shults) Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling (Harold Hallikainen) Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitals (Gregory M. Paris) Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitals (John R. Levine) Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitols (Tony Pelliccio) Re: Is This Legal? (Bonnie J. Johnson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler -- Phish) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Organization: The Phishtank Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1993 23:24:21 GMT > [Moderator's Note: They've got to send a message to your modem immed- > iatly on connection which describes the cost for the call, advise the > caller to disconnect if not willing to pay and ring the Bell > a few times, then pause and wait about five seconds before they > continue the transmission. If you wish, you reach over to keyboard > and type whatever is needed to disconnect. PAT] And how does UUCP do this? When dialing an information provider with a protocolled communications package, the human usually has little to no interaction. In fact, once carrier is detected, there's nothing to be seen or heard (especially with anonymous UUCP). Anything sent before the UUCP protocol initiates is thrown away as garbage. cambler@zeus.calpoly.edu | Christopher J. Ambler chris@toys.fubarsys.com | Author, FSUUCP 1.32 [Moderator's Note: You are correct where UUCP transmissions are concerned but I don't think UUCP is the sort of casual connection being discussed here. For UUCP there has to be a pre-arranged deal; you and the other end have to agree in advance on certain things: if not the money to change hands (or other good and valuable consideration such as swapping news and/or mail with that site) then at least the admin at that place has to establish a UUCP login for you. A casual visitor, looking around at various BBS sites, etc would not likely come in on a UUCP login. Are there UUCP arrangements with sites such as uunet which involve 900? *I know* that uunet has or had a 900 number for downloads from their extensive library of holdings, but I was not aware they serviced their UUCP logins via 900. I'd think a person making a UUCP (or any unattended transmission) would be a fool to do it via 900 ... what if the connection got hung for several hours as those things will do? I've seen local uupeople here up with eecs when doing a finger; 15 hours ... 18 hours ... something went wrong or else it was a humongous news feed that day (which is likely). You want pay 900 rates on that kind of timetable? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 16:31 -0400 When a computer calls a computer, there is no human involved in the process to see a message. A voice might confuse the modem and a data message would confuse the protocol. While I like the idea of legislation requiring the disclosure of information, a failure of imagination and understanding leads to new problems. I also assume that once there is a protocol to transmit the charge information to the subscriber out of band, and millisecond setup times are standard, we'll still see the connect time of 10.001 seconds required by statute. But then, I've argued that 900 numbers are fundamentally a bad idea and should be replaced by billing protocols so maybe this will encourage the transition. [Moderator's Note: See the message before this. Give me one example of a 'computer to computer unattended' transmission now which goes via 900 numbers. Yes, there are computer to computer connections via 900 but at least the originating end has a human being watching a screen calling a BBS, etc. I agree mostly with your contention that 900 is a bad way of working things, but more important consider *how long* the connection would have to be up relative to using spoken words to deliver or receive the message. We converse with each other at a high rate of speed compared to how slowly we type. What we say in a minute using our mouths to communicate takes at least three or four times as long to type out. That's one reason why 'hot chats' via modem over 900 lines does not work out. I don't think we will ever see widespread use of 900 lines with modems, and the new regs are really not intended so much for sophisticated telecom users as they are the mainstream of our society. PAT] ------------------------------ From: povlphp@uts.uni-c.dk (Povl H. Pedersen) Subject: Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) Organization: UNI-C, Danish Computing Centre for Research and Education Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 11:49:45 GMT I just saw in a paper that Sweeden has big success with new laser 'guns' they use for measuring speed. They are small, difficult to see, and almost undetectable (at least it is difficult to detect them before it is too late). Only problem with them is, that they can only be used in sparse traffic, as they have to be able to get a reflection off the front/back of your card. Danish police do not want them. They use the old ones, that are quite usable in dense morning/evening traffic. Povl H. Pedersen - Macintosh specialist. Knows some DOS and UNIX too. pope@imv.aau.dk - povlphp@uts.uni-c.dk ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Rob Levandowski) Subject: Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 16:26:26 GMT In article padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) writes: > Living in Florida, I do not have to worry (at least about radar > detectors, cash now ...) but as I recall the states in question are > Virginia and Conneticut (D.C. doesn't count 8*). In Virginia at least, > mere possession of a radar detector seems to be grounds for confiscation > (heard of one case in which a new unit, still in the box and wrapper > was seized). Now whether or not this was legal is open for debate and > certainly many other kinds of seizures are now being questioned. Connecticut re-legalized detectors last year. The law was too unpopular, and I think they were afraid it wouldn't hold up under the legal barrage. However, Connecticut also made hand-held radar guns and dash-mount radar guns illegal around the same time, forcing departments to go out and buy new guns leading to a preponderance of Ka-Stalker and laser guns per capita in CT. The troopers out here in NY still have the old guns. I guess the NY legislature doesn't care so much about troopers getting testicular cancer. That's why CT passed their law. Rob Levandowski (CT resident when he's not at school) ------------------------------ From: friedl@mtndew.Tustin.CA.US (Stephen Friedl) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Date: 31 Jul 93 21:44:42 GMT Organization: Software Consulting, Tustin, CA A customer of mine is MIS director of a chain of family restaurants, and apparently they are *inundated* with teleslime trying for their payphone LD business at the stores. They get slammed constantly, and they apparently find ways to get store managers to agree to this (the teleslime identify themselves with vague names that sound very official). An amazing amount of time is spent undoing this kind of thing. On Friday he showed me the latest scam: he got a "commission statement" plus a check for about $12 that itemized earnings from four phones (which my customer did not operate). The obvious scam here is that the back of the check had an endorsement qualifier that said that depositing this check was authorization to change LD carriers. While my libertarian principles might say that vigilance is the price of liberty and every company has an obligation to be careful when doing business, these payslime really push it. How obnoxious. My customer is furious about this check thing and is going to investigate legal action; it dances around the edges of fraud. Stephen J Friedl | Software Consultant | Tustin, CA | +1 714 544-6561 3B2-kind-of-guy | I speak for me ONLY | KA8CMY | uunet!mtndew!friedl ------------------------------ From: dhartung@chinet.chinet.com (Dan Hartung) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Organization: Chinet Public Access UNIX Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 03:41:12 GMT Fred Ennis wrote: > [someone named Laird wrote:] >> 3.Having (apparently) less than two brain cells to bang together, you >> agree to purchase supplies at the inflated prices. >> Where exactly is there fraud involved here? Has "caveat emptor" gone >> entirely by the wayside; are Americans no longer willing to accept >> even the slightest responsibility for their own actions? *Sigh* Was there anyone saying anything different in this matter than "take responsibility for your own actions and make sure you don't get ripped off" ? (Sorry, I know that wasn't Fred, but it needed to be said.) > Here's what every person who ever answers the phone in a small company > should know: > 1. Do not give any info about office equipment, especially model or > serial numbers out to ANY caller for any reason. This is an interesting NEW development. About ten years ago when I worked for a small non-profit we had this problem occasionally, I learned to be careful. What's amusing is that the fact that they now use serial/model numbers (whichever, who cares, it's just a tool to them) to "confirm" their identity as the supposed legitimate supplier. Why do they need to do this? Because some smart people are onto them. > While I am speaking of telecom scams, there's also the outfit in > Europe that sends out bills for fax or telex directory listings, and > if you pay the bill the fine print says you're agreeing to be listed > in the NEXT directory and pay that bill as well! This is becoming a common practice in certain business areas here too. Fine print says "payment in advance" or something like that but the un-fine print makes it seem like a legit invoice for services already contracted for. Daniel A. Hartung -- dhartung@chinet.chinet.com ------------------------------ From: dh395@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven J Tucker) Subject: Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address Date: 1 Aug 1993 17:29:06 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Reply-To: dh395@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven J Tucker) In a previous article, dmr@research.att.com says: > Aha! A mystery is partially solved. I decided to try the UnDirectory > service mentioned by Blake Patterson (900-933-3330). It successfully > got (and pronounced) my brother's name and address in Newton > Highlands, MA. > At any rate, UnDirectory told me that my number belongs to James > Starr, nine five oh, Berkeley Heights New Jersey 07922. I missed this thread, am I right that this mean someone is selling CN/A information? Steve [Moderator's Note: Companies have been selling CNA for years in the form of 'criss-cross' directories and the like. Compuserve sells it as well as the company listed in the earlier message. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address From: dawson@willard.atl.ga.us (Willard Dawson) Date: Sun, 01 Aug 93 18:45:26 EDT Organization: Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 dmr@research.att.com writes: > Aha! A mystery is partially solved. I decided to try the UnDirectory > service mentioned by Blake Patterson (900-933-3330). It successfully > got (and pronounced) my brother's name and address in Newton > Highlands, MA. > Then I tried my own number. I've been living in this house for two > years, and have always been normally listed with NJ Bell. Frequently > during the first year, less often this year, I would get calls asking > for Mr. Starr, who I assume was the previous owner of the number. The > callers were always satisfied with a quick explanation of that fact > and didn't persist (he must be at most a minor deadbeat). > At any rate, UnDirectory told me that my number belongs to James > Starr, nine five oh, Berkeley Heights New Jersey 07922. > Somebody isn't updating databases. Hmmmmm ... just tried my own number, as well. This explains the millions of calls for Harry S. Rosenberg I still get, even though I've been at this number for well over a year. As an employee of BellSouth, I'd always just assumed it was our fault, despite knowing that I was listed correctly (BellSouth Mobility had my number for yet another customer, but at least that's not in the white- pages). (I missed the original info on UnDirectory ...) How does one contact them and others to get this mis-information cleared? dawson@willard.atl.ga.us (Willard Dawson) gatech!kd4nc!vdbsan!willard!dawson emory!uumind!willard!dawson Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 [Moderator's Note: It really does not explain it because it is unlikely the 'millions of calls' you have received originated with people who first called UnDirectory with your number, copied down Mr. Rosenberg's name then proceeded to call and ask for him. It is much more likely Mr. Rosenberg had a lot of business dealings over the phone and there are many people trying to reach him for whatever reason -- to pay his bills maybe? -- who are working from old infor- mation in their own files. Don't bother hunting down UnDirectory to change anything; I'm sure the company has procedures in place to update their records each time they get new directories from the telcos. Something tells me they get a dozen directories per day from telcos all over the USA. Nothing UnDirectory could do at this point would keep people from looking at two or three year old credit appli- cations and the like from calling you looking for Rosenberg. PAT] ------------------------------ From: zs470513@LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Zane Shults) Subject: Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 05:01:30 GMT Organization: Colorado State U. Engineering College In article oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > In Steve Edwards UCSD.EDU> writes: >> signs a one-year dial tone contract is, of course, getting a $350+ >> commission from the dial tone provider. So, you would think that if >> you walk in the door with a used one and ask to have the phone >> activated for a year, you would be able to talk them into giving you >> part of their $350 commission. Of course, you could just walk into your local BOC service center for cellular phones and they'll be glad to do it for you. ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1993 07:09:04 GMT In article Steve Edwards writes: > I live in California where bundling cell phones and activation is > illegal. Thus, the price for a used cell phone is usually in the $200 > to $400 range. > In states that allow bundling and the price of a new phone may only be > $50 or even free, what do used cell phones sell for? I saw an ad for a cell phone for something like $99.95 in this morning's {LA Times}. No activation required (since it's in CA). Pretty amazing! Harold ------------------------------ From: paris@merlin.dev.cdx.mot.com (Gregory M. Paris) Subject: Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitals Organization: Motorola Codex, Canton, Massachusetts Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 13:18:35 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Another area code which is greatly underused and > unlikely to ever need to split is 401 in Rhode Island. I think there > are fewer people in RI than on the north side of Chicago. Isn't the > entire state mostly a local call for anyone there? :) PAT] As a twelve year resident of little Rhody, I must react! Unfortunately for us million or so residents of Rhode Island, the state is not one local calling area. Yes, it's true you could fit the whole state into many of our nation's larger metropolitan areas (for instance Detroit metro, near where I'm from), but we still get to pay for "long" distance calls within the state. There have been several attempts to come up with a "one state, one rate" calling plan. I don't think there's one in place right now; the problem always seems to be that New England Telephone (NYNEX) wants to set the rate too high for the likes of the one state one rate advocates. Now if you want an example of a lightly used area code, check out 906, the upper peninsula of Michigan. The region itself is large enough to form a respectably-sized state (by eastern standards anyway), but I believe the population is in the neighborhood of 200,000 people. I like the "906 is God's area code" bumper stickers, though. Greg Paris Motorola Codex, 20 Cabot Blvd C1-30, Mansfield, MA 02048-1193 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 10:35 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitals Organization: I.E.C.C. > [Isn't the entire state [of Rhode Island] mostly a local call for anyone > there? :) PAT] You might expect so, but you'd be sadly mistaken. As far as I can tell, the rule in Rhode Island is that you get free calling to any point to which you can walk in under five minutes. Everything else is toll. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl [Moderator's Note: Are you serious? That would a half-mile or so if you were a fast walker; for me, as I shuffle my feet waddling down the street looking at the sidewalk for coins people have dropped and failed to pick up it might be two city blocks! :) Telco in RI must do better than that for its customers. PAT] ------------------------------ From: system@garlic.sbs.com Date: Sun, 01 Aug 93 23:36:14 EDT Subject: Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitols > [Moderator's Note: Another area code which is greatly underused and > unlikely to ever need to split is 401 in Rhode Island. I think there > are fewer people in RI than on the north side of Chicago. Isn't the > entire state mostly a local call for anyone there? :) PAT] Actually, there are about one million people in Rhode Island right now. We have the second highest population density in the country, behind New Jersey. As for 401 being underutilized, not quite so. We add roughly ten to twenty new exchanges each year. Why? Business, pagers, cell phones, fax machines, etc. Seems as though the average home now has two lines or more. Lets put it this way: if the system wasn't getting congested would New England Telephone decide to replace the #1A ESS in Providence with a #5 ESS like they're doing right now? And yes, wonder of wonders we're getting true AT&T #5 ESS vs. DMS-100 ... I guess NE Tel doesn't like those switches ... they've got them running in about ten communities. As for the entire state being a local call, here are some facts: Providence, Cranston, East Providence, and parts of Warwick have calling areas that extend to 75% of the state. But, go two miles down the road to Pawtucket, and they're only allowed to call 55% of the exchanges in the state. I can call as far down as North Kingstown (about 24 miles) and all the way west of Providence, and as far as Cumberland (ten miles north). If you live in Pawtucket you can call as far south as some parts of Warwick (about seven miles) as far west as Johnston (five miles at the most) and as far north as Woonsocket (twelve miles). Not a very fair calling plan if you ask me. Matter of fact, intra state tolls run as follows: Day Evening Night 1st Addl 1st Addl 1st Addl .37 .18 .24 .12 .15 .07 This is more expensive than calling out of state! Under MCI I currently pay ten cents a minute from 5PM to 8AM. So let's say I make a ten minute toll call in Rhode Island: Total cost: .78 night rate. A ten minute call to my parents house in FL would cost me $1.00 and that's for a 1200 mile trek. So, per mile MCI works out to .0008 cents vs. NE Tel (Average toll call for me is 30 miles) at .03 cents a mile. Not bad for NET is it? One State, One Rate ... a plan that has been shot down by our Public Utilities Commission several times because in reality, it's the Utility's Utility Commission. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR, Control Op 441.750+, ARRL VE system @ garlic.sbs.com Soon W5YI VE [Moderator's Note: How many miles wide and long is RI? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Aug 93 07:43:27 EDT From: Bonnie J Johnson Subject: Re: Is This Legal? Gang from USC is apparently upset because the school is taking charge of their own telephone system. Instead of the monster he expects, it could be a blessing in disguise! Most higher education institutions (at least in our case in 1985) break away from the local operating company and "do it ourselves" because we can run our own phone company's at a lower rate, save money (funds to be used for upgrades to telecommunications and newer technologies) and pass some savings on to our customers, i.e., Faculty, Staff and Students. I wouldn't bet my next pay check on this (because it's already spent) but I would imagine Gang's monthly line charge will be the same or LESS than what he paid thru Pac Bell. Also if he is worried about his International carrier being changed TELL HIM TO REMEMBER EQUAL ACCESS!! Schools are now considered aggregators and MUST provide access to all the major carriers. He can shop around for the lowest rate if he likes and then call the campus telecomm office to determine the dialing plan to get his carrier of choice. Equal access is the law -- no way to get around this one. Good luck Gang. bj ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #531 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa09637; 2 Aug 93 5:59 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00730 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 2 Aug 1993 03:30:14 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15055 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 2 Aug 1993 03:29:31 -0500 Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 03:29:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308020829.AA15055@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #532 TELECOM Digest Mon, 2 Aug 93 03:29:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 532 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: No Caller ID in Manhattan (Barry Margolius) Re: No Caller-ID in Manhattan (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Computer System Liability (Steven J. Tucker) Re: Computer System Liability (Fred Morris) Re: Voice Mail by Modem (John D. Gretzinger) Re: Cheap Voice Mail System (John D. Gretzinger) Re: Determine Carrier From an 800 Number? (Steve Forrette) Re: Big Rivers (Bob Ackley) Re: Cordless Phones on a Four-Party Line (Dave Carpentier) Re: Dark Fiber? (Basil Halhed) Re: 1-800-COLLECT (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing (Dave Grabowski) Re: Seth Recieves Punishment (But it's Only a Minor Setback) (M. Otto) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bfm@panix.com (Barry Margolius) Subject: Re: No Caller ID in Manhattan Date: 31 Jul 1993 23:37:31 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC I live in the Wall Street area of NYC, and I also cannot get Caller ID. In fact, I can't even get distinctive ringing. I haven't tried ISDN. I'm in the 212-227 exchange. I've even offered to change phone numbers and/or exchanges in order to get distinctive ringing, but to no avail. barry ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 08:16:24 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: No Caller-ID in Manhattan In TELECOM Digest Volume 13 : Issue 525 oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > Here I live in the middle of Manhattan, with central office 212-777, > and I am told that it is impossible for me to get ISDN. That was last > week. This week I am told it is impossible to get Caller ID, even > though it is being advertised all over New York City, complete with > inserts in the phone bills trumpeting its availability. I would advise Carl to contact the Utility (Oops Public) Service Commission and complain about the discrepancy between what was written (I, too, saw the flyer about CID coming to Manhattan) and what NYTel is telling him. Look for about a two-hour response time from the time the call to the U/PSC is completed and NYTel calls the complainer. Don't bother talking to the NYTel droids; unless contact is made at above the supervisor level, they tend to get huffy, at least the last one I did deal with was. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ From: dh395@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven J Tucker) Subject: Re: Computer System Liability Date: 1 Aug 1993 17:20:35 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Reply-To: dh395@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven J Tucker) In a previous article, 0004854540@mcimail.com (Christopher Zguris) says: > I've followed the messages about the sysop in legal trouble > regarding the downloading of adult-oriented material to a minor. This > has made me curious about the general liability of computer systems. > What sort of liability do computer systems like MCI Mail, CompuServe > et al face from users transferring information in violation of the > law, for example copyrighted software? I seem to remember BBS sysops > getting into trouble and having their hardware confiscated because of > user abuses, do the big guys like MCI Mail face the same threat? I know I'll get flamed, but the truth of the matter is that MCI, SprintNET, etc will never get the same 'harsh' treatment, if any at all because they have money and lawyers to defend themselves. ... MCI verdict -- three years court battle, not guilty. The BBS operators, who are most of the time simply donating thier time and money get smashed by the same power structure. ... xyz BBS verdict - one day - Guilty. Steve [Moderator's Note: You are absolutely correct. In the middle 1970's, when First National Bank of Chicago mailroom employees were stealing cash money which arrived in the mail at their remittance box in the post office in error instead of my box, where it belonged, getting the post office or FNB to do anything about it at all was nearly impossible until I finally sued FNB to get the money they rifled from the mail, or at least my part of it. They cashed checks which came addressed to me even though I had no account there (they endorsed them 'pay to the order of the payee named within') and refused to pay them back, etc. At the same time FNB was getting my mail, at least once a week for several weeks I'd get a check payable to FNB from First Boston Corp. for fifty thousand dollars put in my box because it had my box number on the check. FNB's excuse for tampering with my mail, cashing the checks payable to me and pilfering the cash money people sent me in the mail: 'we are much too busy to actually read who envelopes are addressed to before we open them or read who checks are payable to before we endorse and process them.' How far do you think that would have gotten me had I cashed one of the checks payable to the bank -- I'm much too busy, etc ... I filed a complaint with the Postal Inspectors who told me frankly that they had never been able to get FNB to follow the law. If FNB had complained about me though, I would still be in jail today probably. I finally got my money but it took months of effort even after I filed suit. FNB did clean out their mailroom afterward though; the {Tribune} said *18* employees of FNB were fired on the same day. Shortly thereafter, the Postal Inspectors did a major clean out of the 60690 post office as well. I'll print an account of the whole sordid affair if anyone is interested. But yes, big companies do violate the laws all the time with impunity. You try it! PAT] ------------------------------ From: m3047@halcyon.halcyon.com (Fred Morris) Subject: Re: Computer System Liability Date: 1 Aug 1993 01:07:51 -0700 Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> writes: > I've followed the messages about the sysop in legal trouble > regarding the downloading of adult-oriented material to a minor. This > has made me curious about the general liability of computer systems. > What sort of liability do computer systems like MCI Mail, CompuServe > et al face from users transferring information in violation of the > law, for example copyrighted software? I seem to remember BBS sysops Yeah, this bothers me, too. I am listening to a radio station that says "if it's new, we're SPANKIN' it" and even if they didn't know about Seven Year Bitch or any other politically incorrect group; we're not going to give these uppity people who really are hacked off equal time, are we? And what about that song about two days before the dogs begin to smell it? WHAT's UP WITH THAT?? Fred Morris Ohhh... never mind! m3047@halcyon.com ------------------------------ From: JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.sprint.com Date: 01 Aug 93 13:51:18-0400 Subject: Re: Voice Mail by Modem Ken Mandelberg (km@mathcs.emory.edu) writes > I have to deal with two voice mail systems. One is Southern Bell's > Memory Call, the other is a system than runs on our campus NT SL100 > switch (is there more than one such offering?). > Is there any way to get remote computer access to either of these > systems? What I would at least like is to be able to check if my > mailbox is empty or not by modem. Of course I would really like is to > extract my messages in some digital format. If Southern Bell's offering is from their CO I'll bet you a dinner at your favorite McDonalds that there is absolutely no way they will let you access the phone mail system via modem; the same goes for the campus system. The only way to see the status of a subscriber box on most (I have not worked with all of them) is to have administrator privileges on the system and then run the system administration program. As you can well imagine the mail system administrator does not want users to have the ability to reprogram the system. As for the SL100, you could have virtually any system integrated with the switch. NT provides a product call Meridian Mail that I think also runs on the SL series. Besides that, all major voice mail vendors can fully integrate their systems with the NT line. Again, the voice mail system administrator is the only person (well there is the maintenance account also) who has the ability to check status via modem. It would be possible to program your computer to dial your mailbox, send the sequence to check your mail box, then capture the resulting voice signal, but I don't think that's really what you are after. John D. Gretzinger Network Engineer - Sprint +1.310.797.1187 All opinions are mine, and only mine. Sprint can't have them!! ------------------------------ From: JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.sprint.com Date: 01 Aug 93 13:43:28-0400 Subject: Re: Cheap Voice Mail System In Volume 13 Issue 524, hwdub@chevron.com writes: > I need to find information about, and sources of *inexpensive* voice > mail systems. I need a fair amount of programmability (new voice > information service), so I'm assuming a PC-based system is my best > bet. If it's real cheap, I'll go single-line for now, until I pick up > some more customers, but I think I'm really going to need a multi-line > system soon. It's VERY important that the system be able to execute > arbitrary commands in the OS as a result of a user menu choice. > Faxback would be a very desirable plus, but needn't be part of the > voicemail system, since if it meets the previous criterion, I can do > it external to the voicemail system. I think you are looking for a system that will end up costing well beyond the "cheap" arena. Your desire to set up a service bureau is laudable, but a single line system and limited functionallity is going to be a tough sell to customers. Users will not be happy the first time they call in and get a busy signal. The second time, they will go someplace else unless you have a truly unique service. Although many will argue with me, I think you had best talk to someone like Micom, VMX, or OCTEL. They are not cheap, but they are well supported, programmable, expandable and can do what you need. BTW, hope you can program in C ... you may well need it. John D. Gretzinger Network Engineer Sprint +1.310.797.1187 My opinions are my own. Sprint can't have them!!! [Moderator's Note: You should have included Dialogic in your list above. And yes, the C routines are helpful. For some equipment in my office I had to talk with someone at Dialogic to get them to send me the C routines they use to support their hardware. I am still trying to make heads or tails out of the programming manual they sent me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Determine Carrier From an 800 Number? Date: 31 Jul 1993 00:17:34 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) > [Moderator's Note: A listing with 800-555-1212 does *not* require that > the number be handled by AT&T. Unlike regular numbers where the > listing is free and a non-pub status costs money, with 800 it is the > other way around. Non-pub is free and the listing costs money. This is not true for all carriers and all rate plans. For example, the standard AT&T ReadyLine 800 includes a free listing with 800 Directory as part of the $20/month fee. When I was with Cable & Wireless, their $15/month 800 product did not include a directory listing, which was $12/month extra. So whether you get it for free or not depends on your carrier and rate plan. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Aug 93 12:23:55 CST From: Bob.Ackley@axolotl.omahug.org (Bob Ackley) Subject: Re: Big Rivers Reply-To: bob.ackley@axolotl.omahug.org In a message of <21 Jul 93 07:20:44>, Dave Niebuhr (11:30102/2) writes: > The Missouri did that in the 1800's with Iowa and Nebraska at Omaha. > Originally, the Missouri made an indentation into the Nebraska side, > but then (maybe due to flooding) moved to the east toward Iowa and > looped back in such a way the people having to go to the Omaha airport > from the south and west (correct me if I'm mistaken) had to go through > Carter Lake, Iowa and then back into Omaha. Actually, the COE cut across the narrow neck of a light bulb shaped bend in the river -- to improve navigation and/or for flood control. They did the same thing thirty miles or so north at DeSoto Bend, among other places. It is true that the road from downtown Omaha to its airport runs through Carter Lake, Iowa (which is now on the Nebraska side of the river). Coincidentally, Carter Lake is also the name of the riverbed lake that remained when the river was rerouted. It's also a problem when the river moves over time but the state boundaries don't -- or at least the state losing the ground claims it doesn't, so it doesn't lose property tax revenues; but the state gaining the ground claims it does -- so it can collect the same property tax revenues (it's amusing to watch a state try with equal vigor to justify either argument depending on which way the river moved in different specific cases). There are several parcels along the Missouri River that are being assessed property taxes by counties on both sides of the river, it's a real problem for the property owners. I wonder how (or if) such things affect tariff areas and/or company service boundaries. Bob's Soapbox, Plattsmouth (1:285/1.7) [Moderator's Note: Perhaps readers have seen the news from the weekend which noted several more levees were breeched in recent days. Southern Illinois and Missouri towns are losing their levees at the rate of about one per day. Alton, IL lost their water works Saturday when the levee came down and put much of the town under water *ten feet deep*. Granite City lost their water works several days ago in the same way. Some homes entirely under water; can you imagine that? Bad, bad news. You have to drive 200 miles to find a bridge open to cross the river now. People in those little towns who live on one side of the river and work each day across the river (in the other state) are going nuts getting to and from work. A small local airline operating in the St. Louis area is running a commuter service between one side and the other, $15 per ride. As the people flee their homes -- and each day brings a new territory where the people are ordered to evacuate in a big rush -- they leave behind their dogs to guard the property. The Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago has been running rescue missions daily in cooperation with the animal shelters in the river towns. They are rescuing dogs and cats which are sitting *on top of their master's house* (with water up to the second floor windows). They swoop down in a helicopter, attempt to tranquilize the animals and bring them aboard. Other times they row out to the house in a boat to get them. Some animals are trapped inside buildings and unable to get out; they are understandably very paranoid and refuse to allow the humane workers to touch them. The Anti-Cruelty Society obtained a court order allowing workers to euthanize those animals -- by shooting them :( -- to alleviate further suffering. Some people are refusing to leave their homes and their land until the water is literally rushing in around them. It is a very hard judgment call I guess; do you walk away and leave your possessions behind as ordered by the authorities 'when the time comes' or do you stay and hope at least once the authorities are wrong about the levee protecting your town? Then the rescue workers have to come and get you in a boat or with a helicopter. An animal shelter worker in one town Saturday when the levee collapsed said the water rushed in covering the land so quickly it was two feet deep over several hundred acres in a matter of a few minutes. Citizens were long gone; only emergency workers were in town. She noted, "... the sad part was watching the animals try to escape. Most animals are good swimmers; dogs and cats, squirrels, foxes, even insects -- all swimming for their lives to reach higher ground." The whole thing is a huge ecological disaster with ramifications which will go on for a long time. President Clinton was given a proposal over the weekend which calls for the government to buy much of the flooded land and restore wetlands in the area, most of which have been wiped out as towns were built there over the past 150 years. Bad bad news. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dave.carpentier@oln.com Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1993 00:04:50 -0400 Subject: Re: Cordless Phones on a Four Party Line George, the best bet would be to use a ringer isolator with an outdoor ringer, and leave the ringer of the cordless "off" all the time. We had to go this route with ours on a two party, because a) the cordless would ring on either side of the line (no matter which way it was wired) and b) the outdoor ringer caused too much hum on the line (too much load on the Ring-to-Ground side -- our side of the line). The ringer-isolator isolates the ground path to the outside ringer until your side rings. On another note, my brother in-law uses a cordless phone on his four-party with no problems, unmodified. He's set up with only one other party, and they are on the same side (ring) of the line. Funny thing is, the other party _also_ uses a cordless phone! There is a wee bit of hum, so the 'phantom' bells on the tip side could be increased (or they could both get isolators). Really though, couldn't you get a 1B line out at the cottage? This would solve your problem better, and an added bonus would be taking the computer/modem out to the cottage! (the wife wouldn't mind, eh? ) ------------------------------ From: aa591@freenet.carleton.ca (Basil Halhed) Subject: Re: Dark Fiber? Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Canada Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 12:14:08 GMT Um, a DS-2 operates at 6.132 Mb/s and therefore would have great difficulty accommodating more than four DS-1s. Also, in the past DS-2 was normally not passed along to users but now adays, DS-2 is starting to be used for visual telephony and similar wide-band applications. Hope this helps, Basil ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 08:35:48 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: 1-800-COLLECT I posted an article about 1-800-COLLECT about a week ago and promised a followup when I received some literature from MCI about this service. Basically, it is a bunch of hype about how much a user of 1-800-COLLECT can save over AT&T, Sprint and other services when calling real long distance (across the US for example) and talking for 10 - 30 minutes. If I wanted to do that, I'd contact PAT instead. Not one blasted thing was said about a short (one to two minute) collect call from someone in my calling region (intra-areacode and LATA). The only really useful pieces of information were two glossy sheets that contained the AT&T Tariffs filed October 1, 1890. I wish that the printing was more legible so that I could translate it and possibly send it to the archives :-(. Page two has information about "Collect Calls" and I quote: "Messages can be sent "Collect" if satisfactory to the receiver. Managers will satisfy themselves that the person receiving a "Collect" message understands that it is to be charged to him (nothing said about a woman answering the phone), and will then enter up and check the message as if sent from the receiving end." The costs of a five minute call for the day period (8 AM to 6 PM) and the night rates for 6 PM to 8 AM) are listed and are a little more legible: A $.60 US day call is the same during both periods, but if the charge is $6.00 day, then the night would be $3.00. The tariff for private wire costs are given and are based on a Message Tariff of ONE DOLLAR (AT&T's emphasis). Monthly rates during the day period $300 US, 1/2 hour illegible and 1/3 hour $75 (I believe). All in all, I can't see really using this service unless I'm out of state (in NY I can use 10-NYT-0). I've read a lot of postings and mail from various people who consistently missed my points (which surprised me): My kids calling collect to home from 10-20 miles away hopefully bypassing scumbag telephone. My Detail Charge Listing for July 7 to August 6 will be coming in around the end of August and I'll learn how much a one-minute call (nine miles) was. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ From: Anonymous (telecom@eecs.nwu.edu) Subject: Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing Organization: Not relevant Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 09:00:31 GMT [Moderator's Note: This message arrived in the mail over the weekend. I have altered the headers as he requested. PAT] ***** NOT FOR PUBLICATION ***** (Well, not really. I'd like this to be published in the Digest, however, I do *NOT* want my name to appear in the header, and I'd like my .signature deleted. I'm not particularly interested in making it known to the net about my past mishaps with the feds, but I feel that my contributions are worthwhile to the thread. Since the Digest is moderated, I figure I can send this without trying to anonymize myself, thereby proving that I'm not some kid full of BS just wanting to see stuff I've written be in the Digest. Perhaps you could post it yourself, stating in the first few lines that "this came from a reader who wants to remain anonymous." Do what you want to do with this, Pat, but please keep my name off it it. Thanks.) -------------------- Two and a half years ago, I got arrested for "accessing a computer system illegally" and "disclosure of information" -- fancy terms for getting access to Equifax and snagging a couple people's credit reports and showing them to a few friends. I was a senior in high school. The next year was definitely the worst year of my live (as short as it has been.) Although some readers may not understand the analogy, hacking (or, technically, "cracking"), to the average high-school kid, is similar to joyriding (something that doesn't happen much anymore, except in inner cities). It's a kid's way of getting a "high" -- a kind of "let me see if I can do THIS" idea. Sure, I knew it was wrong ... everyone involved in it did. But the teenage feeling of invincibility prevents one from thinking about it. Until you get caught. I'm glad I got caught, because if I didn't, I'd be doing worse, real criminal-type things now. Something more damaging than phreaking a phone call to Cali or being part of an Alliance Teleconference. I'd probably be stealing real cash, or merchandise, or who knows what else; but it'd be something that I'd deserve to go to jail for. What amazed me was something that is mirrored in the article I'm posting my followup to. The police have absolutely no idea what they are doing. Their "investigation" amounted to a kid who told the cops everything they ever wanted to know, and a state trooper running "XTree" on a PC they seized from me. It appeared that there was nobody in the entire state of New Jersey who knew what the hell they were doing. I was faced with a decision. I could drag the whole thing through court, make fools out of everyone, and get off on the charges -- estimated cost was a mere $20,000. I opted for the budget settlement: a plea agreement, giving up seized items (you wouldn't believe some of the stuff they took), pleadig guilty, and settling for community service. At my sentencing, the judge read a letter from the president of Equifax. If it was up to him, I'd burn in Hell. He wanted to make sure that a precident would be set. The judge seemed to agree with the letter, stating that whether a crime is committed with a gun or with a modem, it's just as bad (I'd like to go up to the judge someday and hold a gun up to him, and note his reaction. Then, put the gun down, pick up a modem, and see if he still feels as threatened). I'm done with probation and my community service (computer-related, of course), and I'm going to be entering my third year of college -- majoring in computer engineering. I don't know how I'm ever going to find a job, with this felony looming in my past. I'm unsure if I'll be able to get it expunged, because there is no precident. What corporation would want to hire a convicted felon as an engineer? Who was the real criminal in all of this? Yes, I committed a crime, and it appears that I may have to pay for it for the rest of my life. Meanwhile, the person who works for Equifax who initially released the account information that let us IN the system in the first place is probably still working there. (No, I have no idea who this person was). I have no idea what will happen in the future. My lawyer is still working on getting everything expunged, and I will just have to hope. Maybe I'll just try to stay in school for the rest of my life. [Moderator's Note: Thank you for sharing this and for taking me in your confidence when you wrote. Things will work out for you. What you did as a minor has no relevance on your adult life, with or without the expungement. Best of luck in future endeavors! PAT] ------------------------------ From: otto@vaxb.acs.unt.edu Subject: Re: Seth Recieves Punishment (but it's only a minor setback) Organization: University of North Texas Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 10:52:02 GMT beyonet!olwejo!bob@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Kupiec) writes: > Here is a message from the administrator of Seth's site: [explanation of problem deleted] > We have eliminated the problem. [...] Seth is now seth@hebron.connected.com, and he's still working his way down the list of newsgroups. Each time I find another non-crossposted copy, I let him and his admin know about it. I urge others to do the same. He's using the net and our dollars to line his own pockets. M. Otto otto@vaxb.acs.unt.edu [Moderator's Note: Like the waters of the Mississippi working their way down to the Gulf of Mexico, poor Seth works his way down the list of newsgroups. Has he gotten as far as 'sci' or 'talk' yet with his flood of messages? Like Old Man River, Seth just keeps rolling along. Imagine ... some people say *I* commercialize the net when it comes time to pay my rent each month ... hmmm ... PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #532 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10533; 2 Aug 93 6:38 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14923 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 2 Aug 1993 04:07:30 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10713 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 2 Aug 1993 04:06:32 -0500 Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 04:06:32 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308020906.AA10713@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #533 TELECOM Digest Mon, 2 Aug 93 04:06:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 533 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (Kevin Williams) Re: Princess Phone Keychains from 60's (Syd Weinstein) Re: Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing (Steven J. Tucker) Re: Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing (David Horvath) Re: Premiere Group? (Greg Abbott) Re: Networks in Sarejevo? (William M. Eldridge) Re: Mystery Caller (Chris Ambler) Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House (Steve Forrette) Re: High Speed Modem Connect Signals (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: Phone Noises, Frequencies and Durations (Steve Forrette) Re: Review From 2600: Inside the 5ESS (Brett Eliott) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: williamsk@agcs.com (Kevin W. Williams) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Date: 1 Aug 1993 13:40:22 -0700 Organization: gte In article , Chris_Brady@motsat.sat.mot. com (Chris Brady) writes: > It seems as though the latest central office switches are still > offered on proprietary software -- and frequently, hardware -- > platforms. This appears to me to be due to the stringent real time > expectations we have placed on telephony, combined with strict > requirements for massive throughput, data integrity, system > availability and environmental conditions. Nonetheless, there have > been efforts in Bellcore and elsewhere to essentially reduce the CO > switch to a peripheral of a general purpose computer, and thus enjoy > the supposed benefits of riding more popular technology curves. I'd > be interested in discussion on why this vision is not being realized > in the CO market: do the technical constraints really demand > proprietary computer implementations, or are there market forces that > are disincenting major telecom providers from making this leap? > In a related question, does anyone have a good estimate for lines of > tested code per person per day for a central office switch? Does this > figure change dramatically when you are reusing existing code and just > testing it (or, alternatively, how much loading is the simple code > test and the full regression test)? The argument is frequently made > that CO software requires more regression testing than most and thus > gets written more slowly than other commercial software applications. The primary issue here is reliability: both hardware and software. For hardware, we are allowed two hours down per 40 years of service. Such outages must stay under an exponential decay curve, such that a ten minute outage occurs less often than one time in fifteen years. On the hardware side, this requires massive redundancy operable on a real-time basis, with no human interaction necessary to effect the switch from one copy to another. It also requires (and this is much more difficult) sufficient fault detection hardware to reliably detect failures. The GTD-5, for example, uses a quadruplex common control structure: a pair of processors is active, with each output matched bit for bit in real-time. If a mismatch occurs in one pair, a standby pair is brought in to replace it. Previous generations have used triplex architectures with a "minority vote loses" algorithm. Other machines tend more towards software monitoring of the processors, executing real-time instruction sanity mazes on a continuous basis. Duplicated and quadruplicated paritied and ECCed rams, duplex peripherals, complex cross-over structures, etc., are the norm. Discussions of the basic architectures of the standard central offices throughout the industry are available in the various vendors public relations and marketing material. The software tends to be carefully tested (although I am not going to comment on productivity figures: such information is considered proprietary by all companies that I am aware of) and is significantly more complex than "normal" code because of the reliablity constraints. The ability to be able to switch instruction streams from one processor to another without missing a beat, reconfiguring peripherals on-line without affecting the applications using them, and performing diagnostic tests on subsystems without impairing the ability of the system to operate requires significant amounts of code, and this code tends to place requirements on the structure and operation of application code. So my answer to when General Purpose Computing will overcome Telecom Switching: never. There is simply no way that the general purpose computing community is ever going to bear the cost of the reliability that we consider mandatory for switching. Kevin Wayne Williams Speaking for myself, but employed by AG Communication Systems, an AT&T/GTE joint venture ------------------------------ From: syd@dsi.com (Syd Weinstein) Subject: Re: Princess Phone Keychains from 60's Date: 1 Aug 1993 10:39:46 -0400 Organization: Datacomp Systems, Inc., Huntingdon Valley, PA Reply-To: syd@DSI.COM Doreen Hansen writes: > Does anyone here have a collection of those little plastic princess > phones that say "The Princess phone ... It's little, it's lovely, it > lights!" on the bottom? They have a ball-type chain on the right > side. I have just started a collection of them after finding a few at > the local Goodwill. I know they came in aqua, white, and pink. Are > there any other colors? How were these distributed? with phone > books? In the mail? Did each household get one/two? Were they given > out only one year? Or did people buy them? Somewhere in my archives, I have a box of those things ... (small box.) They were indeed free. Bell handed them out as a come-on to get people to rent the new phones. The box I have is about 3"x6"x 2.5-3" and it was full of them at one time. They were just handing them out left and right in the Philadelphia are back in the early 60's. My father came home with the box of them, he got them from a table in his office (he was a CPA) ... Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP Elm Coordinator - Current 2.4PL22 Datacomp Systems, Inc. Projected 3.0 Release: ??? ?,1994 syd@DSI.COM or dsinc!syd Voice: (215) 947-9900, FAX: (215) 938-0235 ------------------------------ From: dh395@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven J Tucker) Subject: Re: Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing Date: 1 Aug 1993 16:21:58 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Reply-To: dh395@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven J Tucker) In a previous article, JIM.J.MURPHY@gte.sprint.com says: > I had to make a long distance call from a customer's site today, and I > normally bill these calls on my supervisor's calling card. But the > card number was in my truck, so I opted to just bill the call to our > office phone number. > understood, it said to standby for an operator. I also had no trouble > entering a number to bill the call to; one of our office numbers, or > to any valid local number I might punch in. Yon can bill third party to ANY VALID number (except payphones, and other restriced numbers ...) from a private billable line. The only times the operator is reqired to get approval is if your at a payphone, since they cant bill back the call if the other party refuses to pay when the bill comes. Steve ------------------------------ From: dhorvath@sas.upenn.edu (David Horvath) Subject: Re: Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 21:40:53 EDT A few years ago, Bell of Pennsylvania (now part of Bell Atlantic) changed its policy on third number billing. Prior to this change, the call would just be put through -- permission to bill was not verified. This "feature" was discovered by many unscrupolous people and prankster/kids so Bell changed the policy to require verification of permission to third party bill. My last phone bill (in the AT&T section) had several third-party calls billed to my phone number -- which were not made or permitted by my wife or I. I called AT&T and they were very happy to remove the charges and suggest that I get third-party billing blocked by Bell Atlantic. I did so. To make a long story short, doesn't AT&T verify third-party billings? I noticed a recent note that AT&T is using automated call making for this class -- are they verifying? If they verify, is it automated also? Our answering machine answers the phone 90+% of the time, even when we're home ... I remember a posting about automated collect call accpetance. An odd side note -- we've gotten a number of phone calls at about that time of night (on a regular basis) with dialtone when the answering machine is done its message. Thanks! David [Moderator's Note: See an earlier message in this issue. AT&T will verify the third number billing if the call is originating from a phone to which the company has no recourse for collection, i.e. a payphone or COCOT phone, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 13:46:37 -0600 (CST) From: Greg Abbott Reply-To: gabbott@uiuc.edu Subject: Re: Premiere Group? Recently I posted a note requesting information on a group called "Premiere Publications". This group has been conducting phone solicitation for a city directory and leaving some citizens with the idea that if they refused to provide information, 9-1-1 would be unable to assist them in the event of an emergency. After some investigation, I found the company to be based out of Rochester, IN. I spoke with one of their office managers (who happened to be the manager for the Champaign area as well) and explained the problem to him. He advised me that they utilize a script and that his people are not to deviate from the script. He further advised that the people calling me probably misunderstood what was being said to them (I couldn't produce any "victims" of the calls, just some general comments which had been made to our dispatchers when these citizens called in to check). I asked him to talk to his people, which he said he would do. Later that afternoon, I got another call from a concerned citizen who had just received a call from this company. She said that the caller had indeed stated that the information she was attempting to collect *would* be used to backup the 9-1-1 computers in the event the computer failed. This, of course, couldn't be further from the truth. I conferenced in the manager that I had spoken with earlier and let this lady tell her story again. He really didn't know what to say except that he was very sorry. He apologized to both of us several times. I explained to him that this activity had to stop right now and asked him to call me back on Monday with the details of his investigation. The local newspaper is going to run a short article on this topic sometime this week. I asked them to make sure that the citizens understand that 9-1-1 does not need any of the information they may provide to this group in order to dispatch any type of emergency assistance. I'll keep you posted on the progress. GREG ABBOTT INTERNET: GABBOTT@UIUC.EDU 9-1-1 COORDINATOR COMPUSERVE: 76046,3107 VOICE: 217/333-4348 METCAD FAX: 217/384-7003 1905 E. MAIN ST. PAGER: 800/222-6651 URBANA, IL 61801 PIN # 9541 ------------------------------ From: bill@COGNET.UCLA.EDU (William M. Eldridge) Subject: Re: Networks in Sarejevo? Date: 1 Aug 1993 14:51:04 -0700 Organization: UCLA Cognitive Science Research Program Bruce Taylor writes: > I was just asked to give ideas on how to establish email or network > connectivity into Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The idea is to create a > portable set of equipment that could support a few users with e-mail, > or perhaps several users with full internet connectivity. > [Moderator's Note: You know it is too bad our European correspondent > Richard Budd is off line for a month or so. Maybe he will see this and > respond anyway. He has been in Poland and other nearby areas for a > couple years now at least working with schools, etc in setting up > connections to the net among other things. I *know* he could fill you > in with a lot of details and prove quite helpful. Richard, are you > out there? PAT] I'm currently researching similiar options for Macedonia, and could really use some advice from someone who's doing this already. Perhaps some basic scenarios to start: - what's the cheapest way to provide one user with a 9600 or 19200 bps Usenet connection? - what options are available for something like a T1 line? - what kind of satellite connections/technology would be applicable for say a university? a country? - are there any wireless technologies that are reasonable alternatives to running cable for a site with basically no existing network infrastructure? Of course answers for Europe (and Easter/Southeastern Europe especially) will be quite different, considering state of telecommunications and size of budgets available. At the same time, these questions are going to come up again and again as all the lesser-developed countries start networking, and it would be nice to set up an archive that begins to address some of the major questions that arise in this regard (I'll be happy to maintain the archive -- it's the info that I'm lacking). Thanks, Bill Eldridge bill@cognet.ucla.edu 310-206-3960 (3987 fax) ------------------------------ From: cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler -- Phish) Subject: Re: Mystery Caller Organization: The Phishtank Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1993 23:39:00 GMT Leonard.Erickson@f51.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Leonard Erickson) says: > I put a terminal program up and couldn't get a response. But I have > determined that the system on the other end is *attempting* to > handshake with a BREAK,pause, sequence. About 1/2 sec break, 1/2 sec > pause. It repeats until it gives up after 20 seconds or so. > Anybody recognize this handshake sequence? I'd like to track down the > caller, if only to get things fixed. This sounds a lot like UNIX to me. UUCP, in particular, will dial out and wait for a string, usually "ogin:" and send breaks and/or returns until it sees it or times out. Your mystery caller may be someone who thinks you're a UUCP site. Try answering with the terminal program and send them "login:" and see what they do :-) cambler@zeus.calpoly.edu | Christopher J. Ambler chris@toys.fubarsys.com | Author, FSUUCP 1.32 ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House Date: 2 Aug 1993 02:41:51 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In Bruce_Sullivan++LOCAL+dADR% Nordstrom_6731691@mcimail.com (Bruce Sullivan) writes: > Thomas Hinders (THINDER@SOFTSW.SSW.COM) writes: >> If a telephone technician was dispatched to install jacks and wiring >> for a home under construction, would the standard practice be for him >> to wire the jacks in daisy-chain or run a separate line to some common >> point. > I'm NOT from a BOC, but I did have MY BOC (US West) out last year to > rewire an older house which I'd purchased. They did not daisy-chain > them. They ran each one back to a common point at the demarc, which I > believe is common practice -- at least around here -- AND technically > superior, in my opinion. US West definately recommends that this practice be followed. I have a pamphlet from US West which is designed to tell people who plan to do their own inside residential wiring (or contract with someone to do so) what the correct specifications are. The pamphlet is done quite nicely, and if you follow the rules they give, you would have an excellent inside wiring setup, IMHO. Among other things, they say: - Use twisted-pair wire, with each pair individually twisted on its own axis. - Run a separate cable from each jack to a common point, and connect to the demarc from there. - Use at least for pair wire (eight conductor) as a minimum for residential installations. - Never run AC current through telephone wire (okay, so how am I supposed to talk? :-)) These seem like pretty common-sense rules, but it is amazing how little they are followed. One problem is that the general public (including general contractors) doesn't seem to understand why anyone would possibly need more than one phone line, so they figure that providing two pairs is more than enough. And as far as twisted pair, since the deaded straight "quad" wire is generally cheaper, why not go with that? Your average contractor doesn't know a whole lot about inductive pickup of AC currents. I'd agree with the previous posters -- regardless of what the telco says, if you contracted with someone to do it a specific way and they did not, they should redo it to the agreed-upon specs. If US West is your LEC, ask them for a copy of the residential wiring pamphlet, and show that to the contractor. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: High Speed Modem Connect Signals Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 02:44:18 GMT In article belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) writes: > After conducting research I think I may have answered my own question. > Echo supression cancels out energy in the 2010-2240Hz range. The CCIT > standard is to blurt out a 2100Hz for at least 250ms, which will stop > the EC equipment. I believe that this is correct, might be wrong. EC > will re-activate after a 400ms squelch. Unlike Professor Erwin Corey, I'm not the World's Most Foremost Authority on this... :-) but as I recall reading it in CCITT V.25, the echo SUPPRESSOR cancel tone is 2100 Hz. This is obsolete. The echo CANCELLOR cancel tone is 2100 Hz, phase-reversed every 450 millisec- onds for a two-second burst. I don't know why anybody would implement it such that single-phase tone would get garbled, but that's what I found when I searched the Blue Books. fred (goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com) ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Phone Noises, Frequencies and Durations Date: 2 Aug 1993 04:45:57 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In omarab@CSOS.ORST.EDU (Jack the Ripper) writes: > Steve Forrette (stevef@wrq.com) wrote: >> For the standard calling card "bong," there is a particular Bellcore >> standard. I used something that was easiest for me to implement, and >> it sounds quite close to the real thing. I use 60ms of "#" tone >> (941Hz and 1477Hz), followed by a decaying dialtone sound that lasts >> one second, with the amplitude at full volume at the beginning of the >> second, ramping down linearly to 0 amplitude at the end of the second. > What kind of EQUIPMENT do you guys use for all your tone generations? Right now, I'm using voice processing cards from Natural MicroSystems of Natick, MA. They have the capability of generating arbitrary tones of one, two, or three concurrent frequencies, with each of the 3 frequencies and their relative amplitudes changable every 20ms. This is a very flexible mechanism, as it allows me to generate just about any tone I could possibly want, whether it be user-signalling (such as a realistic-sounding 'bong' tone that's generated from scratch rather than sampled and played back), to various tones that might be needed for network signalling. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) Subject: Re: Review From 2600: Inside the 5ESS Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 06:50:19 GMT mking@fsd.com (Mike King) writes: > The Summer '93 edition of {2600} magazine (V10, #2) has some > interesting articles in it. The lead article is "A Guide to the > 5ESS." The author discusses switch topology, hardware, software, and > how to program it. As an example, the author shows how the RCF > feature would be added to a line. The article is eleven pages long. I bet the kid who wrote it was half the average age of comp.dcom. telecom subscribers. ;-) belliot@eis.calstate.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #533 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12072; 3 Aug 93 3:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00792 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 3 Aug 1993 00:23:03 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30415 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 3 Aug 1993 00:22:27 -0500 Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1993 00:22:27 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308030522.AA30415@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #534 TELECOM Digest Tue, 3 Aug 93 00:22:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 534 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Borneo Malaysia Phones (Wm Randolph Franklin) Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal (Will Martin) New Newsgroup For SmartCards (Lars Kalsen) Questions About Telecom (Kirsten Hanson) New Improved UUCICO For Waffle Available (Horacio Stolovitzky) Who/What Determines Caller-ID? (Greg Chartrand) Encrypted Faxes (Chris Norley) Alternates Wanted to "Call Me" Cards (David Maynard) Pennsylvania Local Calls (was Re: What Changes For Delaware?) (Carl Moore) Traffic Calculator Wanted (McHarry@cwc.com) No, They Are Not Toll Numbers (Paul Robinson) Re: Seth Recieves Punishment (But Only a Minor Setback) (Chris Zguris) More on That International Phone Number Scam (Daniel Burstein) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Christopher Zguris) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Garrett Wollman) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: franklin@ecse.rpi.edu (Wm Randolph Franklin) Subject: Borneo Malaysia Phones Date: 2 Aug 1993 17:38:06 +0800 Organization: Institute Of Systems Science, NUS. This is a report on telephones in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo, where I recently spent two weeks. mostly in the back country. This info is generally from the phone book. All dollar figures are US$ for your convenience. I included a few Singapore notes also. I've avoided all editorial comment; this note is an attempt at an unbiased description of the facts. Much of the system uses electronic switches, as advanced as in the USA. Besides three-party calling etc, there are two options I haven't seen in the US: call transfer on no answer after 30 seconds, and call transfer if busy. Each option is under $1/month. Smartfon is a 100m range cordless phone, which you use near to a posted transmitter. It's smaller than a cellular phone, which I think may also be available. The book has a whole page describing the Inmarsat system. Calls are about $10/minute. There are Malaysia Direct numbers available in many other countries for calling to Malaysia. The book also lists the direct numbers from Malaysia to many other countries, including for the three big US carriers. Otherwise, calling the US is about $2/minute. The book says that the phone company also provides videotext (with info from third party suppliers), stock quotes by phone, email, and data lines, both packet switched and circuit switched. Short-distance local calls are about $0.06. Farther calls are metered. However, the phone itself costs $80/month for a personal line, or $120/month for a business. They allow third party call billing, if your number is okayed by their database. Domestic 800 numbers costs $400 to install; international ones $800. There are the obvious usage charges. Popular phone numbers are auctioned. There is an international person-to-person call option, which is the operator rate plus $.80. The $.80 is charged whether or not the person, or an acceptable substitute is there. Leased lines and radio channels are available. This is convenient since much of the back country has no roads or other utilities. You get there by boat, foot, or plane, and use portable generators for electricity. Many public phones are cardphones. The book says that they use a holographic technology, not magnetic. I don't know what this means. There are many COCOTs, which are private coin phones, which a store owner rolls outside his store in the morning. They cost about $0.04 for a local call. I don't know what happens with long distance calls. There appear to be no AOSs, alternative carriers, or 900 numbers. Satellite dishes are illegal in Malaysia and Singapore. This is to prevent unwanted culture coming in, and to prevent bypassing the PTT. The Malaysian government is considering allowing satellite dishes in Borneo only, since there are so many. In Malaysia, it is forbidden to import radios that can receive the following frequencies: 26.95-27.88 MHz, 68-87, and 108-174. In Singapore, both radio and TV receivers require annual licenses. This applies to car radios also. Dunno about Malaysia. 9911 is the Malaysian version of 911. It gets abused a lot. Firemen in Pulau Penag reported that isix a 6 month period, 40% of all calls (that's 15479 calls) were from love-sick women. Only 2% of the calls were to report fires. Finally, the {International Herald Tribune} has some telecom ads. MCI is really pushing their country-to-country calling via their Direct number. This is not always a good deal for the customer. When I asked them last fall about calling from Italy to Germany, they quoted $2/minute, much more than the Italian phone system wanted. Also something called Kallback is advertising cheap calls to the US from other countries. Let's use our Moderator's version when it becomes available. Bye for now. I've been out of the US for four months continuously on this trip and nine months in the last twelve; it'll be good to get back soon. Wm. Randolph Franklin, wrf@ecse.rpi.edu, (518) 276-6077; Fax: -6261 ECSE Dept., 6026 JEC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst, Troy NY, 12180 USA ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 93 10:25:13 CDT From: Will Martin Subject: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal I've been trying to get through to a constantly-busy number, and the irritation and hostility I feel more and more on an ever-rising level as I repeatedly hear the braaaaap braaaaap of the "busy" signal on each try leads me to wonder just WHY that particular tone and pattern had been chosen by the telco so many years ago to indicate "busy". The tone/pattern itself is extrememly irritating, regardless of the emotion one feels when one cannot get to the number one wants. I suppose there were (and maybe still are) other tones or signals that also indicate "busy" from non-AT&T sources, both domestic and international. But this tone I cited is practically universal in the US, at least; enough that it is used in movies and on TV shows and everyone recognizes it for what it means. I find it odd that they should deliberately choose something that irritates the caller. It exacerbates a situation that may already be emotion-laden; I'm sure that the offensive "busy" tone, heard repeatedly by someone trying to get through to a perpetually-busy number, has cost the telcos a number of pay phones ripped from their mounts or phone booths smashed by cars or trucks when the caller was pushed beyond his level of endurance. Why would the telcos continue to use this tone pattern when it costs them this with no particular benefit? Originally, I'm sure the tone was selected and adopted because it was economically-generatable by some mechanical device. But now, digital circuitry could just as easily generate a soothing pattern of words like "sorry ... line busy ... sorry ... line busy..." or some other non-English (if there is a language issue here) pattern of tones or signals; anything but this foul "braaaaap braaaaap" business ... :-) I can appreciate there will be a recognition problem and some confusion over a period of transition if the ordinary "busy" signal is changed to something else. But a lot of telco stuff has changed over the years; why not this? As a side benefit, the vague distinction we now have between "busy" and "fast busy" (which I have trouble with, personally) could be eliminated, and both signals could be replaced with distinctively different sounds, so that their meanings ("destination phone off hook" vs. "trunk unavailable between this CO and the destination CO" [vs. whatever else that "fast busy" now means]) could each have their own clear signals. Wouldn't everybody prefer that? Will ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dkuug.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: New Newsgroup For SmartCards Organization: DKnet Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 21:55:27 GMT A new newsgroup - alt.technology.smartcard - has been created. Try it ! Rationale A SmartCard is commonly understood to be a single chip integrated on card like a credit card. The chip can be a pure memory device, but it can also be a full microprocessor for more sophisticated use. The functions of the card is defined by programming the chip and it can of course be done in many ways. Therefore the wide spread of use. SmartCards are today used in many different areas and there will be many new possibilities in the future. A market survey from 1992 looks like this: Mobil Telephones 25 % Banking 25 % Pay Telephones 5 % Access Control 15 % Health Care 5 % Transportation 15 % Others 10 % SmartCards are often used for identification purposes which means that security is important issue when we are discussing these cards. The SmartCards are an emerging technology which will have great im- pact on a lot of different businesses in the future, therefore the newsgroup will be of great help to a lot of people. A charter for alt.technology.smartcards. Alt.technology.smartcards (unmoderated) will be a newsgroup which will provide a common forum for all persons interested in the use and development of SmartCards and the technologies behind. (1) To share ideas, information and specific experience about the use of SmartCards. (2) To discuss the design, programming and manufacturing of Smart- Cards. (3) To discuss the use of SmartCards in various businesses and pro- spectives for the future use. (4) To discuss economic issues concerning SmartCards. (5) To discuss security issues around the SmartCards. (6) To discuss standard issues concerning SmartCards. (7) To educate and inform others about the the strength, weaknesses and general use of SmartCards. (8) To share information and ideas about the future use of Smart- in all appropriate areas. Lars Kalsen dalk@login.dkuug.dk ------------------------------ From: vagina@carson.u.washington.edu (Kirsten Hanson) Subject: Questions About Telecom Date: 2 Aug 1993 08:22:14 GMT Organization: University of Washington I know these may seem like rather naive questions, but I would appreciate it if some kind soul could either send me email or follow up to them here. Here they go: 1. What is Anac? Is it similiar to Ani? 2. Where is the faq for this group? 3. Are there area codes that do not represent a certain geographical area? 4. Does the military/government operate on phone systems that are seperate from the "normal" phone systems? Any answers are appreciated. Thanks, V [Moderator's Note: The FAQ is sent automatically to new list subscribers, appears once a month or so in comp.dcom.telecom, and is available using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu in the archives. 'Area codes' which do not represent specific geographical areas are usually called 'service codes'. Examples include 700, 710, 800, 900. Yes, the government and military have their own phone systems, with gateways into the public telephone network. Someone else can tell you about ANAC and ANI. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: New Improved UUCICO For Waffle From: horacio@satlink.net (Horacio Stolovitzky) Reply-To: horacio@satlink.net (Horacio Stolovitzky) Date: Sun, 01 Aug 93 12:07:58 ARG Organization: SatLink Uucp/Internet Gateway [ARGENTINA] +54-1-958-1041 I have uploaded to WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil and OAK.Oakland.Edu: pd1: FXUC02B.ZIP Enhanced UUCICO for Waffle 1.65 BBS FX UUCICO is an enhanced replacement for WAFFLE UUCICO. It's full compatible with WAFFLE. Shorter and faster, still has exciting new features already available in this first release, and many more and on the way. - Up to 115200 bps, and use of the 16650AFN FIFO (no need for FOSSIL) - File restart (crash recovery) - File size negotiation and free space management - A very robust and efficient protocol 'g' implementation. - Smart protocol 'g', with variable packets upto 4096 bytes. - A new, extremely fast protocol 'y' for high-speed modems. - Protocol 'f' for X.25 or other 7-bits lines. - Full support for incoming and outgoing grades Uploaded by the author. Horacio Stolovitzky Internet address: postmaster@satlink.net SatLink S.R.L. Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA V.32bis/Turbo-PEP Access: +54-1-958-1041 ------------------------------ From: greg_chartrand@qmail.ssc.gov (Greg Chartrand) Subject: Who/What Determines Caller-ID? Organization: Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 17:08:11 GMT Maybe this has been answered before, but I would like to know what determines the text that gets displayed on an ISDN phone with caller I.D.? I own XYZ Corporation, and I telemarket, will the text read XYZ Corporation when I call someone? Can I tell my LEC that I want my personal name to appear instead of XYZ Corporation? When I order my phone circuits, is there a mechanism to specify what will appear in the caller I.D.? As a private individual, can I specify my caller I.D.? If my name is Clarence Jones and I go by "Buck", can I have the I.D. changed to reflect "Buck Jones" as my preference? Greg ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Aug 93 11:53:07 EDT From: E102030@PWAGPDB.pwfl.com (Chris Norley) Subject: Encrypted Faxes I'm interested in finding out about the availability and cost of encrypted fax machines. Does anyone have any information on marketers or manufacturers of these machines? Direct replies to me (norleyc@pwfl.com) would be appreciated. Thanks. ------------------------------ Subject: Alternates Wanted to "Call Me" Cards Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1993 10:41:15 -0500 From: David Maynard AT&T used to push something named a "Call Me" card that could only be used for placing calls to a specific number. "Kids" could use it to call home, but not to make other calls. What options are available for this type of service? I don't think Sprint or MCI offer similar programs. I could get 700 or 800 service, but I don't think my monthly call volume would justify it. Any suggestions? Thanks, David P. Maynard, Carnegie Mellon University & Dependable Solutions Consulting USMail: 14312 Richard Walker Blvd, Austin, TX 78728-6862 EMail: dpm@depend.com, Tel: +1 512 251 8122, Fax: +1 512 251 8308 [Moderator's Note: A very low volume 800 number would probably work okay. I offer them with no monthly fee and no installation costs. Calls range from 17-22 cents per minute depending on volume of traffic. If you use less than $25 per month in calls, the rates are about 33 cents per minute with a $5 per month service fee. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Aug 93 16:13:54 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Pennsylvania Local Calls (was Re: What Changes For Delaware?) > PA had a confusing arrangement in a town off Route 322 midway > between Penn State and Harrisburg (right on the crease of my Rand > McNally map). Used 555-1212 to reach DA for my sister's number in > Harrisburg. No charge, no offer to complete the call (or maybe I hung > up too fast?). I have been on U.S. 322 from the bridge at Chester, Pa. (it goes to NJ there) to Port Matilda (sp), which is on U.S. 220 west of State College. I notice you didn't dial a leading 1, but that is a small matter for me right now. You were apparently in the 717 area; U.S. 322 is a four-lane divided highway going over a hill between Lewistown and State College, somewhere around the 717/814 border. > However, confusing announcements resulted from attempts at > variations on (10288) +0 + NPA + nxx-xxxx. Finally, I tried 0+ > nxx-xxxx, and it worked! Are there still many places that require 0 + > seven digits for intra-NPA toll calls? This was probably a 60-mile > call, and was handled by Bell of PA. What reason would they have for > blocking 0 + NPA + seven digits? Do non-coin phones in the same area > also use 0 + seven digits? I think I was on United Telephone when I was using a pay phone at Loysburg (814-766) in northern Bedford County, when I was on route 26 heading north from U.S. 30 at Everett, which is between Breezewood and Bedford. I wanted to use AT&T (switch from Orange Card because I did want the calling location on my phone bill), and got blocked when I tried 10288-0 + area code + seven digits. I got to use AT&T, but had to omit the 10288. History file mentions some prefixes in 717 in Lancaster County near the 215 border having removed the leading 1 from 1+7D. Aside from this (and I didn't really check 0+ calls), I am not aware of changes having been made yet to dialing instructions in 717 and 814. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 93 12:41:36 EDT From: mcharry@cwc.com (McHarry) Subject: Traffic Calculator Wanted At one time I had a neat little program for doing traffic calculations on a PC. Does anyone know where to find another? It was a lot nicer than using the tables. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 11:29:51 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: No, They Are Not Toll Numbers From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Marty Hoag , writes on list LSTSRV-L@SEARN.BITNET: > I did see something similar but different on one other list I'm > on. But it asked if they were toll numbers and how they made money > if not like our 900 numbers... I think they posted this on every news group they could find; the guy probably has a monetary interest in them. > 011-239-1xx-xxxx & 011-592-2xx-xxx If you were to get a rate quote for these, you'd discover there is no surcharge, they are billed as regular calls. The "592" indicates South America; there are several chat or sex lines terminating to special facilities in some of those countries. The way they make their money is the "Termination Fee" e.g. the national telephone company in that country pays the information provider part of the fee it gets from the carrier that connects the call, based on the increased traffic the calls generate. I made up a name for this, "The Nevada Plan". There was a company in Nevada at a 702 area code number that had a sex line, and someone could call it by dialing the number. The catch was that the call had to be placed via AT&T; if you called it via another carrier, the caller got a recording telling the caller to dial 10288 first. The recording was the *real* number; AT&T terminated the calls to the number in question someplace else (the chat line equipment), and paid the provider the 2c per minute termination fee for each call made over AT&T. There is a company is Oregon called Speedway, that is running a dial-up Unix system and will provide SLIP, UUCP or any other internet connections you want; and it doesn't cost anything extra, but you have to be connected via AT&T. If you were to dial the number 1 503 520 2222 by any means except AT&T (either local in the 503 area code, or dialing it over MCI), you'd get a busy signal. If you dial via 10288 or your long distance company is AT&T, you'd get a modem carrier. AT&T pays them the 2c per minute connection fee that would have to be paid to the local company; means no difference to them. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 93 15:02 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Seth Recieves Punishment (but it's only a minor setback) > [Moderator's Note: Like the waters of the Mississippi working their > way down to the Gulf of Mexico, poor Seth works his way down the list > of newsgroups. Has he gotten as far as 'sci' or 'talk' yet with his > flood of messages? Like Old Man River, Seth just keeps rolling along > Imagine ... some people say *I* commercialize the net when it comes > time to pay my rent each month ... hmmm ... PAT] This is the funniest thing I've read in a long time, well done Pat! A way to start the week off with a smile! :-) If I understand correctly, Seth was bounced from one provider and has moved to another? Is there anything strictly illegal about what he's doing (I understand irritating, but illegal?)? Incidentally, I got his announcement on the TIPSHEET mailing list as well, so maybe he's trying to move beyond newsgroups to automated email distribution lists? Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (Daniel Burstein) Subject: More on That International Phone Number Scam Date: 02 Aug 1993 13:19:31 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Regarding that posting by (name deleted) which went to just about every Usenet group trying to get people to call his (deleted) phone-sex number, I found the following in another Usenet group: From alt.fan.mike-jittlov Sat Jul 31 23:14:19 1993 From: static@eskimo.com (Lee Morgan) Newsgroups: alt.fan.mike-jittlov Subject: Re: What is this #? Date: 31 Jul 93 06:13:48 GMT Peter Trei (ptrei@bistromath.mitre.org) wrote:
> Seth has been pushing these numbers for several weeks now. I think > it's safe at this point to assume that they are a scam of some kind, > and that he's making money off of it. It might take a while for the > charges to get back to you, but they will. He is involved with some sort of 1-900/1-800 style sex line. I work for a small software shop that wrote an access database to keep track of customers for him. Given his dealings with us, I'm not too suprised that he is pushing his business on the net. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 93 14:01 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced All this fuss over modems using 900 numbers, does the FTC have computers and do they actually investigate before they pass rules? How hard would it have been to add an exclusion for non-voice applications? It would have heen obvious that there are non-voice 900 lines if they would have looked around just a little bit! It seems like loopholes/errors _always_ creep into legislation, Is it becuase of stupidity or to guarantee future "reviews" and "investigations" to correct these errors? Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ From: wollman@trantor.emba.uvm.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 18:18:12 GMT In article , TELECOM Moderated noted in response to Chris Ambler -- Phish : > Are there UUCP arrangements with sites such > as uunet which involve 900? *I know* that uunet has or had a 900 > number for downloads from their extensive library of holdings, but I > was not aware they serviced their UUCP logins via 900. PAT, the only way to download /anything/ from uunet is via UUCP. If you want to do it anonymously (without already being a customer of theirs), then you set up your UUCP to call 900-GOT-SRCS (468-7727) and log in as (I think) `uucp'. Disclaimer: I'm on the Internet and therefore don't have any need to use this service. Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #534 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24492; 3 Aug 93 11:54 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00696 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 3 Aug 1993 09:36:09 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24440 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 3 Aug 1993 09:35:30 -0500 Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1993 09:35:30 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308031435.AA24440@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #535 TELECOM Digest Tue, 3 Aug 93 09:35:20 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 535 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple (Monty Solomon) CT2 Phones in Hong Kong (Wayne Sung) Zoom Hotshot (*67) Problem (Ken Jongsma) Busy Signal Strangeness (was Re: Revisit ...) (Jack Winslade) How to Apply Reverse Battery Signalling to DID? (Yen-Wen Chen) CIS Feedback Response to Email Question (Bruce Sullivan) Seeking Info on Singapore as Test Site For Telecommunications (C Biberman) Octel Voicemail (Patrick Laschet) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1993 01:38:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple [Moderator's Note: Monty passed along this message from Apple. PAT] First Newton -- The MessagePad -- Hits The Market CUPERTINO, California -- July 30,1993 -- Apple Computer, Inc. today announced that the first product based on its innovative Newton technology -- the Newton MessagePad -- will ship on Aug. 2, 1993. The Newton MessagePad is a handheld communications assistant that allows people to gather, manage, and share information with tremendous ease and spontaneity. By combining rich communications capabilities with technology that actively assists people in getting work done, Apple has created a new class of personal digital assistant (PDA) devices -- one that lets people communicate ideas with greater speed, clarity, and effectiveness. The Newton MessagePad is also a rich platform for a wide variety of new applications and software titles that take advantage of its unique technology, convenience, and usability. The Newton MessagePad is the first in a family of products based on Newton technology: others will be introduced in the future by both Apple and its licensees. "We believe that Newton will be seen as the defining technology of the digital age," said John Sculley, Apple chairman. "It will be a focal point for the coming convergence of industry sectors such as computers, communications and consumer electronics. Communications is a key component of this new emerging industry and the Newton MessagePad demonstrates how this capability can be powerfully yet intuitively built into a handheld device. I look forward to a full lineup of products and services based on Newton Intelligence, not just from Apple but from innovative, creative companies around the globe." The Newton MessagePad is based on the concept of Newton Intelligence, which is a combination of software and silicon. Newton Intelligence is what makes Newton understandable, friendly, intuitive and useful. It is the "soul" of the Newton MessagePad that allows the product to "learn" the user's preferences and requirements. For example, the user could receive a wireless message from a colleague to attend a meeting and Newton could automatically place the appointment in its calendar. More importantly, Newton Intelligence actively assists users in completing their tasks. It "learns" users work habits and patterns -- and then implements them on cue. Whether it's printing a letter in an accustomed format, or faxing a message to a client's office, the MessagePad learns over time to adapt to the user's preferences. Communication capabilities: Because of Newton technology's robust communications architecture, the MessagePad comes with a wide variety of powerful communications capabilities. The Newton Communications Architecture is highly modular. This means that when new applications and services become available, they can easily be added and supported in an integrated, plug-and-play manner. The communications capabilities in the MessagePad allow users to send, receive, and share information through virtually every communication method in the workplace today -- through telephone lines, wireless networks, and computer networks. -- Faxing. The MessagePad can act as a handheld facsimile (fax) machine -- allowing users, with the optional modem, to send facsimiles to virtually any fax machine in the world. Additionally, Newton Intelligence makes the process of sending a facsimile simple: With the press of one button, the MessagePad automatically formats the output, adds a cover page, and places the facsimile in the system's Out Box, awaiting connection to a telephone line. It is anticipated that future products in the family will additionally offer the capability to receive fax messages. -- Wireless Messaging. Users of Newton MessagePad are expected to have access to a wireless messaging service with both national (U.S.) and local access. This service will deliver alpha-numeric paging and messaging capabilities to users of the Newton MessagePad. This service is expected to give the users a fully-featured method of keeping in touch that is totally integrated with the MessagePad. (Full details of this service will be available in the near future.) -- Electronic Mail. MessagePad users will be able to send and receive electronic mail messages to and from other MessagePad users who are NewtonMail subscribers -- or just about any computer, by using the NewtonMail service and the optional modem. NewtonMail is a subscriber-based service to be offered by Apple that is an extremely cost effective way of communicating across the United States and the rest of the world. Availability of the NewtonMail service will be announced at a later date. Over time, it is anticipated that NewtonMail will be expanded to offer a wide range of information such as news, weather and financial information as well as the potential for online transactions. -- Beaming. Making use of its built-in infrared function, the MessagePad can send -- or "beam" in Apple engineer parlance**quick messages to other Newton devices across a one meter distance, without any wiring or cabling. This capability is ideal for the quick exchange of items such as business cards, meeting notes, maps, or appointments. -- Printing. The MessagePad can print any document it creates -- notes, drawings, addresses, maps, letters -- on most popular dot matrix, portable inkjet, thermal and laser printers. These printers can be either connected directly, or accessed through a local area network. Desktop Connections: The Newton MessagePad can share information -- quickly and easily -- with millions of personal computers. Using the optional Newton Connection package, users can transfer, synchronize, back up, and update information between a Newton MessagePad and a Macintosh personal computer or a personal computer running the Windows operating system. Newton Connection is based upon a technology Apple calls "Smart Synchronization," which automatically updates information between a MessagePad and a personal computer. Any changes made to the information on the Newton -- or on the personal computer -- will be automatically synchronized and updated between the two when they are connected. Newton Connection also includes a set of complementary Newton applications intended to let users create, view, and edit Newton information on a personal computer, even when the computer is not connected to a Newton. Newton Connection is planned to be available in the following versions for either Macintosh or PCs running Windows: The Newton Connection Kit, which backs up and restores information; and The Newton Connection Pro Kit, which gives complete file to file synchronization. The product allows creation of a "virtual Newton" on the desktop. Availability for Newton Connection products will be announced at a later date. Keeping in Control: The Newton MessagePad also includes a collection of capabilities that help people capture and organize an array of information in the way that suits them best. The system can capture and file notes, sketches and other details on file, ready for almost instant access. Built-in calendars, alarms, and reminders help people keep track of busy lifestyles. Its built-in address book holds hundreds of names and addresses. The MessagePad's advanced recognition architecture not only understands printed and cursive script, but also cleans up drawings and diagrams, making them easier to understand and communicate. Applications, Titles, Developer Support: More than 20 developers are announcing products for Newton MessagePad, including CE Software, Claris Corp., Fingertip, Great Plains, Integrated Systems, On Technology, Pastel and Pastel, Slate and Strategic Mapping. These products range from specialized realtor systems to titles for sports enthusiasts. Many more developers are in the process of creating innovative new applications for the system. In addition, Apple's PIE Publishing group, Starcore, announced six titles ranging from financial assistance to interactive city maps. (see associated releases). Licensing: From the beginning, Apple had signaled its intention to broadly license Newton technology. This activity has resulted in agreements with leading corporations around the world, including Sharp and Kyushu Matsushita Electric in Japan and Motorola in the United States. Siemens/ROLM will also be incorporating Newton technology in its forthcoming NotePhone product. For customers, it is anticipated that this licensing effort will mean that software, titles and accessories can be used across a variety of products from these and other corporations. Distribution and Availability: Initially the Newton MessagePad will be available in limited volume at Apple Computer resellers in Boston and New York. During the week of August 2 Newton MessagePad will also be sold at MacWorld Expo in Boston. By mid to late August, it is anticipated that the product will roll out across the United States, and will be available in more than 2,000 computer retailers and consumer electronic stores. Availability in some international markets will follow in September, with localized versions following through 1994. Pricing: There is no suggested retail pricing for the Newton MessagePad. Individual retailers will price the products according to their specific solutions offerings. However Apple expects the Newton MessagePad to be priced from $699 to $949, depending on configuration: -- Newton MessagePad with AC Adaptor -- Newton MessagePad Communications System (Newton MessagePad with AC Adaptor and External Modem) -- Newton MessagePad Professional Communications System (Newton MessagePad with AC Adaptor, External Modem and Newton Connection Pro) -- Apple Messaging Service: Formal pricing to be announced upon availability. -- Newton Messaging Card: pricing to be announced -- NewtonMail: pricing to be announced -- Newton Connection Kit: pricing to be announced -- Newton Connection Pro: pricing to be announced Apple, the Apple logo and Macintosh are registered trademarks, and Newton, MessagePad, Newton Connection and NotePhone are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Product Specifications for Newton MessagePad and Accessories: Newton MessagePad Hardware Architecture: -- ARM 610 processor at 20 MHz -- Apple custom system ASIC -- Low-power, reflective LCD display (336 x 240 pixels) -- Transparent tablet with passive pen -- 4MB of ROM -- 640K of RAM -- One PCMCIA type 2 card slot -- LocalTalk compatible serial port -- Low-power, half-duplex, infrared transceiver (9600 baud at 1 meter) Size and weight -- Height: 7.25 in. (184.75 mm) -- Width: 4.50 in. (114.3 mm) -- Depth: 0.75 in. (19.05 mm) -- Weight: 0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 93 08:23:32 -0400 From: Wayne Sung Subject: CT2 Phones in Hong Kong Last year when I was in Hong Kong I saw advertisements for a forthcoming CT2 phone system. This year the system is in use and both CSL (the landline phone company) and Hutchison (the alternate) have service offerings. I saw phones from Motorola and Casio. One other brand of phone had the service company's logo on them so I couldn't tell who made them. The Motorola unit is available with a base station which turns the phone into a cordless unit. There is a selector switch on the phone to allow choosing the base unit or the off-air system. I did not see base units offered with the other phones, but they also had the public/private selectors. Indeed one of the phones allowed two public and two private lines. Hutchison claims to have over 6000 cells operational, targeting over 7000 by year end. The cells cover small areas. Typically a restaurant or a club might have one cell, while a mall might have several. However, there is a note in the Motorola unit handbook which advises against movement once a call is established. The phones run on 3 AAA batteries or a rechargable pack. The antenna is retractable. When used with the base retracting the antenna causes a noticeable loss of range. In public use there is an extra twist - these phones are not able to receive incoming calls so it won't matter if the antenna is down (or the unit powered off for that matter). The companies have developed a system to effectively allow incoming calls. You buy a beeper as well as the phone, and someone trying to reach you calls a 'meet-me' number which activates your beeper. You then call into the 'meet-me' number to talk to the caller. The Motorola phone can be bought with the beeper mounted in the flip top. A phone costs a little less than $200 US. The beeper adds another $70 or so. The base goes for about $125. It seemed suspicious at first that the Motorola phone and the Casio phone are advertised at exactly the same price, but it turns out that these are promotional rates and you have to sign up to get these prices. Rates are about $25 US per month, with 100 free minutes included. There are other rates with more time included. Voice quality on the phones is quite good, perhaps better than my Tropez, even though it is supposed to be compressed (I don't know that for a fact). The store clerks were not able to tell me what frequency band these units worked in. However, I just saw a Northern Telecom article which mentioned the 860 MHz area for their CT2 offering, which is meant to be a wireless pbx application. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1993 21:30:44 EDT From: Ken Jongsma Reply-To: jongsma@swdev.si.com Subject: Zoom Hotshot (*67) Problem Based on recent discussion here, I went out and bought a Zoom Hotshot Dialer from the local Graybar office. It was less than $50 and was very straight forward to set up. I set it to send a *67 one second after hearing a dialtone the first time on every call and it works like a champ. The problem: the unit apparently interferes with my modem. Calls at 14.4 will no longer connect to any other site, including the Practical Peripherals BBS. Calls at 9600 or slower seem to be OK. Does anyone else have any experience with the Zoom? I'd hate to have to return it, as it makes for a seamless per-line blocker, but I have to be able to connect at 14.4. (Why I had to pay ~$50 for a feature that MiBell should provide free is whole 'nuther issue.) Kenneth R Jongsma jongsma@swdev.si.com Smiths Industries 73115.1041@compuserve.com Grand Rapids, Michigan +1 616 241 7702 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Aug 93 02:56:30 CST From: Jack.Winslade@axolotl.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Busy Signal Strangeness (was Re: Revisit ..) Reply-To: jack.winslade%drbbs@axolotl.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha > A while back, I wrote of getting a busy signal of high pitch and > different frequency mix (this is not the fast busy signal) than the > one I am accustomed to for the electronic exchanges. > On Saturday July 24, I had occasion to call a number in such an > exchange, and got that busy signal. The next day, I was at the > location of that number, and I went to that phone and dialed its own > number, and got the EXPECTED busy signal for that exchange. Years ago this possibly related anomaly happened to me a few times and I've never really understood why this was so. I would call a busy (real case of line busy) number and would get a couple busy-back tones from the far CO, with loud clicks at the onset of each tone which almost sounded like line reversal or supervision. The far end busy would then switch to a local busy (I did verify that it came from MY switch) and apparently free up the trunk. These were all LD calls through the old AT&T network back in the old days. I haven't noticed this since the breakup. The last time I remember it happening was the night of the NYC blackout in the late 70's. I phoned my brother who was on a #5 xbar. I was on a #1 ESS in downtown Omaha. His line WAS busy -- he verified that when I finally got through, but every few attempts would result in this switched busy signal. The call would progress normally. I could hear the hiss of the analog LD circuit followed by the reverberant 'clunk' at the far end office, followed by a couple bursts of the loud raucous BAW-BAW-BAW busy tone, then followed by a switch to the gentle tweet-tweet-tweet busy tone of the local ESS. The tone was more of a clickBAWclunk-clickBAWclunk click tweet-tweet-tweet. I'm assuming something existed to sense a heavy load on the trunks and to do this, but nobody, even friends at TPC could explain it. Anyone know for sure ?? Good day! JSW DRBBS, Omaha (1:285/666.0) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 93 10:03:22+080 From: yen@n0sun4.ccl.itri.org.tw (Yen-Wen Chen) Subject: How to Apply Reverse Battery Signalling to DID? Hi, Networker: For most telephone switches provide "Reverse Battery" signalling for supporting Direct Inward Dialing (DID) for using with PBX system. Is there any people can give me more detail information about how to apply "reverse battery" to DID? Thanks for your any information. Yen-Wen Chen | internet : yen@n0sun4.ccl.itri.org.tw ITRI/CCL | Tel : 886-35-917562 System Engineer | Fax : 886-35-820081 Address : N200, Bldg. 14, 195 Sec 4, Chung Hsing Rd., Chutung, Hsinchu, Taiwan 310, R.O.C. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 93 21:01 GMT From: Bruce Sullivan Subject: CIS Feedback Response You all no doubt recall the lengthy discussion originally titled "Is CIS blocking Internet?" wherein many theories were proffered as to why one could not send mail from CIS to MCI Mail (or vice versa) by way of the Internet. I attempted to extract an answer from CIS Customer Service (aka FEEDBACK). After exchanging mail with three different Reps -- none of whom seemded to understand the nature of my question (Is this just me?) AND uploading a portion of the discussion, here's the reply I received. > #: 121 S0/CompuServe Mail {MAIL} > 29-Jul-93 06:06 PDT > Sb: Feedback reply (Ref #0608) > Fm: CompuServe {70006,101} > There is no longer a surcharge to send mail to MCIMAIL, so this is a > mute point. > The reason that we can't send to MCIMAIL via the Internet is not a > restriction that we put in place but one that MCIMAIL is responsible > for. If you want to discuss the details about it, you will need to > contact them. > Thank you for using CompuServe Feedback, > Teemu ---------- I'm not sure if "mute point" simply means they don't want to talk about it or what ... ;-) I did send an email from CIS to MCI to verify, and this APPEARS be true, inasmuch as I did not see the usual message telling me how much it just cost me. I still find it hard to believe, however. I wonder who IS paying for it. On the MCI side, my contact there is digging up the formal policy. I emphasized that he do his Real Job first, however, so I'm not waiting with bated breath. Bruce ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1993 15:13:47 -0400 (EDT) From: BIBERMAN@zodiac.rutgers.edu Subject: Seeking Info on Singapore as Test Site For Telecommunications Hello, I am seeking articles or reports on the use of Singapore as a test or pilot site for new telecommunications devices. I would appreciate any references you might have. Please respond directly to me. Caren J. Biberman Rutgers, School of Communications, Information and Library Science ------------------------------ From: pat@dfv.rwth-aachen.de (Patrick Laschet) Subject: Octel Voicemail Organization: Communication Networks Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1993 07:49:39 GMT Hi, I am the administrator of an Octel Voicemail System and I have a problem with a mismatch of the number of installed mailboxes. Equipment: - For the mailbox administration we are using the Octel Data Module with the CSA application running on this platform. - The Voicemail System we are using is an Octel Sierra with 30000 mailboxes maximum capacity. - The Data Module and the Sierra are connected via a DPN 100 packet network from Northern Telecom. Problem: I run regular backups of the mailbox profiles in the Sierras with the CSA application on the Data Module. Since several weeks, with one Sierra there is a mismatch of numbers of mailboxes between the Sierra and what the Data Module makes a backup from. The Sierra shows the real number of mailboxes and the Data Module shows approximate 4500 less. If you have any ideas how to solve this problem or where the problem comes from please send me a e-mail. Best regards, Patrick Laschet (e-mail: pat@dfv.rwth-aachen.de) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #535 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25913; 4 Aug 93 22:56 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01315 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 19:58:50 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09371 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 19:58:13 -0500 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 19:58:13 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050058.AA09371@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #536 TELECOM Digest Wed, 4 Aug 93 19:57:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 536 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson PCPursuit Service Still Around? (Laird P. Broadfield) Shared Tenant Services? (Meg Arnold) Valid Card Declared Invalid? (Marshall Levin) Old Tariffs (Was: 1-800-COLLECT) (Paul Robinson) Push 1 to ... (Rupa Schomaker) Movie: In the Line of Fire (Jack Dominey) Tracking Incoming Calls (Karen Conyngham) Caller-ID Hardware (Clay Jackson) Solved: Local Carrier Blocking 10222 Direct Dial Intl. Calls (S. Lee) Security Features on Digital Cordless Phones (Mark Wilkins) Roam and $ave! (Larry Rachman) COCOT Sleaze Escalates One More Notch (Clive Dawson) AT&T is Testing 6 ghz Cellular in Boston (Dave Emery) Pay-Phone Wanted -- Where to Get? (Christopher Hudel) 800 Alternatives and Billing (Bruce Albrecht) MCI Proof-Positive (Christopher Zguris) Foreign Switches Need Reprogramming, Too (Carl Moore) Scams Related to Miss. River Floods (Carl Moore) Easily Re-Routable 800 Service? (Greg Broiles) Looking For Equivalent to Comp.Dcom.Snail-Mail (Peter Rukavina) Topological Network Design Problems (Brian Borchers) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lairdb@crash.cts.com (Laird P. Broadfield) Subject: PCPursuit Service Still Around? Date: 4 Aug 93 23:53:42 GMT I need to put somebody in touch with the old PCPursuit service (or something similar. He needs to establish a low width (1200 or 2400) link from NY to L.A. that needs to be open all through business hours five days a week.) If anybody has contact info for them (if they're still around) or alternative suggestions, lay 'em on me. Thanks! Laird P. Broadfield lairdb@crash.cts.com ...{ucsd, nosc}!crash!lairdb [Moderator's Note: PC Pursuit is still around, and operated by Sprint over in (I think) Reston, VA. Try 1-800-TELENET but I am not certain. I do not think however PC Pursuit is designed for quite the application your associate has in mind. PAT] ------------------------------ From: meg_arnold@qm.sri.com (Meg Arnold) Subject: Shared Tenant Services? Date: 4 Aug 1993 18:36:22 GMT Organization: SRI International Hi All -- I am looking for information about the status of the shared tenant services market, or sources of this information. Seven to ten years ago, this market was supposed to just take off with explosive growth, and since then nothing spectacular has happened. Does anyone know the reasons for the performance failure of this market, its status today, and future prospects? Source material appreciated. Thanks! Meg Arnold SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-859-3764 meg_arnold@qm.sri.com ------------------------------ From: mlevin@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshall Levin) Subject: Valid Card Declared Invalid? Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci. Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 03:09:21 GMT Just to test if it would work, from a payphone I dialed 10222-0-xxx-xxx-xxxx, waited for the "MCI bong" and then dialed my card number. It asked me to dial a valid card number (my card is valid :) Then I dialed 1-800-674-7000, waited for the tone, dialed my card number, waited for the tone, dialed xxx-xxx-xxxx and it did work. Obviously the card is valid -- why did this problem occur, and why does the recrording declare a valid card invalid? Thanks, [Moderator's Note: Because cards other than AT&T or local telco have to be dialed via their 950 or 1-800 gateway rather than through their 10xxx gateway. Stuff going through 10xxx is checked or validated by the local telco I think. Did you try MCI's 800 or 950 number and get the same results? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 09:28:54 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Old Tariffs (Was: 1-800-COLLECT) From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Dave Niebuhr , writes: > The only really useful pieces of information were two glossy > sheets that contained the AT&T Tariffs filed October 1, 1890. ^^^^ > I wish that the printing was more legible so that I could > translate it and possibly send it to the archives :-(. I think the archives are the only place useful for 103-year-old tariff schedules. :) Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ From: rupa@sugar.NeoSoft.Com (Rupa Schomaker) Subject: Push 1 to ... Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 14:03:51 GMT I'm looking for a `voice mail' type system which would interface with some sort of database. The system would be used for members of a club to book the facilities. The member would call in, enter a membership ID, and then traverse a menu listing dates/times which are still available. The member could then reserve a time slot for usage of the facility. Since the member would be reserving time, the database of available time slots would have to be updated after every call. Is there a such a system which is commercially available that can do this? Ease of programming would be nice. Thank you. ------------------------------ From: jdominey@nesca.attmail.com (jdominey ) Date: 4 Aug 93 13:35:41 GMT Subject: Movie: In the Line of Fire The new Clint Eastwood thriller, _In the Line of Fire_, is about a Secret Service agent trying to thwart an assassin who plans to kill the President. The most dramatic non-action sequences are when the assassin and agent are on the phone. A necessary premise is that the killer can call and talk for a while without being traced because he can "fake the ANI". This doesn't actually prevent the trace; it seems to just slow it down. There's no implication that telco is involved in the trace; the Secret Service experts apparently do it all themselves. After reading this Digest for a couple of years, I'm kind of skeptical of these ideas. It would have made sense to me if the assassin had been calling through 1-900-STOPPER (though it would have taken too much explanation to the telecom-illiterate), but what do you other readers think? Is there reason to believe that any end-user device could spoof ANI? Could a government agency run a trace without telco assistance? (Let's exclude speculations about the NSA, since we all know they're magic and can do anything. ;-) Jack Dominey AT&T Network Planning, Atlanta GA (404) 810-6936 dominey@attmail.com ------------------------------ From: karenc@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Karen Conyngham) Subject: Tracking Incoming Calls Organization: Motorola SPS, Austin, TX Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 15:03:57 GMT Please respond directly to: brendaz@tenet.edu I work for a social service agency and we cannot answer all the calls we receive. As a result, even though we put many people on hold, we still have a number of abandoned calls. We can install a 1-800 line or an Automatic Call Director, but we do not feel that either of these are palatable options. We need a method of tracking the number of calls to a particular number, versus the the number of calls that get answered. We do not want our legislators calling in to an Automatic Call Director. If anyone out there knows of a system or method to perform this tracking, or has any other thoughts on how to solve this problem, please respond to: brendaz@tenet.edu. Thank you in advance! ------------------------------ From: cjackso@uswnvg.com (Clay Jackson) Subject: Caller-ID Hardware Date: 4 Aug 93 17:45:32 GMT Well, we're finally getting Caller ID here in 206-land, and I'm looking for the caller-id hardware to go with it. Ideally, what I'd like to find would be a box that I can hang off a serial port on a PC that would read the caller-id from the incoming call, hand it to the serial port, and receive back a "disposition" code (ring now, pass to voicemail/ answering machine/hang up/time out). Knowing that I probably won't find such a beast, what ARE my options? Thanks in advance -- if folks want to email me, I'll summarize and repost responses. Clay Jackson - N7QNM uunet!uswnvg!cjackso ------------------------------ From: Seng-Poh Lee Subject: Solved: Local Carrier Blocking 10222 Direct Dial Intl Calls Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 14:20:13 -0400 (EDT) Seng-Poh Lee, Speedy (splee@pd.org) wrote: > Although AT&T is my dial 1 carrier, I subscribe to MCI's Friends Around > The World Plan (FATW). So, when I direct dial international calls, I use > 10222-011-country code-area code-number > Recently, when I tried to make a call, after dialing the number, I got > a 'bong', followed by 'MCI', after which the operator came on. I said Well, for those who are interested, the problem is finally solved. After three trouble tickets, three customer service reps, two supervisors, and some accounts specialist. And it was not my LEC's fault, but MCI. Turns out that someone at MCI had accidentally programmed my number/account for call accounting. I guess MCI has this program for managing call accounting off a single phone number. Each user uses a two digit account code which they enter AFTER dialing the called number. Without this number, the system doesn't know which account to charge to, and defaults to a calling card/operator assisted call. Apparently, someone had a line on this yesterday, and was told that it should have been fixed. However, this morning, when he called me, I tried it again (three way, with him on the line), and it STILL didn't work. How embarrasing. But this afternoon, I received a call from someone who works in that call accounting area, and she wanted me to try it again, but to try dialing in an extra two digits. I guess this was her way of checking whether my number had that feature (?) enabled. As it turned out, it now worked without those digits. The fix was implemented yesterday, but it took until this afternoon for it to be propagated/downloaded to the entire network. So, like most people here realize, you CAN talk to people who know what they are doing, but its tough to get to them. The number of times I've had to say "Yes, I DID dial 011" or "Yes, my phone does send out DTMF 1 correctly"! Seng-Poh Lee ------------------------------ From: Mark Wilkins Subject: Security Features on Digital Cordless Phones Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 16:39:19 GMT Last night I purchased a VTech Tropez 900DL 900 MHz digital cordless phone, and the manual went on at length about the fact that the phone encrypts transmitted data. Apparently the key is 16 bits and is changed pseudo-randomly every time the handset is replaced in the base unit. My question is whether anyone has any ideas or maybe entertaining speculation about how the digitized voice data is encrypted? By the way, these 900 MHz digital phones are absolutely wonderful in terms of clarity and range ... the sound quality is good, not outstanding, but it doesn't change when you reorient the antenna or walk into another room. Mark Wilkins SRI International ------------------------------ Date: 04 Aug 93 14:37:03 EDT From: Larry Rachman <74066.2004@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Roam and $ave! Not too long ago our local Cellular service provider decided that light usage customer should have a minumum usage charge of 15 minutes added to their bills, whether they use it or not. That pushes my bill up to about $35 per month before I make a call. About half my light usage is roaming, which (of course) doesn't count as part of the 15 minutes. This got me thinking. Why not get my service from someone other than the local provider? Since 99% of my calls are outgoing, I wouldn't miss having a local number, and my gut feeling is that the roamer service charge versus the potential savings of using another carrier would be at worst a wash. Once I get some rate information, I can look at my last few bills and decide for sure. I'm looking for two things from the comp.dcom.telecom crowd: First, what do you think of the idea? Will the service provider get antsy when it notices that I'm *always* roaming? Any logistical problems in getting the number/billing set up (I know the recipe for reprogramming my phone, but I suspect they won't casually assign the number to me.) Second, who should I go to for service? If your carrier seems to offer a decent 'light usage' plan, could you please email me the particulars (ie. base rate, and peak + off-peak rates. I could also use a phone number for customer service, and the full name and location for the company. Thanks, Larry Rachman, WA2BUX 74066.2004@compuserve.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 14:26:04 CDT From: Clive Dawson Subject: COCOT Sleaze Escalates One More Notch Every time I think I've heard all the possible tricks COCOT operators use to prevent you from using your preferred LD service, up comes another one. This latest incident happened a few days ago at a Mr. Gatti's Pizza restaurant in Austin, Texas. The COCOT was labled as being run by Austin PayFones, using USLD (U.S. Long Distance). I dialed 10-288-0-nnn-xxx-xxxx. Then I heard something like: "Save half the price of your call by using coins! Hang up now and dial 1 plus!". Then the phone went "dead", i.e. no hint of background hiss. I had never heard anything like this before, and my first reaction was to start looking at the phone label to get the complaint number. Almost TEN seconds went by. I was about to hang up Then I heard a faint hiss, followed by "BOING ... AT&T!". I suppose the regulation simply states that COCOTs have to give you access to your LD carrier, but doesn't limit how long they can make you wait for it, or whether they can try to make you change your mind while you wait. Amazing ... Clive Dawson MCC Austin, TX [Moderator's Note: What is the big deal about waiting ten seconds? The phone had to draw dialtone, dial your number, and then wait for AT&T to answer. Ten seconds (less the time spent dialing) is only about two rings. I agree, I've never heard of them making an advertising spiel in the middle of it though. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: AT&T is Testing 6 ghz Cellular in Boston Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 16:36:30 EDT From: jjmhome!pig!die@transfer.stratus.com (Dave Emery) AT&T apparently has a 6 ghz cellular personal communications system under test in the Boston metropolitan area. About a year ago they put up a strange new tower along route 128 on Bear Hill in Waltham Mass, at a former TD-2 4 ghz microwave site once used as a video spur route for relaying the broadcast TV networks into Boston; the site is located on a hill that overlooks much of the Boston skyline and the western suburbs of Boston. Today I was able to find out that the tower, and a similar one in Boston itself, are being used as part of an alpha test of a 6 ghz hand held personal communications system by Bell Labs. The 300 foot tall tower has a platform at the top with 9 rectangular antennas arranged in a semicircle to provide 180 degree coverage pointed in an arc facing east toward Boston and route 128 to the north and south. Each antenna seems to be intended to serve about 20 degrees of azimuth, and seems to be pointed downward at about -10 degrees or so elevation. Each of the antennas is fed with 6 ghz circular waveguide with an apparent transition to rectangular guides at the base of the tower. The antennas themselves appear to be about 4 feet wide by perhaps 12 feet tall and to consist of a thin slice of a parabola oriented in the vertical plane with a multihorn feed in front. This would suggest a fairly broad pattern in azimuth (perhaps as much as 20 degrees) with an electronically steered beam in elevation. The tower has a single 10 foot dish pointed at the horizon north toward the North Andover Bell Labs (one of the primary Bell Labs microwave equipment development facilities) test facility about 20 miles to the north of Bear Hill. And while the west facing 4 ghz dishes have been removed, the 4 ghz dishes facing east toward Boston have not, suggesting that the 4 ghz link may be in use to connect to the Boston 6 ghz site. I am told that the tower is being used to communicate with hand held transceivers (cellphones) at 6 ghz and that each antenna is supported by one "transmitter". This would imply some sort of spot beam TDMA system with each transciever getting bursts at its elevation and 20 degree azimuth slot. Apparently the system is in use by lab staffers and works well enough to be tested more extensively. I was not able to find out if the 6 ghz signals penatrated buildings at all or how the multipath issues have been dealt with or what exactly the bit rate or other modulation characterstics are. But it does appear that AT&T 6 ghz PCS systems are real enough for such a test bed to be built. It will certainly be interesting to look at what is coming out of the antennas on a spectrum analyzer. David I. Emery - N1PRE - Lexington Mass. Former senior technical consultant (and currently hopeless unemployed bum) Internet: jjmhome!pig!die@transfer.stratus.com (preferred) or die@world.std.com UUCP: ...uunet!stratus.com!jjmhome!pig!die Phone + fax: 1+(617)-863-9986 ------------------------------ From: Christopher Hudel Subject: Pay-Phone Wanted -- Where to Get? Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 16:08:37 -0500 (EDT) I'd like to put one of those old (or not so old) pay-phones in my apartment as a "novelty" item and wonder if anybody knows where I can pick one up and approximately how much I should expect to pay. I'm aware of pay-phones available from "Hello Direct" etc ... but these all seem to be "hotel" pay-phones and not the big, old, clunky pay-phone boxes that I really want. ;-) Thanks! Christopher Hudel hudel@waterloo.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 09:58:29 CST From: bruce@zuhause.MN.ORG (Bruce Albrecht) Subject: 800 Alternatives and Billing Back in my youth, some friends of mine somehow discovered that a 800 number for our school's timesharing system could be dialed as a local call with some prefix and the last four digits of the 800 number. We found it amusing, and would occasionally dial the local number. Do modern phone systems still tie a local phone number with the 800, or is that now done special so that it is not possible to call the 800 number without going through LD? Also, when we called the local number, was anything billed back to the 800 user? bruce@zuhause.mn.org [Moderator's Note: When you did that, the 800 user got billed for the call and you got billed as well (or made a 'free local call' but still caused the 800 number to get charged. Now days, many 800 numbers are just set to ring a regular seven digit number, but there are still a few cases around where the 800 number is on a dedicated pair to the customer premises in which case many of them are dialable if you know the number assigned for the purpose. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 00:27 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: MCI Proof-Positive I spoke to an MCI rep today who said their PROOF POSITVE program was in effect. Didn't I read in a recent message that MCI has been trying and failing to make PROOF POSITIVE available? Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 15:59:25 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Foreign Switches Need Reprogramming, Too To repeat in this Digest, given the coming of NNX area codes in 1995: foreign switches, not just domestic ones, have to be programmed to accept new area codes. Foreign switches do "know" about country code 1, but according to this Digest, they also have to know the area codes within it, because they have to start making routing decisions at their end. In an analogous situation, some foreign post offices start breaking down mail intended for the U.S. Back in 1980, I worked in the postal service and noticed a Dutch slip saying "Delaware", meaning the state, and accompanying it was a letter going to Delaware, Ohio. So that letter had to be sent from (state of) Delaware through Columbus, Ohio. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 18:33:28 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Scams Related to Miss. River Floods This just in from KYW news-radio in Philadelphia: There are some scam artists around who are trying to solicit contributions for the flood victims. There have requested credit-card numbers and/or offered to send a courier to pick up contributions. People who receive such solicitation are advised to call their local prosecutor. (KYW did not say this, but I heard -- unrelated to these floods -- that you should not give out your credit card number in a call you did not originate.) I guess someone is to say something about scams involving the victims themselves? ------------------------------ Subject: Easily Re-Routable 800 Service? From: greg@ideath.goldenbear.com (Greg Broiles) Date: Wed, 04 Aug 93 16:24:44 PDT Organization: iDeath / Golden Bear Consulting Greetings. I am looking for a vendor who offers inbound 800 service that can be easily (via touch-tone, for example) routed to different terminating numbers by the end user (e.g., me.) I realize that most/all 800 numbers can be re-routed; but the folks that I've talked to (AT&T, Sprint, MCI, and Pat) all want me to call and talk to a human before changing the destination phone number, which makes me think that it'd be a hassle if I wanted to do it with any frequency or at peculiar times (nights, weekends, whatever.) Is anyone familiar with a service like this? Greg Broiles greg@goldenbear.com Golden Bear Computer Consulting +1 503 465 0325 Box 12005 Eugene OR 97440 BBS: +1 503 687 7764 [Moderator's Note: So far as I know, Cable and Wireless is the only provider of 800 numbers *for small time users* who offers remote call forwarding capability. If you are talking BIG $$ traffic, then AT&T has ways to route 800 numbers by time of day, day of week, etc. For casual use, switching it around where you want to go when you want to go, C&W is probably your best choice -- maybe the only one. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 11:34:33 -0300 From: caprukav@atlas.cs.upei.ca (Peter Rukavina) Subject: Looking For Equivalent to Comp.Dcom.Snail-Mail I am looking for information/conversation in the style of comp.dcom.telecom but related to the world of 'snail mail' -- postal systems of the world, inter-country mail protocols, postal rates, etc. Not interested in stamp collecting or other related hobbies. Does such a newsgroup/mailing list/info server exist somewhere on the net? Thanks, Peter Rukavina -- pete@crafts-council.pe.ca ------------------------------ From: borchers@prism.nmt.edu (Brian Borchers) Subject: Topological Network Design Problems Organization: New Mexico Tech Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 18:04:58 GMT A student here is interested in research on algorithms for topological network design problems. He's looking for sample network design problems, especially problems that may have been solved by other researchers. We'd also be interested in technical reports, bibliographies, etc. that might be available on the net. Brian Borchers borchers@nmt.edu Department of Mathematics 505-835-5813 New Mexico Tech Socorro, NM 87801 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #536 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa26665; 4 Aug 93 23:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04927 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 20:54:42 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA03818 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 20:54:06 -0500 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 20:54:06 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050154.AA03818@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #537 TELECOM Digest Wed, 4 Aug 93 20:54:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 537 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telecommunications - How Many Features... (John Anderson) French ISDN Report Now Available (Jean-Bernard Condat) How Does One Get Tariffs on the Cheap? (Cam Elliott) Central Office Tours? (Scott McClure) Experiences With Phone Companies (Shishir Kumar Khetan) How is Hangup Detected? (Dan Reiner) How to Change Pager Alert Sound? (Dan Reiner) Telecommunications Seminars (Randy Gellens) 6 ghz Cellular is Under Test in Boston (David Emery via Danny Burstein) Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible (Danny Burstein) Hunting and Anonymous Call Rejection (kai@mindvox.phantom.com) T1 Test Equipment For Delay (Claire E. Yates) OSI Stack Question (Yu Shen) ETSI Address Needed (Steve Elias) Need a Telecom Mentor (Mark Edwards) Cordless Headset Telephone (Greg Economides) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 15:58:32 CDT From: andrsonj@blue.rtsg.mot.com (John Anderson) Subject: Telecommunications - How Many Features ... August's {IEEE Computer Magazine} is entitled " Telecommunications - How Many Features Can You Add ?". It's dedicated to the feature interaction problem found in switches. The addition of new features take a long time because new/existing features often interact in ways not originally thought of by designers. For those of you that haven't had the fortune (misfortune :-) of working on switching software (or any large embedded systems for that matter), this may provide some insight into the complex nature of software development for switches. It may also add some insight into the "When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching?" debate. Enjoy, John ------------------------------ From: cccf@email.teaser.com (Jean-Bernard Condat) Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 17:45:11 GMT Subject: French ISDN Report Now Available The 1993 edition of France Telecom's "Repertoire Numeris" is now available. This is a complete report on the status of ISDN in France, including services being offered, tariffs, suppliers, and applications. Although in France, it is easily understood by anyone with a little knowledge of French and ISDN :-) Price is FF 390. For further information and for copies, contact France Telecom Expertel, CMK/MVP, "Repertoire Numeris," 251 rue des Jeuneurs, 75002 Paris, France. Fax: +33 1 40398995. Jean-Bernard Condat General Secretary Chaos Computer Club France, B.P. 155, 93404 St-Ouen Cedex, France Private Address: P.O. 8005, 69351 Lyon Cedex 08, France Phone: +33 1 40101764, Fax: +33 1 47877070 InterNet: cccf@altern.com or cccf@email.teaser.com ***For a free subscription to _Chaos Digest_, send a message to: linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi with a mail header or first line containing the following information: X-Mn-Admin: join CHAOS_DIGEST and you will put freely on the ChaosD mailing list. Don't hesitate! ** ------------------------------ From: cam@claircom.com (Cam Elliott) Subject: How Does One Get Tariffs on the Cheap? Organization: Claircom Communications, L.P. Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 18:45:22 GMT I am interested in researching all the data networking options available from my RBOC and I was wondering if there is a way to find all the tariffs cheaply. Thanks, cam@claircom.com [Moderator's Note: The tariffs go on and on for page after page ... I don't think you really want *all* the tariffs ... but even if you do, getting them cheap will still cost a bundle because there are so many of them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: scott@ryptyde.nix.com (Scott McClure) Subject: Central Office Tours? Organization: NIX - The Network Information eXchange Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 18:54:54 GMT Hi all, I called PacBell today to see if they still gave tours of CO's. After bouncing around several different offices, the response was "oh, we don't give tours anymore." When did this start (or stop, in this case)? Is this normal for telcos these days, just PacBell, or just PacBell here in San Diego? Scott INTERNET: scott@nix.com Non-MX: ryptyde!scott@nosc.mil UUCP: {crash, nosc}!ryptyde!scott ------------------------------ From: mcskk@wam.umd.edu (Shishir Kumar Khetan) Subject: Experiences With Phone Companies Date: 4 Aug 1993 18:01:30 GMT Organization: University of Maryland College Park Hi, my name is Shishir Khetan and I am doing a research project for school on telecommunications, more specifically, on comparing various phone companies I will be looking at their rates as well as problems and conveniences both international and nationally. If you could mail me your experiences, I would really appreciate it! My address is mcskk@wam.umd.edu Thank in advance!! ------------------------------ From: dbr@world.std.com (Dan Reiner) Subject: How is Hangup Detected? Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 14:13:08 GMT How do devices like answering machines detect a caller's hang-up? Aside from curiosity, I'm asking because my Panasonic answerer recently stopped disconnecting promptly when the caller hung up, and now it waits for VOX time-out before it resets. I don't want to waste bandwidth with clues to my specific problem, but a general explanation of the signalling or sensing process might be enlightening to many readers here. Thanks, Dan ------------------------------ From: dbr@world.std.com (Dan Reiner) Subject: How to Change Pager Alert Sound? Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 14:11:56 GMT My Motorola Bravo-plus pager signals an incoming page with a loud, annoying "short-long, short-long" beep. Other same-make/model pagers, from a different paging service, signal a page with the brief double-beep that mine makes on power-up. I own my pager. Can I change its beep style by moving a jumper or something like that? Or is this in firmware? The paging service declines to get involved. Any do-it-yourself info would be appreciated. ------------------------------ From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 04 AUG 93 17:22 Subject: Telecommunications Seminars This was posted in an internal news group: SEMINARS OPEN FOR REGISTRATION ... The Unisys International Management Centre (UIMC Saint-Paul, France) is accepting registrations for two executive seminars. "Telecommunications -- Operational Needs and the Role of IT Suppliers in the Late 90s" is a Unisys ... seminar scheduled for September 8-10, 1993. The seminar is targeted at senior management from telecommunications operating companies. [Invitations are available from Unisys representatives.] The seminar will address trends, such as the requirement for new marketing and customer servicing systems; and network managers seeking tailor-made network solutions. The seminar will also seek to provide answers to questions such as: * Will the telecommunications operators seek to buy in from a single prime contractor? * Is the era of the large in-house army of systems designers and coders over? * Is the role of the Systems Integrator/Prime Contractor going to be the future role for the traditional information technology vendors? * How will emergent pan-European consortia Telcos formed out of alliances tackle this new era of information technology supply? "Geographical Information Systems in Action" is a Unisys GIS seminar to be held September 27 through 29 at the UIMC. Considerable experience now exists in Europe and elsewhere of planning, acquiring and implementing, managing and using GIS technology. This seminar brings together speakers from across Europe who have been actively involved in some of these projects. The speakers will describe the plans which they had and the current status of their projects. The seminar is aimed at executives from those organizations where GIS technology is a future plan and who wish to benefit from the experiences of those who have preceded them in the adoption of GIS. Detailed information about the programs are available [by contacting Unisys]. ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: 6 ghz Cellular is Under Test in Boston Date: 4 Aug 1993 00:42:39 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC [Moderator's Note: Danny passed this along from other newsgroups where it appeared recently, as written by David Emery. PAT] AT&T apparently has a 6 ghz cellular personal communications system under test in the Boston metropolitan area. About a year ago they put up a strange new tower along route 128 on Bear Hill in Waltham Mass, at a former TD-2 4 ghz microwave site once used as a video spur route for relaying the broadcast TV networks into Boston; the site is located on a hill that overlooks much of the Boston skyline and the western suburbs of Boston. Today I was able to find out that the tower, and a similar one in Boston itself, are being used as part of an alpha test of a 6 ghz hand held personal communications system by Bell Labs. Boston is apparently the first site in the country in which this system is being tested. The 300 foot tall tower has a platform at the top with 9 rectangular antennas arranged in a semicircle to provide 180 degree coverage pointed in an arc facing east toward Boston and route 128 to the north and south. Each antenna seems to be intended to serve about 20 degrees of azimuth, and seems to be pointed downward at about -10 degrees or so elevation. Each of the antennas is fed with 6 ghz circular waveguide with an apparent transition to rectangular guides at the base of the tower. The antennas themselves appear to be about 4 feet wide by perhaps 12 feet tall and to consist of a thin slice of a parabola oriented in the vertical plane with a multihorn feed in front. This would suggest a fairly broad pattern in azimuth (perhaps as much as 20 degrees) with an electronically steered beam in elevation. The tower has a single 10 foot dish pointed at the horizon north toward the North Andover Bell Labs (one of the primary Bell Labs microwave equipment development facilities) test facility about 20 miles to the north of Bear Hill. And while the west facing 4 ghz dishes have been removed, the 4 ghz dishes facing east toward Boston have not, suggesting that the 4 ghz link may be in use to connect to the Boston 6 ghz site. I am told that the tower is being used to communicate with hand held transceivers (cellphones) at 6 ghz and that each antenna is supported by one "transmitter". This would imply some sort of spot beam TDMA system with each transciever getting bursts at its elevation and 20 degree azimuth slot. Apparently the system is in use by lab staffers and works well enough to be tested more extensively. I was not able to find out if the 6 ghz signals penatrated buildings at all or how the multipath issues have been dealt with or what exactly the bit rate or other modulation characterstics are. But it does appear that AT&T 6 ghz PCS systems are real enough for such a test bed to be built. It will certainly be interesting to look at what is coming out of the antennas on a spectrum analyzer. And looking in time domain mode may also be interesting as it should be possible to see the beam step from transceiver to transceiver. David I. Emery - N1PRE - Lexington Mass. Former senior technical consultant (and currently hopeless unemployed bum) Internet: jjmhome!pig!die@transfer.stratus.com (preferred) or die@world.std.com UUCP: ...uunet!stratus.com!jjmhome!pig!die Phone + fax: 1+(617)-863-9986 ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible Date: 4 Aug 1993 00:54:02 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Every so often we see stories about proposals for extra taxes and fees for sending fax/modem data over "voice" phone lines. Just as a side note: Technically, it -is- possible for the telcos (at least the IXCs, and probaly the LECs as well) to differentiate between voice and data calls. And yes, they do it. How do I know? Our company has an MCI account (don't know the specific name) which groups together lots of different location phone lines. WHen we get the bill each month, each call is coded with things like "dfx" or "ifx", standing for domestic fax call and international fax call. (Afraid I don't remember the coding for voice) So yes, they can, and do, make the distinction. Take care, dannyb@panix.com ------------------------------ Subject: Hunting and Anonymous Call Rejection From: kai@mindvox.phantom.com (Kai) Date: Wed, 04 Aug 93 17:07:53 EDT Organization: [Phantom Access] / the MindVox system Dear readers of the Telecom Digest, I have a problem with the combination of anonymous call rejection and hunting (rollover) on my phone service. I have discussed the problem with a repair supervisor of C&P in northern VA already, after the 'front-desk' (611 repairs) didn't have any clue what 'anonymous call rejection' is, but I am left unsure whether the whole problem is of a sensible technical nature or rather a we-want-more-revenue thing. My phone service consists of two lines: Line 1 : modem/fax use mostly, no caller id Line 2 : voice ,caller id, anonymous call rejection feature available Both lines are on the same NT DMS100 switch. Both lines have hunting (rollover) to each other. Problem description: Whenever someone calls me on line 1 (which is assumed to be busy) ,he gets transferred to line 2 (if not busy), and that person's number is shown on my caller id (or it shows 'private', when he has number blocking on), even though I don't have caller id on (the originally dialed) line 1 . Now, when I put anonymous call rejection on line 2, the whole rollover seems not to work properly. Whoever calls line 1 with his number NOT blocked (e.g. = normal) gets through to line 2 (assuming it's not busy), BUT: when that person has his number blocked (*67, almost everywhere), he gets a busy signal when dialing line 1 even when line 2 is NOT USED. The way the repair supervisor explained it to me was: because I don't have that service (anonymous call rejection) on line 1, the caller gets a busy. He wouldn't if I add anonymous call rejection to line 1, then he'd get the recording that this number won't take blocked calls. (you have to PAY to have anonymous call rejection for a line that doesn't have caller id, which I didn't want to do.) What I understood was: the switch finds line 1 busy, hunts to line 2, finds that one 'not available, because the CND is blocked', but instead of giving the recording 'no blocked calls', it assumes 'both lines not available -> give busy signal. Could someone shed some light on what is happening here? What if there is an 'out of area' call coming in on line 1, will it hunt through to line 2? (I assume yes.) Why isn't the bahaviour of the switch software like this: 1.) Anonymous call comes in on line 1, hunts through to line 2, line 2 has anonymous call rejection and gives the caller the 'no blocked numbers' recording OR: 2.) The call is hunting through to line 2, and shows the 'private' flag on the caller id. Behavior 1 would be the most logical (I assumed it,before finding out), while behaviour 2 is the most convenient/customer/caller-friendly. The supervisor mentioned some "state regulations" about "if you don't have that service (anonymous call rejection) on line 1, and you won't get around it by having it hunt to another line, where the service is in place" which sounds like total crap to me, as they always pass through the CND information from line 1 to line 2, even if I don't have caller id on line 1. (Or are they giving me something for free????) Please answer in the Digest, because I assume a broad interest,and cc: it to me via email, as my daily 'volume' is so high, I am not getting to read it all. Bye, Kai [Moderator's Note: Why in the world would you have your service configured the way you do with the line most likely to receive calls (line one) NOT equipped for the features you deem desirable? Why do you have your modem and fax calls on line one where they can roll over to (no equipment in place) on line two instead of the other way around? Here in IBT territory it appears that in the CO the decision to screen calls is made *ahead* of the decision to hunt to an idle line in a hunt group. If you are only willing to pay for one caller id equipped line with anonymous call rejection, then let it be the first one since the blocking feature will do its work before the CO passes the call to your second line. You will get the benefit of call screening/blocking on both lines that way. Of course if the caller dials direct to your second line then this won't work, but if you direct all voice calls to your first line, allowing overflows to reach line two *without actually giving out that number to anyone* and you have your modem/fax deliberatly dialed via line two, you should find things to work okay. You'll catch all your voice calls via blocking and screening, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: telenet!cyates@uunet.UU.NET Subject: T1 Test Equipment For Delay Date: 4 Aug 93 17:00:03 GMT I'm looking for some test equipment that could simulate propogation delays on T1 lines. (Actually, I'm interested in T1 for now, but T3 in the near future). Basically I guess I'd like a box that could store data for a configurable period of time (msec-second range) and then retransmit it as though it had just suffered a long propagation delay. I think I may have heard of such a thing (it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to do, memory is cheap). Is anyone familiar with such a product? Email me direct or respond to the newsgroup. I'll summarize e-mail responses here if I get any responses, and if anyone is interested. Thanks, Claire E. Yates Alcatel Data Networks aries!cyates@telenet.com (sun) Reston, VA uunet!sprintintl.sprint.com!claire.e.yates (smail) (703) 689-7796 telenet!cyates@uunet.uu.net (from sprintnet) ------------------------------ From: shen@nil.iro.umontreal.ca (Yu Shen) Subject: OSI Stack Questions Organization: Universite de Montreal -- Laboratoire Incognito Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 22:47:32 GMT I would like to know if there is any product available of OSI stack for various layers: layer 7: X.217, X.227 ACSE layer 6: X.216, X.226 layer 5: X.215, X.225 layer 4: CLNS lyaer 3: CLNP layer 2: LAPD Thank you for your help, Yu Shen Dept. d'Informatique et Recherche Operationnelle University de Montreal, C.P. 6128 Succ. A. Montreal, Que. Canada, H3C 3J7 (514) 342-7089 (H) shen@IRO.UMontreal.Ca ------------------------------ From: elias@mvax.uakom.sk Reply-To: elias@uakom.sk Subject: ETSI Address Needed Date: 4 Aug 93 17:41:05 +0100 Organization: Institute of Automation and Communication Hi, Do you know if ETSI - European Telecommunication Standart Institute is on Internet ? Thanks, elias@uakom.sk ------------------------------ From: markedwa@news.delphi.com (MARKEDWARDS@DELPHI.COM) Subject: Need a Telecom Mentor Date: 4 Aug 1993 20:38:35 -0400 Organization: General Videotex Corporation I have been a computer and telecomm nut for over 15 years, and am presently working on an Information Systems degree at the University of Texas at Arlington. I hope to specialize in telecommunications, but don't know where to start to work on my "informal" education in telecomm (so I'll be educated in the areas that school misses). I have some understanding of the OSI model and very little of TCP/IP. Anybody care to point me in the right direction(s) so I can pursue what I love the most? Uh, make that the second most favorite . MarkEdwards@Delphi.Com ------------------------------ From: greg@carnivore.tamu.edu (Greg Economides) Subject: Cordless Headset Telephone Date: 4 Aug 1993 20:43:18 GMT Organization: Center for Biosystems Modelling, Texas A&M University A few months ago I received a catalog from _some_ company which was filled with various kinds of telephones and telephone accessories. There was some pretty cool stuff in it. Well, I tossed the catalog, figuring that I had all that I needed and wanted of this kind of stuff. One of the items in the catalog was a headset telephone with a wireless link between the base unit (which physically connects to the phone line) and the headset. I, now, find myself needing to buy one of these ... oops. Does anyone know where to find a cordless headset telephone? or what company it might have been (who specializes in phones) that sent me that catalog? All of my attempts to find a phone like this locally have come up with nil. I'd appreciate any help you folks have to offer. Peace, Greg Economides, Systems Administrator, Center for Biosystems Modelling Texas A&M University WERC 214-O Internet: econ@tamu.edu, Phone:(409)845-9574 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #537 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa00123; 5 Aug 93 1:23 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15198 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 21:53:23 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00349 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 21:52:47 -0500 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 21:52:47 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050252.AA00349@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #538 TELECOM Digest Wed, 4 Aug 93 21:52:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 538 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Is This Legal? (Atri Indiresan) Re: Is This Legal? (Gang Zhou) Re: Is This Legal? (Alan Boritz) Re: Who/What Determines Caller-ID? (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Who/What Determines Caller-ID? (Tim Gorman) Re: Princess Phone Keychains From 60's (David Breneman) Re: Princess Phone Keychains From 60's (Steven H. Lichter) Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal (Ethan Miller) Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal (Craig Nordin) Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal (John J. Butz) Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal (Gary W. Sanders) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: atri@eecs.umich.edu (Atri Indiresan) Subject: Re: Is This Legal? Date: 4 Aug 93 13:12:37 Organization: University of Michigan In article Bonnie J Johnson writes: > Most higher education institutions (at least in our case in 1985) > break away from the local operating company and "do it ourselves" > because we can run our own phone company's at a lower rate, save money > (funds to be used for upgrades to telecommunications and newer > technologies) and pass some savings on to our customers, i.e., > Faculty, Staff and Students. The U. of Michigan Telecom (UMTEL) has operated all campus phones since 1984 (offices, dorms, family housing). This is part of the lease conditions for university housing. They buy long distance calling in bulk from the major carriers at a discount, and pass on some of the savings to the users. The service is reasonably good, with 24 hour operator assistance, voice mail, call waiting etc. Advantages: 1. Monthly line rates are marginally lower than Michigan Bell. 2. All calls are discounted. About 18% for US and Canada, and about 10% for other international destinations. This saves money for anyone who makes daytime calls. 3. We are not liable for some taxes -- saves about 3%, I think. 4. It is very profitable for the university. I believe UMTEL contributes a few million dollars to the university general fund. Disadvantages: 1. We are not allowed to choose our long distance carrier - neither as a dial-1 or through the 10-ATT etc. access codes. We can get to other carriers only using calling cards. 2. This means that we cannot sign up for any calling plans. The discounts are based on the normal rates for the long distance carriers, and plan calling rates (like Reach Out World, Primetime plan etc.) can be much lower than the normal rates - in some cases, 30-50% lower. For the calls I make, I find UMTEL anywhere between 20-100% more expensive than calling plans from AT&T, MCI or Sprint. To be fair to UMTEL, the provide discounts to all countries, not just the 40-50 typically covered by the calling plans of major carriers. Not much comfort to me since all major carriers cover the countries I call ... 3. Night time calls within the US tends to cost a little more than calling plans. > Also if he is worried about his International carrier being changed > TELL HIM TO REMEMBER EQUAL ACCESS!! Schools are now considered > aggregators and MUST provide access to all the major carriers. He can > shop around for the lowest rate if he likes and then call the campus > telecomm office to determine the dialing plan to get his carrier of > choice. Equal access is the law -- no way to get around this one. Interesting. Could you give me a specific reference for the equal access regulation? As I understand it, UMTEL operates as a private exchange and is regulated by the UM Board of Regents. Since UMTEL provides residential service, can they be regulated by the FCC or any other external agency? Clearly, from my description above (and that of someone from Michigan State), we have no equal access. I have been negotiating with UMTEL for over 6 months now to get access to the major carriers, but have been stymied by replies about the technical problems in accounting, sending caller information to the carriers. This will involve a software upgrade that they are at present unwilling to pay for since (a) it will cost the money (b) they will lose business and (c) (they say) they are liable for any unpaid bills for calls made from within the U. system, even if the caller bypassed the U. system by dialing 10-code (is this true?). As you can see, I have a bunch of questions here. I'd be grateful for any help. Atri ------------------------------ From: gzhou@pollux.usc.edu (Gang Zhou) Subject: Re: Is This Legal? Dat4: 2 Aug 1993 10:34:55 -0700 Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA In article Bonnie J Johnson writes: > but I would imagine Gang's monthly line charge will be the same or > LESS than what he paid thru Pac Bell. Also if he is worried about > his International carrier being changed TELL HIM TO REMEMBER EQUAL > ACCESS!! Schools are now considered aggregators and MUST provide > access to all the major carriers. He can shop around for the lowest > rate if he likes and then call the campus telecomm office to determine > the dialing plan to get his carrier of choice. Equal access is the ^^^^^^^^^^^^ > law -- no way to get around this one. The problem is: USC does NOT offer any equal access. They give our long distance business away to a private for-profit company -- Student Telephone Service in Phoenix which has a USC local phone number. We even mistakenly believed this company to be a USC office, didn't know it's in Phoenix. The only choises for us are: 1) We sign up with this company and are charged with outrageous rates. Or 2) We use a calling card of MCI, AT&T or whatever. The only equal access are the calling cards which charge a service surcharge. I never believed that this is possible after the break down of the AT&T monopoly. Thanks, Gang ------------------------------ Date: 04 Aug 93 20:56:33 EDT From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Is This Legal? gzhou@pollux.usc.edu (Gang Zhou) writes: > [Moderator's Note: Whenever the landlord makes substantial changes in > the accomodations offered, or arranges things in such a way that the > tenant winds up paying much more than before, the landlord is in viol- > ation of the lease. No, Pat, that's not the way it works every time. In order to break a lease in the way you've suggested you'd first have to make a case for breach of the covenant of peaceful enjoyment (a common law provision in everyone's leases, whether explicitly stated or not). The writer would first have to sue the landlord to break the lease. But I'm also sure you're aware that when a university decides to set up shop as an aggregator and (possibly) a telephone service reseller that they must first have in place a tariff, among other various and sundry legal requirements (like tax authority and tax collection mechanisms, etc.). If USC wants to force the writer to give up regulated telephone service in order to take USC's telephone service, I'm sure that USC wouldn't mind the writer requesting a copy of their latest tariff, and certificate of authority, from their state utility regulatory commission. ;) Alan Boritz 72446.461@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Who/What Determines Caller-ID? Date: 4 Aug 1993 11:25:29 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In greg_chartrand@qmail.ssc.gov (Greg Chartrand) writes: > Maybe this has been answered before, but I would like to know what > determines the text that gets displayed on an ISDN phone with caller > I.D.? > I own XYZ Corporation, and I telemarket, will the text read XYZ > Corporation when I call someone? Can I tell my LEC that I want my > personal name to appear instead of XYZ Corporation? When I order my > phone circuits, is there a mechanism to specify what will appear in > the caller I.D.? > As a private individual, can I specify my caller I.D.? If my name is > Clarence Jones and I go by "Buck", can I have the I.D. changed to > reflect "Buck Jones" as my preference? I don't know the answer with any authority, but I suspect the rule is that the telco will no put anything that differs from what is in the phone book for that number. To permit otherwise would leave the telco participating in potentially fraudulent activity with some callers. Now, if for the phone number you have more than one phone-book listing, I could imagine the telco letting you pick which listing will be used in the caller-ID data stream sent to others. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ Date: 04 Aug 93 15:48:56 EDT From: tim gorman <71336.1270@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Who/What Determines Call greg_chartrand@qmail.ssc.gov (Greg Chartrand) asks in TELECOM Digest V13 #534: > Maybe this has been answered before, but I would like to know what > determines the text that gets displayed on an ISDN phone with caller > I.D.? > Can I tell my LEC that I want my personal name to appear instead of > XYZ Corporation? > When I order my phone circuits, is there a mechanism to specify what > will appear in the caller I.D.? > As a private individual, can I specify my caller I.D.? If my name is > Clarence Jones and I go by "Buck", can I have the I.D. changed to > reflect "Buck Jones" as my preference? ISDN doesn't actually provide for sending an originating name as part of the call setup. Following is the setup message format and the format of the calling number information element. ISDN does have specified an information element that could be used to pass a calling name. It is my understanding that most vendors and LEC's have not yet implemented this. (I suppose because no one knows yet how to bill for it.) If you actually have an ISDN phone that is showing a name, it would be interesting to see how it is being implemented. Setup Message Content --------------------- Optional/ Information Element Mandatory Length ---------------------- --------- ------ Protocol Discriminator M 1 Call Reference M 2-3 Message Type M 1 Bearer Capability M 4-6 Channel Ident. O 3 Facility O 11-* Progress Indicator O 4 Keypad O 3-32 Signal O 3 Feature Activation O 3-4 Endpoint Identifier O 3-4 Calling Party Nbr O 4-16 Called Party Nbr O 4-27 Redirecting Nbr O 4-16 Locking Shift O 1 Call Appearance O 3-4 ======================================================== Calling Party Number Information Element ---------------------------------------- 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (bit position) 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 Octet 1 CPN Element Id *-- Length of calling party number contents --* Octet 2 0/1 *-Type of Nbr-* *-- Nbr Plan Id ---* Octet 3 (Ext) 1 *Present.* 0 0 0 * Scrn* Octet 3a* (Ext) Indicator Indicator 0 * ------------ number digits ------------ * Octet 4 (spare) Note: * - This octet may be omitted Calling Party number is an optional information element. If not provided, the default number for the terminal is used. ------------------------------ From: daveb%jaws@dsinet.dgtl.com (David Breneman) Subject: Re: Princess Phone Keychains From 60's Date: 4 Aug 93 19:44:29 GMT Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA Syd Weinstein (syd@dsi.com) wrote: > Doreen Hansen writes: >> Does anyone here have a collection of those little plastic princess >> phones that say "The Princess phone ... It's little, it's lovely, it >> lights!" on the bottom? They have a ball-type chain on the right >> side. I have just started a collection of them after finding a few at >> the local Goodwill. I know they came in aqua, white, and pink. Are >> there any other colors? How were these distributed? with phone >> books? In the mail? Did each household get one/two? Were they given >> out only one year? Or did people buy them? They also came in beige, I believe. > Somewhere in my archives, I have a box of those things ... (small > box.) They were indeed free. Bell handed them out as a come-on to > get people to rent the new phones. The box I have is about 3"x6"x > 2.5-3" and it was full of them at one time. In towns with smallish phone books, the book usually had a hole drilled through the upper left corner so it could be hung on a hook. Frequently one of these was found looped through the hole when the phone book arrived. It seems to me this campaign lasted a couple years. I remember a girl who lived next door to me had several of them -- phones for her Barbie dolls! David Breneman Email: daveb@jaws.engineering.dgtl.com System Administrator, Software Engineering Services Digital Systems International, Inc. Voice: 206 881-7544 Fax: 206 556-8033 ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: Princess Phone Keychains From 60's Date: 4 Aug 1993 09:38:16 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) They were give for the most part when the local phone company (Bell) had an open house in one of their switch rooms. I have four complete sets all colors at the time. They have been put away for some years, but after seeing your post I pulled them out. I guess I'll put them up by my computer now, I wonder what they are worth, at the time that I got them I was 13 years old and that was in 1959. ------------------------------ From: elm@cs.berkeley.edu (ethan miller) Subject: Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal Date: 4 Aug 93 12:58:28 Organization: Berkeley--Shaken, not Stirred Reply-To: elm@cs.berkeley.edu In article Will Martin writes: > Originally, I'm sure the tone was selected and adopted because it > was economically-generatable by some mechanical device. But now, > digital circuitry could just as easily generate a soothing pattern > of words [...] The busy signal also has to be machine-recognizable. My modem needs to distinguish between ringing, busy, carrier detected, and everything else. If the "busy signal" doesn't provide a tone, how can a device tell the line is busy? Modems, faxes, and other automatically dialing devices need to know when to connect and when to retry. For them, the annoying "braap-braap" is easiest to deal with. ethan miller--cs grad student elm@cs.berkeley.edu #include ------------------------------ From: craig@osh3.OSHA.GOV (Craig Nordin) Subject: Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal Organization: U.S. D.O.L - Occupational Safety & Health Admin. Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 20:43:18 GMT In Will Martin writes: > I've been trying to get through to a constantly-busy number, and the > irritation and hostility I feel more and more on an ever-rising level > as I repeatedly hear the braaaaap braaaaap of the "busy" signal on > each try leads me to wonder just WHY that particular tone and pattern > had been chosen by the telco so many years ago to indicate "busy". > The tone/pattern itself is extrememly irritating, regardless of the > emotion one feels when one cannot get to the number one wants. I was watching the Branch Davidian seige footage and the night-time scenes were gruesome. The FBI had concocted a seemingly effective harrasment at night where they would shine moving spotlights over the compound and play all kinds of music and TV audio at very loud levels. Among the sounds, and repeated often, was that same annoying/angering busy signal. You would think that the telephone companies would get the hint! But what do I do with all of my modems when they can no longer recognize the busy signal? US Department of Labor Craig Nordin craig@osh3.osha.gov OSHA OMDS FSDB #N3661 uunet!osh1.osha.gov!osh3!craig 200 Constitution Ave. NW Phone (FTS/202) v:219-7788 x57 fax:219-5830 Washington D.C. 20210 Standard, Complete, and Constant Disclaimers [Moderator's Note: Ah yes, our Federal Bureau of Inquisition at work. Try standing outside their headquarters making that sort of commotion and see what it gets you. Amazing isn't it how they got away with starting that fire which killed all the children. Then they spoon-fed their media friends with the story that Koresh must have actually done it. To them, 'Miranda' is Carmen's last name. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John.J.Butz@att.com Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 18:47:21 EDT Subject: Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal Will Martin writes: > I've been trying to get through to a constantly-busy number, and the > irritation and hostility I feel more and more on an ever-rising level > as I repeatedly hear the braaaaap braaaaap of the "busy" signal on > each try leads me to wonder just WHY that particular tone and pattern > had been chosen by the telco so many years ago to indicate "busy". > The tone/pattern itself is extremely irritating, regardless of the > emotion one feels when one cannot get to the number one wants. Oh boy, here's one for the amateur analysts among us. Please lay on my couch and tell me about your childhood! It's not the busy signal that's annoying, its the frustration of not being able to contact the called party. Over time, we collectively as an American culture have assigned the symbolic meaning of irritation to the busy signal. (It can especially irritating if the calling person is jealous of the conversation between the called person and the third party!) Similar frustrations arise for ring/no answer and getting an answering machine. (ie. suspicions of where the called party may be, why s/he isn't answering or my pet peeve, INTENSE dislike of having my call screened, rooted in the fact that screening gives the called party the option to talk to the calling person.) Proof for this cultural symbolism can be shown with a simple experiment. What if a recording of a busy signal was played to a Australian aborigine? Busy has no symbolic meaning for a bushman. He doesn't know what the hell a busy tone means, to him it's just noise. He'd be lucky if even knew what a phone was for. > circuitry could just as easily generate a soothing pattern of words > like "sorry ... line busy ... sorry ... line busy..." or some other > non-English (if there is a language issue here) pattern of tones or > signals; anything but this foul "braaaaap braaaaap" business ... :-) So, does replacing busy with a worded announcement or other tones really solve anything? No. Since "getting busy" in some form is always likely to happen, there will always be the associated frustration of the caller and in time the symbolic meaning of busy would be transferred to the new "busy" announcement. End result: hearing a present or future busy signal is alway going to upset someone. In addition, I think this change would be far reaching. I'm sure there's plenty of software that does tone detection that would have to be fixed. Of cour$e, thi$ co$t get$ pa$$ed to Joe-Ratepayer. <== more symbols! > As a side benefit, the vague distinction we now have between "busy" and > "fast busy" (which I have trouble with, personally) could be eliminated, > and both signals could be replaced Without luck, I once tried to convince my parents to get touch-tone, but they are telecom illiterate and prefer to live in the telecommun- ications "stone-age." I couldn't imagine trying to explain the difference between busy and fast busy to people like them. Jung Butz ER700 Sys Eng jbutz@hogpa.att.com AT&T - BL ------------------------------ From: news@cbnews.att.com Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 12:57:18 GMT Subject: Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal Organization: AT&T In article Will Martin writes: > I've been trying to get through to a constantly-busy number, and the > irritation and hostility I feel more and more on an ever-rising level > as I repeatedly hear the braaaaap braaaaap of the "busy" signal on > each try leads me to wonder just WHY that particular tone and pattern > had been chosen by the telco so many years ago to indicate "busy". > The tone/pattern itself is extrememly irritating, regardless of the > emotion one feels when one cannot get to the number one wants. THESE are my views not my employers ... Looks like whoever you're calling needs a visit from their phone company sales office -:) You're trying to call a number and get a busy and are mad about it. Phone Company Salesman are trying to convince people that if they don't have more than enough lines the customer will be mad at them because of busy signal and go elsewhere with their bussiness. Now the salesman can sell voicemail, alt number on busy, more trunk lines. I get a number of hostile callers on my home line during the day. I use my voice phone line during the day for outgoing uucp. Since I am not home I don't care if the phone is in use, but salesman and telemarketers get real snotty, when they have been calling all day and if they finally get through they get an answering machine. I have had several calls yelling about they know I am home because the phone been busy for the last four hours and now my answering machines has answered. Gary W. Sanders (N8EMR) gary.w.sanders@att.com AT&T Bell Labs 614-860-5965 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #538 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa01329; 5 Aug 93 2:13 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04983 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 23:20:52 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15234 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 4 Aug 1993 23:20:22 -0500 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 23:20:22 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050420.AA15234@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #539 TELECOM Digest Wed, 4 Aug 93 23:20:20 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 539 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (Dub Dublin) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (jentto@ihlpe) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (coyne@thing1) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (G. Wollman) Re: Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple (Christopher Zguris) Re: Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple (Brad Hicks) Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) (Jon Carmichael) Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) (Harold Hallikainen) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (Daniel MacKay) Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? (Bruce Albrecht) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (John Perkins) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (David Wolff) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Tatsuya Kawasaki) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Chris Ambler) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hwdub@chevron.com (Dub Dublin,HOU281 2303,CTN-596-3199,) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Reply-To: hwdub@chevron.com Organization: Chevron Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 18:21:29 GMT O.K., O.K., off with the flamethrowers! (I'm constantly amazed at the number of people participating in c.d.t.) I've been toasted many times now for my comments that using a PC for critical applications (ie: telephone switces) is not a good idea. The basic rejoinder is along the lines of, "PC's doing such things don't run DOS, you idiot, they run some other OS, so viruses aren't a problem." Not so, Glasshoppah. Some types of viruses (most notably some boot sector infectors) can infect ANY PC-based system. Admittedly, this is unlikely, but maybe not as unlikely as you think: Every formatted PC floppy disk contains an executable program on its boot sector (note that this even includes "non-bootable" disks!). Normally, all this program does is print the message, "Non-system disk or disk error; replace and strike any key when ready." When you see this message, it means the executable *on the boot sector of the floppy* was just run on your PC. If it's infected with a virus, it just had a chance to infect the boot sector of the hard disk containing the OS of your choice. Note that all of this happens *BEFORE* you've had a chance to load the other OS that's supposed to protect you from such things. [The comp.virus FAQ discusses this in a little more detail.] I'm not against PC's for control applications, but they carry non-trivial risks if used for truly critical applications. Hardware and software diversity provides some inherent resistance to such attacks. *That's* my point ... Dub Dublin -- Chevron Information Technology Company, Houston hwdub@chevron.com -- +1-713-596-3199 [Moderator's Note: Yes, there are a wide variety of people and a large number of C.D.T. readers. C.D.T. has been the 'mainstream', newsgroup of record for telecommunications for more than a decade. Analysis of the reading habits of Usenet users show about 45,000 - 55,000 readers of each issue. They come from many different telcos and other organ- izations. We're even starting to get back a number of GTE employees who left in droves about a year ago when a former Digest participant was in the midst of one of his all-to-regular GTE flame tantrums. Welcome to all our new readers; particularly the GTE folks who have joined or re-joined us in the past month. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 17:58:25 EDT From: jentto@ihlpe.att.com Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: AT&T In article rickie@trickie.ersys. edmonton.ab.ca writes: > In comp.dcom.telecom, article , John > Nagle wrote: >> The interesting thing is that COs still mostly follow the >> model of a big dumb crosspoint run as a computer peripheral. One >> would think by now that switches would be much more distributed, with >> little CPUs all through the switch fabric. But given the amount of >> trouble people still have designing distributed systems, it's not >> clear that using lots of little CPUs would improve reliability, and >> might well make it worse. > More than likely I won't be the first or the last person to respond to > the above statements. CO's are built with lots and lots of > distributed CPU's. These peripherals are all networked together to > create the switch. General purpose computer makers still don't make > the extensive fault diagnostic and detection processors. How many > general prupose computers offer instruction synchronized processing > platforms with dedicated fault detection? Another thing to think about. How many non-switching systems have this reliability requirement? "Less than three minutes down time per year". This includes scheduled and non-scheduled, hardware and software caused, and operator initiated service interruptions. No PM. No, you can't just un-plug it. Even while you are loading a completely new software release, the switch has to be able to process calls. Imagine changing car engine while running at 50 miles/hour. Set hardware issue aside just look for a architecture which can run 4~5 million lines of C code nonstop is a challenge, to put it modestly. Compare with computers named "Nonstop", I claim every CO switch can be called a "Neverstop" computer. No. I don't know any commerical system has ever been designed to meet this kind of requirement. Perhaps SDI has something closer. I wish someone knowledgable can enlighten us. Jen ------------------------------ From: coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Date: 4 Aug 1993 21:46:35 GMT Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas In comp.dcom.telecom, article , John Nagle wrote: > The interesting thing is that COs still mostly follow the > model of a big dumb crosspoint run as a computer peripheral. One > would think by now that switches would be much more distributed, with > little CPUs all through the switch fabric. It is difficult to imagine what computer driven system on this planet is more distributed than the telephone system. We have zillions of subscriber lines connected to who knows what computer driven device at the subscriber end and one of tens of thousands of autonomous COs at the other. The COs are laced together with lines belonging hundreds of service providers. As the copper and fiber get more expensive and switches and other computer controlled devices get cheaper, the system will get more distributed rather than less. Already, there is frequent mention (in this forum) of two COs in one structure, a sub exchange in a shelter somewhere that something bad happened, or a big end user accepting call delivery directly from a long distance carrier. Actually, it is a little scary to consider how many logic operations will be required to deliver a phone call or this posting. ------------------------------ From: wollman@trantor.emba.uvm.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 19:07:13 GMT In article , Kevin W. Williams wrote: > So my answer to when General Purpose Computing will overcome Telecom > Switching: never. There is simply no way that the general purpose > computing community is ever going to bear the cost of the reliability > that we consider mandatory for switching. I disagree, and I'll explain why. The reasons why it is so important for the current generation of telco switches to have extremely high reliability are fairly well-known. The basic reason is the economies of scale dating back to electromechanical days have caused telcos to try to concentrate as much switching capacity in as few locations as possible. So long as telco is responsible for providing battery to every single telephone in their service area, this will likely continue. However, we have seen a new approach to reliability take hold in our computer networks: by distributing the switching capabilities out into the network, then the effects of any failures are minimized. As a result, the overall failure cost (in user-hours) can be kept the same or reduced, while relaxing the unit-failure requirements of individual switching elements (routers). Remember, the original ARPANET was supposed to keep on working even when whole chunks of the network were evaporated in a nuclear holocaust. It has turned out that the same sort of dynamic routing structures that provide for this kind of "survivability" also stand us in very good stead when the network stays intact, but individual compoments fail. I feel that the ultimate marriage of voice and data will inevitably end up looking more like today's Internet than like today's telephone network. In particular, switching capacity will inevitably end up being distributed out at customer locations, rather than centralized to the great extend that it has been thus far. Of course, reasonable people may disagree with my view. Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 18:24 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple It seems like the Newton in its current configuration is somewhat limited as a electronic communication device -- lots of plans but little actually available -- I thought it was supposed to be able to tie into a cellular network. It doesn't seem like much more than a Sharp Wizard! Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com Date: 4 Aug 93 21:07:28 GMT Subj: Re: Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple > First Newton -- The MessagePad -- Hits The Market > CUPERTINO, California -- July 30,1993 -- Apple Computer, > Inc. today announced that the first product based on its > innovative Newton technology -- the Newton MessagePad -- > will ship on Aug. 2, 1993. The words "Now Available" in the subject line are an exaggeration. I spent yesterday rattling doors to try to buy one, and I'll share the details with you. But NPR and other news sources say that unless you snagged one of the several thousand units for sale in Boston at the MacWorld Expo this week, you're out of luck until around Labor Day. By the way, words do not convey just how cool this device is, or how beautifully the networking and telecom features have been integrated into the (protected mode, preemptive multitasking, object oriented, full scriptable, AI-assisted) operating system on this (20 MHz RISC-based, low power consumption, ruggedized, no moving parts) box. The OS and user interface on this thing are so beautiful that I fully expect that every other computer will fall into the sea by the end of the century. Telecom user interface alone: a consistent, near-invisible user interface that supports fax, e-mail, printers, pagers, and Newton-to-Newton or Sharp Wizard-to-Newton communications via wireless infrared, with support for wireless modems built into the O/S and waiting only for the PCMCIA drivers to be firmed up, with all those features available at all times to send any chunk of data you can see, or receive data from any of those sources into any application, current or future. But right now, there are a few flies in the ointment. Aside from the delayed availability, the dealers who did have prices said they could only sell it in bundled systems, the Newton Communications Kit and the Newton Professional Communications Kit. Here's what you get: the Newton MessagePad, an external 2400 bps data/9600 bps fax modem, and the software and cables to connect the MessagePad to a Macintosh for file sharing and file transfer. (The PC/Windows version will be available in a few months; I spoke to someone who's beta testing it and says it's just as good.) What separates the Professional edition from the regular one, at about $100 to $130 difference, is that the Professional version includes more file translations and is AppleEvents scriptable. It's that stupid modem that's really driving me nuts. Are you beating down the doors to pay $100 or so for a 2400 bps modem half the size of a paperback book? A third the weight and two thirds the size of the Newton itself? I'm not; I'd rather buy the unit, some RAM cards, and the cable and software and wait until the 14.4 kb/sec PCMCIA modem makers write Newton drivers. But no, at least for the forseeable future you can't buy it without that stupid modem. Most of the dealers didn't have pricing yet. CompUSA quoted a price of $899 for the Communications bundle and $999 for the Professional Communications bundle; Computer City, $869 and $999. (CompUSA, BTW, told me they could have one for me "in a few days;" we'll see if they're over-promising.) If you call a dealer (or Sears, Circuit City, or Best Buy) and they don't know what you're talking about, keep trying until you find the (in my experience, only one) person in each store who knows. J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad ------------------------------ Subject: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) From: jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) Date: 4 Aug 93 07:25:00 GMT Organization: The Continuum PCBoard - Pasadena, CA - 818-441-2625 Reply-To: cntinuum!jon.carmichael@uplherc.upl.com (Jon Carmichael) > There is some renovation going on in our building and all the network > connection and telephone cables are rewired. I have been hearing the > term Category 5 all the time. (All of panels containing the RJ45 > plugs even have a sign CAT 5 on it). I was wondering what exactly > does Category 5 certified means in this context. Category 5 wire is used for high speed data communications in the Local Area Network area. ISDN which pushes data in the 150Kbps range over one pair is very slow compared to a LAN that pushes data at 4, 10 or 16 Megabits per second. The slowest token ring is 4M/150K or about 25 times faster than ISDN BRI. Basically level 5 wire is regular telephone wire that's twisted so tightly that it's looks more like it's braided. 18 twists per foot is level 5; 15 to 18 (not as consistent) in my experience is level 4; and level 3 is regluar modern telephone wire, ... about 2 to 5 twists per foot. Your RJ-45 is a LAN connection, and would not usually be used for an ISDN connection as ISDN is too slow to need it. The RJ-45's all go to the same physical point where it is then connected to a LAN hub for everyone in the building to share. JONC The Continuum PCBoard -*- @9600+ call 818-441-2625 @2400- call 818-799-9633 ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: What is Category 5 (re: ISDN) Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 02:33:23 GMT Can anyone give a BRIEF description of the electrical coding scheme on all these high speed twisted pair systems (such as ISDN)? I haven't taken the time to research it at all. How many bits per baud are being run? Is it a multi-level coding system or just two or three level (such as positive/negative or positive/zero/negative). I've always thought that on an analog medium, such as a pair of wires, we should run as many levels as we can until noise starts making level determination at the far end difficult, making the error correction overhead exceed the data throughput benefit of running more levels. Do such systems treat the twisted pair as a transmission line, matching the characteristic impedance to prevent reflections? Do they work full duplex using some sort of hybrid, or just go real fast half duplex? Can we use these techniques over leased lines ordered from the local phone company (like 3002 lines)? Thanks for the info! Harold ------------------------------ From: daniel@nstn.ns.ca (Daniel MacKay) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? Organization: NSTN Network Operations Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 14:31:55 GMT ELO tunes: "Telephone Line" and "Ma Ma Ma Bell". Daniel MacKay daniel@nstn.ns.ca Homo habilis Nova Scotia, Canada ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 09:36:25 CST From: bruce@zuhause.MN.ORG (Bruce Albrecht) Subject: Re: Do We Have a Theme Song? > [Moderator's Note: You are correct and I stand corrected regards the > movie. But I still liked Judy Garland a lot when she was alive. PAT] Yes, her work deteriorated immensely when she died, and she no longer can perform the way she used to. :-) bruce@zuhause.mn.org [Moderator's Note: Thank you for your meditation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnper@bunsen.rosemount.com (John Perkins) Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Organization: Rosemount, Inc. Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 16:54:43 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Let us consider the initials MCC. On the one hand, > it is the abbreviation for the federal Bureau of Prisons Metropolitan > Correctional Centers, the prisons located in downtown Chicago, San > Diego, and a few other places. On the other hand, it is also a very > accepted abbreviation for the Metropolitan Community Church. :) So the > next time someone you know misbehaves and winds up having to go to > court, to their probation officer or whoever, tell them if they don't > shape up they may wind up going to the MCC, and that you are not > referring to Sunday services at the gay church! :) PAT] Yes, and don't forget MCC also refers to Middlesex County Council, and for that matter Marylebone Cricket Club (the club of the English cricket team to this day). John Perkins [Moderator's Note: Before long, this is going to get as confusing for me as the 'ATM' abbreviation! :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 16:01:06 EDT From: dwolff@teapot.cv.com (David Wolff) Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Reminds me of a story. The good citizens of Walpole MA asked that the name of MCI Walpole be changed, since their town's name was becoming so closely connected to the maximum security prison there. Much discussion followed, but by far the funniest suggestion was ... Sprint Walpole! David Wolff dwolff@s35.cv.com (yes, changed again!), dwolff@cozy.cv.com Disclaimer: Reflecting Computervision policy is a non-goal of this posting. ------------------------------ From: tatsuya@zapotec.math.byu.edu (Tatsuya kawasaki) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Date: 5 Aug 1993 00:35:11 GMT Organization: Brigham Young University In article TELECOM Moderator writes: > From the {Chicago Tribune} news wire, Wednesday, July 28, 1993: > A victory for consumers of telephone 900 information services occurred > Tuesday when the final regulations of the Federal Trade Commission > were announced. Starting November 1, people who dial 900 services must > be warned of the cost of the call and get a chance to hang up before > being charged. Sad news for everybody ... another way for government to control your life. > In addition, 900 service providers *must* provide toll-free, pay per > call information lines; customers must be sent pay-per-call disclosure > statements annually; and the use of *any* prefix other than 900 for > pay-per-call services is prohibited. Why must they provide 800 numbers? > In addition, the new rules provide that print and broadcast ads must > carry details of the fees that callers will be charged for any call > that would cost at least $2. As far as I am concerned, people who use 900 are not intelligent any way. Some people might argue what about my kid calling those numbers ... 1. That is your problem; that you can not control/teach your kid is none of the 900 provider's responsibilities. 2. You can always block 900 free of charge. As far as I am concerned, the lesser the regulation, the better for the both parties, comsumer and provider. Thanks, tatsuya PS: Please reply to me directly. ------------------------------ From: cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Organization: The Phishtank Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 21:02:23 GMT I said ... > And how does UUCP do this? When dialing an information provider with a > protocolled communications package, the human usually has little to no > interaction. Then our Moderator noted ... > [Moderator's Note: You are correct where UUCP transmissions are > concerned but I don't think UUCP is the sort of casual connection > being discussed here. For UUCP there has to be a pre-arranged deal; No, actually, I'm under the impression that UUNET offers 900 service to their anonymous UUCP, so there IS NO pre-arranged deal. This is for doing file requests for public software. And, while I'm at it, what about "Hey, call 1-900-xxx-xxxx and fax us what YOU want to send to the president!" or other such deals. I *have* seen this on TV :-) cambler@zeus.calpoly.edu | Christopher J. Ambler chris@toys.fubarsys.com | Author, FSUUCP 1.32 [Moderator's Note: Maybe I am missing something here. Every UUCP-style account I have ever seen requires that the host have a daemon-user by the login name of 'uusomething'. When 'something' calls in, there is not only the password sequence, but a remote identification, handshaking, window openings, etc. For 'something' to get its mail or news, there have to be things similar to a .newsrc file in place, no? Otherwise how does the host know who to give mail to and who has received which news, etc? I know (or am pretty sure) that UUNET has an anonymous FTP-like thing running on a 900 number, but anonymous UUCP? How does that work? How could the host possibly know how to hand out mail and news under the circumstances? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #539 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02655; 5 Aug 93 3:14 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25310 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 00:55:29 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15165 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 00:54:51 -0500 Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1993 00:54:51 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050554.AA15165@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #540 TELECOM Digest Thu, 5 Aug 93 00:30:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 540 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: "County-Plus" Calling in Delaware (Ken Weaverling) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching (Nigel Roles) Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Big Rivers (mike%jim@wupost.wustl.edu) Re: Big Rivers (Curtis Bohl) Re: Big Rivers (Brad Hicks) Re: Call Trace is Bogus (Andrew Marc Greene) Re: AT&T Atlantic? (Paul Cook) Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address (Justin Greene) Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling (Phydeaux) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ken Weaverling Subject: Re: "County-Plus" Calling in Delaware Date: 4 Aug 1993 08:46:08 -0400 Organization: Delaware Technical & Community College In article Carl Moore writes: [text about County-plus local calling within Delaware deleted.] About two years ago, Diamond State filed plans to implement the "County Plus" calling plans but also filed plans for an increase in the basic dial-tone rate of over $3.00 a month to pay for the decrease in revenue from lost intra-LATA calls. The commission hasn't ruled on either yet. However, Diamond State is allowed to start charging the new rates under a bond. If the PSC declines the increase, we get the money refunded. However, I am paying the increased monthly rate now, and still get charged for intra-LATA calls to Dover from Wilmington. Wonder if my LD charges for calls to what should be a local call under the new call will get refunded? Didn't think so ... Ken Weaverling, Sys Admin/Faith Healer Delaware Tech College weave@dtcc.edu ------------------------------ From: nigel@cotswold.demon.co.uk (Nigel Roles) Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Reply-To: nigel@cotswold.demon.co.uk Organization: Interconnect Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 06:55:34 +0000 In article hwdub@chevron.com writes: > It's standard practice NOT to use PC-based systems for critical > applications (I think a telephone switch qualifies here) due to their > susceptibility to many of the same viruses and other vermin that > afflict desktop systems. > Tell me, how would you feel if your telco switch (or worse, your life > support controller in a hospital) somehow became afflicted with > Jerusalem, Stoned, or (less likely, but much more destructive) Whale? > Proprietary and custom systems are by their very uncommonness less > susceptible to such attacks. Sometimes it's good not to be "open." > (Some people on the Net just fell over, incredulous that *I* actually > said that ...) While I agree with the general sense here ("general purpose hardware is bad news for providing good switches"), the suggestion that general purpose hardware gets viruses because its general purpose is the sort of attitude that anthropomorphised viruses into malevolent front page leaders, rather than the inconsiderate illustrations of poor operating system design that they are. PCs (for example) don't just run MSDOS. I sincerely hope switches never run MSDOS for a whole bunch of reasons, apart from it's susceptibility to viruses. It is perfectly possible to run other O/S on a PC, and that O/S could be mil. spec. secure if you wished. What really matters here is that most general purpose hardware is not designed for reliability, redundancy etc., as other correspondents have pointed out. Our PABXes have a high degree of distribution (answering the original point of this thread) which could not be achieved using PCs. We do use a PC (for the operator console) but do not need it to be running for the switch to stay up. The only part we really really need is the RT clock to reset the switch's clock after a power out. ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? Date: 4 Aug 1993 07:58:28 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In marks!charles@jyacc.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) writes: > I live in area code (201), which is in the Northern New Jersey LATA. > The other day, my Caller ID box showed a number from area code (215), > which is Philadelphia and obviously not in my LATA. I received a > second call from the same number, and so the chances of the number > being in error are rather slim. > What I want to know is ... how'd this happen? I never get numbers > from anybody outside of my LATA, except this once. Is it just the > luck of everybody having SS7 connectivity from end to end? I find this a very interesting question, for several reasons. First, it is conceivable that a local telco is handling the whole call, if an interLATA corridor has been authorized between the two area codes. For example, New York Telephone is authorized to carry traffic from 212 to most of 201, even though that is interLATA, apparently because it convinced the FCC to honor some historical corridor. If this is how the 215-to-201 call was handled, then maybe that explains how the caller ID info got onto your screen. I could imagine such a corridor for New Jersey Bell or for Bell of PA. If no single local telco was handling your call, then I think the theory you offer, namely SS7, is the only possible correct answer. But the thing is, the big three long-distance carriers have had SS7 for more than a year now (they need it for 800 portability, for example) and so it is difficult to know what recent change would have suddenly put the out-of-state call onto your caller ID screen. I have always assumed that the failure of caller ID to show the phone number if out-of-LATA was political, not technical -- namely that it was technically possible for SS7 to give the origin number to the local telco, who would give it to the caller ID customer. I always figured the issue was, the long-distance carriers would want a cut of the action on the caller ID revenues if they were to provide the origin information. Why should they give it away for free, they would ask. Everything in my post is speculation. Anybody got any hard data? Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ From: mike%jim@wupost.wustl.edu (Mike S.) Subject: Re: Big Rivers Organization: BITS, St. Louis, MO Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 16:54:57 GMT TELECOM Moderator noted: > which noted several more levees were breeched in recent days. Southern > Illinois and Missouri towns are losing their levees at the rate of > about one per day. Alton, IL lost their water works Saturday when the > levee came down and put much of the town under water *ten feet deep*. > Granite City lost their water works several days ago in the same way. > Some homes entirely under water; can you imagine that? Bad, bad news. And it keeps getting worse. The river was expected to crest at about _50_ feet today (though I believe that was revised to 49.x'). - the area's second largest airport (and several smaller airports) are under 8-12 feet of water; - propane tanks are bobbing about; - coffins are being unearthing and floating downriver; - two of three bridges linking St. Louis County and St. Charles County are out (causing nightmarish traffic problems on the one remaining bridge); - the only bridge directly linking St. Louis County and Alton, Il is out; - sewer systems are allowing water to pass under levees; - and the latest: riverfront boats are breaking free of their moorings on the St. Louis riverfront! Sunday night, a large riverboat containing a Burger King restaurant tore loose and slammed into the main bridge (carrying I-70, I-64, and I-55 between Il and Mo) over the Mississippi. Two other boats also broke free, but they somehow passed this bridge (I don't know how -- there is very little clearance under the bridge presently). This bridge was partially closed last night, but I don't have any more details yet. However, the Arch and the rest of downtown St. Louis are dry (though the 52' flood wall doesn't looking as large as it used to ...) The crest today is supposed to be the highest (provided there are no more storms such as Friday's affair, complete with tornados), but the rivers are expected to be over flood stage for at least 4-6 WEEKS! Mike mike%jim@wupost.wustl.edu ------------------------------ From: EXTMO4H@mizzou1.missouri.edu Subject: Re: Big Rivers Organization: University of Missouri Date: Wed, 04 Aug 93 20:09:30 CDT Reports concerning telecom problems caused by flooding: - Report on St. Louis TV station that SW Bell lost a CO in flood water, leaving 11,000 customers out of service. - Friday, 7/30, areas on the north side of Missouri River at Jefferson City lost all phone service from a cable washout. Unknown how many are served by United Telecom, but included several small towns and local TV station. - Sunday, my hometown of Hermann, MO (on the Missouri River) lost all long distance service. Town served by United until in the last few years, then swapped with Contel, which merged with GTE. When the digital switch was installed two years ago, Contel laid fiber to replace the old AT&T copper long distance lines. Supposedly, the fiber crossed the river under the river bridge, and also made a underwater crossing about 15 mi. downriver. Attempts to call LD (including Repair Service) caused fast busy. When I got back home to Columbia (a usual 1:15 drive, now 3 hours) I tried calling home and received a message stating that service was out due to flood conditions. One of the local cops I saw said that GTE was bringing in some satellite equipment to replace the fiber. (Ironically, a Sprint fiber repeater station is located in town for their lines that follow the UP rail line, but it does not provide service to the local exchange.) To restore long distance service to several areas, including Hermann, MO (my home town), to replace a washed-out fiber line, GTE is building two microwave towers at Warrenton (north of Missouri river) and Lyon, MO (south of river), about 30 miles away. According to newspaper reports, service was lost early Sunday, and GTE began pouring pads on Sunday and Monday for the new towers. (Question: Did they have to get FCC approval for this temporary installation?) Service may be restored by Thursday. I've already noticed a change from a "flood outage" announcement to an "all circuits busy" announcement. I also found out today that the University lost part of its fiber network in western Missouri. According to reports, the data traffic has been rerouted to avoid the washout. Curtis Bohl Computer Programmer/Analyst extmo4h@mizzou1.missouri.edu 4-H Youth Development Alternate: bohlc@ext.missouri.edu Programs University of Missouri-Columbia ------------------------------ From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com Date: 4 Aug 93 20:38:15 GMT Subect: Re: Big Rivers > Alton, IL lost their water works Saturday when the levee came down > and put much of the town under water *ten feet deep*. Minor correction: Alton's levee didn't fail; the river just soaked through the ground underneath it with enough force to bubble up through the street, demolishing the pavement. But the (now useless) levee is still standing, anyway. And based on this morning's local news: less than 20 blocks of Alton is under water. This makes sense to me; Alton's business district has a small stretch down along the water, the rest is up a =steep= hill. Lots of areas are losing their water treatment plants and/or their sewage treatment plants. For some reason or other, those all tend to be near the river. (Surprise.) But so far the areas that need it are doing OK using trucked-in water; Alton, in particular, was expecting this and had the water distribution system up and running about four days in advance. Bridges are a real problem, not because the bridges themselves are failing but because the roads going up to them are under water. There's only one bridge across the Missouri between St. Louis and Kansas City that's open right now, and that's in Columbia. Oh, and half the bridges connecting St. Charles county with St. Louis county are down, creating horrible traffic snarls -- but as you'll see in a few paragraphs, I don't much mind. Here in the immediate greater St. Louis metropolitan area, almost everything is high and dry. (St. Louis is almost entirely built up on the bluffs, very little is actually in the flood plain.) In fact, should you come to St. Louis for the conference that was advertised here a few days ago, you'll get an excellent chance to try out our brand-new Lite Rail system, MetroLink, before we tear it up (*grin*); it doesn't quite reach the airport yet (they're busy moving some very old stiffs so they can run the line through the graveyard between them and the airport) but you can catch a shuttle to it, and ride all the way downtown for a tad over a buck, and then after the conference take the shuttle down to Laclede's Landing for good live music, some good dance clubs, some better-than-adequate restaurants, and the National Pinball and Video Arcade Museum. If you're a taxpayer, you might as well ride it -- you paid for it. I have a hard time crying about most of the areas that are under water: LEMAY and other parts of SOUTH ST. LOUIS (city): The most notoriously racist area in the region; just about the only place north of the Mason-Dixon line where those Bircher/KKK-front "Concerned Citizens Councils" can still run slates of guaranteed racist candidates -- and win. Thanks to this part of the city of St. Louis, they haven't been able to pass a bond issue for the schools in years. Why? Ask the politicians in that area who campaign against it (off the record) and they'll tell you: they can't stand the thought of white people's money going to pay for schooling for those worthless n----r kids up in north St. Louis. CHESTERFIELD and ST. CHARLES: In the 1980 census, St. Charles county was listed as the fastest growing county in the United States. Why? Ask an African American friend of mine (a vice president at MasterCard, no less) who tried to buy a house there; she and her husband had to send a white friend over under false pretenses before any realtor would admit that there were houses available to sell. You, the US taxpayer, are about to be soaked with more taxes to pay for a bridge that runs right through protected wetlands and a large park (Creve Coeur Park, which you already paid federal taxes to buy in the first place, and now you're going to pay to ruin it) and why? So that white folks who used to live in St. Louis county can flee across the Missouri river but still work here. And Chesterfield, which is just as far away or farther, is growing as fast as St. Charles used to be, and guess what? They're working just as hard to keep African Americans out. Oh, I forgot to mention the other part of St. Charles, the part that flooded first: the West Alton penninsula, which juts out into the convergence of the Missouri and the Mississippi. People, limit your sympathy for these white trash -- West Alton floods about every six years. Your tax dollars pay for rebuilding each time. I'd bet that some of those people don't have any other source of income. And ignorant -- I spent a year teaching Sunday School up there, I could tell you stories. So, screw them all! You think I'm going to lift a hand to help them? Fat chance; my only problem with the flooding in south St. Louis, St. Charles, and Chesterfield is that they let the residents evacuate first, passing up an excellent opportunity to improve the species. ObTelecom: In now throroughly-flooded Grafton, just up the road from here, they put the telephone exchange way, way up the hill. I saw in the paper a few days ago that the telephone manager was getting worried, because in the event of a worst-case crest he might be under a foot or so of water. So, =well in advance=, he set out to buy up a big stack of hydraulic jacks and plywood; he said he figured he had just enough play in the cables to jack the whole assembly up 18 inches. That's resourcefulness. And as far as I know, throughout this area no phone switches have been lost, just phones that are under water and some of the phone lines that run through the river's new (presumably temporary) course. J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad [Moderator's Note: Well, you certainly have some interesting comments about your neighbors in their time of need. Would you care to comment on the reports in the news Wednesday that certain areas south of St. Louis were deliberatly flooded this week in order to alleviate the flood damage likely to occur at a historic town a bit south in the next day or two (had authorities not diverted the water yesterday and put a dozen more farmers out of business in the process? It seems now the authorities are going to be selective in their flooding. If the water has to go somewhere -- and it does -- let it bring ruin to people in one area who don't have quite the political pull people in another area have, eh? Care to comment on that, Brad, that authorities deliberatly broke down the levee south of Alton at the request of the town a bit further south so *they* would not get quite as much? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Andrew_Marc_Greene@frankston.com Subject: Re: Call Trace is Bogus Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 13:20 -0400 Here's a silly idea. Why can't modems and fax machines be programmed to play an audio sample of someone saying "This is a modem/fax call." over and over while waiting for carrier detect? Really sophisticated ones could even let you program your phone number into the message: "If this is a wrong number, please report it to 1-617-555-1212". I don't see that this would hurt the initial handshaking, or would cost too much, and it would make a lot of people angry at 3AM instead of making them angry and scared at 3AM. Any manufacturers on this list? :-) Andrew Greene ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 17:29 GMT From: Proctor & Associates <0003991080@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: AT&T Atlantic? Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM> writes: > Would anyone know if there really is an "AT&T Atlantic" that competes > with AT&T's regular business clients, or was this what it appears to > be? Yes, they are real. I have sold them customer premises type equipment. The AT&T Atlantic that I dealt with was in Tampa. They are a large interconnect, wholly owned by AT&T, and their area of interest is the east coast. They have been operating under that name for about a year. Paul Cook 206-881-7000 Proctor & Associates MCI Mail 399-1080 15050 NE 36th St. fax: 206-885-3282 Redmond, WA 98052-5378 3991080@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: jgreene@nyx.cs.du.edL0Ou (Justin Greene) Subject: Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept. Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 18:38:24 GMT Don't forget that most public libraries have Coles, Hynes or some other species of criss-cross directories in the reference room. You may have to contact a branch in the city you need however. BTW: when finding out where a NPA-NXX is located, use 00 rather than 411, it's free. > telcos. Something tells me they get a dozen directories per day from > telcos all over the USA. Nothing UnDirectory could do at this point This brings up a question, how do they update? Are they mailed mag tape whenever a new directory comes out, or do they maybe scan in the actual books (is that information copylefted?). Or, hopefully they recieve updates periodically from the various telco's. I doubt the latter since Metronet (Coles Publications parent company) is always out of date. Always double check any criss-cross listing with directory assistance as they seem to be the most accurate publicly available source. Justin Greene Finger for PGP 2.x public key [Moderator's Note: A lot of people are unaware of that simple technique for locating names at street addresses or phone numbers. Call and get the number of the public library in the town you want. Call the library there and ask for the reference librarian or the 'Business and Tech- nology Department'. Ask if they have a 'cross reference directory to streets and addresses' for their town. Ninety percent or more of them do. Ask the librarian if they will bring the book to the phone if they are not busy and read some of the entries to you over the phone. Almost all will accomodate. Some will say you have to come to the library in person to use the criss cross. Most will get it and look up whatever entries you want. Presto, a quick easy way to check out that phone number you have or address across the country. Remember, there is so much information *publicly available* between courthouse records, library criss cross books, post office box rental and forwarding address records, voter registration offices, and more, that you don't have to resort to illegal sources (for the public) such as NCIC. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 11:56:06 PDT From: reb@ingres.com (Phydeaux) Subject: Re: Used Cell Phone $ and Bundling > The store that sells a $400 cell phone for, say, $50 to someone who > signs a one-year dial tone contract is, of course, getting a $350+ > commission from the dial tone provider. So, you would think that if > you walk in the door with a used one and ask to have the phone > activated for a year, you would be able to talk them into giving you > part of their $350 commission. > I've never actually seen this, but you could ask. I actually had a store offer this to me the other day -- he offered to split his $300 commission with me in exchange for my signing up for one year of service. I'm sure if you look around enough you'll find someone willing to do this. Unfortunately, my employer will not pay for two phones, so I still have my trusty Motorola Ultra Classic sitting in a box. Anyone looking for a slightly used phone ;-) reb ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #540 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa03635; 5 Aug 93 3:55 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16146 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 01:39:38 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA02497 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 01:39:01 -0500 Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1993 01:39:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050639.AA02497@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #541 TELECOM Digest Thu, 5 Aug 93 01:36:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 541 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection (Steve Forrette) Re: Flow Control With Unixware (Steve Forrette) Re: Is There a Way to Skip "Thank You For Using AT&T?" (Craig R. Watkins) Re: Maximum Number of Phone Lines to a Residence? (Karl L. Swartz) Re: AT&T Dedicated Lines (Bruce Sullivan) Re: Maryland NPA Split vs Population (Karl Johnson) Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing (Gowri Narla) Re: Mystery Caller (Pierre Asselin) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Pierre Asselin) Re: Calls From Prison (Paul Buder) Re: Alternates Wanted to "Call Me" Cards (Charles McGuinness) Re: Exact Frequencies of 900MHz Cordless Phones USA/Germany (Tom Scheer) Re: CIS Feedback Response (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: Cell Phone Fraud Losses Triple in a Year (Bruce Albrecht) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Bruce Albrecht) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (Steve Forrette) Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! (David Breneman) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (thouse@sol.UVic.CA) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: U.S. Cuts Off the Canadian-Cuban Connection Date: 4 Aug 1993 21:03:30 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) writes: > Those folks who really have the potential to do damage to U.S. efforts > to unseat Castro probably already have fifty different ways to > communicate with Cuba, so I suspect that this embargo is really only > hurting those who make casual calls back to relatives in Cuba. > ... so you'd practically have to block all calls to ANY country > that allows customers to have more than one phone line(!) in order to > totally prevent any U.S. caller from being able to have a call extended > into Cuba. I'm sure the bad guys already know this, so only the > "little people" are being hurt by this inane regulation. The main purpose of the US government's ban for calls to Cuba is economic, not military. They don't want the Cuban telco (i.e. government) to get paid for their end of the call. I don't think anybody in the US government is seriously thinking that they're preventing spies and so on from calling home. They just don't want to line Castro's pockets with Yankee dollars. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Flow Control With Unixware Date: 4 Aug 1993 21:21:03 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In vid@io.org (David Mason) writes: > Finally, while I am here and this is sort of applicable, does anyone > know of any inexpensive device/card/whatever that would allow us to > reset the systems remotely? Sometimes one of them will die and it > isn't possible to come here quickly to reboot, so I'd like to be able > to do it remotely. Even something as simple as something that hooked > to a phone line and put the power off for a minute then on when > triggered properly would be good. I just got such a system set up for my voice response server last week. I considered rigging something up myself as a last resort, but I preferred an off-the-shelf solution, and I found one at Radio Shack. It's part of their Plug-N-Power AC carrier remote control system (also marketed as BSR or X-10 by others). I used a standard appliance remote module (under $15). The key piece of this is the telephone remote control device. Nobody in any of the stores knew anything about it, and of course looked at me as if I was from Mars when I described what I wanted it to do, which was "control the Plug-N-Power remotes by dialing in on the telephone and punching in commands." I went home dismayed, but was sure I had seen such a device at RS in the past. Checking my catalog, it was indeed there. Going back to the store, I pointed it out in the catalog. It turns out it is a special order item, and is not stocked in the stores normally, which is why nobody knew about it. It costs $79. The remote device works rather well. You set a security code, from one to three digits. I have it set up on my modem line, which normally only places outgoing calls. When I call that line, it answers after six or seven rings, and prompts with three beeps. I enter the security code, then one or more commands. I can have up to ten remotes, and can turn each one off or on individually. So, to reboot my switch, I just turn remote one off, wait a few seconds, and turn remote one back on. It works great, and I have an off-the-shelf solution, which is both FCC and UL certified, for under $100. And, I can add up to nine more devices to be individually controlled for under $15 each. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: Craig R. Watkins Subject: Re: Is There a Way to Skip "Thank You For Using AT&T?" Date: 4 Aug 93 18:17:03 EST Organization: HRB Systems, Inc. > [Moderator's Note: You might try putting '#' at the end of the calling > card number to process things a little faster. I don' think it will > then avoid the 'thank you' message, but it might get you to that point > a couple seconds faster. PAT] That definitely helps, particularly on the four digit Call Manager numbers. I've considered the "Thank you ..." message in the past and wondered if removing would actually speed up the call or not. I would guess that it would since when you're at that point it has already done all the verification that it needs to do. Craig R. Watkins crw@icf.hrb.com HRB Systems, Inc. +1 814 238-4311 ------------------------------ Date: 04 Aug 1993 23:18:07 +0000 (GMT) From: kls@ARGUS.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Karl L. Swartz) Subject: Re: Maximum Number of Phone Lines to a Residence? Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center jms@Opus1.COM posted: >> Busy forwarding is pretty much what I wanted, >> although it's not as perfectly robust as a hunt group ... What's the difference? Is there some additional delay involved in busy forwarding or what? Karl Swartz |INet kls@unixhub.slac.stanford.edu SLAC Computing Services | or kls@ditka.chicago.com 1-415/926-3630 |UUCP uunet!lll-winken!unixhub!kls -or- ditka!kls (SLAC and the US Dept. of Energy don't necessarily agree with my opinions.) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 21:16 GMT From: Bruce Sullivan Subject: Re: ATT Dedicated Lines > A friend asked me who to talk to at AT&T about leasing a > dedicated 56kb line to Latin America. > Does anyone have any contact info for the department at AT&T that > provides this service? Charlie, AT&T Small Business Systems and Fax: 1.800.247.7000 Large Business Communications Systems: 1.800.247.1212 Or, try your local Business Marketing Sales Office. I found all of the above in the business listings of my local phone book. I'll bet they're in yours too. Bruce (4544760@mcimail.com or 72747.2737@compuserve.com) ------------------------------ Date: 04 Aug 93 18:33:38 EST From: Karl Johnson Subject: Re: Maryland NPA Split vs Population More than one reader of TCD in recent issues of the Digest have commented that the largest CITY and the state Capitol moved into NPA 410 in the split of NPA 301. (One commented that DC and Baltimore are about the same size). This overlooks the size of the counties forming the suburbs of Washington. The largest COUNTY in Maryland (Montgomery County) is larger in population than Baltimore and remained in 301. The other county bordering DC (Prince George's County) is the second or third largest City/County (Baltimore is the other). The Washington suburbs are currently extending into counties that are closer to Baltimore than DC (I saw an article in the WASHINGTON POST several years ago on people who live in Baltimore and work in DC. In fact I have a friend who lives inside the Baltimore Beltway and works in Reston, VA southwest of DC. I believe that more than 50% of the people in Maryland kept the 301 AC. The source of Montgomery County as the largest City/County is the 1990 census. It passed Baltimore City in the 1980s. Baltimore has very small suburbs. Karl ------------------------------ From: narla@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Gowri Narla) Subject: Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing Organization: Purdue University Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 03:19:27 GMT In article , Anonymous (telecom@eecs. nwu.edu) writes: > I have no idea what will happen in the future. My lawyer is still > working on getting everything expunged, and I will just have to hope. > Maybe I'll just try to stay in school for the rest of my life. Thanks to the anonymous hacker for the candid thoughts. I wish I could help. BTW, I would like to suggest an interesting reading, which is not directly related, but which might help the anonymous person ponder. It's a novel by McMahoney titled, "LOVING LITTLE EGYPT". It's the story of a brilliant blind kid at the turn of the century who, with an instinct and understanding of sound and telephony, is able to create and travel thru networks. Kind of a "Lord of the Flies" story? Won't say more -- let's hear your comments. Very interesting read. Ram Narla narla@egr.msu.edu [Moderator's Note: Will the person who wrote the original on this thread, asking me to keep it anonymous, write to me again please. I have something to pass along, and I've already ditched your address so I can't send what arrived. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Mystery Caller Date: 4 Aug 93 23:03:31 PDT (Wed) From: pa@verano.sba.ca.us (Pierre Asselin) cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler -- Phish) writes: >> I put a terminal program up and couldn't get a response. But I have >> determined that the system on the other end is *attempting* to >> handshake with a BREAK,pause, sequence. About 1/2 sec break, 1/2 sec >> pause. It repeats until it gives up after 20 seconds or so. > This sounds a lot like UNIX to me. UUCP, in particular ... A UUCP program trying to log in would wait a lot longer than 1/2 sec between breaks, though. Furthermore, it would send that sequence only if its configurable chat script told it to. Changing speed on a break is indeed a common Unix convention. The "getty" program that listens for incoming calls *may* be configured to cycle through a list of speeds when it detects a break. This convention is becoming obsolete, because many modems can now negotiate one speed over the phone line and talk to the computer at another speed. It's easier to run the getty at a fixed speed and let the modem do the buffering. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Aug 93 23:03:31 PDT (Wed) From: pa@verano.sba.ca.us (Pierre Asselin) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced > [Moderator's Note: You are correct where UUCP transmissions are > concerned but I don't think UUCP is the sort of casual connection > being discussed here. For UUCP there has to be a pre-arranged deal; > you and the other end have to agree in advance on certain things: The site administrator can also set up an "anonymous uucp" account and publish the login name and password. > *I know* that uunet has or had a 900 number for downloads from their > extensive library of holdings, but I was not aware they serviced their > UUCP logins via 900. Their paying UUCP customers don't use the 900 number, since UUNET can bill them later. Their accounts allow them to send and receive mail/news as well as download archive files. The anonymous account on the 900 number is just a convenient way to download files without signing up for anything. For the record, here is the login prompt. > UUNET Communications Services (uunet) > Use of this 900 number costs $0.50 per minute. This will be > billed on your regular phone bill. If you don't wish to pay > this, hang up now. No additional transfers are allowed after > 30 minutes of connect time. > login: That should keep the regulators happy ... Disclaimer: I have no connection with uunet. Pierre Asselin, Santa Barbara, California pa@verano.sba.ca.us [Moderator's Note: But as pointed out by some, UUCP operates without human intervention. So who is there to see the warning message? PAT] ------------------------------ From: paulb@techbook.techbook.com (Paul Buder) Subject: Re: Calls From Prison Date: 4 Aug 1993 03:48:58 -0700 Organization: TECHbooks - Public Access Sometimes I get an automated operator in Oregon and sometimes not. I know someone who spent time in the Washington County Jail. The AOS identified itself as Gateway Technologies (bleh -- can you believe that name?) and it showed up on the phone bill as from Operator Assistance Network. When she was moved to the state prison in Salem all calls came from US West. They were automated once in a while but usually I heard a live operator say "This is US West. [...] is calling collect from a correctional facility. The call may be monitored. Will you accept the charges? paulb@techbook.COM Not affiliated with TECHbooks Paul Buder Public Access UNIX at (503) 220-0636 (1200/2400, N81) ------------------------------ From: marks!charles@jyacc.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) Subject: Re: Alternates Wanted to "Call Me" Cards Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 9:59:28 EDT The Moderator has recommended a low-cost 800 number as an alternative to a "Call Me" card. I second his recommendation. I have one, and it has proven itself very handy. I use it when I'm away from the office, and our nanny uses it to call us (e.g., from the subway station to report she's stuck). [Moderator's Note: Well, whichever one you have, you don't have mine! How about switching it over? You can keep the same 800 number if you wish, but the business on my end would sure be great about now! :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: scheert@nic.cerf.net (Tom Scheer) Subject: Re: Exact Frequencies of 900MHz Cordless Phones USA/Germany Date: 4 Aug 1993 16:04:03 GMT Organization: CERFnet Dial n' CERF Customer 900 MHz cordless phones in the US may use any frequency from 902 MHz to 928 MHz inclusive. There are no specified frequency steps or spacing. Phones currently available are using from 20 to 100 different channels. The number of channels is not specified unless Digital Spread Spectrum is used. Tom Scheer scheert@cerf.net ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: CIS Feedback Response Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 16:34:57 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In Article Bruce Sullivan writes: > I'm not sure if "mute point" simply means they don't want to talk about > it or what ... ;-) It means that they don't know the difference between "moot" and "mute". A moot point is one that may be debated, but is no longer of real significance. For example, whether someone should be executed is moot after he's dead! That does not mean it is not worthy of discussion and debate, but no matter what the discussion leads to, he's still dead. In this case, since there is no longer an extra charge for CIS to MCImail, CIS feels that the issue is no longer of significance (maybe), and is moot. So they are not going to "waste" too much time talking about it. Common problem, right up there with the physical (fiscal) year. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 Disclaimer: Being a know-it-all isn't easy. It's especially tough when you don't know that much. But I'll keep trying. (Both) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 10:56:59 CST From: bruce@zuhause.MN.ORG (Bruce Albrecht) Subject: Re: Cell Phone Fraud Losses Triple in a Year In , wiegand@rtsg.mot.com writes: > upchrch!joel@peora.sdc.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) writes: >> Is it just me or does surface mounting the firmware sound really dumb? >> Most boards I've seen the ROM's will be socketed even if everything >> else is surface mounted. I'm not an EE, but I'd think that if I had to >> surface mount the ROM I'd use an EEPROM and design it so I could >> reprogram it in place. I doubt that someone is going to like hearing >> that their $1,000 phone's problem can't be fixed because the firmware >> can't be updated. > You have to remember the type of product these parts are in. It has to > be very small and as low cost as possible. A DIP ROM chip in a socket > is just way too big and too expensive to put into a portable cellular > phone. EEPROM memories are also way too expensive. Not so expensive that GSM cellular phones tend to use $10-$20 smart cards (essentially a microcomputer with EEPROM) for maintaining subscriber information and the current algorithm forencryption/ identification. It seems to me that when fraud losses get large enough, the $10 additional cost of a smart card or embedded EEPROM would be cheaper for the cellular phone subscriber to bear than increased charges by the carrier to compensate for phone fraud. bruce@zuhause.mn.org ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 11:28:06 CST From: bruce@zuhause.MN.ORG (Bruce Albrecht) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! In , fred@page6.pinetree.org (Fred Ennis) wrote: > Here's what every person who ever answers the phone in a small company > should know: > 1. Do not give any info about office equipment, especially model or > serial numbers out to ANY caller for any reason. > 2. Do not give permission to ship to anyone who calls, unless you, > personally, have placed the order. > 3. Check all incoming shipments against what you ordered, and from > which supplier. > Those three rules make it much more difficult for these scam artists > to operate. Unfortunately, most small businesses are not that well > organized, and these scams prey on that. I think Rule 2 is extremely important. I once took a phone call where the scammer was trying to sell computer related cleaning supplies, and she made it sound like they were going to send us some FREE SAMPLES. I was suspicious, and told her that I was not authorized to make purchases, and asked enough questions until she admitted that she was not giving anything away. Unfortunately, I transferred her to the person who could buy stuff, instead of telling her off (and hanging up on her). bruce@zuhause.mn.org ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Date: 4 Aug 1993 20:09:01 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In gavron@spades.aces.com (Ehud Gavron) writes: > ENOUGH ALREADY on toner phoners. It has little if anything to do > with TELCOM, and it's hardly unlawful ... I saw several of these type of scams with my living group when I was in college. They are often targets to these sorts of scams. We would get cases of light bulbs, toilet "blue" things, etc. Of course, everybody just ripped open the packages and used them, and the bill would show up a few weeks later, for some outrageous amount. I remember a case of 100 of the toilet blue things that were later billed at $4 each! Invariably, when called, the companies would say that they spoke to a particular person (who indeed lived there) and that they had approved the purchase. When checking with that person, they would report that the person had called wanting to "confirm the address for your supplies order." Also, we had a semi-public pay telephone. We would get the Yellow Pages advertising scam every now and then. Basically, it was something marketed as a "confirmation of your Yellow Pages listing." Basically, they had taken our listing out of the real LEC Yellow Pages (which we got for free for paying for the semi-public payphone), and implied that you were just "confirming" it for next year. The fine print on the back revealed that what you were really doing is confirming your order in some no-name book for $35 a year. They prey on the fact that many people believe that the trademark "Yellow Pages" can only be used by the real telephone company. Of course, all of the competing books are "Yellow Pages" as well, complete with the "walking fingers" logo. Either the term and the logo are in the public domain, or they can be licensed from somewhere by anyone. It fools a lot of people in thinking that they are renewing their real Yellow Pages listing. > Give me a break and go back to arguing if The Breakup was Good or > Evil, whether Steve will surplant John, or if the Pacific Northwest > gets enough rain (both Steve and John will have insight, I'm sure). I'm glad you asked, Ehud. Actually, it's been quite nice up here in the great Northwest this past week. Today's forecast is for clear sunny skies with a high around 88. Until this week, however, we've had only two days of sunshine the whole summer. The drought is not nearly as bad as it was last year. Then, we had water rationing, with no landscaping watering allowed all summer (a much tighter restriction than in most areas in California, which is famous for summertime droughts, where the most they do is restrict you to every-other day watering). But not this year. It's been raining quite a bit, actually. Again, thank you for your concern. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: daveb%jaws@dsinet.dgtl.com (David Breneman) Subject: Re: Beware of "Toner-Phoners"! Date: 4 Aug 93 19:34:36 GMT Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA Stephen Friedl (friedl@mtndew.Tustin.CA.US) wrote: > On Friday he showed me the latest scam: he got a "commission > statement" plus a check for about $12 that itemized earnings from four > phones (which my customer did not operate). The obvious scam here is > that the back of the check had an endorsement qualifier that said that > depositing this check was authorization to change LD carriers. > While my libertarian principles might say that vigilance is the price > of liberty and every company has an obligation to be careful when > doing business, these payslime really push it. How obnoxious. > My customer is furious about this check thing and is going to investigate > legal action; it dances around the edges of fraud. At a firm I used to work for, US Sprint on several occasions sent in checks for $25.00, made out to the firm, with fine print saying that endorsement of the check was authorization to switch carriers. Twice, these checks made it as far as Accounts Receivable, and it was only when the AP clerk couldn't find any remittance advice and attempted to match the check amount with open balances in the "customer"'s (US Sprint's) account that the fraud was discovered. At the first incidence, I called and complained. The second incidence coincided with a visit from a Sprint representative. I showed him the "check" and complained vigorously. He said he was unaware of the practice (plausible) and called back a couple days later saying that this "campaign" was aimed as "different businesses" and we'd received the "promotional offer" by mistake. When we received a *third* such check a month later (this one was caught before it made it to AP) I resolved that I would never allow any firm or person over whom I had any control or persuasion to ever use US Sprint as their long distance carrier. I too am a Libertarian and a card-carrying Ayn Rand Capitalist, and my philosphy is, make these unethical practices known, and The Market will take care of these slime. May they be strangled in their sleep by Adam Smith's Invisible Hand :-) David Breneman Email: daveb@jaws.engineering.dgtl.com System Administrator, Software Engineering Services Digital Systems International, Inc. Voice: 206 881-7544 Fax: 206 556-8033 ------------------------------ From: thouse@sol.UVic.CA Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Organization: University of Victoria Date: 4 Aug 93 17:27:32 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Let us consider the initials MCC. On the one hand, > it is the abbreviation for the federal Bureau of Prisons Metropolitan > Correctional Centers, the prisons located in downtown Chicago, San > Diego, and a few other places. On the other hand, it is also a very > accepted abbreviation for the Metropolitan Community Church. :) Being of English background, and not necessarily a Cricket fan, MCC of course means Marelybone Cricket Club, the governing body for cricket. [Moderator's Note: So we were told, a couple issues back. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #541 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa04677; 5 Aug 93 4:44 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01990 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 02:38:31 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07388 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 02:37:46 -0500 Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1993 02:37:46 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050737.AA07388@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #542 TELECOM Digest Thu, 5 Aug 93 02:37:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 542 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing (Harold Hallikainen) Re: Lead in the Industry (Mark A. Cnota) Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? (Harold Hallikainen) Re: Dark Fibre (Anthony E. Siegman) Re: No, They Are Not Toll Numbers (Marshall Levin) Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitols (Tony Pelliccio) Re: CCITT, ITU-T or TSS? (Ken Rossen) Re: Borneo Malaysia Phones (Jon Allen) Re: Used Cell Phone $ (Laurence Chiu) Re: Zoom Hotshot (*67) Problem (Ken Jongsma) Re: Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? (Daniel MacKay) Re: Need Sources/Info For Cheap Voicemail (David Appleton) Re: Relative Time (was Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing) (Rob Boudrie) Re: Computer System Liability (Mike King) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Voice Recognition and Third Party Billing Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 02:13:13 GMT In article JIM.J.MURPHY@gte.sprint.com writes: > After the Boing and the ATT announcement, I just waited, and instead > of an operator, another announcement said, "This is ATT. Please say: > Collect, Calling Card, Third Number, Person to Person, or Operator, > now." > I said "Third Number" in my clearest and most distinct voice and the > announcement then said, "Using Touch Tones, please enter the area code > and number you wish to bill this call to, now". And my call completed > as normal. Is there any advantage to using voice recognition for the type of billing when the person has to key in a number anyway? It seems that it would be far simpler to just give a menu of choices and wait for a DTMF back with the choice. I've also heard system that first thing ask you to hit a key if you have a DTMF phone. If not, they immediately switch you to an operator, instead of giving you all these choices you don't have on a rotary phone then timing out. Anyway, voice recognition is real neat and fancy, but does it really have an advantage in this application? Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: mac@rci.chi.il.us (Mark A. Cnota) Subject: Re: Lead in the Industry Organization: Ripco Communications Incorporated Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 21:58:36 GMT In dave.carpentier@oln.com writes: > With all the concern over health hazards these days, I'd like to know > how many teleco's still use lead sheathed cables and lead sleeves > (closures). I routinely have to work with the stuff as a cable > splicer. I work on the engineering side of OSP in Ameritech (Illinois Bell) and as far as I know our splicers are converting underground lead sleeves to waffle cases whenever feasible. Besides the obvious health issues, it seems like none of the new guys are learning how to work with lead at all. If our engineering prints call for working with lead cables, they include a note cautioning of lead oxide exposure, but I don't know if this is actually supposed to serve as some kind of disclaimer in regards to some OSHA regulations. Mark A. Cnota mac@rci.chi.il.us mcnota@interaccess.com ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 02:43:10 GMT In article andy@vistachrome.com writes: > djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > The Motorola / UDS "DAS 925" V.32bis MDP modem is exactly what you > want. You plug 24 of these little babies into a rack, attach T-1 > interface card, and out the back comes up to 24 standard RS-232 serial > ports suitable for attachment to the terminal server or multi-port > serial box for Toronto Freenet. Why is it necessary to have 24 little boxes converting the T1 to 24 RS232 lines? That then requires 24 serial ports on the computer. It seems that there should be a "box" that directly takes the T1, DSP demodulates it and converts it to a SINGLE data stream that then connects to the computer. The computer can then take this datastream apart in software (if fast enough), or in hardware, if not. The single data stream might use something like X.PC to identify which data goes where. For that matter, I'd expect to see some FANCY DSP board that plugs into a PC that directly accepts a T1 and looks like 24 16550 chips to the PC bus. The board would use DSP to do all the modem standards plus accept switched 56 and ISDN data calls. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: Anthony E. Siegman Subject: Re: Dark Fibre Organization: Stanford University Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 03:40:14 GMT Just for the record, there are also "dark solitons" that propagate on fibers (and AT&T Bell Labs has done pioneering research on them). A soliton is a short pulse of light that propagates in a fiber for infinite distance without changing in shape or increasing in width, even in a dispersive fiber, held together by a balance between dispersive spreading and a certain kind of nonlinear pulse compression effect. A dark soliton is a "dark space" in an otherwise continuously illuminated fiber which has the same propagation properties, provided the dispersion in the fiber is of opposite sign. Most common glass fibers will propagate dark solitons at wavelengths in the visible and out to a little beyond one micron, and bright solitions at longer wavelengths. Bright solitons may be used in real fiber systems some day, but are not being used as yet (I don't think); dark solitons are unlikely to find practical use. ------------------------------ From: mlevin@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshall Levin) Subject: Re: No, They Are Not Toll Numbers Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci. Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 03:48:24 GMT TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM (Paul Robinson) writes: > to be placed via AT&T; if you called it via another carrier, the > caller got a recording telling the caller to dial 10288 first. The > recording was the *real* number; AT&T terminated the calls to the > number in question someplace else (the chat line equipment), and paid > the provider the 2c per minute termination fee for each call made over > AT&T. > to be connected via AT&T. If you were to dial the number 1 503 520 > 2222 by any means except AT&T (either local in the 503 area code, or > dialing it over MCI), you'd get a busy signal. If you dial via 10288 > or your long distance company is AT&T, you'd get a modem carrier. > AT&T pays them the 2c per minute connection fee that would have to be > paid to the local company; means no difference to them. Ugh! This sounds terribly unethical! What ever happened to equal access? What ever happened to being able to choose any carrier to provide the connection between two areas, with the understanding that any carrier could connect you to the local phone number? Is this even legal!? [Moderator's Note: It is perfectly legal for the recipient of a call to refuse to *accept* connections from carriers other than X. Equal access means you have the right to place calls to telephones *which wish to accept your calls* over any carrier you choose. I say I won't talk to you if you call via MCI or Sprint and will only talk to you if you call me via AT&T (as an example). How do I prevent other carriers from ringing my phone? Well, I don't actually, but I either leave the phone off the hook all the time or I answer with a recorded message saying I refuse to talk to you since you did not call on AT&T. Then I go to AT&T and we arrange that whenever AT&T sees a call to my number coming through their switch, they intercept it and send it out to me on a direct line, or T1, or similiar from their switch, bypassing the local telco completely. So you call me on AT&T, they grab the call and hand it over directly. You call me on MCI/Sprint/others and they hand the call to the local telco in my community which in turn tries to connect to my phone only to get a message telling you I won't accept your calls because, etc. Now, why would I do this? Because I am a smart person and realize my inbound traffic is creating a lot of money for long distance carriers along the way. I go to the carriers and say which of you will give me a kickback for forcing all my traffic over to you? AT&T offers me two pennies each time I get a call as their way of saying thanks for the business I generate by doing whatever I do to induce thousands of computerists, excited men, or whoever to call me each day. Equal access merely guarentees you can dial outbound calls via the carrier you wish; it does not require call recipients to ever accept your calls. PAT] ------------------------------ From: system@garlic.sbs.com Date: Wed, 04 Aug 93 22:08:41 EDT Subject: Re: Area-Code Splits and State Capitols system@garlic.sbs.com (Tony Pelliccio) Wrote: >> One State, One Rate ... a plan that has been shot down by our Public >> Utilities Commission several times because in reality, it's the >> Utility's Utility Commission. TELECOM Moderator noted: > [Moderator's Note: How many miles wide and long is RI? PAT] Rhode Island is approximately 35 x 45 miles. I forgot to mention, Acquidneck Island (Which is Newport and Jamestown) can't call BEYOND the island without incurring a toll. Also, there's south county which has an even worse calling area than Pawtucket. We get raped by New England Telephone on a regular basis, for example, I'll compare costs between RI 401 and MA 508 for basic services: MA RI Diff Call Waiting 2.58 3.85 1.27 Call Forward 2.57 3.85 1.28 Three-Way 3.15 4.55 1.40 Speed-Call 8 2.10 3.05 .95 Speed-Call 30 4.12 6.10 1.98 Unlimited Service for a 508 telephone ranges from $8.90 to $14.18 a month. In 401 it runs $12.37 to $16.64. Of course, in MA they DO stick to the 11 mile toll limit so that might have something to do with it. In addition, from a Providence exchange I can also call: (508) 252 (Rehoboth, MA) (508) 379 (North Swansea, MA) (508) 761 (Attleboro, MA) Without getting nailed for a toll call, but yet Pawtucket can call (508) 761 ONLY. Strange ... Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR, Control Op 441.750+, ARRL VE system @ garlic.sbs.com Soon W5YI VE ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 19:00:17 -0400 From: kenr@shl.com (Ken Rossen) Subject: Re: CCITT, ITU-T or TSS? Here's one data point: In ISO/IEC we work collaboratively with the relevant group in ITU on the Directory standard (X.500). The output documents from our recent joint meeting (an interim meeting for the ITU folks), the group was referred to in output documents as "ITU-TS" (where "TS" is "Telecommunication Standards" and the second "S" for "Sector" is implied). Also, the output documents did in fact replace "CCITT Recommendation" with "ITU-TS Recommendation" even for older docs (viz., the "ITU-TS X.500 Series of Recommendations"{and "ISO/IEC 9594-9 | X.525"), but I saw some variation on that point. I would probably refer to the group as "ITU-TS" in anything new I was writing, and refer to the docs (old and new) as ITU-TS Recommendations, but not rush to change old bibliographies in standing documents until I'm sure the terminology takes. KENR@SHL.COM ------------------------------ From: jrallen@devildog.att.com (Jon Allen) Subject: Re: Borneo Malaysia Phones Organization: AT&T IMS - Piscataway, NJ (USA) Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 14:22:09 GMT In article franklin@ecse.rpi.edu (Wm Randolph Franklin) writes: > Smartfon is a 100m range cordless phone, which you use near to a > posted transmitter. It's smaller than a cellular phone, which I think > may also be available. If this is the same as the System used in Singapore, then you can make only outgoing calls. All over Singapore are the little signs where you can use your phone to dial out. Since many people in Singapore carry Cell Phones, I would guess these short range phones are marketed to those folks who cannot afford the Cell Phones (the short range phones were very cheap). Very interesting concept -- I had not heard of it being used anywhere else. Another interesting feature in Singapore is the integration of the phone and paging systems. From most phones, you dial a pager and just press the star key twice (**). This transmits the number of the phone you are calling from to the pager. Very handy -- sorta like pager Caller-ID. Jon Allen ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Used Cell Phone $ From: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) Date: 4 Aug 93 22:23:00 GMT Organization: The Transfer Station BBS, Danville, CA - 510-837-4610/837-5591 Reply-To: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) In a article, Harold Hallikainen said: > In article Steve Edwards > writes: >> I live in California where bundling cell phones and activation is >> illegal. Thus, the price for a used cell phone is usually in the $200 >> to $400 range. >> In states that allow bundling and the price of a new phone may only be >> $50 or even free, what do used cell phones sell for? > I saw an ad for a cell phone for something like $99.95 in this > morning's {LA Times}. No activation required (since it's in CA). > Pretty amazing! Well I have heard radio adverts for cell phones that could be rented for as little as 99c/month (minimum of 6 months rental period - cellular connetion extra of course). This is in the SF Bay Area. That sounds like an amazing rate also since it gives you a fairly cheap entry in the technology to see if you like it. I don't know what kind of phone but I suspect perhaps a Motorola "brick" style. Laurence Chiu The Transfer Station BBS (510) 837-4610 & 837-5591 (V.32bis both lines) Danville, California, USA. 1.5 GIG Files & FREE public Internet Access ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 08:34:11 EDT From: Ken Jongsma Reply-To: jongsma@swdev.si.com Subject: Re: Zoom Hotshot (*67) Problem I wrote (regarding the Hot Shot dialer): > The problem: the unit apparently interferes with my modem. Calls at > 14.4 will no longer connect to any other site, including the Practical > Peripherals BBS. Calls at 9600 or slower seem to be OK. Jeff Hupp suggests: > Try this. Plug the unit into the 'phone' jack on the modem. > The modem should disconnect the unit from the line when it > goes off hook (mine does). This will have the effect of the unit bing > there only if the modem is not making a call. You, of course, will > need to program your modem to send *67. This is what I did and it does indeed solve the problem. In fact, the modem does not cut off the Hot Shot until it detects carrier, so I did not have to change any dialing strings. One other interesting fact: If I dial before the Hot Shot sends *67, the Hot Shot will not step in and dial. So if I want to send my number for some reason, all I need do is start dialing before the automatic *67. Very nice. Thanks for the suggestion. Kenneth R Jongsma jongsma@swdev.si.com Smiths Industries 73115.1041@compuserve.com Grand Rapids, Michigan +1 616 241 7702 ------------------------------ From: daniel@nstn.ns.ca (Daniel MacKay) Subject: Re: Sources For Restoring Vintage Phone? Organization: NSTN Network Operations Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 14:28:13 GMT In edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) writes: I've bought some phone, radio, and wire recorder gear from the Antique Electronic Supply Co, in Tempe, Arizona, 602-820-5411. They're fun to deal with, ship quick, and have a beautiful catalog. Daniel MacKay daniel@nstn.ns.ca Homo habilis Nova Scotia, Canada ------------------------------ From: daveappl@solomon.technet.sg (David Appleton) Subject: Re: Need Sources/Info For Cheap Voicemail Organization: Technet, Singapore Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 15:07:43 GMT Dub Dublin,HOU281 2303,CTN-596-3199, (hwdub@chevron.com) wrote: > I need to find information about, and sources of *inexpensive* voice > mail systems. I need a fair amount of programmability (new voice > information service), so I'm assuming a PC-based system is my best > bet. If it's real cheap, I'll go single-line for now, until I pick up > some more customers, but I think I'm really going to need a multi-line > system soon. It's VERY important that the system be able to execute > arbitrary commands in the OS as a result of a user menu choice. > Faxback would be a very desirable plus, but needn't be part of the > voicemail system, since if it meets the previous criterion, I can do > it external to the voicemail system. > I need info/sources/prices ASAP if I'm going to get this project going. Try Talking Technologies Inc. Their BigmOuth card has an API (available separately) so you can write DOS programs to use it. For the less adventurous, you can write a menu access structure that can call dos programs. This way you can write SMALL programs to call the API for the custom stuff and return to the menu structure for the simple stuff like the announcements and menus. The also have the powerline which is a two line system with up to eight cards in a PC with an API for that. I believe they also have script file stuff. As for phone number, etc. Sorry ! -- but they are in Silicon Valley I think. Check in the small ads in {Dr Dobbs} and {Computer Language}. Dave Appleton E-mail :daveappl@solomon.technet.sg Proteq Technologies 26 Ayer Rajah Crescent #07-01 Tel : (065)-777-8366 Singapore 1750 Fax : (065)-777-2118 ------------------------------ From: rboudrie@chpc.org (Rob Boudrie) Subject: Re: Relative Time (was Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing) Organization: Center For High Perf. Computing of WPI; Marlboro Ma Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 17:04:15 GMT >> Time is extremely relative as I found out when I spent five years at >> Fort Sill, Oklahoma between January 1963 and April 1963. It is safe to Wasn't it W.C. Fields who said something like "Ahhh yes, Philadelphia -- I spent a week there one night". ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 16:37:32 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Computer System Liability In TELECOM Digest, V13 #532, Pat noted: > [Moderator's Note: You are absolutely correct. In the middle 1970's, > when First National Bank of Chicago mailroom employees were stealing > cash money which arrived in the mail at their remittance box in the > post office in error instead of my box, where it belonged, getting the > post office or FNB to do anything about it at all was nearly impossible > 60690 post office as well. I'll print an account of the whole sordid > affair if anyone is interested. But yes, big companies do violate the > laws all the time with impunity. You try it! PAT] I'm always interested to hear when the little guy has a victory, of any size, over big business. Do tell! Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) [Moderator's Note: Maybe I will tomorrow or the day after. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #542 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa06691; 5 Aug 93 6:05 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00569 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 03:51:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06138 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 5 Aug 1993 03:50:27 -0500 Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1993 03:50:27 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308050850.AA06138@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #543 TELECOM Digest Thu, 5 Aug 93 03:50:20 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 543 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Busy Signal Strangeness (was Re: Revisit ..) (Jack Decker) Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) (Cliff Sharp) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Alex Griffiths) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Roy M. Silvernail) Re: ETSI Address Needed (Robert Shaw) Re: Networks in Sarejevo? (Harold Hallikainen) Re: 800 ANI Number Changes Behaviour (Shawn Gordhamer) Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House (Brett Elliott) Re: Area 205 to Split (Carl Moore) Re: Motorola Iridium (Juan Parra) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 04 Aug 93 04:37:45 EDT From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: Busy Signal Strangeness (was Re: Revisit ..) In message , Jack.Winslade@axolotl. omahug.org (Jack Winslade) wrote: > Years ago this possibly related anomaly happened to me a few times and > I've never really understood why this was so. I would call a busy > (real case of line busy) number and would get a couple busy-back tones > from the far CO, with loud clicks at the onset of each tone which > almost sounded like line reversal or supervision. The far end busy > would then switch to a local busy (I did verify that it came from MY > switch) and apparently free up the trunk. > These were all LD calls through the old AT&T network back in the old > days. > I haven't noticed this since the breakup. The last time I remember it > happening was the night of the NYC blackout in the late 70's. I > phoned my brother who was on a #5 xbar. I was on a #1 ESS in downtown > Omaha. His line WAS busy -- he verified that when I finally got > through, but every few attempts would result in this switched busy > signal. The call would progress normally. I could hear the hiss of > the analog LD circuit followed by the reverberant 'clunk' at the far > end office, followed by a couple bursts of the loud raucous > BAW-BAW-BAW busy tone, then followed by a switch to the gentle > tweet-tweet-tweet busy tone of the local ESS. The tone was more of a > clickBAWclunk-clickBAWclunk click tweet-tweet-tweet. I can't really explain why this happened in your case, but I do know that GTE North in Michigan has always used a "supervising busy" signal as a test number (generally the exchange prefix + 9999) on their step-by-step exchanges. Any place you can find a GTE step exchange still in existance in Michigan, you'll probably find this test number (three GTE stepper exchanges that I believe still exist in Michigan are Holton, Ravenna, and Coopersville, all in area code 616, and the 821, 853 and 837 exchanges respectively. I'll guess that at least two of those three are still SxS, and maybe all three still are, but all should be converted within the next few years). These numbers do indeed supervise during the buzzing part of the busy tone. Some of you may recall the old GTE three-slot coin phones that collected the money as soon as the party answered (using the polarity reversal on the line to indicate supervision). Some of those were postpay phones (you weren't supposed to actually put in any money UNTIL the party answered) and as a kid, it was real fun to dial one of those test numbers from one of those postpay coin phones, because the internal coin drop mechanism in the phone would operate in time with the buzzing of the busy signal. I don't know what kind of coin collection mechanism they had in those old GTE phones, but when it got to operating in time with that supervising busy signal it could create a rhythm that would vibrate the entire phone booth. It was sort of a poor kid's pinball machine! :-) In the old days, when you called one of these numbers long distance, every time it supervised it would cause a whole bunch of switches down the switch train to kick in, and then when it released the switches would revert back to their normal state. Anyone who knows about the 2600 Hz in-band signalling would understand what was happening. Anyway, if you called one of these and it had to pass though a sufficient number of toll switches, you wouldn't hear the buzz of the busy signal at all, just a chirp of 2600 Hz every second or so and a LOT of clicks as toll switches up the line tried desperately to keep up with the changing supervision state. The funny part was that (at least in those days) you never got billed for calls to those numbers ... I guess the supervised "on" time was never long enough to start the billing mechanism. I would not guarantee that is still the case, however. The one nice thing about being on GTE in those days (one of the FEW nice things) was that, because of the polarity reversal mentioned above, virtually any phone customer could get answer supervision indication on local calls. What would happen is that the polarity of the line would reverse when the call was answered, and stay reversed as long as the called party was off-hook. I've often thought this ought to be required behaviour for new telephone switches, since it would aid telephone users in keeping track of actual phone usage (and also, the dreaded COCOT operators wouldn't have to resort to kludgey and inaccurate methods of determining whether a call was answered). Mind you, I wouldn't want to be back on a GTE step exchange for anything (they were NOT real reliable!). Anyway, the supervising busy signal definitely did (and still does) exist, although I've personally never heard it used on anything but the test numbers. I wonder if maybe it was some sort of "overflow" busy ... something that would kick in during periods of high trunk usage and casuse the AT&T network to release the trunk and generate a local busy signal instead? It would be interesting to know the true details about this one, although I can say that when dialing one of these numbers from within Michigan, I never personally heard the equipment drop back to a locally-generated busy... but then the last time I tried it would have probably been in the late '60's/early 70's. Jack Decker | ao944@yfn.ysu.edu or ac388@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu ------------------------------ From: Cliff Sharp Subject: Re: Radar Detectors (was Re: New AM Band Violates ...) Date: 04 Aug 93 23:07:13 GMT Organization: Telco Systems Network Access Corp In article dave@telco-nac.com (David Cornejo) writes: : Before I left Virginia two years ago, this policy of immediate seizure : had been abandoned (maybe it's been reinstated?) Having had the : experience of a Herndon, Virginia police officer confiscate my radar : detector the procedure went as follows: First the officer asked me to : turn the unit on (to verify that it was capable of being powered), : after he had removed it he called in another police officer to verify : that it was functional. I was informed at the time that it was being : confiscated and that at such time as I was acquitted or had paid the : fine I could reclaim it. I'm just itching for someone to do that to me. Since I'm flat broke and not working, I can afford the litigation. Basic premise: The Communications Act of 1934 and the Comm Act of 1986 specifically grant all control of radio communications equipment to the Federal government, and an amendment to the Constitution (and case law) provides that that preempts the power of the states to regulate it. Also, since I'm a ham and I carry my 2M equipment with me everywhere, the car becomes a licensed station; a provision of the Act provides that vandalism of a licensed station of ANY kind is a Federal crime. (I don't know if a court would find that theft of part of the equipment constituted vandalism, though. Theft is not specifically covered to my knowledge.) So ... First, I'd explain the license; then I'd explain the Communications Acts; then I'd ask him for his Federal enforcement credentials, and when he couldn't produce them, inform him that it would be a violation of Federal law for me to give it to them, that if they took it it would constitute theft, and the license placed that theft under Federal jurisdiction. They'd take it anyway, but I'd be in court to file charges immediately, have the Federal Marshals searching their police station for the detector, and charge them and the entire chain of command up to the legislature of the State with conspiracy to commit theft of radio equipment from a licensed station. In case it's important to anyone, the X-band portion of the radar detector does receive a portion of the 10.0-10.5 GHz amateur radio band and can thus be considered to constitute a part of the station. [RUMOR mode ON] I understand the threat of such action spurred Michigan to get rid of their prohibition on radar detectors. [RUMOR mode OFF] > (P.S. If you're ever in Herndon, don't mess with the cops, one once > gave me a 10mph over ticket while his partner stood off my front > bumper and pointedly unsnapped his holster. I guess they were afraid I > would try and shoot my way out of a $50 fine.) That would also come up in the Federal proceedings. I believe there's also coverage in the Comm acts about threatening a licensed station with weapons. Something about terrorism, but it applies. This might or might not work, but it would cost them dearly in any event to find themselves in Federal District Court and the publicity would kill them. Lest all this sound silly or fruitless, let me mention that I recently won a speeding case by proving that the officer didn't know whether he had a valid FCC license to operate the radar gun under 47 CFR 90, and could not produce a copy of a valid license (which, if it existed, would have been right down the hall); and that he didn't have a copy of such license prominently posted at the transmitting station location (read: his patrol car). (In actual point of fact, I indicated 29 in a 30 zone, was charged with 36, and found that my speedometer was reading 2 mph high, so I was actually doing 27; so I don't feel the least remorse about it. Also, the cop refused to get out and look at my speedometer when it was indicating 12 MPH at a full stop.) It's a safe bet; FCC has recently taken enforcement action against a number of police jurisdictions for operating radar with an expired license. Cliff Sharp clifto@indep1.chi.il.us OR clifto@indep1.uucp WA9PDM Use whichever one works [Moderator's Note: First, try that explanation around here and a lot of Chicago police would be upside your head in a minute. Second, for all your knowledge of FCC regs, how come you failed to mention the one which specifically says you are forbidden to act upon or profit from transmissions you happen to overhear which are not intended for you? What you hear on WGN-Channel 9 is intended for you to act upon and benefit from, i.e. the sponsor's messages. Radio transmissions in the frequency range where RADAR (it is an acronym for something, I forget what right now) are *not* broadcasts. They are transmissions by (presumably) licensed radio operators and/or their employees (the police). They are not for your ears. How do you act upon or benefit from what you overhear on RADAR? You slow your car down don't you? You act in your own best interest to avoid a ticket, don't you? That amounts to acknowledging that you overheard something on the radio, which is illegal to do. You can't tell me that anyone listens to RADAR just because they are interested in the transmissions in the way a person listens to a scanner out of curiosity about what is going on. You listen to (or observe) your RADAR unit for one reason only: to act upon and benefit from what you happen to hear (or see, if it has a blinking light). That, on its face is a violation of FCC regs, the same as to listen to other types of two-way radio transmissions then benefit from them is illegal. You also seem somehow to think that a local police officer cannot detain or arrest you for violations of federal law. They certainly can; they can take cases to the US Attorney just as easily as they can take cases to the local prosecutor. Most cops would tell you that you have a smart mouth. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dag@ossi.com (Alex Griffiths) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Date: 5 Aug 1993 00:19:52 -0700 Organization: Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, Inc. > [Moderator's Note: Maybe I am missing something here. Every UUCP-style > account I have ever seen requires that the host have a daemon-user by > the login name of 'uusomething'. When 'something' calls in, there is > not only the password sequence, but a remote identification, handshaking, > window openings, etc. For 'something' to get its mail or news, there > have to be things similar to a .newsrc file in place, no? Otherwise > how does the host know who to give mail to and who has received which > news, etc? I know (or am pretty sure) that UUNET has an anonymous > FTP-like thing running on a 900 number, but anonymous UUCP? How does > that work? How could the host possibly know how to hand out mail and > news under the circumstances? PAT] Uunet does have anonymous uucp service available, as do a number of other sites. While this is not too common any more, due to the availability of ftp, it is possible. In Uunet's case you call 1-900-GOT-SRCS and login with the username uucp and no password, after that you can request files using the uuxfer program. I'm not sure how much Uunet charges for the service but I do remember that the entire X11 sources would cost about $250 at 9600 baud, if anyone can remember how big they are then it would be fairly simple to work out how much the per minute charges would be. I do recall that they have Sprint service and Sprint policy only allows thirty minutes of connect time so something as big as X11 would require batched transfers. Of-course, since there is no system identification, outside the username, in the uucp protocol, it is not possible to receive mail, although sending mail should be alright. In fact, the only problem with receiving mail is that the system being called would simply try to deliver it to the first system that connected. uucp actually transfers mail in the same way files are moved, if a system has mail waiting it simply queues it as a normal file transfer where the file is the message and it is to be placed in the standard mail spool directory, usually /usr/spool/mqueue. The uux program runs periodically and puts the file in the spool directory, the mailer, frequently sendmail, also runs periodically and picks up the mail just as if it had been generated locally. The mailer examines the mail and sees who it should go to, if it is local it puts it in the users mail file, if not it passes it appropriately, usually via SMTP over TCP/IP or via uucp again. Because of all this, during anonymous uucp the caller can schedule a mail file to be delivered just like any other file, although the callee cannot do the reverse since because it doesn't know if the caller is the correct recipient. Experienced uucp'ers will notice that the above is somewhat simplified, somewhat unsuccessfully, for brevity (references to rmail and the like removed) and it implies the use of Unix systems, running uucp on VMS or pc's (ick) would be slightly different. Cheers, Darren Alex Griffiths Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions Inc dag@ossi.com (510) 652-6200 x139 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced From: roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org (Roy M. Silvernail) Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1993 01:44:49 CST Organization: The Villa CyberSpace, executive headquarters In comp.dcom.telecom, cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu writes: > No, actually, I'm under the impression that UUNET offers 900 service > to their anonymous UUCP, so there IS NO pre-arranged deal. This is for > doing file requests for public software. and PAT replies: > [Moderator's Note: Maybe I am missing something here. Every UUCP-style > account I have ever seen requires that the host have a daemon-user by > the login name of 'uusomething'. > How could the host possibly know how to hand out mail and > news under the circumstances? PAT] The key, of course, is anonymous UUCP. ^^^^ News and mail aren't passed over this link. It exists only to give anonymous callers access to the UUNET archives. I heard a figure of somewhere around $150 to download X11R4 with a Telebit. (That could be way off, too ... I bet someone here knows the exact costs, assuming the service is still available.) Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org [Moderator's Note: I guess the error in my thinking here is thinking of UUCP as *only* for mail and news, and FTP for other movements between sites. If UUCP is only for mail and news, then an anonymous connection would be pretty useless. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Robert Shaw Subject: Re: ETSI Address Needed Date: 4 Aug 93 17:41:05 +0100 > Do you know if ETSI - European Telecommunication Standart Institute is > on Internet ? They don't have direct Internet connectivity today but it is supposedly in the works. However, you can reach ETSI via X.400 mail (e.g., gatewayed from Internet RFC822 mail). They are on the French public X.400 network (ATLAS). The address is of the form: S=name; P=etsi; A=atlas; C=fr So, for example, the X.400 address of Henri Hendrickx at ETSI is: S=Hendrickx; P=etsi; A=atlas; C=fr Hope this helps (and please don't bombard Henri with mail), Bob Shaw Information Systems Department International Telecommunication Union, Geneva ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Networks in Sarejevo? Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1993 21:45:25 GMT In article bill@COGNET.UCLA.EDU (William M. Eldridge) writes: > I'm currently researching similiar options for Macedonia, and could > really use some advice from someone who's doing this already. Perhaps > some basic scenarios to start: > - what's the cheapest way to provide one user with a 9600 or 19200 > bps Usenet connection? > - what options are available for something like a T1 line? > - what kind of satellite connections/technology would be applicable > for say a university? a country? > - are there any wireless technologies that are reasonable > alternatives to running cable for a site with basically no existing > network infrastructure? > Of course answers for Europe (and Easter/Southeastern Europe > especially) will be quite different, considering state of > telecommunications and size of budgets available. Every time I talk with my friend Bill Sepmeier at National Supervisory Network, I'm amazed at how cheap he can set up a nationwide data network over VSAT satellite. The latest price I heard was something like $1,200 per month to distribute stereo digitized audio over the US. This is making it real cheap to start radio networks. They also offer two way "switched" data circuits thru the satellites. Of course, this is US, but MAYBE similar stuff is available internationally. If you want to talk with Bill, he can be reached at Bill.Sepmeier@f325.n104.z1.fidonet.org or phone +1 800 345 8728. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: shawnlg@rahul.net (Shawn Gordhamer) Subject: Re: 800 ANI Number Changes Behaviour Organization: a2i network Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1993 01:45:37 GMT In djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > The 800 235 1414 number that gave out caller number readback along > with an ad for 900-STOPPER and a privacy publication, had a different > message tonight. Just Thursday, the old Joker was up to his ANI > tricks. On Friday afternoon, the 800 number got an unusual fast busy > condition for a while. Now, Friday night, the number just has a > message identifying as "Private Line", advertising 900-STOPPER and > recommending a new 800 number for "caller ID". How does 1-900-STOPPER work? Do they really guarantee that the call cannot be traced? What if there were a court order? Do they get around this by not keeping records of their incoming call times and where they are routed to? Shawn Gordhamer Rochester, Minnesota USA shawnlg@rahul.net [Moderator's Note: We have touched on this before. He outputs calls using *67 to avoid ID'ing them. If he is a common carrier, he keeps records of his inbound/outbound traffic and produces it in response to subpoena, and he is held harmless for the actions of his customers. If he is not a common carrier, he may or may not keep records giving him recourse to his customers in the event of some legal problem. If he has no records or refuses to submit them, then the recipient of a telephone call from his system who was victimized in some way as a result simply assumes that Stopper made the call. Merely saying 'I do not keep records,' does not relieve you of your acts under the law. If you knew, or should have known your equipment is being used for criminal activity, you have an obligation to try and stop it. The Stopper guy gets sued now and then because he won't produce records. How the cases are resolved, I do not know. I suspect he has to pay the victims. He can probably afford it; he is an attorney as well as the proprietor of 'Stopper'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) Subject: Re: Standard Practice For Wiring House Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1993 02:55:13 GMT From what I have been told, a customer can have five lines on one pair and the protector box on the side of the house could release the signal to analog. I don't know if this is true; the technician was kind of vague. He did explaine SLC-96s, but I don't think this applies. belliot@eis.calstate.edu| ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 16:03:47 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Area 205 to Split Maybe something like 334 avoids confusion with a "traditional" area code? I am in 410 and saw two advertisements and received one wrong-number phone call (after full cutover) which used 410 when 401 (Rhode Island) was intended. ------------------------------ From: juparra@gel.ulaval.ca (Juan Parra) Subject: Re: Motorola Iridium Date: 4 Aug 1993 15:28:45 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Does anybody know about Muidiri Investments BVI Ltd? This company is suposed to be a big investor in the Motorola Iridium project. Regards, Juan Parra ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #543 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa09666; 7 Aug 93 18:21 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07763 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 16:10:33 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22647 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 16:09:54 -0500 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 16:09:54 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308072109.AA22647@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #544 TELECOM Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 16:09:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 544 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Ohio Bell ISDN Costs (Ken Hester) 800 Number Portability and "Fresh Look" (David G. Lewis) Q-Blazer (Telebit) and WWIV -- Ring Baud (Tim Clinkenpeel) TN93 Conference and Trade Show, Paris, Sept. 14-17 (Nigel Allen) Choosing LD Service (Paul Houle) 950 Calling Cards (Dan Srebnick) Caller-ID Software Wanted (Steve Taylor) Norstar Meridian DR3 Phone System (Jill Pomeroy) 1911 Telephone Advertisements (dave@gilly.UUCP) Sprint/Call-Net Deal in Canada (David Leibold) No, Not THAT White House (David Leibold) FCS on SDLC/HDLC/X25 (Benjamin Ben-Ami) *69 Saves the Day (Charles McGuinness) Reliability of ATM Networks (S.) Handsets For the Hearing Impaired (frisbie@flying-disk.com) T1, Internet Access (Mark Earle) NT Options? (Ian Eisenberg) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 07 Aug 93 14:58 GMT From: CSC.PARTNERS@AppleLink.Apple.COM (CSC, CSC Partners,APD) Subject: Ohio Bell ISDN Costs In CSC.PARTNERS@applelink.apple.com (Ken Hester), I wrote about my experiences with Ohio Bell's ISDN Direct service. Many of you have requested I post the charges for OBT and AT&T. The information below is based on my bills, documentation, and phone calls to the corresponding providers. ***OHIO BELL (intra-LATA charges) Monthly Charges: ISDN CKT SW VOICE B CHANNEL 3.00 ISDN CKT SW DATA ON B CHANNEL 8.00 2B1Q 1 WIRE U INTERFACE 7.10 ISDN DIRECT LINE 11.75 ACCESS CHARGE PER FCC ORDER 3.50 9-1-1 SERVICE CHARGE .12 --------- TOTAL $33.47 * see note Measured Service per call: 8AM to 9PM FULL RATE 9PM to 8AM 50% DISCOUNT Rate Mileage First minute ea. add. min. 0-10 $0.040 $0.010 11-22 $0.045 $0.015 23 and over $0.050 $0.020 *NOTE: My two analog lines cost $35.64 @ month with call waiting on one line; my ISDN line has more voice features including call waiting. ***AT&T (inter-LATA charges) I am not posting AT&T voice call rates as they are the same as a non-ISDN line. Data calls on AT&T are carried by their ACCUNET service, which are distance-sensitive measured rates. They are roughly $0.25 the first minute and $0.15 each additional minute, YMMV! :-) 56-124 Miles First 30 sec. 0.1465 ea. add. 6 sec. 0.0133 125-292 Miles First 30 sec. 0.1565 ea. add. 6 sec. 0.0153 293-430 Miles First 30 sec. 0.1660 ea. add. 6 sec. 0.0172 431-925 Miles First 30 sec. 0.1775 ea. add. 6 sec. 0.0195 926-1910 Miles First 30 sec. 0.1815 ea. add. 6 sec. 0.0203 I recommend that anyone needing further detail of costs contact the appropriate provider. ISDN BRI service costs vary widely among the LECs. Some LECs still target ISDN BRI for business users only and they price their service at significantly higher rates. The best deal on ISDN BRI today can be had in the State of Tennessee. Their PUC has shown remarkable wisdom in promoting the widespread use of ISDN. Ken Hester CSC Partners, A Company of Computer Sciences Corporation Internet: CSC.PARTNERS@applelink.apple.com IMHO, all opinions expressed are mine and CSC can borrow them if they ask. ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: 800 Number Portability and "Fresh Look" Organization: AT&T Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 14:09:33 GMT The following is taken from the AT&T "newswire" -- press releases and such. AT&T ANNOUNCES *** AT&T today said more than 95% of its 531 largest business customers have voted to continue using AT&T long- distance services, even though the federal government provided them an opportunity to void their contracts during a 90-day "fresh look" period just ended. The eligible customers had to decide by July 29 if they wanted to cancel AT&T agreements without a termination charge. AT&T said it successfully protected more than $2.5 billion in annual revenues, while signing new or expanded agreements with those same customers worth more than $500 million for more services over longer terms. The value of new or expanded agreements greatly exceeds the potential $90 million in annual revenues lost from those few customers who voided contracts. While nearly all eligible customers chose to maintain or increase their business with AT&T, the company said it also made additional gains against its competitors by winning new customer contracts valued at more than $300 million. ADP and CSX Transportation are among several signing new contracts with AT&T for communications services -- including some services previously provided by other long-distance companies. The companies that had been eligible to leave AT&T are generally among America's largest businesses. In making today's announcement, AT&T cited an impressive roster of companies agreeing to remain its customers, including Airborne Express, Atlantic Richfield, Avis, Black and Decker, Cargill, Colonial Penn Insurance, Delta Air Lines, Federal Express, General Electric, Honeywell, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Monsanto, Northwest Airlines, Olin Corporation, PaineWebber and Primerica. "The overall results -- retaining 505 out of 531 contracts -- speak volumes about customer satisfaction with AT&T," said Joseph Nacchio, president of AT&T's Business Communications Services unit. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!goofy!deej Switching & ISDN Implementation ------------------------------ From: tpehrson@slack.sim.es.com (tim clinkenpeel) Subject: Q-Blazer (Telebit) and WWIV -- Ring Baud Date: 7 Aug 1993 08:53:55 -0600 Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Reply-To: tpehrson@slack.sim.es.com I'm testing out a Q-blazer modem on my BBS, presently running WWIV. I've played around with it quite a bit, but I'm stumped as to why the BBS is getting connection speed results of "Ring" (rather than something like "2400"). This has several adverse effects. Is anyone else out there with the same configuration with some insights? or without the same configuration, but still with some insights? Thanks, call the Lizard's Den bbs (801) IT'S-YODA - usenet, nethack, XiX, pc/amiga tim clinkenpeel: aberrant analytical skeptical agnostic idealist. -- i exclusively represent myself -- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 14:30 EDT From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Subject: TN93 Conference and Trade Show, Paris, Sept. 14-17 Organization: Internex Online - Toronto, Canada (416) 363-3783 TN93, a conference and trade show dealing with networks and telecommunications, will take place in Paris September 14 to 17. For more information, contact: Blenheim/TN93, 22-24, rue du President Wilson, 92532 Levallois-Perret Cedex, France, or fax +33 (1) 47 56 11 90 or Minitel 3616 Salons*TN I am not involved with TN93, and I don't know if the conference organizers have an Internet address. Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@io.org ------------------------------ From: Paul.Houle@leotech.MV.COM (Paul Houle) Reply-To: houle@leotech.MV.COM Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1993 13:39:00 Subject: Choosing LD service I am planning to get myself a real phone line soon [in contrast to a dorm line], and I'm trying to decide which dial 1+ carrier I should get first. You see, I don't care about price, quality, and all those things because I know about 10XXX+ dialing. What I want to do is make money by switching my long distance service, so I want to know which carrier I should subscribe to to maximize my chance of getting a check from another carrier to switch my service over. The impression I have is that AT&T seems to send checks out to MCI subscribers, since this happened to a friend of mine whose landlord broke his lease, kicked him out, and changed the service on that line to MCI. [Don't ask how we know that] He got a letter from AT&T offering him $70 to slam that number, so he happily cashed it. What other hints can people in Telecom-land give to poor college students like myself who want to suffer being slammed for cash? What can I do to increase my probability of being offered money for being slammed and what can I do to increase the amount I get? Is it true that one man can get slammed often and hard enough to pay for his local phone service? How do I get my piece of the pie? * Origin: NETIS (603)432-2517/432-0922 (HST/V32) (1:132/189) ------------------------------ From: dan.srebnick@islenet.com Date: Fri, 06 Aug 93 20:00:34 Subject: 950 Calling Cards I work in a facility served by an ESS CO Centrex. The telephone company has a toll restriction on most lines. Unfortunately, this seems to restrict outgoing 800 calls as well as the ability to dial a 0+ call. I'm looking for a carrier that offers 950 access on their calling cards. I am not restricted from dialing 950-xxxx calls. Dan Srebnick Email: dan.srebnick@islenet.com ------------------------------ From: taylor@perlis.mcs.gvsu.edu (Steve Taylor) Subject: Caller-ID Software Wanted Organization: Grand Valley State University, Allendale MI Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 21:35:39 GMT Hi everybody, I am interested in computer software that displays incoming telephone numbers on my computer screen. Caller-ID was just introduced in my area and I'm interested in a package to utilize it. I have received many posts as to hardware like Supra's modem that displays it, but I'm interested in software. Thanks for your help. Steve Taylor taylor@perlis.mcs.gvsu.edu SNM Consulting Inc. taylor@beech.mcs.gvsu.edu (NeXT) Grandville, MI 49418 taylors@gvsu.edu (Mail) ------------------------------ From: jill@mks.com (Jill Pomeroy) Subject: Norstar Meridian DR3 Phone System Organization: Mortice Kern Systems Inc., Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 19:59:07 GMT Due to a recent revision of our phone system, my company is in a position to sell a Norstar DR3 system. This system was purchased one year ago and is therefore in VERY good condition. This system was "de-installed" by Bell Canada which means that the proper measures of care were taken with the equipment upon removal. The specs below will indicate the maximum capacity of sets and lines supported. The purchase of this system would be a great benefit to a business that requires state-of-the-art communications at a cost significantly below market value. EQUIPMENT LIST: Equipment Total Capacity KSU Processor 1 8 lines, 24 sets DR3E 1 2 Port Exp Cartridge 1 2 Modules - Trunk/Station 6 Port Exp Cartridge 1 6 Modules - Trunk/Station Station Module 1 16 sets/connections 7310 Phones (grey) 27 7310 Phones (cream) 7 7324 Console Phone 1 System Capacity: 8 Lines, 40 sets Those with serious interest can contact me at (519) 884-2251, or email to jill@mks.com. Jill D. Pomeroy jill@mks.com MORTICE KERN SYSTEMS INC. (519) 884-2251 Direct Dial: (519) 883-3223 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 22:00:51 EDT Reply-To: dave%gilly@speedway.net From: dave@gilly.UUCP Subject: 1911 Telephone Advertisements Here's some entertaining ads from The Southern New England Telephone Company, from 1911: IF IT IS ON THE MAP WE CAN REACH IT FIRST BY TOLL LINE The telephone not only gets you where you wish to go but brings you back as well, at a one-way charge for the round trip. It is the only means by which, for all practical purposes, you can be in two places at the same time. EVERY BELL TELEPHONE IS THE CENTER OF THE SYSTEM ---------------- TELEPHONE FACTS Thirty-three years ago the first Commercial Telephone Exchange in the World was opened in New Haven with Fifty-six Subscribers. To-day there are Six Million Telephones in the National Bell System and Eighty-six Thousand Stations in Connecticut alone. Thirty-three years ago it was considered almost a miracle that the human voice could be carried by wire to different points in the same community. To-day you can not only send your voice to any telephone station in Connecticut but to millions in adjoining States as well. Yesterday Telephone Service was a Possibility. To-day it is a Necessity. Have you a Telephone in Your Home? ---------------------------- THE VOICE FROM HOME Will dispel the loneliness of one absent from the family circle, and make the day brighter. The cost of a telephone message across Connecticut is nominal, compared with the satisfaction of a personal talk and the first-hand knowledge that all are well and happy. With every telephone the center of the system, it is as easy to travel to the most distant point in the State, or adjoining States, as it is to reach the person just around the corner BY TELEPHONE. ------------------------------- uunet!quack!gilly!dave Dave Fischer - Nature's Perfect Food dave%gilly@speedway.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 10:39 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: Sprint/Call-Net Deal in Canada The papers and radio stations (the latter tending to "rip 'n read" their news from the former) in Toronto are abuzz about Sprint's plans to buy a 25% interest in Call-Net Enterprises. Call-Net is one of the "facilities-based" carriers in Canada that was successful in opening up public long distance competition last year (Unitel was the other competing facilities-based carrier). Call-Net is mostly a resale company, though it does have a few of its own routes in B.C. and some links to the U.S. from Toronto and Saint John NB. The U.S. links are dormant pending CRTC approval. Call-Net also intends to set up more of its own fibre optic networks. Now, the big three U.S. carriers have interesting parallel arrangements in Canada: Call-Net / Sprint Unitel / AT&T (AT&T has 20% ownership) Stentor (Bell Canada, BC Tel, et al) / MCI The recently-approved Bill C-62 Telecommunications Act stipulates a limit of 20% foreign ownership in a Canadian carrier. Call-Net and Sprint apparently believe that the 25% stake can be maintained because this represents non-voting (and perhaps contrued as non-controlling) shares in Call-Net. The section of the Act [18(3)] deals with the ownership question and states: "(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) [carriers must be Canadian- owned], a corporation is Canadian-owned and controlled if at least eighty per cent of prescribed interests in the corporation are owned and controlled by Canadians in the prescribed manner." Of course, there is a "grandfather clause" [18(2)] that would allow GTE to maintain its substantial (> 20%) stake in BC Tel. The Sprint/Call-Net arrangement means that Call-Net could use Sprint software, trademarks, facilities, etc. One might expect Candice Bergen to pop up on Canadian television soon. No doubt Bell Canada and other Stentor member companies will have something to say on the deal David Leibold ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 10:46 EDT From: djcl@io.org (woody) Subject: No, Not THAT White House The Canadian Press and CFRB Radio report that WDIV television in Detroit botched up a display of the White House's phone number, following President Clinton's Tuesday speech. Instead of showing area code 202, the station used 204 NPA which sent the calls to Winnipeg, Manitoba instead. Needless to say, it was a phun evening at the Winnipeg home of Ray Stodgell, whose daughter answered many of the presidential calls (perhaps the callers thought she was Chelsea Clinton). Many callers, not familiar with the area code charts in the phone book, were apparently convinced they got the President. David Leibold ------------------------------ From: s2969065@techst02.technion.ac.il (Benjamin Ben-Ami) Subject: FCS on SDLC/HDLC/X25 Organization: Technion, Israel Institute of Technology Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 12:58:22 GMT Hi, Does anyone know how the FCS (Frame Check Sequence) in the SDLC/HDLC/X25 is calculated? Any addidtional information about the structure of the frame or where I can get one will be appreciated. Benny s2969065@t2.technion.ac.il ------------------------------ From: marks!charles@jyacc.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) Subject: *69 Saves the Day Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 11:07:21 EDT Last Saturday, two men abducted a young lady at the Yaohan Plaza shopping center in Edgewater, New Jersey, took her to a local hotal, and repeatedly raped her. The rapists then forced her to call her parents to tell them that everything was OK. The parents, however, could tell that everything was not OK. Using the *69 call return feature, they called back, getting the hotel switchboard (and therefore finding out where she was). They went to the hotel and freed her, chasing off the rapists, who are now being sought by the police. I suspect I know what a Moderator's note might say about all this, and I have to say I agree. [Moderator's Note: I agree also with what you suspect I would say. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 11:39:00 +0000 From: Stephane (S.) Proulx Subject: Reliability of ATM Networks Two weeks ago, the DesJardins ATM network was unreachable for some reason. DesJardins is the largest "bank" in Quebec. (it is not really a bank but rather a co-op) Needless to mention that automatic banking services had become a crucial part of our daily living during the past few years. An outage like the one experienced last weekend has a huge impact on a lot of people, and can even have some critical consequences in some cases. For example, I "discovered" the outage when I tried to pay for my grocery with the Direct Payment service, and I came home with a lot of frustration, but without food. Who rules the reliability of the ATM networks? Here in Canada, the performances of the telcos are severely monitored by the CRTC and no one can imagine the consequences of an outage like the one I described above on the telephone network. In these days and ages, ATM network has become an essential service for which we pay important administration fees, and is in that sense not that much different from the telephone network. Stephane Proulx Bell Northern Research Disclaimer: Speaking for myself. ------------------------------ From: Alan Frisbie Subject: Handsets For the Hearing Impaired From: frisbie@flying-disk.com Subject: Handsets for the hearing impaired Date: 7 Aug 93 10:20:17 PDT Organization: Flying Disk Systems, Inc. I am looking for the following: 1) Amplifying telephone handsets for the hearing impaired. In this particular case the person's loss is about 50 db from 500 to 8000 Hz, with much less loss at the low and high end. Just wrong for phone use. :-) The phones I want to use this with are the Code-a-Phone 8425 & 8440 and the Southwestern Bell FT38 "Freedom Phone". 2) Complete multi-line (2-4) phones with all the "usual features", plus the above. I tried the local consumer electronics stores (Fry's, L.A.Tronics, etc.), but the best I could find is a strap-on amplifier cup. This problem with this is that it must be removed every time you hang up the phone, making rapid answering difficult. Alan E. Frisbie Frisbie@Flying-Disk.Com Flying Disk Systems, Inc. 4759 Round Top Drive (213) 256-2575 (voice) Los Angeles, CA 90065 (213) 258-3585 (FAX) ------------------------------ Date: 07 Aug 93 13:58:46 EDT From: MARK EARLE <73117.351@CompuServe.COM> Subject: T1, Internet Access Maybe I'm calling/emailing the wrong folks, but so far no direct, simple answers have come forth. Objective: Find out the costs to set up a service which would offer dial up access to Internet facilities. We envision something similiar to netcom.com. Callers dial with "standard" modems over plain old telephone service. They get a unix shell, can use ftp, readnews, run or compile programs, etc. The 'Unix' part is easy to cost out. The unknowns are: How do I get an "internet" connection? Where? Via what media? What does it cost, who do I contact, etc? I presume for serious stuff (50-500 simultaneous callers) T1 is indicated. Best way to get an initial batch of 50 lines and then have expandability. Centrex, T1, and other things are mentioned. I can't imagine 50 or 500 RJ-11's and that many external modems laying around. Surely "something" exists that essentially takes t1 from the phone company and gives me seperate sync or async lines that the unix system can deal with. Comments? Help? Pointers? Advice? All welcome. The local phone company has no clues, at least, the portions I've talked to. It may be I need to know the right words to get the right people :-) I'm in Corpus Christi, TX if that makes any difference. Replies to the Digest OK, or possibly, to my email and I'll summarize. Thanks! On this one, the email should be 73117.351@compuserve.com. Mark Earle ------------------------------ From: ian@cyberspace.com (Ian Eisenberg) Subject: NT Options? Date: 7 Aug 1993 11:35:10 -0700 Organization: (CYBERSPACE) Public Internet 206.286.1600 I am familiar with Northern Telecom OPtion 11 Meridians. Does anyone know the difference between an option11 and an option 21. ALso do the station side lines have a positive disconnect signal. I need either CPC or a reversal of battery. Like for using it with a dialogic voicemail system. What about release 17 software? Please reply to ian@cyberspace.com. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #544 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10919; 7 Aug 93 19:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17290 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 17:13:37 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00393 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 17:12:59 -0500 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 17:12:59 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308072212.AA00393@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #545 TELECOM Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 17:13:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 545 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson L.A. Cellular Telephone Complaint (Mark Rudholm) NXX Report: July 1993 (David Esan) Leftover Drops (Joe Johnston) Internet Chargeback (Bob Schwartz) UnDirectory DTMF Recognition Low-Quality? (Brian Hess) Looking For Teltone M980 to Finish Hallo, met de mac Project (Groenendijk) Call Tracker Device Wanted (Hindra Irawan) New Competitor in Local Dial Tone (Paul Robinson) Free French Phone Information From Publiphone (Jean-Bernard Condat) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 17:54:33 PDT From: rudholm@aimla.com (Mark Rudholm) Subject: L.A. Cellular Telephone Complaint Pat, this is a copy of the disconnection letter I sent to L.A. Cellular and I thought that your readers might find it interesting. Mark [Moderator's Note: I did, and I think others will also. PAT] ------------Begin Included Text---------------- Mark D. Rudholm 301 S. Windsor Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90020-4711 TO: Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Company ATTN: Customer Relations Dept. PO Box 6028 Cerritos, California 90701-6028 CC: Clear Talk - Letters to the Editor PO Box 6028 Cerritos, California 90702 CC: Telecom Digest telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Usenet: comp.dcom.telecom August 5, 1993 To Whom it May Concern: I have been an L.A. Cellular customer for a year and a half and have decided that I will no longer be doing business with LACTC. The "Clear Talk" customer newsletter I received invited me to share my thoughts with the company and I thought my reasons for leaving might be relevant. The initial signs of trouble came quite early. When I purchased my phone (a handheld model) I was told that activation would likely occur within a couple of hours and definitely by the end of the day. It was a Friday so I was pleased to know that I would have service for the weekend. After about a week of no service, the retailer was finally informed by the relevant LACTC department that the number they initially assigned me was that of a suspended account. So I had to make an additional trip to the retailer to have my phone re-programmed. In my opinion, there is no excuse for such an error. But alas, my phone worked and I was happy for the moment. My contentment proved short-lived. Five months after establishing service, I moved from Venice to Hancock Park. I called "Customer Care" one month prior to my moving date. I gave them my moving date and even explained that I should get one more bill to my old address and then all future bills should go to my new address. After moving I realized that I was not getting my bills. I called "Customer Care" to inquire. It seems that they had no record of my new address. I requested that duplicate bills be sent to my new address -twice. Both times the bill was sent to the old address. My next complaint came while I was on a motorcycle trip to San Francisco. While passing through San Luis Obispo, I found that LACTC does not have a roaming agreement with the one carrier in that area. When I arrived in San Francisco, I found that some of my account's features were unavailable. After a conference call with a Cellular One SF service representative and an LACTC representative, I realized the level of relative incompetence of the LACTC rep. I decided I'd just do without, again. When I call "Customer Care," I consistently encounter personnel who know less about your system than I do. I usually end up telling them how features work -- or at least, how they are supposed to work rather than the other way around. I was never able to get service changes effected within a reasonable time frame, especially if a weekend was involved. Service representa- tives' time frame commitments were never met. I was pleased to find that "Customer Care" is now available 24 hours daily but then I realized that since no other departments are in operation, and since it invariably takes several departments to get anything done, the advantage is usually reduced to having a human tell me to call back inside normal business hours rather than getting the same instructions from a recording. I also find it inconvenient that your 800 number doesn't answer at all after normal business hours. After casually discussing these gripes with friends who were also LACTC customers or customers in other markets who had roamed on LACTC I heard some even more disturbing accounts. One LACTC customer told me that during a road trip he took across the country his service was mysteriously deactivated. When he called "Customer Care" to clear up the problem, he was told that they thought the phone had been stolen because they saw it moving across the country! This made no sense to me (or him) since I didn't understand why a moving phone would be any more likely to be a stolen phone than a relatively stationary one. I always thought that the whole point of a cellphone was mobility. In any case, "Customer Care" could provide him with no reasonable explanation. This as it turned out, wasn't the biggest problem. Apparently, when service is activated on the LACTC system, or re-activated as in this case, that phone cannot roam in other markets until after making at least one call on the LACTC system. So there he was three thousand miles from Los Angeles, unable to roam anywhere without first returning to Los Angeles to reset his account. There is no excuse for that at all, under any circumstances. He too, had to do without. Another account was from a Seattle resident who, while roaming on LACTC several months after the 310 area code was created, found that he could not call any 310-xxx-xxxx number. "Customer Care" told him that this was because Pacific Bell(the landline telco) hadn't given LACTC any 310 prefixes yet! He tried to explain that he could call 206-xxx-xxxx without any problem even though LACTC has no 206 numbers. The rep was simply technically inept and couldn't refer the call to someone who wasn't. Fortunately, since it was still within the permissive dialing period, he was able to call into 310 by using the 213 code. Another complaint I had was with billing. After an extended vacation, I inadvertently missed one billing cycle. I returned from my vacation to find a notice in my mailbox from LACTC that my account was to be disconnected within five days and a threat to damage my credit rating. A rather heavy-handed response for a single 30-day-late on an established account in good standing. I called to ask if that was the normal response for this kind of thing and was treated rather rudely. I thought it rather ironic that LACTC should treat a minor mistake made in good faith so harshly after all the ineptitude I had put up with from LACTC. I, in contrast, acted immediately to rectify my error. I stayed with LACTC for as long as I did for one reason only. I prefer the Ericsson system over the Motorola MTX that this market's other carrier uses. But finally I decided that I was through doing without and got a Pac Tel account on my phone's second NAM. While on business in the Portland, Oregon area, I purchased a new handheld phone second hand from a friend. Knowing full well that I would not be able to roam even if I could get LACTC to activate the phone, I called Pac Tel for help. Not only did they add the new equipment to my account over the phone, they also put me on the phone with a technician who actually walked me through the programming sequence for my new phone (a Motorola Micro-Tac.) Not only that, but I was able to roam immediately! I was impressed with the quality of service they gave me. I was quite fed up with a telecommunications service company that created problems and elated to find one that actually does what I pay it to do -- solve problems. I requested that my LACTC account be suspended so that I could avoid paying the monthly access fee while I was preparing to sell my old phone. Curiously, I got billed for two incomplete calls made during the period the service was suspended! I know of no other market where users have to pay for incomplete calls. Most markets give callers an airtime allowance with the basic service charge and some even have flat rates for all off-peak usage. Also, most markets don't charge per-minute for forwarded calls and don't charge double air-time for call-waiting. I was surprised to see the back page of Clear Talk prominently displaying an announcement that the freeway call boxes use LACTC as their carrier. I was surprised because after the embarrassing incident where someone cloned a call box to place thousands of calls was reported in the {L.A. Times}, I would think that LACTC would want to downplay its involvement. I was amazed to find out that the ESN/phone number from a call box could call any number just like a regular cellphone account. It doesn't take a genius to realize that call requests from those ESNs to any number other than the CHP should not be honored by the switch. The kind of technical and administrative ineptitude that made that theft of service possible seems to be characteristic of LACTC. Consider this letter a formal request to completely discontinue account #13010228 (213-713-9544.) Sincerely, Mark D. Rudholm ------------------------------ From: de@moscom.com (David Esan) Subject: NXX Report: July 1993 Date: 7 Aug 93 13:30:34 GMT Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY Once a quarter I USED to receive the BellCore V&H tape. Using this information I could total the number of exchanges in each area code. The twenty most populous area codes are listed below. After the written text of this article I have included the count for each of the area codes. This is no longer our procedure. The information in FCC #10 is now detailed enough that we no longer need to order the tape from BellCore and are using FCC #10 for our V&H information. There will be some changes during the changeover, FCC #10 is more current, and some exchanges due for addition and included in the tape may not yet be in FCC #10. For that reason I have deleted the quarterly growth statistics, and you will note that some NPAs have grown negatively. We have used pages issued prior to July 2, 1993. I am not responsible for the information supplied in FCC #10. I have not included the following in my counts of exchanges: - NXX's that are not dialable by a standard user (ie nxx's that begin with a 1 or 0). - Mexican exchanges in the 52? series of area codes. I've got them, you can dial them with 011, but they're not really NPAs. - Exchanges that are non-dialable in the 88? series of area codes. I've got those also, but you can't dial them, so I'm not including them. Numbers that begin with 88 are nondialable stations in the US, Canada and Mexico. They are ranches in the middle of the Nevada or Texas desert, or isolated outpost of civilization (always wanted to use that phrase) in the tundra of Canada. I find place names like the Bar J Ranch, Double B Ranch, and JD Dye, Texas, Amargosa, Corncreek and Reese Valley, NV, and Chick Lake, Redknife and Taglu, NT. I gather they are ringdown stations, or radio-telephone stations. [It has been noted in c.d.t. that at least two of these numbers are for a bordello on the NV-CA border.] 905 in suburban Toronto, and 810 in suburban Detroit have not appeared yet. The fields are: ------------ rank last in October, 1992 213: 736 (1, 7) area code --^^^ ^^^ ^------- number of new exchanges |-------------- total number of exchanges 212: 705 ( 2, 0) 416: 682 ( 6, 2) 708: 647 (11, 3) 216: 585 (16, 2) 512: 703 ( 1, -7) 714: 674 ( 7, 6) 713: 635 (12, -1) 503: 583 (17, 2) 205: 694 ( 3, 1) 215: 667 ( 8, -2) 703: 621 (13, 6) 303: 575 (18, 1) 919: 691 ( 4, 0) 602: 654 ( 9, 3) 403: 611 (14, 1) 809: 574 (24, 18) 313: 689 ( 5, 1) 206: 653 (10, 4) 604: 592 (15, 1) 803: 574 (19, 1) 1. 512 - split is completed. Major deletion is underway. 2. 212 - split in progress. Number should be reduced by split, and the movement of the Bronx to 718. 3. 205 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 4. 919 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 5. 313 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 6. 416 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. 7. 714 - split in progress. Number should be reduced by split. 8. 215 - split is planned. Number should be reduced by split. Given all of that, the NPA that is largest and is not splitting nor has plans (at this time) to split, is 602 in Arizona. The 3 smallest NPA's were and remain (Although 917 has moved from last to third from last): 917: 124 - The new NYC NPA (+20 new exchanges) 906: 117 - Michigan's Upper Peninsula (no change) 807: 105 - Western Ontario (No change) All the NPAs and the number of nxx's in each are listed below: 212: 705 612: 567 816: 481 716: 403 908: 354 706: 300 806: 260 512: 703 404: 565 513: 476 616: 402 912: 351 613: 300 608: 256 205: 694 615: 562 317: 464 508: 399 510: 350 218: 300 509: 253 919: 691 214: 557 916: 459 219: 380 207: 349 208: 299 603: 244 313: 689 501: 554 306: 453 316: 378 304: 345 918: 298 901: 234 416: 682 813: 552 201: 449 209: 373 419: 344 712: 286 308: 212 714: 674 314: 552 412: 445 914: 370 318: 344 202: 286 417: 206 215: 667 203: 548 913: 443 502: 370 408: 340 903: 283 707: 197 602: 654 305: 543 614: 437 217: 370 319: 339 812: 283 506: 183 206: 653 619: 539 515: 436 704: 369 517: 338 808: 281 802: 181 708: 647 904: 536 818: 423 213: 369 618: 337 909: 280 719: 179 713: 635 405: 533 407: 422 418: 367 505: 333 606: 279 607: 176 703: 621 817: 527 402: 422 406: 365 715: 321 518: 275 307: 171 403: 611 804: 515 601: 421 701: 362 702: 320 507: 275 401: 141 604: 592 718: 501 210: 419 801: 361 819: 314 902: 274 413: 135 216: 585 717: 501 415: 417 504: 357 815: 314 705: 274 302: 129 503: 583 414: 501 410: 417 605: 356 915: 313 315: 268 917: 124 303: 575 514: 500 617: 414 519: 355 805: 311 814: 267 906: 117 809: 574 312: 497 907: 406 301: 355 609: 304 309: 264 807: 105 803: 574 310: 482 516: 406 204: 355 409: 304 709: 261 --- --- David Esan de@moscom.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 16:39:32 -0400 From: johnston@aurxc5.aur.alcatel.com (Joe Johnston) Subject: Leftover Drops In two of the three houses I have lived in during the past three years, I have been able to plug a phone into a modular jack and use someone else's phone line. In one case I called the business office and was told I would have to pay a service charge to have the offending line removed. In the other case they came out and disconnected the line from my house. These had been second lines of previous occupants and the telco did not bother to remove the drops when the line was given to someone else. This would seem to make privacy a bit chancy. Anybody else had this experience? Joe Johnston Alcatel Network Systems, Inc. --- Raleigh, NC --- (919) 850-5272 FAX (919) 850-6590 Email: johnston@aurfs1.aur.alcatel.com [Moderator's Note: A few years ago in the Digest we had the story of a woman living in Lockport, IL who purchased a house from its previous owner who operated a telephone answering service on the premises; in a spare room in fact which this lady wanted to make into a bedroom. A big terminal block in there had a couple hundred pairs terminated on it serving people and businesses all over the neighborhood. All of the pairs were live. She wanted Illinois Bell to remove this thing and they told her it would cost *her* a couple thousand dollars to relocate all the pairs to outside her home (on the side of her house or somewhere like that. IBT refused to move their lines out of her bedroom until she paid the $2000, and to add a little urgency to the matter IBT insisted they had easement rights to their terminal box at any time; said easement having been given to them by the former owner with the telephone answering service, meaning they could enter her bedroom at any hour in the conduct of their business and repair of lines, etc. If the average telephone user in large inner city urban areas like Chicago knew how unsecure the pairs are, they would become too paranoid to talk on the phone at all. Go into any older highrise building in Chicago, go to the basement, and connect to hundreds of lines by just picking the pair you want. Many people have reported to me that they had only one phone in their home, yet the modular jack would have the usual second (black/yellow) pair in the box. When they went on that line they got dial tone. One guy said he used ring-back on that line and waited for an answer. The lady who answered was across the alley and several doors down the street. Yet get calls on your bill not your own and IBT insists you 'must have' made the call since it is direct dial! PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Internet Chargeback From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 11:27:57 PDT Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California Are any corporate Internet users aware of any ways for implementing chargeback costs for Internet billing with multi protocol networks? I'm talking about interdepartmental expense allocation for useage and hardware but mostly useage. Please reply privately. Internet: boib@bci.com Voice: 415-488-9000, Fax: 415-488-1122. Thank you, Bob Schwartz bob@bci.nbn.com Bill Correctors, Inc. +1 415 488 9000 Marin County, California ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 15:58:39 -0500 From: bnh@active.com (Brian Hess) Subject: UnDirectory DTMF Recognition Low-Quality? Does anybody know what kind of boards that "UnDirectory" 900 service is using? I tried it and couldn't get it to recognize my DTMFs. It would get four of ten, five or six of ten if I pressed slowly and waited carefully between each, complain, then hang up. I'll let them have their $1 (or $2), and I don't suspect them of actually *trying* to rip me off by having bad DTMF recognizers, but could someone who knows tell me whose PC boards they are using, so I can avoid using that brand myself? (I'm *assuming* that they are using PC boards, since it's a Votrax doing the speech, and would be vastly more expensive to do any other way. By the way, the Natural Microsystems PC boards I've played with always recognize perfectly, even on noisy lines, which this was not.) Jeez, bad enough it *talks* in Swedish, but it *hears* with an accent too! ;-) Brian Hess Active Ingredients, Inc. bnh@active.com ------------------------------ From: wncjgr@cti.wnc.nedlloyd.nl (Jilles Groenendijk) Subject: Looking For Teltone M980 to Finish 'Hallo, met de mac' Project Organization: Nedlloyd Computer Services Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 06:30:47 GMT The Dutch ELRAD magazine released the c't MacAnswer project, I ordered the software and the print. But when trying to get all the components I got stuck on a specific IC. The shops in Holland can not supply it. They told me its a German chip, which can not be ordered in Holland. It's the Teltone M980 (8pins DIL) IC. It is a candansdetector which analyses analog signals in the 315-640 Hz range. Is there anybody out the who can help me get this component? Jilles Groenendijk wncjgr@cti.wnc.nedlloyd.nl Nedlloyd Computer Services P.O. Box 2454 3000 CL Rotterdam (The Netherlands) +31 10 - 4007310 ------------------------------ From: irawan@netcom.com (Hindra Irawan) Subject: Call Tracker Device Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 09:20:49 GMT Does anybody know of a device that would do the following: - record the number called (tone and/or pulse dialing); - record the time and day of the call made; - record the duration of the call; - dump the data collected to a PC or Mac; - capable of handling multiple lines. The reason I asked this is because in the country where I am going (Indonesia) there are no such thing as itemized phone bill. I need to use this as an analysis tool. Hopefully so that I can work on my own as telecom consultant. If you have information on where to get such device and how much, please send it to my email address (irawan@netcom.com). Thank you in advance! Hindra irawan@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 05:59 GMT From: 0005066432@mcimail.com Subject: New Competitor in Local Dial Tone A recent article in the {Washington Times} announced that MFS, Inc. has filed a proposal to be allowed to connect directly into C&P Telephone's equipment for the express purpose of being able to provide alternative dial tone to business customers in the Maryland suburbs of, and Washington DC. MFS currently provides service to customers who are close enough to its equipment to connect directly, such as businesses that transmit large amounts of computer data. This proposal would allow MFS to provide service to any business in the Maryland suburbs that wants an alternative to C&P Telephone. The phone company (C&P Telephone of Maryland) is not exactly pleased with this development, to put it mildly. C&P's main complaints -- which may be justified -- are that it is required to provide residential phone service to anyone (residential service loses money according to C&P), and if MFS wants to provide service, it should have to either be subject to the same standards as C&P, or C&P should have some of the restrictions placed on it lifted. Hearings by the Maryland Public Service Commission on this filing will not occur until next year at the earliest according to a spokesperson for the Commission. They are not identified in the article, but I think MFS, Inc. is commonly known in the area as Metropolitan Fiber Systems, Inc. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM "Since these opinions come from the owner of this account, no disclaimer is necessary." ------------------------------ From: cccf@email.teaser.com (Jean-Bernard Condat) Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 12:01:56 GMT Subject: Free French Phone Information From Publiphone In France, you can easily find a phone number without any paper phone book. Circa 8 millions Minitel give you the opportunity to ask freely in the huge France Telecom's database. But, if you don't like to have this free Minitel near your phone, to find the new phone number of your mother will be extremely time counsouming. Dial 12 and wait between 3 and 30 minutes for having an always-tired girl that perhaps can give you the right phone number. But on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, it's extremely difficult to find a Minitel. France Telecom give you the opportunity to have the information without paying five French telecommunications unit (circa FF 3.65) and provides an excellent and efficient vocal service: dial 12 from a publiphone and you will directly be in contact with this service. In this publiphone, you cannot ask for telegram service (3656), for free clock (3699) ... and all the international phone numbers you dial (beginning by 19- ...) are secretely store for state statistics and use by policy. Public and private phones don't have the same rights :-) Jean-Bernard Condat General Secretary Chaos Computer Club France, B.P. 155, 93404 St-Ouen Cedex, France Private Address: P.O. 8005, 69351 Lyon Cedex 08, France Phone: +33 1 40101764, Fax: +33 1 47877070 InterNet: cccf@altern.com or cccf@email.teaser.com ***For a free subscription to _Chaos Digest_, send a message to: linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi with a mail header or first line containing the following information: X-Mn-Admin: join CHAOS_DIGEST and you will put freely on the ChaosD mailing list. Don't hesitate! ** ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #545 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa11970; 7 Aug 93 20:20 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04621 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 18:05:31 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11222 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 18:04:50 -0500 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 18:04:50 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308072304.AA11222@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #546 TELECOM Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 18:04:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 546 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telecomm and Info Bill Passed in Congress (FINS via Vigdor Schreibman) An Experience With the AT&T Language Line (Tony Harminc) Uunet via 900 (was Re: Victory ...) (Jack Winslade) ISDN For Professors and Students (Edupage via J. Philip Miller) Panasonic VA-41210 Parts (Greg Kemnitz) Writing VoiceMail Program: Any Suggestions? (Tom Rusnock) PacBell Song (Randy Gellens) Looking For Information and Experience With LCI (Barry Raveendran Greene) 215/610 and Other Upcoming Splits -- Some Details (Carl Moore) Dialogic Equipment Vendors (David Turock) Why do I Often Get "Off-Hook" Telco Message on Answering Machine? (E Zotti) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 11:10:04 EDT From: Vigdor Schreibman Subject: Telecomm and Info Bill Passed in Congress Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 16:47:05 CDT Sender: Project Gutenberg Email List From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS * US House of Representatives Passes HR 1757 * Authorized Appropriations For NREN/NII Slashed CLOSING THE "VALUES-GAP": NREN Takeover Moves Ahead Unopposed By Vigdor Schreibman The "National Information Infrastructure Act of 1993," [HR 1757], was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, last Monday, July 26, 1993. The bill cements in place public policy established by the National Science Foundation, [NSF 93-52, May 6, 1993], to privatize the National Research and Education Network (NREN) Program. These measures would authorize a takeover of the NREN by private industry to serve its own interests guided by the morality of the market place and the ethic of profit maximization. As originally proposed by Rep. Rick Boucher [D-VA], and reported favorably by the Subcommittee on Science, he chairs, June 17, 1993, the NII bill authorized appropriations of $95,000,000 to the NSF, and $354,000,000 to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), to pay for network access for schools and libraries including connections, equipment, and training during FY 1994-1996. Industry groups would receive public subsidies under H.R 1757, as reported, for their activities in support of computing and networking research, and applications in the fields of education, health care, and digital libraries amounting to some $910 million dollars during FY 1994-1998. [HRept 103-73, p. 15]. Taking a utilitarian view of the alternatives, the bill was endorsed by a number of "third sector" leadership institutions, including: the American Council on Education; EDUCOM; Computer Research Association; National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; Association of American Universities; American Council on Education; Association of Research Libraries, and the American Library Association. Several "third sector" leaders issued statements denouncing the opposition of Regional Bell Operating Companies to public subsidy of the NREN, and the move to privatize the NREN/Internet. Curtis Hardyck, Executive Director of the Pacific Neighborhood Consortium (a multi-national group from 16 countries around and within the Pacific Rim, representing 33 institutions of higher education and national libraries), sent a letter to Vice President Al Gore, June 23, stating: The argument that the Federal subsidy is unwarranted government interference seems to me to be specious. We have a great deal of evidence of the accomplishments of universities with the Internet subsidy, but there is no evidence that this level of accomplishment could continue if this subsidy were to be given the telephone companies. Providing funds for universities to pay increased telephone rates is in effect providing federal subsidies for telephone companies. Public support is currently costing about $18 million a year for the NSFnet backbone and mid-level network services, amounting to about one- thousandth the cost of the whole billion dollar program. Traffic on the NREN is designed not to compete with private industry. The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), now in effect, requires that "authorized use of the NSFnet backbone be limited to services (public or private, for free or fee) that enhance R&E traffic." These measures provide a low cost strategy to achieve the essential collaborative NREN mission. A crucial aspect of the mission of the NREN, involves change as a dynamic constant, requiring maximum customization of all the elements of network architecture and the exercise of independent control by the NREN community over the components serving their needs. Terrence P. McGarty, of the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has observed that the likely evolution of such heterogeneous networks are at the opposite pole from the homogeneous characteristics of private and commercial networks, which merely provide a common denominator capability focused on perceived market niche. Moreover, private enterprise has no serious interest in serving the public goods, which comprise the NREN mission; they desire to exercise oligopoly control over R&E traffic and convert the NREN community into a consumer market for commercial products! Nevertheless, the promise of funds urgently desired by schools and library groups for access to the Internet, proved too powerful a lure. From a narrow utilitarian standpoint, concerns about privatization are viewed as secondary "to efforts to extend networking access to schools and public libraries," according to Marc Rotenberg, director of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, in an exchange of messages with FINS over the Internet last week. Ironically, immediately following "third sector" endorsement of the NII, authorized appropria- tions to the NTIA for those purposes amounting to $354,000,000 were struck from the bill by the full House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. [HRept 103-173]. It is this pared down measure which was approved by the House last Monday. James Wilson, science consultant to the House Subcommittee on Science, told FINS last week that the NTIA authorization was struck from the bill for "jurisdictional reasons." Legislation in support of the overall responsibilities of NTIA has been proposed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce pursuant to H.R. 2639, the "Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure and Public Broadcasting Facilities Assistance Act of 1993." This bill would authorize $51 million for FY 1994, but does not authorize the additional $300 million for FY 1995-1996, as originally provided in H.R. 1757. Jim Waslewski, Congressional Liaison of NTIA, told FINS in a phone interview, July 28, 1993, "there are no plans to seek any additional authorization at this time, beyond the budgeted amount of $51 million." ---------- Federal Information News Syndicate, Vigdor Schreibman, Editor & Publisher, 18 - 9th Street NE #206, Washington, DC 20002-6042. Copyright 1993 FINS. Back issues of FINS may be retrieved by UCSF Gopher. Send for information. E-mail fins@access.digex.net; Fax/Voice (202)547-6106. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 22:50:00 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: An Experience With the AT&T Language Line Several weeks ago I phoned the AT&T Language Line and asked for some details about their service. The marketing rep told me about their 140 languages available 24 hours/day, and offered to mail me some detailed information. This duly arrived -- including a handy wallet-sized card with the 800 number and the statement "AT&T Language Line Services -- where you have immediate access to trained interpreters in over 140 languages". Reality proved to be somewhat different. On Monday 2 July at about 4 PM EDT I called and asked for a Slovak interpreter. The attendant took my billing information. (There are two parts -- the interpretation charge at US$3.50/minute goes on a credit card, and the cost of the overseas phone call can be billed to an AT&T calling card only, or third number billed to any phone number. I asked about the rate for the overseas call, but all she could tell me was that it would be the AT&T operator assisted rate -- not the rate itself. I did have the option of dialing the call myself and using my three way calling to connect us, but I'm glad I didn't.) This all took a surprising amount of time -- a little under ten minutes. The attendant was friendly but could have used some training specific to the Language Line. Although I had asked for a Slovak interpreter, when I gave her the number I wanted to call as +42 7 nnnnnn she said "oh yes - Czechoslovakia". This is a country that ceased to exist on January 1st this year. And she wanted my State and ZIP code - "uh - do you have ZIP codes up there in Canada ?" - not the sort of professionalism I had expected from AT&T. But now the crunch: she said there would be a delay of about a minute while she connected me to the interpreter. After about two minutes, she returned and said she was having difficulty locating a Slovak interpreter, but would keep trying. After another few minutes on hold (with very distracting multilingual advertising playing all the time), she said they were unable to find a Slovak interpreter at that time. I said OK -- the call isn't really urgent, but it's annoying because I had family members standing around the phone, a tape hooked up, and so on, so could I book the call when an interpreter will be available (say tomorrow)? No you can't, was the answer. Slovak is not a "scheduled" language, so we book only emergency calls! What does that mean? Well I eventually talked with a supervisor who explained that they have an (unspecified) number of interpreters all around the US, most of whom have other jobs, and who check in with the Language Line when they are available for work. There is evidently no attempt made to arrange any particular coverage. In emergency situations they will attempt to reach someone (pagers?) but it's not clear with what success. And I never did get an explanation of what it means to book an emergency call. My problem with all this is not that AT&T doesn't have a room full of Slovak interpreters sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for my call. Slovak is certainly not a major world language. But it is on AT&T's list of 140, and they make no distinction in their promotional material between (say) Spanish and Slovak. It is claimed that they are all available "24 hours a day, 7 days a week", when this is clearly not the case. Another thing to think about is that, regardless of language, the process of taking billing information takes at least several minutes, including obtaining a credit card number, phone number and mailing address, and then verifying the information. This makes it pretty hard to take seriously AT&T's suggestion that you can just phone the handy number on the card and be in instant touch with the interpreter. Presumably callers who have signed up for one of the frequent user plans would get throught faster. An AT&T customer service rep called me back about 6 PM (unsolicited) and apologised for what had happened. She really had no solution other than that they would treat my call as an emergency if I wanted (which I didn't). So I am disappointed. I suppose I should have known the idea of instant interpretation at the end of an 800 number was too good to be true. But AT&T should not advertise what it can't deliver. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Aug 93 11:42:26 CST From: Jack.Winslade@axolotl.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Uunet via 900 (was Re: Victory ...) Reply-To: jack.winslade%drbbs@axolotl.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha In a message dated 01-AUG-93, Chris Ambler -- Phish writes: >> [Moderator's Note: They've got to send a message to your modem immed- >> iatly on connection which describes the cost for the call, advise the >> caller to disconnect if not willing to pay and ring the Bell > And how does UUCP do this? When dialing an information provider with a > protocolled communications package, the human usually has little to no > interaction. In fact, once carrier is detected, there's nothing to be > seen or heard (especially with anonymous UUCP). Anything sent before > the UUCP protocol initiates is thrown away as garbage. > [Moderator's Note: You are correct where UUCP transmissions are > concerned but I don't think UUCP is the sort of casual connection > being discussed here. For UUCP there has to be a pre-arranged deal; The point of Uunet's 900 UUCP service is so that it does NOT have to be a pre-arranged deal and that anyone (non-Uunet subscribers) can call in and request files from Uunet's massive archives. Their UUCP is set up so that it will accept connections from any uucp system regardless of system name, thus making it anonymous as far as the UUCP session is concerned. This does take some conscious effort on the part of the user, as he/she has to add Uunet's 900 number to the L.sys/Systems file, and set up the call one way or another. Someone trolling for modems on the 900 AC (yeah, right !!) may stumble on it, or someone trying 1-900-GET-LAID may misdial and catch it, though. Maybe they will add the appropriate notice at login, so that anyone stumbling on it will know immediately and will have the opportunity to disconnect. As far as I am concerned this is one of the very few 900 services that actually is worth something. It costs something like $.40 per minute. If I remember the discussion correctly when this was started, this was about the lowest price that could be charged for 900 service, and is just slightly above the break-even point for Uunet. At the time it was set up it was through Sprint, and supposedly it was good connections for PEP and v.32 modems. The number also is some kind of an acronym but I forget what. It must be at least moderately successful. It's been 3+ years or so since it went in. Good day, JSW DRBBS, Omaha (1:285/666.0) ------------------------------ From: phil@wubios.wustl.edu (J. Philip Miller) Subject: ISDN For Professors and Students Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 11:18:37 -0500 as quoted in EDUPAGE 7/27/93 AMERITECH OFFERS COLLEGES ISDN SERVICE. Ameritech and Combinet Inc., a computer networking company, are offering ISDN service to college faculty and students in five Midwestern states. The service is intended to provide high-speed networking for faculty and students at off-campus locations, and will cost $30 per month. One-time charges include $700 for hardware and software and $150 for an ISDN phone line installation. (Chronicle of Higher Education 7/28/93 A18) Does anyone know which states and more details? J. Philip Miller, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Box 8067 Washington University Medical School, St. Louis MO 63110 phil@wubios.WUstl.edu - (314) 362-3617 [362-2693(FAX)] ------------------------------ From: gk@kksys.com (Greg Kemnitz) Subject: Panasonic VA-41210 Parts Reply-To: gk@kksys.com Organization: K & K Systems Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 06:13:46 GMT I accidentally ended up with a spare CPU-1 and CPU-2 board for a Panasonic VA-41210 Key Telephone system. I had ordered a spares kit for my VA-614, and the supplier decided that these should be included as well. When I finally looked what was in the kit and determined that these were not for my system, it was too late to return them. Is there any market for these? Greg Kemnitz / K and K Systems / PO Box 47804 / Plymouth, MN 55447-0804 Internet: gk@kksys.com / Voice: +1 612 475 1527 / Fax: +1 612 449 0488 Alternate Internet: gk@kksys.mn.org / ICBM: 44 59 20 N, 93 28 22 W ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1993 14:23:08 -0400 (EDT) From: TJR122@psuvm.psu.edu Subject: Writing VoiceMail Program: Any Suggestions? Organization: Penn State University I've taken on the task of writing a full-blown VoiceMail System for a Natural MicroSystems VBX VoiceMail card. I'm using NMS's VScript language (a pretty simple language, but I'm managing to work around it's shortfalls) and the card is a 4-port DID (Direct Inward Dialing) card. I'd like some input as to what kind of features are used the most, what kind of "quirks" to avoid, etc. I'd appreciate E-mail (tjr122@psuvm.psu.edu) responses, but whatever you deem appropriate will be fine. Here's what I have so far: The system will have two or three lines (for now) for incoming calls. Groups of phone numbers will be rented ("DID" for those of you who already know) from the phone company and routed to the two or three incoming lines. So a VoiceMail customer will have "Conditional Call Forwarding" routed to their own personal voicemail access number (If there's no answer at their house/business, the call gets forwarded to our system, and the phone is answered with their own greeting message, etc. etc.). Features like "Message Forwarding" (If an urgent message is left in your mailbox, our computer will call you at work, in the car, etc. to deliver it), and Mailbox Menuing (Company XYZ has a "Main Menu" that says "Press [1] for product information, [2] to leave a message, etc.) are already in the works. I need suggestions (from both experienced voicemail users AND non-voicemail users) as to what features you would like to see, what you would be willing to pay (per month) as a residential or business voicemail customer (we're going to shoot for low prices), and any "quirks" that you've seen in other voicemail systems that you didn't like (so I can avoid them). Any comments will be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Tom Rusnock tjr122@psuvm.psu.edu (This project is not affiliated (717)-675-5025 with Penn State University) ------------------------------ From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 07 AUG 93 00:31 Subject: PacBell Song Does anyone know what that song is that PacBell uses in their "Tomorrow Will Be Better" commercials? (The one that starts out with that bong tone). A friend of mine says I used to have it, and I think he'd right, but I've gone through all my CDs and can't find it. Randy Gellens randy@mv-oc.unisys.com| A Series System Software [if mail bounces, please| Unisys Corporation forward bounce msg to| Mission Viejo, CA rgellens@mcimail.com]| Opinions are personal; facts are suspect; I speak only for myself| ------------------------------ From: greenebr@aplcomm.jhuapl.com (Barry Raveendran Greene) Subject: Looking For Information and Experience With LCI Reply-To: greenebr@aplcomm.jhuapl.com (Barry Raveendran Greene) Organization: JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 21:00:48 GMT Hello, Does anyone have any experience with LCI? I have a firend who is thinking about useing some of LCI's services and he would like to know if anyone has any personal experience with LCI. Thanks, Barry Raveendran Greene Internet: greenebr@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu [Moderator's Note: LCI is the fourth largest long distance carrier in the USA, coming behind only AT&T, MCI and Sprint in that order. Their corporate offices are in Virginia. They are also the carrier handling calls for the Orange Card, the affinity calling card program offered to readers of this newsgroup and Digest. Their service is good. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 9:45:31 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: 215/610 and Other Upcoming Splits -- Some Details I saw a 1993-1994 Harrisburg-Hershey directory with some notes about the upcoming splits. It does not, however, mention 910 in N.C. For Michigan, it lists Flint in 810 and Detroit in 313. For Pennsylvania: Allentown, Bethlehem, Chester, Easton, Lansdowne, Paoli, Reading, Upper Darby, Valley Forge, West Chester in 610; Philadelphia, Levittown, Quakertown in 215. Here is a review of upcoming splits; and when they begin (not when full cutover is done). 416/905 Ontario, 4 Oct 1993 (full cutover Mar 1994, postponed from 10 Jan 1994) 919/910 North Carolina, 14 Nov 1993 (full cutover 13 Feb 1994) 313/810 Michigan, 1 Dec 1993 (full cutover 10 Aug 1994) 215/610 Pennsylvania, 1994 205/334 Alabama, 1995 (the first NNX area code to be announced, on July 22, 1993) The update to history.of.area.splits is necessary because each of the old area codes programmed for N0X/N1X prefixes, and in the notes about such programming, there is a note about upcoming split which will have to be changed to present tense. Example: 416, Ontario, 3 Mar 1990 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls) (to become 416/905) ------------------------------ From: dlt@cogito.psych.upenn.edu (David Turock) Subject: Dialogic Equipment Vendors Wanted Date: 7 Aug 93 12:26:29 GMT Does anyone know of vendors that buy and sell used Dialogic equipment? I have a lot of older revision boards that I need to upgrade. (Apologies in advance if this is in a FAQ; if so, could I trouble someone to send it?) Thanks in advance, David Turock dlt@cogito.psych.upenn.edu 201-829-4299 (Voice) 908-846-3608 (Fax) ------------------------------ From: ezotti@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Edward Zotti) Subject: Why do I Often Get "Off-Hook" Telco Message on Answering Machine? Date: 7 Aug 93 15:00:28 GMT Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA Why is that occasionally a telephone answering machine records the telco's off-hook message, i.e., "if you would like to make a call, please hang up, and try again," etc.? The best guess I have heard so far is that somebody calls you, hangs up before the answering machine finishes playing the outgoing message, and the answering machine isn't smart enough to hang up and so stays off hook until the recording comes on. But I'm having trouble replicating this and wonder if I have to hang up at a certain critical point during the message (that is, when I call my own machine). Replies by e-mail appreciated. Ed [Moderator's Note: The caller has to hang up sort of in the middle of the ring the machine is going to answer on. The caller has to be off the line in time for the CO to reset things so that when the answering machine picks up, the CO thinks you want to make a call. It presents dial tone to your outgoing answering machine message, and the dial tone times out about the time your outgoing message finishes playing and the incoming recording starts. The CO times out, gets tired of waiting and asks do you want to make a call or not ... which your answering machine hears as a voice on the line and does what it is supposed to do by recording what it hears being said. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #546 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa13639; 7 Aug 93 21:46 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07766 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 19:16:02 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23851 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 19:15:23 -0500 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 19:15:23 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308080015.AA23851@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #547 TELECOM Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 19:15:15 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 547 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? (Steven H. Lichter) Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? (Ken Hester) Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? (Carl Moore) Re: Caller-ID (Miscellaneous Topics) (Michael Schuster) Re: ANI From Across the Pond (Laurence Chiu) Re: ANI From Across the Pond (Richard Thomsen) Re: Valid Card Declared Invalid? (Brett Frankenberger) Re: Valid Card Declared Invalid? (Mike King) Re: Valid Card Declared Invalid? (Steve Forrette) Re: Is This Legal? (Donald R. Sailer) Re: Is This Legal? (Marshall Levin) Re: Is This Legal? (Bonnie J. Johnson) Re: Cordless Headset Telephone ( Re: Cordless Headset Telephone (Allen Leibowitz) Re: Cordless Headset Telephone (Mike King) Re: Central Office Tours? (Brett Elliott) Re: Central Office Tours? (Steven H. Lichter) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs. nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? Date: 7 Aug 1993 09:01:14 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) Looking into the user's guide for the GTD5 it says that Caller ID (not in California) will only work within the CO unless SS7 signaling has be installed. We have that between our offices and are waiting to set it up to the PacBell offices. Then if and when we get Caller ID it should work. I also noted that before the PUC put the ban on it should you have a Caller ID box it could have worked and in some cases may still work for out of state calls once the network is in place. Steven H. Licher GTECalif COEI ------------------------------ From: khester@cinpmx.attmail.com (khester ) Date: 7 Aug 93 11:06:12 GMT Subject: Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? In oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > If no single local telco was handling your call, then I think the > theory you offer, namely SS7, is the only possible correct answer. > But the thing is, the big three long-distance carriers have had SS7 > for more than a year now (they need it for 800 portability, for > example) and so it is difficult to know what recent change would have > suddenly put the out-of-state call onto your caller ID screen. If the BOC had recently implemented Network Interconnect, that would explain why he's getting out-of-state calling party number. Network Interconnect ties the BOC's CCS7 net to the IXC's CCS7 net and allows the BOC to offer new services such as end-to-end 64KB clear channel ISDN, international credit card validation, expanded features on domestic calling cards and faster setup for long distance calls. Ken Hester CSC Partners, A Company of Computer Sciences Corporation Internet: CSC.PARTNERS@applelink.apple.com Voice: +1 513 768 4440 or +1 513 961 ISDN ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 9:50:00 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Caller-ID Across LATAs? 215 doesn't even touch 201 anymore, because of area code 908. Frenchtown, NJ was the closest place up the Delaware River which was in 201 (now 908). ------------------------------ From: schuster@panix.com (Michael Schuster) Subject: Re: Caller-ID (Miscellaneous Topics) Date: 7 Aug 1993 20:52:11 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In article carlp@rainbow.mentorg.com (Carl Page) writes: > Herb writes: >> Note that this Caller ID Display unit has crummy display (low >> contrast) and an inferior user interface. The ONLY reason I >> use it is for the "Privacy Block" feature. I've noticed this too. Figuring that there =must= be a way to fix it (like properly biasing the LCD panel) I opened it up and started jumpering around the resistors and contrast pot going to the panel. But I can't get any more contrast out of the thing. Has anyone figured out how? Mike Schuster schuster@panix.com | 70346.1745@CompuServe.COM schuster@shell.portal.com | GEnie: MSCHUSTER ------------------------------ Subject: Re: ANI From Across the Pond From: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) Date: 7 Aug 93 20:20:00 GMT Organization: The Transfer Station BBS, Danville, CA - 510-837-4610/837-5591 Reply-To: uttsbbs!laurence.chiu@PacBell.COM (Laurence Chiu) In an article, Haakon Styri said: > Recently some posters (among them the Moderator) asked about what > happens with ANI if a call originating in Europe terminates in North > America. I belive I've posted one reply, but I didn't state anything > about "why not." After asking a few people that might know I returned > with a simple answer: the CCITT have decided it should be like that. > And, even if it's technically possible you'd probably find that a few > countries would still object due to privacy and data protection > regulations. I agree it would be nice to have. BTW, I'd like to know > one thing about the use of ANI in the US. Have the network operators > (or whatever you call them) agreed to not use the ANI they get from > their competition to do traffic analysis in order to identify > potential costomers? Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't ANI from abroad (or something similar to that) be necessary for the Moderator's new Telepassport (is that what it's called?) service. Or does AT&T do something else? Laurence Chiu The Transfer Station BBS (510) 837-4610 & 837-5591 (V.32bis both lines) Danville, California, USA. 1.5 GIG Files & FREE public Internet Access [Moderator's Note: It is called Telepassport and on calls from within the USA to our 800 number, we get ANI in real time and act on it when answering on our end. From other countries, we use call-back by assigning each customer a unique number to call us on in a DID setup. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 09:09:14 -0600 From: rgt@spitfire.lanl.gov (Richard Thomsen) Subject: Re: ANI From Across the Pond In article: 39677 of comp.dcom.telecom naddy@mips.ruessel.sub.org (Christian Weisgerber) writes: > From the above paragraphs I understand that ANI is not delivered from > Europe to the U.S. If this is true, how does your Telepassport program work? I understood that a European caller would call a number and let it ring twice, without answering. Then you would call back. If it did not get ANI, how would it call back the right number? Richard Thomsen Los Alamos National Laboratory rgt@lanl.gov In case you did not realize, I speak only for myself. [Moderator's Note: See the message before this. We assign each customer a unqiue DID number. When that number rings, we translate it and call back. PAT] ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Valid Card Declared Invalid? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 13:09:04 GMT mlevin@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshall Levin) writes: > Just to test if it would work, from a payphone I dialed > 10222-0-xxx-xxx-xxxx, waited for the "MCI bong" and then dialed my > card number. It asked me to dial a valid card number (my card is > valid :) > Then I dialed 1-800-674-7000, waited for the tone, dialed my card > number, waited for the tone, dialed xxx-xxx-xxxx and it did work. > Obviously the card is valid -- why did this problem occur, and why > does the recrording declare a valid card invalid? > [Moderator's Note: Because cards other than AT&T or local telco have > to be dialed via their 950 or 1-800 gateway rather than through their > 10xxx gateway. Stuff going through 10xxx is checked or validated by > the local telco I think. Did you try MCI's 800 or 950 number and get > the same results? PAT] Stuff going through 10xxx is not verified by the local telco (Once you get the MCI bong, it's MCI's call). Some LD companies, for whatever reason, elect to only accept LEC cards on their 10XXX access. But it't strictly up to them. I believe AT&T will accept its card or an LEC card on their 10288. Brett (brettf@netcom.com) (formerly rfranken@cs.umr.edu) [Moderator's Note: Oh? Stuff going through 10xxx is not validated by the local telco? Then how come when I wanted to change the PIN on my AT&T Calling Card and had to ask twice to get it done, the second time the rep at AT&T said "I will send a FAX to Illinois Bell right now and ask what is the delay in processing this," ?? And how come she later said IBT had lost the original order to do it? I believe that anything dialed via 10xxx is first examined -- in its entirety -- by the local telco, and then is handled, passed to a carrier, treated or whatever. How come whenever I want to change calling plans or do anything with my AT&T account the answer is always it will be done whenever Illinois Bell gets around to it, etc.? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 12:57:42 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Valid Card Declared Invalid? In TELECOM Digest, V13 #536, mlevin@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshall Levin) wrote: > Just to test if it would work, from a payphone I dialed > 10222-0-xxx-xxx-xxxx, waited for the "MCI bong" and then dialed my > card number. It asked me to dial a valid card number (my card is > valid :) > Then I dialed 1-800-674-7000, waited for the tone, dialed my card > number, waited for the tone, dialed xxx-xxx-xxxx and it did work. > Obviously the card is valid -- why did this problem occur, and why > does the recrording declare a valid card invalid? and Pat replied: > [Moderator's Note: Because cards other than AT&T or local telco have > to be dialed via their 950 or 1-800 gateway rather than through their > 10xxx gateway. Stuff going through 10xxx is checked or validated by > the local telco I think. Did you try MCI's 800 or 950 number and get > the same results? PAT] Not necessarily. My Sprint card can be used just like an AT&T card. I can dial 10333-0-10D (or 7D, where permitted), wait for the Sprint jingle (no bong), enter my card number, and get connected. If the phone I'm using blocks 10xxx, or I'm in an area that doesn't allow intra-LATA competition, I can dial 1-800-877-8000, dial the number I'm calling at the first tone, enter my card number after the second tone, and get connected. Either method works. It all depends on the individual carrier's setup. 10333-0 access for Sprint FonCard calls was added to the Sprint network in Spring of '92. Prior to that, dialing 10333-0+10D would obtain a Sprint operator for calls such as 3rd-number billing and collect, but they could not accept card numbers. I haven't experimented to see if LEC cards are accepted by Sprint 10333-0 access. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Valid Card Declared Invalid? Date: 7 Aug 1993 18:25:15 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) > [Moderator's Note: Because cards other than AT&T or local telco have > to be dialed via their 950 or 1-800 gateway rather than through their > 10xxx gateway. Stuff going through 10xxx is checked or validated by > the local telco I think. Did you try MCI's 800 or 950 number and get > the same results? PAT] This is not really the case. When a caller dials 10xxx+0+, the call is handed off to the IXC for them to do whatever they like with it. It just so happens that MCI doesn't accept their own cards through this mechanism. Both Sprint and AT&T will accept their respective cards, as well as LEC-issued cards. Of course, if the caller enters a LEC card, the IXC will query the LEC database for validation. It's just that Sprint and AT&T are smart enough to use their own validation database if one of their cards is entered, and the LEC database otherwise. MCI only uses the LEC database. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: SAILER@ucsvax.ucs.umass.edu (DONALD R SAILER) Subject: Re: Is This Legal? Date: 7 Aug 1993 20:42:47 GMT Organization: UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS - AMHERST In Alan writes: > But I'm also sure you're aware that when a university decides to set > up shop as an aggregator and (possibly) a telephone service reseller > that they must first have in place a tariff, among other various and > sundry legal requirements (like tax authority and tax collection > mechanisms, etc.). If USC wants to force the writer to give up > regulated telephone service in order to take USC's telephone service, > I'm sure that USC wouldn't mind the writer requesting a copy of their > latest tariff, and certificate of authority, from their state utility > regulatory commission. ;) The USC can charge whatever they want to for a call on whatever carrier they wish as long as they permit folks access to other carriers with calling cards (10-XXX-0-etc.). In this case they are just like a hotel (also covered by the FCC aggregator rule). Unless California has an additional law or rule governing this type of service, USC does not have to file a tariff (they are not considered a common carrier). Randy Sailer University of Massachusetts Randy.Sailer@OCIS.UMass.edu ------------------------------ From: mlevin@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshall Levin) Subject: Re: Is This Legal? Reply-To: mlevin@nyx.cs.du.edu, telecom Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci. Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 03:02:07 GMT Bonnie J Johnson writes: > I wouldn't bet my next pay check on this (because it's already spent) > but I would imagine Gang's monthly line charge will be the same or > LESS than what he paid thru Pac Bell. Also if he is worried about > his International carrier being changed TELL HIM TO REMEMBER EQUAL > ACCESS!! Schools are now considered aggregators and MUST provide > access to all the major carriers. He can shop around for the lowest > rate if he likes and then call the campus telecomm office to determine > the dialing plan to get his carrier of choice. Equal access is the > law -- no way to get around this one. Hold on a second. My college does not allow students to select a carrier. All calls must go through AT&T. It is impossible (due to the way the phone system is set up) to dial a 10xxx or 0-xxx-xxx-xxx type call. (Of course, if you have a calling card from another carrier you can dial their 800 number). Students do not have individual numbers but merely extensions -- the college has only one main number. Calls are not billed to a particular number, but students must dial 8-1-access_code-{wait for dialtone}-xxx-xxx-xxxx and calls are billed with an internal billing system. Is this illegal? Must the school provide equal access even though these are not real phone numbers or lines which can be dialed directly from outside? If this is in fact illegal, how can I make the school let me choose the carrier on a per-call basis (a la 10xxx)? Apparently the equipment just doesn't allow 1+ or 0+ calls. Agh! Can anyone help? Marshall ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 15:58:35 EDT From: Bonnie J Johnson Subject: Re: Is This Legal? Someone asked for a copy of the FCC regulations requiring equal access. My copy has been fax'ed to death but I will mail out copies to those of you who are interested, if you provide me personally with your direct mailing address. BTW, if Atri has all those great features such as voicemail, call waiting, and so on, I doubt the telco could use the excuse "of costing too much". There is a provision in the ruling for those higher ed instutions who have older switches-but it sounds to me like you are served by a smart switch. "Have to do a software upgrade" doesn't cut it! With all due respect to Boards of Regents and Boards of Trustees, the FCC is just a hair above this group! If I were to recommend anything to the telecom department, it would be to rebid their LD contract and get a better deal. As far as them being responsible for unpaid LD calls, I would make arrangements to hold the grades of any offender -- I can't imagine a University or telecom department being responsible for any students unpaid bills!!! later, bj ------------------------------ From: gary.w.sanders@att.com Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 13:23:06 GMT Subject: Re: Cordless Headset Telephone Organization: AT&T In article greg@carnivore.tamu.edu (Greg Economides) writes: > A few months ago I received a catalog from _some_ company which was > filled with various kinds of telephones and telephone accessories. > There was some pretty cool stuff in it. Well, I tossed the catalog, > figuring that I had all that I needed and wanted of this kind of > stuff. I just received a catalog this week called Hello Direct (800-444-3556). It had a number office telephone related items. Several corded headsets and a unique looking coordless headset phone. No bulky box on your belt. The entire wireless headset set on your head on only weights 7oz with battery. 900mhz 32 channel, 50ft range. The catalog also have various cordless phone,office phones, handset amplifiers, personal pay phone and cellular products. One item that I had not seen before was a answering machine that can redial you at your pager number if you get a call. Gary W. Sanders (N8EMR) gary.w.sanders@att.com AT&T Bell Labs 614-860-5965 ------------------------------ From: leibowa@aa.wl.com (Allen Leibowitz) Subject: Re: Cordless Headset Telephone Date: 7 Aug 1993 17:05:41 GMT Organization: Warner-Lambert Parke-Davis Research Greg Economides (greg@carnivore.tamu.edu) wrote: > A few months ago I received a catalog from _some_ company which was > filled with various kinds of telephones and telephone accessories. It was probably Hello Direct. 800-HI-HELLO Allen Leibowitz Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA +1 313.998.3314 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 17:05:00 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Cordless Headset Telephone It's a good chance it was the Hello Direct catalog. They have all kinds of goodies in their monthly catalog, including what you're describing. Call 800-HI-HELLO. For our non-US readers, sorry, I don't have a regular toll number. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) [Moderator's Note: This is as good a time as any to mention that I strongly recommend Hello Direct as a supplier for small business places and even residential service. They have a very big stock of items in their inventory, and their catalog alone is always fun to read. Get on their mailing list and see for yourself. I do not think they will ship or sell outside the USA. Not certain of this. PAT] ------------------------------ From: belliot@eis.calstate.edu (Brett Elliott) Subject: Re: Central Office Tours? Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 02:33:30 GMT scott@ryptyde.nix.com (Scott McClure) writes: > I called PacBell today to see if they still gave tours of > CO's. After bouncing around several different offices, the response > was "oh, we don't give tours anymore." > When did this start (or stop, in this case)? Is this normal > for telcos these days, just PacBell, or just PacBell here in San Diego? Unfortunately, now a days PacBell doesnt like to give out tours. I guess you could raise a stink if you mentioned you pay for PacBell's service, etc. etc. belliot@eis.calstate.edu [Moderator's Note: Just because you pay for service only means they have to provide it, not give tours. I don't think they would respond to that kind of pressure, and they could easily say that because of the times we live in -- terrorist attacks, etc -- it is not in their best interest to open their facilities to the public. PAT] ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: Central Office Tours? Date: 7 Aug 1993 08:53:16 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) The last time I can remember PacBell having tours was some years ago when electronic switching was just getting installed. I'm sure you could get into one of their offices if you were to contact a division staff office or their main office in San Ramon. I know GTE gives tours to groups at times, but not like it was years ago. But then there are not a lot of people left that can take the time to work these things and try and answer some pretty dumb questions. Steven H. Lichter GTECalif COEI ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #547 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id ab15425; 7 Aug 93 23:14 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05598 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 20:47:57 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18457 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 20:47:16 -0500 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 20:47:16 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308080147.AA18457@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #548 TELECOM Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 20:47:15 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 548 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Monty Solomon) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Gregory G. Woodbury) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Steven L. Johnson) Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced (Willard Dawson) Re: 800 Alternatives and Billing (Mike King) Re: 800 Alternatives and Billing (Brett Frankenberger) Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? (Dale Farmer) Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? (Macy Hallock) Re: T1 Test Equipment For Delay (Bud Couch) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: MCI Makes Buses? (Andrew Finkenstadt) Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing (Anonymous-2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 04:22:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced > I know (or am pretty sure) that UUNET has an anonymous > FTP-like thing running on a 900 number, but anonymous UUCP? How does > that work? How could the host possibly know how to hand out mail and > news under the circumstances? PAT] Anonymous Access to UUNET's Source Archives 1-900-GOT-SRCS UUNET now provides access to its extensive collection of UNIX related sources to non-subscribers. By calling 1-900-468-7727 and using the login "uucp" with no password, anyone may uucp any of UUNET's on line source collection. Callers will be charged 50 cents per minute. The charges will appear on their next telephone bill. Due to Sprint policy UUNET can charge you for only 30 minutes per call. UUNET cannot allow sites to transfer any more files on this connection after 30 minutes have elapsed. The 900 number is for US domestic use only. International callers are not able to access this service. There are also some areas of the United States which block the use of 900 numbers. The service will not be available in those areas. The file uunet!~/info/archive-help contains instructions. The file uunet!~/ls-lR.Z contains a complete list of the files available and is updated daily. Files ending in Z need to be uncompressed before being used. The file uunet!~/compress.tar is a tar archive containing the C sources for the uncompress program. This service provides a cost effective way of obtaining current releases of sources without having to maintain accounts with UUNET or some other service. All modems connected to the 900 number are Telebit T2500 modems. These modems support all standard modem speeds including PEP, V.32 (9600), V.22bis (2400), Bell 212a (1200), and Bell 103 (300). Using PEP or V.32, a 2.9 megabyte file such as the GNU C compiler would cost $20 in con- nect charges. The entire 40 megabyte X Window system V11 R5 would cost only $267 in connect time. These costs are less than the official tape distribution fees and they are available now via modem. UUNET Technologies, Inc. 3110 Fairview Park Drive, Suite 570 Falls Church, VA 22042 +1 703 204 8000 (voice) +1 703 204 8001 (fax) info@uunet.uu.net 921028 ------------------------------ From: ggw@wolves.Durham.NC.US (Gregory G. Woodbury) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Organization: Wolves Den UNIX Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 05:37:58 GMT In article Bob_Frankston@frankston.com writes: > When a computer calls a computer, there is no human involved in the > process to see a message. > [Moderator's Note: See the message before this. Give me one example of > a 'computer to computer unattended' transmission now which goes via > 900 numbers. Yes, there are computer to computer connections via 900 > but at least the originating end has a human being watching a screen > calling a BBS, etc. UUnet Technologies 1-900-GOT-SRCS anonymous UUCP file service. Given that one knows the layout of the Archives, one can request the files with a simple command and let the computers take care of doing the transfer at the best (least costly?) time for them to do so. Gregory G. Woodbury @ The Wolves Den UNIX, Durham NC UUCP: ...dukcds!wolves!ggw ...duke!wolves!ggw [use the maps!] Domain: ggw@wolves.Durham.NC.US ggw%wolves@duke.cs.duke.edu [This site is *not* affiliated with Duke University. (Idiots!) ] [Moderator's Note: 'given that one knows the layout of the Archives ...' And how does one find out the layout ... why, you contact uunet and find out ... so again, we have at least semi-pre-arrangements in place. Totally blind dialing to a 900 number via modem is very unlikely. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnson@tigger.jvnc.net (Steven L. Johnson) Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced Organization: JvNCnet Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 20:24:52 GMT cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler) writes: > No, actually, I'm under the impression that UUNET offers 900 service > to their anonymous UUCP, so there IS NO pre-arranged deal. This is for > doing file requests for public software. Before I got "real internet" access including FTP, I used the 900 anonymous UUCP service to retrieve some files. It's convenient and works well. > [Moderator's Note: Maybe I am missing something here. > I know (or am pretty sure) that UUNET has an anonymous > FTP-like thing running on a 900 number, but anonymous UUCP? How does > that work? How could the host possibly know how to hand out mail and > news under the circumstances? PAT] Mail and news are not available via anonymous uucp for exactly the reasons you mention. The FTP-like thing running on the 900 number is anonymous uucp. Steve ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Victory For 900 Users: FTC Rules Announced From: dawson@willard.atl.ga.us (Willard Dawson) Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 07:49:02 EDT Organization: Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 dag@ossi.com (Alex Griffiths) writes: > Experienced uucp'ers will notice that the above is somewhat > simplified, somewhat unsuccessfully, for brevity (references to rmail > and the like removed) and it implies the use of Unix systems, running > uucp on VMS or pc's (ick) would be slightly different. Yes, absolutely. I've actually USED the 900 service line from UUNET, from my instance of Waffle on a PC. The charges were at $1/minute. For small stuff that I want "right now," it's a very useful thing to have about. My only other alternatives are to use a mail server (like ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com) or to have a friend ftp the stuff, as I myself do not live on the Internet (oh, the horror). The setup for Waffle is pretty simple. In my ~/uucp/systems file: uunet Any g dialUUNET touunet 19004687727 uucp dawson@willard.uucp ---------------------- In my ~/uucp/dialers file: dialUUNET Default 38400 "" ATZ OK-\d\dATZ-OK ATM0 OK ATX6DT\T CONNECT \m\c ----------------------- In my ~/uucp/scripts file: touunet in:--in:--in: \L ---------------------- Of course, it helps greatly to know in advance where the files you want to "download" are located. :-) Like, you need to have previously obtained the "lslR.Z" file from the root (relative to the $HOME for nuucp) on uunet. I've actually gotten "CONNECT 14400" when dialing with my fast modem, but throughput speeds were (of course) never up to that standard. Sometimes the system response was very good. On other occasions, it has been very "jerky," with long pauses that drop the throughput considerably. (Contentions that "uucp runs without human intervention" are quite laughable in the PC context ...) Doing all this by hand using a PC lets me observe the performance of the session, and terminate it if I feel that it's not going quite as quickly as it should be. (... all from observing my modem status lights... long pauses are a general indication that the throughput is gonna be way low...) dawson@willard.atl.ga.us (Willard Dawson) gatech!kd4nc!vdbsan!willard!dawson emory!uumind!willard!dawson Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 [Moderator's Note: I would say it is *imperative* to know how the archives is laid out. Under UUCP you don't have control of your computer during the session; the keyboard is locked out. If your script has an error or you do not know *exactly* the file name or which directory to look in you are out of luck. 900 anonymous uucp could be pretty expensive and time consuming! PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 13:15:25 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: 800 Alternatives and Billing In TELECOM Digest, V13 #536, bruce@zuhause.MN.ORG (Bruce Albrecht) wrote: > Back in my youth, some friends of mine somehow discovered that a 800 > number for our school's timesharing system could be dialed as a local > call with some prefix and the last four digits of the 800 number. We > number without going through LD? Also, when we called the local > number, was anything billed back to the 800 user? And Pat replied: > [Moderator's Note: When you did that, the 800 user got billed for the > call and you got billed as well (or made a 'free local call' but still > caused the 800 number to get charged. Now days, many 800 numbers Pat, how could the 800 carrier even know the call was placed? If I have an 800 number through PTA that we've set to ring my office number, how would PTA detect that a neighbor dialed 428-5384? Even back in the days when Ma controlled all 800 numbers, how could a local call (or a long-distance call, for that matter) be associated back to an 800 number? Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) [Moderator's Note: Back in the days when AT&T controlled all 800 numbers (well, let's say in the 1970's - 1980's) 800 numbers did not work like they do now. Now, your carrier gets the number dialed, translates it to a regular number and dials it back out. In other times, your 800 number was a number unto itself with a physical wire pair which came to you and an instrument upon which you spoke. It was a separate and distinct thing. Now you get 800 on your regular line; then you had to have a separate instrument and wires. On the phone sitting there (which usually had a flat plastic piece across where the dial would go -- like an old manual service line -- since you could not dial out on it anyway; picking it up you'd hear battery but no dialtone) a little number sticker actually referred to it as 800-xxx-xxxx. Now how did AT&T get that to you? Well, they used a local telco loop like now. Remember, we had x-bar and step service in those days. Telco would get the call from AT&T, translate it themselves into whatever pair it was supposed to go on and send it. The line to you from telco was typically just a regular number but with one-way incoming service, and telco did NOT tell you what that number was. So far as you were concerned it was 800-xxx-xxxx. Period. Telco supervised for an answer and started the clock running, then handed this information back to AT&T who 'just assumed' if telco got a call for that line it 'must be' an In-WATS call. So if someone happened to stumble onto the seven digit number assigned to service the In-WATS line, when they dialed it, telco started the clock running. Things are different now because the carrier itself supervises the connection and does not rely on telco to say that someone went off hook on your end. In the old system, if you knew the seven digit number assigned to handle the incoming WATS call it was strictly against the tariff to dial that number since doing so caused two people to pay for one phone call; both the recipient (when telco supervised and started his clock) and the person placing the call, since his telco started charging him as well. Where before AT&T handled the In-WATS call to the telco and said 'here is a call, who is it locally? Translate it and deal with it ...' now the carriers do the translations and simply hand telco a call to be completed to an already defined (by the LD carrier) number before the local telco even sees it. Am I correct for once, someone? PAT] ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: 800 Alternatives and Billing Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 13:15:54 GMT > [Moderator's Note: When you did that, the 800 user got billed for the > call and you got billed as well (or made a 'free local call' but still > caused the 800 number to get charged. Now days, many 800 numbers > are just set to ring a regular seven digit number, but there are still > a few cases around where the 800 number is on a dedicated pair to the > customer premises in which case many of them are dialable if you know > the number assigned for the purpose. PAT] Huh? You mean if I get one your 800 numbers that forwards to my POTS number, I will then get charged for calls to my POTS number? Not likely :) ... The school mentioned in the message just doesn't have enough need to justify a dedicated line (usually a T1) to his IXC, so he has his IXC set up the 800 number to forward to a POTS number ... Bruce just found out that POTS number ... the call should be free to the school (and free to Bruce assuming he has free local calling). Brett (brettf@netcom.com) (formerly rfranken@cs.umr.edu) [Moderator's Note: Maybe my original comment should have been to clarify what the correspondent meant by 'in my youth'. I answered it by thinking of my own youth -- well, middle age really -- and the fact that 800 numbers were terminated quite differently than they are now in most cases. See the above message. Then the call was passed to a dedicated line with the assumption being anytime this line is in use an 800 call is in progress. Now, no such assumption is made by telco. Where before AT&T handed telco a call and said this is In-WATS, take it, translate it and deal with it; put it somewhere, now the carrier comes to telco with a call -- that's all telco sees now is a call arriving from somewhere to the number the LD carrier says to give it to. No assumptions now about what types of calls 'must be' on a line if the line is in use. See the difference? PAT] ------------------------------ From: dale@access.digex.net (Dale Farmer) Subject: Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? Date: 7 Aug 1993 14:58:11 GMT Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA In article andy@vistachrome.com writes: > Why is it necessary to have 24 little boxes converting the T1 > to 24 RS232 lines? That then requires 24 serial ports on the > computer. It seems that there should be a "box" that directly takes > the T1, DSP demodulates it and converts it to a SINGLE data stream > that then connects to the computer. The computer can then take this > datastream apart in software (if fast enough), or in hardware, if not. Yes there is, US Robotics makes it under the name total control wide area network hub. On one side you plug in your two T-1 lines on the other side you plug in your Ethernet cable. (other interfaces are under development) Gives you 48 modems and it will also take the ANI signals and route the call to a given virtual dial-in port so you can treat calls from different parties appropriately. All in a box that is 48x47x17 inches (about 1/2 of a rack cabinet). I have no knowledge of anybody else who makes a comparable all in one box. Your mileage may vary. Dale Farmer ------------------------------ From: redpoll!fmsystm!fmsys!macy@uhura.neoucom.EDU Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 21:13 EDT Subject: Re: T1s Versus Regular Lines For a FreeNet? Reply-To: macy@telemax.com Organization: F M Systems/Telemax Medina, Ohio USA In article hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) writes: > Why is it necessary to have 24 little boxes converting the T1 > to 24 RS232 lines? Sounds like you want either the units made by Primary Access or USR's new modem system ... Macy Hallock N8OBG Voice= +1.216.723.3030 Fax= +1.216.723.3223 macy@telemax.com Telemax Inc. and F M Systems Inc. 152 Highland Drive Medina, Ohio 44256 USA ------------------------------ From: bud@kentrox.com (Bud Couch) Subject: Re: T1 Test Equipment For Delay Organization: ADC Kentrox Industries, Inc. Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 17:33:21 GMT In article telenet!cyates@uunet.UU.NET writes: > I'm looking for some test equipment that could simulate propogation > delays on T1 lines. (Actually, I'm interested in T1 for now, but T3 > in the near future). Basically I guess I'd like a box that could > store data for a configurable period of time (msec-second range) and > then retransmit it as though it had just suffered a long propagation Tellabs 4540 T1 Digital Delay. It's a plug-in, so you'll need the associated shelf and power supplies. 708-969-8800 Bud Couch - ADC Kentrox bud@kentrox.com (192.228.32.43) insert legalistic bs disclaimer here ------------------------------ From: paul@senex.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Date: 7 Aug 1993 17:53:04 GMT Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services In article dwolff@teapot.cv.com (David Wolff) writes: > Reminds me of a story. The good citizens of Walpole MA asked that the > name of MCI Walpole be changed, since their town's name was becoming > so closely connected to the maximum security prison there. Much > discussion followed, but by far the funniest suggestion was ... Sprint > Walpole! Wouldn't this be "slamming" a "slammer"? Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - Paul.Sawyer@UNH.Edu Telecommunications and Network Services VOX: +1 603 862 3262 50 College Road FAX: +1 603 862 2030 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 ------------------------------ From: andy@vistachrome.com (Andrew Finkenstadt) Subject: Re: MCI Makes Buses? Reply-To: andy@vistachrome.com Organization: Vista-Chrome, Inc. Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 19:47:40 GMT In our Moderator wrote: > [Moderator's Note: Before long, this is going to get as confusing for > me as the 'ATM' abbreviation! :) PAT] ATM: Adobe Type Manager? Automated Teller Machine? Asynchronous Transfer Mode? Andy's True Music (a local store)? Yes, there is room for acro-fusion. (Short for acronym confusion.) Andrew Finkenstadt | andy@{homes.com,vistachrome.com,genie.geis.com} Systems Analyst | Vista-Chrome, Homes & Land Publishing Corporation | 1600 Capital Circle SW, Tallahassee Florida 32310 +1 904-575-0189 | GEnie Postmaster, Unix & Internet RoundTables Sysop ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Reflections on Hacker Sentencing From: Anonymous-2 Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 20:59:05 EDT Organization: Not Relevant Pat, I felt a need to respond to this. As I am now gainfully employed -- albeit at a rather security-paranoid company -- I too wish to remain anonymous should you elect to publish this in the Digest. Therefore, please delete any identifying info. Anonymous (telecom@eecs.nwu.edu) writes: > Although some readers may not understand the analogy, hacking (or, > technically, "cracking"), to the average high-school kid, is similar > to joyriding (something that doesn't happen much anymore, except in > inner cities). It's a kid's way of getting a "high" -- a kind of "let > me see if I can do THIS" idea. Sure, I knew it was wrong ... everyone > involved in it did. But the teenage feeling of invincibility prevents > one from thinking about it. Until you get caught. I'm not sure if I agree with the joyriding analogy, particularly when applied to hackers as a culture. I suspect that, for you, it may be appropriate, in that I'm not sure if your motivation lay in the proverbial 'exploring systems' as much as it did in trying to impress your friends. However, the point about teen invincibility is important, and in the presence of such a need to impress, directly contributed to your present dilemma. If my suspicions are correct, I won't shed any tears for you. If you have truely 'redeemed' yourself, you may initially encounter difficulty in finding a job. But once you are established and have the opportunity to grow professionally, you won't have much of a problem moving on. > I'm glad I got caught, because if I didn't, I'd be doing worse, real > criminal-type things now. Something more damaging than phreaking a > phone call to Cali or being part of an Alliance Teleconference. I'd > probably be stealing real cash, or merchandise, or who knows what > else; but it'd be something that I'd deserve to go to jail for. If such is the case, I am glad that you were caught. However, I really don't believe that you're eventual maturity would allow you to overlook the obvious risk inherent in such activities, especially when compared to the money that you can legitimately make in the marketplace. Correct me if I'm wrong, but let's keep in mind that -- with the notable exception of Kevin Mitnick -- none of the greater 'hacker burnings' of the last few years have involved anyone attempting to either achieve outright monetary gain, or to commit willful destruction of property. Not to mention that many of the teen hackers of yore are now prominent in the evolution of the software/hardware industries. Furthermore, in a post where you attempt to describe young hackers in generalized terms, I resent the implication that you're speaking for others in stating that you'd be doing "something that I deserved to go to jail for". Finally, not to pick nits, but the term "hacker" is solidly entrenched in the minds of the media (and, hence, the public) as -- at best -- a word for which the meaning must be derived from context. I've been called a hacker for over ten years. At some point along the line, the context shifted, such that the Kiwanis now suggest membership :-/ Educating the public is a task that requires enormous patience, relative consistency in approach, and a great deal of time. Given such extraordinary demands (as evidenced during your day in court), as well as the vast number of opportunities and dangers inherent in the "civiIization of cyberspace" I find the energies expended on attempts to substitute the term "cracker" for the pejorative use of "hacker" to be not only futile -- given that you can't even get the people educated in the computer cultures to agree on such a distinction -- but of an extremely low priority. [Moderator's Note: Thank you, Anonymous and Anonymous-2 for your comments. I generally do not like anonymous articles so will probably close the thread at this point unless anyone else has something to add to the discussion. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #548 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16319; 7 Aug 93 23:56 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01466 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 21:27:58 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30736 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 21:27:19 -0500 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 21:27:19 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308080227.AA30736@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #549 TELECOM Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 21:27:15 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 549 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Borneo Malaysia Phones (Juha Veijalainen) Re: Borneo Malaysia Phones (Jonathan Haruni) Re: Networks in Sarejevo? (Frederick Roeber) Re: CT2 Phones in Hong Kong (Brendan Jones) Re: Calls From Prison (Robert S. Helfman) Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible (Bruce Sullivan) Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible (Frederick Roeber) Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible (Christopher Zguris) Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible (Mike King) Re: Flow Control With Unixware (Gary Breuckman) Re: Maximum Number of Phone Lines to a Residence? (Gary Breuckman) Re: CCITT, ITU-T or TSS? (Fernando Lagrana) Misprogrammed Foreign Phones: Where to Report? (Jim Gottlieb) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JVE%FNAHA@TRENGA.UniGate1.Unisys.COM Date: 07 AUG 93 08:00 Subject: Re: Borneo Malaysia Phones jrallen@devildog.att.com (Jon Allen) wrote: > In article franklin@ecse.rpi.edu (Wm > Randolph Franklin) writes: >> Smartfon is a 100m range cordless phone, which you use near to a >> posted transmitter. It's smaller than a cellular phone, which I think >> may also be available. > If this is the same as the System used in Singapore, then you can make > only outgoing calls. All over Singapore are the little signs > Very interesting concept -- I had not heard it being used anywhere else. These CT2 phones are used quite widely around the world, only the service name varies, usually it is a variation of 'Telepoint'. In Europe I know that at least England, France and Finland have telepoint services. In Finland the Finnish Telecom markets only Motorola CT2 phone (called Silverlink 2000). It is essentially a cordless phone using frequencies around 864 MHz. 40 channels, digital communication at 38400 bps range from 300 - 50 metres. Telepoint service allows only outgoing calls; if you have bought your own base station, you can use it at home as a normal cordless phone. I've heard that some countries also have public telepoint service that allows incoming calls. I don't know how this is accomplished; Telepoint certainly is not a normal cellular phone: handheld units are not constantly monitoring cells, cell switching is not supported etc. Juha Veijalainen 4ge system analyst, tel. +358 0 4528 426 Unisys Finland Internet: JVE%FNAHA@trenga.tredydev.unisys.com Mielipiteet omiani ** Opinions are PERSONAL, facts are suspect ------------------------------ From: Jonathan Haruni Subject: Re: Borneo Malaysia Phones Reply-To: jharuni@micrognosis.co.uk Organization: Micrognosis International, London Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 15:01:57 GMT Jon Allen (jrallen@devildog.att.com) wrote: > If this is the same as the System used in Singapore, then you can make > only outgoing calls. All over Singapore are the little signs ZONE> where you can use your phone to dial out. Since many people in > Singapore carry Cell Phones, I would guess these short range phones > are marketed to those folks who cannot afford the Cell Phones (the > short range phones were very cheap). Very interesting concept -- I > had not heard of it being used anywhere else. The system exists in the UK where it is called the "Rabbit" phone, and in France, where it has another name I cannot remember, and I suspect in many other places. As you guessed, it is much cheaper than a cellular phone -- you buy a handset, pay a small monthly fee, and then for roughly the same price as a coin phone, you can make outgoing calls only, but you have to be near a base station. These are scattered around in train stations, restaurant chains, along busy roads, and many other places. You don't get incoming calls or, of course, roaming. Unlike existing cellulars, the radio connection is digital and (they claim) much clearer. You can also buy a base station which plugs into your home phone line just like any cordless phone, and then your Rabbit acts as a normal cordless phone. If you want, you can just buy the phone and base station without paying the monthly fee, and you have a highly featured digital cordless phone, though for double the price of a typical regular cordless. I don't know how popular the system is. I haven't seen many people with a Rabbit. There is a lot of competition, too: The existence of the Rabbit network has spurned some new pricing options from the cellular companies aimed at the sort of people who would buy Rabbits, and the phone companies are planting lots of new coinless payphones in places where it would not be practical to collect coins, like subway stations. Jonathan Haruni ------------------------------ From: roeber@vxcrna.cern.ch (Frederick Roeber) Subject: Re: Networks in Sarejevo? Reply-To: roeber@cern.ch Organization: CERN -- European Organization for Nuclear Research Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 18:09:02 GMT In article Bruce Taylor writes: > I was just asked to give ideas on how to establish email or network > connectivity into Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The idea is to create a > portable set of equipment that could support a few users with e-mail, > or perhaps several users with full internet connectivity. > Does anyone know what is currently available (read as "remaining") > in the way of communications infrastructure there? RIPE has information about the number of hosts in various European and near-European countries, see ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/hostcount for lots of information. ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/hostcount/RIPE-hostcount has the various counts, and ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/hostcount/Ccodes is a convenient list of the country codes. The YU information points to a couple nodes, the main one seeming to be klepec.yunac.yu. This was reachable from dxcern.cern.ch. There are not yet any registered hosts in Bosnia-Hercegovina (country code BA). Frederick. ------------------------------ From: brendan@macadam.mpce.mq.edu.au (Brendan Jones) Subject: Re: CT2 Phones in Hong Kong Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 17:55:40 +1000 (EST) In article Wayne Sung wrote: > Last year when I was in Hong Kong I saw advertisements for a forthcoming > CT2 phone system. I saw phones from Motorola and Casio. One other brand > of phone had the service company's logo on them so I couldn't tell who > made them. The two other manufacturers you haven't mentioned are Shaye and GPT (GEC Plessey Telecommunications, UK), offered by Chevalier Telepoint, the second largest CT2 operator in Hong Kong after Hutchison. All CT2 handset manufacturers also offer a domestic base station so that you can use your handset as a cordless phone at home. > [re small cells] > However, there is a note in the Motorola unit handbook which advises > against movement once a call is established. If you move out of the cell you're in, the call drops out (no handoff). The cells are typically only about 50 m in radius in very built up areas, such as in Central on Hong Kong Island, but can be as big as 200 m or so in open areas. > The phones run on three AAA batteries or a rechargable pack. The > antenna is retractable. The Shaye handset has two internal antennas - a printed circuit antenna in the flip-mouthpiece and a pigtail antenna at the head of the handset. One is for transmitting and the other is for receiving, but I can't remember which is which. > In public use there is an extra twist -- these phones are not able to > receive incoming calls so it won't matter if the antenna is down (or the > unit powered off for that matter). The companies have developed a system > to effectively allow incoming calls. You buy a beeper as well as the phone, > and someone trying to reach you calls a 'meet-me' number which activates > your beeper. The Telstra CT2 trial in Brisbane, Australia, has a direct incoming call system. Users wishing to receive calls must manually 'register' their presence in the cell, and the network can then direct incoming calls to them. Your handset can be directly called as long as you stay within that cell -- useful if you're at a restaurant or shopping centre (ie somewhere where you are going to be for a few hours). > Voice quality on the phones is quite good, perhaps better than my Tropez, > even though it is supposed to be compressed (I don't know that for a fact). It's not compressed. It's straight 32 kb/s ADPCM (G.721). However, these phones use TDD (Time Division Duplexing) at a 500 Hz rate. The speech packets are stored up and spat out at a little over twice the ADPCM rate (72 kb/s) leaving the rest of the frame to receive the return data, ie these phones create a full duplex channel on a single RF frequency with a 2 ms roundtrip speech delay. > The store clerks were not able to tell me what frequency band these > units worked in. However, I just saw a Northern Telecom article which > mentioned the 860 MHz area for their CT2 offering, which is meant to > be a wireless pbx application. CT2 has 40 RF Channels, with Channel 1 at 864.15 MHz and a 100 kHz spacing (ie Channel 40 is at 868.05 MHz). This standard is used in all countries that have or are trialling CT2, except Australia, which uses the band 861.05 MHz to 864.95 MHz just to be difficult :-) Commercial CT2 networks are operating in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and the UK, and being trialled in many other countries in Europe and South-East Asia. Brendan Jones (PhD Student) | Email: brendan@mpce.mq.edu.au Electronics Department | Voice: +61 2 805 9072 School of MPC&E | Fax : +61 2 805 9128 Macquarie University | Snail: +NSW 2109 AUSTRALIA ------------------------------ From: helfman@aero.org (Robert S. Helfman) Subject: Re: Calls From Prison Date: 7 Aug 1993 17:18:42 GMT Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA In article paulb@techbook.techbook.com (Paul Buder) writes: > Sometimes I get an automated operator in Oregon and sometimes not. I > know someone who spent time in the Washington County Jail. The AOS > identified itself as Gateway Technologies (bleh -- can you believe that > name?) and it showed up on the phone bill as from Operator Assistance > Network. When she was moved to the state prison in Salem all calls > came from US West. They were automated once in a while but usually I > heard a live operator say "This is US West. [...] is calling collect > from a correctional facility. The call may be monitored. Will you > accept the charges? When I was receiving collect calls from a friend incarcerated at Tehachapi (a men's medium-to-high security facility about 120 miles from L.A.), the calls came through MCI. No indicating was given that the calls were from a correctional facility: "This is the MCI Operator with a collect call from Michael. Will anyone accept?" (This was 1989-1992, when he was released. There was potential for monitoring but it was almost never done, according to my friend.) Ditto for calls coming from a prison fire camp at Buena Vista (fifty miles or so from Redding, CA). Same wording, but it's AT&T. (1992 to present). The calls from the fire camp are not monitored at all. He can't call any other way but collect. I now have an AT&T 700- number but he can't use it, unfortunately. It would be a lot cheaper than operator-assisted collect. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 20:13 GMT From: Bruce Sullivan Subject: Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible In TELECOM Digest V13 #537dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) writes: > Just as a side note: Technically, it -is- possible for the telcos (at > least the IXCs, and probaly the LECs as well) to differentiate between > voice and data calls. > And yes, they do it. How do I know? Our company has an MCI account (don't > know the specific name) which groups together lots of different location > phone lines. WHen we get the bill each month, each call is coded with > things like "dfx" or "ifx", standing for domestic fax call and > international fax call. (Afraid I don't remember the coding for voice) > So yes, they can, and do, make the distinction. Obviously, you have some type of billing or other business arrangement with your IXC for certain services. That is why it is broken out as such. To assume from this skimpy evidence that ANY telco can tell AFTER THE FACT what kind of call it was -- fax, modem, or voice -- is a great leap of faith. In some business arrangements -- such as yours -- are set up that way for business reasons (billing convenience? marketing ploy? Who knows? There's not enough info here to determine). Hoever, in the PSTN, they're just phone calls -- more or less -- on a voice channel. Now, before you all run off and flame me with YOUR PARTICULAR exception, I didn't say there's no way to tell, ever. I take greater issue with the "do" statement than the "can" statement. MCI, AT&T, et al, are unlikely to know or care, unless it's some part of a pre- existing business (usually) arrangement. I wouldn't expect them to have any idea which calls from my home came from a modem, fax, or a phone. ------------------------------ From: roeber@vxcrna.cern.ch (Frederick Roeber) Subject: Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible Reply-To: roeber@cern.ch Organization: CERN -- European Organization for Nuclear Research Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 13:55:52 GMT In article , dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) writes: > Just as a side note: Technically, it -is- possible for the telcos (at > least the IXCs, and probaly the LECs as well) to differentiate between > voice and data calls. Well, yes. Your fax or modem is taking a slow digital signal (say, 9600) and converting it to an analog signal. The phone company is hardly going to take this analog signal, re-digitize it up to 56k and waste an entire voice channel on it. It's much more economical for telco to demodulate it back to the original 9600 signal, wrap it up with a few others, and put them all on one 56k line. And charge you the same, of couse ;-). Frederick. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 14:46 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible I have service from MCI and I know they offer to code fax lines as fax lines on the bill -- but they rely on me telling them which lines are carrying data. I have two or three lines that carry data and/or fax (one is dedicated to fax) and the bill has never indicated they "knew" which lines were data/fax. Does anyone have any better evidence that they can, and do, tell the difference? Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 16:58:28 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Modem/Data Tax - Technically Possible Do your fax calls use the same lines as your voice calls? I reviewed a proposal from MCI a couple of years ago, and among the things they offered was a fax service that supposedly got special handling for outgoing faxes. If we provided them with the numbers of our fax lines, they could provide options like automatic store and forward, special discounts for faxes made after hours, multiple fax destinations with one phone call by the local fax, etc. Since our fax machines went through our PBX, we didn't want to dedicate any outgoing trunks to fax usage. We didn't join the plan. Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Flow Control With Unixware Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 13:07:21 GMT In article stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) writes: > In vid@io.org (David Mason) writes: >> Finally, while I am here and this is sort of applicable, does anyone >> know of any inexpensive device/card/whatever that would allow us to >> reset the systems remotely? Sometimes one of them will die and it >> isn't possible to come here quickly to reboot, so I'd like to be able >> to do it remotely. Even something as simple as something that hooked >> to a phone line and put the power off for a minute then on when >> triggered properly would be good. > I just got such a system set up for my voice response server last > week. I considered rigging something up myself as a last resort, but > I preferred an off-the-shelf solution, and I found one at Radio Shack. > It's part of their Plug-N-Power AC carrier remote control system (also > marketed as BSR or X-10 by others). > The remote device works rather well. You set a security code, from > one to three digits. I have it set up on my modem line, which > normally only places outgoing calls. When I call that line, it > answers after six or seven rings, and prompts with three beeps. I > enter the security code, then one or more commands. I can have up to > ten remotes, and can turn each one off or on individually. I've also seen a box marketed especially for computers, that allows the computer to be off, and will power it up when a call comes in. It monitors the modem connection, and will turn the power off again after the user disconnects and a time delay elapses. So, if the computer hangs, you just need to disconnect and stay off for the time delay period. May not work too well for systems with multiple users, or if you would rather leave the system powered up all the time. The cost of this particular switch was just under $200. puma@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Maximum Number of Phone Lines to a Residence? Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 13:16:33 GMT In article kls@ARGUS.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Karl L. Swartz) writes: > jms@Opus1.COM posted: >>> Busy forwarding is pretty much what I wanted, >>> although it's not as perfectly robust as a hunt group ... > What's the difference? Is there some additional delay involved in > busy forwarding or what? We use 'forward on busy/no answer' on our data lines, rather than a hunt group. We have it set to forward after the third ring, which in addition to providing the usual 'hunting' on busy, also takes care of the problems you have when a modem or port goes off into never-never land and stops answering calls, or a circuit goes open between us and the telco. puma@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 14:57:13 +0200 From: lagrana@itu.ch (Fernando A. Lagrana) Organization: International Telecommunication Union Subject: Re: CCITT, ITU-T or TSS? In order to help you (the telecom community) to navigate through the new terms and acronyms used in the standardization process since March 1st '93, please note the information below and the following table of correspondence, as finally adopted by last ITU's Council during its June '93 session: The CCITT has been replaced by the Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the ITU. The correspondent acronym is ITU-T (and not ITU-TS or TSS!!!). The CCITT Specialized Secretariat has been replaced by the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB). The CCITT Plenary Assembly has been replaced by the World Telecommunication Standardization Conference (WTSC). The Recommendations (now developed by the ITU-T), are referenced as ITU-T Recommendations. By example, CCITT Recommendation X.500 becomes Recommendation ITU-T X.500. See the Table below for more examples: The CCITT The ITU-T CCITT PA WTSC CCITT Study Groups ITU-T study groups CCITT Study Group VII ITU-T Study Group 7 CCITT Resolution No. 1 WTSC Resolution No. 1 CCITT Recommendations ITU-T Recommendations CCITT X-series Recommendations ITU-T X-series Recommendations CCITT Recommendation X.400 Recommendation ITU-T X.400 CCITT Secretariat TSB Director of the CCITT Director of the TSB CCITT Circular No. 1 TSB Circular 1 CCITT Collective-letter No. 1/VI TSB Collective-letter 1/6 As Ken Rossen writes in TELECOM Digest #542, the acronym ITU-TS has been used during a few months (march to june), but is now out of date. Finally, these terms and acronyms apply also retroactively, but for reference purpose only (the texts already in force will not be changed). Fernando Lagrana Telecommunication Standardization Bureau Editor, Catalogue of ITU-T Recommendations lagrana@itu.ch ------------------------------ From: jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) Subject: Misprogrammed Foreign Phones: Where to Report? Date: 7 Aug 1993 21:19:31 -0700 Organization: Info Connections, West Los Angeles Recently, I was in Indonesia with another Digest reader. Like many countries, Indonesia has replaced most traditional public telephones with the stored-value-card variety. I must say I have never liked the idea of payphones with too much intelligence. I trust the network much more than I trust information stored in a particular instrument. And these public phones in Indonesia have too much smarts for their own good. I have no idea why, but these phones have internal knowledge of the world's country codes and even of the USA's area codes. But the information is way out of date! An attempt to call any area code that has been introduced in the last few years is blocked right at the phone. And no one told these phones about the pseudo country code used for USA Direct. AT&T tells you to dial 00-80-110. This is rejected because the phone has never heard of country code 80. I found myself yelling to the phone, "Just send the digits to the phone line! It will know what to do with them!" So not only couldn't I call back to my office directly (we're in a "new" area code), I couldn't place the call via USA Direct either. Who should I report this to? I considered calling repair service while over there, but decided that communicating this to them (I don't speak Bahasa) could possibly be more difficult than explaining CO matters to GTE repair. Maybe I should try AT&T LD Repair (800-222-3000). I wonder how much influence they have in these matters. Jim Gottlieb E-Mail: jimmy@denwa.info.com In Japan: jimmy@info.juice.or.jp V-Mail: +1 310 551 7702 Fax: 478-3060 Voice: 824-5454 [Moderator's Note: Didn't the phone itself have any notice or sign on it indicating who maintained it or owned it locally? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #549 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17717; 8 Aug 93 0:59 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11603 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 22:47:06 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11748 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 7 Aug 1993 22:46:33 -0500 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 22:46:33 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199308080346.AA11748@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #550 TELECOM Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 22:46:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 550 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: ANI 800 Number Changes Behavior (Len Elam) Re: Cordless Headset 'Telephone' (Lee Sweet) Re: Telco Rates (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Continuing Saga (Dave Carpentier) Re: Pay-Phone Wanted -- Where to Get? (Christopher Zguris) Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal (Ben Cox) Re: ATT Dedicated Lines (David G. Lewis) Re: Who/What Determines Caller-ID? (Steven L. Spak) Re: Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple (Martin McCormick) Re: How Does One Get Tariffs on the Cheap? (Graham Toal) Re: Dark Fibre (Alex Griffiths) Re: Busy Signal Strangeness (was Re: Revisit ..) (Mike King) Re: Zoom Hotshot (*67) Problem (Dave Ptasnik) Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address (France) (Jean-Bernard Condat) Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? (Lynne Gregg) Re: Big Rivers (Brad Hicks) Re: Truevoice Requesting Telephone Number (John Castaldi) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lelam%gdfwc3@Sun.COM (Len E. Elam - x32970) Subject: Re: 800 ANI Number Changes Behaviour Organization: Lockheed Fort Worth Company Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 16:41:18 GMT In article djcl@io.org (woody) writes: > The 800 235 1414 number that gave out caller number readback along > with an ad for 900-STOPPER and a privacy publication, had a different > message tonight. Just Thursday, the old Joker was up to his ANI > tricks. On Friday afternoon, the 800 number got an unusual fast busy > condition for a while. Now, Friday night, the number just has a > message identifying as "Private Line", advertising 900-STOPPER and > recommending a new 800 number for "caller ID". > The new number is 800 852.9932. This gives out a short burst of > 950.xxxx carrier tone, then reads back the calling number. Nothing > else seems to happen on that call. I listened to "Full Disclosure Live" on Sunday night, and the host said that their 800 number was such a success that they decided to change it to give out a AT&T ANI Readback 800 number. It kinda makes sense, since the reason they made it available in the first place was for people to try out their 900 service. Who Am I?: Len E. Elam Email: lelam%gdfwc3@central.sun.com or lelam@gdwest.gd.com Disclaimer: I speak only for myself. ------------------------------ From: decrsc!leesweet@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Sweet) Subject: Re: Cordless Headset 'Telephone' Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 10:31:12 EDT I assume that what was wanted here was a normal telephone headset that uses wireless technology to eliminate the cord between the base and 'head part'. Hello Direct makes one;I just ordered one, so I can't give any details of pro/con. Unfortunately, they are quoting 4-5 weeks back-order! (Their wired headsets are usually delivered the *next* day!) If you want to contact them, call 800-HI-HELLO. BTW, the price is $399, but it does use 900 MHz, so should be pretty good. I'll post some comments after I get mine. (Does anyone have comments on the punch-through effectiveness of 900MHz vs. 49Mhz? I'll be using this one in a Computer-rich environment, and have had problems with a portable phone that used 49Mhz.) As with most of these telecom outlets, you have to be a little selective about what you buy: they also sell the common junk like $5 sprays to 'sterilize' handsets ... (No connection with Hello Direct, just a satisfied customer.) Lee Sweet Internet *lists* - leesweet@datatel.com Chief Systems Consultant Internet *e-mail* - lee@datatel.com Datatel, Inc. Phone - 703-968-4661 4375 Fair Lakes Court FAX - 703-968-4625 Fairfax, VA 22033 (Opinions are my own, and only my own!) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 07:18:15 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Telco Rates In TELECOM Digest V13 #531 system@garlic.sbs.com writes: > Not a very fair calling plan if you ask me. Matter of fact, intra > state tolls run as follows: > Day Evening Night > 1st Addl 1st Addl 1st Addl > .37 .18 .24 .12 .15 .07 And I thought my rates were high (NYTel in NYNEX land)! My rates are (local calling region only): Day Evening Night 1st Addl 1st Addl 1st Addl .106 .022 40% Discount 65% Discount Other regions are: West Suffolk (I'm closer to it than the easternmost point of my calling region: .133/.042 minus discounts if applicable; Nassau County (Still closer than the easternmost point): .171/.064 minus discounts; Unfortunately, I don't have the figures for NYC or Lower Westchester handy. I seem to recall that for me to approach the one-minute charge for Rhode Island, I'd have to call to Lower Westchester County which is in my LATA. One side note: When my daughter calls her boyfriend (that's a war in itself) and he's not home, the charge is usually $.080 yet NYTel keeps telling me that they charge by the minute as soon as the phone on the other end is taken offhook. What me tell them? Naaaah. It's their software and everyone knows that their software is perfect (or at least it was until NYTel lost a rate battle with me earlier this year). Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ From: dave.carpentier@oln.com Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 19:05:25 -0400 Subject: Re: Continuing Saga Since they've replaced (in effect) the lines all the way from the CO to your protector, one would have to assume that your poor signal is due to either a) the house wiring - perhaps have another line run from the protector to your jack, preferably via an alternate route, since there is the possibility of ac induction and all that. b) the protector itself -- when they swapped the lines, the might have left the modem on the original protector ... or c) the CO equipment from the MDF (frame) to the switch. And yes, it's sad but true that the telco's don't believe that our modems should operate satisfactorily on 'voice' lines above 2400bps. I suppose you could tell them that you are operating at 2400 "baud" and not 14400 "bps", since (I hope I'm not out to lunch here) high speed modems do indeed operate signalling at 2400 baud. Phase/freq coding in the 2400 signal gives us the high speeds we so dearly love (and we refer to this as "bps", or the effective throughput). ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 14:46 GMT From: Christopher Zguris <0004854540@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Pay-Phone Wanted -- Where to Get? The last time I checked, the AT&T SOURCEBOOK had them. You can find out there phone number from any AT&T phone center. the SOURCEBOOK should give you all the info over the phone, so you won't need the catalog. The phones that have are the full-size (AT&T! Duh!) pay phones, I think they also offer rate updates etc for a fee. Hope this helps! Christopher Zguris CZGURIS@MCIMail.com ------------------------------ From: btc@blitzen.cc.bellcore.com (Ben Cox) Subject: Re: Psychological Effect of "Busy" Signal Organization: Ancient Illuminated Bavarian Sears Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 17:24:54 GMT John.J.Butz@att.com writes: > So, does replacing busy with a worded announcement or other tones > really solve anything? No. Agreed. In fact, a voice can be more disturbing than a buzzer. Possibly one of the most chilling recorded telephone conversations, with which nearly everyone my age is familiar, involves a voice, not a tone. Witness: "Hello?" "This is the United States calling; collect call for a Mrs. Floyd from a Mr. Floyd." --CLICK-- "I'm sorry, they hung up. It seems to be a man answering." Surely this is at least as annoying as getting "bzzt bzzt bzzt," despite the fact that this is not just a recording of a person's voice, but a live operator. :-) Ben Cox btc@cc.bellcore.com (std. disclaimer applies) ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: ATT Dedicated Lines Organization: AT&T Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 17:30:01 GMT In article Bruce Sullivan writes: >> A friend asked me who to talk to at AT&T about leasing a >> dedicated 56kb line to Latin America. >> Does anyone have any contact info for the department at AT&T that >> provides this service? > AT&T Small Business Systems and Fax: 1.800.247.7000 > Large Business Communications Systems: 1.800.247.1212 > Or, try your local Business Marketing Sales Office. Actually, the above are the premises equipment side of the house; my "AT&T Easy to do Business With" guide says to call the Commercial Market Sales Center at: 1.800.222.0400 For information on, among other things, "DATAPHONE(R) Digital Service, a private line digital transmission offering". David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!goofy!deej Switching & ISDN Implementation ------------------------------ From: sspak@seas.gwu.edu (Steven L. Spak) Subject: Who/What Determines Caller-ID? Organization: George Washington University Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 19:27:38 GMT The "name" given is in most cases the billing name. It's possible to control the "name" by messing with either of the following: 1) The Centrex group in the local switch 2) The telco SCP database 3) Your ISDN PBX (if you've got one) Steven Spak sspak@seas.gwu.edu Transmission Engineer Tel: (202) 392-1611 Fax: (202) 392-1261 ------------------------------ From: martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu (Martin McCormick) Subject: Re: Newton MessagePad Now Available From Apple Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 20:19:23 GMT After hearing about the Newton and a couple of other similar devices, I was quite impressed with the amount of computing power stuffed in to those little boxes. The Newton has as much memory on board as the original PC/XT. As a blind person, these systems in their present configuration are rather useless, but what if somebody came out with a computer that let you totally down-load a different operating system than the one it came with. If you think of one of these systems as a collection of I/O and storage devices, then what you have is a good platform on which to build what you need for your own work. The ironic thing is that a portable device like this would probably be quite useful for a blind person for one major reason. It can store a lot of information. Braille is quite bulky when a lot of text is involved. The paper is card stock and it takes about three pages of Braille to contain as much information as one page of ink-print. It might even be possible to place some sort of mechanical overlay on the writing tablet which would simulate a keyboard. Add a tiny speech synthesizer for the output and the I/O problems are taken care of. If this all sounds a little stupid, you should see the prices of a couple of note takers which have been designed by small companies for the blind market. They do work, but cost a small fortune. Mass-market devices are always cheaper than specialized equipment. The trick, in a case like this is, to come out with something useful for less than the specialized device would have cost. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group ------------------------------ From: gtoal@an-teallach.com (Graham Toal) Subject: Re: How Does One Get Tariffs on the Cheap? Organization: An Teallach Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 20:22:40 +0000 In article cam@claircom.com writes: > I am interested in researching all the data networking options > available from my RBOC and I was wondering if there is a way to find > all the tariffs cheaply. > [Moderator's Note: The tariffs go on and on for page after page ... I > don't think you really want *all* the tariffs ... but even if you do, > getting them cheap will still cost a bundle because there are so many > of them. PAT] Those very nice chappies at British Telecom send you the whole thousand-odd pages plus regular updates for free. Of course you have to be Sherlock bleedin' Holmes to find out how to order the damn thing in the first place ... (BT always deny all knowledge of the document -- the 'BT Price List' -- finding ways of getting them to admit to its existence has kept the readers of uk.telecom amused for the last year ... we finally had enough of their obstructionism and reported them to the regulatory body Oftel, who are now taking a close interest ...) Graham Personal mail to gtoal@gtoal.com (I read it in the evenings) Business mail to gtoal@an-teallach.com (Be careful with the spelling!) Faxes to An Teallach Limited: 031 662 4678 Voice: 031 668 1550 x212 ------------------------------ From: dag@ossi.com (Alex Griffiths) Subject: Re: Dark Fibre Date: 7 Aug 1993 13:53:00 -0700 Organization: Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, Inc. Anthony E. Siegman writes: > A dark soliton is a "dark space" in an otherwise continuously > illuminated fiber which has the same propagation properties, provided > the dispersion in the fiber is of opposite sign. Most common glass > fibers will propagate dark solitons at wavelengths in the visible and > out to a little beyond one micron, and bright solitions at longer > wavelengths. Bright solitons may be used in real fiber systems some > day, but are not being used as yet (I don't think); dark solitons are > unlikely to find practical use. Light solitons are being used in some tests already. I can't remember the exact numbers but there is one long test (between Illinois and Boston I think) that runs at 600+ Mgb/sec, I'll try to find the article in my files. I also heard of another test Bell Labs is running that goes up to 2Gb/sec. This is single channel over one fiber, not many muxed channels, of-course. The whole idea is pretty neat. My physics is *very* rusty, but the as I understand it the solitons are overlayed in a wave form on top of the photon stream, the wave has the effect of "pushing" the individual photons back into the stream if they bump into each other and get out of places. This means the fiber corrects data as it travels and allows for much higher bandwidth transmission. Cheers, Darren Alex Griffiths Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions dag@ossi.com (510) 652-6200 x139 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 17:53:55 EDT From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: Busy Signal Strangeness (was Re: Revisit ..) After hearing various stories about strange busy signals, I thought I'd add mine to the list: I used to dial CI$ in downtown Washington, DC (202-338-3303, since replaced), from the MD suburbs. I'm on either a 5E or DMS-100, while the CI$ number is on a 1A. SS7 covers most of DC and suburban area. Normally, when calling CI$ I would hear -RING (ringback at the destination), then - if I got through, but I would hear no click before a busy signal, which sounds appropriate for SS7. One night while trying to dial, I heard the 120 ipm "All Circuits Busy" indicator, but before the modem recognized the signal, all of a sudden, I heard -! I got a normal connection, and proceeded to check my mail, etc. The 120 ipm signal sounded like it was local, so I'm confused as to why the other end answered the call. I would have thought the call would have been abandoned by C&P after detection of all circuits busy. Just an anomoly in the network? Mike King * Software Sourcerer * Fairchild Space * +1 301.428.5384 mking@fsd.com or 73710.1430@compuserve.com * (usual disclaimers) ------------------------------ From: davep@carson.u.washington.edu (Dave Ptasnik) Subject: Re: Zoom Hotshot (*67) Problem Date: 7 Aug 1993 23:25:08 GMT Organization: University of Washington Ken Jongsma writes: > Based on recent discussion here, I went out and bought a Zoom Hotshot > Dialer from the local Graybar office. It was less than $50 and was > very straight forward to set up. > I set it to send a *67 one second after hearing a dialtone the first > time on every call and it works like a champ. > The problem: the unit apparently interferes with my modem. Calls at > 14.4 will no longer connect to any other site, including the Practical > Peripherals BBS. Calls at 9600 or slower seem to be OK. The Hotshot works two ways, line powered and fed from a power supply. If you are using it line powered, it might be sucking some juice off of your connection, lowering your S/N ratio, and dropping the speed. If you are trying it with external power, it might be introducing a little 60 cycle hum, same result. Try it both ways. All of the above is nothing more than the personal opinion of - Dave Ptasnik davep@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ From: cccf@email.teaser.com (Jean-Bernard Condat) Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 10:18:05 GMT Subject: Re: Phone Number -> Name/Address (France) In France, you can easily ask the complete name and address of a given phone number in some cases: (1) The phone number you give is freely available in one of all France Telecom phonebooks and don't have any restrictions, like secret services phone numbers, red-list-phone numbers, special emergency phone numbers, etc. (2) You ask your question from a private and/or business line that can be charge of FF 15,18 + French taxes (FF 18 with all taxes). Normally, France Telecom services phone you back 20 minutes after you question with the answer. The research fees are bill on a special line of the montjly phone bill. International request don't be possible at this time. Jean-Bernard Condat General Secretary Chaos Computer Club France, B.P. 155, 93404 St-Ouen Cedex, France Private Address: P.O. 8005, 69351 Lyon Cedex 08, France Phone: +33 1 40101764, Fax: +33 1 47877070 InterNet: cccf@altern.com or cccf@email.teaser.com ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: When Will General Computing Conquer Telecom Switching? Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 11:00:00 PDT Viruses are not necessarily exclusive to PC's. The argument that a computer could not be used as a switch (based on the argument that computers in general are subject to viruses) is not a valid one. Most modern telecommunication switches ARE computers. My two cents, Lynne ------------------------------ From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com Date: 7 Aug 93 22:08:41 GMT Subject: Re: Big Rivers You're off by a bit on the deliberate levee breaks, Pat. All of that is going on down in Praire Du Rocher, Illinois, just south of here. Basically, if they had done nothing, then by Friday morning they would have completely lost the oldest town in Illinois. So, over the Army Corps of Engineer's objections, the town fathers had demolition experts blow three huge holes in their levee. Why? Because an upstream levee was already breached and the pressure of the Mississippi at that point was threatening Praire Du Rocher's levees -- FROM BEHIND. By blowing three big holes, they created a "drain" which saved the inner levee around the town. Yesterday they were talking about blowing out a few more levees so it'll drain faster. The new holes would, in fact, drain some of that water into areas that are currently "dry", namely badly soaked farmland. Hey, this time somebody has to get soaked, and they get to pick: crops already mostly ruined by too much rain, or a town where just about every building is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's not my decision to make, but if I were them, I'd take a dim view of the carping of some high-and-dry city boy in Chicago (=especially= in Chicago, that's a sensitive subject in southwestern Illinois). As for my "odd view" of my "suffering neighbors," according to this morning's Post Dispatch the southsiders really are chasing away African Americans who have volunteered to help them sandbag, because they don't want any "niggers" down there on the south side. Well then, if they're so well off they can turn away help, then they don't need my concern. And what's it to me if a bunch of white-trash racists lose everything, or even drown? ObTelecom: Remember the thread a while back on why CO's are build the way they are? I'll be SWBT is really, really happy that almost none of their switching gear is on the ground floor anywhere. As of this morning's paper, they've still lost only one switch. (Lots of wiring, but only one switch. Can't be helped when up to a third of some counties has been hit with a million gallon per second "natural backhoe.") P.S. Speaking of artifical levee breaks, though, the conspiracy theorist in me finds it VERY suspicious that every levee break so far has "just happened" to have a television news helicopter right overhead at the time. Would the Fourth Estate stoop to sabotage to get great film footage? Nah, couldn't happen ... J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad [Moderator's Note: You bet it could happen! The newspapers frequently decide what the story will be for the day then work to implement it in the way they want to see it go. PAT] ------------------------------ From: castaldi@heroes.rowan.edu (John Castaldi) Subject: Re: Truevoice Requesting my Telephone Number Organization: Rowan College of New Jersey Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1993 14:40:25 GMT I gave them 1-800-666-ORGY. Hope they like it. [Moderator's Note: Cute. When I called, I gave them *your* number. I hope you like all those telemarketers they send your way! :) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #550 ******************************